What is it about not doing any writing for a few days (or a couple of weeks) that makes it so hard to get back to it? I mean, seriously, I'm having trouble focusing on anything today--as is my chat buddy. I've tried working on Phoenix and scratched out a measly 139 words before I gave up. Now I'm trying to work on A.C. and not only not able to ( Read more... )

One of my shorts up at DII is getting some feedback that is very different than the earlier feedback, and one of the biggest differences in the critters is their ages. Previous critters have all been around my age or older and picked up certain nuances of the piece. They seemed to understand why I downplayed the things I did and picked up on ( Read more... )

The one thing I notice writers having trouble with is naming people, places, and things. In one of the current manuscripts I'm editing, the author has a bastard spelling of a popular Harry Potter name and has had a character give an animal a really awful name by adding -arro to the word describing a particular characteristic of the animal (trust ( Read more... )

So, I'm having a problem understanding some reactions to my characters in A.C.. Well, it's more like, understanding how people are reacting when I reveal a bad trait in my "good" characters--which doesn't really explain it any better. Anyway, that resulted in this discussion ( Read more... )

I've been doing this submission/rejection thing and post/crit thing for a few years now, and I thought I was pretty much used to it all ( Read more... )

I've finished ch4. I like ch4. I like the chapters that I've finished before it. I'm sure there's still idiot stuff to fix, but I think I've done pretty good so far on this attempt ( Read more... )

Writing a new short is on my goal list for the week. I have a goal of 2-5 shorts for the year and only have 2 done. I need 3 or 4 nonfic clips. And I can't seem to get myself to work on anything new. Of course, today I'm having trouble getting focused to work on anything, but that's beside the point ( Read more... )

There are some writers who can use language beautifully -- they take words and use them in ways that are unique and beautiful (rarelytame comes to mind as one). I'm not one of them.

And it's driving me crazy.

I know I have at least one or two more revisions after this one for A.C. and I'm locking up on word use. I read a sentence and go "how utterly ( Read more... )

Every now and again (every 2 weeks or so), I post something called TWB -- The Writers Block. It's based on a blog we had when the group first started where we were supposed to discuss writing. The blog didn't last long, but I've posted questions to the group on and off ever since ( Read more... )

So, I'm reading and critting a novel for rarelytame as a part of the r.l. crit group that just started at my local B&N recently, and last night I made a comment in her journal about her language use -- which I find to be extraordinary.

That comment inadvertently inspired this post about words, writing, and encouragement (among other things). The comments ( Read more... )