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Here are the Blogs in the Motivation: Keep Writing category.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Everything (in your story) happens for a reason
Too often, beginning writers hear is, "Story must have conflict." The later understanding is that the conflict can come in many shapes and sizes. Conflict can be a direct interpretation of the word, like someone being chased by a knife-wielding crazy person, or an argument or a quest like ...Read More...
Posted on 01/16/2012 8:13 AM by Thomas@thomasmcauley.com
Monday, 9 January 2012
Righting my writing: 2012 promises to be the year for effective writing
The break over the holidays can officially be declared a success. For the first time in -- well, ever -- I was disciplined enough to actually step away from work for the full two weeks and dedicate the same number of hours each day to writing. I can say that not since my days painting in the loft ...Read More...
Posted on 01/09/2012 8:59 AM by Thomas@thomasmcauley.com
Thursday, 29 December 2011
A terrific app for calming, focusing and drowning out distraction
I began this his blog back in January of 2008. The very first post was called My Writing Process and Environment. in which I spoke highly of Monroe Product's wonderful ambient slash meditative product called The "So" Chord. It's a two-track CD of ambient noise with their trademark ...Read More...
Posted on 12/29/2011 9:25 AM by Thomas@thomasmcauley.com
Monday, 19 September 2011
To the writer, the world is potential story, potential narrative detail
As writers, it is our job to create story where there is none, or to reveal story that was there all along, either unnoticed or for whatever other reason untold.
Writers learn that as interesting as real life can be, that's not what we're writing. That is the realm of the non-fiction writer. ...Read More...
Posted on 09/19/2011 3:45 AM by Thomas McAuley
Monday, 22 August 2011
Editing: the glorious slaughter
Editing is not writing. The two are disctinct and necessary skills to achieving good writing. In writing lies the boundless freedom to create without conscience, to let ideas pour out onto the page. But in editing, though it may not hold as obvious an appeal for the writing, one can find even greater ...Read More...
Posted on 08/22/2011 8:29 AM by Thomas McAuley
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Transitions between chapters AND Writing with a captial "W" is a microcosm
Transitions between chapters can be touchy. They certainly are for me, I've found. While each chapter of a larger-than-short-story-length doesn't need to be a stand alone story, they do need to have some aspects in common.
A tight beginning is key if only for the reason that some folks will ...Read More...
Posted on 08/16/2011 7:28 AM by Thomas McAuley
Monday, 1 August 2011
August promises to be a more productive month than July
The title of this post may be placing the blame in the wrong place. August is not the hero in the same way that July is not the villain. I am both hero and villain in this play. I shirked and doubted and dawdled in July and have a renewed commitment and a refreshed confidence that my writing will improve ...Read More...
Posted on 08/01/2011 9:02 AM by Thomas McAuley
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
The influence of non-writing on writing
I had written recently about my feeling pulled in a dozen directions by the different categories of art I enjoy producing. I was at a low point in my writing. I remembered how much I enjoyed my time at Michael Vaughn's gigantic Nashville studio that overlooked the Cumberland River from 1st Avenue. ...Read More...
Posted on 07/27/2011 12:00 PM by Thomas McAuley
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
My story is mine OR the mad mood swings of an artistic man
One thing I know for sure, to swipe a segment name from Oprah herself, is that my moods are free and unpredictable as the weather. One day, I'll be all gloom and doom and next I'm the king of hope and confidence. When I was younger, I floundered, trying desperately to find meaning behind these ...Read More...
Posted on 07/26/2011 4:53 AM by Thomas McAuleyh
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Time to take my artistic inventory
I suppose I'm not alone in that I enjoy a variety of artistic outlets. In no particular order:
Writing
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Creating Music
Guitar/Bass
Electronic
Painting
Movie-making
Photography
Graphic ...Read More...
Posted on 07/23/2011 7:32 PM by Thomas McAuleyh
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Addressing writing laziness in all its shapes
I read an article recently in which one of a variety of established authors were asked to contribute their own "Deadly Sin" of writing. You know the lists. If you've ever done any study of the craft of writing, you will have read a dozen or more lists like that without trying.
Some ...Read More...
Posted on 07/12/2011 10:00 AM by Thomas McAuley
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
The value of reading your own work aloud cannot be minimized
No matter how confident you feel about a draft you've finished, whether it's your first or your tenth, until you hear it aloud, it's not ready to share or send.
That should be the end of the post. That's really all there is to know about the topic. Just read the work aloud, in a ...Read More...
Posted on 07/05/2011 1:09 AM by Thomas McAuley
Friday, 1 July 2011
Fear: the frenemy of creative success
I've said over and over that I never suffer from writer's block, but I realized that's not exactly true. What's closer to the truth is that I seldom suffer from writer's block -- the actual cliché staring at a white page or a still cursor -- for more than a minute, two minutes ...Read More...
Posted on 07/01/2011 4:47 AM by Thomas McAuley
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Thank you, Violeta Nedkova, for your muse-ical influence
I had a pretty fun, productive writing day today, when it was all said and done. I started out a little slow. Only 300 or so words in my AM session but that's a qualified 300. Only 300 new words, but probably another 300 earlier words reworked to make the new ones work, make sense and/or work better. ...Read More...
Posted on 06/14/2011 12:03 AM by Thomas McAuley
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Inventory. Rebalance. Refocus. Then write like you mean it.
Recently it was called to my attention that I might do well to reexamine my dedication to writing. Or at least the balance of writing versus merely writing-related tasks. You know, to put things into a new perspective. Once I really took time to consider it all, I couldn't help but realize that ...Read More...
Posted on 05/28/2011 12:00 PM by Thomas McAuley
Friday, 20 May 2011
Writing and reclusion: elusive in the real world
My dear writer friend R. L. Ugolini works part time. She is married to a friendly, personable fellow who seems to me both quiet and comfortable with the long hours she spends writing. She has a dog who, for the most part is, I assume, also quiet and patient. She lives at the end of a quiet street in ...Read More...
Posted on 05/20/2011 5:27 AM by Thomas McAuley
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
You're not alone in your writing. Embrace weirdness.
Just a brief note about the effect World Horror Con in Austin had on me. Two things have congealed in the days since the Con.
I'm not alone. Not in weirdness. Not in dedication. Not in semi-newness or semi-aimlessness.
Nearly every moment of the Con showed me that there's a whole tribe ...Read More...
Posted on 05/10/2011 7:36 PM by Thomas McAuley
Monday, 9 May 2011
Unplug the f(&$ing drug, indeed. TV kills writing.
I've been wiped out since the World Horror Con the weekend before last. Work, family, writing, critiquing, marketing. How do we writers do it? There's hardly enough time for all the TV I still have to watch.
Wait.
There's the problem, isn't it? The freaking television. Even when ...Read More...
Posted on 05/09/2011 6:25 PM by Thomas McAuley
Sunday, 20 March 2011
A great way to break up your writing week
I ran across a YA blog this morning via Twitter -- Oasis for YA: An oasis of support for YA authors. I've written some YA/middle-grade stuff but I focus on darker stories now. But being a blogger, I decided to check out the site. To pick up on what they were doing that worked or what could be improved ...Read More...
Posted on 03/20/2011 7:11 AM by Thomas McAuley
Monday, 14 March 2011
In praise of BIC HOK TAM + SODA
A few weeks back, my writing friend Beckie Ugolini confirmed her attendance at an informal Local Coffee write-in, saying something like, "I'll be there around 9am BIC HOK TAM."
I responded back with the typical amount of sarcasm, saying something like, "WTF TAM PON?" This ...Read More...
Posted on 03/14/2011 7:24 AM by Thomas McAuley
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