Our first Dear Susan post of the year. Joy sent me this e-mail… I’ve been writing for five years, sent out what seems like lots of stories. I know I’ve been close to getting published a few times but it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen. Any advice about when I should…
Author: This Writer's Life
Wednesday Writing Prompts-A Staircase to Where?
Our first writing prompt of 2019 and it’s all about a reoccurring dream your character is experiencing. He or she keeps dreaming about the same spiral staircase, night after night… What does your character think it means? Is it a good or bad thing for them…maybe a memory from the past? Or does the staircase…
Story Length-Does it Matter?
Say hello to the first guest blogger of 2019, Barbara Plum whose post takes us back to our school days… Remember those dreaded high-school English themes? Did your teacher, when asked about length, compare the assignment to a skirt? “Long enough to cover the subject. Short enough to be interesting.” Say what? How does this…
Monday Motivation-Perfection Not Required
Let’s kick off the writing year this quote. Lots of writers stumble or give up because they think the first draft has to be perfect. It doesn’t. Sometimes the second draft stinks too but that’s okay, that’s the lesson part of this quote. No one starts out as a bestselling author. Give yourself permission to…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-2019-The First Ramblings of a New Year
Happy New Year to you. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. So are you ready for a new year of writing? We’ll be back to the normal schedule next week starting with Monday Motivation. Anything you’d especially like to see on TWL in 2019? I’m thinking about Saturday seminars that will focus on one particular…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-2018…that’s a wrap
Welcome winter (or summer…I know many of the TWL followers live in Australia and New Zealand). Another year is slowly becoming history. It’s the end of the work year for me. I’m planning to take a two week break from most of my usual writing activities. There will not be a Monday Motivation or Prompts for the next two weeks, but…
Goal Setting for the Pantster??
Say hello to our last guest blogger of the year, Shannon Nemechek… Goal setting for the pantster? Sure, why not?? As a pantster born and bred there has always been one GOAL- well maybe a few but basically my number one goal has always been write, write, write. I have tried to plot but…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Snow and Moonlight
Here’s our final writing prompt for the year and it’s based on this photo. Has you character seen snow before? Maybe they decide to take a stroll outside under the moonlight. Perhaps they’re meeting someone at midnight… Have fun and happy writing. Writing Prompts will be back on January 9th.
The Importance of Making Lists
Here’s guest blogger Vicki Batman with a holiday themed post but yet a reminder about how we should keep lists… At this time of year, there’s the whole rush-rush to make Christmas perfect. The least little thing turns our life upside down. But do the holidays have to be flawless? I’d like to…
Monday Motivation-Explore, Dream, Discover
I stumbled upon this quote the other day and thought it was the perfect one for the last of this year’s Monday Motivations. In 2019, do as Mark Twain suggests, do something you won’t regret later…write a book! Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the…