When I begin to feel a writer’s block building in my work-in-progress, it is almost always because I don’t know my character well enough. What has happened in her life up to this point? How has her upbringing affected her personality? What do her parents do? What kind of quirky behaviours do they exhibit? How
IT’S NOT ABOUT FINDING IDEAS
“There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestseller; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky; two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn’t to find these ideas but
HOW TO KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Writing a novel is a long process. It’s easy to get weighed down by the enormity of the task. The most important thing is to keep moving forward. Here are some things that I have found useful
HAVE A MAGICAL WEEKEND!
THAT’S HOW YOU FIND THE HIDDEN GEMS
If you read the blog posts earlier in the week, you’ll know that free-writing type practice is invaluable for developing the imagination and as a warm up for your writing time. Writing begets writing. Once you have mastered timed free writing, your brain is ready to move on to something with a little more focus.
WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE
“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you want to go..” Natalie Goldberg People often assume now that I have two books published, the process must be easier. But in fact, every time I begin a new project, it is like starting from scratch. Each one presents
FREE YOUR MIND
“Once you connect with your mind, you are who you are and you are free.” Natalie Goldberg When I first began attending writing workshops, I noticed that they always seemed to start with some form of stream-of-consciousness writing. Natalie Goldberg, author of the best selling Writing Down the Bones, begins every workshop she teaches with
WE ARE ALL CREATIVE
The Artist’sWay by Julia Cameron is based on the premise “We are all creative. We can all be more creative.” When I started this IMAGINE blog in January, it was with this premise and with the goal of developing a stronger imagination. After several months of exploration, I’m now ready to settle in to some
CREATING SUCCESS – WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
Everyone wants to be successful. Right? Everyone wants to find the magic key that will open the door to this exclusive club. We’re so focused on gaining entry, that we perhaps forget to think about what this club will actually look like. What benefits will being a member afford us? When I began this project
Winds of L’Acadie Turns Ten!!!
It’s hard to believe that Winds of L’Acadie came out TEN years ago! I’ll never forget that feeling of seeing my book on the shelves at the bookstores for the first time. What a thrill! That was the beginning of a whole new world. A world filled with creative people who were authors and illustrators