Category: Creative Writing
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When your writing career (or anything worthwhile) feels out of reach, shoot for consistency
We all go through periods of perspiration without measurable results. We all go through moments when an uphill climb feels never ending. This can take various forms in the life of an author. For instance: My best advice in this instance is twofold: Success very rarely happens overnight, and Henry Ford once defined luck as…
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Thankful Thursday: Thankful for how my characters rejuvenate and inspire me
This Thursday, I am thankful to get back to writing and editing after a crazily busy promo week from June 10-14, when I wasn’t able to write. I found myself more distracted than I would have liked last week–to some degree, inevitably–by the marketing aspects of the promo and the emotional rollercoaster of it all.…
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Questions to ask as you write in first person
When I recently shared (on Facebook) my post about the issues I personally have with first person narration a lot of the time, it sparked a great discussion. Some great points were raised. I wanted to share the insights I took away from that discussion, reading all the comments. I still don’t trust myself to…
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On story ideas: I must have a very creative guardian angel!
I honestly wonder from time to time if I simply have a very creative guardian angel. I say this because my ideas for my stories come to me, for the most part, out of nowhere or from odd places. For instance, the original inspiration for a resistance group fighting against a sorcerer who’s taken over…
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On having multiple WIPs
I never used to have multiple WIPs (works in progress) at a time–at least, never for long. When I wrote and published the first editions of the Herezoth trilogy, I did so one book at a time. But then I took them all down years ago, entered and left religious life, and now I am…
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Jane Austen showed me the trait that will make any character unlikeable
Mr. Collins will bloviate about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and things that interest no one, completely incapable of taking a hint that he should shut up. Elizabeth Elliot will casually dismiss any thought of her middle sister, Anne. “It’s just Anne, she doesn’t matter.” She never once wonders how this might appear to other people–Anne…
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My sword and sorcery action adventure will be FREE this coming week!
(Feel free to reblog, if you feel so inclined) I’m excited to announce that Monday through Friday this week (July 10-14), “The Crimson League: the Fight for Hope” will be free to download on Amazon! It’s a sword and sorcery dystopian adventure set in Herezoth, where sorcerer-nobleman Zalski Forzythe has killed the royal family and…
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Questions to ask before writing in third person
I write my fiction in third person. There was never a question of first person for me; I could never write readable fiction in first person. Just not in my interest or my skill set. Still, third person opens up so many expansive options! There are some great questions to ask yourself before you start…
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Why do I love sidekicks and less important characters so much? Am I the only one?
I tend to find sidekicks, helpers, and non-protagonists more interesting than protagonists, villains, and more major characters in most stories. Maybe it’s that we see less of more secondary characters, so they have something more of mystery about them. More questions. Maybe it’s that good storytelling doesn’t hide the flaws of protagonists, and the faults…
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Is it possible to write a first draft TOO fast?
I’m not saying there’s a definite answer to this post’s titular question. It might well depend on a writer’s individual style and preferences–what nurtures their creativity and feeds their spirit. But for me, the answer is absolutely YES. I did NaNoWriMo (or National Novel Writing Month) once, eleven years ago. I don’t plan to ever…
Creative Writing with the Crimson League 