Writing Archives - Page 3 of 9

The Importance of Voice (Lessons from #Theareads)

Thea van Diepen

Last week, in celebration of the end of my degree, I read twelve books in two days while live-tweeting and liveblogging my reactions. It was glorious. Not only were these books ones I’d been waiting a long time to read, but reading them and commenting on them all in such a short space of time taught me a few things about both writing and life in general. The first was that I love reading stories and there ain’t no amount of

Supercharge Your Writing Career

Thea van Diepen

(I probably put the link in here far too much. Please take this as a measure of my excitement about this course, and accept my apologies for any unnecessary repetition.) Without How to Think Sideways, the writing course created by author Holly Lisle, I wouldn’t have a writing career. The Illuminated Heart wouldn’t exist, and neither would Dreaming of Her and Other Stories, nor would Kara the Brave. This website wouldn’t be here. When I tell people I’ve got two books

These Stories Not for the Faint of Mind

Thea van Diepen

Recently, my best friend informed me that all of my stories are complex. At first, I was all “What? No they’re not! Why would she say that?”, but then I thought about it, and was like “Yeah… you’re right.” Which isn’t to say that they don’t start simple. They often do. And then a layer of complexity comes along and is like “Hey, can I join in?” and I’m like “Heck yes!”, which invariably leads to that layer inviting friends,

On Vulnerability

Thea van Diepen

Remember my post last week where I was all happy and excited about Kara the Brave and continuing the story on Saturday? Well, if you read the comic, you’ll know that, for reasons more fully explained on its website, I’ve postponed the strip. And now here I am, planning out the second chapter, and I don’t want to. This will not be a happy chapter. I mean, there will still be funny things and Kara will still be her usual

What Writers’ Outlines Really Look Like

Thea van Diepen

First off: I’m supposed to be outlining the next bit of my webcomic, Kara the Brave. If you see my internal taskmaster, direct them… away. Stupid distractions that actually work include “What’s that over there?” and “Look, a distraction!” (My internal taskmaster isn’t all that clever.) Thanks. I really appreciate it. Ok, so, now that we’ve got that covered, I wanted to bring to your attention an important topic. Well, two, because I’m efficient when I procrastinate. *awkward cough* The first is the