Daniel's Writing Log Archives

Letting Your Novel Be Your Teacher

March 20, 2014
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, Reviews: Books, Movies, Short Stories, The Writing Life
4 Comments

Daniel Schwabauer AMG’s release of Runt the Hunted, book two in my Legends of Tira-Nor series, is slated to be released in about a month. I often talk about how writing a book always changes the writer, even if it doesn't change the reader. Writing Runt the Hunted was a little like that. It changed me.

Story World Maps – Worthwhile or a Waste of Time?

January 23, 2014
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, Push Your Imagination, The Writing Life, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
5 Comments

Daniel Schwabauer Writing is work. I know this sounds obvious to anyone who has written. But non-writers sometimes react to this idea with shades of disbelief. “How hard can it be? It’s just words. You should try teaching/pouring concrete/waiting tables!” But writers know.

Growing a Story from the Spine Out

December 19, 2013
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
1 Comment

Daniel Schwabauer I sometimes wonder if my work-in-progress will ever be anything more than a private playground for my characters. Of course, all of this self-analysis can go too far.

When Your “Perfect” Story Falls Flat

November 14, 2013
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, Help with Characters, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
9 Comments

Daniel Schwabauer I had re-written the novel, then titled Baht, in 2012, as 70,000+ words of first-person narrative. Only in writing the second-to-last chapter did I realize the book wasn’t working. Though it had a lot going for it (in my opinion, anyway), it still lacked something. It lacked oomph. Drive. A sense of compulsion. I wasn’t being pulled along by the story; I was driving the story ahead of me with a cattle-prod.

What to Do with a Story Idea That Won’t Give Up on You?

October 24, 2013
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, Help with Characters, Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life
3 Comments

Daniel Schwabauer It’s no secret I’m working on a YA novel. What has been a secret (until now) is that I’ve tried to write this novel at least four times: once in grad school, again five years later, again a couple of years after that (time blurs at this point) and again last year.