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Jami’s rants

How Much More Do You Have to Learn?

Penrose never-ending stairs optical illusion from the movie Inception

In my last post, I lamented how it’s hard for us to see our learning curve and know how much more we have yet to understand.  I wanted to know how close I was to that elusive “destination” of knowing everything I need to know about writing. *pshaw*  Silly me for […]

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April 7, 2011

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Can Karma Help You Become a Better Writer?

Arrows in a circle

Yesterday, author Jody Hedlund had a blog post about why most writers are blind to their own faults.  The first reason she mentioned really resonated with me: We naturally view our work through our maturity level. When we first start any new project, writing or otherwise, we don’t know what […]

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April 5, 2011

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Is Perfectionism Good or Bad?

Perfect Daisy

My Twitter friend Austin Wulf wrote a blog post yesterday, What’s So Bad About Perfectionism?, and that question got me thinking.  My blog readers might know I call myself not just a perfectionist, but an over-achieving perfectionist.  Is that a bad thing? *smile*  I think it depends. Is Perfectionism Bad? […]

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March 24, 2011

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Are You Teachable?

Boy learning to ride a tricycle

Over the past six months, I’ve received feedback on my work from many sources—contest judges to beta readers.  A lot of them told me things I didn’t want to hear. It would have been very easy to get defensive and react along the lines of:  Didn’t they read it?  It’s […]

March 22, 2011

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Do You Know What Will Make You Happy?

Smiling sunburst

Yes, it’s cheesy, but that picture is me right now because today is my last day in the deadline cave.  Yay! As I’m finishing up my final push to the finish, I wanted to share this post from last summer.  I think it’s still relevant today, maybe even more so. […]

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March 17, 2011

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Should You Tweet Cheat?

Card hand with 5 Aces

Update below. No, I’m not talking about using Twitter to cheat in a relationship.  (Answer: No, if for no other reason than nothing is ever as secure as you think it is.)  I’m talking about whether you should cheat Twitter’s 140 character limit and use extended tweets. Ever since Twitter […]

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February 10, 2011

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Are Romance Heroes Good Role Models?

Couple holding hands

In preparation for Valentine’s Day, a recent USA Today article (5/14 ETA: article no longer in USA Today archives) gave the relationship advice that a man should: “look into her eyes, focus on what she says and really talk to her.”  Wow, earth-shattering ideas. Or not.  The suggestion to treat a woman like […]

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February 8, 2011

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Why Is Head-Hopping Bad?

Mannequin heads

Depending on who you talk to, head-hopping is somewhere between a shoulder shrug and the-world-is-ending bad.  Note that neither of those extremes thinks that head-hopping is good.  I suppose it could be positive if used in some sci-fi story, along the lines of “body snatchers,” but we’re talking about it […]

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January 27, 2011

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What Writing Rules Do You Hate?

Angry Face Drawing

Anyone who has had me read their work can attest to the fact that I can be a tad, um … detail-oriented.  *ahem*  All right, I’ll admit it.  I’m a nit-picky perfectionist, even on beta-reads. I know, I know.  I’m trying to control this tendency.  Beta-reading shouldn’t involve line-editing.  And I owe […]

January 11, 2011

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