I once rode in a bicycle event that took us past some pretty incredible sights. The space shuttle was clearly visible from launch pad 39A. Alligators lined the trenches on the side of the highway and we pedaled within a few feet of the largest known eagle’s nest. When the ride ended and we were packing up our gear, one rider exclaimed, “Wasn’t the space shuttle awesome?” One of the faster, more competitive rider responded, “what space shuttle?” He went on to explain he was so concentrated on finishing the “race”, he saw absolutely nothing except the backside of the rider in front of him. How sad! He missed out on some of the greatest natural and manmade wonders in Florida. I couldn’t help but ask whether he enjoyed himself. […]
Read the RestTag Archives | writing
Finish the Race Well
At My Book Therapy we kicked off NaNoWriMo on the Monday night chat with advice from Beth Vogts. Susan Warren ended the evening with cyber karaoke of Stand By Me. I love these classic words, “I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid.” Part of writing a novel, whether in a month or in a year, is overcoming fear. Insecurities surface. Life interrupts and demands our attention. Two pages into our opening paragraph we discover we’ve already written every great idea we had about the book and now we’ve no place to go! The temptation is to quit. So we never start at all. As you attempt NaNoWriMo, keep these things in mind. 1. Writing is hard work. Period. Forget what everyone else is doing, how fast they are […]
Read the RestAct 2: How to keep the Momentum Going between chapters?
Would you like a trick to keep the momentum going between chapters? One of my biggest frustrations in writing a novel is that I can’t write it all in one sitting. Seriously. I’ve tried. I once wrote a novel in 10 days. But even then, I had to sleep, eat…maybe have a conversation with the other people in the house. Still, it was the closest thing to being able to simply step into the story and download it from my brain. I love being able to write a novel in a concentrated amount of time because the storyline is never far from me and while it’s exhausting, the story always seems to emerge with fewer jolts in the plot. However, like most authors, I have a busy schedule filled with […]
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