Tweet I started the week with a story about learning to program, about learning the difference between typing computer code into a machine and actually writing a game. The difference (in case you skipped the story) is called “debugging.” And that’s where we are now with our novels. November’s done, our first draft is done, […]
I follow several writers on Twitter, and because I’m a fiend for collecting quotes, I’ve discovered Twitter’s a source for oodles and gobs of great writing material. I would be remiss in my responsibilities if I didn’t share some of that goboodled wealth with my precious inklings! So here ya go…
Tweet I started playing videogames at the age of six or seven. Within a year, I was programming them, too. Now that’s not to say I was exercising my creative genius way back then. (Not in that medium, anyway.) No, my dad had a Commodore 64 and a subscription to Compute! magazine, which came with […]
Tweet This week we’re talking about what comes after NaNoWriMo. We’re talking about looking ahead. We’re talking about finishing a book and revising a book and being a writer. That’s three different processes, but all of them share the same three core, critical steps: Write. Take stock. Follow through. November made you write. Yesterday I […]
Tweet At this point, you’ve got my NaNoWriMo review, and you’ve got Courtney’s, and if you’re following any other writers’ blogs (as you probably should be), you’ve got a lot more. NaNoWriMo is all about not looking ahead, and not looking back, but just looking right at the blinking cursor at the end of your […]
I just finished a jolly good, pell-pell, crazed romp through November, wot wot. Somehow, I’ve emerged victorious from the jumble of letter, words, strikethroughs, wordcounts, agonized screams, cups of too-strong coffee, and zombie-induced mayhem. NaNoWriMo 2010 is over…
Tweet November’s finally at an end. So far I’ve loved every NaNoWriMo I’ve participated in, and I’ve been intensely grateful when each one of them ended. It’s part of the process. I had a good year in 2010. That sentence is true all on its own, but I mean it here particularly as a comment […]
Tweet This week we’ve been talking about writing setbacks, and the biggest setback of all: not wanting to write. It’s part of the process, but that doesn’t mean it’s pleasant, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s productive. (Alliteration is fun.) As I said yesterday, every writer occasionally feels that sense of ultimate distraction. It’s a […]
Tweet This week I shared a story of a major writing setback when I outran my own scene list. I’ve also told stories before about losing pages, chapters, books. The writer’s life is tragedy. Partly, that’s because of the unpredictable nature of the process. Mostly, it’s because writers spend so much of their time wallowing […]
I’ve been writing about zombies, so the details are gory. And I know some of my darlingest inklings don’t care to read about pus, blood, and guts. So all you need to know is that I’ve had a fairly miserable writing week.
But. Friday and Saturday, I did something that I knew I needed to do and that a conversation with the writing group reinforced to me that I needed to do…
