I used to always print out my chapters as I wrote. My printer saw a lot of me. But for my current WIP I did something very differently. I rarely printed out chapters after I wrote them. Instead, I did almost all of my editing on the computer. Look, there were exceptions. For example, I […]
Writing
Why I Need Silence to Write
Noise chases me. And when someone chases me, I run. Why? Well, I prefer silence in order to write. I know that this is not how everyone operates. Friends and colleagues post their playlists as they write. Wow. How do they do this? When I hear music my mind is pulled away from my own […]
My Favorite Word, Onomatopoeia and Scott Westerfeld
I have to tell you that I love the word linger. I feel as if I linger over the word as I read it out loud or say it in my head. This is probably because of the hard g followed by the prefix –er, which comes from deep inside the throat. It forces me […]
How Many Hours Do You Need to Write Each Day?
How many hours ideally would you like to write each day? Two? Four? Ten? I used to have this idea that the goal was always more. And that if I had more time, I’d have more pages and better pages, which would result in more books and better books. But, recently, I’m revising this idea. […]
Action Verbs for Fighting Scenes
Last week, a student in my tutorial at Hollins University delivered a presentation on techniques to bolster fighting scenes. Now I have to confess that I’m the sort of person who covers her eyes during fighting sequences in film. I was the kid who would watch the television show LOST IN SPACE, a campy science […]
How I (Sometimes) Balance Motherhood and Writing
I’m not always an acrobat. But it’s something I’m always working on–balancing motherhood and parenting. Recently, I was blown off course. I was so busy that I found myself not having time to read to my first grader at night. Not good! I have been re-correcting over the past couple of weeks. Here are six […]