writing advice

Habits for the Wise Writer: Not a Master List

~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

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Recent days of warm sunshine have inspired me to sit with all my writing notebooks and see what I’ve yet to type up. That’s always been the downside of being a pen and paper girl – the transition to an electronic format.

Bad Habit #1: Not consolidating your scribblings.

Whether you prefer to set up in a coffee shop, or write on the bus, or use a speech-to-text app on your phone, there are countless ways writers end up saving their work in several places. Make it a habit, either weekly or monthly, to check that you’ve moved your writing into your long-term storage spot.

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Reset: A No-Stress Approach for a Great New Year

~ The Spinning Pen ~ 5 Comments

Welcome to 2017, Pen Friends!Reset: a No-Stress Approach for a Great New Year

Once the confetti has been swept up, and we’ve all recovered from staying up too late, it seems like the dawning of January only has one thing to declare: New Year’s Resolutions!

But let me be honest: I’ve never really cared for New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe it’s my Myers-Briggs type talking (I’m an INFP), but I can’t stand being made to create a long list of things I need to improve in my life, and then be made to feel guilty about it if I don’t follow through on them all. I realize that’s not the actual point of resolutions, but that’s how they’ve always felt to me–like that one-size-too-small, itchy sweater your mom’s second cousin gave you for Christmas: uncomfortable, yet you still feel obligated to wear it. No, thank you. (Sorry, Cousin Cate!)*  Continue reading →

How to Create the Right Setting for your Story

~ The Spinning Pen ~ 1 Comment

At one point in writing history, writers began their stories by setting the scene. Setting was once used as a reflection characters emotions or actions. For example, a storm arises as a disagreement to your evil plot of revenge… But setting in books have changed today with things like TV.  We still need setting, but it is not nearly as important as our characters and plot.

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Setting brings us to a certain time and place.

Seattle’s physical setting compared with Albuquerque’s is night and day– one is high desert, with dusty browns and golds; the other is sea-level, with fertile flora and greens and blues. But they also eat different foods. ABQ leans more towards a Mexican flavor whereas most anyone in Seattle can list 5-20 favorite Asian foods. Continue reading →

Know Yourself: How Many Worlds Do You Live In?

~ The Spinning Pen ~ 1 Comment

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Writing fantasy is fun. Why else would so many people do it? Why would so many read it? There’s more than a monetary investment when a reader picks up a fantasy novel. They are taking on faith that the world the writer has created is going to engage them and spark their imagination. As an author, you have to think through more than loving your own world and story – it has to be easily comprehended by a reader so that they don’t get fed up and abandon the attempt to enter into your written world.

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3 Ways to Celebrate the Post-NaNoWriMo Crash

~ The Spinning Pen ~ Leave a comment

coffee-coffee-cup-cup-cafe-162793Congratulations! You have made it to the end of November. And if you’re in certain parts of the globe, you’ve already arrived in December.

I don’t know about you, but between writing like crazy this month, and getting caught up in the flurry of the holiday season, I’m already exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. Honestly, I can barely function after pulling a crazy marathon writing day yesterday in order to finish NaNoWriMo, so I’ll keep this short. 🙂

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Staying Focused When Distractions Are All Around

~ The Spinning Pen ~ 4 Comments

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It’s ironic for me to write this post, as I am one of the most distract-able people around. Youtube videos, tumblr black holes, Wikipedia searches and kids (none of my own, just those I live with) are only the start of things that can derail me when I sit down to write.

We won’t always have a quiet place. We might never have a dedicated office or coffee shop to escape to. So what do you do when your surroundings are full of distractions, legitimate or otherwise?

Speaking to single writers, our issue is we probably won’t always be single. So before marriage and children (and more) come into the picture, let’s talk how to start prioritizing our writing now.

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