Starting my fingers moving across computer keys and into a story is an interesting happening. It’s like starting on a trip: I know where I want to go, but I’m not sure about everything I want to do, or what’s in stake for me at the end of my trip. It’s like I decided to go to Los Angeles and probably visit Disneyland, but I’m not sure where I’ll end up, or what I’ll be doing before I hit my main attraction.
I have come to a quandary in my writing. I thought that if I plot along the way, my muse will come along and gently guide my fingers and thoughts with wondrous new adventures. But this takes some sacrifice, some discipline every day to the task.
I could devote all my time to writing. Some people write for eight hours, a normal workday for most folks. But I’m not like that. I get up in the morning and tend to my garden, chickens and the dog. Then, I exercise on the elliptical machine (if I remember!), and I make breakfast for my telecommute husband and myself. Next, I climb into my computer chair and whiz through the myriads of email and check my blog. I drop into Facebook once in a while, picking up the latest scoops on what’s happening with my friends and relatives. If I happen to open my eyes, I find dust and dirt everywhere, then it’s clean, clean, clean! Not my favorite thing. I don’t know anybody who loves to clean every week, only to do the same chores again the next. It’s a heartless, thankless job, but it has to be done. Then there’s a whole mess of tasks waiting for my hands to pick them up and do them (this is after cleaning, or instead of!). I have a crocheting project – a blanket for my niece’s third child (the coming attraction arrives in September), a business I’d like to start (when?), and a whole lot of other to-dos. The list seems endless, yet what are my priorities?
One thing I haven’t devoted myself to but have taken baby steps to accomplish is starting my day in prayer and a little Bible reading. There is something exhilarating and infinitely exciting to know there is a creator in whom we can talk to and who guides our paths each and every day. Some writers wake up to the Word, giving them inspiration and hope for the day, for the hour in their lives. They ask God for guidance in the next twenty-four hours, and even request his leading of the way in their writing. And a lot of those writers are now authors!
I think this morning I will ponder through a few scriptures and pray to the One who put this earth into orbit, and ask Him to show me where my story should be going. - Linda
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Over 8,000 words
I'm still plugging along, writing about a thousand words each time. It's slow going, and I'm not up to the word count I should be this week (I don't know how much that is and I don't want to figure it out!), but at least I am writing! That's something to say for myself. I hope whoever has entered this marathon is still writing, as well.
See you next time, Linda.
See you next time, Linda.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Update! FREE Children’s Online Writing Conference!
Check both of the subsequent websites to increase your passion for the writing you love to do.
Follow the link http://writeoncon.com/ and you will open the door to a free conference for aspiring authors of picture books, middle grade and YA genres in all sorts of subgenres. Register NOW because this conference commences August 10-12, 2010. You may ask any questions pre-conference, and this also gives you the time to dust off and polish that tucked away children’s book you had in mind years ago. This is an online conference during the day, but a lot of the work comes about in the evening (for those of you who have a 9-5 job).
Another link http://www.blueridgeagency.com/ opens the door to a fairly new literary agency that is willing to accept new authors, the Blue Ridge Literary Agency.
P.S. I have not checked out everything about these two websites, but I have already signed up for the conference. The conference led me to the agency, which explains that when “you open one door, another one opens!”
Check both of the subsequent websites to increase your passion for the writing you love to do.
Follow the link http://writeoncon.com/ and you will open the door to a free conference for aspiring authors of picture books, middle grade and YA genres in all sorts of subgenres. Register NOW because this conference commences August 10-12, 2010. You may ask any questions pre-conference, and this also gives you the time to dust off and polish that tucked away children’s book you had in mind years ago. This is an online conference during the day, but a lot of the work comes about in the evening (for those of you who have a 9-5 job).
Another link http://www.blueridgeagency.com/ opens the door to a fairly new literary agency that is willing to accept new authors, the Blue Ridge Literary Agency.
P.S. I have not checked out everything about these two websites, but I have already signed up for the conference. The conference led me to the agency, which explains that when “you open one door, another one opens!”
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Where's my Muse?
Last week I went camping, and I wrote only one day. This week I am having a hard time getting my act together and running my fingers down the keyboard. My muse has left me! So, what do I do? I get off the keys and devour a book. Not just any book, but one that will inspire me. I’m already reading a book, and I will hunker down and let its words melt into my soul to foster words out of me into my own book! It’s a win-win situation, no doubt about it.
