Have you ever had a writer friend who talked about how sometimes it felt like they weren’t writing the story – their characters were? I know. It sounds absurd. But sometimes – it really does feel that way. Last week, I had rounded 80K on the first draft of my murder mystery novel, and IContinue reading “Rogue Characters: Murder Mystery Edition”
Category Archives: Writing
Kavarna: Twenty Years
I’ve been hitting some milestones lately that have felt…unreal. Impossible? I’m in my sixteenth year of teaching – but I swear I’ve only been at my college for a few years. I’m also coming up on twenty years since I graduated from undergrad (the specific date is three days from now) – and given theContinue reading “Kavarna: Twenty Years”
UW Madison Arboretum
I spent my entire life with no idea that the city of Madison was home to a 1,200 acre arboretum (with an addition 513 acres in outlying properties). It shouldn’t surprise me, given most cities have large parks and my own UW campus houses an arboretum, as well. I’d just never stumbled upon it –Continue reading “UW Madison Arboretum”
Learning my Genre
I’ll be honest – when I first started writing novel-length stories, genre was the furthest thing from my mind. I just knew I had stories I wanted to tell. So I just wrestled them onto the page. But then I started querying and publishing. And suddenly, I had to put my stories into tidy littleContinue reading “Learning my Genre”
Writing as a Process
There are so many writers out there who are adamant that a writer must do this or a writer must do that. That someone isn’t a writer unless they XYZ. The most common one I hear is that to be a writer, you must write every day. When I hear things like that, I can’tContinue reading “Writing as a Process”
Kickstarter Update
Back when I did the Kickstarter for Wherever Would I Be, one of the ‘add ons’ was to have a character named after them in my work in progress (a murder mystery). Because writing and publishing books takes a long time, I thought I’d give an update on how that’s going. I should note –Continue reading “Kickstarter Update”
Research: Murder Mystery Style
When I made the decision to pursue writing my murder mystery story I’d been kicking around for a few years, I knew that I wanted to take the time to make sure everything was written correctly. I’ve spent so many hours watching detective procedurals on TV, but I’ve also heard about instances were said showsContinue reading “Research: Murder Mystery Style”
Love Letter for a Writing (and Reading) Buddy
I still remember when I took my first creative writing course in undergrad and the terror I felt when I learned about workshop and that we’d be doing this in class. Other people would read what I wrote. For the first time. Ever. In my life. And then talk about it in front of me.Continue reading “Love Letter for a Writing (and Reading) Buddy”
Scent
In all of my writing classes, yes even composition, we talk about the senses. We talk about how they can enrich the writing, personalize it. We also talk about using senses that are most appropriate for the topic. For example, if I task you with writing a description of the room you are in rightContinue reading “Scent”
Music to My Ears
Several years ago, I admitted in front of a friend that I didn’t care for the music of a rather popular musician. I didn’t say I hated their stuff. I didn’t say it was bad. I said nothing other than it didn’t resonate with me. This friend turned to me and said, “I feel sorryContinue reading “Music to My Ears”
