tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-319762422011-10-01T06:11:05.823-07:00A blog for writers, readers, and anyone who loves a great storySarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comBlogger1121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-9861569727821574992011-09-16T10:38:00.000-07:002011-09-16T10:38:30.966-07:00

In the midst of a creative life and after countless conversations with other Creatives, I've come to believe that many people understand very little about their creative process and the creative process in general. Expectations--defined and reinforced by social mores--often have to do with achieving goals based on tangible production. For a writer, that means word counts and page counts. But,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-4023908774799073072011-09-01T11:54:00.000-07:002011-09-01T11:56:10.596-07:00

"ALL CHANGES, EVEN THE MOST LONGED FOR, HAVE THEIR MELANCHOLY; FOR WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND US IS A PART OF OURSELVES; WE MUST DIE TO ONE LIFE BEFORE WE CAN ENTER ANOTHER." ---ANATOLE FRANCE

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-91865116417580975442011-08-12T15:06:00.000-07:002011-08-12T15:11:43.394-07:00

This advice from Alan Watt's wise how-two, THE 90-DAY NOVEL:“I didn’t try to figure out the ending, but rather, imagined a sense of my hero at the end of the story. How was he relating differently to his father? What had he come to understand as a result of his journey? How was the dilemma resolved? What was the visual metaphor, the image that captured the essence of my story at the end?

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-54626574336845470402011-06-12T12:22:00.000-07:002011-06-12T13:00:53.459-07:00

One of my favorite writing rules comes from Dwight V. Swain from his wise and practical book TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER (University of Oklahoma Press):" 1) Separate creative impulse from critical judgement. The first a most essential step is to recognize the human tendency to mix the two. Then, walk wise around it. To that end, adopt a working rule of "Create now....correct later." Promise

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-46839189769391427992011-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:002011-05-18T11:10:48.616-07:00

Every writer knows word play is addicting. And, happily, readers flock to those writers who express themselves with originality and authenticity. By that I mean, the images evoked are vivid and often surprising, and the words feel "right" for the narrative world they bring to life.My seven-year-old daughter and I are currently enjoying the series, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. We look forward to our

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-84416896714365969002011-03-30T08:50:00.000-07:002011-03-30T09:01:33.267-07:00

WRITING MEMOIR IS NOT FOR WIMPS.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-86221077115558237692011-02-06T17:11:00.000-08:002011-02-06T17:28:52.478-08:00

From Kenneth Atchity's A WRITER'S TIME:Fiction isn't identical with reality. Instead, dramatic fiction gives the impression of reality. Aristotle described it as an "imitation" of action. In many ways we prefer the imitation to reality. Fiction has a definable shape, a satisfying closure. When you read a good book or see a good play, you walk away with a feeling of having experienced something

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-21614837425298481212011-01-03T12:21:00.001-08:002011-01-03T12:27:46.956-08:00

Today's quote comes from David Harris Ebenbach musing on plot in the book from Gotham Writers' Workshop WRITING FICTION:"Works of fiction are not, and cannot be, about a million things--they are usually about just one thing. And that thing, the force that draws everything together in a successful piece of fiction, is a single, pressing question."

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-81529685566681765722010-12-05T07:14:00.000-08:002010-12-05T07:57:05.592-08:00

These days with so many publishing options available to authors, we should all know about award-winning web marketing author and web designer Hope Kiah's free marketing tutorials, specifically, Dead on the Web? Resurrect Your Book Site! Whether your book is published by a traditional house or a regional or academic publisher, or you are going exclusively digital, or via print-on-demand, readers

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-10561207584144869152010-11-06T18:13:00.000-07:002010-11-06T18:50:09.043-07:00

Last night I had the chance to hear director Doug Liman speak at the Santa Fe premiere of FAIR GAME, a riveting feature film based on two books: FAIR GAME by former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and THE POLITICS OF TRUTH by Ambassador Joe Wilson. During a Q&A session, Liman (who also directed the film The Bourne Identity) spoke on the evolution of the original film script to the final story,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-22435400532004251532010-10-21T11:14:00.000-07:002010-10-24T10:04:40.560-07:00

Colorado watercolor artist Bertie Stroup Marah contacted me awhile back, in search of coaching and editorial support. She had a story to tell, a book she needed to write, and she was in a hurry. Some of her family members were in failing health and this book would tell the rollicking, heartfelt and heart-wrenching story of a family growing up dirt poor and hard-scrabble in southern New Mexico.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-37213060443358618152010-10-15T11:33:00.000-07:002010-10-15T11:46:45.346-07:00

This November, National Novel Writing Month, offers the perfect opportunity to test out a new idea for a novel. After all, you can benefit from the energy of thousands of other writers. Just knowing so many people are sitting down to write every day can give you juice. If you decide to jump in, I suggest you make it fun. If you've been laboring on a novel for months or years (and it's not flowing

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-1689742498602004962010-09-19T12:08:00.000-07:002010-09-19T18:41:47.183-07:00

