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A collection of 560 posts

NaPoWriMo

Who doesn't LOVE a love poem?

Yet another way to cheat during NaPoWriMo. My poem: My Love Your skin glows like the pear, blossoms luscious as the rose in the purest hope of spring. My heart follows your saxophone voice and leaps like a kitty at the whisper of your name. The evening floats in on

NaPoWriMo

NaPoWriMo Tips

Despite my complaints, I’ve managed to write a poem a day for the first two days of N aPoWriMo. If you’re not so comfortable with outright cheating, here are a few ideas to help you break through writer’s block. 1. Use magnetic poetry. Magnetic poetry actually takes

call for submissions

How to Cheat During NaPoWriMo

After confessing that I was stressing about a poem a day, a friend left a comment with this site that would allow NaPoWriMo cheating, if one does so desire. Here’s the poem I got: A mountainous range stood before the cold Little Red Riding Hood Scoff not at my

poetry

April 1 and Poetry on the Way

It’s only the first of April, and already I’m stressed at the thought of a poem a day.

NaNoWriMo

April Writing Challenges

It’s the last day of March, and if you find yourself a sucker for writing challenges, roll up your sleeves for April. April is the month for Script Frenzy, a challenge to write a 100-page script in 30 days, and it’s also National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) with

blogging

Creativity and the Collective Consciousness

Josh McDonald, creator of the Ask Rachel comic, recently noted that, on the same day that I wrote about Christianity and sex at the Young Adult Catholics blog, he was also exploring the topic in Ask Rachel. We’ve all had experiences like this; we’re writing a brilliant novel

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Is there an editor in the house?

A friend from my writers group recently sent me this fun run on sentence from Time: “This was a long time coming,” says Richard Wiles, the Democratic sheriff of El Paso County, Texas, which sits across the Rio Grande from Juarez, Mexico — a city that has seen almost 2,000

freelancing

You win some, you lose some

I’ve always had a good work ethic, which I credit to growing up on a farm, where there are real consequences for shirking your work: living plants and creatures within your care will die. Freelancing kind of puts me back into that “dire consequences” mode again. In most jobs,

blogging

On Publishing, the Internet, and Self Googling

I recently self-Googled in an attempt to see if any of my Demand Studios articles had been published. I didn’t find any of them yet, but self-Googling proved to be an enlightening experience, as always. Because I have a unique name, and because I’ve had a fairly public

article writing

Content Writing Made My Dreams Come True

OK, the subject line might exaggerate — but just a little. Although I’ve been an approved writer since January, I just recently started writing for Demand Studios. Before this, I’d always been so busy with my other clients that I only had the chance to give Demand Studios a

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On Cowriting, Part 2

So, if the previous post made cowriting sound ever-so-enticing, here are 5 things to consider before you call your best buddy from elementary school (you know, the one who was best at pretend). 1. You need to have a strong enough relationship that it can survive literary disasters; OR you

cowriting

On cowriting

Sometimes when I see a book that has two authors, or a whole series penned by, say, a husband-and-wife team, I often wonder what the process is like. That is, how do they both manage to finish a coherant story AND still like each other in the process? I’m

call for submissions

Submission Opportunity: Unsent Letters

On Jenny‘s advice, I just started reading the Freelance Home Writer blog, and I found the coolest submission opportunity EVER there yesterday. Apparently some peeps are putting together a book and a blog of Unsent Letters — and they’ll pay you if they select your letter for the blog

call for submissions

Twilight Makes its Second Appearance

I recently found out about the following call for proposals: Bitten by Twilight: Youth culture, media, and the Twilight saga Edited by Melissa Click, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, and Lissa Behm-Morawitz Proposal deadline: April 10, 2009 The editors seek essays that explore Stephenie Meyer¹s wildly popular Twilight series. We are

blogging

Blogging elsewhere today

Today was my day to blog over at Young Adult Catholics, where I  refused to answer the age-old question of “how” someone can be both Christian and not straight (perhaps a better question would be WHY do people feel so convinced that God will hate on you for loving another

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Going on 13 DVD and Study Guide

I found a very welcome package in my mailbox today: a copy of Going on 13, a documentary from Vaquera Films that follows four girls from the ages of 9 – 13,  and a bound copy of the study guide I wrote for it through New Moon Girl Media. The study

call for submissions

Submission Opportunities

Just when I think I’m going to settle into a long stretch of just me and my novel, another submission opportunity comes my way, reminding me of my New Year’s Resolution. So, while I don’t have ideas for either of these, I’m hoping I might be

freelance writing

Beginning Freelancing 101, Courtesy of Jenny

So I’ve been meaning to write a post that reviews all those content-hungry sites out there that pay freelance writers: Associated Content, Suite101, Ehow, and a bunch of others I either don’t know about or that will be covered by Jenny shortly.  I’ve often heard the question,

titles

Title Tips

I’m afraid any advice I can give on titling will have to be taken with a grain of salt, since it’s such a challenge to me, too! But here are some of the things I’ve tried or heard to try. 1. Recurring or significant imagery in your

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Beware of First Titles

The thing about being human is that we have to name everything in order to talk about it, including our writing projects. While I was writing my first novel, I simply referred to it as “my novel,” but now that I’ve written seven that generic title isn’t as

call for submissions

Two down, four to go

Well, I finally did it: I just sent of my short story submission to QueeredFiction. It feels liberating to have it gone. Now it’ll be someone else’s problem for a while. 😉 Although I didn’t blog about it here, a few weeks ago I queried The Writer magazine

article writing

Last Year's Publication, #2

I got a copy of the BiWomen newsletter that published my article, “Kids Keep me Kloseted” yesterday. A few of my thoughts — 1. I’m sort of bummed that she didn’t keep my original spelling of Kloseted, but I guess that’s an editor’s perogative. 2. This article

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On Curiosity

Today I blogged about keeping curiosity in Catholicism over at CTA’s Young Adult Catholics blog. I’m a little blogged out, but will likely return to this topic in the future, since curiosity is as important in a writers’ journey as in a religious journey (for me, there doesn’

character development

Let's talk about sex

Although I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a fan, watching The L Word on DVD is one of my guilty pleasures. Like most of Showtime’s dramas (or at least, the ones I’ve watched), there’s quite a bit of fairly explicit sex in it.

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Friday Night Fun

That’s not quite as scintillating as it sounds. But I hope you’ll enjoy these fun proofreading errors nonetheless, courtesy of my writing buddy Linda. 2 female Boston Terrier puppies, 7 wks old, Perfect markings, 555-1234. Leave mess. ForSale — Eight puppies from a German Shepherd and an Alaskan Hussy.