As wonderful as my character’s tragic backstory or hushed conversation might be, none of that matters an iota if I don’t get the beginning right.
Category: Research
A Panel on Intersectional Feminism in the Romance Novel
The discussion is ongoing, but the panel was insightful, educational and full of actionable steps that authors, readers, and industry professionals can take to further a fully inclusive, fully intersectional romance genre.
A Matter of Time
There is productivity belief that if you set the bar too high on a day’s project and don’t meet it, you will feel like a failure, thus making you less productive the following day. But if you set a small goal and reach it, you’ll feel like a success, which will then inspire you to complete the next goal and the next.
I Don’t Want to Write
Writing is wonderful. It’s like playing God, sculpting worlds, forming new people from nothing but your fingers against the keyboard, giving life to the two-dimensional creations of your own mind, weaving spells of love and pain and the whole spectrum of human emotion. I love being a writer, but that’s not why I do it.
Seven Stories, Infinite Tellings
Whether there are only seven stories to honestly be told or a vast amount more, the reality is that when you—or any other author—puts those stories to the page, it is the very first time they have been done that way.
On the Write Track
It is also important to find a healthy, sustainable balance between the business and creative sides of your work, or you can find yourself wasting a lot of precious time on to-do items with low ROI.
Actually Working When Working at Home
I’ve been a self-employed writer and journalist for going on two years and there is definitely a learning curve when it comes to treating the home like the office. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve developed over my career to ensure maximum productivity, even if your desk is an ironing board.
Love Thy Editor
To be an editor, you have to sense when phrases don’t sound right. We must be self-editing and rewriting all the time to create the best product possible.
Here are a few ways to manage the editing process, so you can achieve the best final piece.
Place as Character
Cities do not speak. Beaches do not dance. Mountain ranges do not dream. Places are not, intrinsically, human. The humanity we derive from them is based in our own perception, the sights, sounds and smells that form a location or environment in our mind. There is no natural anthropomorphism to a place, and that is why it is so important that we put it there.
Damn Hard Writing
From the outside, writing doesn’t look too hard. After all, I spent eight to ten hours a day on my computer, doing the thing I love most in the world. What could be difficult about that? I get to research unique and interesting things, and tell the stories that I want to tell. It’s the dream job.
And it is the dream job, but it’s sure as hell not an easy one.
