LEARNING TO WRITE

Losing confidence, stuck on how to proceed with my novel, I returned to one of the first writing books I ever bought. After reading a few chapters of "IF YOU WANT TO WRITE, I was back on the writing wagon again.

 

FOR THOSE WHO NEED A NUDGE - 

For anyone who yearns to write, but doesn't know how to begin, I recommend this book.Originally published in 1935, it still speaks to people out there who want to write, are writing now, or have written in the past and want to get back to telling a story. You have to start somewhere. Ms. Ueland's oldie but a goodie book may help.

You may not be able to read the subtitle -"A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit."

A few months ago, struggling with my novel, I felt down, blue, hopeless, and all that jazz about my writing and my story. When I'm stuck on how to move on to the next scene, and negativity begins to overtake me, I usually open my Kindle and find a writing book that's helped me in the past. This time I looked on my shelf of writing books and Ueland's book caught my eye. I hadn't looked at it for at least a decade. Her words were magic medicine doses that urged me to carry on.

If you are afraid to begin writing, haven't written lately, or think it's time to put your life's story together for a friend, your children, your grandchildren, or to publish for the masses, Brenda Ueland's book is still available. It may get you going.

 

"HOW TO WRITE" BOOKS

There are tons of writing tomes out there. If I'm not working on my 1968 novel (working title, "With a Little Help..."), I may blog about a good one I recently discovered; it's about how to understand points of view in fiction. 

If you would like recommendations about writing books (or just wish to say hello) send me a message through the blog. 

 

Learning never ends. And that's good. 

 

Happy Reading and Writing! 

Post-project Blues

With A CLOWN DOG'S CHRISTMAS finished, I set the world of Pebbles, my heroine Clown Dog, aside for now.  I leave Budapest and Sun Valley and return to Maxton Falls, the town where my Girlfriend Detectives Jade and Nettie attend middle school, prepare for a talent show... and sleuth.

 

The tricky bit is fighting through what I call the post-project blues.  When I am in the last weeks of completing a project I feel exhilarated... like I'm riding my red Flying Saucer on the steep backyard hill on 60 Banks in Silver Bay. Everything is momentum and acceleration, speed and gravity-defying...

 

Now I'm at the bottom of the hill again. I have the basic story, but I trek slowly up the hill to a better draft.  My snow boots are leaden as I climb, with false steps and a bulky jacket that hinders progress.  Like my Saucer on its rope, I lug the story, CASES OF CONFIDENCE, slowly forward. Gravity is working against me at present.  

My New Neighborhood

My new neighborhood is Maxton Falls, the setting of my recently published e-book.

Long ago I inherited my sister Karen's collection of Nancy Drew.  She graduated from H.S. when I was in second grade and is the youngest of my three sisters.  Her N.D. mysteries stayed behind after she left home. And I couldn't wait to be able to read them.  In the early 60s I discovered another series with heroine Trixie Belden.  Last year I donated most of my Trixie Belden collection to a thrift store in Cambridge, MN where Mom lives and where my Belden tomes have lived.  I saved the first two of the series as mementos - the covers of these shown below:

 

Trixie and her girlfriend Honey are the girlfriends shown on the covers.  Their neighborhood included the nearby town of Sleepyside.

Jade and Nettie are my girlfriend detectives. I'm happily working on their next adventure.