I have written an entire novel in the wrong point of view. When I finally realized–many drafts later, after I’d already done a complete rewrite–fixing it was not as bad as I’d feared. But changing the whole POV of a story…is not something I would do for fun. And yet. It’s no joke that the […]
Tag: process
Phases and cycles
Today, I wrote fiction for the first time in eight months. And now I’m writing here for the first time in…far longer. This fallow phase has been a necessary refresh, but now that the cycle tips back around I can admit to the bone-deep worry that maybe my writing wouldn’t come back this time. Writing […]
Good-bye (to one more try-fail cycle)
I always figured I’d someday make a Patreon page. When they announced their rate increase for new creators going forward, it seemed as good a time as any to throw one together before that deadline. Spoiler: that is not a useful way to approach this sort of thing. Not that making the page was a […]
Ego saga
Oh hey, this is new. I’ve never worried about the ego in a story before. I wrote a short story partly to challenge myself, to try different things with narrative and words. It’s what the story demanded but also something I know will make me a better writer—make me more the writer I want to […]
‘Scary’ is just another word for ‘challenge’
I’m back! Or trying to be. Since my last post, we welcomed our second kid and as always this is a rough transition. Anyway, the post… Ok. Ignore that these are different parts of speech and let me run with this. ***Quick disclaimer: this is all my personal experience and your mileage may vary. It […]
Rebirth; aka, (pseudonym) name changes
One of the biggest shifts in the career-type side of my writing in the last year has been deciding to start using my own name. Granted, it’s been my name right along, just a slightly different iteration. In high school, I decided to use M. J. King as my pseudonym because I wasn’t a big […]
Writing Dad, a decade on
For the last year and a half, I’ve been working on a novel. It’s not a terribly serious novel (a vampire romance with an intentionally ludicrous premise, which had no hope of marketability until the announcement of the newest Twilight book) born of a fun dream and the thought of what it might be like […]
Alliteration is Overrated
Who had the bright idea to make November National Novel Writing Month? I mean, four months out of the year have 30 days. So. Why November? No, this post will not explore the origins of NaNo. I just need to gripe. And, you know, reassure you that I’m still here. (Still figuring out how all […]
Fear of New Beginnings; or, I’m Resigning (and some writing stuff)
I originally published this post with Anxiety Ink on Monday, May 14th, which is weirdly fitting since it was also my dad’s 75th birthday. I don’t normally do the cross-posting thing, but it’s a pretty big deal. Is there a term for the fear of new beginnings? Or perhaps it’s more a fear of endings. […]
Still Learning
Babies operate on their own schedules, and good luck trying to dictate anything different! I learned that more quickly and painfully when my daughter decided to cut what is usually a many hours- or even days-long process of arrival down to two hours. Of course, I knew this about babies years ago, but knowing something […]
Melissa Burkart 