Ready to join tens of thousands of writers around the world and write a draft of your novel in 30 days? November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, and whether you register officially on the website and follow the rules (175-pages/50,000 words) or not, it is a great time to take advantage of collective creative steam. And in order to try, you must truly give yourself permission to

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-16416544721459895242010-09-13T11:14:00.000-07:002010-09-19T12:55:37.630-07:00

When it comes to creating a great protagonist, the character with the biggest, deepest problem wins. In my last blog entry--Does Your Story's "Equation" Add Up?-- I touched on the terms "story catalyst" and "deep-story problem". I want to discuss them both in a bit more depth because they are crucial to the creation of a marketable story.A truly effective story catalyst (also referred to as

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-27728007490064801532010-09-02T11:32:00.000-07:002010-09-08T21:14:03.845-07:00

As an author, 2010 is my year of collaboration. I've been working with former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson on a female-driven espionage action thriller. At times the process has included input from our two literary agents, select editors, a film agent, and various sub-rights agents on other continents. Needless to say, I've had story mechanics for highly commercial books on my mind.In my work

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-72661164291842256222010-08-02T12:41:00.000-07:002010-08-02T12:53:09.376-07:00

"So far we've looked at two places where you can put the character emotion you've stripped out of your dialogue mechanics--into the dialogue itself and into the language of your descriptions written from an intimate point of view. A third place is interior monologue. Movies and television may be influencing writers to write more visually, using immediate scenes with specific points of view to put

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-80453936197683590882010-07-09T06:30:00.000-07:002010-07-09T06:36:00.050-07:00

Today's quote from Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass:"Point of view is more than just a set of eyes looking upon the world. Those eyes come with a mouth and a brain. Those must come into play, too, or your novel will have the chilliness of a movie camera. There may be times when objective point of view is useful, but by and large it is best to use the singular advantage that the

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-12819685808839007402010-06-17T10:54:00.000-07:002010-06-17T10:59:15.557-07:00

"Creative writers make believe. They train themselves sharply to observe the world around them, to notice the unnoticed. They reach back into their past lives for rich characters, vivid settings, and meaningful events. But at some point, the search for raw material veers toward another source--it turns inward to what isn't, wasn't, and could never be, yet somehow seems right, real, and true."

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-78336374689074062382010-05-14T18:34:00.000-07:002010-05-14T18:49:20.541-07:00

When states in America raise the cry to censor ethnic studies, I shiver and pray that people everywhere raise their voices to louder decibels in protest. We don't have to look far to find chilling examples of the evils of censorship. The excerpt below comes from Azar Nafisi's eloquent book, READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN:"Our class was shaped within this context, in an attempt to escape the gaze of the

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-24702939581279287712010-04-05T23:01:00.000-07:002010-04-05T23:14:11.180-07:00

Having lost myself in time--for months at a time--I am sharing words of wisdom from Kenneth Atchity and his book, A WRITER'S TIME. "Like everything else in life, the process of revising your view of time begins with a decision. It's a matter of willing to change your life by starting today to manage your time and understand its relationship to work and personal satisfaction. Here are some

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-91613954346540860622010-02-12T04:28:00.000-08:002010-02-12T04:48:57.207-08:00

As my friend, writer Alexandra Diaz, celebrates the publication of her wonderful debut novel, Of All the Stupid Things, she also shares some advice and thoughts about the writing life.*What advice do you have to writers?If writing is what you really want to do then keep at it, and keep at it some more. All artists encounter people who tell them that they will never make it, but you’re the only

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-8888807840852993642010-01-23T12:53:00.000-08:002010-01-23T13:01:22.353-08:00

"A shimmering Image is a memory that rises in your consciousness like a photograph pulsing with meaning..." Lisa Dale Norton, Shimmering Images, A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir Photo credit: Danny Lehman

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-80212412477369831672010-01-09T09:42:00.000-08:002010-01-09T10:03:22.494-08:00

I'm writing on a deadline these days and, consequently, I'm short on time to blog. However, I do have time to share some of my favorite quotes from incredible writers, editors, and teachers. This one from A Writer's Time by Kenneth Atchity: "I haven't mentioned the Muse, the mythic word for "inspiration." She is the last person you want to depend on. Professional writers generally speak of her

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-2366598076240301882010-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:002010-01-01T20:38:44.483-08:00

Welcome to 2010 and your mind on the hop!"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes of his mind on the hop." ~Vita Sackville-West

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-42305536494831890002009-12-31T06:39:00.000-08:002009-12-31T09:08:53.017-08:00

Some final thoughts on writing for this year:20) Get plenty of exercise. Drink lots of water. Don't get lost on social networking sites.22) Understand that as a creative person, you will experience some anxiety, its part of the creative process.23) Learn the difference between some anxiety and crippling anxiety; seek help for the latter.24) When anxiety shivers through you, open to your curiosity

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-28960554151823896772009-12-19T14:24:00.000-08:002009-12-31T06:39:26.966-08:00

