What’s that I hear? You want to read an excerpt from my book? Sigh. You know I can never tell you no. This scene takes place in Madagascar, during the third and final section of my book. I picked it partly because it doesn’t require much context; even though you haven’t read the book until […]
Lots of little bits of progress this week. My base daily goal is 1,000 new words on the manuscript (“new” words because in addition to that I often revise already-written scenes), and I’m keeping track of those goals via #writegoal on Twitter. If I tweet it, I will meet it! A handful of cool links […]
For the first time yesterday, someone other than me read Chapter Seven of my travel memoir. Well, I guess it wasn’t really the first time. Before I sent the chapter to my critique group, I had a slight panic attack, realizing I was about to make myself vulnerable by throwing my work out into the […]
As a journalist in a newsroom, I never worried about how to write. I just did it. I put words on my computer screen to meet a deadline. But memoir, in full-book form, is a different game. One of the ways I’ve adjusted is by reading books on the craft of writing. So during the […]
A friend recently asked me, “When you find the right title, will it hit you over the head? Will you just know?” I hope so, because I haven’t felt smacked by one yet. That’s why I’m turning to you: Wanna help brainstorm a title for my travel memoir? You’ll first need to know what my […]
Pieces of my book are starting to come together. I’m now plugging a few holes in Chapters Seven, Eight and Nine, and should soon be able to read straight through ’em. A few links that helped focus my writer’s mind this week: * A hilarious post on how to be a good local author. Note […]
Working at home is not turning out to be one of my strong suits. Aside from visiting the kitchen pantry every half hour, I’m easily distracted by everything from the mailman to the dust accumulating on my office windowsill. So it seemed fitting when a friend forwarded me an article about how to stay focused, […]
Readers of this blog increasingly ask: Can you tell us more about your book? Most of you know I’m writing a travel memoir about my solo journey through French-speaking Africa. It’s based on my travel blog, Inkslinging in Africa. I’m recounting my backpacking adventure, which took me overland through West Africa — across Senegal, Mali, […]
Please indulge this word-count newbie for just a few moments. What should I use to determine word count? Is Microsoft Word’s word counter a good measure? Here’s why I ask: I’ve been told manuscript pages usually contain about 250 words per page. But I’ve got one-inch margins all around, and when I highlight a page […]
It’s Friday already? Here’s what I’ve got for you this week: * Tips from the Huffington Post about how to actually get some writing done. * A fabulous weekly feature from Jane Friedman about the best tweets for writers. It’s similar to this post, but includes only Twitter messages. It’s also a great way to […]