Writing Well Story Clinic Paragraph Summary Clinic 1 – What is a Paragraph...
A paragraph summary is a single paragraph that describes your novel in detail. It summarizes the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story as it applies to the lead character. It is, as you might...
View ArticleWriting Well Story Clinic Paragraph Summary Clinic 2 – Developing a New Story
The paragraph summary is primarily designed to keep you–the writer–on track. As I mentioned in the clinic introduction, this information is for your eyes only. (Read more about the purposes of the...
View ArticleWriting Well Story Clinic Paragraph Summary Clinic 3 – Improving a First Draft
This week, I’m once again featuring one of my stories, but to show you there is no right time to go through this process, I’ve chosen a story that’s been through three or more drafts. I know it has...
View ArticleWriting Well Story Clinic Paragraph Summary Clinic 4 – An Alternative to...
In the past few posts, we’ve looked at two ways to use paragraph summary. I showed you how to use paragraph summary to develop a new idea and we looked at ways to rework on old idea before making...
View ArticleWhat To Do When You Find Yourself Becalmed
Becalmed: to keep motionless by lack of wind; to stop the progress of A few months ago, I read The Golden Ocean by Patrick O’Brien. O’Brien is noted for his historical seafaring novels, including...
View Article1 Very Important Tip For Managing Time Effectively
Have you ever noticed that no matter how organized you are, sooner or later (and probably more often than not), you have a day with very little to show for the time you’ve worked. For the life of you,...
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Daily Writing Exercises 2015
Most people know artists sketch, draw, and paint from life. It’s not uncommon to see artists sketching or painting scenes of all types, sometimes in all kinds of weather. Subjects are chosen because...
View ArticleEveryone Needs a Little Whitespace in Life
What do the best doctors, the best counselors, the best confidantes, and the best friends have in common? Give up? They know when and how to step on your toes. That’s right. Stepping on toes when it...
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How To Use a Spreadsheet To Plan Daily Activities
Last week, Randy Ingermanson told us all about the need for white space in the writer’s life. I hope you enjoyed that article. You may have been left wondering how you should incorporate a little bit...
View ArticleManaging Fear
A few weeks ago, I read an article on the Book Baby blog that struck pretty close to home. It was titled How to Conquer Your Fear of Putting Your Writing Out There and was based on an article written...
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6 Steps to Keeping All Your Story Notes Organized
Over the last few weeks, I’ve participated in conversations with different people asking the same basic question: How can I keep all my notes and ideas organized? For every person who publicly asks a...
View ArticleSingle Sentence Summary – Clinic 4
The single sentence summary is also sometimes called a tagline or log line. It is your novel boiled down to a single sentence of 25 words or less. During the month of February, we’ve been looking at...
View ArticleHow a 15-Minute Task List Can Help You Get More Done
What can you possibly accomplish in just 15 minutes a day? More than you might expect. Using time efficiently and productively has always been a personal struggle. The more things on my to-do list, the...
View ArticleHow to Decide Where You Should Spend Your Writing Time
Does time management ever get any easier or less time consuming? The good news is that, like most things, time management can become more natural with practice. You can train yourself to write more...
View ArticleSingle Sentence Summary – Clinic 2
Welcome back to our February single sentence summary clinic. Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s clinic, whether you ‘lurked’ or participated in the discussion. A Recap What is a...
View ArticleSingle Sentence Summary – Clinic 3
Welcome back to this month’s story clinic and our discussion of single sentence summaries. If you missed the first two lessons, not to worry. Each lesson is self-contained. You don’t need to read all...
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5 Reasons to Keep Track of Word Count
1. Increased Productivity. Even if you don’t report your progress to anyone else, keeping a work count worksheet of some kind provides personal encouragement. Especially on those days when you might...
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2 Tips to Help You Sort Through Electronic Documents
How many times have you spent an hour or more sorting through dozens (or hundreds) of electronic documents looking for a snippet or scene you wrote months ago? If you’re anything like me, too many to...
View ArticleThe Benefits of Writing Every Day (And How to Develop the Habit)
I process life and make decisions through writing. It’s a habit that began many, many years ago. I’ve been keeping a catch all writing journal since December 1, 1989. Some entries go back to my teen...
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