Sarah-JaneLehoux's blog

Inspiration 101

People always ask me, "Where do you get your ideas?"Read more

Add Colour to Your Prose, But Don’t Douse It in Purple

We’ve all read a book at one time or another that was so heavy handed in its narrative that it feels like a chore to finish one single sentence. Some call such text flowery and over dramatic, and accuse the author of employing too many metaphors and descriptive words. There is a name for such this writing trope: Purple ProseRead more

Top 10 Signs You Aren't Ready to be Published

And away we go...Read more

Soy Un Perdedor

Procrastination isn’t my only vice. I’m also impulsive. If you want to get all scientific about it, both are coping methods for anxiety. So yay! I put off important shit and get distracted by nonsense all because I don’t want to deal with whatever it is I have to deal with at the time.

Which sucks hard when it comes to motivating myself to write. There is always something to distract me, something else that needs to be done before I get down to business.

Take today for example. I sat down to work on my latest WIP, and then I got sudden inspiration for making a character portrait for one of my upcoming novels. So, closed WORD and opened up PHOTOSHOP and played around for awhile until that got frustrating. Then I decided I should start working on a book trailer. So closed PHOTOSHOP, got on the internet and started going through stock sites. Then I decided I better storyboard the trailer first, and pick images later. So I got out some paper and started storyboarding. Only that was kind of boring, so I decided to find the right music to go with the trailer. Back on the internet I went.

The result, six hours later, I have not accomplished ANYTHING. Not one single, solitary thing. This is not a productive use of my time. Think how many words I could have written in six hours. Grr argh!

I keep a record of my writing progress, and I found out something very interesting. My latest novella, The Bearded Lady, was started in April and finished last week. That’s 112 days. But I actually only worked on TBL for 16 days, averaging about 1,600 words per day.

So what took me 112 days to finish should have only taken me 16 days of straight writing. 22 if you add in weekends of no writing.

This discovery does not sit well with me. If makes me very upset actually, because think how many projects I could get done if I actually stopped my procrastination/impulse cycle and just got to work.

It’s pretty much a miracle I’ve finished anything, to be honest. Because although I’m a hard worker for actual work related stuff, when it comes to my writing, I suck.

Admitting I have a problem is, hopefully, the first step to recovery. And if you’re like me, you can recover too.

First off, keep a track of your daily word count. It really does help put things into perspective. Secondly, if you have as short an attention span as I do, remove temptation. Unplug your internet. Third, set daily goals for yourself, either number of words or amount of time spent writing. And lastly, take a day or two off each week. Don’t burn yourself out by trying to WRITE ALL THE WORDS, ALL THE DAYS!

And if you do all this, and still are unproductive, well, you suck worse than I do. Congratulations.

An Example of Misogyny in the Publishing World

Let me preface this by saying that, at this time, I will not be naming any names. The reason for this is that I do not want to attract the attention of this editor. Partly because he doesn't deserve a boost in hits to his site, and partly because from further research I’ve done on him, he is unstable, and even threatened to attack one writer’s daughter.Read more

Advice from a Grump Redux

I am insomnia's bitch, so I have no patience and no brain power today. And that means it's time for another Advice from a Grump!Read more

I'd Like to Buy a Vowel, Pat

Another post recycled from my blog today, as even though I remembered this morning that I needed to write a post, I forgot again. My mind is a sieve. Anywho, I'm currently proof reading an old 70's fantasy series, and it got me thinking about this topic again.

And so I give you...a blog about fantasy names!Read more

Happy Days are Here Again!

Today I'm not going to snark at you. I'm too happy to get all ruffled up about special snowflakes and poor etiquette. You see, today I finished writing my third novel. And I'm currently in a state of euphoria that even sparkly vampires can't drain from me.

I first started writing this book in 2007, two years before I was contracted for the first book in the series. I just couldn't finish it. Since then, I've written in spurts, a week here, a day there. But I couldn't find it in me to just get the job done.

Now I don't believe in writer's block. Never have, never will. As far as I'm concerned, it's an excuse for lazy writers. And that's what I was: a lazy writer.

But you know what? That's okay.

Sometimes a story will hit you and the words fly onto the screen so effortessly you don't even realize you're writing it. Other times, a story needs to be dragged kicking and screaming from your head to your keyboard. Either way, you're learning. You're growing as a writer.

And that's a happy thing.

Inigo Montoya will Show You the Way

The burden of a writer is to find new ways to say the same old thing. Which can be quite a challenge, but lucky for us, there is a lovely little thing called a thesaurus. Words, words, words. Take your pick and mix it up.

But be warned, my friends, because as a very wise man once said, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”Read more

Let's Talk About Rape

My last post was about writing believable sex scenes. No matter how good or bad the sex is, it's still consensual, and therefore easier to write. Now I want to talk about non-consensual sex scenes, aka rape scenes. Yikes.Read more