Hillary DePiano's Blog, page 42

Read the original fairy tales to kids? Maybe, but only with historical context.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” -Albert Einstein

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We need to talk about this quote. By all accounts, Einstein was a smart dude (so much so that his name has become synonymous with the word) but I’m not sure I agree with this statement as is, especially since whether he actually ever said it at all is up for debate. For the moment, let’s just look at the words thems...

Do the weird stuff! In defense of writing what you’re afraid is stupid or juvenile

My brain works in mysterious, often not particularly mainstream, ways. Every year, with NaNoWriMo, I sit down with the other writers and, when someone inevitably asks me what I’m writing, I get a response best described as, “Haha, very funny. What are you really writing?” Possibly this is because I’m known for cracking wise. Possibly it’s because I’m bad at describing things when they’re in the early stages.

But, most likely, it’s because, while everyone else is writing the sort of thing that...

On deadlines & letting it come naturally: How long should revisions take?

I have a confession and, to be frank, I’m a little ashamed to admit it. But If I’m going to be fair to the realization I had about the value of personal posts and how helpful it can be to see other writers struggle and be real, I think I have to share it. To start with, though, let me explain what I’m not having trouble with.

The thing most writers struggle with at the beginning of their careers, where they can’t seem to finishing what they start? That is not a problem from me. I am a boss at...

The value of creating a timeline of all your writing works in progress & their stages

I have created a very simple and very effective writing motivator. It’s a spreadsheet in which I’ve listed every one of my works in progress. This ranges from finished and published works to ideas I’ve only just started to jot down notes for. I’ve given myself space to inputthe date when each project transitioned to a new stage (ie from idea to 1st draft, 1st draft to beta draft, beta to submission, etc) as well as a column that calculates the total age of a project from inception to today as...

Next steps: What do I do with that novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo? #NowWhat

It’s been a little over a month since NaNoWriMo ended and we all parted ways for the holidays. Now that you’ve had the time to recover from your November writing hangover,you’re probably wondering…

What do I do now with that novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo?

It’s a big topic but I’m going to try to give you at least an overview. Let’s go!

If you haven’t already, you finish your novel. I don’t care how much of a mess you think it is, you’ve got to get all the way to The End before you can move forward...

2014: The Year in Writing debriefed

Happy New Year! Today’s the last day to grab New Year’s Thieve for free on Amazon and then you never have to hear me go on about it again so I know you’re excited about that!

But before we dive head first into 2015, I wanted to take a moment to look back at my 2014 writing year. This was a small writing year, only 11 months or 334 days because I decided change things so that my writing year starts in Decembernext year, but it was a big year for a lot of reasons. I just doesn’t make sense to di...

Happy New Year! Quotes about New Year’s Eve from New Year’s Thieve

“You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.” -Hillary DePiano, New Year’s Thieve

New Year’s Thieveis currently free on Amazon until January 1st, 2015 and since this is the very last time I’ll be able to offer the eBook for free, I’m trying to get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible. To that end, I’ve taken some of the most popular New Year’s Eve related quotes from the show and made them into shareable graphics. Please feel free to use them on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,...

Happy New Year! Celebrate the end of 2014 with New Year’s Thieve, free for a limited time!

“We all get the exact same 365 days. The only difference is what we do with them.” -Hillary DePiano, New Year’s Thieve

It’s almost New Year’s Eve and my play, New Year’s Thieve, is getting a lot of attention. I’ve never had a response like this to something I’ve written, where I’m seeing quotes from it being shared all over the place and I decided I needed to strike while the proverbial iron was hot. To that end, the play is free from now until New Year’s Day on Amazon. (Remember, you can read...

December turned out to be a much better writing month than anticipated

My plan for this month was simple. I was determined to finish the rewrite of Mistress Novel, getting all the scenes I rewrote together and figuring out what still needed to be written before I started the final polishing of this version. Simple enough, I thought, and just ambitious enough for the crazy month of December.

I was making good progress the first two weeks but, in putting the book together, it still felt like something was still missing. I remember reading some writing advice once t...

Mamalove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the B

When my daughter was first starting to get mobile, I gave her a drawer in our bathroom that was filled with random junk she couldn’t hurt herself with. This drawer bought me a few minutes and allowed me to go to the bathroom or brush my teeth while she emptied it.

One day I was trying to get my hair to look not crazy before heading out to run some errands and I finished and glanced down at her. Instead of playing with her drawer of stuff, like she usually did, she was sitting on the tile, star...