More musings as the Solstice draws near...9) Know that Creatives need company, we need our creative community, those who will support us on our journey.10) Understand that books are written in drafts, often three.11) Embrace the mess of your first draft. This is special, this is the mud and mess of first creation.12) Invite your constructive critic to join the writing/revising process only after

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-62490679138723480142009-12-08T07:43:00.000-08:002009-12-08T08:28:50.325-08:00

More miscellaneous, so-not profound musings on writing:4) If you are constantly doubting your work, ask yourself if you trust your own creative process. If the answer is anything but yes, add "TRUST" to your daily mantra.5) You need a safe--some call it sacred--space to write, where you are free from interruptions and intrusion. That safe place might be your office, your car, the nearest library

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-9624712695884002972009-12-03T21:06:00.000-08:002009-12-03T21:51:19.785-08:00

3 of 31 miscellaneous, so-not-profound musings on writing:Dec 1, Beware, you can lose your butt in the chair.Dec 2, Dive with your heart as deep as you dare...and then go deeper.Dec 3, Three words to unleash on the page: yearning, relationships, intention.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-14337069706880825832009-11-04T11:37:00.000-08:002009-11-04T11:57:57.997-08:00

It's day four of National Novel Writing Month and if you're participating you should be 6,666 words into your first draft by the end of today! If you've missed the scoop, the goal is to write 50,000 words/175 pages of a first draft in one month--November. The folks at NaNoWriMo say the focus in on output. And I have to remind even very experienced writers that first draft is not about polish,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-90404634938875679572009-10-28T10:08:00.000-07:002009-10-28T10:35:00.589-07:00

When I work with writers, often the hardest news I have to deliver about their manuscript is "Cut, cut, cut, cut the info-dump." That's the term some people in the biz use to describe the excessive use of backstory/exposition. You know it when you see it--paragraphs or pages of information delivered passively to the reader. Information served up on a paper plate. Information that dulls the

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-41451607906816758952009-10-27T10:46:00.000-07:002009-10-27T11:28:46.672-07:00

The next time you read a novel, stop after the opening line. What promise is the writer making to the reader? A beautifully crafted novel will begin to work its magic from the first words on the page. Below is a brief excerpt of an interview of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in conversation with Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza in the marvelous book, THE FRAGRANCE OF GUAVA:Which visual image did you use for One

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-61752181934509429282009-10-06T09:28:00.000-07:002009-10-06T09:31:01.438-07:00

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us The Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separate from the rest....a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons near us. Our task must be to free ourselves from

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-19702870502278453312009-09-24T10:46:00.000-07:002009-09-24T11:43:17.704-07:00

Fiction according to John Irving: "You might say I back into a novel. All the important discoveries--at the end of a book--these are the things I have to know before I know where to begin." In his lucid book THE FICTION EDITOR, THE NOVEL, AND THE NOVELIST, editor and author Thomas McCormack quotes Irving to say: "I want to know how a book feels after the main events are over. The authority of

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-11268005290318199032009-09-09T09:06:00.000-07:002009-09-09T11:06:05.656-07:00

I had a call yesterday from a writer who wasn't sure if the story she wants to write will best be told as fiction or memoir. We talked about fear of exposure and how fictionalizing a life story does not necessarily do anything to address that issue. We talked about the kinds of books she loves to read. At the end of our brief conversation, she asked if I had an exercise that would guide her along

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-18283515218814788912009-08-25T10:11:00.000-07:002009-08-25T10:21:25.915-07:00

Kurt Vonnegut insisted that each writer be a sadist when it comes to your main characters. Make awful things happen to them so readers can see what they are made of. If you want to absorb 7 more tips from the great KV, enjoy this YouTube wisdom.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-18516796139892256652009-08-18T13:35:00.000-07:002009-08-18T13:47:24.649-07:00

This year's beach read--Horton Hatches the Egg--inspired by daughter Pearl, reminds me of the value of studying children's stories for classic structure. Cinderella is the usual choice, but I recommend Horton as a great example of "only trouble is interesting". Horton undergoes countless trials as he waits for the egg to hatch. In the end, still loyal 100%, Horton emerges a true hero--and a Dad

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-87015030980261895532009-08-06T13:30:00.000-07:002009-08-06T13:31:47.969-07:00

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." Erich Fromm

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-13920672086971050342009-08-01T10:01:00.000-07:002009-08-05T00:34:22.764-07:00

Today's quote from author Elizabeth Gilbert--"To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that, that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful 'magic skills' that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by almost every ancient wisdom tradition."Today's challenge: Warm up your trust muscle and let it support you and your creative

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-2135532796574422932009-07-25T08:42:00.000-07:002009-07-25T08:52:16.438-07:00

If you can't get past the first page of your story, try songwriting. Seriously, write short, not long. Even if it's only on a lark, it's great practice for prose writers to work in poetry and song. If you're interested, check out the Singer/Songwriters Telesummit.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-80271992656084326772009-07-23T09:30:00.000-07:002009-07-23T09:35:41.604-07:00

Mentoring from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan: "I'll teach you to ride on the wind's back, and away we go!"

