The Writing Life Archives

Deadly Deadlines – The One Type of Deadline You Should Never Make

February 20, 2014
Student Contributor
Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
18 Comments

Braden Russell, Guest Contributor I’ve discovered one type of deadline that you should never, ever make for yourself. It will depress you, disillusion you, and completely take the wind out of your motivation. And for many of us, it’s the only kind of deadline we give ourselves.

9 Ways to Encourage Creativity in Your Kids

February 13, 2014
Student Contributor
Homeschooling, Parenting a Young Writer, Push Your Imagination, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
1 Comment

Lisa Pennington, Guest Contributor Lisa Pennington, of The Pennington Point, is mom to several OYAN students—among them J. Grace Pennington whose guest post we featured last week. The Penningtons are such a creative group, we asked Lisa for pointers for cultivating creativity in our homes.

How Limitations Can Push You as a Writer

February 6, 2014
Student Contributor
Industry, Push Your Imagination, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
3 Comments

J. Grace Pennington, Guest Contributor On the surface, our possibilities may seem unlimited. We can sit down at our word processors and type out anything our imagination can come up with. There are, however, still many possible limitations. We are obviously limited by what we know or can find out about. We are somewhat limited by our own experience (“Write what you know!?”). We may be limited by word count, content, or subject if writing for someone else. But, like Spielberg, we can use these limitations to enhance our creativity and improve our craft.

When Something You Love Has to Go

January 30, 2014
Student Contributor
Giving and Receiving Critique, Self-editing Tips, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
5 Comments

Justin Ferguson, Guest Contributor “Kill your darlings.” Unless you’re new to the writing life, you’ve probably heard this phrase before. It refers to chopping out those scenes, plot points, and even characters that you just love but, if you’re honest with yourself, don’t serve the story. And that means they’ve got to go. As writers, most of us know to be on guard against this natural weakness, but how do we go about killing our darlings?

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.