We used to meet at Barnes and Noble when Barnes and Noble used to close at 11 p.m. Now we meet at places that close at 10, because nothing closes at 11. Most places close at 9. This means that if there are a lot of people, like tonight, or if we are all writing …
Category Archives: Process
You Can Never Say Thank You
The first book I ever bought about how to be a writer was Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. I still have it, and I just looked inside the title page: it is a first edition. So I was lucky, because really you probably don’t need any other book on writing, ever, except for that book. …
Keiko’s Gardening Tips
I had a dream that I was in a workshop where we had to practice giving a presentation off the top of our heads. I chose gardening, even though I have not succeeded at that. Here is my presentation. I came up with the tips as I was talking. “Have you wanted to grow a …
The Practice and Magic of Writing Every Day
I am not working at a job right now. I accepted a retirement package from work and am taking this time (and money) to write. I plan to return to work in about 6 months, and right now I write. I have been writing since May 1. For me, every day, every morning is a …
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My New Writing Coach
I’m going to be my own writing coach. I will read my first draft of the story I’m working on, and I’ll say to myself, “Hey, Keiko, this is really good! Keep working on it!” I will reply, “Really?” “Yes!” I’ll say. I’ll be so enthusiastic I will convince myself. I will say, “Write a …
Playing Dress-Up
What Makes for an “AWESOME” Description? As a second-grader, I was told: Dress up your writing. In other words, I should be more descriptive. My teachers equated “descriptive” with adjectives and adverbs. They told me not to merely write, “Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a castle.” They advised me to embellish my …
How do you keep yourself writing?
OK, so I have a serious question for all of you writers. I don’t do well with “structure.” If I decide that I need to write every day starting at 11 a.m., I will literally never start writing at 11 a.m.. If I decide that I need to leave the house every day in order …
Why Write to the End?
Often new members come to our writing group and ask for feedback on their as-yet-uncompleted novel. Or someone who’s been with us a while will get an idea for a story while at the group, write a few scenes of it during the writing sessions, and then ask everybody what we think. This seems perfectly …
Creating Your Own Style Guide and Editing List
In this post, I’m passing along some thoughts about tools that work for me and might help some of you too—creating your own style guide and editing list. Style Guide One of the most well-known style guides is the Chicago Manual of Style. You can use the book or the online version to look up …
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Doing Medical Research as an Author
I’m a technical writer, but I also write books for families who are coping with children’s medical issues (The Parents’ Guide to Clubfoot and The Parents’ Guide to Hip Dysplasia). If you’re a writer who is researching a medical topic, it’s important to find accurate, reliable sources of information. I often start with the National …