When Pantsing Goes Bad

I am not, by nature, a pantster.  Which is not to say at times I haven't found myself winging my writing, or my life for that matter. Yesterday I had one of those days.  It was the last day of school term and it was shaping up to be pretty busy.  I had to help …

Pantster or Planner?

Who knew there were so many ways to write a book?  As I've ventured into the writing community, I've discovered the approaches to storytelling seem to be as varied as the stories themselves.  There are even a few funky terms to describe some of them. For example, a pantster is someone who just sits down …

A Little Less Epic

It has occurred to me that choosing to write epic fantasy for my first book (and a potential trilogy at that), wasn't the smartest choice I've ever made.  It didn't help when I was reading through George R. R. Martin's website (of Game of Thrones fame) and he remarked: Given the realities of today's market …

A Few Choice Words

Today I was tagged for the 777 challenge by Jennifer Wagner.  Basically the challenge asks for 7(ish) lines from page 7 of your work in progress, and for you to tag 7 other writers to do the same. Well, I'm not much for tagging others (although please feel free to have a go), but I …

The Happy Dance

There are plenty of days when I wonder if I will EVER finish my novel. When I’ve gone at a scene so many times that I'm convinced the whole thing must be a dud. But there is something about the story I'm working on right now that I can't let go of.   In fact …

Art or Craft?

I love to write.  To let the words flow out and hopefully spin a bit of magic as they fly.  It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.  What lands on the paper, to me at least, is art.   A whole lot of dreaming in a big, mushy, colourful heap. The thing is, although it is …

Release your Inner-Hermit

It is not uncommon in fantasy novels to come across the hermit.  The isolated, anti-social individual who shuns other people for a peaceful solitary lifestyle of contemplation.  If you want to get any information out of a hermit, you need to win their trust and prove somehow that you're worthy of it.  When I started …

Sage Advice

I read a great post yesterday by Rachel Aaron: How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day.  I'm not sure 10,000 words a day is realistic for me yet, but Rachel's advice was rock solid: Identify your most productive writing time and environment, get your objective straight before you …

Lost for Words

Okay, so I've become quite bold lately.  I've started telling people that I write.  Hey, I've actually thrown off my inner hermit and put myself on the web.  And people, for the most part have been really nice.   But the thing is once you've put yourself out there people tend to want to know what …

Uncharted Territory

Truth be told, I'm a bit of a dreamer. Great forests of giant oaks, mountains shrouded in cloud, magical gemstones and journeys into the unknown have captured my imagination since I was a girl. I grew up on a dairy farm in Wharehine, north of Auckland in New Zealand - which to my young mind …