I love painting. I hate drawing. In addition to writing, making art is a calling of mine. This means I can’t stop doing it, even though I go through phases of thinking I’m horrible at it. I took most of the art classes offered at my high school, I went to art college for a…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Writing – Advice
Lowering My Expectations
When I decided to write Dark House (the working title of my book), I had some big plans. Some big, ridiculous plans. The first draft was supposed to be done by August 1st, giving me about four months to write it. That date has come and gone and I’m a little under halfway done with…
Read MoreI Used to Hate Writing
When I was in school, writing was something that I was “good” at. My parents, teachers, and peers complimented my ability to string coherent sentences together. But I didn’t like writing. It was a chore, albeit one that came easily to me. I knew how to figure out what each teacher was looking for and…
Read MoreRejection: Part 2
I’ve been gone (again), because I applied for another job I really wanted (again), had a good interview (again), and got rejected (again). Why do I stop writing when I’m stressed?! Why do I stop doing the one thing that makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something worthwhile? Even though I’ve stopped writing for my…
Read More
Ditch Your Outline
I started working on my novel again yesterday after a two week hiatus. It took me two whole weeks to figure out what was holding me back. I didn’t want to write what I had planned in my outline. The next section was supposed to be a little different than the previous chapters. I was…
Read More
How to Find Story Ideas
New ideas for fiction books pop into my head constantly (whether they are good ideas or not is another issue đ ). For example, I was at work the other week and suddenly thought, hospital…in space! Space hospital! Yes, that sounds ridiculous, but I promise the plot behind it could make for a great read. So I…
Read More
Too Little Description?
I’m known to be blunt. I often find myself involved in a conversation between two people that goes something like this: Person 1: “blah blah unimportant details blah blah” Person 2: “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do you understand, Kira?” Me: Condenses what Person 1 said into one or two simple sentences.…
Read More
Too Much Dialogue?
I was too tired to write last night after a hectic day at work, so I decided to read a little of my draft and tweak things a bit — this was a bad idea. This is horrible. I’ve been in some sort of daze the last two months and this is the worst thing…
Read MoreFinding Time to Write
It’s 4:30 a.m. I should have written this post when I had time on Monday. Last night I thought, “Screw it, no one is going to notice I didn’t post on Wednesday.” Then I started feeling guilty and thought, “Well, if I wake up before 5:30 I’ll put something out.” So, here I am. Last…
Read MoreShould You Tell People You’re Writing a Book?
So you’ve decided to write a book. Should you share that information with your friends and loved ones? I don’t know what the “right” answer is, but here’s my opinion: Only if you’re very serious about it. Only tell people who have a track record of supporting you. What qualifies as very serious? You’ve started…
Read More
K. J. Cole 