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-59339619967101239082009-07-14T05:20:00.000-07:002009-07-14T05:32:31.790-07:00

I came across this quote from actor Holly Hunter: "I always feel that I am the advocate for my character. More than anyone else on the set, including the director. I'm there to protect my character, in any way."As writers, we might consider it our job to find an inner advocate for every character on our pages, even--especially--the least sympathetic. Remember the fiction writers' "P" word: parity.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-61343922779355727292009-06-29T23:40:00.000-07:002009-06-30T10:37:41.615-07:00

The day after we discovered that Pearl's favorite stuffy Chocolate Bunny was missing--left behind on the rocks near a remote campsite about sixty miles from Taos--Michael put in a call to the forest service office near Tres Piedras. Sure enough, someone special answered: an officer named John. When John heard that a five-year-old girl was grieving her lost bunny he said he'd do what he could to

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-46533862815601252742009-06-28T14:04:00.000-07:002009-06-28T14:20:01.820-07:00

My five-year-old daughter took a camping trip with her dad this weekend. They returned home early--both with colds--in part because it never stopped raining. This morning, when we searched for Chocolate Bunny, Pearl's most treasured stuffy was nowhere to be found. Pearl tearfully remembered that she and her five-year-old friend Hawk had taken Chocolate Bunny out to play just before departure from

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-4222866315854390582009-06-27T16:27:00.000-07:002009-06-27T16:48:25.671-07:00

If you accept that story lives in relationships, in the push-pull of people with each other, within themselves, with their environment, then read David Abram's mesmerizing and brilliant book, THE SPELL OF THE SENSUOUS. "Late one evening I stepped out of my little hut in the rice paddies of eastern Bali and found myself falling through space. Over my head the black sky was rippling with stars,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-63920410578734364762009-06-12T09:28:00.000-07:002009-06-12T09:58:43.009-07:00

My daughter announced today that she's making a 3,000-page book. The word count will be light but it will have scads of pictures. She's five years old. She asked me to contribute a drawing. When I complied, she added finishing touches. And then she marked off three more pages. "I'm doing four pages a day," she said, placing her palm firmly over the rest of her notebook. "Why four?" I asked. "

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-87240905615824277472009-06-02T10:35:00.000-07:002009-06-02T10:47:06.587-07:00

Today's quote comes from Thomas McCormack's excellent book: THE FICTION EDITOR, THE NOVEL, AND THE NOVELIST."Character is most keenly revealed when it's confronted with crisis, hard choices, urgent decisions. Thus, insofar as he's interested in revealing character, the author's job is to construct setting and circuitry that will call for decisions, for actions."When you sit down to write today,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-54188525436247584782009-05-26T12:50:00.001-07:002009-05-26T13:06:17.154-07:00

Recently a writer shared a list of all the reasons why she needed to wait until winter to begin her new writing schedule. I read it over, paused a moment, and responded, "There will always be reasons not to write."  Those times when life seems most overwhelming--when it comes rolling straight at us full-tilt--present some of the richest challenges and also opportunities. No better time to be

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-5931137329464578142009-05-14T22:25:00.000-07:002009-05-16T08:03:01.112-07:00

I turned thirty in a dinghy on the River Ganga, while a full moon and the fires from the corpses in the burning ghats illuminated the shores of the holy city of Varanasi. That trip to India years ago changed my life. I glimpsed my own mortality, dodged snake charmers and lepers, paid homage to living goddesses and glassy-eyed sadhus. I also met Ganesha, the elephant riding the mouse. Ganesha,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-36668528969241321122009-05-11T23:52:00.000-07:002009-05-12T00:08:17.295-07:00

I am pleased to announce victory over pinkeye and various other woes in my household! (See previous post.) Because I'm in contact with many writers and quite a number of them are in the process of sharing their stories with select readers, agents, and editors, I am going to use the next few blog posts to focus on surviving and thriving through submission and beyond. Have you ever thought about

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-4763989142246937472009-04-26T06:33:00.000-07:002009-05-12T00:09:01.646-07:00

Okay, it's been a tough few weeks for my immediate family. My five-year-old daughter had pinkeye, my husband is recovering from an earache, and I'm coming back from a garden variety cold. Hence the recent scarcity of blog entries. I'm catching up soon, I promise. 

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-66366754436579641272009-04-17T06:17:00.001-07:002009-04-17T07:49:52.029-07:00

If you're about to query agents about your debut novel and the word count tops 150k, land here first: The Swivet. Agent Colleen Lindsay lays out the basics by category. Bottomline--less is more. The average word count for a novel? Between 80k and 100k, with YA running between 50k and 80k. 

