“Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.” ~ Douglas Pagel These Are the Gifts I’d Like to Give to…
Sorry I’ve been absent from this blog of late — I’ve been blogging daily over at “Delve Into NaNo” providing helpful tips, exercises, and assorted bits of inspiration for those participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Whether you’re NaNo-ing or not, I hope you’ll stop by and check it out!
Today I’m sharing a tool that can help you craft your story, regardless of what stage you’re in (planning, plotting, writing, editing). I’d like to say it’s my best-kept secret for writing successful fiction, but that would be a lie. The “secret” is a basic pattern found over centuries in narratives around the world: The…
Some writers don’t worry much about naming. They slap a label on a character and run with it. Other writers dive down the rabbit hole and put excessive amounts of research, thought, planning and creativity into naming. I’m in the latter camp, so thought I’d share with you some of the things I consider before…
As I promised last week, I’m back with a report on using The Plotting Grid to create a synopsis for the as-yet-unwritten sequel to my Work-in-Progress (WIP). The Grid is a great tool for planning a story at any stage of inception, but I find it particularly helpful with writing a synopsis – just “fill…
This week has been a good one in the ongoing saga of manuscript submissions. As you may recall, my writing demons —try as they did— could not prevent me from submitting “partials” of my manuscript to Agent A (who subsequently rejected it), and to a new addition to my roster, Agent D (who I’m waiting…
Some time ago I set out to blog about my process and progress getting my manuscript into the hands of three agents who requested it: Agents A, B, and C. (See my original blog posts here.) During that first week of blogging, I sent 50 pages to Agent A as per her request. A short…
I’ve been perfecting and refining my recipe for Coq au Vin for years. I use the happiest, most humanely raised poultry, a decent French Burgundy, organic farm-fresh veggies, and my own secret blend of herbs. So the other night I prepared this dish for a small dinner party of friends and family. Because Aaron (CEO…
Chris is switching to our new blog as of today. Next week, look for a Wednesday post from Aaron and a Friday post from Chris. That schedule should continue for the foreseeable future. Today is Friday the 13th, so you’d expect demons. And you’d be correct. The great state of Colorado –and home to Delve…
Delve Writers 