Random Musings

Category: writing

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Three–Genre

    What do you like to read? (You do read, right?) Is that what you’re writing?  There are various elements at play here. And they matter.  Writing is about passion. When you write what you like to read, you’ll be more interested in what you’re writing, and that passion will transfer…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Four–Contractions

    I did not go to the store. I will not go to the shore. I do not play the flute. I should not go down the Shute.  I love The Lorax. It’s probably my favourite animated film, and of course the original Dr Suess book is one of a kind. …

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Six–Arcs

    Sue is happy. She meets Jane. She’s even happier. Things are great. When they hit a bump, she stays happy and they pull through. They grow old together, happily.  Flat. Line.  In the last post I wrote about conflict. You can’t have an interesting story without it. Along those lines,…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Five–Conflict 

    Yesterday, I went to the store. Then, I went to work. I got home as usual, ate dinner, and went to bed.  Are you bored yet?  I am. And there’s a reason for that.  It’s called conflict. Or rather, a serious lack thereof.  Think about it; when you tell someone…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips

    Hello again.  Life is a time thief, isn’t it? It rips it away like a fancy tablecloth, leaving just the used dishes on the bare tabletop.  I started this blog to talk about writing and words, and I seem to have derailed from that slightly. So I’m going to make…

  • Mental Health/False Intimacy

    In my twenties, I never thought it would be me. I should have, really. All the signs were there. They’d been there since I was thirteen. But I never saw them, nor did the people around me. It was only two years ago when the light bulb switched on. Chronic…

  • A What-If Carnival (and Writing Thoughts) 

    It’s like a carnival of fleas in my brain. Little flea lions jump through flaming flea sized hoops while others juggle and tunnel with and through pieces of my grey matter.  No, really.  I’ve always been a what-ifer. A what will I do when it all comes crashing down-er. A…

  • Reality TV Elections 

    I tried to stay out of the political fray, for the most part.  I might have shared the occasional article I saw on FB, but aside from that, I didn’t mention much.  This wasn’t because I didn’t care. On the contrary, it’s a subject weighing heavy. (As it is not…

  • Word Magic

    Someone said to us recently, “If you can speak, you can write.”  Now, as someone who teaches writing and works with authors at every stage of their careers, this statement shouldn’t have surprised me. But it did.  She was right, though. Humans are natural storytellers. We go home and rant…

  • Woo-woo and letting go

    Woo-woo. That’s what we gently, jokingly, called it. But that woo-woo has had a rather profound effect on me, and several days later, I’m feeling deeply contemplative. The first week of October was the annual writing retreat at Bambu resort, in Spain. It was a fantastic week of writing, discussing…