Tag: Writing

Random Writing Rants

I need to write something

Mandy Webster
A picture of my school bags packed with books
This is how busy I am right now, in case you wondered. I have a bag for each day of the week so I can keep everything organized!

Please feel free to skip this post, as I have nothing to say today.

One of the secrets to running a ‘good’ blog is to blog often. So, I feel the need to write something today, considering I have posted nothing since Friday. I hate when life gets in the way of writing.

I’m back to school – playing both student and teacher, for the semester – so I’ve been fairly busy lately. Not to mention the fact that my kids have been sick this week, and I am trying desperately not to get sick myself until at least tomorrow. I teach two classes on Wednesdays, so I just can’t afford to be sick today. I’ll be sick tomorrow and get well in time for my Friday morning class.  Continue reading “I need to write something” →

Random Writing Rants

What happened first: The fight, or the apple pie incident?

Mandy Webster
Nederlands: Het Short Story bushokje op transf...
Image via Wikipedia

Today I’m writing a story about something that happened to me about 13 years ago. I don’t know how you feel about the passing of time, but for me, 13 years is a LONG time ago. So, I can remember major details, but some of those minor details have me questioning my memory. In this particular story, there is a nasty fight and an unfortunate incident with an apple pie. But I can’t, for the life of me, remember which happened first. Dilemma, dilemma.

So, what do you do when you’re writing about something that actually happened but can’t remember such important details? And what if you can remember the details, but the story works better if you rearrange events? I’m not writing a memoir, simply using actually happenings as the basis for a short story I’ll pass off as fiction. All names will be changed to protect the identities of those involved, of course.  Continue reading “What happened first: The fight, or the apple pie incident?” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Poetry Friday: Solitary Muse

Mandy Webster
Poem written by Rolf Jacobsen located in the e...
Image via Wikipedia

For this week’s Poetry Friday, sponsored by A Teaching Life, I am sharing a poem about writing. This poem is written in the Triolet format which is structured as follows:

  • ABaAabAB rhyme scheme.
  • Often all lines are in iambic tetrameter: the first, fourth and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines, thereby making the initial and final couplets identical as well.

Solitary Muse Continue reading “Poetry Friday: Solitary Muse” →

Blogging, Random Writing Rants

I think I might be a blogger finally

Mandy Webster
English: This systematic overview categorizes ...
Image via Wikipedia

Blogging. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard. But, I tried and tried to start blogs in the past, and they never seemed to go anywhere. Take for instance the blog I started for my now-defunct online bookstore (I still take special orders if you’re looking for anything in particular.)

The blog is still there, I could always pick it up again. My plan for that blog was to post book reviews of all the books I was reading, use those as my blog posts, and tie it in with books for sale on my website. Unfortunatly, I needed to work at a job that was actually paying and just didn’t have the time it takes to keep an online business up and running. That blog quickly fell by the wayside, along with my poor bookstore. In fact, I have an ever-growing stack of books next to my desk just waiting for me to review. And that’s nothing on the stack of books I’ve had to return to the library in the meantime. Continue reading “I think I might be a blogger finally” →

Random Writing Rants

Why not evening pages?

Mandy Webster
Writing

I started keeping a journal around the age of 12. I used to lay in bed at night and write in my journal almost every evening before I went to bed. I filled notebook, after notebook, after notebook. I kept up with this practice for almost 10 years until my (now ex-) husband decided to read my journal, wasn’t happy with something I wrote, and then proceeded to burn my journal and forbid me from writing anything anymore. Needless to say, it was not a happy marriage. Continue reading “Why not evening pages?” →

Random Writing Rants, Writers on Writing

The writing process: A reflection

Mandy Webster
National Poetry Month Display @ Forest Hills
Image by mySAPL via Flickr

Today marks the first day of the last week of the fall semester. I just finished grading a huge stack of essay booklets from my written communications course and will be grading research papers next weekend. I also just submitted my final poem of the semester for the course I’m taking on writing poetry for children and young adults. And now, it’s time to write my final reflection paper of the semester. The topic for this paper is the writing process.

So, what have I learned about my writing process? For one thing, I can now boil it all down to a few simple steps: Continue reading “The writing process: A reflection” →

NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing

NaNoWriMo Wrap-up

Mandy Webster

As another National Novel Writing Month wraps up, and NaNoWriMo participants around the globe rush to validate their completed novels, it is time for me to admit the fact there will be no NaNoWriMo “win” in my near future. But while my current 11,654 words do not a novel make, I am not quite ready to concede defeat.

NaNoWriMo Day 3

Regardless of the fact that I will not have 50,000 words of a novel written within the next 2 days, I still view this year’s NaNoWriMo event as a success. In fact, I’m quite certain I got far more from the event this year than I have put into it.

For example, NaNoWriMo inspired me to get organized and create a complete novel outline, something I have never before managed to accomplish. So even though my novel is nowhere near complete, I have a solid outline to work with in the coming months. What I got out of NaNoWriMo this year is the knowledge that I do have what it takes to sit down and plan a full and complete novel, including a beginning, middle, and end. I also feel like I have worked out a process that I can use again and again for future novels. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo Wrap-up” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Revisions for Poetry Friday

Mandy Webster
A Picture of a eBook
Image via Wikipedia

Every good writer, poet or not, knows that good writers spend the majority of their time on revising and editing. Some experts say it’s 20% writing/80% revising, while others go so far as to spend 90% of their work time in revisions. For this week’s Poetry Friday (sponsored by Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference,) I decided to share a revised version of a poem I wrote a few weeks ago for my poetry class.  Continue reading “Revisions for Poetry Friday” →

NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing

NaNoWriMo | Day 1, Post 2: My characters need names

Mandy Webster
The Creation of Adam
Image via Wikipedia

12:15 p.m.

Wow, two posts in one day. This is totally not me! But anyway, Day One of NaNoWriMo is going swimmingly. I’m up to 2,492 words. But it is bothering me that my characters don’t have names. In fact, it’s not just bothering me, it’s slowing me down. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo | Day 1, Post 2: My characters need names” →

NaNoWriMo, Novel Writing

NaNoWriMo: Starting from scratch on Day 1

Mandy Webster
NaNoWriMo 2011 Notebook
This is my actual notebook where I began my novel!

Isn’t it just like me to change my mind at the last minute and start over from scratch? Well, that’s exactly what I am looking at, Day 1 of NaNoWriMo. After all the preparation I did, planning for my original novel, I was having a very hard time being passionate about the story. I think I had some good ideas, but I really wasn’t happy with where the story was going. I was dreading getting up this morning to start working that outline into a novel. Continue reading “NaNoWriMo: Starting from scratch on Day 1” →