Ellen Saunders

I like reading other people’s writing about their process. I don’t know how many famous authors whose work I LOVE have written that they 1) threw their manuscript away, 2) were convinced it was utter crap and had to be talked out of deleting it off their hard drive or 3) started excited about their manuscript but by the time they finished it…[Read more]

*waves* Cool! Taking classes helps me keep writing.

YES! Exactly, it’s hard to move others “if I’m unwilling to feel it myself.” I know I’m close when a passage I’ve worked on for a long time can still make me cry.

That makes self-care and knowing when *not* to address certain topics really important too. Some days I need to be in denial or at least focus on something that won’t bring me down and…[Read more]

Thank you. That helped me realize Caleb’s bland because I don’t have his personality in my head yet; what his strong and weak chakras are, for example. Nor have I done enough world-building to know how race would impact his worldview, in part because I haven’t chosen how far in the future this should be set.

Answering those questions should help…[Read more]

Ah! Parent-child relationships are always tricky when it comes to words. *grin*

Thank you so much!

Ellen

This is the first 500 words of my homework; I revised it to combine both assignments (the protag was originally a mixed-race woman) by making the protag about as opposite me as I could. Caleb is a Black male pilot comfortable with confrontation and risk. The description of the “warden” is probably the most complete character description I’ve…[Read more]

Excellent.

I have found meditation very helpful, and when I can manage it, meditating at least three days a week is useful in helping me reach the “thrive” level of living. (Survive/maintain/thrive)

Oddly enough, I find daily meditation disruptive, but my meditation tends toward self-psychoanalysis instead of the regular “counting breaths” or “just be”…[Read more]

alancing physical and emotional descriptions is an art form.

I like that.

Clipping photos is a great idea for my human characters.

I’ve been working on my clay work skills to try to build clay models of my aliens, and I need to set aside time to do that on a regular basis. Models would take some of the fuzziness out of my imagination and give…[Read more]

It turned into a 1,400-word science fiction piece with a happyish ending because I just couldn’t take any more grim.

Just finished the second revision. This forum is private enough that posting it here would not be considered publication, correct? Or I could post the first 500 words of the original piece.

Been on medication most of my adult life for depression. New docs (old one retired) are a little stunned; apparently anti-depressants aren’t supposed to be for long-term use. Okay,fine, but I go off them I eventually migrate to a couch and stop functioning. Wanted to die for as long as I can remember as a child. Brain chemistry? Trauma? A mixture?…[Read more]

RJ, that’s a good idea!

Well done!

I should clarify: it doesn’t seem to happen in the main topic, but in all the ensuing comments that are inside the table/frame below it.

*blink*
*blink*
… failure…as…roadmap?

Huh. I can see that in my writing but I don’t apply it to my LIFE. That’s a rich vein of thought to explore.

I get dinged a lot in critique for not having physical descriptions (I can’t see your characters), and I’ve been thinking that’s because I see my characters as psychological beings first, and…[Read more]

Powerful. That really put the protag in the emotional hotseat. Well done!

Thank you. Very much. I’ve always thought of stories like that as “too much me” for public consumption, but I don’t have to *share* anything I’ve written, right? I’ll try that.

And I’ll try the process you suggest at the end. I’ve recently tried starting a routine much like that, and have been having trouble doing it more than a couple of days a…[Read more]