It’s two days until the scariest holiday: Halloween. (And the birthday of my favorite person.) Boo! I’ve done a couple scary things this month: I started podcasting, and I started freelancing. I’ve written about why podcasting was scary for me, here. Freelancing is something I’ve thought about doing, so when a couple opportunities came along, […]
Archives for October 2010
The Little Things About Writing
When writing a novel, it’s typically a good practice to have each scene move the story forward. If you’re not moving the story forward, what is written should at least focus on the traits and motivations of characters. Sometimes, though, you just have to write that one little thing for no other reason than it’s […]
Saying No to NaNoWriMo
I’ve never taken part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I thought about doing it this year, to have a novella I could use for a podcast or include on my website, but I’m working on other things. And that’s why I’ve never taken part: I’ve always been working on other things when NaNoWriMo starts. […]
Thank You
I’ve noticed more people stopping by The Juggling Writer and reading 5, 10, and 20+ pages a visit. Thank you for taking the time to read what I write–I hope you find something that helps you. If there’s anything I haven’t covered that you’d like to see, please let me know. – Christopher * * […]
Monday Motivation: For the Love of Writing
My wife used to be a freelance artist. And then one day she came to no longer love what she did… It got old dealing with clients who approved preliminary sketches for finished art, only to not want to pay her for work because they changed their minds and wanted something else (and felt like […]
Stuck in a Rut: Try Something New
All this week, I’ve written about ways to get out of a writing rut and recapture the spark from when you first started writing. Monday, I wrote about revisiting old friends. Tuesday, I wrote about rereading some of the writing from when you first started writing seriously. Wednesday, I wrote about revisiting old haunts. And […]
Stuck in a Rut: Old Work
I recently pulled some writing I hadn’t seen in ten years off an old computer. Some of it made me cringe, but some of it still holds up. I spent time reading old stories, some from when I first started writing. With years of writing experience behind me, I read with a much more critical […]
Stuck in a Rut: Old Haunts
When I think about when I first started writing seriously, I can feel the cool breeze of that season and hear the leaves blowing. I remember what it felt like to write all night with the windows wide open and the curtains moving in an out like a breath, as though the house were alive. […]
Stuck in a Rut: Reread
All this week, I’m writing about ways to get out of a writing rut and recapture the spark from when you first started writing. Yesterday, I wrote about visiting old friends and how that can help. Today, I’m writing about rereading. * * * I recently sat down on a rainy day with my favorite […]
Stuck in a Rut: Revisit
While most of us began writing totally alone, it didn’t take long to begin sharing what we wrote with others. I started showing my writing to a couple close friends. Once they liked what they read, I had the confidence to show my writing to more people. Soon, I had a large group of people […]
Stuck in a Rut
When you’ve been writing for years, it’s easy to sometimes find yourself stuck in a rut. Maybe you feel like you’re writing the same old thing; maybe you feel like work and life have taken priority over writing. Maybe you feel like writing’s lost that spark it once had. * * * When you do […]
How to Declutter Your Desk
In his book, On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft (Affiliate Link), Stephen King talks about how he once bought the perfect writing desk — the kind of desk he always thought a writer should have. It didn’t work for him. * * * There are times I think about having “the […]
How to Deal With a Writing Rejection Letter
Monday Morning My week began with rejection. In July, I had a request to read the full manuscript of my current novel by one of the top agencies on my dream list. Naturally, when you get a request for the entire book, you hope for the best. It was a good rejection letter as far […]