A Writer’s Life: Balancing Work and Work
Like many authors, in addition to my writing and book related activities and appearances, I have a day job. Luckily, it’s a job I really enjoy and I work with good people. It is, however, a job that requires me to do a lot of writing and editing, which surprises many people. I often get asked, “How can you write all day and then go home and write?”
Writing Fiction and Making the Words Disappear
It may seem counterintuitive, since we work so hard at choosing just the right words when writing fiction, but one of my main goals during the editing phase is to make the words disappear on the page. I do this in such a way that the reader will forget she is reading, instead “seeing” the action in her head. While it sounds like a magic trick, it is in fact a fairly natural state for me. As a visual writer, I see the action as I write it. In fact, as I tell the people who ask me about my writing process, I often feel more like a journalist than a fiction writer, because I simply follow my characters around inside my head and write down what they do and say.
As a writer, one of the best things I can hear from a reader (aside from how much they loved the story and how much they want more) is that I made them late for work, or caused sleep deprivation because they stayed up all night finishing my book. The last thing I want to give them is the opportunity to set the book down to go do something else.
Sensory Details Can Bring Your Story to Life
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader – not the fact that it’s raining, but the feel of being rained upon.” –E. L. Doctorow
Humans use five main senses, which are our key physiological capacities for data perception. However, in most early writing, there is a tendency to focus on only two of these, sight and sound and leaves a lot of opportunity to add sensory details.
Recap of Healer’s Legacy Launch Activity
It's just over 10 days from today that The Healer's Legacy is officially out, but activity is all over the map for this tremendous book. Here's a quick recap: At brickcavebooks.com, the publisher's site, you can pre-order a numbered, autographed copy for shipping on March 27th. Click Here to get...
Book Review: LEADING WITH CARE
My Book review of LEADING WITH CARE: How Women Around the World are Inspiring Businesses, Empowering Communities, and Creating Opportunity by Mary Cantando has been published and posted on Charity Channel. I believe you can read it without being a member and logged in. Here is the...
The Healer’s Legacy, Nelig Stones, and More
Hello everyone, The lovely Ms S is a bit under the weather this week, so I, the webmaster, would like to update you in the goings on in the Sharonverse. As you may or may not know, Sharon has had 2 additional of her manuscripts picked up by Brick Cave...
Here is some reading for you :)
Hello, As the duly appointed webmaster and site updater, I (Bob) thought I would share some Skinneresque news with you. So, I'll start with what Sharon's been up to. She just got done working on the 2011 edition of the Steampunk Street in DT Mesa, hosting...