Writing Archives - Lisi Harrison

July 8, 2015

Good Cliques Never Die!

I’ve always heard authors say it took years to complete a novel and assumed they were lazy. I mean, I wrote 31 books in ten years and I wrote them quickly!

Well, call me Judy because I was super judgy.

I have written half of The Dirty Book Club about nine times in the past four years. It’s an ambitious project that spans generations, includes secret rituals, funny conversations about dirty books, and great characters in their early 30s with lives that need some serious fixing. And it’s HARD!

My latest start-over was this January. Among other things I changed it from a novel with multiple points of view to a novel with one main voice. Now, seven months later …

June 17, 2015

A BLAH-G IS BORN!

You know when you hit the fridge over an over again hoping something new will magically appear, and it doesn’t? Those wilted spinach leaves and that hairy-lipped carton of orange juice are still the only things in there! Well, that’s what trying to find words feels like today: a maddening cycle of hope and futility.

My brainwaves have short-circuited. Reduced to a blinking cursor; an anxious heartbeat flipping the bird at my lack of creativity.

Flip… flip… flip…

As a professional writer it’s a terrifying place to be. All I’m good for are words and ideas. What am I supposed to do when I run out??

And yet, I am at my favorite sushi restaurant typing away. When I sat …

June 10, 2015

Intention Deficit Disorder

A few years ago, I was having one of my many panic attacks while trying to finish one of my many books before one of my many deadlines. Not one to wallow in my own suffering, I looked for help and found Candice. I’m sure I’ve written about her before. She is a life coach and really helped me look at my stresses in a new way so I could manage them. One of my biggest issues was Life vs. Work. As a writer, you really need to enter what I call The Cone Of Silence and stay there for many straight hours.

There are no texts inside the cone. No phone calls. No e-mails. No paying bills. No online …

February 4, 2015

WRITE ON

I’m receiving a number of comments and messages from readers looking for help becoming writers. Some of them lead me to believe you haven’t been keeping up with the Writing Process section here on the blah-g. Check this out first in case any of your questions have already been answered in depth: Blah Blah Blah Writing Process

And a few of you have asked me for some tips and tricks. Tips and tricks for writing, huh? I wish, sisters. I’ve said this before, but there aren’t any tricks. You have to write every day. It’s that simple. Read books in the genre you are writing so you can see how other people do it. Stephen King says if you don’t …

December 17, 2014

Writers Musing

The aspiring writers who follow my blah-g often ask what I’m inspired by. The answer? A lot. Inspiration comes in any number of forms and if you pay close enough attention, most mundane aspects of life can spark the idea for a new character or a dramatic scene. But looking around with intention takes some effort and isn’t always a quick fix for when you need to feel inspired fast. The most fool-proof method in finding that creative spark when you need it is to simply pick up a book and read. Read everything: fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Read interesting blog posts and the inside of book jackets; read technical descriptions on boxes and definitions of scientific words. It will all …

October 22, 2014

Writer’s Roll

Hi friends. I received a question from Rhema Joy recently on writer’s block. I replied to her directly, but it seems a lot of the aspiring writers who read my blah-g struggle with this so I’m elaborating to pass on what I know about getting the ball rolling and words flowing when you’re feeling stuck.

Here’s what Rhema said:

Dear Lisi,
I’ve been reading your books since I was eight or nine. I’m now fourteen and I love writing. I have a question though… more like a problem. I’ll have these amazing characters and plots and ideas; I’ll write bit, get writers block &and never finish it! It’s a sick cycle I’ve been on since I first started writing at …

October 8, 2014

Clique Connection

Hi friends. I had an entirely different blah-g post in mind for today, and then I got Taylor’s message. I couldn’t help myself. I had to respond.

Here’s what she said:

Hey, Lisi!
I’ll try not to take up too much of your time and bore you with one of those “your book really changed my life” stories because those are so cliché. I just wanted to tell you that I started reading The Clique in sixth grade and I fell in love instantly. After I read your books I began to read different kinds of literature and then I began to write. I finished The Clique series my sophomore year of high school and literally felt like I’d lost

June 4, 2014

Letter Have It

I will share my opinion whether you ask for it or not. So imagine my joy when PaShai and Emma wrote to me and ASKED for advice. Yes, my friends, dreams do come true.

From PaShai:

Hi Lisi Harrison! I’ve read all your books about 300 times each! I’m not like any other girl that you have met. I have sickle cell anemia. And it is a very disturbing disease that triggers your back with excruciating pain..and if I don’t get it treated I could have a stroke or worse. Please Ms.Harrison you’re my only hope to accomplishing my dream. I want to talk to you about what kind books I would enjoy writing and what I would want …

March 26, 2014

Quit For Brains

One of the biggest pieces of advice I give aspiring writers is to outline. And yet here I am completely free-styling this blah-g because I have nothing to say today. Don’t take it personally, my current manuscript is also feeling the chill. It’s just one of those weeks where I find myself struggling. Words are sticky. Ideas are hiding. My internal settings are on slo-mo and I can’t seem to get them back to kick-ass.

Do you think that makes me doubt my career choice? Question my ability to make my looming deadline? Make me wish I could get that clothing airstream I’ve always dreamed of and walk off the job?

YES! YES IT DOES.

And so I will …

July 31, 2013

Erin is Carin’: My Editor’s Advice on How to Get Published

Kevy my life-crush has this one joke he loves to tell…

KEVY: What’s Lisi’s favorite thing to make for dinner?

ANYONE WITH EARS: I dunno, what?

KEVY: Reservations.

(Fake laughter.)

I roll my eyes when he tells it even though it’s true. I can’t cook. And those who can’t do should turn to those who can.

So when S.R. Rhodes sent me a message on Facebook on the difficulties of getting published, I turned to my brilliant editor, Erin, for the answer.

Need a visual? Here we are last week in my office. She was in San Diego for Comic-Con and stopped by Laguna for an afternoon of chit-chat and shopping. The owner of an ah-dorable local boutique called Isla…

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