What to Read While Writing

Posted in Writings about Writing by

So what do you read while you’re in the middle of a writing project? From my personal experience, and some research and reading of other blogs/articles on the topic, there seem to be several different schools of thought on this topic.

Read in your Genre

If you want to know what’s popular in the genre that you’re writing, then read some recent books. Learn about popular tropes, what current readers expect or enjoy out of that genre, average acceptable story length, and so on. After all, how can you expect to write a cozy mystery or a sword-and-sorcery tale if you’ve never read one (or a few) before? Continue reading →

My Writing Space

Posted in Writings about Writing by

A lot of writers post pictures of their writing spaces, and to be quite frank, it makes me jealous. I see pictures of sunny offices, rustic wooden desks with vintage typewriters, and ergonomic chairs. My writing space is the corner of the couch.

Now, to be honest, I could have set up a designated writing space with the wooden desk and ergonomic chair. But instead, I decided to use my spare bedroom as a guest room/craft storage room, and there really isn’t room for a desk. My bedroom is too small, and my dining table is, well, kinda boring for writing.

I love my living room, with the big open windows, tall bookshelf in the corner, and comfy couch. So this is my writing space. Not exactly refined or professional, but it’s comfortable and it’s mine. I love my writing space! Continue reading →

A Glossary of Writerly Jargon

Posted in Writings about Writing by

If you’re new (or even not so new) to the world of writing, you may have discovered that us writerly folks have our own jargon. Even if you’re not a writer, if you’re an avid reader you’ve probably associated with enough writers (and/or literary critics) to have heard some odd terms being tossed about. So I thought I’d help you out with this small starter list of writerly words and abbreviations. This is by no means a comprehensive glossary – I’ve just tried to pick some of the most common or weird-sounding terms.

WIP

This stands for Work in Progress. A short story in its first draft or a novel in its third draft is a WIP if it’s unpublished and the author is still working on it.

MC

MC stands for Main Character. There are a lot of other terms to define character types (like protagonist, anti-hero) and one of these may or may not be the main character. But if you’re reading about a writer or a book and you see “MC,” it just means Main Character.

Mary Sue (or Gary Stu)

This is a character that is “too perfect.” A Mary Sue character is often super-model beautiful, multi-talented and excels at everything without trying hard, is loved by everyone, and makes few or no mistakes. A Mary Sue (or Gary Stu for a male character) frequently is an idealized version of the author, and the story can read like a contrived excuse to showcase the author’s perfect fantasies. Continue reading →

New Fairy Gardens

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

Some time ago I wrote a few posts about a fairy garden that I was creating in my back yard. It was a fun venture, building the door, sculpting the mossy yard. I’m not sure what it looks like now – I moved over a year ago. Probably the forest has taken over, which is fine with me – there’s something almost magical about nature re-claiming something that has been built.

Now that I have a new house and a new yard, I’m slowly getting to work on some new fairy gardens. My yard is very different from the previous one – much less shady and wooded, for starters. I love my new yard, but since this was actually my first full spring and summer in this house, I spent most of the time simply learning what was in my yard and how it changed through the seasons. Continue reading →

Book Nerd Problems: Organizing Your Bookshelf

Posted in Music, Movies, and other Muses by

For us book lovers, there are probably as many ways to organize a book shelf as there are people who do it. There’s no right or wrong way – I believe that as long as you can find the books you want when you want them and are generally happy with the overall appearance, then that’s all that matters.

I’m currently facing a new and exciting problem – having more space than I’ve ever had before in which to organize and display my books. Ultimately, I’d love to have a giant Beauty and the Beast-style library – but until I marry a rich bookish prince with castle, I have to make do with the four bookshelves I’ve got. My bookshelves are all different sizes (1 large, 2 small, 1 teeny), and are in three different rooms in my house. Of course I can add more bookshelves if needed, but right now I have enough shelf space with a little to spare. The main issue I’m having now is deciding how I want to arrange all my books. Continue reading →