Where Normal Need Not Apply
After the last few weeks of “serious issues,” I needed a silly break, so I looked up the search terms that recently brought people to my blog. Google didn’t disappoint, as several phrases caught my eye. Every blogger should check the search terms associated with their blog occasionally, and not […]
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With fiction, a fine line exists between stories we can relate to (no matter how fantastical the setting, characters, or plot) and those we can’t. We’ve all heard the phrase “suspension of disbelief” in relation to movies and books to explain how we accept the impossible. Every genre has different […]
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Earlier this week, Julie Musil had a great post about how to create story endings that resonate. I almost wrote an epic comment to her post, but decided to save my wordiness for here. And I get to use one of my vacation pictures—Disney’s California Adventure theme park, get it? […]
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Lately I’ve been struck by how similar music is to writing. Both arts use a non-visual medium to create an emotion. And often, just like writing, music is meant to create movies in our mind for a do-it-yourself music video. If you’ve ever watched a movie with the sound turned […]
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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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Writers are often overwhelmed with story ideas. When I’m in the middle of difficult revisions, it’s normal for me to think of several other shiny ideas that I would much rather work on instead of doing yet another round of edits. But not every idea is worthy of a story, […]
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Most of my past year has been spent editing and revising, but for the past two days, I’ve been able to write fresh stuff for a shiny new project. Oh, drafting, how I love thee. Really, is there anything more freeing than starting with a newborn idea and exploring? Every […]
Recently, two best-selling authors have insisted that they don’t write romance novels. In fact, they both acted like romance novels were beneath them. No, they’re writing more important stories about life and death and war and taxes. Well, maybe not the taxes part. Why all the hating on romance novels? […]
