As regular readers of this blog have undoubtedly noticed by now, I am not a person of few words. Continue reading
Home » Posts tagged 'writing' (Page 16)
Tag Archives: writing
Revelation
Last spring, I applied to a very prestigious writing conference, taught by writers whose work is routinely praised, if not revered, by the literary community. Rationally, I knew acceptance was a long shot. On the other hand, I figured the admissions committee probably wasn’t sitting around at night hoping I might grace them with my presence. The only way I’d have a chance was to apply. Continue reading
For Writers With Day Jobs
I don’t usually share newspaper articles here, but this one is special. I don’t know this writer or her book, but I love her real-life story.
This post is dedicated to every writer who holds down a day job (including parenthood which, from what I hear, is at least two full-time jobs in and of itself) and still manages to carve out time for writing, reading, researching agents, figuring out publishing, and doing all the stuff necessary to put our stories out into the world. Continue reading
Two and a Half Careers
When I was in my twenties and possessed unlimited energy, there was a brief period when I had three jobs. Continue reading
Celebrating, Part 2.5: When Lightning Strikes Twice
A couple weeks ago, I shared the big news that my novel placed as a finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.
And now, there’s more news, because today, the novella lists were posted, and . . . Continue reading
Celebrating, Part 2
Back in April, I told you about how I’d finally finished writing my first novel.
After I finished the writing, I began to take the next steps, such as researching agents, learning how to write a query letter, and trying to decide whether I’d be better off with traditional publishing or indie publishing. I also did one other thing: I submitted my manuscript to the William Faulker-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for unpublished works. Continue reading
Reading and Writing What You Like, Or How I Accidentally Found My Niche
Last weekend, I had the great good fortune to reconnect with someone I hadn’t seen since 1984. Back then, he was a high school student in the drama club I directed. Now, we’re both in our fifties, a notion I still find mildly shocking, but one I need to get used to since I’m bearing down fast on the day when only one of us holds that distinction. Continue reading
The Novella Dilemma
Novella: a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel.
(Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com)
So here’s the situation. You sat down to write a story. You didn’t think about form or length. You just wanted to tell this particular tale. When you finished, you found that it was 20,000 words long. “Gee,” you thought. “That seems kind of long for a short story.” And then you did a little research, and you found that most literary journals want stories of less than around 5,000 words (some less than 3,000).
Celebrating
On Friday, April 13, 2018, I wrote the word I sometimes doubted I would never write:
END
Writing From Real Life, Part 2: When to Refrain
Photo credit: Viktoria Hall-Waldhauser
Last night, a dear friend called to tell me about a horrible tragedy [the “Occurrence”] involving someone who was once very important to her and whom I knew as a friend, although he and I lost touch many years ago. The Occurrence will have repercussions, not only in breadth as people farther from the event are notified–ripples in the pond–but in depth as all of us explore and deal with our own reactions and those of others. Continue reading
P. Jo Anne Burgh 