I wanted to take a fresh look at how to research novels. I polled some of my writing buddies both unpublished and published and got some great ideas for researching.
Home Improvement?
If you’re trying to write a home improvement scene and are totally repair challenged, try Youtube.com.
Crazy Psychopath People?
This is obviously for people who write suspense. The FBI website offers research for you to profile your villain(s). Not for the faint of heart.
Local law enforcement
Read the RestYou know what I re-discovered after last month’s blog? Not only must we do the next thing to pursue the writing dream, sometimes that means jumping hurdles. Some large, some small.
My son Caleb is running track this year. Ask me about basketball and we can converse. Track? Not so much. Needless to say this Momma is learning a whole new sport. One of the races Caleb’s coach has him running hurdles is the 110m Hurdle race.
I was amazed to watch him jump the hurdles. The first miracle? That this chick has a son with legs long enough to run jump hurdles (I’m only 5’1″). He picked up speed and kept jumping them one after another. Some he sailed over, others he clipped.
It made me think about the writing journey. I want consistent victory–to sail effortless over every hurdle. Every. Time. But it doesn’t work that way. While parts of the writing journey, seem effortless. Others? It takes work and determination. For instance, editing was never my strong suit and it still isn’t. Those I tend to hit the hurdles on.
The important thing is to stay on track, focus and run your race. You probably won’t master every aspect of writing, especially if you’re like me, starting out. But you will eventually.
Here are three things to
I’ve been buried under an avalanche of frustration due to a software conversion. Have you ever been through one of those? During the first week of the conversion, the phone rang off the hook with questions and snags between the old software and the new.
I know having a sprinkling of gray hair is considered elegant, but I think I grew a whole new patch of gray hair in the last three months. (Seriously, ask my friends).
When we started this conversion I knew it was going to be difficult and I thought I planned accordingly. But I didn’t. Before I knew it, all of my writing time was lost because of the unforeseen problems that developed.
One day in the midst of pulling out my hair – a wise friend asked me.
“What is the one thing you can do to reach towards your dream today? What’s the one thing you can do in order to have forward motion?”
I looked at her at like she was crazy. Certifiable.
“Um, write?”
“Good, then go do
Read the Rest
There comes a time in every writer’s life when we face the question: What’s wrong with my manuscript?
“What’s wrong?” is not a bad question. We strive to tell the best story we can. During rewrites, we need to know what’s working – dialogue or Storyworld maybe – but what’s not working can overshadow your moments of brilliance.
Today, MBT Retreats Coordinator Alena Tauriainen and MBT Skills Coach Beth Vogt wrestle with the question What’s wrong with my manuscript?
Read the Rest
