This is the week where Americans sit down around the dining room table, look at the people around them, and think “who are these guys?” Seriously, in two more days, we’ll all take a breather from everyday life and stop our incessant worrying about our next novel, our faltering ad campaign, the agent who hasn’t…
Tag: Thanksgiving
Character-Building: How Do Your Characters Say “Thank You”?
Among we mere mortals, “thank you” is one of the first phrases we teach our children. It’s also one of the few phrases (sometimes the only one) we learn in other languages. Most of us are familiar with “Gracias,” “Merci,” “Grazie,” “Arigato,” or “Bitte,” after all. Saying “thank you” is such a fundamental part of…
A Writer’s Thanksgiving
It can be discouraging to be a writer—or any artist for that matter. Self-doubt, rejection after rejection, bitter-tasting criticisms, more self-doubt, long hours of hard work with little or no financial gain, and yet more self-doubt. (Did I mention self-doubt?) That’s why it’s important for creatives to remind ourselves that there are benefits to this…
November: Writing and Turkey (But Don’t Write a Turkey!)
NaNoWriMo (sometimes I think it should be NaJaWriMo because it takes me three months to finish) is similar to Thanksgiving Day dinner. Plot To outline or not to outline? To pants-it or not to pants-it? Who wants five guests with the same speech pattern who all bring green bean casserole? Let alone they camp in…
Thankful for the Ugly Cry
I have seen a common theme in many RMFW posts lately on a subject I am quickly learning is key to success: gratitude. As the year wraps up and my dreams of being a traditionally published author are just days away from fruition, I usher in my favorite season with a warm “soul blanket” of…