One question writers are often asked is, “How do you get your ideas?” Well, I can’t speak for all writers, of course, but in my case, it’s the ideas that seem to get me. My problem is not finding ideas to write about. My problem is that I have so many story ideas that there aren’t enough days in…
It’s Not Over When It’s Over
I’m sure new writers, people with stars in their eyes and ideas in their heads, probably think that the wisdom of the King of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland actually holds true:
“Begin at the beginning, “the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
While these words might work well for a portion of the process, getting to the end of a book most certainly isn’t the time to call it “done”. As a matter of fact, books don’t even usually begin at the beginning. Before you can even start the actual writing of your story, there is plotting, character development, outlining, research, and more to be done.
Then, you write “The End” … and you start all over again.
Grammar Snob
I have a confession to make. I’m a grammar snob.
In all areas of life but one, I am a very tolerant person. My heart is open to forgiveness, and I strive to show gratitude for all good things, and find things to be thankful for about the bad ones. There are very few things that really get my goat.
Bad grammar is one of those things.
Scrivener
Scrivener is more than just a word processor. It takes you back to the days when you could write scenes on pages, outline on index cards, shuffle ideas around, and re-structure a story to your heart’s content before you actually committed to it.
Forever Lovers, Forever Foes
This story has gone through several incarnations. The original draft was written over twenty years ago, and set aside. It recently went through some major rewrites after it began tugging at my brain.
It’s funny how, when you set aside a book for that long, and then you pick it up again, some of it is pretty terrible … and yet other parts are surprisingly good.
Animal Messages from the Universe
Note: this is a very old post from an ancient incarnation of this blog. I found it interesting to revisit, however, so am leaving it online. Today, the message comes from Raven. A short while ago, I posted a rewrite of one of my animal communication newsletter articles on PodBlogging: The original had focused on…
Gayle Nastasi 