Women on Writing - WOW and WOW!
Women On Writing is an online magazine and community for women writers. Among major topics are novel writing, indie publishing, author platform, blogging, screenwriting, and more. Lots of contests and general jocularity sans frittering on the part of Earth's most powerful humans.
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by Carrie Oreskovich A few years ago I was feeling pretty low. Interminably single, high on hormones from going through the process of freezing my eggs, and feeling hopeless about my dreams of meeting someone to have a family with before my fertility took a long jump off of a steep cliff. And more than anything I wanted to know that I wasn’t alone. At the time, I couldn’t find a voice for my particular frustrations, so I decided to start a blog in the hopes of connecting with others facing similar struggles. I spent months planning the structure, brainstorming the blog name, associated social media, and a pen name. I thought that having some anonymity was essential i…
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By Fran Hawthorne For a number of plot-related reasons, my new novel I Meant to Tell You had to be set in and near Washington DC. But almost as soon as I began moving my characters around on the ground, I panicked. Where would one character take her daughter for fun? Where would a couple go on a date? In the last year before the pandemic, Destination DC (the district’s official tourism Website) reported more than 24 million visitors. How could I possibly make such a popular venue seem fresh and interesting? No matter where I placed my characters, scores of readers would either pick out inaccurate details, or just be bored. Then add to that list…
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by Dorit Sasson When I first started writing my second memoir Sand and Steel: A Memoir of Longing and Finding Home back in 2017, I had no idea how our homes would become the center of our lives and that the book will offer readers a different appreciation of home. Even after fifteen years in the States, as an Israeli expat I’m still struck by the differences in size between our kibbutz and our Pittsburgh home (Israel is the size of Delaware). In the book I write: “I’ll soon learn that when you’re an immigrant to the States or even a returning American, everything feels big, bigger than you. You try not to focus on it, but America’s vastness will not let you forget.” …
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We are excited to launch the tour for From Promising to Published by Melanie Faith. This book is perfect for unpublished writers who want encouragement while preparing work for submission for the first time and a friendly voice to demystify how the publishing process works. It's also wonderful for published authors who are interested in learning why some of their past work might have been rejected. Its down-to-earth tips for revising, submission strategy, and having happier, long-term publishing experiences make this book a must-read for writers. Before we interview the author about her inspirational book for writers, here's more about this book: You’ve been writing a…
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The Greenwood Cultural Center had a fundraising brunch as part of the commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre. A friend of mine (Darice) and I went to Tulsa, and reserved two spots at the brunch. I thought the highlight would be hearing Alfre Woodard speak. She did make a lovely and moving (prepared) speech, but Garth Brooks stole my heart. Let me preface the rest of this post with this: I am not was not a real fan of his. There is a popular Garth Brooks bar song that I sang--one time--along with a large group of people (surprise--in a bar), but I’m more into Trisha Yearwood. So, when I heard about this brunch, I squealed about other stars who would be in attendance… bu…
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by Marcia Peterson Summer distractions probably caused you to place some of your writing projects on the back burner. However, back-to-school time can offer a fresh start for writers. It’s a great opportunity to “reboot” your writing life. If you’re unsure about how to get going again, a few strategies can help you gear up for the approaching fall months. Here are three ways to dive back in, create momentum and get excited about your writing. Challenge Yourself First, freelancers can build an active writing schedule with a self-created query challenge. Make a commitment to send out a certain amount of queries or submissions per week, starting now. This will get you …
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A little over three years ago, I started getting my butt kicked. Sometimes it happened weekly. Sometimes once a month. Sometimes there were months in between my butt kickings, but I could always count on it happening on a regular basis. Like most people, life is kicking my butt these days, especially this last year. Juggling work and family and the stress of wearing-masks-social-distancing-missing-out-on-things-and-isolation is a horrendous weight to bear. However, the butt-kicking I'm talking about is something I ask for. Yeah, you heard that right. I get my wide, flat, cellulite-riddled rumpus bruised regularly... and I appreciate it. Almost four years ago, J. L. Glenn …
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I read something recently that talked about how we need to embrace our creative seasons. We're in the midst of the winter season and I tend to feel pulled towards new drafts rather than rewriting. I wasn't sure that was the case for me this year, and to be honest, over the past few months, it has been a while since I approached any new creative work. I've had my share of revisions, sure, but I've not written anything new. Until this past weekend, of course. I really didn't have it in me to do anything creative this weekend but I thought of advice I came across where someone said they just wrote 100 words a day. And well, I figured I can manage that, so I brought up my p…
