Leesa Freeman's Blog, page 12

Y is for Yakety-Yak

I think one of the hardest things to write is realistic dialogue, and the reason I think so many people have a hard time with it is because they try to have their characters say too much. Usually they give too many unnecessary details, that no one in real life would give in a statement. [...]

X is for X-ray Vision

One of the cool things about Superman, besides his ability to fly and catch falling helicopters out of the sky, is his x-ray vision. (Except through lead, so unless you want him to see your pink panties, Lois…) I’ve always kind of thought that would be a fun superpower – to be able to see [...]

W is for Why Write?

I spent last night over dinner a fabulous dinner made my Chef Paul, then later by a roaring fire, talking to Joan, the other writer staying at this retreat, and Jon and Steve, the founders of this place, about writing in general before Joan and I read portions of our work aloud. (Can I just [...]

V is for Vermont

A few months ago I won a 3-day/2-night stay at When Words Count Retreat in Rochester, Vermont, and today’s finally the day that I get to go. (I wanted to put it off ’til April for warmer weather, but this being New England and all, at least it ain’t snowing…) I’ve talked to several people [...]

U is for Unicorn Writer’s Conference

I’ve talked about the Unicorn Writer’s Conference before, but as my friend Erin pointed out when I couldn’t think of a U word, Unicorn clearly starts with U. Must be one of those days. One of the things that I like most about Unicorn Writer’s Conference is that it really pushes me to step outside my [...]

T is for Tip – As in my Number 1

Remember me talking about POV? So here’s my number one tip on how to figure out whose POV to tell your story from: If writing from a certain character’s POV is ticking you off, don’t. Clearly it’s just not their story to tell. I love my characters. They are real residents inside my cluttered head, [...]

S is for So, You Want to be a Writer?

For years I thought it would be cool to write a book. You know, if the same way you might think it would be cool to get a tattoo or go skydiving. But I wasn’t really serious about it anymore than I was serious about jumping out of an airplane. So, what changed? Honestly I [...]

R is for Research

The adage is “write what you know”, but I prefer to say “write what you are passionate about.” If you are passionate about an idea, the research feels more like playing than it does those terrible 30-page papers you did in college, plus, you don’t have to site your sources. Bonus! When I started Into [...]

Q is for Query

I will be the first person to tell you the query process scares all holy hell out of me. It’s been so built up – rightly or wrongly – that it makes the self-publishing world so much more appealing by contrast. Shoot, no gatekeepers, no one telling you “no,” no one rejecting your hard work [...]

P is for POV

I’ve been struggling with POV issues working on my latest project. At first I was going to write it from one character’s POV, then two, then three… now I’m back to two and may change it again before it’s all said and done. It would be easier if I could just bite the bullet and [...]