Tag: Mandy Webster

Places to Write, Restaurants, Rivers

Places to write: Fiddleheads Café, Thiensville, WI

Mandy Webster
Fiddleheads Coffee Roasters - Thiensville WI
Here’s a nice view of the Milwaukee River from the dining room at Fiddleheads Coffee Roasters in Thiensville, WI.

Today I’m writing to you from Fiddleheads Café in Thiensville, WI. I first heard of Fiddleheads a week ago on the local news when the overflowing Milwaukee River was threatening to flood the café. I loved the idea of a coffee shop so close to the river’s edge and knew I had to check it out.

Fiddleheads is located in an old converted house that sits just feet away from a bend in the Milwaukee River. It’s a bit chilly to sit outside today (unless you’re here to snuggle up in a sweatshirt with hands clasped around a hot cup of coffee, then it’s perfect,) so my writer friend and I picked a large, round table inside.

The dining room where we chose to sit was a bit stuffy when we first came in, so I opened a window by our table and brought some outside in. Fiddleheads’ dining room is bright and airy, with white painted walls and lots of windows. It seems like a great place to sit and write in any season Continue reading “Places to write: Fiddleheads Café, Thiensville, WI” →

Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Join the official Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge

Mandy Webster
novel writing challenge
Join the Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge and write the first draft of your novel between June 21st and September 21st.

I recently wrote a blog post in which I discussed author Stephen King’s view that you should never take more than a season to write a novel. In that post, I posed a challenge to my readers to “write your novel this summer.” I’ve been thinking about this challenge, and I think it might be fun to make it a real “thing.”

How cool would it be if a bunch of us banded together to support each other in knocking out that first draft of the novels we’ve all been meaning to get around to? It could be kind of like NaNoWriMo, only we get an entire season rather than just one month. I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to write a novel in one month, November is just about the worst month of the year to do it in! Continue reading “Join the official Write Your Novel this Summer Challenge” →

Novel Writing, Thesis

Facing the fiery hells of feedback

Mandy Webster
Example 1. Optical feedback
I am only sharing this picture because it is cool. | Example 1. Optical feedback (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Feedback is so depressing because it always means more work. It doesn’t matter who you are, or how good you are, every round of feedback will point out *something* that needs more work.

Unfortunately, I am not yet at the point where I can decide to call it finished and just be done with it. I have yet to finish my complete first draft, so there will be a lot more revisions to come before the work is done. Continue reading “Facing the fiery hells of feedback” →

Novel Writing

A synopsis of my work in progress

Mandy Webster

 

Brick Barn
I always thought it would be cool to live in a barn loft. | Brick Barn (Photo credit: cindy47452)

I just completed the synopsis of my work in progress and thought I would share it with my readers here at Write on the World. For all of you who have been following me and wondering what, exactly, I am writing about, here it is:

Into the World of Men is a dystopian science fiction novel that explores the themes of freedom and a woman’s place in the world. It is the story of M., a young woman whose family has kept her and her half-sisters hidden away in a secluded barn to keep them safe from a world where women are nothing more than property to the men in power. M. longs to escape the monotony and oppression of life in her secret barn. When King Mentor Drak discovers M.’s existence, he insists that she attend the naming ceremony of her new baby brother, thus forcing her out of exile against the wishes of her family. Continue reading “A synopsis of my work in progress” →

Novel Writing

What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?

Mandy Webster
Science Fiction League (March 1958) ... The Re...
Is this science fiction or fantasy? Or perhaps it’s speculative fiction? | Science Fiction League (March 1958) … The Real You (July 6, 2011 / 4 Tammuz 5771) … (Photo credit: marsmet541)

My thesis* efforts this week, while I am awaiting feedback on my first draft, are focused on wrapping up all of the loose ends: annotated bibliography, synopsis, cover letter, etc., that must be included in my final portfolio. I finally completed my bibliography, but I am struggling a bit with my synopsis. One of the biggest problems I am having with my synopsis is deciding what genre my novel fits into.

*Thesis Countdown: The final draft of my creative master’s thesis is due in 11 days!

I’ve been referring to my WIP as a “fantasy novel” for a long time, but I’m not completely sure that’s where it fits. Is it fantasy, or is it science fiction? Or is it this other thing I’ve heard of, speculative fiction, which I have no clue exactly what it is but for some reason have an inkling that my novel may fit into it? So, this afternoon, I am on a quest to determine which pigeonhole I should attempt to stick my novel in.

