In college, it wasn’t unusual to get involved in discussions about how important “author’s intent” was to a work. My “fondest” memory was of a professor who was convinced that it didn’t matter that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein on a dare; what mattered is that she was supposedly influenced by obstetrics manuals of the period. […]
Tag: inspiration
Don’t be Afraid to Write like Crap
One morning, Little Miss Writer wakes up like she normally does. She gets out of bed, stretches her fingers, and gulps down a cup of coffee. After she’s had the chance to wake up, she sits down at her computer, and starts typing away on her assignment. All of a sudden, tiny microbes of self-doubt […]
Winter Got you Down? Things to do in Madison to Cheer You Up!
Well, the snow has been really intense this year and as several of my friends have pointed out — it’s been a long winter. Yes, we probably were due for one and with all this cold and wintry weather, the upside is that it has to be great for the farmers. I’m very much looking […]
Freelance Writing Tip #35: Be Inspired by Others’ Success
Sometimes its easy to work in a tunnel, where you gauge how “good” you are as a writer by the milestones you reach in your personal career. The nature of our work, as I’ve mentioned several times, encourages us to put blinders on, only looking at what’s in front of our monitor instead of reaching […]
Freelance Writing Tip #34: Dream
Dreams can range from the surreal to the fantastic. Your nightly travels can be frightening, exciting, depressing, and engaging. Whatever theme your dreams have, the concept of dreams can be an excellent motivational tool for your fiction. Dreams work well as tools within your fiction for quite a few reasons. For example, well-described dream can […]