Have you ever read a book where you felt like you were actually living the story with the character? Have you read one where the character felt remote and lifeless? I can guarantee the reason for both is showing vs. telling. Telling is the old style of writing—the reader is an overseer in the room,… Continue reading 5 Ways to Turn Showing to Telling
I’ve always been a daydreamer. More often than not, as a child, it got me into trouble. But the more I’ve thought about my wool-gathering habit as an adult, the more I realize that my greatest strengths rely on this sometimes misunderstood state of mind. Here are some ways I think we’ve got daydreaming wrong.
I've always been a daydreamer. More often than not, as a child, it got me into trouble. But the more I've thought about my wool-gathering habit as an adult, the more I realize that my greatest strengths rely on this sometimes misunderstood state of mind. Here are some ways I think we've got daydreaming wrong.Myth… Continue reading Monday Motivation: 3 Myths about Daydreaming
Have you ever come back to a work in progress after a break and found it a stranger?This is something I've done many a time. Hello there, book-to-be. Who are you exactly? And where do we go from here?I've made plenty of mistakes with this process, daunting mistakes that almost made me give up on… Continue reading Writer Wednesday: Getting Reacquainted with your Manuscript
Ever watched a baby learn how to walk? I've had the privilege of a front row seat to this phenomenon four times. And every once in a while I'd marvel at how they struggled, how they pushed through each phase of learning, from rolling over to running, how they failed and fell - often in… Continue reading Monday Motivation: Get Back Up Again
Ever get to the place in your writing where you just want to play it safe? I think every writer gets there. Doesn't every writer have a manuscript that's too blah because you were too scared to go where you should have gone? Or a manuscript that's gathering dust because you're too scared for anyone… Continue reading Writer Wednesday: 5 Leaps of Faith for your writing
I grew up writing. For the longest time I had a rather serious problem. Most of my stories lost steam about a third of the way through and sat gathering dust. Then one day I picked up "The Outlandish Companion" by Diana Gabaldon, writer of the bestselling Outlander series, and I discovered an amazing thing:… Continue reading Writer Wednesday: The Drawbacks of a Straight Line
I'm a smiley person. But I'll tell you a secret: I don't always feel like smiling. But here are a few things I've learned about smiling that might change the way you arrange your face.Even when you don't feel it ...I've heard it said that if you smile enough, your brain will actually begin to… Continue reading Monday Motivation: The Power of a Smile
We writers all have that word-count hang up, don't we? If we're lucky, we've had the occasional day where we hammered out words in their thousands. But those days are rare, when the inspiration keeps flowing, and the temptation is to hold out on writing until we think one of those days has arrived.I don't… Continue reading Writer Wednesday: 5 Reasons Why Consistency beats Quantity
We all have days when we just don't feel it. You know the ones I'm talking about. Can't get out of bed. Feel like you're in a fog. Ask yourself a hundred times "Why do I bother?" But you've got a deadline looming or kids to feed or a threatening avalanche on your desk, and… Continue reading Monday Motivation: What to do when you don’t feel it
Erin E. M. Hatton 