MacGuffins

I recently learned a new word: MacGuffin.  To my writer friends: I know, I'm possibly the last writer to learn this word.  To everyone else, allow me to explain something I just learned about myself: A MacGuffin is something that moves the plot along, but by itself is not really important (or can be substituted …

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Random grammar tip #1

Grammar tips - brought to you by a random non-grammarian.

How do you write?

Well, it's that time again.  We're in the midst of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), where novices and experts alike try to write 50,000 words in one month. I wish I could say there are two kinds of writers - those who struggle to craft every word and those who write quickly and with a …

NaNo WriMo’s Eve

Hello there, I'm dusting off the cobwebs of this blog to wish you a happy NaNoWriMo's eve. And while I'm at it, for all the non-writers out there, happy Halloween! But back to the topic at hand - NaNoWriMo. In case you didn't know, November is National Novel Writing Month. It's a chaotic time, when …

Brave

There's bravery in love.  There's risk in opening yourself up for someone else... of giving someone the map to all of your private hurts and trusting they'll never go on that hunt. There's bravery in trusting yourself to love someone and to experience it fully - without leaving a hand on the raft of back …

Brain drain or missing muses

Have you ever gotten to a point in your life as a writer where you’ve spent so much time and energy on other things that you’ve no time for creative endeavors? Or maybe it’s not an issue of time; maybe you have no energy or creative spark to fuel even a journal entry. That’s what’s …

write

"There is nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." -Ernest Hemingway I don't know if I could call myself a writer and not have that quote stir something within me. Writing is no simple task.  Sometimes - as many authors know - it can serve as a kind …

Writer problems

As writers, we encounter a lot of problems.  Probably the most talked about problem is when people ask us if we're still writing (which, I guess is a good conversation starter, but is kind of frustrating because the emphasis is usually on "still"). :p But there are lots of other ones like: #1. Fearing and …

On trolls

  It's been a little while since my last blog post - that's partly because of the whirlwind of crazy that is currently my life (between work, grad school, politics, and attempting a social life). But if I'm being honest, there has not been a shortage of things to write about (obviously) and I did have …

All Hallows’ Eve…of NaNoWriMo

Today, people will dress up in all kinds of costumes and go to parties and/or get free candy.  But writers... Well, writers embarking on the adventure known as NaNoWriMo will eye the clock, fingers will be poised over keyboards or over a well-loved notebook, waiting - Waiting for that month that embodies both a writer's …