With five months behind me, I thought it would be a good time to go back and look at my goals from January to see how things are going, and if I need to make any adjustments. It might make more sense to do this in July, half way through the year, but I'm a …
Tag: amwriting
Six Writing Tips for New Moms
With mother’s day around the corner, I’ve been reflecting on writing as a new mother. It would be a lie to say that it hasn’t affected my productivity, but I still think I’ve got a few things worth sharing. My baby is only eight months old, so I can only share what I’ve learned based …
Five Way for Writers to Reduce Waste
April is Earth Month, home to Earth Day, which is coming up on April 22nd. Around this time, I usually try to examine my life and see where I can improve, and where I’ve been getting lazy, in terms of reducing my environmental impact. While the impact of individuals’ choices can be debated, that’s not …
Writing Ad Copy [and Elevator Pitches]: Part 2
This morning I ran the workshop for my writing critique group, coordinating the exercise I suggested last week. Here's some feedback and changes. I had an hour, but with late arrivals, repeating directions, and transitions, not all of that time was spent working. STEP 1: Write in some detail about your ideal reader/target demographic. (5 …
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Writing Ad Copy and Elevator Pitches: Part 1
The first Sunday of every month, my critique group, The Hourlings, holds a writing or marketing workshop for the first hour of the meeting. Group members propose and decide on topics, and depending on what the topic is, the best-suited or most interested member presents on it. I suggested practicing writing ad copy and writing …
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How to Climb out of a Writing Productivity Rut
If you're feeling stuck and having trouble reaching your writing goals, this post might be for you. As a new mom and writer with a full-time job, I've been struggling "to get it all done," but this week, I made some serious headway. Disruptions to routine For most of February, especially the latter half, I …
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All This Has Happened Before…
… and all this will happen again. This is one of many iconic Battlestar Galactica quotes, but it's very relevant to today's topic: retellings. There's this idea out there that there's only really one story. Or three. Or five. Or something like that -- I haven't really been paying attention. Sure, there's structure to a …
Flash Fiction: The Judgment of Alexander
Today's (yesterday's?) post is a day late, so please accept this short, short story as an apology. The Judgment of Alexander Alexander didn’t hear them arrive because he had just turned his blender on high. He flexed his triceps as he waited for the machine to do its work. Nice. He poured the thick protein …
Why Metonymy is the Secret Ingredient of World Building
The classicist (Latin-and-Greek classics) in me loves literary devices. The weird ones. Usually I'd save the fancy words for poetry or English class, but there are absolutely ways to incorporate literary devices into a story without purpling your prose. In fact, as writers, we do a lot of these already without even thinking about it. …
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Five signs you’re ready to join a writing critique group
I love my writing group. If you’re looking for a support group or a write-in (where you meet people in a café or library and write next to each other in theoretical silence), you can join those anytime. They exist to get you to the point where you have something ready for critique. In May …
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Erica Rue 