“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison
If anyone were to look up from their dinner plates at me at this moment they would see someone on the verge of taking a plastic spoon from her empty soup bowl and gouging her own eyes out. I'm at a restaurant under the false impression that I am going to be doing some writing… Continue reading That First Damn Line
Recently I was introduced to a gorgeous poem by the late Charles Bukowski called "so you want to be a writer?" Here's a small exert: if it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don’t do it. unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and… Continue reading The Most Beautifully Awful Writing Advice Ever
It's been an inexcusably long time since I update this blog, I know. I try to update at least once a week, but this obviously hasn't been happening recently. I have a good reason for this, however...... Okay, not a good reason, but it is a reason nonetheless. You see, I've actually been writing recently.… Continue reading I’m Still Alive and Also Writing Things, or Going on a Writing Bender
I've seen several Instagram posts that say things like "is it sad that my characters are my best friends?" or "I have more conversations with my characters than I do with real people. Is that bad?" Yes. Yes, it is. Not because you're a wallflower with friends that exist only in your mind. That's perfectly… Continue reading Your Characters are NOT Your Friends: A Public Service Announcement for Writers
Does anyone else get their ideas when it's most inconvenient? I think I am at my most creative during the height of the school semester where everything is due and my entire future hangs in the balance.. I'll be mentally calculating how much time I should commit to studying and she'll show up, donut in… Continue reading My Muse Hates Free Time
As a writer who is trying to gain recognition, I've done what dozens of writing magazines, podcasts, and Facebook pages keep telling me to do: have multiple platforms on multiple social media sites. This has been a...mostly unsuccessful endeavor on my part seeing as I find social media a distraction from what I really should… Continue reading Opinion: Instagram v. Twitter
I've read recently that Accomack County Public Schools are suspending To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for their usage of the N-word. If you aren't sure what I'm talking about, you can see for yourself in this exert from "Classic novels pulled from Accomack County Public Schools" : Earlier this month, a parent voiced concerns… Continue reading The Suspending of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”
I hear readers complain time and time again that they cannot get into a story because the character is a "bad person."Now I can understand not wanting to read something because the character is unbelievable or underdeveloped, but a bad person? I say "bad people" make some of the best characters. Why? Three reasons: 1. They're more… Continue reading Why You Should Love Unloveable Characters
It's pretty obvious that one of the central components to a story is the conflict. It doesn't matter what the conflict is: fighting the Dark Lord, winning the beef cake, or keeping the world from losing its Twinkies. There just has to be a problem for the protagonist to solve. I am good at coming… Continue reading A Writer’s Dilemma: The Problem With Conflict
I suspected this day would come. I had just hoped I would be more ready for it. I realized upon rereading the most recent draft of my latest project that I would not be able to do my characters justice in such a short amount of time. If I want to tell the story and… Continue reading My Novella is a Novel Now
The Crooked Pen 