Shown above: most excellent villains Hello everyone! It’s the last day of the Clarion West 2019 Write-a-thon, and there is still time to sponsor me, or sponsor someone else. We’re all great! And all the money goes to Clarion West! As I explained in the previous essay, my original goalContinue Reading

Who’s doing NaNoWriMo this year? What’s your project? Aynjel: I opted for an alternate NaNoWriMo this year because I’m deep enough in an existing project that I didn’t want to sideline it for a month to start something new.  So this year, NaNoWriMo is that last big push to getContinue Reading

What makes a main character my favorite? I’ve made a list of some of my favorite protagonists, from some of my favorite books, and thought about why they hooked me. I’m someone who is pulled in by character first, before ideas. I don’t have to directly relate to a character,Continue Reading

NaNoWriMo 2015: I succeeded, but barely, and a little sloppily. The words weren’t all from the same novel, for example. And normally when I write, if I change my mind mid-scene about how the scene should go or what line of dialog the person should say, I will delete theContinue Reading

Part of the 2015 Clarion West Write-a-thon series! Sponsor me, sponsor another writer, or learn more about the Write-a-thon Returning to my notebook observations after the first Shadow Workshop: I sometimes put barriers up that are wholly artificial. Like, “I have to finish this thing before I work on thisContinue Reading

Part of the 2015 Clarion West Write-a-thon series! Sponsor me, sponsor another writer, or learn more about the Write-a-thon Writing six stories in six weeks means six ideas, right? At least, that’s what I thought during my do-it-yourself Clarion West shadow workshop. With a deadline only I cared about, andContinue Reading