September 12, 2008

I’ve been stumped by a change I need to make in my current novel, and yesterday my critique group let me know that I still didn’t have it fixed. Argh! So this morning over breakfast, I decided to read an article in the October The Writer Magazine called “Survive the Revision Process” because I thought I might not (survive, that is). The article turned out be about writing short nonfiction, but when I flipped back a few pages, I found Phyllis Whitney’s terrific article, “10 Ways to Cure the Midnovel Blues.” That’s certainly what I had! One of her suggestions (“Tie your characters to your setting”) gave me an idea that I am sure will finally fix the issue I’ve been struggling with.

Don’t overlook the help and support you can find in writing magazines (print and online) and writing books (print and e-books). Don’t waste time and energy re-inventing the wheel. Otherwise, you might give up when, in fact, a bit of encouragement from another source could solve your problem. Phyllis Whitney died earlier this year at the age of 104, or I would write and thank her for her help. I had been dreading the revisions this morning, but now I know what to do! Can’t wait!

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