J.A. Marlow

“July Novel Writing Month” is over as of midnight last Saturday night. While the result is the lowest word count of any July or November writing month so far, it was far from a failure. I went into it with 3 outlines. Saturday night, well before the deadline, I finished the first draft of the [...]

Revision on the current book is almost finished. Does that mean it’s time to rest and take a vacation? Not for a writer! I’m addicted to writing. I admit it. Life doesn’t feel complete without plotting, planning, writing and revising all the stories coming out of my head. Even if no one ever read them, [...]

Many years ago I had an inspiration for a funny, family, science fiction adventure. As I had for years dreamed of doing a comic of my own, it turned into a web comic. The entire story was plotted out, the first few chapters written. Started up the webpage and started publishing it as a webcomic. [...]

This article at the New Yorker concerning the changes in the publishing industry is very interesting, but very lopsided. It also had some mistakes in it. Such as the number of books ‘sold’ on the first day of the iPad release. The numbers Apple released were how many were DOWNLOADED, not sold. And considering the [...]

I had a big long post to start this off, and then I realized it was a rant about the traditional publishing industry. And that wasn’t supposed to be the point of it. So, I’m starting again. I’m a writer. An author. A STORYTELLER. I started to learn to read early because I was fascinated [...]

A while ago Inkygirl posted a poll about whether writers outlined before they started to write. I responded along with 108 other writers, and the results are now in! 48% said they used an outline. 29% said no, and 32% said it’s too complicated for just a yes/no answer. Hop on over to “Better To [...]

It’s hard to develop the thick skin necessary to accept crits. But then, writing is a difficult business to be in and a tough skin is essential. That said, when you receive a long and detailed crit that also includes negative responses, let yourself go through the steps of ‘mourning’ that your work isn’t perfect. [...]

A few weeks ago another writer asked me how many projects I’m currently working on. I had to stop and think. It was way past three, and at that point I can’t remember. Get out the lists! So, I spent a little time making out a list. Wow, what an eye-opener. As one of my [...]