This past August, my family sold the house that I grew up in.
My dad had been living there, but passed away almost two years ago (it will be exactly two years at the start of December).
Tag Archives: Novel writing
On Validation During the Writing Process (and why it’s okay for writers to want that too)
I’ve written before on the topic of writers and validation.
That previous post was related to which form of publishing one might chose to pursue (self-publishing vs. traditional), and what that choice may or may not say about one’s need for acknowledgement by writing industry professionals, which in turn may or may not relate to the strength of one’s self esteem.
“Mistakes Were Made”: More Thoughts on Having My Novel Critiqued
I always believed that I was a good writer.
This is a fairly common trait among writers and not necessarily a bad thing. No one would spend the necessary months or years to write a novel if they didn’t on some level believe themselves good at it, or at least capable of getting better.
Some Positive Affirmations to Guide You (and Me) Through the Writing Critique Process
Writing is not a team sport, except for when it eventually becomes one.
Overall, I consider writing the most solitary of the arts. Not only does writing a novel involve spending months, if not longer, alone inside one’s head trying to reproduce the drama unfolding therein, the interim stages of an unfinished novel hold next to no interest.
3 Things I Learned From Entering Pitch Wars
It’s that time of year again.
I’m not talking about back to school, but hooray for that too, I guess (good luck, kids).
Rather, I’m referring to the review and selection period for the current cycle of Pitch Wars.
How I’m Spending My Summer, 2018 Edition
Recently, I did a mid-year assessment of my progress on my 2018 New Year’s resolutions.
I did this not only to determine how close or how far I am from achieving success, and not only because I’m experimenting this year with doing quarterly check-ins to help boost my success rate.
I also did it because, in the obverse of the famous quote from the mega-hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, “Summer is coming.”
Get To Know Me (Pitch Wars #BoostMyBio Blog Hop)
A/N: #BoostMyBio is an optional blog hop hosted by Audra (Auggie) Atoche. It’s offered as an unofficial part of Pitch Wars, a writing mentorship program/contest with a vibrant online community found on Twitter under the hashtags #PitchWars, #PWPoePrompts, and #BoostMyBio. You don’t have to be entering Pitch Wars to join this blog hop, so if interested, follow these instructions.
About Me
My name is Janna and I’m a writer of adult historical fiction living in Vancouver, BC on the west coast of Canada.
I am new to the #PitchWars community and have already had a great experience meeting other hopefuls online, learning how to write a synopsis(!), and getting my manuscript revised and ready for the main event in August(!!). Continue reading
In Praise of Pantsing
Plotter. Pantser. Zero drafter. I don’t even know what to call myself anymore.
It’s all just labels anyway. I’ve previously written about how, in their strictest sense, there’s almost no difference between them anyway.
As long as you end up with usable words on the page, it doesn’t really matter the method you employed to get them there.
There’s No Crying in Baseball (but there might be in pantsing)
I’ve played this game before.
Even though I had a thorough outline, I pantsed my way through a significant portion of my WIP’s first draft.
Now that I am some five drafts deep into revision, I find myself pinch-hitting for Team Pantser once again.
Rape Culture in the Middle—And Modern—Ages (Medieval Mondays #10c)
The previous Medieval Mondays post on sex discussed perceptions of women’s sexuality in the Middle Ages.
It covered historical notions of women as “misbegotten” lesser humans, as helplessly insatiable and promiscuous, and as ever in danger of being considered unmarriageable and “spoiled goods” if subject to even the hint of impropriety.
A Frame Around Infinity 