Category: How To and Tips
Writers, Let’s Talk About The F-word: Finances
Writers, let’s talk about the F-word: finances When you come face-to-face with death, fears leave you. You know your time is up, and you stop fighting. There is a feeling on the inside…which is more real than anything else … that is about acceptance and surrendering. No matter how many TV shows and movies make […]
Writing Short Stories about Women with Complex Trauma
Writing Short Stories about Women with Complex Trauma “These women, teetering on the edge of sanity and lunacy, mirror the wreckage of their brutal histories. They shed light on the absurdity, the tragedy, and the resiliency of all women plagued by complex trauma.” ~ Women on the Edge, by Sheri Heller It wasn’t until 1992 […]
The Importance Of Not Writing
Why Not Writing is as Important as Writing by Moira Forsyth, author of Tell Me Where You Are I’m sometimes asked how long it takes to write a novel. I’ve only once, in all my years of producing novels, been able to write ‘full time’. Even then I had a big house to clean, a […]
It’s a Rocky Road To Publication
So, where does it start, this road to publication? A few minutes on the internet suggests some authors pick up the trail around the time they start to write, others only when a manuscript is ready to submit to publishers or agents. Stories come from deep within us, partly from nurture, partly from nature. Mine […]
When a Character Has More to Say
In Virginia City, Nevada, a woman walks into a bar. When she tries to pay for her drinks, none of her credit cards work. “They all have different names,” says the bartender. “You got any ID?” “I’m Lianna Dru!” the woman cries. “I’m here for the Boom Town Days and the cast reunion for […]
Truth or Fiction: Does it Really Matter?
I believe it was the brilliant, and often quotable, Anna Quindlen who once said: if you are writing fiction, many will believe that what you put down on paper is actually true. Of course, on the flip side, if you profess your work as factual: perhaps in a memoir highlighting tales of a harrowing youth, […]
How To Handle Being Hit With Deconstructive Criticism
The Wrecking Ball How to handle being hit with deconstructive criticism By Susan K. Hamilton I jumped onto my Twitter feed recently and a Tweet slapped me in the face. It was from a woman—an aspiring writer—who tweeted that she felt “so broken” because her father had just told her to give up writing, that […]
Writing While Under the Influence of Emotions
As a child, I remember one of the worst chores I had was having to read out loud for 30 minutes every day. I hated it! I hated reading, let alone out loud. I think I must have had dyslexia because of how hard it was to go from one line to the next or […]
Iceland and Horses: How I Came to Write a Memoir
I didn’t set out to write a memoir. I knew I wanted to write something about a horse farm in the north of Iceland where I traveled every summer with a group of friends. My traveling mates were a lovable, kooky, lively, and voluble group of women worthy of a story. After many years of […]
How To Develop Your Marketing Plan
Marketing can be a dirty word for writers, or something to be afraid of. Self-promotion can feel uncomfortable and overwhelming. Alongside my writing, I’ve spent the last 11 years working in marketing, mostly in the arts. That experience has been useful in helping me to prepare for the publication of my debut novel, The Disappeared. […]
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