As I wait (impatiently) for the stork to rap on my door with his cartoon beak, my sweet baby bundle in tow, I've filled my week with writing projects, projects that would be great to complete, but ones that aren't time-sensitive should my daughter decide to arrive early.

The problem: motivation, dedication, avoiding procrastination, sitting down and ( Read more... )

This week, as part of her final VCFA residency for an MFA in writing for children and young adults, my mom, Sarah Blake Johnson, gave a presentation on character roles. Unluckily I wasn't able to attend the official lecture, but I did get to see one of her practice run-throughs. My mom wasn't talking about archetypal roles (for example, a Christ ( Read more... )

One of the challenges I face when writing is I tend to over think things in the initial drafting stage. This goes for research as well.

So one of my goals for NaNoWriMo is to restrict the researcher in me. And so this month, during my writing time, I am almost entirely limiting myself to quick trips to Wikipedia for research. If I've hit my word ( Read more... )

Light, delicious little snowflakes. Utah skiers are certainly  thrilled--there's been a ton in the mountains. And as long as I keep myself warm I don't mind winter and I rather like the snow. I like autumn better, but I'll take snow as long as it provides minimal inconvenience and cold for me. And I have super cool snowflake earrings that I got ( Read more... )

1. Every six months or so, it seems I need to readjust myself to my own life, to re-learn how to cope, to think about all the roles I play, how I spend my time, and what it takes for me to be happy. I've spent less time online as a result, and been have been reminded that writing, while important to me, is just one aspect of me. The same goes for ( Read more... )

 I've officially decided to do NaNoWriMo this year. One of the challenges I have with writing is I'm a slow writer--particularly when it comes to first drafts. And I like revising much better than writing a first draft. So I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year.

Any suggestions from those who have done NaNoWriMo before? What works well, what doesn

I accidentally pressed something and deleted my entire entry. Woe is me. Attempt two ( Read more... )

Either feast or famine, right? So you get two posts from me in one day.

Every semester I assign my writing students to participate in a class blog. This is my fifth semester doing it, and it's always gone well before. My students just started their blogs--they did their first posts for yesterday, and they've started commenting on each other's ( Read more... )

I just reread Juliet Marillier's Son of the Shadows (the second in the Sevenwaters trilogy). I read it for the first time about a year ago, and absolutely loved it--the characters, the story, the pacing, the setting, the magic... it just really works. It's my favorite in the series, and for several weeks I've been thinking about, and so I reread it ( Read more... )

I haven't been doing my writing on my novel. I've been busy, yes, it's true. But I also haven't made time for it ( Read more... )