While camping last Tuesday I thought of a lot of ideas for stories. It was amazing! Probably this happened because on Monday I wrote a thousand words for my story, and I was reading this book that included a lot of metaphors and similes. My muse was working hard that day! But I didn’t write those ideas down.
When muse arrives, don’t let him in and out without writing down your time spent together. I observed nature living all around me, the birds singing and twittering back and forth with one another. I noticed one bird twitched its tail in beat with a fluttery song every time it twittered its song to another bird! It was so fascinating to watch.
Turn on some soft, easy classical music or piano recitals from the greats. The easy, listening music is what I prefer—no words, just gentle, flowing notes to revitalize the senses. Fast pacing rock-and-roll, reggae, salsa, anything with a beat and a rhythm to catch you up into the song may take your muse away. I also love to sing to songs, and then I can’t get back to my working haven.
If you have a writer’s book of prompts or musings or ideas, open it up and read some passages. They’re fodder for a hungry, writer’s soul and will quench your thirst for words.
Well, gotta go! Have fun writing! - Linda
While camping last Tuesday I thought of a lot of ideas for stories. It was amazing! Probably this happened because on Monday I wrote a thousand words for my story, and I was reading this book that included a lot of metaphors and similes. My muse was working hard that day! But I didn’t write those ideas down.
When muse arrives, don’t let him in and out without writing down your time spent together. I observed nature living all around me, the birds singing and twittering back and forth with one another. I noticed one bird twitched its tail in beat with a fluttery song every time it twittered its song to another bird! It was so fascinating to watch.
Turn on some soft, easy classical music or piano recitals from the greats. The easy, listening music is what I prefer—no words, just gentle, flowing notes to revitalize the senses. Fast pacing rock-and-roll, reggae, salsa, anything with a beat and a rhythm to catch you up into the song may take your muse away. I also love to sing to songs, and then I can’t get back to my working haven.
If you have a writer’s book of prompts or musings or ideas, open it up and read some passages. They’re fodder for a hungry, writer’s soul and will quench your thirst for words.
Well, gotta go! Have fun writing! - Linda
Monday, July 12, 2010
On vacation
Sorry, everybody, for not posting my word count and count for the week yesterday. I left for a 5-day vacation along the coast yesterday and failed to post before leaving.
I'm slowing down too much and editing a lot, so my word count only came to 5,400 words last Saturday night. This week the minimum count should exceed 13,855 honest-to-goodness, silly and straight-laced, organic and manufactured words by 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Have fun writing! - Linda
I'm slowing down too much and editing a lot, so my word count only came to 5,400 words last Saturday night. This week the minimum count should exceed 13,855 honest-to-goodness, silly and straight-laced, organic and manufactured words by 11:59 p.m. Saturday. Have fun writing! - Linda
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Smaller is Not Always Better
Recently, I was asked about writing while traveling, and how some of us do not have laptops or notebooks to carry everywhere (and besides, they are cumbersome!). But last year the mini-version of a laptop came out called the Netbook. My husband, being the techno-savvy that he is—immediately devoured as much information as he could about the little, portable brain. He convinced me to buy one because it would help me to take notes in class or write anywhere I wished to write. So far, though, my husband has used it 99% of the time, while I have preferred my larger home PC in the armoire. In September 2009, however, we did bring it along on a weekend camping trip.
We got to the campground in only an hour and a half, and set up a quick camp with our self-contained trailer without full hook-up, and the water came out of a faucet close by. No problem with a two-day visit, though. Anyway, after setting up camp, I pulled out a camp chair and searched for an even, regular terrain in which to plant my seat supporter. There were plenty of smooth spots without shade, and my eyes grabbed onto a small stream flowing close by with trees gracing overhead. The stream was a good dip in elevation, and I found a spot and teetered on a semi-even ledge with my Netbook. It was a little uncomfortable, but I soon swung into motion on the keys. Unfortunately, the keys were a little too close to one another, and I discovered a lot of mistakes I was making. I realized the Netbook is best used for small ideas and thoughts. After a while, I gave up trying to utilize the small keyboard for a jog through story land. But maybe I needed to practice at pulling in my fingers closer together, I don’t know. I still like the idea of using a tiny computer for other things like email, watching DVDs and online movies, catching up with homework, and somewhat for note-taking. I guess it could be okay for the small fingers of children.
