The Writing Life
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Portrait of the Artist as a (very) Young woman
My parents are moving out of the home I grew up in. That means that I am acquiring many childhood artifacts that I am not ready to throw away.My dollhouse, my art portfolio from high school have now been crammed into my basement and I get to pick over a stash of excellent books. I Read more
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Are there too many aspiring writers for you to succeed?
When you start looking into the writing community, one of the first things you might think is, “Oh cool. Lots of people who get my struggle.” The second thing might be “Oh Crap, If there are this many people trying to make it, what are the odds that I will?” It’s easy to get overwhelmed Read more
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Writing Childbirth and New Mothers: You’re doing it wrong
Last night my crit group reviewed a chapter I wrote where the MC gave birth and adjusted to new motherhood. I’ve never ever had more polarized opinions of the accuracy of my work. What was fascinating is that when I went home and read over notes they fell into two distinct groups. Parents and Not Read more
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How to own being an author, no matter what stage you are at.
Once upon a time I told a guy I was dating that I wanted to be an author. At the time I was in journalism school and I had already completed three novels, and while I knew I had a ways to go and didn’t dare to presume myself already an author, I knew it Read more
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What’s harder than writing a novel? Writing a speech for your brother’s wedding.
My brother’s wedding date has been set for 9 months. I’ve had 9 months where ideas for what I wanted to say have rattled around in my head. I’ve written a novel, two short stories, and countless blog posts since then. But not a wedding speech. Not until this morning, the day of his wedding. Read more
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How to be ripped to shreds with grace (writing reviews)
In college, peer writing reviews never went very well. Either people were too nice or too mean or too vague. And no one wanted to hear it. Usually professors wouldn’t allow us to talk and defend our work, so we didn’t have the option of yelling at our reviewers. Sometimes people couldn’t help it. I Read more
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Themes
Themes. Be careful what you wish for. Love will find a way. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Oh wait, are those themes or cliches? I remember back in high school English themes were all the rage. Kafka, Hemingway, Plath, all very theme oriented writers. But what about modern writers? What is the theme of Read more
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When you decide you can’t fail
Writers are notoriously pessimistic, and for good reason. It is effing hard to publish a book, no matter which route you take. First you spend months, years, decades even writing a novel, than you edit the hell out of it for more months, years, decades. Then you pick a publishing path and go down it Read more
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You will quit writing but You can’t quit being a writer
I’m feeling a little sad today. No particularly reason, just a general energy in the air I guess. Alot of people are hurting today. Alot of people are giving up or struggling very hard not to. Even my computer seems to be feeling the mood. This feeling isn’t new to me. And although today I’m Read more
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Can friends be your beta readers?
You know you can’t rely on your mom and bff to be objective beta readers. You know that your neighbor and your co-worker will not give you reliable feedback (or any most of the time). So should you even bother with giving your manuscript to the friends who request it? What purpose does it serve Read more
LC W. Allingham 