One of the things I repeat most frequently to beginning authors is that they need to let a manuscript go and start a new one. But I know it can be really hard to let go of a book. Why? Because there are so many favorite lines that you’ve perfected, so many great dialog scenes, such perfect worldbuilding, such a great magical system, and all those ( Read more... )

I was depressed and often suicidal for five years. During that time, there was little decrease in my production of words as a writer. You'd think if you were just checking up on how many books I was writing that I was fine. I looked fine in many ways. I continued to manage daily chores: laundry, dishes, food preparation. I exercised six days a week ( Read more... )

Many artistic types are perfectionists of one breed or another. I hate it when people call me a perfectionist because I don't think of myself that way. I'm capable of ignoring things that aren't perfect, but this is really only true if they are things I have deemed "unimportant," so, like cooking, my physical appearance, housecleaning, things like ( Read more... )

I miss a lot of things as a writer. I suspect that no matter how many things you try to get to, to try to have a real life as a writer still, you will always miss things as a writer. And it's weird to make excuses sometimes because you know, I control my own schedule.

Why did I miss that important thing? Well, I was sitting at home, writing. Did I ( Read more... )

List of People Whose Opinion on Your Writing Doesn’t Matter

1. Your mother, father, or any of your siblings.
2. Your spouse or your in-laws.
3. Your own children.
4. Your BFFs.
5. Your high school English teacher.

I think that writing groups and workshops are very useful. Teachers, editors, first readers, etc-invaluable. You need them. You really do. But you’re making a mistake if you think that anyone else can tell you what is wrong with your book or how it needs to be fixed. Feedback is useful, but mostly because of the times it chimes with your internal ( Read more... )

1. Your writing isn’t good enough (though this may say nothing about your concept or storytelling).
2. Your idea isn’t compelling (though your writing may be superb).
3. The agent has no idea how to sell this book, even if it is well written and the storytelling works.
4. The agent is clearing the desk before or after holidays and didn't read your ( Read more... )

As I was teaching my college class about Hamlet, we spent some time making a list of “how things could have happened differently,” basically all the moments when Hamlet made a choice that he could have made a different choice and had different consequences that were not so tragic, ie. everyone dying.

Now, some of the choices didn’t “work” for me, ( Read more... )

People have been telling me for a while now that I am “brave” for speaking out about problems I see in the Mormon church, and about my own faith journey, which has not been pretty. I am seriously uncomfortable with this label, but have been trying to figure out what people mean when they say it to me. It is part compliment, part-awe, them thinking ( Read more... )

When I was an undergrad I had this English professor whose expertise was on Shakespeare and he used to say that if he could go back in time and tell Shakespeare one thing, it would have been that Shakespeare should have written less. Because his opinion was that Shakespeare was super prolific, but there were just a number of plays that were kind of ( Read more... )