Archive for A writer

Will writing nonfiction help your fiction writing skills?

Absolutely… to a certain extent. Fiction emphasizes creativity and imagination in order to construct believable characters, dialogue and plot. Nonfiction prepares you to write other elements of the novel, such as, narrative, description, or scene, and to blend them together seamlessly into a story. Nonfiction writing also prepares you for novel writing when you want to add layers or to increase the depth of your scenes.

However, if you pour too much of your nonfiction skills into your novel, it will take control of your fiction elements. I am guilty of making this mistake. Here are some symptoms to look out for when nonfiction writing has invaded your novel: Read more

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Do you need a Creative Writing degree to be a successful writer?


Skepticism about whether to obtain or not a creative writing degree is a never ending debate. If you want to be a successful writer and plan to pursue a teaching career, you’ll need a degree in creative writing. Even if you just want to be a writer, it’s better to have a degree in creative writing—if you have the opportunity to do so.

The benefits of getting a degree in creative writing:
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Writer’s best friend

I have to admit. I procrastinate. My manuscript has been sitting for weeks now, waiting for me to continue writing. Not only that but I’m also far behind in updating my blog. And I blame this latest gadget I just acquired for my procrastination… The AlpaSmart word processor.

I’ve been dreaming of sitting and writing in the park this coming summer. I hated my notebook computer because there are so many games on it and I usually end up playing them when bored or ehem… an excuse to procrastinate. Then I also hate the battery for it can’t hold power much longer when I need it.
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Start your new novel

…And the replies trickled in… …rejection, rejection and more rejection. The anti-gray men’s hair TV commercial with the nasty buzzer kept playing over and over in my mind – REJECTED!

Then the next few emails asked for a partial. What? Are they serious? Yipeee!!!

Well, until I get a request for a full, I’m not so over it. And the waiting game goes on…

So that is pretty much what is happening in the land of writing. I’m used to hearing the word “rejected” considering my day job that deals with customers. In my early years in my handmade bag business, I came face to face with customers who see my beautiful handbags, touched them; slung them over their shoulders only to say right to my face, “This is easy. I can make this myself.” Next, “Eww, it’s not, that good,” and flung it back at me. My face turned red like a cooked shrimp. I wished I could be invisible and be like that other TV commercial that says, “Want to get away?…”
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The Novel is revised, now what?

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I have just completed nanoing and have returned to my manuscript to continue revising. I noticed I have started to tinker around with it. So, I guess I’d better stop tinkering and move on to the next stage in my effort to establish myself as a writer, again, for the second time.

Seriously, I was kind of squinting at first when I stepped-out from my writing burrow into the open world. A writer is a loner when writing, but has to be social when they shop their manuscript around for an agent.

So this is what I’m doing right now. I did a lot of reading on my favorite novels to find out who the authors used for their agents. In fact, I had been doing my research during the summer, reading and building my short list of agents.

Now, I’m ready to shop.

So, if you haven’t finished your revision yet, finish it. And for those who are ready to look for an agent for representation, here are the steps I performed to assemble a list of agents I’m interested to send my query letter:
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Win My NanoWriMo Finally

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At last…

…after three long and miserable weeks, the word count exceeded 50K and I finished my novel. What an experience. It was truly amazing despite all the kicking and screaming of excuses I made along the way to not write.

To Chris, the guy who’s behind all this madness, a big THANK YOU!

Do I have plan for the next year nanoing? Arrgggh…I don’t want to think about it, yet. I need to take a break in December. I still have my next huge task ahead and I’ll write about it in my blog.

Until then, keep writing.

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Why do you suddenly fall out of love with your muse?

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Oh for the Lord of Muse.

I know it is coming. I am on Chapter Seven now and it’s starting to go downhill. I’m trying to find each and any excuse imaginable to get away from writing my Nano—you name it— writing content for my blog, writing emails, youtubing, attacking the DH, etc. Yet, I have no choice but to flop into my seat and drag myself to write one more chapter. Remember, it’s only thirty days to write a 50k word novel in NanoWriMo. I am racing against time so I’d better write or die.

Gah! This is crazy yet somehow so far I’ve managed to eke out roughly 1,500 words per chapter. Then it falls apart as I am not as motivated as I was on the first day of Nanoing. I wonder why? It’s not like I’ve never written a novel before. I had just completed my manuscript, but unfortunately it was completed at the end of October when I was planning to join the National Novel Writing Month. So I think it must be writing fatigue that has set in.
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Writing is a Loner’s Job

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Indeed.

You need to be alone—just you and the notebook computer in front of you, the cursor blinking faithfully waiting for you to start your first stroke of the keyboard.

You need to be alone. Just you, surrounded by books on writing, as friends and as a portable writing coach—to help you navigate your plot. And you’re dying to be outside, to be with others.

No one but you can get the job done.
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Why do you write?


While sitting here editing my manuscript in excruciating pain and misery, I wondered why I wrote this piece of fiction in the first place. And if you’re asking the same question like me, then you’re not alone. Rewriting, editing or whatever you name your revision process for your draft brings out all sort of emotional angst—now that you’re forced to look at your manuscript through a cold eye.

The fun of writing just ended. Now the real task begins.
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Middle Chapter Blues

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For those who are currently writing their manuscript — especially a novel, you know what I’m talking about. Yes, what to write in the middle of the novel. The first several chapters are easy to write and you know roughly about the ending or even have several options for it. Yet, you’re stuck in the middle.

For the first time writer, the novel usually has a beginning, middle and ending. So I’m talking about the middle section.
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