Jean Wilson Murray's Blog, page 6

Enhancing Your Writing Creativity – Be Mindful!

Today I came back from my walk on the beach in a creative mood. I was able to dig into my novel and my mind seemed to be aware of nothing except my characters and what was happening to them. … Continue reading →

Why Reading Inspires Me as a Writer

What inspires you to write, to write better, to write more? For me, it seems there are three reading experiences that inspire me: reading great writing, reading interesting stories, and reading writing how-to books. In this post, I’m going to … Continue reading →

Stories – The Fabric of our Lives – And our Writing

Stories are everywhere around us, and they weave together to make up a huge part of our lives. I watched a TED presentation by Karen Thompson Walker about fear in which Walker, the author of a novel about the whaleship … Continue reading →

Overcoming Fear of Writing Success

You are a writer and you want to be an author. But you may be sabotaging your success from fear. Remember the famous quote by Franklin Roosevelt: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” I never really … Continue reading →

My #1 New Year’s Writing Resolution – It’s Not What You Think

There is some magical thing that happens when you put something out into the world. We get what we focus on, what we work on. I have lots of specific goals for 2015, but only one firm resolution for 2015. … Continue reading →

There is Only One Story

Everywhere I turn, I run into the concepts of story and storytelling, and I’m fascinated by the truth that these concepts are central to the human experience. I find evidence of story and storytelling everywhere. Most recently, I encountered a … Continue reading →

Using the Iceberg Principle to Improve Your Fiction Writing

I came across the Iceberg Principle a while back, and found many references to it in connection with Ernest Hemingway. But there isn’t much about how to specifically apply it to your writing. So here goes: First: the Iceberg Principle, … Continue reading →

Nora Webster – A Novel that Doesn’t Follow the Rules – Or Does It?

Nora Webster, a new novel by Colm Toibin, doesn’t seem to follow the rules for novels. But, as the NY Times Book Review notes, this is a “deceptively quiet drama” that drew me in and forced me to keep reading … Continue reading →

Is Writing Talent a Myth?

Diana Gabaldon, author of the very famous – and lucrative – Outlander series of historical romance novels, said in a recent interview with Kirkus Reviews that she sold her first book before she was even finished writing it. Gabaldon said … Continue reading →

Keeping Track of Your Writing Progress – Why It’s Important

How do you keep track of your writing production? You don’t? Should you? I’ve been asking myself this question for a while now. It seemed to me that the effort of keeping track was just another time-waster, something else to … Continue reading →