“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison
Women having hair that is waist length. Most women I know don't have hair that is waist length. Do you know how hard it is to brush a monster that long, or keep it from getting caught in everything? Mine only went down to my shoulder blades and I had to chop it all off… Continue reading Annoying Clichés Writers Use (Featuring Adorable Cats)
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
After over a year of the same theme, I thought I might try something a little more bold as far as my blog's template is concerned. I'm not sure how people will respond to it, but I believe it's an improvement over the original. My attempt was to look a little bit more professional and… Continue reading Giving My Blog a Makeover
I experience a mixed bag of emotions when I'm rewriting a piece. One emotion is excitement because I'm fixing things I had problems with in the original draft. Another is trepidation because I'm worried that the things I actually did enjoy about my original draft will have to be cut out. Each thing you change… Continue reading Rewriting: Once More with Feeling!
A fair amount of people are giving JK Rowling grief about constantly making amendments to the Harry Potter series. While I can understand where they are coming from (and heartily disagree that Hermione and Harry should have gotten together), I can't entirely blame her for not wanting to leave the Wizarding World forever. I mean,… Continue reading JK Rowling and the Inability to Let Go of Harry Potter
A few weeks ago, I was given an assignment to create an autobiographical piece for my documentary class. No big deal, I thought. I talk about myself on my blog all the time. Producing a 10 minute video over a subject I know intimately should be no struggle. It is such a struggle. I've amassed… Continue reading This is a Story about YOU: a Documentary
I see tweets all the time about writing goals. Goals are good. Goals help motivate. But I've never been good at them. Deadlines help but I still struggle to meet them. A friend of mine gave me a deadline for two weeks and I think I emailed her the finished project about a month later. Word… Continue reading Word Count Goals
Growing up, it was difficult to find people who loved to read as much as I did. Or people who read at all, really. I've always baffled by people who claim reading is boring, and yet spend hours and hours in front of the TV watching reality television. "How can you read so much?" they… Continue reading Being a Reader in an Unliterary World
I am happy there is someone who is willing to give me their honest opinion of my work. It can be difficult to a) find someone who is willing to read anything, let alone something I wrote and b) find someone who will not pull punches when it comes to problems with plot, story, characters,… Continue reading Letting My Friend Break My Kneecaps, or Getting Constructive Criticism
It's not perfect, but it's done. After several long weeks, I finally finished that pesky third draft that has been plaguing my every thought. Remember how a few posts ago I wrote about how a second draft was like a forest fire? Well, this draft was like trying to put the forest back together after… Continue reading The Third Draft of Redemption
The Crooked Pen 