May 23, 2013

Are You Starting New Writing Projects to Avoid Finishing Old Ones?

If you haven’t been reading Ava Jae’s blog, this is a great time to start. Ava posted a great piece on what it takes to finish writing your novel, a struggle every novelist knows all too well. One passage in particular from Ava’s piece stuck out to me: You need to understand that if you [...]

Fear and Criticism: Walking the Fine Line

Inspired by Anna Meade’s recent blog post. Putting your fiction out there for criticism can be a nerve-wracking prospect. Most writers I know have, at one time or another, believed that their work was no good. Some have frequently considered quitting. A few have never started at all (they’re the “aspiring” writers). A few writers, [...]

Writing Through the Wolf’s Hour

Around this time in National Novel Writing Month, I start seeing a litany of familiar fears and complaints from first-time participants. My plot isn’t working. My story’s boring. I don’t know what to do next. I’ve hit a block and I can’t write another word. This is literally the worst thing I’ve written, quite possibly [...]