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Monthly Archives: July 2012
What makes a person who they are?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, mostly as a writer but also as a person. If I’m going to create memorable characters, then it will help to understand what makes a person who they are and not some sort … Continue reading
Posted in General Musings, Writing
Tagged being a writer, consistency, developing characters, series, writing
1 Comment
Money matters
As much as I’d love to believe that we can all live on happiness and that passion will sustain us through any hardships, I know that’s simply not true. So, in honor of it being Monday and another day back … Continue reading
Posted in Life
Tagged being a writer, money vs. passion, Of Human Bondage, patricia c. wrede blog, Pitbull, quotes, Steinbeck, working
Comments Off on Money matters
What’s my novel about? Hell if I know…
I spent the day hanging out with a friend and we had a few hours of time to kill in the car, so she asked me to tell her what my novel was about. You’d think after three drafts and … Continue reading
Picking betas
I finished entering all my edits to the second draft yesterday. I have a page and a half of notes that I could go through – things like “do I use the phrase ‘curled up to sleep’ too many times”? … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, General Musings, My Writing, Writing
Tagged being a writer, beta readers, my unbridled arrogance, patricia c. wrede blog, writing
5 Comments
A kitchen sink post…
My backbrain is currently percolating a post on picking your betas, but it’s not quite ready to go. So, in the meantime, I figured I’d do a post of randomness that alone wouldn’t warrant much of a post, but together … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, General Musings, Life, Writing
Tagged being a writer, grammar, Hayibo, patricia c. wrede blog, revising, second draft, spelling, writing, you don't know what you don't know
1 Comment
How to handle italics
CAUTION: This post may become out-dated at any given point in time, so if you’re reading this more than a month or so after I write it, verify that things haven’t changed. And, as always, follow any submission guidelines first and … Continue reading
Posted in General Musings, Writing
Tagged being a writer, italics, manuscript format, underlining italics, writing
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This is scary…I actually like my novel
I just finished reading the second draft of my novel. And I actually enjoyed reading it. And that scares the bejeezus out of me. See, before when I made the mistake of showing the first draft to my mom and … Continue reading
Posted in My Writing, Writing
Tagged being a writer, beta readers, my novel, my unbridled arrogance, second draft, writing
3 Comments
John Scalzi on being a “self-made man” (and a personal digression about opportunity & loans)
Scalzi wrote a post today called “A Self-Made Man Looks at How He Made It.” Read it, it’s good. (Spoiler alert: he makes an excellent point that none of us are in fact self-made.) While my story isn’t identical to his, … Continue reading
Posted in Life
Tagged financial crisis, John Scalzi blog, mortgage loans, opportunity, self-made man, starting from nothing, student loans
3 Comments
Misery (the novel)
In his “Learn Writing with Uncle Jim” thread on Absolute Write, James D. Macdonald recommended writers read Misery by Stephen King. You can see his full explanation for why here. (You can skip down to where it says, “Why did … Continue reading
M.H. Lee 
Tracking Changes
In my job that actually pays the bills, I spend a lot of time working on reports. Generally, before any report is finalized it goes through about four rounds of edits, sometimes even more. And, because the working world is … Continue reading →