jpagaduan.com

Category: writing

  • Word Counts

    My daily goal is 2000 words. A lot of the time I can make it, or even surpass it, but sometimes I fall short. Maybe my mental health isn’t the greatest that day. Maybe one of my chronic illnesses is acting up. Maybe my focus isn’t what it could be (and caffeine can only help…

  • NaNoWriMo

    I am doing NaNoWriMo this year. For those that don’t know, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and the goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days (November 1st to November 30th). I am doing awfully, if one were to keep score. But I’m not, and I don’t think most do, so I’m…

  • Ideas

    Where do ideas come from? It’s a question people ask authors all the time, and for the most part, we don’t know. We might be able to say what we were doing when the idea came, but the reality is they kind of arise out of nothingness, the way intrusive thoughts do. So, what is…

  • Weaponizing Grammar

    I’ll link the post where I talk about why it’s classist, ableist, racist, and rude to correct grammar because I’m here to expand on that topic. I covered those points well enough, but I just had someone report a spelling error in my book and I’m here to talk about why you should either ignore those…

  • Pushing Through

    Being chronically ill means I’m not afforded the ability to rest when I don’t feel well, because I always don’t feel well. Something is always bothering me, and as a result, I’ve had to learn to function when others would take a moment, day, or week to rest. Part of it is because if I…

  • Mailing list and other exciting news!

    I am launching my brand-new mailing list, and if you sign up you get to read the first two chapters of Savior of the Damned for free! They haven’t been through the loving hands of any professional editors yet so things will change, but I wanted to give you this opportunity to check it out…

  • Writing Process

    The only way I can get anything done is to break it into as small pieces as I possibly can. Thinking about all that goes into novel writing is overwhelming, even as I round up on finishing the first draft of my current novel. It’s so easy to get paralyzed when I consider everything, I…

  • Resting

    Part of the creative process is knowing both when to rest and how. Resting recharges our batteries, and much like sleep helps refresh us so we can continue to do the creative things we do. The problem is, how do you do that?  When I was growing up resting was when you just did nothing.…

  • Tropes Versus Clichés

    A lot of people have heard of tropes, and think they’re like cliches, but that’s not quite the same thing. Tropes can be clichés but only when they don’t vary at all. But let’s start with the definition of a cliché versus a trope.   A cliché is defined as a trite, stereotyped expression by dictionary.com.…

  • Rough Drafts

    I’m on the last leg of the drafting process that will take me from a rough draft to a first draft. I’ve seen arguments against using the term “rough draft” as it’s still a first, but the reality is that, at least for me, the rough draft is in fact a rough draft.   To…