Thank you, Kathy. A few weeks ago I went back to a book draft I had let sit for about 3 years. The story was OK, but the writing... I saw so many flaws in it, so many annoying traits that I was completely blind to when I was deep into it. I isn't that I learned a lot in 3 years (I did one workshop, lol!), but I wrote a lot and these muscles got more limber. Like ballet.
Oh my goodness, I thought I was the only child who did that, learning ballet from books (those were the days before YouTube, obviously). My mother refused to spend money on ballet lessons, plus she had been in the same hospital ward as a ballerina whose partner had dropped her and she ended up paralyzed, so she never allowed me to attend lessons, even though the doctor said it might help with my scoliosis. I was so determined to learn, that I borrowed books and religiously practised several times a week, choreographing my own dances, doing all the barre exercises and so on.
Now... if only I could apply this consistency to my writing!
Oh, Kathy, thank you for this article -- it's been a long year of feeling like I'm all thumbs when I'm trying to put a story together, and sometimes it's hard to imagine anyone else going through it, too. So this meant a lot -- thank you. :)
Loved this article— thank you Kathy. I especially love the last challenge where you asked us to try adding in a vice we were always told not to do. I had to do that in my latest book, due out spring 2022, because I couldn’t figure out any way around it and I just had to try to see if I could make it work.
I hope when it hits the shelves people feel it was done successfully!
Thank you, Kathy. A few weeks ago I went back to a book draft I had let sit for about 3 years. The story was OK, but the writing... I saw so many flaws in it, so many annoying traits that I was completely blind to when I was deep into it. I isn't that I learned a lot in 3 years (I did one workshop, lol!), but I wrote a lot and these muscles got more limber. Like ballet.
Oh my goodness, I thought I was the only child who did that, learning ballet from books (those were the days before YouTube, obviously). My mother refused to spend money on ballet lessons, plus she had been in the same hospital ward as a ballerina whose partner had dropped her and she ended up paralyzed, so she never allowed me to attend lessons, even though the doctor said it might help with my scoliosis. I was so determined to learn, that I borrowed books and religiously practised several times a week, choreographing my own dances, doing all the barre exercises and so on.
Now... if only I could apply this consistency to my writing!
Oh, Kathy, thank you for this article -- it's been a long year of feeling like I'm all thumbs when I'm trying to put a story together, and sometimes it's hard to imagine anyone else going through it, too. So this meant a lot -- thank you. :)
Loved this article— thank you Kathy. I especially love the last challenge where you asked us to try adding in a vice we were always told not to do. I had to do that in my latest book, due out spring 2022, because I couldn’t figure out any way around it and I just had to try to see if I could make it work.
I hope when it hits the shelves people feel it was done successfully!
Oh, this landed at such a perfect time! Thank you!!
Super good.