by Stephanie Morrill | Jun 13, 2011 | Uncategorized
Last Friday we talked about making sure your characters are accurate, and some general things to look for with your characters.The temptation is to take all your wonderful research, all the cool knowledge you have about your characters, and work it in as quickly as...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jun 10, 2011 | Uncategorized
On Wednesday we talked about fixing the big things first. One of the big things we want to make sure we get right is our characters. We want to make sure they sound fresh and original, that they’re responding in ways that make sense given their background, and...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jun 8, 2011 | Uncategorized
Alright, so we’ve covered the process for writing the first draft and now we’re diving into editing. (For a list of posts in the writing process series, click on the Steps for Writing a Novel tab up top.)I always dive into the second draft wanting to fix...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jun 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
Congratulations! You’ve finished your first draft! After months (maybe years) you’ve finally typed THE END.So. Now what?Do you dive into editing? Start a new project? Do you start looking up literary agents? Do you click print and send the whole 400 pages...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jun 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
Typically after I’ve written the final battle, all that remains is a scene or two before I get to type those beautiful words, THE END.Writing a satisfying conclusion is a real “gut” thing, I think. Many factors play into what makes an ending...
by Stephanie Morrill | May 30, 2011 | Uncategorized
Today is the last day to get your 150 words turned in to me! They must land in my inbox by 11:59pm central time this evening. If you’ve sent me an entry but haven’t received a confirmation, please send me an email now. Don’t wait for Tuesday, because...
by Stephanie Morrill | May 27, 2011 | Uncategorized
This might be my veriest mostest favoritest part of the first draft process. Well, other than writing the beginning. Oh, and typing “the end” is pretty sweet too. But this is definitely in the top 5.On Wednesday we launched into the conclusion of our first...
by Stephanie Morrill | May 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
First off, “Rachel” you won your choice of Jill Williamson’s books, but there’s no email address for you. Can you please send me an email?We are almost done talking through the ins and outs of the first draft, and then we’ll move on to...
by Stephanie Morrill | May 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
These hit me with practically every first draft I write.Always. Always, always, always, around 50 to 75% of the way through the first draft, panic hits. I’ll suddenly remember a storyline I intended that never got put in. Or I’ll discover something...
by Stephanie Morrill | May 18, 2011 | Uncategorized
A writer sent me an email asking me to talk about voice. I instantly groaned. Because I knew we should talk about it, but I also knew it was going to be an impossible thing to teach.Whenever I’ve read an interview with an agent or editor, and they’re asked...
