February 21, 2018
Speculative Chic has been kicking around for a year and a half, if you can believe it, and during that time, we’ve established quite a regular schedule. We started with one post per day save for weekends, and now the only day we don’t publish is Sunday; often, we have two posts per day. Which means the blog has reached…
October 20, 2017
I am having a wonderfully frustrating day of procrastination. I am aware and fully acknowledge I am doing everything possible not to sit down and write, so this is the perfect time for me to tell you about the Satisfaction Equation. It will be a great reminder for me too! Procrastination is all about avoiding our fears. For me, I…
July 21, 2017
Editing! I’ve lost count of the number of writers who have said they loathe the editing process. I have a feeling a lot of this dislike for editing comes from our Inner Saboteur who continually ridicules us for not having perfect first drafts, convincing us that real writers don’t edit. Well, I hate to break it to you, but every…
July 7, 2017
Dear Sherry, I’m a relatively experienced writer, and I’m on the downward slope of my planned book series. But there’s always room for new problems with such an expansive project. Now, I feel like I’ve run out of the “easy” ideas. I still love my characters, and I still love my world, but I know that I need to keep…
June 16, 2017
The more we learn about the craft of writing, the more paranoid we become, worried that we are not going to get the wording just right. When we worry, we’re not enjoying the writing. Everyone’s writing process differs. If you’re like me, you like to get everything down first and edit later. Some people edit as they go. Some people…
May 5, 2017
Dear Sherry: I have a problem. I like writing. I like brainstorming. I like coming up with ideas for my characters and seeing where it takes them. When I write out my first draft, I know all the messy mistakes and wrong turns are going to be there. The first draft is where I let myself air the story out,…
March 17, 2017
Welcome to Coach’s Corner, where I offer some thoughts on the creative process and breaking through moments of self-doubt. In Part 1 of this series on when life sucks you back in, I talked about freeing ourselves when family and friends pull us away from our writing. There is a greater force that life uses to pull us away from our…
March 3, 2017
Dear Sherry, I’ve been working on this novel for almost two years now. I’ve finished the first draft. I’ve filled in the plot holes. I’ve added description, and fleshed out the characters. I’ve sent it to my critique group for feedback, edited based on that feedback, sent it back to them and edited it again. That should be enough, right?…
February 3, 2017
Dear Sherry, I am really close to finishing my Master’s degree in Canadian Studies. By close, I mean I am in the final edits of my thesis. It has taken me over two years to research it and write it. I can’t tell you how many times I wished it would just write itself already so I could submit it to…
January 6, 2017
Dear Sherry, I’ve been working hard on edits on my novel. I sent it out to my beta readers, and I now have all their feedback, which is great. The problem is that I have a bunch of conflicting comments, and I don’t know how to resolve them. Sometimes it is easy. If one suggestion clearly makes the story better and…