All posts tagged writing

My Other Venues…er interests

5x5duckinbucketlunes marzo 11, 2013

This blog—Diane Tibert, dreamer—doesn’t get updated as much as it used to. That doesn’t mean I’m not working behind the scenes, writing posts, reading, writing fiction and nonfiction or doing other things. It simply means this blog doesn’t get the attention it usually received, back when I was writing the marathon.

There was a time when I’d post two or three times a week to this blog, twice to my Roots to the Past blog and once each to Diane Lynn McGyver and Moon Meadow (the blog about my homestead).

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by Diane Tibert on March 11, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Diane Tibert on March 11, 2013

http://dianetibert.com/2013/03/11/my-other-venueser-interests/

Dropping Out of the Marathon…for a slower pace

5x5MarathonI love writing. Make no mistake that when I envision characters racing across my mind, screaming at me to tell their stories, I’m listening. And I’m following them, finding out what they’re up to, sharing in their joys, fears and heartaches.

These characters become lifelong companions—like an invisible friend for some kid—who I miss when I’m not writing or reading about them. Now and again, I have to pull them off the shelf and share an afternoon with them. If they died, I’d be lost.

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by Diane Tibert on February 28, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Lessons in Writing
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Posted by Diane Tibert on February 28, 2013

http://dianetibert.com/2013/02/28/dropping-out-of-the-marathonfor-a-slower-pace/

Who are you writing for? The publisher or the reader?

Diane Lynn McGyverNot so long ago, I scoured publisher’s websites for guidelines to see what they were looking for in a book. I kept all the advice in mind as I wrote. Were they looking for young adult stories about specific sports? Did they need books for teenaged girls who battled with self-image? Or books geared towards reluctant readers? What about the adults? Were they reading more romance or mystery or western?

Many publishers dictated structure. Books need to be between this word count and that. They couldn’t contain content about this or the other thing, and definitely no rhyming books for kids. Many times I felt confined by these regulations, that I couldn’t write the story I really wanted to tell.

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by Diane Tibert on November 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Writing Business
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Posted by Diane Tibert on November 6, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/11/06/who-are-you-writing-for-the-publisher-or-the-reader/

Juggling Summer, Kids, Sheep and Writing

Summer timeThroughout the month of June, I wrangled with what to do with July and August. I didn’t want to see two months pass with nothing accomplished. After all, I have big plans for the fall and couldn’t have things stall over summer, creating a back-log of work for September.

No, I couldn’t do that.

Keeping up with the pace I had set over winter wouldn’t do either since the six hours of ‘free time’ while the kids were in school was gone while they enjoyed summer vacation. Many ideas came to me. Putting my blogs on hold and focussing on my novel and column writing was the obvious course of action to get things done, but I didn’t want to lose ground on the the social front.

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5 Comments
by Diane Tibert on July 9, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Lessons in Writing, Uncategorized
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Posted by Diane Tibert on July 9, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/07/09/juggling-summer-kids-sheep-and-writing/

Tag. You’re it!

On February 26—has it really been that long—Darlene Foster, author of Amanda in Arabia and Amanda in Spain, tagged me. According to the rules (slightly modified), those tagged must do the following:

1) Answer questions posed by the tagger:

Do you use a bookmark or will any old bit of paper do?

Yes…both.

What new books are you most excited to read this year?

Nothing exciting, but I will read a few and then I’ll see if they are exciting or not.

Favourite season?

All. Mostly those which occur in the Maritimes of Canada.

If money were not an issue, what present would you give yourself?

A six-month stay in Scotland.

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6 Comments
by Diane Tibert on May 28, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Diane Tibert on May 28, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/05/28/tag-youre-it/

Two Busy Days NOT Writing

Nice weather forced chores into my schedule, reducing my time to write over the weekend. Needless to say, I’m not quite finished with editing my fantasy novel, Shadows in the Stone, before I send it to the editor this week. I hope to get the last few chapters completed today.

I might say I’m an anxious person, someone with little patients or a race to the finish line kinda writer because regardless of the project I’m working on, once I get to the last few chapters, I tend to open them all up. With four chapters left to go, all are completed in some way, so it’ll take very little time to knock them off the to-do list. Then it’s off to the editor with them. I’ll talk a little about finding an editor and working with one in an upcoming post.

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5 Comments
by Diane Tibert on April 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Shadows in the Stone
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Posted by Diane Tibert on April 2, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/04/02/a-busy-day-not-writing/

Write What You Know

The six legs of the ladybug moved in unison across the leaf. They carried the red bug to the base of the foliage where it joined with the stem. Tiny white aphids worked there in the axil, sucking sweet juices from the plant and creating sugar the ants would harvest. The ladybug feasted on the succulent aphids until a robin swooped down, snatched it and flew off to feed its young.

The rush of wings pushed a breeze across the face of the dwarf lying on the forest floor nearby. A soft wind entered his air passages and began to awaken his senses. Gentle but persistent prickles inside his nose and throat roused him further. He breathed deeper. The first dry swallow forced him to generate spit.

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2 Comments
by Diane Tibert on March 26, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Lessons in Writing, Shadows in the Stone
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Posted by Diane Tibert on March 26, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/03/26/write-what-know/

My Bags are Packed for Ath-o’Lea

Today begins my journey into Ath-o’Lea. That’s the name of the fantasy world where my characters of Shadows in the Stone dwell. This journey contains about 130,000 words and 42 chapters. It spans twelve years and about 300 miles. I’ll travel by foot, waggon, magic portal and horseback. Along the way I’ll see a child born, loyal men killed, a kidnapping and a chase.

I’ll witness heated arguments, passionate moments, sword fights, emotional turmoil and both innocent and evil magic. My path will cross that of honourable men, dutiful women, innocent children, humans, thieves, murderers, dwarfs, lords, hauflins, troglodytes, lost souls and stubborn ponies.

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8 Comments
by Diane Tibert on March 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Shadows in the Stone
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Posted by Diane Tibert on March 1, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/03/01/my-bags-are-packed-for-ath-olea/

It’s All About Fantastic Locations

Since I was a wee lass I’ve hunted for the perfect location for a fantasy novel to take place. Oft times, my camera sat only a stretch away, so if the magic of the scenery moved me, I could attempt to capture it on film. This was more difficult to do than one can imagine.

I’ve found many pockets of wonderful locations throughout Atlantic Canada and on my travels. The pictures I’ve gathered easily show the location, but when it comes to revealing their beauty through words in a novel without pictures, at times they’re tough to describe. That’s when you need landscape lingo.

Writing fantasy requires me to learn landscape lingo, the basic names for the structure of the land. After all, who wants to travel through a bland forest all the time when the countryside, glen and meadow are free for the taking?

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8 Comments
by Diane Tibert on February 27, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Lessons in Writing
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Posted by Diane Tibert on February 27, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/02/27/its-all-about-fantastic-locations/

How to Annihilate Was

In a previous post I made a confession: I am a was girl. Was makes our sentences passive and we need to wipe them from the face of our stories unless they’re absolutely necessary. But how do we go about doing that?

Knowing we must do something is different than knowing how to do that something.

Let’s take a look at how I’ve tackled the was words in my current project, the fantasy novel Shadows in the Stone. Chapter 15 contained 4814 words, including 86 was words. When I finished, there were only six of those three-letter words remaining.

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6 Comments
by Diane Tibert on February 9, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Diane Tibert on February 9, 2012

http://dianetibert.com/2012/02/09/how-to-annihilate-was/

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