Jump to content
  • entries
    10
  • comments
    29
  • views
    307

About this blog

Just me...oversharing, probably.

Entries in this blog

Life and Writing

You know what you know.

Writing: When I started writing fiction, I figured the places where I grew up, studied, worked and lived weren’t interesting enough to inspire readers. So I wrote about places that had never been home or that I hadn’t even visited. And I would keep the scale of those locations small or familiar to the masses. Settings that needed very little information to imagine.  It took me a while to get over this.  Fiction is often a reflection of what is real, and what better way to convey t
Libby Drew

Libby Drew in Life and Writing

7
Life and Writing

Never be afraid of what people think of you.

Writing:  This was a hard one to teach my kids, because the desire to want to please and belong is partly innate. But living your life for others is neither fun nor healthy. Writing is the same. For each person you worry about pleasing, deduct 1% in quality from your writing. Don’t worry. No one stays at 100%. These days, I usually deduct 5-10% right off the top. (It used to be much higher. Thank you, formulaic fiction industry.) So who am I worried about now? All sorts of folks. Peopl
Life and Writing

Writing and Life. In that order.

Writing: Get in and get out. I write novels because they’re in demand. But my favorite writing project is a short story. It’s not often I get asked for them. Certainly not as often as I’d like, and I understand that. People want novels.   But a good short story… chef’s kiss. To read is fun, but to create is divine. I encourage the site’s authors to give the short story form a try, if they haven’t. “Experts” say many of the same writing rules apply, whether penning novels or short form
Life and Writing

What shapes the writer...

There was an article on Open Culture about a week ago that I’m just now getting around to linking because… that’s my life. My dog actually got in my lap this afternoon (plot twist: he’s not a lapdog, but a fifty-pound Brittany in his prime), probably in an effort to pin me in place for five minutes. It worked. I sent emails. Watched some YouTube videos. I even drank a cup of coffee while it was hot. Pretty epic.  Check this out if you never have before. Less to compare your have-read list t
Life and Writing

Mirror in the sky, what is love?

Sunday blog time. I was asked this question a few days ago: “What one book do you love that you believe influenced your own writing the most?” That’s a seriously hard question, folks. How could any writer, who is most likely an avid reader, choose just one single book as the most influential in their life?  There have been moments. Epiphanies. When I read something that, upon reflection, altered me. But pick one work above all others? That feels impossible. I can think of many ins
Life and Writing

Ode to Sunday

Wait, I can’t do poems. Let’s call it Stream of Consciousness Sunday. This week felt ten weeks long. Modern medicine is a wonder, but modern travel is torture, and I often use Sundays to consider all the different ways I could avoid airplanes for the rest of my life.   Also, no surprise to anyone, the world is full of self-involved, self-righteous, ignorant individuals, which is also no modern phenomenon, as human nature has basically remained unchanged since the dawn of the species. C
Life and Writing

Wait, I wrote that? (Or, how 40 Souls to Keep began its life)

Happy Thursday to me! Thursday is the one weekday I have off. It’s dark, cold and rainy outside at the moment. Perfect for snuggling in front of the fire.  With the dogs.  Which is fine. I love a solid dose of unconditional adoration.  Who develops ideas like I do, I sometimes wonder? When a story starts as nothing more than a concept, leaving you to flesh out everything else -- characters, POV, time period etc. Many of my writer friends focus on characters. They have the perfect
Life and Writing

To Sequel or Not to Sequel

Should I or shouldn’t I? This has always been a relatively easy question for me because I have the attention span of a kitten. Rarely have I felt my characters need more once I’m done with them. Of course, they could always have more adventures. I’m just ready to move on. Again, kitten on catnip. When I type “The End” (or “Finis” if I’m feeling bougie) and readers clamor for more, then I feel successful. Yet the idea of writing a sequel makes me twitchy. I’ve noticed that when authors do pr
Life and Writing

Our Writing Evolution

Does anyone revisit older, completed stories and update them? Not in the “A Starbucks venti used to cost $2.35 and now it’s $4.00 kind of way.” More in the, “I’ve become better at ‘show, don’t tell’ since I wrote this, so I’m going to rewrite this scene and improve it.”  I’ve struggled with this since rereading some oldies of mine. In the end, I decided to leave well enough alone, even though some of what I wrote in the past makes me twitchy. I feel it’s a very personal decision, with no ri
Life and Writing

Life Comes At You Fast... but that's okay, because I won't remember it.

I logged on to GA on Christmas Eve to show my kid which book I was posting. This happened:   Him: I remember when you wrote this. My favorite part was that chapter when [spoiler].  Me: *stares blankly* Him: You seriously don’t remember writing that part? Me: Sort of? Yes? Him: Wild. Well, you are getting older. Me: Screw you, son. *checks to make sure my socks match* My point, I guess my question, actually, is… is it just me? Have any of you authors out there ever opened a
Libby Drew

Libby Drew in Life and Writing

4
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Our Privacy Policy can be found here: Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue..

  I accept