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Sometimes, a sparkley idea for a novel comes along and it just…sort of…doesn’t get done. And I think I know why, or at least one big reason why: great ideas won’t go anywhere without the underlying excitement that grabs ahold and won’t let go. Which brings me to pre-writing and a couple little tests I use. I know that the word “pre-writing” would likely lead one to believe it’s all about…well, writing. But for this writer, pre-writing begins with the idea. An idea that has me literally trying out lines in my head for weeks. When I’m thinking up random conversations between characters, the excitement grabs hold. And this is where the first test comes in. Now, I’ll do a l…
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Here we are, February 2022 (and believe it or not, tomorrow it'll be March!). It's been a long time friends. This post may not be as inspirational as my usual banter - it may even be a bit sad. I'll try to make the sad part quick so we can get to the happy ending. Everyone loves a happy ending, right? I haven't put pen to paper this year. Until now... I have been so incredibly lost and I'm trying to get home. You know that feeling when you're driving and realize you've somehow managed to get off course? Your heart rate increases. Your palms get sweaty as you grip the wheel tighter. You turn off the radio in hopes concentration alone will help the situation. That's how…
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With the holiday season upon us, we decided it was a wonderful time to launch another major group giveaway. The last one we had at the start of the pandemic was such a big hit, we couldn't wait to host another one. We have an amazing collection of authors and books to share with you and some amazing prizes for you to win too. We are excited to announce our gift of reading giveaway! (#GiftofReading) Whether you want to give these gifts as presents to someone else or keep them as a gift for yourself (hey, we won't judge) there are books in here for everyone. The giveaway is free to enter and there will be 3 winners, just like last time. The special thing is that this time e…
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The reading log I created. Right before Thanksgiving, I spotted an awesome graphic on Twitter. Someone had created a log for students to use to keep track of their reading. For each book, they were to color in a book in the outline and a key was provided for the correct colors. It went something like this. Mystery: Blue Adventure: Green Historical Fiction: Yellow Realistic Fiction: Brown Science fiction and fantasy: Purple Poetry: Red Nonfiction: Orange It didn’t take long for the nonfiction writers to notice that although many readers enjoy nonfiction, fiction was being emphasized while nonfiction was being downplayed. Yes, I commented, but I also decided to ma…
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Christmas is just days away so you may be looking at that title and thinking, “No! No more shopping! I don’t have the time/money/energy.” The good news is that these are all free and they are all things that we periodically need to be reminded to give ourselves. Call Yourself a Writer Haven’t sold anything yet? It doesn't matter. Call yourself a writer. Or maybe comments from someone on your writing have left you really shaken. Don't give that person more free time in your head. Shake them off! You are a writer. Own it. But of course once you own it you are going to need to . . . Take Time to Write Some people believe you need to write every day. Some people …
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Some weeks, it just seems like people are telling you to stop. Don’t bother working on that particular manuscript. No, really. No one ever sells in that genre until they have a track record someplace else. Don’t finish that query letter. Agents and editors are super slow to respond right now. It’s the pandemic. No one is sure what is going to sell or what to bring to print. That agent may not even be accepting queries by the time you finish. Just. Stop. My advice to you? Don’t stop working on your manuscript. Don’t stop working on your query. Stop discouraging yourself. It is time to cross the finish line. Earlier this week, I was trying to get back into a fi…
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Photo by wewe yang from Pexels With November almost over and no gifts purchased yet this year because, well, work and NaNoWriMo, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. But when I was brainstorming what I should write about for this post, I decided to go with good old-fashioned gratitude since we are celebrating a day of thanks. Here are a just a few things I’m grateful for: Time to write. Yes, life is busy, but I’m learning to embrace being the mother of teens. You’d be surprised at how much time you get back in your life when they can drive themselves to and from school, to and from sports practices and games, and back and forth from work and friends’ houses. While I do try…
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Earlier this week, I read an interesting piece at Make a Living Writing on motivation and goal setting. What? Why am I talking about goal setting in September? Couldn’t I just leave this alone until December 30th? I could, but Marcia egged me on when she wrote about rebooting your writing life. A few days ago, I posted a message to my accountability group. (Hi, Ladies!) As I was doing this I noticed, I hadn’t even bothered to post about goals in months. I’ve just been toodling along, doing my own thing. Some of this toodling was very much writing related. I took Madeline Dyer’s class and learned about narrative structure. I wrote a new piece of auto fiction. I’ve…
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Have you ever been faced by the good news/bad news question? Like when your first-born kid walks in the door and says, “I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” I always say give me the bad news first (“I flunked the Algebra test”). I like to have something positive to end the discussion/encounter on a high note ("But almost the whole class flunked it"). Granted, that’s not exactly good news anywhere except in a high school classroom, but the point is, there’s hope, right? Maybe the teacher will do a re-test. Or maybe she’ll allow half credit if the wrong questions are turned in with correct answers. Or maybe the students can drop their lowest grade. Se…
