This is a blog about writing from the words you can’t get out to the bits you polish and publish.
Welcome to the slush pile of my life…
Brave the Page Review: NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers Program Writing Guide
There’s a new NaNoWriMo guide coming out on August 27th specifically geared towards young writers. It’s called Brave the Page by Rebecca Stern and National Novel Writing Month Executive Director Grant Faulkner and I was lucky enough to score an advanced copy. Regular readers know that I am a great lover of National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo and parent to a young writer so this is doubly relevant to my interests! So, what did I think of Brave the Page? Brave the Page Review Honestly? This book makes me mad. Mad because...
read moreThe Fourth Orange and Other Fairy Tales You’ve Never Even Heard Of
Here’s something exciting: The Fourth Orange and Other Fairy Tales You’ve Never Even Heard Of is finally ready to share with the world! This play has been 6 years in the making* and is without a doubt the most complicated thing I have ever attempted to write** but, dang, it was worth it. How I love this weird and wild little piece of theatre! And while I sat on this for a long time trying to decide exactly how I wanted to make it available, I’m pleased to say that you can now pick up the eBook version starting July 8, 2019....
read moreDaily Kanban for Writers: Managing Big Picture projects, tasks and works in progress day to day
This post is a sequel to my original post about Kanban for writers so you may want to start there. But, if not, here’s a quick recap: What is Kanban? Kanban is a project management system that started in manufacturing in which projects are visualized by easily movable cards organized by columns. The idea is to limit the number of projects in progress at a time and focus on moving each project forward through the typical stages of completion (designated by the column titles, usually something like To Do, Doing, Holding, Done) by...
read moreReview: Can 4TheWords, the fantasy game for writers, be used for editing and other off-site writing?
4TheWords review in a hurry: While sometimes buggy (as you’d expect from a work in progress), it’s well worth the occasional quirk for this fun and addictive game that motivates you to write more exactly as advertised! And while the site isn’t specifically built for editing or off-site writing, there’s a couple of easy ways to make either work. Hanging out in town, picking up some side quests from the King. What is 4TheWords? 4TheWords (Get it? Like 4TW aka For The Win) is a fantasy style writing game where you defeat...
read moreTransforming princess to orange dress for The Love of Three Oranges
You want to see something really cool? Jada of creamcheese.cosplay is making some absolutely amazing costumes for The Love of Three Oranges and documenting the whole process over on Instagram (a platform I am on but barely know how to use if you want to follow me and my hopelessness). You can head on over and see everything in progress but I especially want to show you this fantastic transforming dress perfect for going from orange to princess in seconds flat. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8dKwwHDjq/ View this post on Instagram Hey bagles...
read moreI’m now officially available for speaking engagements and writing workshops
Photo courtesy of The Nutley Public Library For a long time now, I’ve offered talks and workshops to schools, libraries and writing groups on a variety of topics year-round from beginners who were just getting started with writing and playwrighting to more advanced topics like networking with bookstores and author branding to rave reviews from hosts and participants alike. I’m an energetic speaker with a massive amount of knowledge from writing and publishing to retail and marketing who can make an hour talk fly by while being...
read moreThe Love of Three Oranges changes lives (ok, fine, maybe just one life)
Did you see this awesome profile of J’Kalein Madison, a young actor making a splash in the local theatre scene in Waterloo, Iowa? What’s particularly cool is that Madison is a graduate of Waterloo West High School and had this to say about his theatre experience there: Madison originally planned to study law. That changed in his junior year when he played a role in the raucous comedy, “The Love of Three Oranges.”“It cemented for me that I loved performing and music. A lot changed for me about what I wanted to do with my life,” he said....
read moreLitBit: Can fitness trackers mean more sleep, hydration and physical exercise for writers?
Fitbit for Writers Can fitness trackers mean more physical exercise for writers? Can having a little gadget strapped to our wrists really make us take better care of ourselves? I decided to try it out for myself. Writing is a very sedentary act. It involves sitting, often for very long periods of time, while we type until we damage our joints. In fact, one of the most common pieces of writing advice literally is: butt in chair. It’s not a very active pursuit. But as any writer will tell you, though the act of writing may be...
read moreDid you know I offer free visits and video chats for schools doing my plays?
Photo courtesy of Rutgers Prep Are you performing one of my plays? I am happy to offer visits (either in-person or via video chat) to student groups of any age who are currently producing any of my plays free of charge. It’s a great opportunity for the cast and crew to ask questions about the play and their individual roles during the rehearsal process! Because schools so often put on plays where the author is long dead, it’s easy to forget that some of us are alive and well with internet access and would be more than happy to...
read moreWriting: it’s that easy, it’s that hard
Every few months I’ll be reading something and I’ll have this full stop epiphany moment where I’ll say to myself… Somebody just made this up and wrote it down. And I almost feel a bit betrayed for a second and then I immediately think… I could just make up any old random thing and write it down. This happens about an equal number of times if I’m reading something I’m enjoying or something I think is awful. It’s just this record scratch, hold everything kind of moment where I realize that’s...
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Hillary DePiano is a playwright, fiction and non-fiction writer who loves writing of all kinds except for writing bios like this.
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