For years, I’ve wanted an office away from home, more than just a “room of one’s own” to work on my “extracurricular” writing projects. It hasn’t been an option, so I’ve done what I can from the house. Here are a few good tips to make working at home work. (Noise cancelling headphones, hmm…)
Get in the Zone: 5 Tips for Eliminating Distractions and Staying Productive When Working from Home – Social-Hire
http://www.social-hire.com/career–interview-advice/5201/get-in-the-zone-5-tips-for-eliminating-distractions-and-staying-productive-when-working-from-home
Month: March 2015
Learn from winners
Seems appropriate that the list of 20 finalists for a women’s fiction prize comes out during Women’s History Month. (So the prize is British and the month U.S. …) How many have you read?
Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2015 | Reading Agency
http://readingagency.org.uk/adults/news/baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction-2015.html
Details, details
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Zoë Sharp demonstrated self-defense (and, by way of set up, violent assaults) during tea time at the Love Is Murder writers’ conference in Chicago. In doing so, she not only gave her audience some useful real-life tips, but she also gave us some great writing tips. Accuracy is in the details, and here is some information to help you get your medical details right. (It’s part of a series, so look for the rest, too.)
Infusing Medical Details into Your Fiction
http://www.livewritethrive.com/2015/03/09/infusing-medical-details-into-your-fiction/
Sort of long
While “long-form” articles aren’t exactly novels, they are a way to practice writing that is longer than, say, a blog post. It’s also a way to turn research for a novel into something that a) you might be able to sell, or b) you could use to build an audience for your later work. This article has a few tips about “long-form” articles.
The Secrets of Writing Smart, Long-Form Articles That Go Absolutely Viral
Read more
Yesterday, I had lunch with some writer friends. When we meet, we always have a writing agenda and yesterday we were talking about character development. In the course of the discussion, we also talked about writers who do that well. I’ve made a note to read a couple of books by Maeve Binchy and an old classic, Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore. We can always learn by reading other writers. If, by some chance, you have missed Shirley Jackson, here’s a quick intro to her work. Put her on your list.
A.M. Homes on Shirley Jackson | Penguin Blog
http://penguinblog.co.uk/2015/03/01/a-m-homes-on-shirley-jackson-2/
sharon p. lynn 