writing – Dahlia DeWinters

Treat Your Art Like Guys Treat their D*cks

Whoooa! What’s going on? This post is primary addressed to writers, but is applicable for anyone who creates. Writers! Yes, I’m talking to you: Treat your Writing like Men treat their D*cks I’ve read so many self-deprecating writer speak that it ceases to be funny. “I’m not any good.” “I write crap.” “No one likes my work.” “Why am I doing this?” Stop the madness, because personally I’m sick of it. And don’t get all up on your high horses, “Humph. Who does Dahlia think she is?” Nope, don’t even go there because I used to feel the same way. Let’s take a look. Do you: Whimper and cringe as each word appears on the page, knowing deep in your writerly heart that there’s no way that word “apple” you just wrote, will past muster with the frowning, critical public? Weep at editor’s marks, not seeing them as a helpful… Continued

Stories

Old Characters Made New

Sometimes it’s okay to look back. I’m doing an author’s challenge on Instagram, and day 12 asked me about my protagonist. Now, I’m currently working on three stories, editing and updating them for publication. Not such bad work, especially since I’ve been living with these characters for a while. I do best with writing when I’m the most familiar with my characters, at least for a few months. I guess I’ll never be that writer who can pump out a new book every month, and I’m okay with that. I’m working with characters I’ve “known” since 2011-2012 For those of you who have read Second Chance Christmas, know that Naomi and Zach had a story before their Christmas story. Yep. They were the very first story that I submitted for publication. Unfortunately, it was rejected. I then wrote Kitty Wishes, and I never went back to the story. However, I

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Why I Write and Other Shocking Revelations

“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic, and fear which is inherent in a human situation.” ― Graham Greene I’m not going to start off this article with a starry-eyed reminiscence of how I longed to write as a child and left little scribbles of unfinished genius yet to be found in my bedroom in my childhood home. Even though that may be true. No. My purpose of sitting down and writing this instead of tooling around on Toon Blast is to clarify for myself as to why I write. And you’re gonna listen. While you, as a reader (and all authors are readers) may think the answer is simple: I like to make up stories. Or you see the quotes bandied around social media about “the story within”

Writing

For Writers Only: Coping with Criticism

Writing is not a profession for the faint of heart. Sure, you wrote a paragraph or two about how the end of The Walking Dead should have been, or an alternate version of Breaking Bad’s nursing home scene (I’m still sick sick sick over that) , but when you REALLY take the plunge, you’ll know. The Degraded Life of a Writer Let’s look at the downward spiral you will take. First, you have to complete a story, a task in and of itself. Many different endings will present themselves to you, if you’re lucky to get that far. Otherwise, you’ll dilly dally around the middle, adding in a character, or three, perhaps a death or some kind of natural disaster to get you through the classic “center of story” slump. Or, you’ll shilly shally around the beginning, crafting that perfect first word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, over and over again. Whatever

Uncategorized, Whatever Wednesdays

Whatever Wednesdays – Mental Clarity for Writing

If you are a writer with a full time job, or have extra duties in the home, I bet you sometimes wish that you could lock yourself in a closet and use that time to write, write, write. Only when you get that time, you find yourself looking at a blinking cursor on a blank, white page. I am a stay at home mom and my children are in school all day. That means that I’ve got tons of time to write, right? No. There are dishes to be done, floors to be vacuumed, laundry to be done and let’s not forget the dog that thinks her task is demanding that you pet her every time you sit down at the computer. There’s also the distraction of those awful daytime television shows and those tons of movies that you’ve recorded and haven’t had a chance to watch. And, there is

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Cleanse Your Headspace

Some writers take a break from writing and go on social media. I don’t find social media relaxing. In fact, it clutters up the mind and may even stunt creativity. The occasional peek into asocial media platform can turn into following conversations that more often than not ended with name-calling and pointing nasty fingers. The quick scan of another social media feed included more politics than I cared to consume on a daily basis. It was becoming more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and my space, the area of my spirit I used for creativity, was suffering. I don’t go in for controversy, detailed celeb news or negative speak. I was always one to believe actions speak louder than words. See something wrong? Do what you can in the moment. I believe that peace can overcome war. I believe in protecting my headspace. Being an writer in