Continue reading “What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?” →

Novel Writing, Writers on Writing

You should write your novel this summer

Mandy Webster

 

Stephen King, American author best known for h...
I bet even the King of horror probably thinks his first drafts totally suck. | Stephen King, American author best known for his enormously popular horror novels. King was the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Taken at the 2007 New York Comicon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A cousin-friend recently sent me the first page of a novel she’s writing and asked me if I thought it was any good. She writes some beautiful prose, but I thought she was a little too worried about the “goodness” of her novel at this stage in the writing process. So, I gave her the following advice:

I’ll tell you what I recommend (and a lot of famous published authors seem to agree): Just sit down and mind-dump your story without thinking about whether it’s any good. Stephen King wrote a really great memoir on writing, where he talks about how you should never spend more than a season (3 months) writing a rough draft. Your rough draft will probably seem like garbage, but that’s how it is for everyone (even Stephen King). Once you have your story dumped out on the page, then you can go back and start revising it to make it “good.” Continue reading “You should write your novel this summer” →

Places to Write, Travel, Wisconsin

Places to write: Perc Place, Hartford, WI

Mandy Webster
Mark Twain at Perc Place, Hartford, WI
I have to love a cafe that features a painting of Mark Twain on the wall.

Perc Place, located in Hartford, WI, is one of my regular writing haunts. It has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere that is conducive to writing, if you can manage to be there during the right time of day. The walls are covered in painted replicas of old Life Magazine covers and are accompanied by a variety of knick-knacks that always seem to provide an interesting focal point while you’re contemplating your next sentence.

Perc Place seems like a coffee shop at first glance, but its main focus appears to be the restaurant business. Don’t visit expecting to use their WiFi during busy mealtime hours, as it’s only available during their slow times. While the lack of internet access can occasionally be a pain, I find that it mostly keeps me from getting distracted when I should be writing.

I like to enter through the back door and avoid the crowded restaurant section in the front of the building. If you’re here to write, you want a cushy chair or couch cushion in the back where it’s quiet. Well, quiet-ER. The old regulars can get a little rowdy from time to time! Continue reading “Places to write: Perc Place, Hartford, WI” →

House and Home, Random Writing Rants

My house won’t let me write

Mandy Webster
A picture of my messy, distracting closet
Who can get any writing done in a house with closets that look like this? And why do I still have a high chair and Pack n Play when my baby is 6 years old?

Last night, I stayed up until midnight grading papers so I could have today free to go to the library and write.

As I showered this morning, I considered how crazy it is that I can’t get any writing done at home. My house is just one big distraction begging me to do anything but write. I’m not quite a true hoarder, but I must admit that I have let things get a bit out of hand.

I just bought a new dinette set and couch with part of my tax refund money. The old furniture left last weekend, and I was left with a huge empty space in my dining room and living room while waiting three days for the new stuff to arrive. After the first day, I was ready to cancel my order.

That huge, empty space in my house, completely uncluttered—well, let’s just say that empty space looked a little like freedom to me. Continue reading “My house won’t let me write” →

Blogging

I do my best blogging at the coffee house

Mandy Webster
The view from my comfy chair at Cafe de Arts in Waukesha, WI proved very inspiring last weekend.
The view from my comfy chair at Cafe de Arts in Waukesha, WI proved to be inspiring last weekend.

I love blogging while sitting in a coffee shop. Whenever I meet my writer friend for a day of coffee and writing, I always end up putting my intended work aside to write at least one blog post. At our last session, I ended up writing three different blog posts before the afternoon was done.

Maybe I should just plan on going out to a coffee house once a week to write all of my blog posts. When I blog at home, my blog posts often come out concise, professional, and utterly boring. At the coffee shop, I get creative ideas and write posts I think people might actually want to read (I hope.) Continue reading “I do my best blogging at the coffee house” →

Novel Writing, Thesis

After all, it is the weekend.

Mandy Webster
A 6-year-old and a cat
Life seems so simple when you’re a 6-year-old and a cat.

My six-year-old paid me a visit this morning as I lay in bed considering which part of my creative thesis I should focus my efforts on today.

Do I work on the POV shifts I don’t completely understand and try to muddle my way through filtering my entire story strictly through my protagonist’s POV?

-OR-

Is it more important to focus on the much-needed world-building? My fantasy novel so far takes place in a jumbled mix of worlds that I don’t completely understand myself. It’s no small wonder my first reading left my thesis advisor feeling confused. Continue reading “After all, it is the weekend.” →