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-36470227873294253542009-04-15T09:35:00.000-07:002009-04-15T10:04:39.514-07:00

When it comes time to find the right agent for you and your novel, you will need to compose a query letter and a synopsis. Your job is to make both of these documents tight, professional, and effective.  To spare yourself needless pain and embarrassing blunders, seek help without shame. Agent Query has clear guidelines to help you come up with a dynamite query.Fiction Writer's Connection offers

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-43720054910898880792009-04-11T09:40:00.000-07:002009-04-12T15:57:40.685-07:00

I was having tea on Canyon Road with literary agent Irene Webb and she mentioned a trip to New York to visit with editors. What are they looking for? I asked.  Her answer boiled down to two points: 1) A writer with a unique voice; 2) A writer with a strong a platform. Voice? We know it when we hear it, when we read it on the page. It's a sort of author's thumbprint, and it lends the story its

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-44771587766349059062009-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:002009-04-07T08:48:07.763-07:00

I met Donald Maass last October when we were both among the presenters at the Surrey International Writers' Conference in Surrey, British Columbia. Not only is Maass a high-powered agent with great marketing advice for writers, he is also a writer who truly cares about other writers, their creative process, and their stories. Read what he has to say about originality and fiction on his new blog

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-78937730769981114922009-04-03T13:18:00.000-07:002009-04-03T15:19:14.370-07:00

Over the next weeks I'll be focusing on the business of writing--building your platform, choosing authentic career strategies, finding the right agent, evaluating your publishing options from traditional to POD to e-books to Kindle. And most importantly, how to hold onto your power and your sanity over the course of your creative lifetime.I'm not going to try to organize these "biz" posts in any

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-80080204027769803022009-04-01T19:51:00.000-07:002009-04-01T20:07:54.726-07:00

As part of my family's spring break, I spent the past few days revising an outline. This novel is already in progress but I've been making changes to some of the plot elements and I wanted to "picture" the whole again. I worked up a six-page prose outline. Sure enough, it gave me a new perspective. Still, I wanted an instant picture. My first idea was to use a "horizon" outline. It's something I

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-7850370322794403302009-03-22T07:49:00.000-07:002009-03-22T08:18:16.818-07:00

Writers talk a lot about viewpoint characters. The story is told from her viewpoint. Or his viewpoint. Or both their viewpoints. Sometimes we become so focused on maintaining a strict viewpoint, we forget that narrative is about relationships.  Relationships. Interactions. Exchanges. Collisions. Between people. And between a person and her world. When you write your next scene imagine an energy

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-62555447162953950932009-03-17T08:44:00.000-07:002009-03-17T08:49:28.935-07:00

CONNECTION THROUGH IMPERFECTION

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-86778027306766788552009-03-16T12:58:00.000-07:002009-03-19T07:14:39.320-07:00

If you are writing fiction and you want to spark a two-character scene and/or a short story, endow one character with a secret and the other with a lie. Now let them interact without either one revealing the truth. Too lazy or virtuous to come up with something juicy? Visit the Post Secret website for inspiration. It's one of my favorite "writerly" sites online.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-53865167538045179212009-03-11T18:25:00.000-07:002009-03-16T12:56:26.090-07:00

Last week, in the midst of a busy coaching schedule, a busy writing schedule, and my always busy family life, I took time out for some creative banking. I don't mean I did some funny business with my income tax prep. I do mean I took stock of past, present, and future writing projects, and I discovered how much I have in my creative "bank". If you've been writing for any length of time, you have

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-34994375840534780252009-02-12T21:31:00.001-08:002009-03-11T18:25:00.254-07:00

One of the best essays I've read about reconnecting to your novel and moving past "stuckness" was penned by Gail Godwin and published in The Writer. Godwin suggests that a creative work in progress may react to the fear of abandonment like an aggrieved pet, giving you, the author, the cold shoulder or even turning its back on you completely. The provocation of this punishment may be as slight as

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-47000021822211005972009-01-31T08:53:00.000-08:002009-02-12T22:24:40.542-08:00

Today's writing tip is a simple way to avoid "math anxiety" when it comes to reviewing scenes: Remember that your primary character has an objective in each scene. That goes for other characters who are active in the scene. Objectives change--and they may begin as reactive (as in your character reacting to something that happens) but ultimately that reaction translates into action, subtle or

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-15013695724708973592009-01-25T07:56:00.000-08:002009-01-26T12:18:17.878-08:00

The start of each new year offers us the chance to begin again, at least in heart and spirit. It is a time to celebrate renewal and rebirth; a time to initiate new projects and to set new goals. We may also need to restate our commitment to ongoing projects at this time.If you weren't ready to fully embrace the "new" on January 1st, tomorrow offers a second chance. This Chinese New Year--the Year

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-30789630003761751602009-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:002009-01-21T08:23:53.957-08:00

Weeks into this new year I'm coming out of a silence. Don't misunderstand. I have been writing and working. And through the holidays--which extend through Chinese New Year in our household--I've been social. But I've also felt the desire and the need to retreat into reflection whenever possible. At this darkest time of the year, just past the winter solstice, this yearning for silence makes

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-90600154939741688922008-12-31T19:04:00.000-08:002008-12-31T19:32:04.289-08:00

