Sometimes you have to take a break from writing. Sometimes I cook, other times, I garden or go for a hike. When I’m away from my writing, I long for something equally creative so a few years ago I got the idea to make upcycled jewelry. Not sure where the name came from but…
Author: This Writer's Life
White Room Syndrome
If you’ve ever taken one of my classes you’ll know that I’m not shy about telling you about my writing Achilles’ heel. I’m about to share it with the TWL community because I think letting others know about our weaknesses helps us all become better writers. My least favorite thing about writing (apart…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Phone Call
This week’s prompt focuses on a phone call. Your character is waiting for an important call. Is it good or bad news? How are they dealing with the wait? How do they handle the news? Have fun and happy writing.
Hi Susan-How Long Should You Wait For A Response?
Time for another Hi Susan post. Sara asked the following- I submitted my synopsis and first three chapters to an editor two months ago and I haven’t heard anything about my submission. When should I contact them to ask what’s happening? I know how frustrating it is when you’ve sent your work to an…
Monday Motivation-Only If You Clean Your Plate
Remember when you were a child and your parents told you (maybe bribed you), eat all your food and you’ll get some dessert? Childhood might be a distant memory for most of us but you can use this same principle to motivate yourself into writing. I’ve done it a lot during NaNoWriMo. I tell…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Planning the Planners
Can you believe that we’re half way through August? My mystery novel is slowly progressing. I’m still aiming for Dec 31st as the deadline for completion of the first draft. Anyone else working on a deadline? This week I recorded and uploaded another class to Skillshare, this one focuses on conflict and emotion. Here’s the…
New Teaching Schedule for 2019
I don’t usually put my workshop schedules on here as a post but instead have them on a separate section of the site(they’ll still be there), but as next year I’ll be teaching exclusively for one chapter of Romance Writers of America (RWA), I thought I’d make a post about classes I’ll be teaching and what’s…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-
This week’s prompt is a photo one and here it is- Where is the little girl? Is she lost? Has she been to a carnival and won this toy? Is she running away? Lots of directions you can take this one. Have fun and happy writing.
Guest Bloggers for September and October
Are you interested in being a guest blogger on This Writer’s Life? You can blog on anything that’s writing related for example- How you plan your writing time How you fixed a writing problem How you create characters or plot your stories Doing research Staying motivated How you got published Each post can include…
Monday Motivation-If A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
When I first began writing I used to see this image in my head. It was me, a published author, in a bookstore signing copies of my latest book. Sometimes when I got a rejection letter or didn’t feel like my work was good enough, I sit and dream about one day being in that…