LC W. Allingham

The Writing Life

  • Start encouraging other writers now

    Start encouraging other writers now

    Hey. You with the finished novel and the query plan. And you with the agent and the possible interested publisher. Also, you over there who just got smeared on a writing critique website and that chick beside you with the Masters in Creative Writing. All of you, listen up. You might be great. You might Read more

  • I am not a writer

    I am not a writer

    I recently read This Great Article on John Steinbeck, and this quote stuck out to me. “I’m not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people.” He scribbled it in his journal while he wrote The Grapes of Wrath. Pretty much one of the best books ever written. We haven’t touched on imposture syndrome Read more

  • Fixing a Climax Chapter

    Fixing a Climax Chapter

    In one of my novels I’m editing there is chapter, a big chapter, an explosive, climactic chapter that is just full of problems. At first I thought it was just the choreography of the final scene. It wasn’t spaced quite right, it didn’t move fluidly, it was confusing and it didn’t possess the punch it Read more

  • Second Blogiversary!

    Second Blogiversary!

    Hard to believe it’s been two years since I finally decided I was going to do this. Looking back, I am amazed at what I’ve been able to accomplish in two years, even as I have so much I’m still striving toward. Pursuing writing is a challenging path and there have been plenty of times Read more

  • Don’t try to write a perfect first draft

    Don’t try to write a perfect first draft

    After I realized that what I first put on the page was not necessary my best writing (imagine my horror!) I concluded that I would save myself a lot of work and effort if I edited as I wrote. And so it took me more than five years to write a first draft. And it Read more

  • Fostering a creative spirit

    Fostering a creative spirit

    I was very lucky as a child. My mother was an art teacher and while she taught technique and medium, one of her greatest assets as a teacher was helping develop the confidence of young artists. Kids who were paralyzed to try, kids who’d been ridiculed by friends, parents, teachers, on purpose or accidentally. When Read more

  • If you love a character, break their nose

    If you love a character, break their nose

    I recently read a great short story with a great premise and a great character and when I was done, I just wasn’t satisfied at all. Because, while the conflict was there, and it was pretty rough, things kinda just worked out for the character. She never had to take a hard stance. She never Read more

  • Just a little Tuesday Tip: Creating is the best

    We all spin our tires. We all get bogged down with fear or rejection or the “reality” of what it means to pursue a creative career. It can be nasty. It can be incredibly discouraging when you look at the big picture, when you have 385 pages to edit. When you are just punching out Read more

  • Let the success of others be an inspiration, not a discouragement

    Let the success of others be an inspiration, not a discouragement

    There’s a woman I know. She’s living the dream. She just landed the job of a lifetime and she is thriving. It blends perfectly with her life as a mom, allowing her to move up in her household income and she is pretty much walking on air. I can see her posts and seethe. Why Read more

  • Talking about myself

    I have no problem weaving my opinions and past experience into my writing here. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but when the subject is me, as in writing a bio or discussing myself as a writer (or as a Lindsey) with someone in person, I kinda clam up. Going through out my day, I have many Read more

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