Margeanne Mitchell

What Should We Do with Blog Awards?

May 19, 2011 Random Musings
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Sometimes it still comes as a shock to me that anyone visits my blog and cares about what I have to say.  So when I received my first blog award, I was completely unprepared. My first thought was of being tremendously flattered.  I think my exact reaction was, Me? Seriously? That thought was quickly followed [...]

Tagged as: beta reader, blogging, critique partners/groups, Jami Gold, Margeanne Mitchell, Mercedes M. Yardley, paranormal author, professionalism, Rachel Graves, Wendy Sparrow

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Do You Have a Muse?

April 28, 2011 Random Musings
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All writers get their ideas from somewhere.  The question is—where, or what, is that somewhere? I don’t believe muses are entities like those venerated in Ancient Greece.  However, when my subconscious comes up with things I never saw coming and never could have consciously created in a million years, it’s easy for me to understand [...]

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Tagged as: Jami Gold, Jami is insane, listening to characters, Margeanne Mitchell, Mercedes M. Yardley, muse, paranormal author, Roni Loren

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Do You Know What Will Make You Happy?

March 17, 2011 Random Musings
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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. I’ve had to make a [...]

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Tagged as: deadlines, Edittorrent, happiness, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, life balance, Margeanne Mitchell, paranormal author, risk, sacrifices

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How to Create a Strong Character: Use Masks

November 2, 2010 Writing Stuff
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We’re working our way through the list of how to create strong characters.  So far, we’ve ensured they had goals and analyzed how their self-image differs from reality.  And related to that contrast we talked about last time… Do They Merely Represent an Idea? Characters are often most cardboard-like when they exist only for some [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, character archetypes, character flaws, listening to characters, Margeanne Mitchell, strong characters

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Is Your Muse a Perv?

October 12, 2010 Writing Stuff
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This post was inspired by a funky sort of cosmic pile-up in which I had several experiences over the past couple days all involving Muses visiting people in the shower.  Yes, writers are insane—more on that later. First, Christine Bell and I were discussing on Twitter how we get ideas during the most inopportune times.  [...]

Tagged as: Jami is insane, listening to characters, Margeanne Mitchell, muse, Roni Loren, Twitter, writers are insane

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Critique Week: Building a Relationship

September 22, 2010 Writing Stuff
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During this two-week long Critique Week extravaganza we’ve looked at how criticism can help us improve, we’ve learned what a successful critique partnership looks like, and we’ve identified our strengths and weaknesses so we’ll recognize our perfect critique partner.  Now let’s put that all together and talk about how to build a supportive, helpful relationship [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, critique partners/groups, Critique Week, editing, feedback, Margeanne Mitchell

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Critique Week: Secrets of a Critique Partnership

September 16, 2010 News
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Today marks a milestone for me.  My first ever appearance guest-posting on another blog.  Woohoo! I’m at Roni Loren’s blog today with a post on a critique partnership that works: mine.  With help from my critique partner, Margeanne Mitchell, I put together a humorous peek inside our relationship and tried to identify what makes it [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, blogging, critique partners/groups, Critique Week, feedback, Margeanne Mitchell, Roni Loren

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Do You Know What Will Make You Happy?

August 18, 2010 Random Musings
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My blog-home-away-home, Edittorrent, had another thought-provoking post yesterday.  You really should go read it, but if you don’t have the time, their point boils down to this: Know what will make you feel like a success as a writer.  I think this same idea can apply to just about anyone—not just writers. Know what will [...]

Tagged as: critique partners/groups, dreams, Edittorrent, happiness, Jami's rants, life balance, Margeanne Mitchell, RWA, sacrifices

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The Mega-Huge Ultimate RWA Packing List

July 21, 2010 Over-Achieving Perfectionist
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I’m leaving in a couple of days to attend my first ever writers’ conference—the RWA National Conference, the mother of all big genre conferences.  So, how does a control-freak perfectionist prepare for this overwhelming experience?  With color-coded, prioritized spreadsheets to keep track of all the hundreds of workshops (last weekend’s project) and lots (and lots!) [...]

Tagged as: blogging, conferences, Jami is insane, Margeanne Mitchell, organized, perfectionism, RWA

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