"The role of the writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say."  ~Anais Nin"I'm a terrible cook, but if I could cook, I would see that as art as well, it's how much creative energy you put into something."  ~Tracey Emin"Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which as cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-2789386962342905112008-12-18T19:05:00.000-08:002008-12-18T19:32:38.445-08:00

Writing fiction? Then Les Edgerton's nifty book, HOOKED, is a great choice for your holiday gift list. (If you're like me, you play secret Santa and buy yourself a few pounds of libros for the holidays.)Edgerton covers well-traveled ground when it comes to the how-to of structure. But he does it by focusing intensely on the basics of story setup--the opening hooks and problems--that directly

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-6151402276769740552008-12-09T10:03:00.000-08:002009-01-31T08:51:38.462-08:00

"If character is the foreground of fiction, setting is the background, and as in a painting's composition, the foreground may be in harmony or in conflict with the background...where there is a conflict between background and foreground, between character and setting, there is already "narrative content," or the makings of a story." Janet Burroway, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative CraftAs

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-32037488963651645342008-12-07T13:32:00.000-08:002008-12-18T19:04:18.994-08:00

Scenes are basic building blocks of narrative. A scene can be defined as a story episode rendered fully and dramatically in order to make the reader feel she is present and witnessing the action in real time. In effective scenes, things happen and the world shifts. Secrets are discovered. Adversaries are confronted. Revelations arise. Decisions are made. When you write--especially when you

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-54764890461032658702008-12-05T12:36:00.000-08:002008-12-07T13:29:35.191-08:00

Today--a special day for me--I'm sharing a quote from Hackneys, Huskies, a Glimmer Train essay by author Roxana Robinson, the award-winning author of four novels and three short story collections. To read the essay in its entirety visit glimmertrain.com."All of the fiction I write arises from the same sort of impulse: it's a feeling of discomfort, a kind of unspecified anxiety, a need to uncover

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-63662294757106096602008-11-23T16:00:00.000-08:002008-11-23T16:23:22.106-08:00

I've been cooped in at home all week with a sick child. Today, Pearl is on the mend and I had the chance to hop on my trail bike and take the dogs out for a ride. When I haven't been on the trail for awhile, I'm always amazed how the New Mexico sky and landscape ground me, and how bike riding fires up my imagination. Along the way, I came up with a writing exercise. If you feel so inspired, try

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-21496547566175166672008-11-16T09:43:00.000-08:002008-11-16T09:54:39.494-08:00

I've taken today's quote from Les Edgerton's nifty book HOOKED: Write fiction that grabs readers at page one and never lets them go.  "The best sources for significant story problems reside within yourself in the form of your personal demons. The very best writers are those who are courageous enough to go deep inside themselves to face and expose the warts and hidden and forbidden feelings most

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-9583083252691375022008-11-09T15:26:00.000-08:002008-11-09T15:28:01.860-08:00

In his book OUT OF OUR MINDS: LEARNING TO BE CREATIVE, Sir Ken Robinson writes that creativity "...is applied imagination. To call someone creative suggests they are actively producing something in a deliberate way...a first definition of creativity then is imaginative processes with outcomes in the public world..." It takes courage to put yourself and your creations into the world. With sharing

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-48895296786864242982008-11-05T11:05:00.000-08:002008-11-05T11:19:52.625-08:00

When was the last time you had a really truly terrible sucky day? One of those worst days, when everything went wrong and you felt defensive and angry and backed into a corner? Maybe you really were backed into a corner--by your best friend or by the driver who cut you off in the parking lot and then waved a single digit your way. Maybe the bad stuff lasted a few hours or a few minutes; either

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-71821957164187921622008-10-28T10:31:00.000-07:002008-10-28T10:55:11.194-07:00

Literary agent Don Maass--author of WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL--has gained a reputation in his field as a writers' advocate. I heard him speak at the Surrey Writers' Conference this past weekend. He delivered a realistic and energizing message. Yes, it is a tough business. And, yes, you can find an agent and a publisher--if you write a great book, and if you are professional, make smart choices,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-49979286746235258962008-10-26T17:33:00.000-07:002008-10-28T11:05:45.971-07:00

I've just spent an energized and informative weekend presenting at the 2008 Surrey International Writers' Conference, located in Surrey, just outside Vancouver B.C. This year's author presenters included Donald Maass (also a well-known literary agent), Hallie Ephron, Diana Gabaldon, Anne Perry, Phillip Margolin, and Jack Whyte. Agents, editors, and publishers attended from the U.S. as well as

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-50890229602918258842008-10-22T22:32:00.000-07:002008-10-22T22:38:09.116-07:00

From October 23 to October 27 I will be presenting at the Surrey International Writers' Conference, just a few miles outside Vancouver B.C.  I hope to post while I'm there, and I look forward to sharing the highlights on this blog. Wishing you free flow and abundant creative energy.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-61607107661806165882008-10-18T07:22:00.000-07:002008-10-19T18:51:16.369-07:00

