Back up everything you write. Print it out. Don’t ever leave what you’re working on without hitting the Save button on your computer. ____________________________________________________________ Guess whose cats managed to delete an entire article for the Writers Magazine?
Writing Advice
Writing Advice
Fair Warning
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 15 Comments
I’m writing an article for a writing magazine about the six steps necessary for structuring a personal essay. It occurred to me that one of the steps might be useful for readers of this blog whether you’re writing an essay, novel, poem, or memoir. It’s about getting feedback on your work: (And I know I…
Writing Advice
Note To Myself (And To You)
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 5 Comments
Just sit there at your desk or table. Sit there and reread what you’re working on. Maybe make a few notes. Revise a few lines. Don’t make it such a big deal. All you have to do is show up. You don’t have to be inspired. You don’t need hours of peace and freedom to…
Writing Advice
Listen….
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 7 Comments
I’ve just returned from Montana where there are about three basic sounds: the cows, the wind, and an occasional car driving down Burma Road. The cows have been moved up to the pasture near the house so we can hear them mooing at dawn. And when a car passes during the day on our gravel…
Writing Advice
The Secret to Life!
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 9 Comments
Last Sunday I was swimming with two of my grandchildren in a hotel pool in Palm Springs. It was one of those resorts that has a whole lot of pools – one for babies, one for adults only, a medium size pool for medium size kids, a deeper pool etc. Pools everywhere. So Axel and…
Writing Advice
5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Writing in 2008
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 10 Comments
Okay, yet another list. 1. Make a list of your writing projects. (see post below) 2. Put your writing time down on your calendar. (also below) 3. Begin a writing journal – create a new file in your computer. A place to start each time you sit down to work, a place to warm up. …
Writing Advice
The Three Most Important Things I Have To Tell You About Writing (again)
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 8 Comments
The above title has a familiar ring and I think I’ve done a similar post, but I’m thinking a lot about those three things this week because I’m giving two talks in bookstores this weekend to promote Courage & Craft. My talks, whether I’m teaching a class or in a bookstore, always boil down to…
Writing Advice
What Writers Can Learn From Woody Allen
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 2 Comments
When Scott Simon asked Woody Allen on NPR yesterday what he’d learned during his lifetime in show business (Allen is 72 now) – he said he hasn’t learned much except how to ignore the “peripheral nonsense” of the movie industry and to keep his “nose to the grindstone.” The only thing he learned was a…
Writing Advice
5 Characteristics of Well-Crafted Creative Writing – Your Questions Continued
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 9 Comments
10. What are the advantages of writing an experience into a story? If you’re a writer that’s simply what you do, it’s the juice of your writing, your own experience even if covered up with the veils and masks of fiction. But for those of you who are not looking to be published, but want…
Writing Advice
Your Great Questions Continued
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 4 Comments
Some of the questions you sent in: 1. Who is the book (Courage & Craft) for? It’s for people who want to become writers, or who were writing and then got stuck or who want to try a new genre, or for people who simply want to write the story of their life for their…
