Tag Archives: magical words

Quick-Tip Tuesday Post on Breaking Out of Routines

Posted on December 13, 2016 by dbjackson

I have a process that I tend to follow book after book. I’m stubborn, and a creature of habit. Having written all four Thieftaker and all three Fearsson books largely by following my regular creative routine, I fully expected that … Continue reading →

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A Quick-Tip Tuesday Post About Deadlines

Posted on November 29, 2016 by dbjackson

“But,” you say, “what if an editor asks me to make that two month deadline?” Be honest with her. Tell her that two months won’t work, but you can get it done in three, or three and a half. When … Continue reading →

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Keeping On With a New Quick-Tip Tuesday Post

Posted on November 15, 2016 by dbjackson

It would be so easy to give up, to set writing aside for a while. Because when we write, by necessity we access emotion, and that’s not a place I particularly want to go right now. To which my inner … Continue reading →

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For Melanie

Posted on November 1, 2016 by dbjackson

Which brings me to today’s Quick-Tip. It’s a terrible cliché, but clichés arise because on some level they convey an essential truth. As much as I would encourage you to write, to devote yourself to improving your craft and following … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday Post on Music and Writing

Posted on October 18, 2016 by dbjackson

I usually write with a good deal of structure in my process, and so I thrive on relatively unstructured music to inspire my creative process. So, I thought, what if with this project, to which I’ve taken a relatively unstructured … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday: More Fixes for a Broken Manuscript

Posted on October 4, 2016 by dbjackson

By the time we hit that 60-70% mark, things look dire for our good guys. And at that point we often discover that we have no idea how to get from where we are — often a world gone to … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday, and a Blog Tour Update!

Posted on August 23, 2016 by dbjackson

It’s Quick-Tip Tuesday, and I’m back at Magical Words with a post about how to establish and meet work goals without setting ourselves up for disappointment and discouragement. You can find the post here. And the Summer/Fall 2016 Blog Tour … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday: Emotion and Narrative

Posted on July 26, 2016 by dbjackson

So how do we imbue our prose with emotion? Well, we DON’T do it with a sledge hammer. I am not telling you to bludgeon your readers with paragraphs-long explorations of your characters’ emotions. That would be no better than … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday: More on Self-Editing

Posted on July 12, 2016 by dbjackson

This is still the work of an inexperienced writer. Comparing The Outlanders to the work I’ve done more recently, I still cringe a little at the habits of that younger me. But I also see growth, a writer beginning to … Continue reading →

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Quick-Tip Tuesday Guest Star!

Posted on June 28, 2016 by dbjackson

Joshua Palmatier is guest-starring at Magical Words today, with a Quick-Tip Tuesday post on self editing. Check it out here.

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