Today, Netbooks have gotten larger, a little more useable for the writer in you. Maybe I’ll run out and buy one? Well, I don’t see a need yet to replace the old one, and I’m not going to school right now, and our present one will have to do for traveling or getting alone in a sanctuary, garden, library corner, or whatever. I have a park bench in our backyard shaded by an assortment of trees, with ivy and bark coloring the ground beneath its place, and on a cooler day I’ll venture out with my Netbook and cover some more “ground” tapping out more of my story.
Happy writing to you all! - Linda
We got to the campground in only an hour and a half, and set up a quick camp with our self-contained trailer without full hook-up, and the water came out of a faucet close by. No problem with a two-day visit, though. Anyway, after setting up camp, I pulled out a camp chair and searched for an even, regular terrain in which to plant my seat supporter. There were plenty of smooth spots without shade, and my eyes grabbed onto a small stream flowing close by with trees gracing overhead. The stream was a good dip in elevation, and I found a spot and teetered on a semi-even ledge with my Netbook. It was a little uncomfortable, but I soon swung into motion on the keys. Unfortunately, the keys were a little too close to one another, and I discovered a lot of mistakes I was making. I realized the Netbook is best used for small ideas and thoughts. After a while, I gave up trying to utilize the small keyboard for a jog through story land. But maybe I needed to practice at pulling in my fingers closer together, I don’t know. I still like the idea of using a tiny computer for other things like email, watching DVDs and online movies, catching up with homework, and somewhat for note-taking. I guess it could be okay for the small fingers of children.
Today, Netbooks have gotten larger, a little more useable for the writer in you. Maybe I’ll run out and buy one? Well, I don’t see a need yet to replace the old one, and I’m not going to school right now, and our present one will have to do for traveling or getting alone in a sanctuary, garden, library corner, or whatever. I have a park bench in our backyard shaded by an assortment of trees, with ivy and bark coloring the ground beneath its place, and on a cooler day I’ll venture out with my Netbook and cover some more “ground” tapping out more of my story.
Happy writing to you all! - Linda
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Writing marathon – an update!
Ever have one of those fuzzy days when things do not seem as clear as they should be? When you get up and you teeter-totter because the world looks a little off-balanced? Like, maybe there was a giant earthquake during the night and you didn’t know it but had dreamed you were on a tiny raft in the ocean during a rocking storm? Well, thinking about this writing marathon I realized my intent is good, by my organization is a little scattered!
From now on, all word count for the week ends at 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays, but the postings will take place the next day. I will post the following week’s goal on my blog as well. (I originally stated that I will post my word count before 11 p.m., which is before the ending time.)
Have a good 4th of July! If you can do it, try writing a little today to keep those juices flowing. Maybe you won’t be able to write the minimum 815 words today, but a page or two might not be too bad. Actually, I can’t wait to get back to my writing! I want to know what happens in the next chapter! lol, Linda
P.S. The book shown here is one in which I started using years ago, in fact, as you can see, it doesn't cost much now to purchase it. But it's a good instructional book on writing for beginners.
From now on, all word count for the week ends at 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays, but the postings will take place the next day. I will post the following week’s goal on my blog as well. (I originally stated that I will post my word count before 11 p.m., which is before the ending time.)
Have a good 4th of July! If you can do it, try writing a little today to keep those juices flowing. Maybe you won’t be able to write the minimum 815 words today, but a page or two might not be too bad. Actually, I can’t wait to get back to my writing! I want to know what happens in the next chapter! lol, Linda
P.S. The book shown here is one in which I started using years ago, in fact, as you can see, it doesn't cost much now to purchase it. But it's a good instructional book on writing for beginners.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Writing Marathon
Next week, though, we must put in a minimum 5,705 words plus 2,445 to total 8,150 words by next Saturday.
More sparks to light your flame!
Pausing to reflect in the midst of my busy day, I thought of several key ideas in which to spring forth leads toward a story. Whether short or long, the main theme should be your primary focus in developing your novel.
1. Communication. Whether watching TV, reading a newspaper or magazine article, or passing along tidbits of the grapevine from your neighbors, we hear stories every day for enjoyment or to keep up with current events.
