polka dot suitcase » Entries tagged with "writing"
Super Bowl games writers play
First of all, if you came here hoping for some play-by-play recap of the Super Bowl action, or if you’re thinking you’ll see some silly YouTube vid of writers tackling each other…ah, no. But if you’re a writer, or even if you’re looking for ways to boost your own productivity, I may be able to help. For six weeks, a bunch of writers over on Freelance Success are having a Query Challenge. That’s where we break into … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activities
My big fat alliteration week
Moms juggle a lot of things — that’s a given. Some moms handle it better than others. Me? I’m scatterbrained…always thinking about a hundred things at once, dreaming about things, plotting and planning future events, cloud gazing. So I need a little help keeping things organized and on schedule. Back when the kids were little, I came up with my alliteration week. I divided the household chores up by day, and assigned each an easy-to-remember day. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activities, Fooling Around
10K away from a first draft
So I’m doing NaNo, writing a first draft in the month of November. I’ve been very dedicated, and now I just crossed the 40K mark (the goal is 50K). Ah, if only I had a dollar for every word I’ve written. As far as first drafts go, it’s not totally hideous, but it’s pretty scary. And not scary-because-I’m-writing-a-horror-manuscript. If only. I’m looking forward to edits and revisions. I love revising. I hate the first draft process. Mostly the overcoming inertia thing, but then the keep it rolling thing and just gag your inner editor. That’s hard. Really hard. Turns out I’m very, very good at being critical of my writing. For an article, say, 1200 words long, it’s easy to hold back the criticism for the first draft, and then unleash it … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Partners in prose
I was going to be very clever and find something that rhymed with “crime” for the title of the post, but it’s o-dark-thirty in the morning and I couldn’t come up with anything. Alliteration will have to do. Anyhoo, I mentioned earlier I’m doing NaNo again this year. But this year, I’ve got a fabulous writing buddy to do it with me: Sir Buffalo Sushi! (Applause, applause.) We’ve got a very cool salt rock lamp that we turn on when we’re in writing mode. It starts the inner creativity juices flowing and alerts Mister and Big Fish to tiptoe past us very quietly because we’re working on our masterpieces. When this light’s a-burnin’, don’t come…uh…okay, still can’t rhyme this early. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
NaNoWhatTheHeckOh
Okay, so I told you I was doing the NaNoWriMo thing — writing a first draft in a month. I’m on track; thanks for asking. But here’s something I just heard about — NaBloPoMo. National Blog Posting Month. Where bloggers try to write a post every day for a month. Unlike NaNo, it’s any month you want; just jump in and crank out 30 or 31 posts…which makes February look appealing for the first time in Roman calendar history. Being a challenge freak (just ask my weary writing buddy), I was sorely tempted to give it a shot. Nothing motivates me more than a competition where you don’t win fame, silver cups, money, or even respect. But I feel like at my advanced age I should begin to show some self-restraint. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Activities
MIA again?!
Oy, it’s been several days since I’ve polka-dotted. I’m so bad. My excuse is that I was finishing up my fifth book. I know I say this every time, but this one was So Much Fun! I know I’ve still got the edits and the tweaks and the “forgot this!”s to go through, but phew — I’m happy to be finished with this first round. Fun stuff, though. Sometimes it seems like writing can get a little mechanical, so it’s always fun to have some zing in there. Speaking of zing and fun writing…my wonderful agent has been working hard to shop my baby around. It’s a book proposal that I cannot *wait* to turn into a book. Wise writing experts always advise you to send out queries or book proposals and … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Hairy Plotter
It happened again this morning. Big Fish called up, “Hey, J.K. Rowling’s going to be on the news in a couple minutes. Want to come watch for inspiration?” It’s not the first time someone’s implied that if I just wrote a best seller, I’d live happily ever after in financial bliss. Oh, is that all I have to do? What the heck have I been waiting for? I think I have some free time this weekend. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around
Joining forces: Teamed with an agent
So much of the writing biz is a solo adventure. But sometimes you need to partner up with someone — and when you do, suddenly you think, “Um…just why was I being all, ‘I am an island’ anyway?” I just signed on with agent Jennifer Lawler, and suddenly I feel like Dorothy stepping out of the house into Oz. Ooh, look at all the colors in the world! I took a class with Jennifer a couple years ago, and I was impressed with her calm leadership back then. So when I found out she was now with a literary agency and accepting clients, I almost fell over myself asking if she’d take a chance on me. Luckily, she’s a brave soul and willing to give it a shot. So now I’ve got … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fooling Around