writing process

The In-Between Stages of Writing

September 7, 2018 By Natalia Sylvester 11 Comments

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…]

Beyond the Gates – Challenging Yourself, Your Characters and Your Readers

July 23, 2017 By John J Kelley

Leaving the Old City My partner and I recently became outsiders, quite by accident. You see, this spring we took up residence in a modern building several blocks from our prior home in a converted row house in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, DC. We knew the move would bring changes. Indeed, we […]

The Number One Subject to Study for Writing Success

February 3, 2017 By Cathy Yardley

Sorry – that’s a bit of a clickbait title, I know. But how often have you seen that kind of writing article? How often have writing reference books stated their stances in stark, all-or-nothing, my-way-or-the-highway terms? Cut out all prologues. Burn all adverbs. If you don’t plot, you’re a mess. If you do plot, you’re […]

On the Road to a Rough Draft: If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, Any Road Will Do

July 30, 2016 By Guest

Please welcome guest Katharine Britton, author of three novels: Her Sister’s Shadow, Little Island, and Vanishing Time (2016). Katharine has a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College. Her screenplay, Goodbye Don’t Mean Gone, on which Vanishing Time was based, was a Moondance Film Festival winner and a finalist in the New England Women […]

To TK or Not to TK?

March 31, 2016 By Tracy Hahn-Burkett

How much do you TK? That’s the question. TK in a manuscript means “to come.” So if you’re writing a scene in a historical novel set in, say, New Jersey in 1777, and you’re missing necessary facts but don’t want to stop writing at that moment in order to find the relevant information, your draft […]

Weaknesses–Our Hidden Strengths

September 14, 2012 By Robin LaFevers

It’s one of the first rules of characterization we writers learn—give our protagonists a fatal flaw. Even better? Use that fatal flaw to bring about the character’s ultimate triumph. It is one of my favorite character arcs, how that flaw can end up being the thing that saves us, given the right set of circumstances. […]

Writing from the Discomfort Zone

July 31, 2012 By Jeanne Kisacky

Look closely at the picture. The floor is not level; it has randomly-placed bumps. The poles are there to grab when the imbalance gets too extreme. There are no railings around the depressed central area. The colors are glaring and intended to distract. There are no chairs and definitely no overstuffed couches. There is no […]