2. Our own drama. Bring up the past, the present or the future to garnish those happy/sad times and alter your own history into a renewed hope of the future or a twisted bleak misery of a life. The choice is yours! Sometimes our current problems in our own lives may add up to reveal a delicious ending or a crippled result, whichever your story may prefer to finish.
3. Write down your ideas. Don’t hesitate to write down those ideas that pop up fresh and inviting into your mind, no matter how ridiculous they may seem at the moment. You can work out the details later when you start writing. Some writers leave a notepad and a liquid writing pen (they flow easily at any time) on their nightstand, and wake up in the middle of the night to write down their dreams.
4. Outlines. Some writers prefer to draw out their story in a simple, numbered outline to assure themselves of a balanced body and clearer aim for their novel’s target.
5. Write fast. Still others like to get their one idea down fast and hard, including simple words into their story’s main focus, and expounding upon the frame with more sweet verbs and adjectives and nouns, interspersed with dialogue to flow the story along.
6. Quiet, please! Next is getting a very, shhhh time for thinking. No children clinging to your legs, no spouse whining for dinner. All is quiet in the household as you are all alone. Don’t let this alone time slip by; take advantage of it. Now sit up straight, breathe heavily in an out several times, and watch the stress flow out of your body. Lovely, isn’t it? After all this, now think up an idea or a problem or circumstance that has hit you between the eyes and you can’t see for anything ahead of you except this one problem. Let go with the words. Don’t stop to fix anything, just let those fingers fly over the keys and your soul weep out the truth.
1. Communication. Whether watching TV, reading a newspaper or magazine article, or passing along tidbits of the grapevine from your neighbors, we hear stories every day for enjoyment or to keep up with current events.
2. Our own drama. Bring up the past, the present or the future to garnish those happy/sad times and alter your own history into a renewed hope of the future or a twisted bleak misery of a life. The choice is yours! Sometimes our current problems in our own lives may add up to reveal a delicious ending or a crippled result, whichever your story may prefer to finish.
3. Write down your ideas. Don’t hesitate to write down those ideas that pop up fresh and inviting into your mind, no matter how ridiculous they may seem at the moment. You can work out the details later when you start writing. Some writers leave a notepad and a liquid writing pen (they flow easily at any time) on their nightstand, and wake up in the middle of the night to write down their dreams.
4. Outlines. Some writers prefer to draw out their story in a simple, numbered outline to assure themselves of a balanced body and clearer aim for their novel’s target.
5. Write fast. Still others like to get their one idea down fast and hard, including simple words into their story’s main focus, and expounding upon the frame with more sweet verbs and adjectives and nouns, interspersed with dialogue to flow the story along.
6. Quiet, please! Next is getting a very, shhhh time for thinking. No children clinging to your legs, no spouse whining for dinner. All is quiet in the household as you are all alone. Don’t let this alone time slip by; take advantage of it. Now sit up straight, breathe heavily in an out several times, and watch the stress flow out of your body. Lovely, isn’t it? After all this, now think up an idea or a problem or circumstance that has hit you between the eyes and you can’t see for anything ahead of you except this one problem. Let go with the words. Don’t stop to fix anything, just let those fingers fly over the keys and your soul weep out the truth.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Sparks to Light Your Fire!
If you need help getting started with a new story, try my webpage, “Writing Prompts.” There are a few writing prompts of my own listed there, but you may also access the web for more ideas. Just a couple to name:
• Creative Writing Prompts http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/
• Creative Writing Solutions http://www.creative-writing-solutions.com/creative-writing-prompts.html
One of the creative writing books I studied in the past suggested playing a game called, “What If.” It is a game one can play most any time of the day, depending on circumstances that arise. You’re driving your car and someone pulls out with their car onto the same street, almost hitting them. If you had been looking down, fiddling with the radio or your CD player, looking up into your rear view mirror or watching a person jogging down the sidewalk, you might have hit the car. With the “What If” game, you visualize what might have happened. Playing the “What If” game is easy, but writing your ideas down soon after you think of them is just as important!
• The newspapers or magazines are full of stories that you can alter and use to your advantage.
• Write a quick description of something. Now play the “What If” game, what if this should happen to the item, or that.
• Don’t try for something too bizarre that has never been done before! Readers like to relate to the stories they read, but if they can’t find a niche or a little scratch of something similar with it, they may bypass your novel and bring back their old favorites. Yes, it’s true there are many popular sci-fi reads out there, but first plant the idea in your head so it rings of a sensible tone before attempting it in front of the populace.
