Friends, babes, buds! I am exceptionally excited to announce that the first 10 chapters of my novel, “Hello, Harbor” are now live on WattPad. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Direct link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/168390639-hello-harbor
Read moreCategory: Developing the story
Story structure worksheet
Last year, I was lucky enough to attend a three-part story master class by Larry Brooks at the 2014 Willamette Writers conference. Larry had the most useful writing advice I have ever heard. It gave me some incredible clarity on how to structure a story. I use what I learned that weekend every time I write a story. Every…
Read moreNovel number two
Novels are not easy, especially when you are a Level 20 procrastinator like myself. (It’s an art, at this point.) I have been struggling with carving out time to write. That is something I knew would be a problem jumping into this whole endeavor. I thought all I would need to do is accept that…
Read moreCharacter driven – the fast and slow of finding yourself through other people
Personality mapping. I am writing a character-driven novel. It’s all about them! I’m trying to be true to each of my characters’ distinct personality types. But it’s hard to stay in their heads and not let my own experiences and opinions cloud their actions. So I mapped their personalities and taped them on the wall in…
Read more50,000 words in 30 days
National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. What the hell did I get myself into? month. The goal I fully intend to complete by November 30 at exactly 11:59 p.m. is to have a completed first draft of Hello, Harbor. I am a shitty procrastinator that thrives on deadlines, so I am jumping on the NaNoWriMo bandwagon…
Read moreHello, November!
The progress is all in my mind.
August has slipped away from me. I can already see the end and I’ve barely written 1000 words. I made some progress with book two’s subplot though. Harbor and Aidan’s rocky friendship needed more dimension but I wasn’t sure exactly how to get there. It struck me the other day to take a page from…
Read moreI decided on book two’s title
“Like Carrie but with water”
At an hour that doesn’t even exist on Saturdays, I made the trek, with the aid of some strong coffee, to Portland Community College to sit in a room of hopeful writers. Well, they’re actual writers. They write. They’ve written! They are all probably writing right now. I’m not sure what I expected, but whatever…
Read moreGetting in touch with Harbor.
I spent the weekend in Lincoln City, getting in touch with the ocean and combing the sand for inspiration. Decided on a title for the first book: “Hello, Harbor.”
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