Inspired or Not

Quote of the Day: “If you’re only going to write when you’re inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you’re going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren’t going to wait for you, whether you’re...

Seeing is Believing: Map and Manuscript

In June of 2019, in the middle of my writing retreat in western Massachusetts, I realized I had no idea where I was going. Well, not me but my characters. I was 80,000 words into my manuscript, characters were leaving the city in which much of the action takes place,...

Sneakers Greatest Hits and Sneakers Light

I’m faced with a challenge. A professional resource whose opinion I’ve come to trust advises that I need to cut another 7,000 to 9,000 words from my manuscript to avoid an automatic “too many words” deletion at the hands of prospective agents looking to work through a...

Panic Attack

“The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting.” ― J.K. Rowling “You’re having a panic attack. Write your way out of it.” “Thank you so much for your...