Editing

For a great posting on editing go to www.nettiesramblings.blogspot.com to see Putting Those Pesky Edits to Bed.

Lynette Rees wrote  It Happened One Summer, Return to Winter, A Taste of Honey, and Watching You. She has written numerous articles and an excellent ebook Crafting the Romance Story. You can find out more about her at her blog or at the web site www.lynetterees.com .

Day 10

Day 10

Free write for Day 10 was five minutes of writing whatever came to mind when eyes were mentioned.


Day 10 for the twenty minute write was start the story. A short story of about 2500 words or about ten pages is the target.

Before you do that it is essential that you know your character. I suggest now using one of many character question lists out there. A very good one is in Lynette Rees' Crafting the Romance Story. In fact from her book you'll learn more than you would ever learn from this blog. Those serious about writing should get her book.

Now I run into a math problem. In twenty minutes, I can write about 300 to 400 words. That means a story of 2500 words will take at least six days. But I have my first three hundred words down just by starting to write. If the words don't come just starting writing about what you want to write and soon you'll probably just shift into the story. Some days writing just doesn't come easily even after a five minute warm up of free writing. Doesn't matter. Write for your twenty minutes without stopping, correcting, or going back.

My start doesn't feel very good. But it does feel good to have something down.

Halloween

Trick or treat time is coming up and many may have started working on Halloween stories. A great blog to check out for help on putting suspense in any of your writing is: www.nettiesramblings.blogspot.com It is also a good place for help with lots of other writing questions. Don't miss her ezine links!

Lynette Rees

Lynette Rees

I’ve already recommended buying Lynette Rees’ e-book, CRAFTING THE ROMANCE STORY. This e-book is a great buy. It is directed at the romance writer, but all writers will benefit from it. It is clear, practical, and sound. Use it as a workbook carefully doing the exercises and reading the links. It will save you time and focus your effort. Your writing will improve.

For fun and relaxation or for a model to base your writing, you may also want to get her romances and mysteries. They sweep you up into them. Look for these: WATCHING YOU, A TASTE OF HONEY, IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER, and RETURN TO WINTER. They are packed with romance, mystery, and good humor.

Following her blog is interesting and worthwhile for any writer. http://www.nettiesramblings.blogspot.com/

Right now on her blog site are links to some of the ezine articles she has written like Develop a Killer Plot, Setting as a Character, Seven Ways to Inject Suspense into Your Novel, and Seven Ways to Keep Your Editor Happy. After reading her articles you may want to stay on the ezine site and browse awhile. It appears to have many many articles for writers.

All these things can maximize your progress, make the end result more certain, and make the journey more fun, but the bottom line remains that to be a writer, you have to write. Write something. Write anything. Right now!