Oops! I missed a day.

In my defense, I was on the road, on my way home from a five day writer’s retreat. What an amazing time. Sixteen members of my local writer’s group in an amazing hotel where all we had to do was write. I managed 25000 words – or half of my next novel – plus having it all plotted out in those five days and I am ecstatic with that. But today, it’s back to reality – laundry, grocery shopping, bills to pay, piles of work to catch up on. All that adult stuff I put off for my special time with good friends and my stories. So… first adult thing on the list – catch up on my blogs. 🙂

May 21
Today is National Memo Day, National Waiters and Waitresses Day, and the birthday of Dante Alighieri, Alexander Pope, Harold Robbins, Robert Creeley

Tip: Make your reader care about your characters. If s/he can say “so what?”, you’ve lost them as a reader.

Thought: “Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay.” – Flannery O’Connor

Teaser: Things seem to be missing around your house. An old t-shirt here, some food there. Nothing major, just little things. But it keeps happening. Who or what is taking your stuff and what is he/she/it doing with it?

May 22
Today is Buy a Musical Instrument Day, Goth Day and the birthday of Arthur Conan Doyle, Peter Matthiessen

Tip: Try not to overuse long paragraphs. Break them up and give your readers eyes a rest. White space is a good thing.

Thought: “To write a book is a task needing only pen, ink and paper; to print a book is rather more difficult, because genius often expresses itself illegibly; to read a book is more difficult still, for one has to struggle with sleep; but to sell a book is the most difficult task of all.” – Frank Mumny

Teaser: Write a one-line sentence that describes what you would like to accomplish as a writer in the next five years. Be specific – and realistic.