“All writing is rewriting” doesn’t necessarily mean that the stages of writing are progressively easier. It means that a piece of writing is a constant work in progress until it’s placed into the hands of the reader.
Category: Writing life
A Tale of Two Novels
Are you stuck in the middle of writing your first novel and can't imagine ever writing "the end?" Maybe writing doesn't "fit" with your life right now. Or you can't find the time. Or the confidence. I understand. It took me nearly a decade to write my first novel. My second novel took six months. … Continue reading A Tale of Two Novels
How to Write a Novel in Ten Years
I recently read a Pulitzer Prize winner that took the writer about a decade to complete. What a coincidence! My first novel took me nearly ten years to finish. Now, I doubt Anthony Doerr followed my process when he knocked together All the Light We Cannot See, but if you’re looking to write a … Continue reading How to Write a Novel in Ten Years
Writing Life
"Flannery O'Connor said that anyone who survived childhood has enough material to write for the rest of his or her life." ~Anne Lamott "Getting Started" Bird by Bird "No matter how far I venture outside my own experience, I also know that I am who I am, and that my work will always reflect my … Continue reading Writing Life
Short Story: Three Chickens
As I explained in an earlier post, I like to use short fiction exercises to better acquaint myself with characters from a longer work. Sometimes I finish with a paragraph or two that puts a little flesh on an otherwise thin character; sometimes I gain a better sense of the character's voice, and sometimes a … Continue reading Short Story: Three Chickens
Short Stories
I have written two short stories solely for the purpose of exploring individual characters from a longer work. There were two benefits to this exercise. First, I got a firmer grasp on each character's motivations. Second, I was able to procrastinate on the longer work and still claim to be writing. The following excerpt is the … Continue reading Short Stories
In the Quiet 