When I realized tonight was Monday night and not Sunday night, meaning I had to write my weekly Deb post, I felt…shall we say…rather unmotivated. And then I discovered this week’s theme is “motivation.” I am swimming in irony! As with many instances in my life — my job in daily news, my applications to grad school and college, my entry to become a Deb — I was motivated to…
If you read Deb Kerry’s post yesterday, then you’ll understand why I’m having trouble conveying my thoughts with even a shred of her eloquence. She nailed it. As I read, I kept nodding and thinking, “Yes, yes, yes.” Last week’s news cycle was one of the worst I can remember in quite some time. At times, my Facebook and Twitter feeds threatened to suffocate me — one bad story after…
When it comes to writing advice, a few pithy phrases make the rounds again and again. Let me know if you’ve heard any of these before: “Kill your darlings.” “Show, don’t tell.” “Write what you know.” “Writing is rewriting.” “Raise the stakes.” Any of those sound familiar? Thought so. But just because advice is well-worn doesn’t make it any less useful. I’ve followed all of those bits of advice at…
Ever writer has her strengths. Some are masters of plot, crafting storylines so tight and complex that readers cannot possibly guess what is coming next. Others excel at writing sentences so beautiful, they force you to put the book down for a moment and swim in those words for a few seconds longer. As for me? My strength — or at least the part of writing I enjoy most —…
