As I pondered topics for today’s blog, my mind skipped past several ideas and latched on to a practice that seems to come very naturally to me: procrastination. Ah, I see some nods of agreement out there. We all know this skill is one many writers have honed well. Deep down, we know there are…
Tag: Pamela Nowak
All Those Potential Stories
One of the most frequent questions writers hear is “where do you get your story ideas?” Well, to be honest, where don’t we? A couple nights ago, we were clicking through channels and landed on a PBS program about nineteenth century unsolved crimes. The episode was about a string of murders in Austin, Texas in…
Growth
by Pamela Nowak The other day, I began working on my presentation for two upcoming conferences and a thought slammed through me. Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have even imagined myself in such a position. Ten years ago, I wasn’t published. I had—finally—placed in and won a few contests after years of attending critique group,…
The Curse of the Critique Button?
I’m cursed. I can no longer watch a movie, attend a play, read a book, or (now) enjoy television without the writer in my head critiquing. And while that means I’ve finally internalized many craft lessons, it also means entertainment is much more complex. Last week, when I started griping about the slipping plotline on The Following, my man just rolled his eyes and nodded.
Being in Community with Other Writers
By Pamela Nowak In the twenty years I’ve been writing (well… writing with publication as a goal), there are two things that I’ve come to learn are vital: learning craft and being in community. Since many of us often talk about craft in our blogs, I thought I’d talk about community and how important it…