Florence Witkop's Blog, page 12
July 13, 2020
Big words or simple ones?
I’ve been asked a writer question: To write a fiction or non-fiction story, which is more preferred, simple and straightforward words or big vocabulary words with a lot of twists and hidden meanings like literature, poetry, and such? Hmmmmm. Whether to use big vocabulary words or simple, straightforward ones? Think about it. Writing is communication. …
July 7, 2020
I have basil!
My oldest son gave me this planter for Mother’s Day. I thought it was cute and that I’d find things to put in it. You know the kind of things I mean. Safety pins. Car keys. Anything small that I didn’t know what to do with. I didn’t take my daughter into consideration. I have …
June 29, 2020
Christmas In July
Have you noticed that Christmas now comes twice a year? Once in December, the month where we’re used to celebrating it and a second time in July. I don’t know how Christmas In July got started. An advertising gimmick? A hopeful Instagram post by someone who can’t wait until December? A decision by people who …
June 27, 2020
Minnesota Morning
I stepped onto the deck this morning and snapped a picture of a typical Minnesota summer morning. There’s a song by that name. Minnesota Morning and the song gets it right. If you walk in your yard on a normal summer day in Minnesota, it’s a good idea to wear rubber boots or go barefoot. …
June 22, 2020
The Grass is Green — and Tall
This summer started out dry. Way too dry. Dry as a bone. Weeks passed with so little rain that the grass was crunchy underfoot. We still haven’t gotten a lot of rain but we’ve had some. Enough to break the drought. And turn the grass soft. And make it grow. And grow. And grow. Until …
June 14, 2020
Went for a walk the other day and this was what I found j...
Went for a walk the other day and this was what I found just off the driveway. In the woods just far enough that I’d not have seen it if I hadn’t followed Bailey into the trees to see what she was sniffing at. Nothing as far as I could tell and she came wagging …
June 8, 2020
The Healer Cover
I promised I’d show you the cover as soon as I got it. Here it is. Different from what I expected. Wouldn’t have guessed a heroine with her face partially obscured. But it is perfect in all respects because the heroine lives in the forest and has some Native American ancestry and it shows in …
June 1, 2020
The Healer
Whew! I just finished the first draft of The Healer, the last novel of the Wilderness Women trilogy. I don’t know what took so long. I should have finished it weeks ago and expected to do so. Okay, I know it was Covid 19. I know that tiny virus wiped out any ability I had …
May 28, 2020
Is writing difficult or easy?
I’ve been asked a writer question: Is writing easy for me or hard? My answer might not make sense because I didn’t approach writing with the thought of it being hard or easy. I just decided to make it my job and figured out how to do it. It read books and articles. I took …
May 25, 2020
What’s the big deal with word count?
I’ve been asked a writer question: Many writers obsess over word count because publishers require a specific number of words for manuscripts so they can plan for a specific number of pages to be printed and figure the costs involved to be sure they don’t lose money. A short story normally is approximately 4,000 words, …
