The Writer’s Life / 12 posts found
6 Books I Wish I Could Read for the First Time Again
You know that feeling when a book is so good you hesitate to finish it? And then when you do finish, you want to start it all over again, but as if it’s the first time? (3 Things I Learned About Writing From Reading L.A. Weather by María Amparo Escandón) I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. I came to writing from my love of reading. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and so many books inform, inspire, and invigorate my writing. And I think we all have that list of books that impacted us so profoundly, we wish […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Letting Others Shame Your Genre
Everyone makes mistakes—even writers—but that’s OK because each mistake is a great learning opportunity. The Writer’s Digest team has witnessed many mistakes over the years, so we started this series to help identify them early in the process. Note: The mistakes in this series aren’t focused on grammar rules, though we offer help in that area as well. (Grammar rules for writers.) Rather, we’re looking at bigger picture mistakes and mishaps, including the error of using too much exposition, neglecting research, or trying to write for everyone. This week’s writing mistake writers make is letting other people shame your genre. […]
How To Do Writing Research During a Lockdown
I’ve always been a great believer in hands-on research. This dates from when I was writing my first novel, Living Dangerously. My heroine was a potter, and I asked a friend who was one to help me. She was willing, and we set a time for me to visit her in her working environment. I had imagined I’d stand in the corner of her studio and take notes. She had different ideas. She gave me a lump of clay and told me what to do. (Writing Inspirational Novels With Flawed Characters) The feeling of having the clay in my hands […]
Hurry Up and Wait: On Writing and Getting Published
Lately, I’ve been experiencing this kind of déjà vu as it relates to the countdown to publication of my upcoming novel, Scarlet in Blue. It’s kind of a nagging feeling, like a mosquito bite on the middle of my back that I can’t reach to scratch. I find my foot and leg constantly moving up and down at a pretty-high speed, I’m biting the cuticles of my nails, and trying to perform slow breathing exercises to calm the tightness in my chest. Which doesn’t work because I can’t sit still. Anxiety, my doctor says. Like that was new information. But […]
Fear Factor: How Embedding in Extreme Environments Can Lead to Compelling Fiction
Fear is a big, dumb mutt of a word. It’s what you feel when a bus barrels at you head on, when a wonky email lands in your inbox, when your kid says he’ll be home by nine and it’s nearly 11. But fear is useful. It springs you from the path of that bus, lifts your hand from the keys, fires up your detective skills to track down your kid. But fear, in all its incarnations—dread, apprehension, anxiety, unease, even awe—can do more than save you from buses; it can also make you smarter, more adept in your surroundings, […]
A Toolkit for Managing the Anxiety of the Publishing Process
As a chronically anxious person (shout out to Prozac for being the longest relationship I’ve ever had!), there’s a fun level of irony that I get to put this toolkit together. But, as the adage goes, write what you know. And oh, how I know about the anxiety of publishing. (How to Love Writing a Book) From going on submission with my first book, A Brush with Love, at the start of the pandemic to debuting during supply chain disruptions and a brand-new viral variant, I’ve had quite a few sleepless nights of panic in the process. But if therapy […]
How To Write About Love While the World Is Falling Apart
I wrote what I hoped would be a slightly unconventional novel that would ideally be really accessible. It took me a long time to figure out how to do this! Part of the problem was that when I was in middle school and they tried to get us to write short stories, they would tell us to write a summary of what was going to happen and then write the story. This is great! Here’s the problem: If I write out what’s going to happen in the story, then I already wrote the story. I have no idea how to […]
Why Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Is Important for Writers
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) is important for everyone. The way we live, work, collaborate, and communicate must take into account the value of multiple perspectives, structural inequalities, social rejection and exclusion, and the basic psychological need we all have to be accepted. (Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts: On Intentional Expressions of Black Joy) As writers, we have a special responsibility to apply a DEIB lens to our work because so much of what we write ends up becoming cultural truth. I don’t just say this as a nonfiction author on DEIB. The reality is that people really do believe what […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Trying to Control Everything
Everyone makes mistakes—even writers—but that’s OK because each mistake is a great learning opportunity. The Writer’s Digest team has witnessed many mistakes over the years, so we started this series to help identify them early in the process. Note: The mistakes in this series aren’t focused on grammar rules, though we offer help in that area as well. (Grammar rules for writers.) Rather, we’re looking at bigger picture mistakes and mishaps, including the error of using too much exposition, hiding your pitch, or chasing trends. This week’s writing mistake writers make is tying to control everything. Writing Mistakes Writers Make: […]
4 Truths About Dealing With Grief All Writers Should Know
Writers, as those of you reading this know well, are artists. We have the ability to put into words what others feel but cannot convey—whether it is love, anger, envy, or, as it so happens, the heavy weight of grief and despair. According to existential theorists like Irvin Yalom, death is one of the “givens of existence” for human beings, and how we approach this “given” has a profound impact on the way we find meaning and lead our lives. (5 Ideas for Writing Effective Grief in Fiction.) As writers, we have a powerful responsibility in the words we serve […]