Last weekend, I attended a very inspiring conference where I figured out quite a lot about my main characters. I made myself a list of notes of things I wanted to do in the manuscript. The lectures had pulled a bunch of pivotal scenes into focus. Note: I know where this manuscript will end, but…
Sarah Aronson
The right words at the right time
There are many reasons to go to SCBWI conferences and retreats and classes. There is the sense of community you get from interacting with other writers. There is recognition–which is something you cannot work without. There is wine. And chocolate. And laughs. And there is inspiration. The conversation. More than anything else I do as…
Writing guarantee
Right???? Jump off that cliff today. Write the scene you aren’t quite ready for. Be willing to see your character as part of yourself. Give a little. You will get a lot.
Great hands on advice…on writing.
So about that magic ring….
A tough scene
Lately, I have been spending a lot of time on ONE scene. Adding to it. Playing with time. Using scene…and summary. Writing a lot of really great sentences, none of which were making the story more interesting. This weekend, I tried storyboarding the section of the book. And today…. I think I finally figured out…
Hard Rain
Yesterday, I wondered what a hard rain sounded like. This morning, I got my answer. It sounds like running water. And construction. It fogs up the window. The lightning (even when the storm feels right on top of us) does not shake the house, but it does rattle our sense of safety. (At 3…
Cover love
Is there anything more exciting than posting the cover of your next novel? No. There is not.
Scrivener and me, part three
Let me start by saying: I am not blaming Scrivener. Not too long ago, I uploaded my half written WIP into Scrivener. I divided it into chapters. I was immediately excited about my new toy. I now have an almost completed story board, and I’m very happy to report: I know where this book is…
Thinking out loud….
The path to publication is never a straight line….never that so beautiful Freitag plot line. It is a journey filled with peaks and valleys….successes and failure. Today was one of those “moving forward by taking it back” writing days. In other words: I deleted. A LOT. I made space. I got rid of what…
Four children, one story (redux)
When my children were young, my mom wrote a short seder in rhyme. We wanted them to hear the whole story! This is how it begins: In the Torah it says you shall keep the feast Of unleavened bread—that’s bread without yeast. And during this feast we’re obliged to tell The Exodus story til we…