Writing
-
In the Pages of a Dream Journal
Where do you go when you fall asleep? Have you ever wanted to know more about your dream land? We writers encounter plot bunnies in bizarre things while awake. We find something that catches our interest and store it away for later, usually forgetting it–there’s no way for us to write all of our ideas.…
-
Is it Writer’s Block?
Recently I asked myself why I never update my blog, even though I have so many ideas. Writer’s Block is portrayed as blankness; it’s the absence of a muse, staring at a notebook without hearing her sweet whisper. We claim the Block as a reason why we have nothing to say. I wondered, Do I…
-
About the Mysterious Rewrite
Anyone I’ve spoken to in the past month knows about my mysterious rewrite. Back in July, I began work on a new, fresh version of a novel you may have read (hint hint: it’s called Dissonance) but, being me, I did not outline at all. In my experience, letting a novel loose to do whatever…
-
A Writer is Never Finished
One is never truly finished writing a story. I’m not an expert on technique; my attention span does not allow me to study complicated books on style. My muse shies from the idea of outlining, flash cards don’t help me at all, and I follow the 7-point method very loosely. The one thing I know…
-
The Forest of Heldbreath
Imagine your mind is a forest. The edge of the forest is a place where you pause and get distracted–a place of heldbreath, of course. Sometimes we wait at the edge of heldbreath for days, months, or years. I’ve been lurking there for several weeks, skillfully talking myself out of a very important task. Should…
-
The Autumn Prince Returns
In October of 2015, I released a serial on my blog called The Autumn Prince. It became more popular than I had anticipated; one reader called it the “highlight of her month,” and I am still humbled by that. The following year it was adapted into a short story for the Crows on Heartstrings anthology,…
-
Of Ghosts and Old Doorbells
The old doorbell had been silent for over twenty years. After this house was abandoned, people eventually stopped coming to visit, or even to try and sell things. It had been so long, in fact, that the ghosts started to assume it was too rusty to ever make another sound. Three generations of ghosts dwelled…
-
3 Reasons Why We Need Dreamers
It’s recently come to my attention that I am too much of a dreamer…and I don’t want to change. These aren’t the sorts of dreams with a set goal at the end of the tunnel. When your chosen career is storytelling, it’s easy to forget the ‘rules’ and stand out even in your own crowd.…
-
The Book Inspired by Peru
It took a few weeks, but I was right: a new environment will inspire you with dozens of ideas. My idea for a book set in new territory has finally come to me! When we first arrived in Peru back in December, I knew it would happen. Perhaps I would meet a person who wanted to…
-
Story: Prince of the Haystacks
When the young prince first fled into the barn, he thought it too small and messy for someone of respectable breed to sleep in. Having grown accustomed to feather pillows and silk sheets, he struggled at first to adapt and sleep on the hay. But he was fleeing an angry wizard’s curse, so it happened…
-
Writing: The Learning Process
Too many writers talk and act as if writing were slow torture. … As New York sports writer Red Smith once observed, “Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” … If you want to write, here’s a secret: the writer’s struggle is overrated, a con game,…
-
Story: The Fisherman’s Boat
It was one of the last warm days before fall kicked in with all its chill. School had just ended for the day, and two children walked through the woods, a sister and her younger brother. To the boy, this was a new route home. However, his sister had been here before; she was taking…
Mariella Hunt & the Tearoom 