NaNoWriMo is less than a week away, which means some of you will have written a book in T-minus 36 days! I considered taking part this year, but I’m not sure that 50,000 words in 30 days will be feasible for me right now. Therefore, I will be writing along . . . but probably not at such a fevered pace. I’m setting the personal goal of spending at least an hour a day on the book that’s floating around in my head. In preparation for the November frenzy, I thought I’d review a couple of writers’ tools and share . . .
Who to Be, or Who Not to Be? (That Is the Pseudonym Question)
1I’ve spent my entire literate life inventing pen names. And before you ask, NO—I will not tell you what my creative pen names are. It’s possible that they are already in use, or that they will be in future use. The beauty of a pen name is that you won’t find out until I want you to find out, which may be never ever ever! The long tradition of pen names testifies to a pseudonym’s usefulness or even necessity. Many women have used pen names to protect themselves from scandal, or to better their chances at publication in an industry historically dominated . . .