I love the ringing sound of “Mind the Gap!” when British train doors slide open at a station platform. “Mind the Gap!” is an audible (or visual) warning. It’s issued to rail passengers to take caution while crossing the space between the train door and the station platform. “Mind the Gap!” The phrase was first […]
critiques
How the Chunky Method Saved My Life
A couple of months ago, after being sick and traveling and meeting two book deadlines, I stalled when given some unwelcome health news which required tests and more tests. I got really, really behind on an adult mystery, and for hours I would struggle to write, only to throw it all out at the end […]
Critiqued? Cry and Throw Things
Your novel is done–or as “done” as you can make it–and you’re ready for it to be read. It’s both exciting and fearsome to turn it over to a fellow writer for a critique. You have high hopes. You want an honest critique so that it helps you along the path to publication. On the […]
Uncommon Perseverance
The last two weeks we’ve talked about the stages of success. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the one quality that is a “must have”: perseverance. According to the dictionary, “perseverance” is steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. This year I worked with a young […]
Blessings or Brutality?
I took a break today from doing final revisions on a novel and picked up a little writing book called Some Writers Deserve to Starve! (31 Brutal Truths About the Publishing Industry) by Elaura Niles. I don’t find the chapters very brutal–just honest. And I agree with nearly all of them. If you’ve been writing […]