Tag Archives: writing
Writing Prompt: Rebellion
Twice a month, I get together with some other writers. We pull a prompt from an envelope and write for 30 minutes, then read to each other and chat. Now, with Covid, we do this remotely–one has the envelope and emails the prompt to the rest. We write then Zoom the rest of the meeting. […]
On Completing a Second Draft
Last spring I wrote about finishing my first draft. Yay, me! That was a significant milestone, so I’m told. Pat yourself on the back. You did it! So the second draft might be a bit anticlimactic, but it feels important to me. As I foreshadowed in that piece, I did finish it by fall. But […]
On Completing a First Draft
I haven’t written about writing in a while. I’ve been working on a novel since approximately the dawn of written language. Almost three years ago, I wrote about breaking through a block (“The Insecurities of Being a Writer”). Last fall, I waxed enthusiastically in “Writing Is like a Fungus” about the guidebooks I used to […]
Zen and the Art of Handling Setbacks
Writing a novel is a lot like building a porch. I’m not talking about planning and prep work and how conceiving and completing any project has similar steps and cautions. This is no Zen and the Art of Novel Writing (or Porch Building). This is about setbacks. It began so simply. A three-walled, roofed but […]
Writing Is like a Fungus
Already, I’m letting this blog down. It’s been too long since I’ve written. Well, I’ve been writing, and that’s the good news, just not here. What’s been happening? I’m working on a novel. My second, so you’d think it would be easier, right? Nope. Now I know all my weaknesses and found some new ones. […]
A Perfect Life: My Short Story Collection
December 2017 update: I’m thrilled to announce I won a Rainbow Award (co-winner with the anthology Haunting Muses, which I have a story in)! I meant to post this a couple of months ago, but got distracted. It’s late for a launch announcement, but in time for the gift-buying season! In September, all my […]
Writing a Transgender Character
A piece last fall in Time magazine about the movie The Danish Girl inspired this post (I’m a bit behind). In particular this line, “Stories about transgender people have been received rapturously over the past two years…” And, “But when the script first landed in [Director Tom] Hooper’s lap back in 2008, he says, it […]
The Insecurities of Being a Writer
I’m just going to throw this out there. Sometimes. Most times. I find being a writer downright depressing. Fiction writing, that is. This blog post is easy, but is a direct result of procrastinating and avoiding the novel in progress, a.k.a. WIP for work in progress. I’m afraid to even open the document because staring […]
What’s the Story About?
In a writing workshop with the wonderful Ted Gup, he told us every story should ask two questions: What is the story about? and What is the story about? That may seem too Zen to be practical. But think about it. It’s true everywhere you look. To Kill a Mockingbird is about how Scout’s brother […]
The Nature of Character
I recently learned that all four baby eagles I’d watched hatch and fledge from a nest in Iowa last year, thanks to a web cam, have died. Mostly from electrocution. Power poles are dangerous. It struck me as incredibly sad, but also as an important lesson about nature—bad things happen. The parent eagles are back […]
Elaine Burnes 