Category Archives: WriteLife

The Enduring Spirit of NaNoWriMo

In 2006, I was juggling five courses and three jobs to pay for college when I first heard about a program called “NaNoWriMo.” Intrigued, I visited the website and read through the rules of the 30-day challenge to write 50,000 words. Could I really do that? With everything else on my plate, could I finishContinueContinue reading “The Enduring Spirit of NaNoWriMo”

The Art of Writing FAST Part II

In a previous article, I discussed the benefits of Fast Writing (both what it is and why it’s awesome sauce!) Now, I’d like to share the “how” behind this technique…

The Art of Writing FAST

The idea of writing FAST excites me. When I was younger, finishing books quickly was something I’d always wanted to do, but I believed there was some code I needed to crack before I could achieve results. I’m here to tell you that’s not true. There’s no code, no secret, no one-size-fits-all formula. Nope. And you get all the details here, in my new mini-series, for free.
This article was originally published in the Killer Nashville Magazine’s May 2024 issue.

Thomas Dabney Mabry, Jr Creative Writing Award Winner!!

I ranked #1 in the inaugural Thomas Dabney Mabry, Jr Creative Writing Award for an excerpt from my unpublished novel “Overshadow.” It was an incredible honor to receive this award at the 19th Clarksville Writers Conference.

Rejecto-Acceptometer

(Approx 4 minute read) Who else nerds out as bad as I do with querying? I developed a system using Excel to track agents I’ve queried and their responses over the past year to see my progress (by the way, getting rejections is progress and before you argue your point about how that cannot possiblyContinueContinue reading “Rejecto-Acceptometer”

Pages, Players, and Perspectives

When you set out to write a book (or short story), do you try to imagine the audience? If writing is simply a creative outlet for you and you don’t have plans for publishing, then this post may not be for you. But if you do have dreams of seeing your name in print (beContinueContinue reading “Pages, Players, and Perspectives”

Find Your Community

We don’t exist in a bubble. And no matter how introverted you are, if you have the dream of “someday” getting published, you need people. Good people. Positive-feedback givers, real-life story swappers, and, most important, cheerleaders. I’ll be the first to say it’s really hard to find these groups, but not impossible. I wrote anContinueContinue reading “Find Your Community”

The Writing Craft (a curated list for those who never stop learning)

One thing I love more than writing is studying the craft. Since I was a teen, I remember scouring the English Language/Writing section of Borders. (Gosh, do you remember Borders? I loved that bookstore). I spent so much of my babysitting cash on craft books (and CDs, this was after all, the pre-streaming Amazon musicContinueContinue reading “The Writing Craft (a curated list for those who never stop learning)”

Troubleshooting Your Novel: A Craft Book Review

Photo by Polina Zimmerman on Pexels.com The Writer’s Digest Book “Troubleshooting Your Novel” by Steven James provides lists upon lists of questions to ask when revising your book. I love lists. I’m a list person all the way. Groceries, To-Do’s, How-To’s, and of course, both the outlining and editing process have their respective checklists. I’dContinueContinue reading “Troubleshooting Your Novel: A Craft Book Review”