Category: How To Find Your Writing Discipline

  • Cuss, cuss, swear, swear, @#%^&*Z!!!!

    Cuss, cuss, swear, swear, @#%^&*Z!!!!

    Seriously…  What a week.  Earlier, the kitchen sink started spouting water, so we were doing dishes in the bathroom sink. Then the water heater died. Matt found a plumber, who will be coming out today, but since Monday, I’ve been refreshing my unused-but-never-forgotten camping skills, and have been doing a daily bath using one cup…

  • Came up short… but landed well

    Came up short… but landed well

    Today’s scene was fun. I like what I got, I like the twist, I like the humor. I am, however, not feeling well, and at the point were I realized I’ve been circling the drain on the scene without coming up with a “what next”, or anything else that would let me hit today’s planned…

  • Somebody’s Lying! 1392 words, 65,395 total… and “Too Good to Be True” comes to town

    Somebody’s Lying! 1392 words, 65,395 total… and “Too Good to Be True” comes to town

    Today was a hoot. Seriously.  Yesterday, I left my main in the middle of a situation that could have turned into a nightmare for her. And I saved and quit for the day having no idea how I was going to handle it.  Today, though, the last line I wrote yesterday turned out to be…

  • A Giggly Scene, A Wicked Secret… and I Love You, Tomorrow

    A Giggly Scene, A Wicked Secret… and I Love You, Tomorrow

    No big secret that these books are set in a decidedly sideways version of the Ohio town in which I live. I love this place, and I’m having a wonderful time building some seriously wacky shit into what is in reality a lovely old town with a great history, and some fine and friendly people.…

  • Coming of the Fen — The Ohio Invasion

    Coming of the Fen — The Ohio Invasion

    There’s a certain amount of wackiness in what I have going on right now, in spite of the fact that the core of the problem my characters are facing is nothing less than save-the-world with a pretty big dollop of save-a-bunch-of-worlds. I’m having a helluva lot of fun playing with the situation. But… I can’t…

  • Yesterdays revelation became today’s surprising scene

    Yesterdays revelation became today’s surprising scene

    I knew yesterday that I left myself in a good place when I wrapped up the words. I didn’t realize how good until I started rolling this morning. My main character had a massive revelation about the crushing mistake she was about to make, and figured out a way to avert disaster on the upcoming…

  • The value of NOT working the weekend becomes clear — 1329 words, and a problem solved out of thin air

    The value of NOT working the weekend becomes clear — 1329 words, and a problem solved out of thin air

    I did not think about the book at all over the weekend. I took this one all the way off. Played games on my Switch — Dungeon Village, Dungeon Village 2 (brand new, and much bigger than the first one, with some really nifty additions), some Animal Crossing (though the ‘homework’ aspect of that particular…

  • Way in the woods and the weeds… and enjoying myself: 1323 words and 57,419 total

    Way in the woods and the weeds… and enjoying myself: 1323 words and 57,419 total

    I am by preference an outliner, not a pantser.  By preference I have a map for the novel I’m writing, and while I make take a small side road on the map rather than the freeway, in general I don’t abandon the damn car and go hiking through the woods and the weeds with nothing…

  • Building into a nice conflict for my main character and the town… and UP NEXT…

    Building into a nice conflict for my main character and the town… and UP NEXT…

    Got the words. Like the words. Got 1260 words total for the day (so just over my daily objective), and 54,792 in the book. I also stole a line from one of my poems posted on this site as a quote for my main character’s most important ally, because it was perfect for the place…

  • Sun Tzu and the Art of Cookies…

    Sun Tzu and the Art of Cookies…

    I stepped into a scene this morning where I was expecting to be goofy and funny, and instead, I found Sun Tzu waiting for me. My relationship with Sun Tzu is a long-standing one. I met him when I was twenty-seven, when my first husband told me that if I divorced him, it was going…