Okay! There's a few things to talk about, so let's get stuck in. I completed a book, and sent it out for beta-reading. The question now is what do I do once I get feedback. See, I've been staring at this book for hours over the last few weeks. True to the creative...
I didn't finish Nanowrimo, in case you're wondering. I'll still upload chapters of Winterlight, but it'll be at a much lower rate. My web design business is taking off, and I'm up to my eyeballs in work. So that's great, and I love being busy, but it cuts into my...
It's that time of year again... National Novel Writing Month starts in November. Am I participating, I hear you ask? Am I ever. I always participate in some way. I work best when put under the most ridiculous deadlines on earth, and they don't get much more extreme...
I am there right now. The demons all carry copies of Strunk's Elements of Style, and they're poking me with fountain pens. At this point, I have written something like five different variations on the opening of the Novel, and I still can't seem to get it right. My...
You know, I was actually going to write some whiny rambling on life, the universe and everything. Then I came to my senses and mentally slapped myself for being a pessimist. Like, what the hell, Claire?! When did you become such a drag? To hell with that, I say! So...
Oh, how I wish I was kidding. Due to various problems, I still have no internet access at home. My net life is currently being supported by kind cafes with free WiFi, and that's obviously only during actual business hours. It's almost like being struck deaf and dumb....
After a year and a half of working on and off, the second draft of the Novel is complete. The first draft wasn't much of anything. That's part of the process of how I write; when I'm telling the story to begin with, it's very ephemeral and inconsistent, with plot...
Kevin Sheridan over at Optimism Abounds has a post up about getting started with a story. Everyone says that you need something that will instantly grab the reader and get them into the story; something pithy, memorable, interesting, whatever. Nothing like "It was a...
So yeah. Queries. The bane of my existence. As I get to the end of the second draft of the Novel, I realise I have to start thinking about queries. At some point I'll have to get an agent interested in selling it if I'm ever going to see it in print. So it follows...
Writing fantasy usually means writing a certain amount of fight scenes, it seems. Writing fantasy action adventure means that times ten.I love it, really. If I could write action movies for a living, I would in a heartbeat. I love epic fights, and huge odds, and...
I had stalled on the Novel there for a while. I get writer's block the same way I get insomnia - suddenly, viciously, and fleetingly - and while it's annoying, it's nothing I can't get over given a little time.I'd say I get off lightly. The Wikipedia article on...
One of the things I'd recommend any writer to do is try to sketch your characters, or the things in your story, or the world you're creating. It gives you a better and a more solid idea of them, and of course, it's good practice. Anyone can learn how to draw, given...