The kind of passion family and friends accuse us of being obsessed about because we neglect them at times. We've stayed up too late meeting a deadline, finishing a thought, or tweaking one more sentence. Fellow writers are the only ones who understand. We follow and friend each other for support and higher social media stats. One …
Fling the Manuscript Out the Window
An interesting story is told about Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird (1960), by biographer, Charles J. Shields in his book, Mockingbird (2006) (Summary mine) Sometime before publication, Ms. Lee was struggling with revisions. She opened the window of her apartment and flung the manuscript into the darkness. Years of work scattered in …
So You Want to Write a Novel
Some moment in time the desire entered your mind, "I want to write a novel. How hard can it be?" Well…remember the first time you tried to juggle as kid? "I can to do that," you said. The clown at the circus made it look easy but when you tossed the first ball into the …
Character Conflict
Are you going through a personal conflict? May it resolve into a wonderful conclusion soon. Isn't it ironic to be a writer? Some days you write about fictional characters and other days you live as one.
Writing a Novel is a Journey
Writing a novel is a journey like that described by the blind seer in, O, Brother, Where Art Thou? Dirs.Coen, Ethan and Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Chris Thomas King, Touchtone Pictures, 2000. Blind Seer: "You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in …
“Murder Your Darlings”
"Murder Your Darlings,"(On Style, chapter 12) is a quote from Arthur Quiller-Couch's series of published lectures (On the Art of Writing, 1916) He encouraged writer's to, "...perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it--wholeheartedly--and delete it before sending your manuscript to press..." He failed to mention, however, that tapping the delete button would require Hershey Kiss therapy for at least a …
The Natural Shape of a Story
Truman Capote was asked in an interview by Patti Hill, "How does one arrive at short-story technique?" His answer applies to novels as well: "Since each story presents its own technical problems, obviously one can’t generalize about them on a two-times-two-equals-four basis. Finding the right form for your story is simply to realize the most …
Creating a Scene
Creating a scene for a novel is like cooking something from scratch without a recipe. Add the sentence; taste it; add another sentence; roll it around with the others, then tweak the whole thing until everything blends into a savory morsel.
My “Precious”
My "Precious" makes me insane. I have a story in my head. I want to share it with others but it must be planned and structured. Then it must be perfectly formatted, punctuated, and edited or an agent will reject it. Various writing craft books and blogs from our age tout, "Start in the middle …
Phyllis A. Still 