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In a freak of scheduling, you're getting two servings of Sioux in a row. I figured I would continue my post from Saturday about creating a channel-platform-thingy with a couple of production friends. We'll be targeting women over 30. (We're still in the talking stage. We've only just begun. If you're ancient like me, those words might make you think of the Carpenters. Check out the end, where I've taken liberties with the first four lines of the song, and enjoy the link to the smooth croonings of Karen and Richard Carpenter.) If you missed the past post--just two days ago--here it is, so you can catch up avoid hearing Sioux blather on. Again. …
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We are excited to be here today with H.R. Conklin and announce the blog tour of Book #4 in the Celtic Magic, The Eternity Knot. Join us as we interview the author, highlight upcoming spots on the blog tour, and give away a copy of her book. First, here is a little bit about The Eternity Knot: Mairi has been shown the future and knows humans must change their ways. Continuing on their path of disconnect with Nature will cause the destruction of human life. Tasked by the Seelie Fae to save the human world, Mairi and friends seek out ancient wisdom in the stories of old. The Queen of the Unseelie Fae decides humans have to prove themselves worthy of the Earthly Realm, or di…
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I'm excited to announce a blog tour with author A.J. Kormon. We're going to be touring with her books, Hiding Out on Halloween, Creeping Up on Christmas, and Veering Off on Valentine’s. These books are perfect for resistant readers who enjoy fast-paced, short mysteries featuring seventh graders and their cats. Join us today as we share more about these adorable books, interview the author, A.J. Kormon, and give away an Amazon gift card and copies of these books for our lucky readers. First, a little bit about the books: Three short, page-turning mysteries for ages 9-11 featuring mischievous cats and their middle-grade owners. In Hiding Out on Halloween, Avery Mcintosh b…
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I hate confrontation when it’s writing-related business. In fact, I’m stalling right now and it’s not even a face-to-face situation. It’s an email. But I’m agonizing over this email—and I’m annoyed at how much time this problem has ended up costing me in both hours away from other work and the space it’s taking up in my psyche. Years ago, I walked by our home office and Mister Man was on the phone to an associate. He was, as we say in the rural South, “giving him up the country.” In other words, he was speaking harshly to this gentleman. When I passed by ten minutes later, Mister Man was cheerily working away, not a sign of distress. I was amazed. “How,” I asked, “can…
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When last we met, I shared how I hated confrontation, and specifically the back-and-forth with a designer re: my book cover. So here is what has transpired since. Oh, wait! First, a little backstory. I sort of lost it when I got the last covers. I’d spent hours writing an email, very carefully explaining what I wanted and why the designs I was sent were not hitting the mark. And I’d like to add that in the comments of my last post, our WOW! editor, Angela Mackintosh, made an excellent suggestion and one I’d followed. To wit, send screenshots of book covers that are appealing and why. That way, the designer will have a better idea of what is expected and desired. It’s s…
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Recently another writing friend put a wannabe novelist (WN) in touch with me. It's not that I'm an expert in writing, by any means. This individual was looking for writing feedback, and I'm part of a couple of critique groups. We met at a local coffeehouse. WN wanted to meet me before sharing her writing. I get it. The writers in my feedback groups are supportive and encouraging. However, I've visited a couple of groups which had a few problematic members. Writing something and sharing it--especially something like a novel--is scary. You don't want to just hand over your baby to a complete stranger. Also, what if the person you're handing over your manuscript to is a …
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By Bobbie Christmas Q: I’ve heard conflicting information about attributions. Some places say that using “said” is the best way to attribute dialogue to characters in fiction or interviewees in nonfiction. Other sources say to avoid using “said.” What’s the scoop? Who’s right or wrong? What’s a writer to do? A: Interestingly both views have merit. Attributing quotations keeps readers fully apprised of who says what. On the other hand, too much repetition of the same word leads to weak writing. The issue is a creative one, not an issue or what’s right or wrong, so I have some creative suggestions. It’s true that strong writing avoids overusing attributions, also called …
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When I first graduated from college with a B.S. in English and a M.A.E. in elementary education, I had dreams of teaching by day and writing by night. And the kind of writer that I wanted to be? A greeting card writer for Hallmark (or really any freelance card-writing gig would do). I bought a book about how to write greeting cards, and I wrote tons of ideas. I sold...one. I don't even know if it was ever used. We are at the time of year when people send cards. This doesn't happen as often for birthdays any more, and fewer people are sending Christmas cards, including myself this year because I ran out of time. So I put my holiday wishes on Facebook and called it a day. B…
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