Writing Tips – The Productive Author

Dictation: The Best Trick I Have Found for Writing Faster or Under Deadline

Use your voice to reach those deadlines or NaNoWriMo goals. Here’s how to write faster when you need to.

Increasing Writerly Decisiveness

So much of the time, we wring our hands that we don’t know what to do about our problems, writing problems included. But fascinatingly, we do know what to do in many cases. We just don’t like the answers! I’m sometimes guilty of this. Maybe my options are not tidy or clear-cut, which makes me […]

by Cindy Grigg

10 Writing Tips Inspired by The Little Giant of Aberdeen County (Book Review)

Tiffany Baker’s novel THE LITTLE GIANT OF ABERDEEN COUNTY was published in 2009 but it is one of my favorite reads of the year for 2014. I was slow to the party on this one! You can check out Tiffany Baker’s author site or get this book on Amazon. Here are 10 takeaways I gleaned […]

by Cindy Grigg

NaNoWriMo Dropout? 5 Ways to Succeed This Year

NaNoWriMo has come and gone, leaving victors and casualties in its wake. Even though I finished my NaNoWriMo this year and in fact produce enough fiction word count to call every month a WriMo, I identify more with the dropouts because I tried to do National Novel Writing Month several times before this year–all ‘fails’! […]

by Cindy Grigg

5 Words I Made Up to Describe NaNoWriMo

The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge is a many-faceted thing. To describe the experience, I found myself needing to mash up some fresh word concotions. Technically every month is NaNoWriMo for me. I do between 15,000 and 20,000 words per week of fiction writing. Sure, that’s all pure, gunky draft but it’s out there! […]

by Cindy Grigg

My Writing Panelist Schedule for Salt Lake Comic Con 2014

Participating as a panelist at the SLC Comic Con Fan Experience (FanX) 2014 earlier this spring was a blast, as was speaking at Fantasy Con 2014 mid-summer. Now the geekery continues with the autumnal Salt Lake Comic Con 2014, at which I’ll also be a panelist. Basically, Utah creates enough demand to justify a nerd conference once a […]

by Cindy Grigg

10 Writing Tips Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES

Here are ten things from the planet Mars that might apply to something you are writing, especially if it’s a serial novel. Ray Bradbury’s writing is equal parts imaginative science fiction and poetic prose. He’s a favorite of mine but somehow I missed reading his short story compilation THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES until recently. It did […]

by Cindy Grigg

10 Writing Tips Inspired by Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL

One doesn’t read Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL. One devours it! In my case, I devoured it through my ears by listening to the fantastic audiobook version read by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne. I could not put it down, resulting in extra walks and a cleaner apartment than I’ve seen in months. Win! I haven’t felt that […]

by Cindy Grigg

Why Bechdel Testing Your Novel Shows Business Savvy

It turns out Alison Bechdel gave creatives not only a recipe for becoming more enlightened human beings, but a way to be more business-savvy as well. The test bearing her name helps quantify the representation of women in film, novels, and other creative works. Bechdel Test 101 So what is it? In case you can’t […]