Writing is a long, hard road. Sometimes it feels like you’re making huge strides forward. Sometimes you’re standing so still while everyone else around you rushes past, that it feels like you’re walking backwards. And sometimes it’s incredibly tempting to get out of the race entirely. This is something I’ve been struggling with, and I’m […]
Author Archive > Caroline Ratajski
New Year, New Goals, New Ways of Thinking
When I was sixteen, I set a New Year’s Resolution to stop swearing so much. (Those who know me know how well that worked out.) I said “When the clock hits midnight, that’s it, no more swearing. I’m giving it up.” I got in trouble for my swearing pretty regularly, a steady four-year habit at […]
Eleven Pieces of NaNoWriMo Advice
We’re a third through November which means we’re a third through NaNoWriMo, for those of you who are participating. I’m sitting this year out (editing a book instead) but I went through it last year, finishing 50K in 24 days. And since it’s the eleventh day of the eleventh month I thought I would share […]
New Year, New Goals: Let’s Review Responsible Goalsetting!
I’ve talked about it before, but it’s a useful topic and since my post is due on New Year’s Eve, I figured it was a pertinent topic well-worth repeating: responsible goalsetting for creative types (or, anyone, really). Obviously setting goals will help you along with your creative career, or with anything else you hope to […]
Organization is a Moving Target
For us writers, organization is pretty important. We’re constantly dealing with long-term goals and that requires some level of keeping our stuff together. Looking at my posts, I realize it’s been a bit of awhile since I’ve said something here. Between moving and finishing a book and all the stuff that life requires of me, […]
Listmaking and Letting Go
New Year’s is coming soon, and it’s a time when a lot of people think about how they’re going to improve themselves in the following year. Sometimes the lists have really nebulous goals, like “go to the gym more often” and sometimes they’re really concrete and specific like “run a marathon.” Usually making lists and […]
Writing Synopses and Getting Over Yourself
I’m a fairly new writer with very little experience, if I’m going to be completely honest, so this opinion may change in the future, but: I think I’m an outliner. It makes sense. Before I decided to really give writing a go, professionally, I spent six months simply reading about publishing. Everything I could get […]
First Person POV and Developing Other Characters
I’ve been busy reworking my novel. A YA science fiction romp where a couple things blow up. It’s written in first person present tense, in dialect, and there are a lot of strengths and weaknesses to that POV. One major strength is that readers get to know my main character incredibly well. But the flipside […]
Guest Post: 9 Ways to Piss Off an Editor, by James L. Sutter
By far the most useful thing I’ve ever done for my writing career is getting into editing. Being the Fiction Editor for Paizo Publishing has helped me make connections with amazing editors and authors, taught me the business side of publishing from contracts to distribution, and helped me recognize common writing mistakes and cliches before […]
Goal-Setting for Creatively-Minded People
Awhile ago I read this post at Nature titled “Goal-Setting for Scientifically Minded People.” It talks about how the goal of science isn’t something that can be easily measured or projected for, because a big part of science is discovery. While goals in science aren’t completely useless, you can’t say that Newton had the goal […]
