Category: my life
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Friday’s Findings: Write in Chunks. Small Chunks.
Look for those ten-minute gifts of time. Although 10,000 is not a magic number, that’s the number of steps I try to get every day. I used to look for that big chunk of time to get to that mystical numeral. But some days, that just wasn’t possible. By accident, I discovered I can get…
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Friday’s Findings: My Autodidactic University
Let’s not talk about how long ago I graduated from university. The world is a different place. I studied journalism and then went to art school. I’m embarrassed to say it took me longer than it should to realize this: graduating from high school or college is just the beginning. School’s purpose is to teach us…
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Friday’s Findings: Creating a scene palette
When creating a scene for the first time, I have a list. And I try to hit as many points on that list as possible: But before writing the rough draft of a scene, I have practiced a step I got from a thin, little book called Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces by poet…
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Friday’s Findings: Discipline Versus Motivation
I usually think of writing as a passive endeavor, but more and more, I’m seeing it as an active fight. This fight has to do with my writing time. I’ve recently come across a few pieces of advice that are all related to fighting for your writing time. Guard your writing time with your life.…
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Fridays Findings: My Top Five Reads This Year
Wow. I’ve read so many great books this year. It was hard willowing my top five list down, but here they are. I’ve reprinted my original reviews here. In no particular order, I present my top five favorite reads for 2024: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin literary fiction, friendship fiction Most of us…
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Friday’s Findings: Goals or Systems?
I’ll be honest with you. I did not achieve my writing goals this year. I have no one to blame but myself. Being the end of the year, I thought about how I could do better in the year to come. So, I consulted with my friend, a book called The Atomic Habits. I’ve discussed The Atomic…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 1
Let’s talk about some do’s anLet’s talk about some do’s and don’t’s of info-dumping. I try to find ways to include how things work in my sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m not always sure I avoid info-dumping. I try to. But it’s an easy trap to fall into, especially as a speculative fiction writer.…
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Some books on writing craft
The following are two completely different books for the writer. One is about a structured process and the other is about organically discovering your creativity. We can benefit from both. Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody I just finished Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Young Adult Novel and…
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Friday’s Findings: Imposter Syndrome as a writer
Over the last few years, I’ve encountered the term imposter syndrome, and I’m like, “What is that?” Imposter syndrome is a thought pattern that reoccurs in someone’s mind and tells them they’re not good enough at what they do. For example: “I’m not a good teacher.” “I’m a terrible physician.” “I’m not as good a…
Andrew M. Friday 