shopify analytics ecommerce tracking
Walsh and Bolton Twitter Unconference Advertise Facebook Book Zazzle Search

The In-Between Stages of Writing

By 11 Comments

Photo by Nolan Issac on Unsplash

There are so many in-between phases in the writing life.

There’s the time before you begin writing a story, but have already felt the beginnings of a story simmering inside you.

The time between finishing a draft and revising it.

The time between finishing that draft and revising it yet again. (Repeat as necessary.)

The time between finishing a story and starting a new one.

What do you do with that in-between time? I’ve discovered this must be what non-writers call hobbies. Things that bring you joy, that you do purely for fun and pleasure. Which isn’t to say that writing is not something that brings me joy or that brings me pleasure…it’s just that I don’t quite see it as a hobby so much as a part of my life. Like breathing and reading.

I’m learning that the most nurturing hobbies for me are the ones that allow me to turn off my writer’s brain for a bit. Walking through my house the other day, I realized something. [Read more…]

Heartbeats

By 18 Comments

I’m at the stage where I don’t really look any different. I feel different. (Oh, belieeeeeve me, I feel different, i.e. starting to feel better but still pretty much at least slightly queasy all. the. time.) I’m also at the stage (early second trimester) where I’m past the ‘holding my breath’ mentality and moving into […]

Stuck

By 50 Comments

WU is not a blog on which I expect to find upsetting posts.  However, I was upset upon reading Julia Munroe Martin’s recent post Confessions from a Weary Writer.  Julia’s raw account of discouragement got to me.  It has stayed with me.  No writer should feel that pain.  I understand it, yet I wanted to […]

That Time Jane Friedman’s Advice Saved My Novel

By 35 Comments

Today marks the paperback and audiobook release for The Moon Sisters–a book that earned some critical acclaim, but not before nearly dying on the vine, pre-publication. Below is one story behind the story, complete with rising stakes, a ticking clock, a dark moment, and a turning point. THE SETUP I had been working on The […]

25 Truths About the Work of Writing

By 18 Comments

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer whose latest post is scheduled to publish on Labor Day must, when considering topics, find herself muttering, “Well, shouldn’t I write something about work?” And so, because there are many, many things to say about the work of writing, I put together a long list of short […]

Story vs. Spectacle (Hint: The Winner Isn’t What You’d Expect Me to Say)

By 11 Comments

I love roller coasters. There’s nothing like the anticipation of riding up to the first drop, or being caught in that hover-quiver breath-holding gasp of time when you know you’re about to plummet three hundred feet after just a few more slim clicks of that chain on the track beneath you. And then. You do. […]

Un-dead Darlings

By 24 Comments

Please welcome guest Barbara Linn Probst to WU today! Barbara is a writer, teacher, researcher, and clinician living on a historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley. She holds a PhD in clinical social work and is a dedicated amateur pianist. She is also the author of When the Labels Don’t Fit–a groundbreaking book […]

Fiction Writing Contests Worth Your Time in Fall 2018

By 8 Comments

What are your submission or rejection goals for 2018? Inspired by Lit Hub’s 100 rejections per year post, I got 93 rejections 2017 and aim to cross 100 this year. Since my last contest roundup, I’m at 99 rejections for this year! Read my latest responses in the latest edition of The Rejection Quarterly. This […]

mersin escort