http://findthewritemind.com It's a process...damn it! Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:04:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I recently began reading John Fowles' The French Lieutenants Woman. From page one I have been struck by his versatility with language, being enveloped by the world he is creating. This is the type of novel that inspires to get back to the keyboard to create stories of my own. That ... http://findthewritemind.com/read-great-writing-to-write-great/ Okay, forever and a day since I've posted here and I'm sure my faithful followers are lost at sea, despairing at ever finding their way through the choppy waters of their minds to let ink flow on paper (or bits to disk). But I have been writing. Not so much on ... http://findthewritemind.com/writing-iswriting/ I've been having another attack of the 'just quit writing' bug. At the moment I'm working my normal forty hour job plus I've added twenty hours of a graduate school internship. That means three days per week (Tues, Thurs, Fri) I'm totally fourteen hour days. Monday nights I have an ... http://findthewritemind.com/dont-quit-writing/ There are times when life just gets in the way. It could be a major illness, a sudden move, or making too many commitments. Whatever the case, one day you realize it's been days since you put words to paper...and that's when the discouragement kicks into overdrive. When I fall off ... http://findthewritemind.com/write-where-you-left-off/ I've been using this little tip when I get stuck. Often I have characters and a situation but I get lost in the middle, wondering where I'm going. The plot threads unravel and the infinite number of possibilities is overwhelming. So I've found it useful to jump ahead to the desired outcome. ... http://findthewritemind.com/write-from-the-end/ I get distracted. Way too easily. Sometimes it just takes a little...hey, I didn't know I had that book on my shelf! That's exactly what I mean. There are two primary forms of distraction for me. The first are externals. Sleep, work, school, fun, or hobbies can cut into the bit of ... http://findthewritemind.com/writing-distractions/ Certainly way too long since my last post, but I do have two reasons. The not-so-good reason is that I'm in grad school and am in the middle of an online class. So now I work full time, read for class, post on discussion boards, work on assignments, maintain the ... http://findthewritemind.com/study-writeblog/ Yes, I concede, the title is a bit misleading. I am not saying that my writing is wonderful, leaping from fingers to keyboard with ease, dazzling its way onto the screen, ready for a swarm of agents to fight over such a prized piece of perfection. I am saying that sometimes ... http://findthewritemind.com/i-wish-my-writing-sucked/ I hate making New Year's resolutions. I don't do it anymore. There are two reasons that I ceased that practice. One is simply that January is an arbitrary marker of time and I've found that my birthday, when I have another full year's worth of days under my belt, is a ... http://findthewritemind.com/resolution-solution/ 'Tis the season and all that... I was thinking about the flurry of gift-giving that goes on at this time of year and also of the spiritual themes of receiving gifts. In that vein, I thought I'd list a few gifts for which I am grateful. - Novelists, screenwriters, television writers...any and ... http://findthewritemind.com/gifts-and-gratitude/