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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Words to Write By: WriteOnCon Tidbits, Veronica Rossi

I'm at WriteOnCon. Like right now. This minute. Because it's online and it's free. Already I've absorbed some super query awesomeness by following along on a forum event with agent Peter Knapp. I need to go back and take notes. 

Guys, it was nearly the same as sitting in a conference room. Except I'm not in a nice hotel. Also, I'm still in my pajamas and my boys are watching "Ice Age."

And what does any good writer/blogger do when they get really GREAT advice? They pass it on. So here are some tidbits I've gleaned so far. WAY more to come this week. People, it's SO easy to register, you could go do it now and be caught up in like, three hours, I think. :D

So first up, some FAB advice from UNDER THE NEVER SKY author Veronica Rossi: 
(And BTW you can see the class/post RIGHT now at http://writeoncon.com/2012/08/sustaining-the-writing-groove-by-author-veronica-rossi. For free. And no one is going to glare at you for walking in late. Sweet, right!)

Here are just a few of the things Veronica had to say about "Sustaining the Writing Groove."

Yes, work. If you want to be a professional writer, then it helps to treat your writing like a profession.
I struggled with this for a long time -- well into the days when I considered myself "serious" about writing because I was passionately working to get published. Finally, one day, when people started asking what I did. I'd say, "I'm a stay-at-home mom," (because I am and I'm really, really happy to be that), "and I'm a writer." And I started calling the three-hour block that is nap-time, "when I work." You should do it too. It's liberating in a strange, now-I'm-chained-to-the-desk sort of way. WHICH Veronica addresses too:

Writing is work, yes, but it’s also fun. It should also feel like play, so let yourself riff on something that seems silly or even meaningless. I bet it won’t be. I bet you’ll surprise yourself.

I do this a lot when I'm stuck. I abandon ship and go work on something I just want to work on. It means there's a lot of unfinished MS's in my files. Some of them will probably never be finished. That's okay. When I need to just write, I can always go over there and fool around. And you shouldn't feel guilty about it -- at least not too much. I'm also a big advocate that you should stick to one project at a time in order to be more productive. I know. I'm contradictory, but I'm a writer, so I can SO totally be contradictory if I want to. Stick to a project. Cheat when you want. There you have it. Oh, and as Veronica says, you should also READ!
Whether non-fiction or fiction, reading gets me pumped up about writing. A research book can spur a fresh idea. A beautifully handled character introduction can, literally, make me sigh. 
I don't know about you guys, but when I read a good book (or watch a great movie) it lights a fire under my butt. I HAVE to go out and write. So, you know, it helps in a lot of ways beyond helping you know your genre and to know the market out there. READ! Read, read, READ!

Come back. I'll have more tidbits coming. This is so much fun guys. Really!

www.writeoncon.com

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About Me!

I've been writing since I was old enough to grasp a crayon--my grandma even has an early copy of a "book" I made her. I have a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Wyoming and will (hopefully) soon be starting a graduate program in English. When I'm not breaking up impromptu UFC fights in the living room or losing miserably to my boys at Uno, I'm ... well, writing or editing, of course! I'm married to my best friend, and we have three rambunctious but simply amazing little boys.

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