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Anyone who's ever chatted with me about my writing routine (HINT: I don't write every day or do morning pages) has heard my recommendation to build into your life the structure that best suits your needs. Do you require the habit of a daily writing routine? Do you need silence? A busy coffeeshop? Do you produce your best work by writing-in-group? Then that's what you should do...
For almost 5 years (starting in 2008 ~ ending when my friend Tina was widowed and couldn't write), we met every other Tuesday morning and shared at least 3 pages of first-draft material with each other over coffee. We wrote novels that way. Reading each other's pages outloud to each other. The deadline mattered. The trusted first-reader mattered. The tiny bit of distance from pen-on-paper ~ letting us hear that our words were not dreck ~ that all mattered. So, if you need a trusted reader, make it happen. If you need to email copies to a friend, do it! If you need that coffee-date to produce, set it up. It's your job to figure out what your writing demands of you and make it so!
Many who hear me speak about writing these days have heard about WATTPAD (online, free books for the reading). Well, yesterday I added 2 more stories to that site. Game-Boy (a Y/A) was written with Tina's help (finished in 2011) and the sequel, Sh*t For Brains was completed 2012. These are mysteries (genre I'd never tackled before); with a psychic (lol) and have a great deal of mad-capped humour (also not my usual). The storylines and cast of characters are engaging and I'm quite proud of the work, but they never went anywhere (much) other than my drawer. Once brave - always brave? Yes, they're out there in the world. Check them out if you feel so inclined...
I feel (at my age) that we writers need to share our writing in some fashion. With the publishing industry changed, I take my opportunities where I find them now. I'm hoping these rambling might be food for thought. Cheers. Happy writing & reading!
For almost 5 years (starting in 2008 ~ ending when my friend Tina was widowed and couldn't write), we met every other Tuesday morning and shared at least 3 pages of first-draft material with each other over coffee. We wrote novels that way. Reading each other's pages outloud to each other. The deadline mattered. The trusted first-reader mattered. The tiny bit of distance from pen-on-paper ~ letting us hear that our words were not dreck ~ that all mattered. So, if you need a trusted reader, make it happen. If you need to email copies to a friend, do it! If you need that coffee-date to produce, set it up. It's your job to figure out what your writing demands of you and make it so!
Many who hear me speak about writing these days have heard about WATTPAD (online, free books for the reading). Well, yesterday I added 2 more stories to that site. Game-Boy (a Y/A) was written with Tina's help (finished in 2011) and the sequel, Sh*t For Brains was completed 2012. These are mysteries (genre I'd never tackled before); with a psychic (lol) and have a great deal of mad-capped humour (also not my usual). The storylines and cast of characters are engaging and I'm quite proud of the work, but they never went anywhere (much) other than my drawer. Once brave - always brave? Yes, they're out there in the world. Check them out if you feel so inclined...
I feel (at my age) that we writers need to share our writing in some fashion. With the publishing industry changed, I take my opportunities where I find them now. I'm hoping these rambling might be food for thought. Cheers. Happy writing & reading!
- Published on
I actually got some writing done (not just beach-walking, sunbathing, colouring, eating, drinking) so I consider my vaca-time to have been rather productive. Ten poems and the start of a difficult Y/A fiction piece is nothing to sneeze at, but mostly I'm thrilled to have managed 2 infinity scarves and one cardigan (crocheted) while watching 'cowboy' movies with my Dad (who's spending his winter in FL).
It all requires the same planning, patience and stitch-by-stitch work (word by word in writing's case). I believe that whether you're crafting with needles/hook or with a pen, the brain-muscles are the same. For some, the requirement is a silent, solitary space; for others it's all about ambient noise (John Wayne dialogue, in my case lol). Whatever the needs, as a writer it's your job to make sure the atmosphere is right for the production of quantity-over-quality and bang out a first draft.
I'm pleased to back to the Land of Ice & Snow (really) since this is where my desk resides. In other news, I have just locked in place a full roster of authors for ONTARIO WRITERS' CONFERENCE'S Festival of Authors (April 6th in Pickering, ON) and you'll see announcements start to flow. In case you haven't yet entered their Story Starters Contest (free on the Blog at www.writersconference.com), it's not too late to plunk your 100 words down before end-of-month. Prizes are awarded! And did I mention that it's FREE!
So, back at it...Happy writing!
It all requires the same planning, patience and stitch-by-stitch work (word by word in writing's case). I believe that whether you're crafting with needles/hook or with a pen, the brain-muscles are the same. For some, the requirement is a silent, solitary space; for others it's all about ambient noise (John Wayne dialogue, in my case lol). Whatever the needs, as a writer it's your job to make sure the atmosphere is right for the production of quantity-over-quality and bang out a first draft.
I'm pleased to back to the Land of Ice & Snow (really) since this is where my desk resides. In other news, I have just locked in place a full roster of authors for ONTARIO WRITERS' CONFERENCE'S Festival of Authors (April 6th in Pickering, ON) and you'll see announcements start to flow. In case you haven't yet entered their Story Starters Contest (free on the Blog at www.writersconference.com), it's not too late to plunk your 100 words down before end-of-month. Prizes are awarded! And did I mention that it's FREE!
So, back at it...Happy writing!
