Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Climbing the Second Novel Summit

I know a few people who have written a novel, and content with checking the task off their bucket lists, never started or completed a second one. To them, the one completed work represented many things. An itch to be scratched, a whim, a challenge, a story that needed to be told. My cousin, a musician, felt compelled to write a novel about his band. It was a pretty good novel, and he loved writing it. But having told it, he moved on.

Frankly, I don’t understand how a writer can stop at just one novel, but I also don’t understand why some people like black licorice or sheep brains or boxing, either. Or why my husband can open a box of Oreos, eat one cookie and put the rest away. The world is a strange and fascinating place. Continue reading “Climbing the Second Novel Summit”

Gender Bender Again…

Our L.A. Lewandowski is taking the week off to finish her new manuscript. So here is an audience favorite to satisfy your L.A.L. jonesing for this week:  Gender Bender.

And now for something completely different.

Will the real L.A. Lewandowski please stand up?

Am I really who I say I am? None of you have ever met me. Am I a creation of my own making, a project of my inner Pygmalion? Is the face that smiles back at you me, or am I actually an eighty year old Polish woman wearing a babushka smelling invitingly of stuffed cabbage and pierogi? Admit it, you can’t really be sure.

Or can you? There is one thing for certain, my friends, I write like a girl. The color of my cocktail seeps through the pages, pooling into a pretty, pink puddle. It’s delicious, I must admit. I am not able to feel like a man, and I have never wanted to be one. There is only one exception – a cameo as a big, burly hockey player, smashing opponents into the boards and scoring the winning goal. But I digress. Continue reading “Gender Bender Again…”

How I Choose to Write Does NOT Make Me a Lemming

Who are you calling a lemming?In this world of myriad people, personalities and tastes, it is anyone’s right to be offended by anything they read or see at any time.

Therefore, it is my choice to write in such a way that I am able to express myself without offending anyone. I’m told that means I’m dead as a writer. I think that just makes me smart. There is a time and a place for everything. Why does that make me dead? Frankly, that remark offends ME. What gives someone else the right to tell me how I write is wrong? Continue reading “How I Choose to Write Does NOT Make Me a Lemming”

Hoarding for Writers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to The Learning Curve. As a new writer I expect to make mistakes. My job is to show you these mistakes so that you can avoid them yourself.

Hoarding for Writers

My wife says that I’m a packrat because I never throw anything out. There is a bit of truth to that statement. You never know when you might need that box of fuses, the old PC case with a power supply, or the broken lawn mower that could be used for parts. I have trouble throwing things away because I might need them someday. But that’s not true of everything. For example, I had no trouble at all throwing out one of the books that I’m working on, only to start over. Twice.

If we’re keeping score, this would be stupid thing #12 that I’ve done so far this year. Don’t ask what the other eleven are. You wouldn’t believe me anyway. Or maybe you would, and that would be rather depressing. Continue reading “Hoarding for Writers”