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Creating Real Detectives
I’ve been working on my cozy mystery for months now, outlining and writing, re-outlining and re-writing, and there was still a major flaw: the detectives didn’t seem real. They had no depth, no growth opportunities, no spark. They could’ve been replaced by an inanimate object and had the same impact on the story. Needless to say, this […]
Let’s Talk Dialogue
I was working on a dialogue-heavy scene the other day, which essentially means I spent the day mumbling to myself, constantly asking, would anyone actually say this? For the record, the cat was in the room with me so I wasn’t really talking to myself. But it got me thinking about dialogue, a fundamental writing tool, but […]
SMART Goals, Art, and New Years
Ah, New Years Eve, a time for sipping prosecco, watching Lord of the Rings until midnight (or ten o’clock, *ahem*), and setting goals for the upcoming year. I learned about SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely) Goals while working in a corporate office, where they tended to be something like, I’ll complete four BS Reports […]
Best Books of 2013
I made a goal at the beginning of the year to read 52 books, one a week. Now, after spending a year relishing in the worlds and imaginations of some truly brilliant authors, I’m one book and one week away. Huzzah! (I have a perhaps-crazy goal simmering for 2014, but that’s for next week’s blog…) […]
On Van Gogh and the ‘It’ Factor
Last year I went to the Becoming Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It was brilliantly laid out, a chronological journey through his growth as an artist. The exhibit showcased how Van Gogh honed his craft and ultimately became the acclaimed artist we know of, from sketches he did as an adolescent to […]