Credo (Latin for "I believe") is traditionally a statement of religious belief. It is also a statement of personal belief, whether you subscribe to a religious tradition or not. If you've listened to any of the personal essays from the long-running public radio series, "This I Believe," you've heard a variety of credos. For writers, credos are especially powerful. The act of penning your credo on

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-19103018073836859512008-10-16T12:32:00.000-07:002008-10-17T05:26:00.326-07:00

I learned one my favorite writing "tricks" from Charles Dickens, who often published his novels in installments. He used chapter headings, or, what I call headlines. Open OLIVER TWIST to Chapter 6 and read: Oliver, Being Goaded by the Taunts of Noah, Rouses into Action, and Rather Astonishes Him. Or Chapter 32: Of the Happy Life Oliver Began to Lead with his Kind Friends. But page forward to

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-51103730944305731052008-10-13T11:54:00.000-07:002008-10-21T00:57:45.533-07:00

My previous post focused on a character's action-objective. Now, I want to expand the discussion and consider action-objective in terms of parity.In physics, parity may be defined as an intrinsic symmetry. In terms of narrative, parity means equality. It means that you, the writer, know and understand the motivation and objective of the viewpoint character and the important non-viewpoint

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-84518575455604689142008-10-11T11:57:00.000-07:002008-10-21T11:01:40.202-07:00

Writers have much to learn from actors. Actors are trained to take action in every scene. They have a main objective--win a first date, force the bad guy to show his hand, sweet-talk the doorman, seduce a rival's hubby--and they pull out all the stops to achieve it. The objectives in each scene build toward the big story objective. If the big story has the requisite conflict, you'll find conflict

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-22837516190080082642008-10-04T16:17:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:17:02.684-07:00

This post is taken from material I use in my workshop: The 90-Minute Novel. Over the next weeks, as I prepare to teach at the Surrey International Writers' Conference in B.C., I will continue to post exercises from the workshop. Many of them are applicable to writers of memoir as well as fiction.The Contract: When you sell your book to a publisher, you will be asked to sign a company contract.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-91595330110694511582008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:002008-10-11T11:57:05.399-07:00

Today's writing quote, one of my favorites on character, comes from Robert McKee's powerful book STORY: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting."TRUE CHARACTER is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure--the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character's essential nature."Whether you are writing a screenplay,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-72961041591245612882008-09-19T10:55:00.001-07:002008-09-19T19:15:04.628-07:00

A writer friend confides that he suffers from nightmares as he nears completion of his first novel. "I wake in a cold sweat," he confesses. "What if it's not good enough? What if it's no good? It's like one of those dreams where you show up naked for the final exam. I didn't used to be this scared--I didn't doubt myself."After we talk for several minutes, we agree the dreams, however

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-54090947228026637012008-09-13T08:17:00.000-07:002008-09-14T07:52:34.728-07:00

It took me most of my life to realize I use a conversational style in my household that I call "passing ships". (Actually my husband pointed it out.) I  talk on the move, beginning a question on one side of the house and finishing it on the other. A bad habit, and I'm working to correct it. It is especially interesting because each week I spend hours on the phone talking with clients and I love

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-26453377602308386992008-09-10T13:57:00.001-07:002008-09-10T14:01:33.597-07:00

This from Robert Olen Butler's book FROM WHERE YOU DREAM--The Process of Writing Fiction:"What we need always to be in search of is the way in which a character's yearning is manifested. Stories are driven forward by causality. All plot comes from the character's trying to get something, to achieve something, wanting, desiring, longing for something. The complications ensue from the drive of

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-1802962404183906462008-09-09T05:59:00.000-07:002008-09-09T06:19:20.930-07:00

You have a photo album, right? Those faded snapshots from childhood, the bad-hair-day graduation pic, the formal wedding portrait...and the next wedding shot from the chapel in Vegas? Or maybe you don't keep any photos but your mom has scads. Or yours are on MySpace or Facebook. Or your ex posted a few on the net. Or (even more interesting) you've destroyed every likeness of yourself. Your

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-53699920500393368292008-09-07T07:05:00.000-07:002008-09-07T07:25:53.538-07:00

Last week, busy with life and various editorial projects, I found myself feeling out of touch with my novel. My writer friend Dianne reminded me of something important that I had momentarily forgotten. "Give yourself dream time and mornings," she said. "Let the book be with you when you are drifting off to sleep, and use those first minutes of the day for writing your pages." I took her wise

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-83312779523961283082008-09-02T10:05:00.000-07:002008-09-02T10:17:47.616-07:00

Today's wise quote comes from Lisa Dale Norton's great book SHIMMERING IMAGES: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir. This particular quote applies nicely to structuring fiction as well as nonfiction."When you get to the structure stage of composition, you have to be willing to allow the two sides of your brain to dance together, sometimes being led by the logical, I have a structure la di da 

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-73159451767235287382008-08-31T08:55:00.000-07:002008-08-31T09:21:41.714-07:00

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps nabbed gold eight-for-eight at the 2008 games in Beijing. When his mother faced interviewers, she spoke of the challenges her energetic son encountered in childhood. Bullied by other kids, diagnosed with ADHD, Phelps needed a positive channel for his energy, and he tried several other sports before he settled on competitive swimming. The combination of clearly

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-25148080792078124682008-08-26T22:34:00.000-07:002008-08-26T22:44:27.149-07:00

In the midst of writing a full-length narrative, it is more common than not to arrive at a point when you realize the story’s all wrong, nothing works, and you’ve wasted months, if not years. The narrative arc you’ve been riding collapses beneath you. The story’s implausible, Swiss cheese, skeletal. You’ve created paper doll characters. Your cliché-ridden prose sticks to the roof of your mouth.

