A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard April 14, 2022 “If you wait until you got time to write a novel, or time to write a story, or time to read the hundred thousands of books you should have already read – if you wait for the time, you will never do it. ‘Cause there ain’t no …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard March 31, 2022 Writing a book? Here are 4 no-fail shortcuts to a good first draft: 1. Make it true. Fiction or nonfiction, capture the truth as you understand it. 2. Make it clear. You’re talking to someone when you write. Who is that? Use words that are easy to …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard March 17, 2022 “…Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.” Agatha ChristieAn Autobiography Ain’t that the truth? Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. She also lived an interesting life. In the first world war she worked as a nurse …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard March 3, 2022 “Writing is like driving at night. You can see only as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” E.L. Doctorow, in interview,Vogue magazine (Nov. 1984) Good metaphors like Doctorow’s express a truth, and can help guide you through writing a few pages or …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard February 17, 2022 “What continual rejection did…was drive me back into the basics of who I was” Pat Barker Pat Barker worked hard on two novels she described to Valerie Stivers of The Paris Review as “sensitive middle-class-lady novels, the kind of thing the person who bumped trolleys with me in the …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard February 3, 2022 Have you ever played solitaire and hedged your bets, keeping a card in your hand until you see a definite progression with the ones you’ve already laid down? My experience is that at least half the time, the progression won’t show up until you lay down the …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard January 6, 2022 The Idea Itself The first step in any writing project is to create a container. The “container” consists of: Your Inspiration—the idea itself Your Why—why you, why now, why this book Your Ideal Reader—who you see enjoying the book Your Schedule and Systems—how you see yourself getting it …
A Writer’s Roadmap Thursday Postcard January 6, 2022 Let your stuff go! Turns out I’m a hoarder. Not of material goods (ahem, unless we mean certain books), but of my own writing. Fourteen projects, to be exact. Two novels (one a 76,000 word novel about which my agent kindly said, “it lacks oomph”), eight short stories, three novellas, …