A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Public Libraries in Germany
The city library of Cologne is a magical place! I got to go on a behind-the-scenes tour with volunteer librarians from my local library. Six floors of books, music, DVD’s to make any library fan happy. There’s even a special support office that supplies books and support for blind readers. Author Heinrich Böll’s archive […]
Tame Your Revision Step-By-Step: 4 Cycle Engine for Your Story
TAME YOUR REVISION with this series that started over at The Winged Pen. You can read the overview, find the links to all the posts, and download the infographic here.
Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: 4 Steps to SORT-BY-SIZE
This TAME YOUR REVISION series started over at The Winged Pen. Here are links to the individual posts: Inventory Slice and Label With Scrivener Throw Stuff Out–There’s no separate post for this one. Everything I have to say is on the infographic. 🙂 Feedback Folder Sort By Size Re-Cycle Desperate Measures You can download the […]
Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: 4 Ways to INVENTORY
This TAME YOUR REVISION series started over at The Winged Pen. Here are links to the individual posts: Inventory Slice and Label With Scrivener Throw Stuff Out–There’s no separate post for this one. Everything I have to say is on the infographic. 🙂 Feedback Folder Sort By Size Re-Cycle Desperate Measures You can download the […]
The Good Earth: International Gardens
In 2017, I participated in the local community garden for the first time. A new growing season is always a hopeful time for me. No weeds. The dream of the perfect garden unmarred. Since then, the garden has thrived. The Good Earth: International Gardens. Paydirt. The classic rich soil of the Rhineland. © Laurel Decher, […]
An Epic Tree
My husband and I went looking for a half-circle of oaks he knew from thirty years ago. (No comments from the peanut gallery 😉 He said their group held hands around it because it was so big (nearly 8 meters around and 24 meters tall!). It’s gotta be old: 600-800 years!
Contrast with Apple Blossoms, Bach, and Story
These blossoms and buds look like visual staccato and legato notes. Short, sharp. Open, sweet. Sometimes learning something that you had given up on changes your whole view of the world. James Rhodes’ How to Play Piano teaches rank beginners how to play J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major. I never learned to read the […]
Tame your revision Step-by-Step: 5+ DESPERATE MEASURES
Revising a novel is a form of bookkeeping. How do you keep from losing your mind? At The Winged Pen, we’re talking Revision. This post is part of a TAME YOUR REVISION series that started over at The Winged Pen. Here are links to the individual posts: Inventory Slice and Label With Scrivener Throw Stuff […]
Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: 7 Simple Steps to a FEEDBACK FOLDER in Scrivener
One of the problems with getting feedback on your manuscript is overwhelm. If you’ve got five Word documents floating on your computer somewhere, it can bring your revision process to standstill. This post is about the simple way I keep track of valuable feedback from my critique partners. This TAME YOUR REVISION series started over […]
Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: SLICE AND LABEL with Scrivener
Revising a novel is a form of bookkeeping. How do you keep from losing your mind? This TAME YOUR REVISION series started over at The Winged Pen. Here are links to the individual posts: Inventory Slice and Label With Scrivener Throw Stuff Out–There’s no separate post for this one. Everything I have to say is […]
Tools: Emotional Connection in Fiction Part 2
A piano with built-in toolboxes for sewing and putting on make-up. Andreas Landschütz, 1820. MAKK museum in Cologne. © Laurel Decher, 2017. Last week I wrote about the challenges of making your reader feel the emotions of your main character. This week, the thrilling conclusion. Challenging feedback doesn’t have to derail your writing. I’ve got […]
Are you feeling it? Emotional Connection in Fiction Part 1
Feedback on your writing craft can be so useful. Unless you can’t figure out what your readers are talking about. If you’re a writer who keeps getting comments about adding emotion to your story, this post (and the one connected to it) are for you. How to handle feedback that says: “I like it, but I’m not loving it”.