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-46293418644177142872008-08-17T13:25:00.000-07:002008-08-17T13:49:48.346-07:00

For the past three weeks I've been dealing with a series of tech issues that directly effect my ability to communicate with friends around the world. It seemed to begin with my computer's logic board, now replaced. Then a lightning strike.  Surge protectors handled the worst of that, but then they "died" taking the battery back-ups with them. Once they were replaced, along with a router, I had to

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-12397060281625815962008-07-15T21:21:00.001-07:002008-08-17T13:51:51.265-07:00

When I asked Stephanie, a writer friend, to list ten things she would die for, her initial response was that she could handle it in one of two ways: "the mushy stuff you could get serious about such as dying for family. But I thought to myself that would never happen so I took the other approach...somewhat self-centered and fun and it has some mushy stuff but not much."  The list is reprinted (

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-46233736928641480362008-07-15T21:03:00.000-07:002008-07-15T22:04:53.214-07:00

My friend Marty G., a professional writer and editor, who has been at it for thirty-plus years, does not believe in writer's block. When a writer complains she can't make progress on the first draft of her book, Marty advises, "Lower your standards." When it comes to the craft of writing, Marty is an advocate for excellence, but he also knows the difference between writing a first draft and a

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-9175238898094305332008-07-08T08:33:00.000-07:002008-07-08T12:10:00.781-07:00

In the 1970s, poet Kenneth Koch inspired school children in Manhattan to create verse freely and joyfully. To help them associate words and sounds he began with an onomatopoetic word--buzz--and asked them to come up with words that sounded like it--fuzz, fuzzy, muzzy, does, gloves, cousin. He also made noise! He smacked a chair with a ruler and asked them to put the sound into words--hit, tap,

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-39830998166820574742008-07-05T13:28:00.000-07:002008-07-05T16:19:38.386-07:00

Vivid writing engages all the senses. But a writer doesn't slather cobalt blue and Prussian blue and titanium white onto the page to paint the sky as it darkens before a rain. She can't reach for her trumpet and belt a B-flat to herald the end of an act. He rarely has the opportunity to slide a sliver of dark chocolate laced with habanero chile between his readers' lips. And when was the last

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-74777886570883155452008-06-29T08:32:00.000-07:002008-10-18T07:17:53.718-07:00

My writing friend in Mexico introduced me months ago to author CM Mayo's generous web offering: 365 five-minute writing exercises. Somewhere among those exercises is one that suggests writing 100 lines about a story, scene, idea. I don't remember the exact details of her exercise, but I am completely addicted to the flexibility it has inspired, and I use it all the time.These days, when I'm

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-44977942860652234742008-06-27T09:52:00.000-07:002008-06-27T10:03:02.721-07:00

Two quotes today, both from Thomas Larson's wonderful book The Memoir and the Memoirist: Reading & Writing Personal Narrative: "It feels natural to see the remembered self as a character who has an independent life, chooses for himself, indulges free will. But memoirists avoid such self-casting. The memoir writer does not situate himself in a recreated world as though he were a literary character

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-75473866021643699482008-06-12T14:11:00.000-07:002008-06-27T10:07:04.791-07:00

Writing a book is a long and demanding endeavor. It is best accomplished by breaking the process into doable steps. These include dreaming, brainstorming, researching, outlining, and drafting. I am always surprised when writers are surprised by the concept of drafts. I know many writers and not one of them has penned a novel or memoir in one sitting--or even in one draft. Most writers confess to

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-28996055251121625952008-06-12T12:11:00.000-07:002008-06-12T13:09:07.087-07:00

This week I confessed to a writer friend who lives in Mexico that I've been working on my current novel in five- and ten-minute increments. I'm no stranger to writing on the go. I always carry something to write with and something to write on--tiny notebooks, recipe cards, old receipts and gum wrappers. I've been known to call my home phone and leave myself "writerly" messages: a few lines of

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31976242.post-27333301644329277962008-06-01T22:55:00.000-07:002008-06-02T16:22:27.797-07:00

You wake early because you've highlighted two hours in your schedule and you're going to work on your book. The last time you sat down to write, two days ago, the words flowed effortlessly and you felt elated. Now, you touch your fingers to the keys, but instead of joy, you feel a chill at the base of your neck. You are not quite present, a bit out of sorts. You try to shake off the shadow, shake

Sarah Lovetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13756819425917518429noreply@blogger.com