a writer’s toolbox
Ego is a critical part of a writer’s toolbox. Without ego, you’d succumb to the fear that the eighty-to-one-hundred thousand words you’re preparing to dump on the world may not measurably improve it. This will only seem ridiculous if you have a tremendous ego, the kind that can look upon a work-in-progress crammed with of plot holes, opaque character motivations, and spelling errors that have dogged you since third grade, and think: Mmm…not bad.
What works for me is telling myself that all writers’ first drafts are bad. I can’t tell for sure because other writers don’t show me their first drafts—probably because they’re so bad. You see? So what I hawk out onto the screen in draft one is pretty good, relatively speaking.
Remember the last time you read a novel that was so awful, just getting to the end was tortuous? Someone managed to write that. They typed…
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The question is WHY
MERCURY RETROGRADE: VISION & REFINEMENT
SO MUCH BETTER than the usual Mercury Retrograde fear-mongering that goes on, especially on Facebook. Take a minute to read & learn!
Mercury will (appear to) be moving backward in the sign of Sagittarius from December 3rd to December 22/23rd, 2017. Retrograde periods highlight the need to organize, revise and reenvison aspects of our lives. Sometimes this happens voluntarily and sometime it is imposed on us by unforeseen circumstances.
To understand how this might affect you, locate the house with Sagittarius on the cusp in your birth chart; the affairs of that house will be up for review. If you have an Ascendant, Sun, Moon or Mercury in the sign of Sagittarius or Gemini, this retrograde will be more significant especially if your Ascendant or planet is between 13º and 29º of either signs.
WHAT TO DO DURING THIS UPCOMING RETROGRADE?
Sort out what matters and what doesn’t anymore.
Discard old ideas and beliefs that have become burdensome or obsolete.
Contemplate the passage of time and what it means to be growing…
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(vii of swords)
via (vii of swords)
Insurgent Feminism
Imagery before action: how to write a novel inside a week
First of all, it’s vital to have everything prepared. Whilst you will be actually writing the thing in three days, you’ll need a day or two of set-up first. If it’s not all set up, you’ll fail.
Model the basic plot on the Maltese Falcon (or the Holy Grail — the Quest theme, basically). In the Falcon, a lot of people are after the same thing, the Black Bird. In the Mort D’Arthur, again a lot of people are after the same thing, the Holy Grail. It’s the same formula for westerns, too. Everyone’s after the same thing. The gold of El Dorado. Whatever.
The formula depends on the sense of a human being up against superhuman force — politics, Big Business, supernatural evil, &c. The hero is fallible, and doesn’t want to be mixed up with the forces. He’s always about to walk out when something grabs him and…
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silverapplequeen 