How She Writes

If you've been around here for any length of time, you know that I have a true obsession with writer jokes. The more relatable, the better. So, when I began to see 'you know you're a writer when' jokes, I couldn't help myself. Thus, this list of thoughts and situations that nearly every writer seems to find themselves in. You know you're a writer when: y ou get a little overly excited about characters . I mean come on, you love your characters, what's not to be excited about? You know you're a writer when: you're both excited and disappointed by the concept of being your own boss. On the one hand, you have full control over your schedule. On the other hand, you have to be the one to design and enforce your schedule. You know you're a writer when: y ou sometimes feel that your secondary characters are being wasted. So much character depth, so little space in the plot. You know you're a writer when: y ou're afraid that people...

As a side effect of being a writer, I have acquired some strange quirks in the past year or so. Some of them just come with the job, others are my own peculiarities that come out through writing. I talk to myself While I'm immersed in a project, or trying to work out a problem with a story, I can be found muttering to myself. I'm not crazy...probably. I just have a tendency to think out loud, and it usually happens when I'm writing. I have a weird search history This is definitely a side effect of being a fiction writer. (There are some crazy things writers need to know.) Search history is a running joke in the writer community, and a quick search will bring up plenty of jokes about it. While most of mine aren't too crazy, I do have a few gems, like: What are the best ways to knock someone out? (this one also includes, what are the side effects of chloroform.) Would someone die of a stab wound to the side? What are the symptoms of a bruised rib? Wh...

Note: This poll has ended, but you can see the completed story  here . I have a new story coming soon. It's a fantasy adventure story with dragons, and of course the brave hero. However, I've gotten stuck on the main characters name, so you get to decide. To give you a quick look at the character, he's a blacksmith in his late teens or early twenties. He is the sole caretaker of his two thirteen-year-old brothers, Elliot and Isaac. He's stubborn, protective, and a risk taker if he's the only one who stands to lose. At the moment, his name is Evan. You can vote for his name to remain Evan, or change to one of the other options below. The poll will remain open until Saturday the 16th, June 2018. What should I name my character?

As promised, here are the rest of the stereotypes I found. Some of them are wrong, others are relatively accurate.  Here we go: 1. Writers write by compulsion The rumor that writers just can't help but write was actually spread by writers. this is a very romanticized view of writing. Unfortunately, I have yet to find this to be true. From my experience, it's much more common to force yourself to remove all distractions so you have nothing better to do than to put words on paper. 2. Writers always know where a story is going Rarely. I usually start with a somewhat vague outline before I start writing. By the time I've hit the end, I usually realize that a scene would work better somewhere else, that my main character needs to struggle more, that the character who I thought was the antagonist is clearly not the antagonist and now I don't know who it is any more than my readers do. Besides, one of the best parts of writing fiction is making a mistake that turns o...

Today, we're going to do something a little different, and I'm so excited. We're going to discuss some of the most common writer stereotypes, and see how accurate they really are. First one: 1. All writers are caffeine addicts This is one of the few stereotypes that's a stereotype for a reason. Many writers do rely heavily on caffeine. The stereotype isn't all encompassing though. There are plenty of writers, like me, that only consume a small amount of caffeine, as well as those that never consume caffeine. 2. Writers are flighty, absentminded, and impractical While it is true that writers, especially fiction writers, spend a lot of time in worlds of their own invention, the image of the absentminded daydreamer doesn't fit all writers. I, like other writers, prefer things (including writing) to be practical and organized. 3. Writers have great grammar I don't know who started that rumor, but it's absolutely not true. It helps to have a good ...