If you have any other ideas on ways to prompt your writing adventure, please feel free to promote them here! - Linda
• Creative Writing Prompts http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/
• Creative Writing Solutions http://www.creative-writing-solutions.com/creative-writing-prompts.html
One of the creative writing books I studied in the past suggested playing a game called, “What If.” It is a game one can play most any time of the day, depending on circumstances that arise. You’re driving your car and someone pulls out with their car onto the same street, almost hitting them. If you had been looking down, fiddling with the radio or your CD player, looking up into your rear view mirror or watching a person jogging down the sidewalk, you might have hit the car. With the “What If” game, you visualize what might have happened. Playing the “What If” game is easy, but writing your ideas down soon after you think of them is just as important!
• Write a quick description of something. Now play the “What If” game, what if this should happen to the item, or that.
• Don’t try for something too bizarre that has never been done before! Readers like to relate to the stories they read, but if they can’t find a niche or a little scratch of something similar with it, they may bypass your novel and bring back their old favorites. Yes, it’s true there are many popular sci-fi reads out there, but first plant the idea in your head so it rings of a sensible tone before attempting it in front of the populace.
If you have any other ideas on ways to prompt your writing adventure, please feel free to promote them here! - Linda
The Writing Marathon Guidelines!
What’s a small contest without a few rules (the nasty word)? Remember that the whole point of this marathon is for YOUR novel to be written in the next three months! Unlike National Novel Writing Month’s (November) goal in 30 days is 50,000 words with the average daily word count at 1,666, pen-n-quill’s average daily word count is only 815! This leaves a few of us who have extra time to polish some of those words, embellish the blasé areas, plop in descriptions where needed. You can also try an outline this week while real writing the rest of the time, or highlight in color those words you must not forget (like where did Sam hide the skeleton key to the attic door?).
Without further ado, here are the guidelines:
1. Sign up as a Follower to this blog, and bookmark it or send it to your desktop for easier access.
2. Write at the minimum 815 words per day, adding up to over 5,705 words per week.
3. At the end of the week, I will post on the blog my word count before 11:00 p.m. (2300 hrs) Pacific Savings Time (PST), encouraging you to do the same. Please reply as a comment to my post your word count before midnight. Always reply with the same name you gave when you signed up as a follower. The additional word count in subsequent weeks will be the minimum total count for all preceding weeks.
4. The contest will end on September 30, 2010, and writers with a minimum of 75,000 words will be given the chance to elevator pitch their story on my blog the following week!
During this time I will interject posts about writing. If anyone would like to add comments about your own writing or my posts, feel free to do so.
After the contest, the next three months work hard at chiseling your story just right for an agent’s eyes. If you need help editing your work, try joining a critique group to get feedback for your work. An excellent grammar book is “Rules for Writers” by Diana Hacker. Googling dictionary.com can reach you definitions, synonyms and antonyms of words. Although I have a “Chicago Manual of Style,” it is somewhat difficult to find answers to grammar problems, but a few of you may be picky writers and this is a good one for that! Writer’s Digest has a simple “Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript” book to assist you further before submission to an agent. Writer's Digest puts out a “Writer’s Market” book, which lists most of the publishing houses and some agents’ listings, to address your queries. You can find this book at your local book store.
I wish you all the best in your writing days to follow. Now, sit down and tap away at those keys!
- Linda
Without further ado, here are the guidelines:
1. Sign up as a Follower to this blog, and bookmark it or send it to your desktop for easier access.
2. Write at the minimum 815 words per day, adding up to over 5,705 words per week.
3. At the end of the week, I will post on the blog my word count before 11:00 p.m. (2300 hrs) Pacific Savings Time (PST), encouraging you to do the same. Please reply as a comment to my post your word count before midnight. Always reply with the same name you gave when you signed up as a follower. The additional word count in subsequent weeks will be the minimum total count for all preceding weeks.
4. The contest will end on September 30, 2010, and writers with a minimum of 75,000 words will be given the chance to elevator pitch their story on my blog the following week!
During this time I will interject posts about writing. If anyone would like to add comments about your own writing or my posts, feel free to do so.
