tomthewriter.com

Tag: writing-tips

  • A No Writing Writers Day

    Backups. Consulting with a friend. Organizing a group. Preparing for a film Festival. That’s part of today’s agenda. None of it involved writing, as in physically recording or chronicling anything. Which, ironically, inspired me to write this post. Writers write. Some need a degree. Some need a dedicated space. Some need to be visited by…

  • Muddling By – Seventh Draft Finished

    Grammarly approves. Of course, I’d be surprised if it didn’t. The seventh draft of Muddling By has passed through Grammarly, my impersonal, unemotional, always available, sometimes confused editor. Next step, book formatting and building as I declare the text done, not perfect, but good enough – unless I want to start over and rewrite the…

  • Being A B Writer

    I wonder what grade Grammarly will give this post, probably a B. That’s good enough for me. What’s good enough for you? Every collaboration involves a negotiation about what is good enough. Are we aiming for perfection, or even expecting it? Or, are we trying to shove something out before a deadline, or so we…

  • Muddling By – Third Draft Finished

    “Celebrate good times, come on!“Hmm. Maybe that’s overstating the case. Lose the “come on” and the exclamation point, but keep the essence.“Celebrate good times.“The introverted part of my nature is more satisfied with that.I finished the third draft of Muddling By (working title). Whew. Little yay. Pardon me as I plagiarize my email to some…

  • Muddling By – Second Draft Finished

    “Ah.” And you can quote me on that. Today, April 16, 2025, I finished the second draft of my next book. Let me scroll back to see what I called it last time. Muddling By, a working title. Also known as “From Middle Class to Millionaire to (mostly) Muddling By” or “A Rollercoaster Ride Through…

  • Care

    Care. Care what you write about. I care about writing this, and I won’t apologize to everyone who doesn’t care I wrote it. Writing about what you care about seems so simple. Why else write? (Unless you’re getting paid and you need the money.) But also be careful. It is April 2025. I do not…

  • Muddling By – Second Draft Begun

    I almost titled this post Justifiably Reprimanded, but that can apply to anything. More correctly (Almost) Justifiably Reprimanded was possible, but too many syllables. I’ve started working on the second draft of Muddling By, which partly explains my recent delay in posting. A reader justifiably reprimanded me for not keeping everyone informed about the book’s…

  • 18,000 Words

    More than 18,000 words into my next book, and where do I go next? I feel as if I’ve pushed myself out from shore, the city shrinking as my boat heads out into the choppy waters of writing, and I’m wondering whether to put up sail, get out the oars, float with the currents, fire…

  • Popular Posts 2024

    Someone else had the idea for this blog. Thanks for the inspiration. They reasoned that I did so much writing that my writing deserved its own blog. I didn’t doubt that I’d find something to write about writing. I write. It works that way. Looking at the top ten posts from 2024 points out that…

  • The Messy Seventh Draft – Firewatchers Sequel

    Shut down the computer. It hadn’t been restarted in weeks. Every draft is precious enough that I keep the files open, the machine turned on, and any other tabs shunted off to other windows. The messy seventh draft is over. The computer deserves a rest. I do, too; but, it’s already mid-September and I’m running…