Category: Writing Ideas

• My Novel Christmas Party

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick I love Jae over at Lit and Scribbles. She always has inspiring posts such as her recent Novel Christmas Party. Today, I’m throwing a Novel Christmas Party for my novel Live from the Road. Question:  What Christmas carol best describes Live from the Road and why? Answer: Grandma Got Run over…

  P. C. Zick

  December 6, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas

  amazon.com, blog, characters, Christmas, Christmas carol, e-book, fiction, holidays, Kindle, Live from the Road, novel, writers, writing

• Another Giveaway – Wishing for Summer

  Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews is sponsoring the Dreaming of Summer Blog Hop, now through December 2. The blog hop is hosted by Me, My Shelf and I and I am a reader not a writer. There are ten giveaways (including Live from the Road, kindle version.) Drop by Laurie’s blog and discover some new writers…

  P. C. Zick

  November 29, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas

  authors, blog, blog hop, e-book, fiction, giveaway, Live from the Road, novel, readers, writers

• Editing – Smoothing the Cement

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick This past week, I finished the edits on my third or fourth draft of my new novel Trails in the Sand. I sent it off to my editor, Kathleen Heady, so she can weave her magic on the manuscript. When she returns it, I’ll go through her suggestions and then ready…

  P. C. Zick

  November 15, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas, Writing Tips

  authors, blog, characters, editing, editors, fiction, final draft, first draft, novel, point of view, publishing, rough draft, writers, writing

• Here’s How I Write

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick Shannon A. Thompson, a fellow blogger, gave me the idea for this post. I liked learning about Shannon’s methods and choices during her writing day so I thought some of you might find my process interesting. I’m hoping others of you will write a post and answer these questions as well.…

  P. C. Zick

  November 2, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas, Writing Tips

  authors, blog, bloggers, editing, fiction, first draft, novel, revising, writers, writing

• A Second Look at the First Chapter

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick One of my fellow bloggers at eternal Domination  gave me this idea for a first “look” at my current work. His post Kool Challenge: Look Back at Look gave credit to the blog Read Tom Lucas for this idea. I decided to follow and do the same thing, and I hope…

  P. C. Zick

  October 31, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas

  authors, characters, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, environment, fiction, novel, sea turtle eggs, sea turtles, writers, writing

• 2,000 Words a Day and Dirty Laundry

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick One of my fellow bloggers, Doug Oldfield posted on his Writing Fiction Blog reminded me that November starts the National Novel Writing Month or as it’s more affectionately known NaNoWriMo. The goal is for authors to write 50,000 words on a novel during the month of November. A novel averages 80,000-100,000…

  P. C. Zick

  October 26, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas

  daughter, fiction, luggage, NaNoWriMo, National Write a Novel in a Month, novel, novels, Rome, small stuff, writers, writing

• Week 18: The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick I’m participating in my first blog hop, and I hope you’ll join me on this journey as we blog hop our way through some new reads. A blog hop gives readers an opportunity to find some wonderful authors you might have missed. Be sure to follow our blog hop and be…

  P. C. Zick

  October 24, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Writing Ideas

  amazon.com, authors, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, e-book, editing, editors, fiction, healing, Karen White, Kathleen Heady, Live from the Road, love, novel, Pat Conroy, publishing, recovery, revising, sea turtle eggs, sea turtles, southern families, writers, writing

• Patti Smith Just Rocks

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick Just Kids chronicles the rising star of poet Patti Smith and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, two free spirits let loose in New York City in the late ‘60s. Patti is the kind of artist I always longed to be: cool and free. My fear of rejection kept me from stepping off my…

  P. C. Zick

  September 5, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Writing Ideas

  fiction, Just Kids, memoir, New York City, Patti Smith, poet, Robert Mapplethorpe, writing

• The Organic Writer

  By Patricia Zick @PCZick I recently visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in western Pennsylvania. Wright described his design as organic architecture – a melding of nature and man. As I toured the home, I wanted to sit down and write. I yearned to send all the tour groups on their way so I could enjoy…

  P. C. Zick

  August 31, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Uncategorized, Writing Ideas

  architecture, birds, Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright, nature, organic, trees, writing

• Point of View

  “I almost always urge people to write in the first person. . .Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.” William Zinsser Point of view is crucial in a novel. One of the quickest ways to turn me from a book is immature point of view. I often experiment  with…

  P. C. Zick

  August 13, 2012

  Ramblings of a Writer, Style and Grace, Writing Ideas, Writing Tips

  A Visit from the Goon Squad, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, environment, fiction, first person, Jennifer Egan, novel, point of view, third person, tomatoes, writers