Guest Bloggers

Revision Is Your Friend. Really.

Guest Blogger Rachael Herron writes about one of my favorite topics: Revision: I’m in the middle of revision of a book, and I’m swimming in the water I love. What I adore about revision is this: I know the world. I invented it, after all! When I open the document, I’m right in the middle of something I understand. It’s much easier, for me, to drop in for hours and rest on the page. It’s also easier to come out of, to shake off. First drafts remain torture for me. Many writers love first drafts, and I can admit that sometimes, the writing of new words is glorious. You surprise yourself with a turn of phrase that you’re pretty sure is genius and has probably never been said before. The plot bends and a tree you wrote about comes to life and points a branched finger in a direction you…

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Rachael Herron: Keeping the spark alive.

Guest Blogger, Author Rachael Herron has this to say: Hi readers and writers, You’re an artist in some way. Yes, you. I see you there, hiding there in the back shaking your head. I just like to read books. I’m not creative. What do you do that brings you joy? What do you make? Cookies? Scarves? Do you sing in the car? Do you have a great eye for color? Yes, keep reading. You’re creative, and I’m so glad to talk to you. I’m back from my month off (oh, joy), and I’m so relieved to be back at work (I don’t relax well). I’m currently revising a thriller. It’s a departure for me, and it’s what I’ve wanted to write for years. The 911 dispatcher picks up the phone to find her daughter on the other end of the line, and it’s bad, y’all. I was a dispatcher for…

Guest Bloggers

Guest Blogger Rachael Herron invites us to meander, wander, PLAY!

Today’s Guest Blogger is Rachael Herron, one of my favorite writers. Read one of her books and you’ll know why. More on that later. For now, you get to sneak a peek into how she gives priority to the problem, rather than to the answer. Hi Writers, I spent yesterday morning in the tub, thinking about writing. It wasn’t procrastination, I promise. It was actually the most delicious thing ever. Usually, I get up and have coffee and do yoga and write in my journal, and then I jump into work. I work all morning on writing and revision, and I use my afternoons to answer email, record my podcasts, teach, and coach. Yesterday, my “writing” took the form of thinking. And I was cold. So I got in the tub at ten in the morning. I lit a candle to help me think, for something to stare at. I…

Guest Bloggers

Revision: When the really big ideas show up.

Today’s Guest Blogger Rachael Herron has this to say about revision. I’m back in the middle of revision of a book, and I’m finally swimming in the water I love. What I adore about revision is this: I know the world. I invented it, after all! When I open the document, I’m right in the middle of something I understand. It’s much easier, for me, to drop in for hours and rest on the page. It’s also easier to come out of, to shake off. First drafts remain torture for me. So many of you love the first drafts, and I can admit that sometimes, the writing of new words is glorious. You surprise yourself with a turn of phrase that you’re pretty sure is genius and has probably never been said before. The plot bends and a tree you wrote about comes to life and points a branched finger…

Guest Bloggers

How to catch the ideas that flit by.

Today’s Guest Blogger post is from one of my favorite authors, Rachael Herron. Rachael writes: A comment by David Sedaris on a podcast gave me an a-ha moment recently, and I wanted to share it with you. I’d always wondered how he got his essays so brilliantly specific—filled with the kind of particulars that put you right into the spot where he stands. From Me Talk Pretty One Day, “For the first twenty years of my life, I rocked myself to sleep. It was a harmless enough hobby, but eventually, I had to give it up. Throughout the next twenty-two years I lay still and discovered that after a few minutes I could drop off with no problem. Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, and it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on its own. Often I never even made it…

Places to submit

Find the right magazine for your article.

Rachael Herron wrote an article, soon to be published in Vogue magazine. Not about “fashion, beauty, culture, living, runway, met gala.” Rachael’s article is about clearing out craft supplies. Imagine that. What a brilliant idea! I imagine most crafters would benefit from an article about how to organize material and/or encouragement to let go of scraps of fabric, wisps of ribbon, etc. Do you have a special skill, a hobby, a special interest? Write about it. Think about a magazine that might seem an unusual fit. Tweak your essay to fit the magazine’s demographics. Research the magazine’s mission statement, purpose, intent, masthead. Do you have a pet peeve, an obsession, a unique collection? Turn your thoughts into an article, then research and submit! Browse magazines at the library. Search online for potential magazines. Find the right magazine for your piece: Every Writer Wikipedia List of American Magazines How a Freelance…

Prompts

Elevator Pitch. . . Prompt #251

This has been Rachael Herron Week on The Write Spot Blog. It’s been fun highlighting her and her work. Today’s writing prompt is inspired by her latest book, The Ones Who Matter Most. “What begins as one woman’s search for truth becomes a deep bond forged between the unlikeliest of people. Their surprising journey reveals how strangers can quickly find themselves to be family, and how kindness can bridge even the widest of gaps.” Choose something from this synopsis, or elevator pitch, to write about. Perhaps: Write about a kindness offered to you, or something kind you did for someone. Or, write about a surprising journey. Or, write about a stranger. Write about what a search revealed. Write about family. Note: An “elevator pitch” is a short summary of a book or project that can be explained in the time it takes an elevator to go from ground floor to…

Guest Bloggers

My endings are always asymptotes. —Rachael Herron

A conversation with Rachael Herron, author of The Ones Who Matter Most. “How did you get the idea for this book?” “The original idea for any of my novels usually gets buried so deep that by the time I’ve finished writing, I can barely remember what the first ideas was. This book, though, was different. The first scene was my original idea.” “Do you always know the endings of your novels when you start them?” “I wish! I know writers who know their endings and aim for them like marksmen. Rather than apples to be hit with arrows, though, my endings are always asymptotes. I write toward them forever, getting closer and closer but never quite getting there. Usually I have to revise the whole book (minus the ending) a few times until I figure out what should really happen.” Excerpted from the Conversation Guide at the end of Rachael…

Prompts

Something surprising found in a desk drawer. Prompt #250

Write about something surprising found in a desk drawer. Today’s writing prompt is inspired by the catalyst for Rachael Herron‘s latest book, The Ones Who Matter Most. A secret in a rolltop desk drawer leads a woman on a search that changes her life and the lives of another family. “What begins as one woman’s search for truth becomes a deep bond forged between the unlikeliest of people, and the discovery that there are many ways to make a family—as long as you take care.  . . ” — quote from the back cover of The Ones Who Matter Most.