writing – The View From The Imaginarium

The Work of Refinement

It’s a quiet week in my world. A relief after the hustle of my week off work. Traveling There are no announcements, no finished chapters, no visible milestones. What there is, instead, is refinement. Tomorrow I’ll be revising Chapter 7 in preparation for reading at Scribes. Reading aloud is an important tool. It clarifies rhythm,Continue reading “The Work of Refinement”

Knowing the Characters

When I read at Scribes last week, I was amazed again at the response. It does my heart good. People respond as though the characters’ inner lives feel real. They ask questions about motives, tensions, and decisions as if these are living people rather than historical figures on a page. That tells me something important.Continue reading “Knowing the Characters”

What I Wish My Favorite Authors Had Shared

I’ve been thinking about blogging advice lately–especially the idea that you need to know who you’re writing for. That question became much clearer when I stopped thinking like a writer and started thinking like a reader. If I could read the blog of one of my favorite authors, I know exactly what I’d want toContinue reading “What I Wish My Favorite Authors Had Shared”

What I Learn From Revision

Today I’m back at my desk working through revisions and noticing the difference in pacing. Rough drafts and the first revision take a lot more time. It is more difficult for me to draft something from nothing than it is to polish it, even though I work from a detailed outline. Once I have theContinue reading “What I Learn From Revision”

Holiday Cheer

First day off of my regularly scheduled week off. Getting a bit of a late start today. But I’m filled with excitement for cleaning the house, undecorating and decorating, and of course doing the re-write. I will have to block out regular time for it this week. I don’t have too much going on otherwise.Continue reading “Holiday Cheer”

Writer’s Group

Writer’s group tomorrow again. I won’t be going to the November meeting, and we don’t read our work at the December meeting, so this will be my last reading for two months. I tried a name change for one of the main characters at the last meeting and the prior name was preferred so IContinue reading “Writer’s Group”

Time Off

I’m just beginning my 3 weeks break from work, which happens about 4 times a year. I always hope to get a lot done during these breaks. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. We’re having some beautiful fall weather. I drew out a map of the pond and included the changes I want to try toContinue reading “Time Off”

Fall Break

I know, I know. It’s late in the day but at least I’m keeping in touch. It’s the day before the writer’s meeting and here I am preparing to write again. More and more is getting figured out about the pond. The first time it was put in someone else put it in and IContinue reading “Fall Break”

Rewrite

Hopefully I’m beginning the rewrite today. I have Scribes tomorrow and am reading again. I worked last week, and it was a heavy week. We are all doing a new rotation in a new area of work and last week I began my month of it. But that went better than I expected it toContinue reading “Rewrite”

Rough Draft Complete!

Surprise, surprise, I’m back again. I’m very happy to say that I completed the rough draft of my Lincoln mystery novel. More to come as I start the rewrite. I read the final chapter at Scribes, and they felt it worked as a conclusion. The final chapter is very important as it must have emotionalContinue reading “Rough Draft Complete!”