The last month has been very busy in my writing life. I am happy to say that I reached my goal of sending out a draft of my novel to first readers on August 28th. I have already received some invaluable feedback and I am excited for more over the next couple of months. InContinue reading “Dee Dee The Duck and A Thousand Words A Day”
Category Archives: exploring
A Happy Discovery – Free Indirect Discourse: I Was Already Using It, But Now I Know When and How to Use It Correctly
I first saw the term Free Indirect Discourse while reading the chapter on Flannery O’Connor in Write Like The Masters by William Cane. Cane describes Free Indirect Discourse (FID) as “A popular technique with good writers, FID involves narrating a scene in language that contains some elements from the lexicon of one of the charactersContinue reading “A Happy Discovery – Free Indirect Discourse: I Was Already Using It, But Now I Know When and How to Use It Correctly”
Part Two The Worrying Wave of Weak Verbs: a cautionary tale of the murderous search for to be, to have, to do, to get, to go and to make
In my last post, I shared an amazing discovery, a little book full of helpful tips called The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier by Bonnie Trenga. At the end of exploring Chapter Seven, you’ll recall I encountered a “there was” problem in my manuscript. After my battle with “there was”, I moved on toContinue reading “Part Two The Worrying Wave of Weak Verbs: a cautionary tale of the murderous search for to be, to have, to do, to get, to go and to make”
The Worrying Workload of Weak Writing Part One: the discovery of the stretched-out sentences.
Over the last two years, I thought I had read every book my local library system offered on writing: instructional, anecdotal, genre specific, technique specific–the works. Last time I went to the library, however, a cute little book I hadn’t noticed before jumped out at me: The Curious Case Of The Misplaced Modifier by BonnieContinue reading “The Worrying Workload of Weak Writing Part One: the discovery of the stretched-out sentences.”
Strange Pleasures Part Two Update
Yesterday, I updated (wrote the post that went with the picture I accidentally published) Strange Pleasures Part Two. I assumed the update would go out to the readers who follow this blog, but a friend told me it did not. I enjoyed writing it and would love some reader feedback, so hopefully this little noteContinue reading “Strange Pleasures Part Two Update”
Strange Pleasures Part Two *
To continue my study of strange pleasures, I took to the web in search of others’ ideas and insights on the subject. I found some interesting ideas at Wooden Boat Forum where a discussion of enjoying things from the past brought up the strange pleasures of: cutting grass with a scythe; doing laundry by hand;Continue reading “Strange Pleasures Part Two *”
A Change of Scenery: Hiking for Writers
This winter has been wonderfully warm and spring-like in my neck of the woods, so I’ve been going on some fun walks. Thanks to a post by harrybipedhiking, a local blogger, I recently discovered Ravensdale Retreat. This place is an amazing contradiction–A beautiful forest with a little stream that runs through it, packed between aContinue reading “A Change of Scenery: Hiking for Writers”
Sources For Guided Revision
Since my first read-through of my novel–in which I could barely read it for all the horrible typos and grammar issues and ended up hating my manuscript–I have been actively avoiding my novel. However, having given myself a strict deadline which is rapidly approaching, it’s time to get to work. As I am stillContinue reading “Sources For Guided Revision”
Be Prepared: Inspiration Can Surprise You!
Yesterday, I had my whole day planned–the whole week actually–but while wandering the blogs of wordpress, I happened upon Catherine Austen’s Blog – Deadline? What Deadline? She had a post about writing contests for kids that ended with some no entry fee writing contests for adults. As usual, I find a contest I’d like toContinue reading “Be Prepared: Inspiration Can Surprise You!”
Finding the Nearsighted Narwhal
It’s easy as a self published author to focus all of your promotion and marketing on the web. However, I recently experienced the joy of seeing my books on the shelves of a local bookstore and it feels great! It all started with a facebook invitation to a Saturday night showing of local films. ItContinue reading “Finding the Nearsighted Narwhal”