The writing process Archives

The Emergency Room at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Emergency Room visits are a place for story-stuff gathering. Well, urgent other things too, many of them far less fun and diverting, such as the small but painful emergency in my family tonight. But there’s definitely all kinds of story material just lying around there (or walking through, or yelling from another room). It’s all ripe for the capturing. So many writing prompts! So little time! It’s a violation of privacy to go see what’s really happening, but nobody’s violating any HIPAA rules if they take that simple input, and make…

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A jogger forms a backdrop for Jim Rohn's words: "How long should you try? Until."

Playing a long game

November 18, 2019 jansgephardt

This post is for everyone who hasn’t yet dropped out of NaNoWriMo. And really for everyone who’s pursuing a long, hard effort they believe in. Whatever your struggle, you’re playing a long game. Persistence is the key. If you’re still hanging in there for NaNoWriMo, you’re entering Week Three, today. By now you’re probably tired. You may have missed a few days, or fallen short of a few benchmarks you’d set for yourself. You may have begun to wonder if this is…

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It’s getting on toward time. Are you ready?

October 18, 2019 jansgephardt

The Artdog Image of Interest Are you ready? Each year in November, it’s National Novel-Writing Month, AKA Na-No-Wri-Mo. Each year in October, I consider participating. Will this be the year? For those who do plan to leap in, It’s a good idea to plan ahead. It’s not “cheating” to think about the project in October (or earlier). Do some research. Get thoughts about worldbuilding, character-creation, and other aspects of the story well in mind before the writing starts. It’s not even cheating…

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Interruptions

December 19, 2018 jansgephardt

I’ve been trying to wrap up my final draft and get it to the last editor since the beginning of December. My plans were clear, my goals laid out with pristine exactitude. Yeah, that. The details–although I’m sweating them currently–don’t really matter to the big picture. What does matter is that at any moment something else WILL demand my attention. So instead of a long, wordy post I thought today I’d offer a handful of thoughts on interruptions. This topic yielded a multitude of cartoons and…

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Photo of three white "view" binders stacked on a table, filled with pages. On the front of the top one is a dark picture and the words, "What's Bred in the Bone." Photo by Jan S. Gephardt.

Being critiqued

April 4, 2018 jansgephardt

They’re all coming back home to roost. And being critiqued can be scary. Somewhat like the buzzards returning to Hinkley, Ohio (albeit several weeks later–I can’t believe I missed Buzzard Day, which was March 15), my manuscripts are slowly returning from my beta-readers. Who are the brave volunteers? I sent drafts of my science fiction novel What’s Bred in the Bone out in March, to a collection of willing souls. Some are published writers. Some are working-on-being-published writers. And some are much-prized living embodiments of my “target audience.” A…

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How’s the writing coming along?

November 17, 2017 jansgephardt

The Artdog Image of Interest We’re about halfway through Na-No-Wri-Mo (National Novel Writing Month). Time to check in, again . . . Whether you’re participating in Na-No-Wri-Mo or not, I hope your creative endeavors (whatever they may be) are going well. The creative process always involves frustration–but don’t let that stop you! Keep going! IMAGE: Many thanks to Debbie Ridpath Ohi, her ongoing comic “Will Write For Chocolate,” and her Twitter feed for this image. It’s always a pleasure, “Inky Elbows”!

Working on a first draft?

November 15, 2017 jansgephardt

Why would anyone try to write a novel? It’s an appropriate question for Na-No-Wri-Mo (National Novel Writing Month). Personally, I’m in great sympathy with Toni’s reason: In my experience, writing the first draft of any project, especially a novel, is an exercise in faith. Faith that you’ll work out the problems, that you have something interesting to say, that you’ll find good, better, and even-better-than-that ways to say it. Everything is possible at the beginning—especially in my chosen field of science fiction. But then you start to create your world….

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Writing is like . . .

November 13, 2017 jansgephardt

The Artdog Quote of the Week Especially for the “pantser,” I think: If you’re one of the brave souls who are persisting in the creative challenge to participate in Na-No-Wri-Mo (National Novel Writing Month), then you’ve already long since figured out this aspect of your writing process. To all writers everywhere, Good luck, and keep writing! IMAGE: Many thanks to Writing Sisters and E.L. Doctorow for this week’s quotation image.

Characters

November 10, 2017 jansgephardt

The Artdog Image of Interest Think of it as a casting call . . . As a tribute to all the writers brave enough to take the Na-No-Wri-Mo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge, I’ve dedicated most of this month’s Quotes and Images of Interest to observations about the writing craft. IMAGE: Many thanks for this week’s image to Tom Gauld, a wonderful comics artist whose work I encourage you to explore!