Category Archives: Writing

Thoughts, tips and articles on writing.

Some exercises to prepare for NaNo

Here are four exercises you can do to help prepare yourself for NaNoWriMo: take one or two of your characters from your novel-to-be and place them in an uncomfortable situation: e.g., kidnapped or captured by someone. How do they react? What do they do? What do they say? Did any of your characters experience tragedy […]

October 4, 2010 – 8:38 pm | By NewMexicoKid | Posted in NaNoWriMo, Writing | Tagged , | Comments (0)

36 Dramatic Situations

Recently I ran across a reference to this list of universal plots, which included a reference to 36 plots from a book by George Polti. I did a a little research on this and found the actual 100-year-old text to the Polti book. You can read it online (nifty interface!). I’m always on the search […]

September 13, 2010 – 5:49 am | By NewMexicoKid | Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Stuff to Listen to in prep for November

Read books, articles about writing and listen to podcasts: The Secrets from stormwolf SFF Odyssey Writing Excuses Writers on Writing (Barbara DeMarco Barrett)

August 14, 2010 – 6:20 pm | By KatherineWriting | Posted in Writing | Comments (0)

A metaphor for preparing for writing your novel

Today as I was driving home from work (which, oddly enough, is one of the times when I get creative thoughts), I was thinking about the upcoming Jabber meeting for the Journey and the topic of how best to prepare your novel. My own 2010 NaNo novel planning has proceeded fairly well: I have a basic plot (an orphaned teenage girl with artistic talent travels through a painting into a world where paintings have magical power), a set of characters (the girl and her boyfriend (in our world); a king and queen in the other world who lost their own daughter (she was actually murdered); the queen’s brother, an artist who brings the girl to his world; and the son of the queen’s brother, who has (hidden) political aspirations) and a setting (the world where artists have power over whatever they can paint). What I didn’t have yet was that living feeling that novels get when they begin to write themselves in your head. Then, while I was sitting at a traffic light, it hit me.

August 9, 2010 – 4:52 pm | By NewMexicoKid | Posted in Writing | Tagged | Comments (0)

Editing workshop at DucKon 19

I experienced my first ever SF convention and writers workshop at the recent DucKon 19 in Naperville (18-20 June 2010). It was a blast! Lot’s of fun and very interesting. Met some nice (and talented) people. I would recommend it to anyone in the general vicinity, though next year the writer’s track may move to […]

June 21, 2010 – 9:04 pm | By NewMexicoKid | Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

National Day on Writing

October 20th was the National Day on Writing! Ack! I missed it. But it’s not too late to act on it; apparently the National Council of Teachers of English is collecting samples of writing through some time in 2010…

October 21, 2009 – 11:02 am | By NewMexicoKid | Posted in Writing | Tagged | Comments (0)

Where did THAT come from

I came across an interesting reference to cliches and their origins that I thought I’d post: www.businessballs.com/clichesorigins.htm.

September 8, 2009 – 3:11 pm | By KatherineWriting | Posted in Writing | Comments (0)