Time to talk about a few strategies on dealing with the shiny, new idea, so you can get back to writing that current manuscript.

It's a deleted scene from my high fantasy novel that is still sitting in the metaphorical drawer. This scene will only ever exist on my blog.

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Writing challenges are good as they encourage you to write. However, focusing on how to get more words can lead to editing nightmares.

I don't remember where I first heard the term, but I had encountered an entire conversation on one of my social media channels about the death of the author. It turns out that it's a term that refers back to an essay from 1967. In that essay, entitled The Death of the Author, Roland Barthes postulated the idea that at some point (after publication), a story takes on a life of its own, separate from the writer's intentions. The idea makes sense when you think about it, because readers will add their own context and meaning to things based on their personal experiences. However, the essay has been debated for many long years about how much an author's intent should be incorporated into literary discussions about the meanings behind a written work. In today's post, I want to take a look at this death-of-the-author idea, pointing out how I'm watching my own death unfold before my eyes… and my novel is still a newly-published work.

It's frustrating when conversations turn towards works that have been published, because it excludes some writers from the conversation—even those who have been writing for years.

I understand the rationale for making social media adult only, BUT do you really think that will stop the deplorable online behavior?

We are rapidly approaching the time of year when writers around the world embark on one writing challenge or another, with the most common writing challenges focusing on writing a minimum of 50,000 words within 30 days. Some of these challenges will extend to the idea of editing and publishing, extending the challenge out to 90 days. But the idea is still to write a lot of words, completing a long-form story within a short period of time. To some writers, the whole challenge is a daunting task. But for many people who have never written before, embarking on the challenge can be freeing, as it encourages you to turn off the inner critic and just write! However, for many writers who have been writing for a while (myself included), such a challenge forces us to examine our writing habits—and sometimes, reset our routines. Every year, I share my thoughts about how aiming for a high word count shouldn't be your ultimate goal. In my opinion, the challenge to write 50,000 words in a month is not really about writing those 50,000 words. It's more about developing writing habits that will carry you through into your future writing career. With that in mind, we need to address certain practices that will help you write fast now but avoid the editing hell later.

The urge to tinker is uncontrollable, but there is a reason why it is suggested you work on something else while waiting for feedback.