advice
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Dori Lumpkin – Fifteen Second Feature # 2
At any given point in time, I’m working on at least 10 different projects. They’re usually short fiction, so I need a bunch of them to keep my mind occupied. Read more
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The wrong computer
I’m not trying to make excuses. I have dropped the ball on this blog for quite a bit. Although I really did try, there were many factors contributing to my absence here. One is that I just didn’t feel like writing for the sake of it. Another is that I was struggling with some big Read more
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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
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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
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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
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Stuck plot? Drop a bomb
Apparently I’m not alone in running out of steam in the middle of a manuscript. I have been trying to force my way through a sticky patch somewhere in the middle for the last couple weeks and coming up with nothing, so I was reading a few articles last night that commiserated with my plight. 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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The Poltergeist remake: The gold standard of what not to do with ghost stories
I didn’t seek this one out. My husband flipped on the TV tonight and the new “Poltergeist” was on. Now I read some of the reviews. I had avoided it because of my love for the original, but it was there and so was I so I watched while it did everything wrong. Now I Read more
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Does your story have a point?
When my five year old tells me a story, so every ten minutes, they usually are structured like this: Character introduction- thing happens- thing happens – character change- plot twist – scene change – character name change – new characters introduced – total change in plot/scene/characters/everything – mommy gets a little impatient and stops listening Read more
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How to keep writing? Skip the boring parts
I am writing the first draft and I want to keep going with it, if something is boring me enough stop writing than I am going to just move on to build up or an exciting parts. Read more
LC W. Allingham 