After the contest, the next three months work hard at chiseling your story just right for an agent’s eyes. If you need help editing your work, try joining a critique group to get feedback for your work. An excellent grammar book is “Rules for Writers” by Diana Hacker. Googling dictionary.com can reach you definitions, synonyms and antonyms of words. Although I have a “Chicago Manual of Style,” it is somewhat difficult to find answers to grammar problems, but a few of you may be picky writers and this is a good one for that! Writer’s Digest has a simple “Formatting and Submitting Your Manuscript” book to assist you further before submission to an agent. Writer's Digest puts out a “Writer’s Market” book, which lists most of the publishing houses and some agents’ listings, to address your queries. You can find this book at your local book store.
I wish you all the best in your writing days to follow. Now, sit down and tap away at those keys!
- Linda
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Announcement! Writing Marathon
Start your brand new story writing as fast as you can with few edits. Every day write at least 1000 words, about 5-7k a week, and within three months you will have finished the rough draft of a novel! Each week you will post your word count by 11:59 p.m. on Saturdays. I will post mine first (before 11 p.m.), and you can place your word count as a comment to my posting.
Each winner who writes at the minimum 75,000 words receives space for an elevator pitch to their story at the end of the marathon on September 30, 2010. This elevator pitch will be included in my next post on October 1, 2010, after the results are in. Because there is no monetary gain, this writer trusts your word count as the true amount.
Please join me in this marathon to achieve a lifetime goal, and who knows? Maybe in the near future we will see our stories in print!
Notes from a workshop
Last night I went to a writing workshop. The speaker, Debbie Fuller Thomas, is an accomplished author, and her books laid neatly stacked and fanned out on a table at the back of the meeting room. Before the meeting, I perused her website http://www.debbiefullerthomas.com/ and discovered lively writing at its best, so I was more than intrigued to come and take notes of this busy writer’s life. Although I already knew many of the suggestions presented, it was the additional emphasis on these monumental landmarks to a future career in writing that I craved to embrace. The outline below highlights a writer’s way to finishing a novel, working with agents and publishers, and finally, marketing your story.
• Start out small, writing articles or short stories for periodicals in order to secure your credential as an author.
• Your own website increases networking traffic, and adding books to sell and other writing paraphernalia plunks more money into your pockets.
• Get business cards printed from a reputable firm. Handing out your business cards to family, friends and acquaintances help promote future liaisons between agents, publishers and customers.
• Lock onto a good agent. As the author said, “A bad agent is worse than no agent at all,” research the agent’s credentials and find out their experience in handling publishing houses and other authors’ books. This author remarked after signing up with a certain agent, she found out the agent had never read her book but was willing to present it to publishing firms. She was advised to fire her agent and get a new one, which caused a lot of stress and anguish but helped her in the long run.
• Don’t write in a genre different than what makes you comfortable. I have tried to write nonfiction stories from the dictates of my mother and found my writing stifled, not speaking her voice into the projects. It’s like I must interject my own thoughts and emotions to carry the story through with some pizzazz.
• Sometimes the genre we write about is narrow and filled with a lot of rules. Play by the rules and you will most likely be picked up as an author.
• First write fast, as much as you can. Worry about details in the editing stage. Writing fast also helps bring out your feelings into the story. Edit later to polish it.
• Networking with other writers and people in your life can break the monotony of writing and researching all the livelong days. Then, a fresh approach back to your writing may uncover some needed edits and rewrites to top it off before submission.
• Honing your craft before embarking on a lengthy novel will ease your way into an agent’s world, as careless grammar, punctuation and spelling errors could damage your reputation from the onset of your career.
• Writing is serious business. Carve out a sufficient time slot each day for your writing. If you work fulltime, try writing after dinner and jotting down notes during lunch time. If you are able to stay home fulltime without going bankrupt, choose any comfortable hours during the day in which your mind is at its perkiest best. If you have children, write during their naptimes or bedtimes or when they are visiting their friends or are at school. In any case, announce to your family that this writing business you are taking very seriously is your career.
• Writing is hard work. After the publication of your first book, don’t think your life is now going to be all easy with roses minus the thorns. Usually, if a publishing house likes your book, a second story is already fashioned in their minds about a year away. You cannot rest easy but be plunking at the old keyboard again until the second book is ready out the door.
• Getting into a critique group is essential to success. But be warned some may want to whittle down your story to a cute representation of their own ideal story. It is noted that if most of your group has the same opinion in their edits, the populace should win in this respect and a change imminent in the process.
