About Janice
Besides this blog, I write fantasy and science fiction for teens. My debut novel, The Shifter, came out in October 2009 from Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, and the sequel, Blue Fire, came out October of 2010. Darkfall, the final book of the trilogy released October 2011.I'm represented by the wonderful Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency, and have been since October 2008. October has been a good month for me writing-wise. Good things seem to happen then. Maybe that's because Halloween is my favorite holiday.
I taught writing at Writers Digest Online Workshops for several years, and discovered how much I love teaching. Blogging about writing allows me to indulge this. It also helps me pay back all the generous help I've received over the years. The blog is my way of paying it forward.
I live in Georgia with my husband, three cats, and a freshwater eel folks seem to like hearing about. He's a pretty cool eel, so I can't blame them. Though I do think he wishes I'd get rid of the cats.
I've been writing all my life, have made plenty of mistakes and imagine I'll continue to do so as long as I keep writing. But I've learned a lot along the way, and this blog is my way of saying thanks to all those who have helped me make the difficult transition from writer to author.
About The Blog
When I was first developing my writing skills, I was often frustrated by books that told me what I should be doing, but didn't give me a clear picture as to how to do it. Later when I began teaching writing, I decided to offer answers to those questions and discovered I had a bit of a knack for it. I give lots of examples, because I find seeing things in action make it easier to understand them.My goal for this blog is to offer ways to build a solid foundation for your writing. To provide tips and advice you can take right from these posts and apply directly to your work in progress. I won't just say you need to show, not tell -- I'll give you tips on how to do that.Not everything I suggest is going to work for everyone, but that's just the way writing is. There is no wrong or right way to write. My way is certainly not the only way, and may even be the wrong way for you. That might sound strange, but I know first-hand how frustrating it is to be told "You must do this" when "doing that" is more your style. To help with this, I have guest bloggers every week to talk about their process. To see how other writers do it that might be different than how I do it. Every writer has to find their own way, and we do that by trying every technique that seems interesting. Eventually, we stitch together a process that works for us and helps us tell our stories in the best way possible.
Found a Mistake?
Much as I'd love to always be perfect, mistakes are going to happen and I speak fluent typo. When you find a mistake (notice I didn't say "if"), feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment and let me know. I'll correct it straightaway and be very grateful you took the time to let me know.
Bad Links?
If you happen to find a bad link, please let me know and I'll fix it.
Blog Schedule
While I've posted daily for several years, I recently cut back to a M-W-F-S schedule. Mondays and Fridays are for writing-related posts, Wednesdays are for guest bloggers, and Saturdays (and the occasional Sunday) are for Real Life Diagnostics. Thursdays also have guest authors from time to time.
Also on the Blog:
You'll find regular columns like:
How They Do It (Wednesdays)
Guests authors talking about their writing process and techniques.
Real Life Diagnostics (Saturdays)
A way for you to submit work and find out if you're doing something right or not. It's part critique, and part diagnostic about an issue.
To make navigating the blog easier, there's also an Table of Contents (on the left) with links and descriptions about where to find what you're looking for. Making the blog more user-friendly is an ongoing process, and I welcome suggestions, comments, and questions. If you're curious about something I've haven't talked about, just ask and I will.
Welcome to the blog.
I'm happy to hear from folks, so feel free to drop me an e-mail.
E-mail: Janice Hardy
