Category: procrastination
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Writing Blog Roundup: Wrong Advice, Plot Twist, Writer’s Block, Telling the Truth and Character’s Clothes
Some blog articles I’ve read lately about writing: Words of advice from famous authors that are just wrong. I imagine this post is bound to draw some criticism, but bring it on! . . . Five ways to write a killer plot twist. I love plot twists. Mistaken identities, sneaky plans, sleight of hand—it’s all…
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How does the Snowflake Method work?
Now if you are not a math whiz, don’t let this scare you: The Snowflake Method of writing a novel follows the same idea of a fractal design that starts off small and builds up. It’s easier to understand if you see this visual. A snowflake is a fractal design and that is the whole…
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Writing habits: try this, not that
In my last post, I strongly suggested that practicing writing every day was the big Secret to becoming a better writer. Now, I don’t want to imply that is the only habit to incorporate into a writing discipline. It may be the most important one, but other habits exist that a writer should address. I’ve…
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No, seriously: how can I become a better writer?
I use to teach creative writing courses to adults. The excitement the people brought to the class inspired me. They wanted to be there. They had great ideas. They sought ways to become better writers. They seemed disappointed when I told them the Secret. I believe they expected me to pull out magic pills for…
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Now that I don’t have a deadline . . .
On Friday morning, November 30th, twelve and a half hours before midnight November 30th, I passed 50,000 for NaNoWriMo. My story is not finished. What is to keep me motivated? Well, besides being an interesting story to me, I need to set a deadline for myself. My goal is to finish the novel before midnight…
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Toolkit for writing fiction
It’s midnight on November 1st and, even though it’s in the middle of the week and you have to go to work tomorrow, you stayed up to write your first sixteen hundred word quota for NaNoWriMo. You’ve thought out a dozen characters in your mind and you have a protagonist who is a thinly-veined version…
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The murdering of perfectionism in planning your novel
Are you the kind of writer who just starts writing and sees where it goes? Or, are you the kind of writer who plans every detail in an outline before writing the first draft? I use to fall into the latter category. I didn’t want to tumble into the trap where the more spontaneous writers…
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Not “I will” but “I am”
I just received an email from Jon Acuff containing a schedule for the Quitter Conference in September and I’m excited to see that Jeff Goins is one of the speakers. A few months ago I read a book by Goins called You Are a Writer, So Start Acting Like One. In a section of this…
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The Furious Five Hundred
It’s a busy week for me for several reasons, one of which my house is being remodeled and every room is in disarray. I have no place to sit in my own home. Despite that, I’ve been camping out at the coffee shop for the past few days and I’m getting work done. I’m using…
Andrew M. Friday 