RWA

What Makes You Feel Legitimate?

February 2, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Last week, we had a great discussion in the comments about whether we call ourselves writers or authors.  In general, we agreed that while we don’t judge others by what they call themselves, we each have our reasons for what we call ourselves.  Many echoed the idea that we want to feel legitimate before we’ll [...]

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The Best Reason to Blog – Part 2

November 24, 2011 Random Musings
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Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.  The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for.  Or in my case, wait for the tryptophan to kick in from the turkey so I can catch up on sleep. Last year [...]

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The Ultimate Gift Guide for Writers

November 22, 2011 Writing Stuff
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The end of this week marks the unofficial beginning to the holiday shopping season in the United States.  Thursday is our Thanksgiving holiday, and the day after is known as Black Friday, the day retailers finally sell enough to put their accounting books “in the black” for the year. I’m not one of those who [...]

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Can You “Fast Draft”?

November 8, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Several writers I know have recently tried the “Fast Draft” method.  What is the Fast Draft method?  Fast drafting entails getting the framework of our stories down as fast as possible—without worrying what that draft looks like. Author Candace Havens says it’s possible to complete a first draft in two weeks.  *mind boggles*  Two weeks is [...]

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How Vulnerable is Your Writing?

June 30, 2011 Writing Stuff
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A few weeks ago, we talked about about branding and blogging and how to create connections with others.  People who feel connected to us are more likely to be willing to give our book a try or to help us promote.  Connected readers might become our front lines in our quest for global best-seller domination. [...]

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When Should a Perfectionist Call Something Done?

March 1, 2011 Over-Achieving Perfectionist
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Yes, I’m still in the deadline cave this week, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Yay!  While I’m hiding, I wanted to share this post I originally wrote last summer.  The lesson is even more relevant to me right now.  (That’s a look at one of my edited pages to [...]

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The Truth about Writing Contests

February 17, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Opinionated statement alert: Every writer should volunteer to judge a writing contest.   And not simply for altruistic reasons.  No, we should do it because we can learn from reading others’ work, as it’s much easier to see mistakes in prose other than our own. My friend Anassa Rhenisch had a great blog post about this [...]

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The Best Reason to Blog

November 25, 2010 Random Musings
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Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.  The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for.  Or in my case, have epiphanies. So there I was, trying to think about my manuscript’s last-minute revisions while taking my shower, when [...]

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When Is Faking It Okay?

October 14, 2010 Random Musings
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After disclosing in my last post that my Muse is a perv, he’s been rather quiet.  So apparently he’s also shy.  Or the strong and silent type.  But that means I have no inspiration for today’s blog post.  That’s okay—I’ll fake it. Yes, yes, I know, I railed on faking story tension in another post.  [...]

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Unlike Life, Stories Aren’t a Journey

August 23, 2010 Writing Stuff
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We’ve all heard the saying: Life is a journey.  Often this thought will be accompanied by—enjoy the ride—or something along those lines.  And that’s great advice for life.  But what about for stories? At the RWA conference, I attended the Inside Scoop workshop with Robin Perini and Claire Cavanaugh.  During the workshop, they critiqued opening [...]

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