Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Writing Life
Tue, Jun 23 2020
When last we checked in on our heroine's wild cliffhanger
A future serial project may be in the making with a new category. Please check back in a couple of weeks.
posted at: 14:48 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
A future serial project may be in the making with a new category. Please check back in a couple of weeks.
posted at: 14:48 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Mon, May 11 2020
It's not exactly time travel, but it gets me there
I got bogged down with writing this past week, so I went and found a project I'll need to work on for the holiday season this year. This was helpful for two reasons. The first was that it will prevent that particular task from sneaking up on me in October. The second reason is that it kept me from feeling completely bogged down in the present day. I suppose some might see that as a form of procrastination, but I don't care right now. Anything that gets the writing projects to move along is positive. If this works for your writing life, feel free to mimic my technique. If it makes you feel only more non-productive, use whatever technique or trick of the mind that works for you. Writers are, more than most people, aware of all the hallways and doors in the mind and where those can lead us.
posted at: 14:11 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I got bogged down with writing this past week, so I went and found a project I'll need to work on for the holiday season this year. This was helpful for two reasons. The first was that it will prevent that particular task from sneaking up on me in October. The second reason is that it kept me from feeling completely bogged down in the present day. I suppose some might see that as a form of procrastination, but I don't care right now. Anything that gets the writing projects to move along is positive. If this works for your writing life, feel free to mimic my technique. If it makes you feel only more non-productive, use whatever technique or trick of the mind that works for you. Writers are, more than most people, aware of all the hallways and doors in the mind and where those can lead us.
posted at: 14:11 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Fri, Mar 27 2020
I can't hear you yet and your cute dog is behind you on your cam and HR is asking too many questions and people keep calling to ask me how to get connected and why do we need yet another meeting when you and I talking right now and we are the only two people who can actually get connected?
Watching people suddenly work from home is fascinating. Most writers work from home when we write. Some have another full-time job outside home and then also write at home. We're used to dealing with certain issues, such as the timing of email responses. The newly seated person working from home also has new challenges being thrust at them all at once. They have to figure out how to digitally connect, hold meetings, collaborate with teams and make charts and visual communication actually work. Once they have that somewhat stable they have to concentrate on work and perhaps share space with family members and with pets.
I've learned that those of us who claim to be distracted by things while we write have actually had it fairly easy when we compare our days with those of a worker suddenly trying to live at home, socialize from home, and work at home. And making all that bandwidth work for the whole family at once can be tricky.
On a comical note, my main new distraction is coming from other people working from home who want someone to rant to about all the distractions they have now while working from home. Fortunately, it's all research for the next story's character development, fellow writers. Keep good notes.
posted at: 12:05 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Watching people suddenly work from home is fascinating. Most writers work from home when we write. Some have another full-time job outside home and then also write at home. We're used to dealing with certain issues, such as the timing of email responses. The newly seated person working from home also has new challenges being thrust at them all at once. They have to figure out how to digitally connect, hold meetings, collaborate with teams and make charts and visual communication actually work. Once they have that somewhat stable they have to concentrate on work and perhaps share space with family members and with pets.
I've learned that those of us who claim to be distracted by things while we write have actually had it fairly easy when we compare our days with those of a worker suddenly trying to live at home, socialize from home, and work at home. And making all that bandwidth work for the whole family at once can be tricky.
On a comical note, my main new distraction is coming from other people working from home who want someone to rant to about all the distractions they have now while working from home. Fortunately, it's all research for the next story's character development, fellow writers. Keep good notes.
posted at: 12:05 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Tue, Feb 25 2020
Can conflict in our own lives make us better writers?
When we have woes and troubles, it's tempting to get stuck in our mudholes of despair where we wallow in resentment, anger, and frustration. It's a very human thing to do, but it can keep us from moving on with our progress in life.
A certain animated movie song features the idea of letting it go. That might not seem logical when we feel that we've been wronged. But using our writer mind to imagine what would happen if we did let things go is a healthy exercise in taking care of our own mental and spiritual health, maybe even our physical health. Some people use beating up a pillow to get out frustration. But what if we did something physical that actually helped us visualize a physical release as an act of self-care. Some might go for walk in nature or dig out weeds for a more beautiful garden. It might help us move toward a freer form of thinking, which might also lead to a positive, healthy imagination that gives our writing both wings and a solid foundation.
posted at: 11:27 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
When we have woes and troubles, it's tempting to get stuck in our mudholes of despair where we wallow in resentment, anger, and frustration. It's a very human thing to do, but it can keep us from moving on with our progress in life.
A certain animated movie song features the idea of letting it go. That might not seem logical when we feel that we've been wronged. But using our writer mind to imagine what would happen if we did let things go is a healthy exercise in taking care of our own mental and spiritual health, maybe even our physical health. Some people use beating up a pillow to get out frustration. But what if we did something physical that actually helped us visualize a physical release as an act of self-care. Some might go for walk in nature or dig out weeds for a more beautiful garden. It might help us move toward a freer form of thinking, which might also lead to a positive, healthy imagination that gives our writing both wings and a solid foundation.
posted at: 11:27 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Wed, Jan 22 2020
Life, written
Writers need a poke of reality in the ribs, a strong stomach for interruption, a way to make money and a vision from on high. Then we can decide whether what we write is for profit, for entertainment, for changing the individual, or for changing the world. It turns out that the writing life is a corner office with big windows and a blank page.
posted at: 19:19 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Writers need a poke of reality in the ribs, a strong stomach for interruption, a way to make money and a vision from on high. Then we can decide whether what we write is for profit, for entertainment, for changing the individual, or for changing the world. It turns out that the writing life is a corner office with big windows and a blank page.
posted at: 19:19 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Wed, Sep 18 2019
Writing is not difficult, until it is
Writing is not difficult, unless you don't care. Mediocre writing is not difficult, until you care. Producing a work of compelling writing that makes people want to keep reading it is nearly impossible, even when you do care.
posted at: 09:33 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Writing is not difficult, unless you don't care. Mediocre writing is not difficult, until you care. Producing a work of compelling writing that makes people want to keep reading it is nearly impossible, even when you do care.
posted at: 09:33 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Tue, Jul 23 2019
Is lowering the bar to entry leading to less quality fiction?
We are having a new roof put on an outbuilding this month and are having to deal with a refrigerator issue that requires taking everything out of the refrigerator. Writing time this month is restricted, to say the least.
My thoughts have been with the explosion of ebooks in the past couple of yearss. The whole idea of self-publishing carries a lot of caveats, but I've seen some ebooks that needed more editing and rewriting than they received. Because of that, I'm having second thoughts about it all. I still think I might try writing a book intended to be distributed as an ebook. What I don't want to do is assume that a less expensive method of producing a fictional story should be an excuse to skimp on the editing.
posted at: 10:38 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
We are having a new roof put on an outbuilding this month and are having to deal with a refrigerator issue that requires taking everything out of the refrigerator. Writing time this month is restricted, to say the least.
My thoughts have been with the explosion of ebooks in the past couple of yearss. The whole idea of self-publishing carries a lot of caveats, but I've seen some ebooks that needed more editing and rewriting than they received. Because of that, I'm having second thoughts about it all. I still think I might try writing a book intended to be distributed as an ebook. What I don't want to do is assume that a less expensive method of producing a fictional story should be an excuse to skimp on the editing.
posted at: 10:38 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
