Growing a Story from a Seed

I was going to write this post about outlining a novel, but, as I am sitting here mulling it over, I realize I am thinking less about how to list things in the order in which you want them to occur and more about where ideas come from and how they evolve into a story. New writers or wannabe writers or people who can't even imagine writing often ask the question of authors: where do you get your ideas? The answers vary. Everywhere. Everything. Prayer and fasting. Magic.

Everything is Hard (or... Managing the Novel-Writing Project)

When it comes to writing, art, anything, I am notorious for biting off more than I can chew. It never fails that, at some point in every project, I am overwhelmed with the scale of the project and have doubts about being able to finish it.

For example, when I made decided to make a quilt for my daughter, like the idiot that I can sometimes be, I chose an intricate quilting pattern that would will take forever to finish.