Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Writing”
A novel needs a good first line. It needs every line to be good but that first line in your story needs to grab a reader’s interest. Those few words need to be a flashing pointer toward the rest of the story. A good first line can also help a writer dive into the story. Most writers, including me, work …
Happiness consists more in conveniences of pleasure that occur everyday than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom. ~~Benjamin Franklin Where do you feel happy? And if you found such a place, how often would you make every effort to go there? This would be a place where you would feel loved and worthy and safe and …
A story has no beginning or end; arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. ~The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951) There’s truth in that first sentence of Graham Greene’s novel. A writer does have to pick that moment to let her characters come to life and …
“Help me to continue writing through those black moments of discouragement when I feel that nothing I write is good or worthwhile or will ever be read by anyone.” (an excerpt from A Writer’s Prayer by H. Joseph Chadwick) From the time I got hold of my first notebook and pen, I wanted to be a writer. All those lines …
Working on the narration of my third Rosey Corner novel, Love Comes Home, has me thinking about Rosey Corner again. I did so enjoy getting to know those Merritt sisters plus one and sharing their lives through ten or so years with you readers. I dedicated those stories to my mother and her three sisters. Their stories about growing up in a …
One of the questions I am often asked when I’m giving a book talk or just out and about in my town and meet up with someone who knows I write books is “How many books have you written?” A reasonable question. One I might be curious to know if I was talking to a writer. But I always tell …
Publishing is a business. Writing may be art, but publishing, when all is said and done, comes down to dollars. ~Nicholas Sparks Not long ago, I asked what questions you would like to ask me or perhaps any writer. I answered Lavon’s question about Hobbies, Ideas and Inspiration a week or so ago. You can click on the link if …
When I posted my “Who Are You?” answers on Sunday, I invited you readers to ask any questions I didn’t answer. A few of you did that. Lavon asked, “Do you have other hobbies, besides writing?” I wouldn’t call writing a hobby, but my work. However, it is work I can do at home and somewhat set my own schedule. …
Have you ever had a dream that seemed so big, so impossible that you were almost afraid to admit you were thinking it? That’s how I was when I was a kid and first decided I wanted to be a writer. I had no idea how I was going to make that happen. I just knew I wanted it more …
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other. –Walter Elliot (1888-1958), Scottish politician Sometimes when I give a talk about writing, I’m asked what characteristic is most valuable to a writer. I can’t really answer that for everybody, but for me it has to be perseverance, that stubborness in my will center that …