Category Archives: Writing

Decisions, Decisions; or How Do You Know When You’re Doing It Right?

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) I’m about 3/4 of the way finished with my second draft of the first volume of the “Daughters of August Winterbourne” series. And in the course of editing, I’ve had to make … Continue reading

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Suspense; or Raising The Stakes

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) I must admit, I’m in a certain amount of suspense at the moment. You see, I watch one television show on a regular basis (Supernatural), and because I had plans that kept … Continue reading

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Writing Tips from Charlaine Harris; or, The Secrets of Writing, Revealed

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Thanks to a friend of mine, this week I found myself in possession of a ticket to see Charlaine Harris, author of the True Blood series, at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in … Continue reading

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Why I Didn’t Buy "The Hunger Games"; or Reading Pet Peeves

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) I was out shopping the other day, waiting for Beloved Husband to return from wherever he had gone off to, and I saw a rack of current Young Adult bestsellers. Among them … Continue reading

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What Have We Learned?; or, Charting Our Growth As Writers

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) [No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is, in fact, my second entry for today. Which, by my reckoning, catches me up to last Thursday. Sorry. I’ll try to do better in … Continue reading

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Doing the (Head) Hop; or, Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Part 2)

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) In my last entry, I commented on how I had gone back to read one of my first third-person pieces, a Regency romance, and found it rife with head-hopping. I discovered that … Continue reading

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Doing The (Head) Hop; or, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) (Sigh. This is actually last week’s entry. This week’s entry is still to come.) Yesterday, I got out one of my older works-in-progress, a Regency romance that I started way back when … Continue reading

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And They Will Come Home, A-Wagging Their Tails; or, Stating The Obvious

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) When I was a kid, my brothers and I had a record player with which we were allowed to play. It would only play 45 rpms–and it played them at about 42 … Continue reading

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Blog As Writing Tool; or Making My LiveJournal Earn Its Keep

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Anybody besides me out there still using LiveJournal? Blogger’s cool and all, and Facebook and Twitter have their uses, but I still love LJ. Because it lets me do things none of … Continue reading

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Airships and Boilers and Gears, Oh My; or Getting My Steampunk On

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Beloved Husband and I are spending the weekend at a steampunk convention. It has been a good convention, if a bit less busy than most of the conventions we attend. But it … Continue reading

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Dealing With Distractions; or, Of Course I Can Write With A Video Of Goats Singing ‘The Blue Danube Waltz’ Playing In The Background!

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Sometimes, it’s just hard to focus on writing. Whether we like it or not, Real Life™ can raise its ugly head when we least expect it. And at least for those of … Continue reading

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In The Home Stretch; or Are We There Yet?

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot)   (I know, I know. This is actually last Thursday’s posting, running a little late again. I’ll try to do tomorrow’s on time…) So here I am, closing in on the end … Continue reading

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You’re Out Of Order; or Writing The Ending First

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) I have another confession to make. (I seem to make them fairly frequently on this blog.) I’ve already written the last scene of my current Work In Progress. Even though I have … Continue reading

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Music To Scribble By; or What’s On Your Writing Playlist?

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) So as I mentioned in last week’s entry*, this week’s topic is music for writing. What makes good writing music? Each of Carrie Vaughn’s “Kitty Norville” books includes a playlist of music … Continue reading

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Fishing For Ideas; or, Brainstorming 101

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) So it’s Tuesday, and I still haven’t written last Thursday’s Melt-Ink Pot posting. I have what I think is a good excuse: My Beloved Husband and I spent all of last week … Continue reading

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Advancing The Plot; or, When Darlings Have To Die

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) (Pretend this is last week. I got busy getting ready to go on vacation and never quite got around to posting this until now. Sorry!) I had to kill some of my … Continue reading

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Exposition Done Right; or, I Saw What You Did There

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Just got back from seeing Tron: Legacy. Yes, I know. The movie’s only been out for what, two months now, and I’m finally getting around to seeing it. I don’t know why … Continue reading

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Too Much Of A Good Thing; or, Writing vs Overwriting

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) As apprentice writers, we’re told that we need to make every sentence sing. We should choose our words carefully so that each can have maximum impact, making every verb and noun count. … Continue reading

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Doing The Splits; or Maybe You’re Not Writing One Book, But Two

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) I have a confession to make. I’ve really been struggling with my current WIP, the second book of the “Daughters of August Winterbourne” series. It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying writing the … Continue reading

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Shine A Little Love; or, Secondary Characters Need Attention, Too!

(This posting originally appeared on The Melt-Ink Pot) Sorry for the late posting this week. I’ve been fighting off a cold. Still not sure whether I’m winning or losing, but that’s beside the point. This week, I want to blather … Continue reading

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