December 8, 2017
2017 was not the year I expected it to be. This time last year I was working away on a first draft of a novel and planning all kinds of other writing projects. While I was fairly certain I wasn’t going to actually accomplish all my writing plans, I had settled in for a great year of writing productivity. What…
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November 17, 2017
Water is my element. Ironically, I’m a terrible swimmer. But I love water. I need water. In particular, the ocean. Sitting on the shore ocean, listening to the crashing waves, breathing in the sea-salt air, feeds my soul like nothing else can. My well for life, and especially creativity, is refilled. Unfortunately for me, I live in the centre of…
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November 3, 2017
Dear Sherry, A number of years ago, I entered a short story contest and won. Yay me! One of the prizes was tuition in a writing course. Something the teacher said has stuck with me all these years. She said that I shouldn’t take the time to picture the story in my mind first. She said that ruins the story.…
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October 20, 2017
I am having a wonderfully frustrating day of procrastination. I am aware and fully acknowledge I am doing everything possible not to sit down and write, so this is the perfect time for me to tell you about the Satisfaction Equation. It will be a great reminder for me too! Procrastination is all about avoiding our fears. For me, I…
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October 6, 2017
Dear Sherry, I wanted to ask your advice. I submitted a short story and poem to a contest, and they want to publish both! What troubles me is the poem. I wrote it many years ago, as it’s very “emo” as was described to me by a friend. I’m wondering if publishing this old fossil poem of depression is going…
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September 15, 2017
My experience this summer. If you’re anything like me, it can often feel like no matter how much I write, it is never enough. Thanks to the instantaneous consumerism of the internet, there is so much pressure to be more and more prolific to stay relevant to our readers.
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September 1, 2017
Dear Sherry, I’ve recently come to a crossroad in my life. I have had to re-evaluate a bunch of things, one of which is that I want to give writing another try. I used to write, a lot. I did some workshops, and even had a few short story sales. Then I stopped, mostly because of work and family. If…
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August 18, 2017
Having a community of writers around you is great for giving and receiving critiques, but it can be so much more. I couldn’t persist in this crazy business of writing if it weren’t for my writing friends, so I’d like to share with you some of the ways in which they have helped me find the joy in writing.
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August 4, 2017
Dear Sherry, I hear people talk about writing exercises all the time. They say it’s a good way to warm up the brain and help focus on the writing tasks, especially for those of us who tend to get distracted by the internet. What do you think? Worth it or not? I’m afraid it might be a source of distraction…
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July 21, 2017
Editing! I’ve lost count of the number of writers who have said they loathe the editing process. I have a feeling a lot of this dislike for editing comes from our Inner Saboteur who continually ridicules us for not having perfect first drafts, convincing us that real writers don’t edit. Well, I hate to break it to you, but every…
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