• Study writing books and other teaching materials to hone your craft.
• Register for conferences and workshops like this one, especially ones with published authors, agents and editors. You will gain writing expertise, possibly land a new agent for your new book, and/or win an editor’s heart for your finished story.
• Remember that creative writing is different from nonfiction. Suffering to follow all your p’s and q’s down to a “t” in nonfiction does not generate an impressive review from editors or readers for contemporary fiction. Creative writing does not follow all of the rules of grammar as it is most important to stress a creative flow and emotions in which to pull the reader into the story.
• Do not forget to write an outline or quick summary of your story, emphasizing descriptions of things throughout so as not to wind up becoming senseless, duplicating things or circumstances, or even names of people. Follow this rule after each book is published so the subsequent books do not carry the same names, cities, events as the previous ones.
• After your book is published, now comes the marketing part: it is up to YOU to market your own book! There are only a few publishers who will risk advertising your jewel of a book in order to bring in the customers, and most likely your precious gem is not one of the prized. Marketing your book involves speaking at workshops/seminars, networking with other people, hosting events with prizes such as winning an editor’s critique of your story, advertising online with popular websites such as Amazon.com, giving your book away to influential people to read and pass on to others, and more. It is not advisable to give book signings at book stores, as most stores are not willing to risk purchasing a lot of books for the event.
• Be courteous to your readers. Invite them online to share their comments about your books. Praise other authors’ books, as this lends support to their writing efforts and wells up your day with good thoughts.
• Do not forget to acknowledge all the people who have assisted you in writing your story in your newly crafted novel.
• If your story is too way out or passé, do not throw it out the window or burn it in the fireplace! It may have possibilities in the future, you never know.
• Humor can fall flat on your face because gestures and tones are not included in the writing. Be very careful with this possible lethal substance and sway far away if you cannot pass this genre over well in the physical world before attempting it on paper.
• Posting on your blog could have tremulous results if written during the wee hours after midnight and up to eight in the morning. What sounds fine at this time could have devastating conclusions with your network of followers.
• Practice elevator pitches on your book—a summary of your story. These succinct pitches must entice the reader to purchase the book, advertise it to a would-be agent, or grasp an editor headlong into desiring to read your manuscript. The pitches can also accomplish its task in queries before submitting your manuscript to agents or editors.
• Start out small, writing articles or short stories for periodicals in order to secure your credential as an author.
• Your own website increases networking traffic, and adding books to sell and other writing paraphernalia plunks more money into your pockets.
• Get business cards printed from a reputable firm. Handing out your business cards to family, friends and acquaintances help promote future liaisons between agents, publishers and customers.
• Lock onto a good agent. As the author said, “A bad agent is worse than no agent at all,” research the agent’s credentials and find out their experience in handling publishing houses and other authors’ books. This author remarked after signing up with a certain agent, she found out the agent had never read her book but was willing to present it to publishing firms. She was advised to fire her agent and get a new one, which caused a lot of stress and anguish but helped her in the long run.
• Don’t write in a genre different than what makes you comfortable. I have tried to write nonfiction stories from the dictates of my mother and found my writing stifled, not speaking her voice into the projects. It’s like I must interject my own thoughts and emotions to carry the story through with some pizzazz.
• Sometimes the genre we write about is narrow and filled with a lot of rules. Play by the rules and you will most likely be picked up as an author.
• First write fast, as much as you can. Worry about details in the editing stage. Writing fast also helps bring out your feelings into the story. Edit later to polish it.
• Networking with other writers and people in your life can break the monotony of writing and researching all the livelong days. Then, a fresh approach back to your writing may uncover some needed edits and rewrites to top it off before submission.
• Honing your craft before embarking on a lengthy novel will ease your way into an agent’s world, as careless grammar, punctuation and spelling errors could damage your reputation from the onset of your career.
• Writing is serious business. Carve out a sufficient time slot each day for your writing. If you work fulltime, try writing after dinner and jotting down notes during lunch time. If you are able to stay home fulltime without going bankrupt, choose any comfortable hours during the day in which your mind is at its perkiest best. If you have children, write during their naptimes or bedtimes or when they are visiting their friends or are at school. In any case, announce to your family that this writing business you are taking very seriously is your career.
• Writing is hard work. After the publication of your first book, don’t think your life is now going to be all easy with roses minus the thorns. Usually, if a publishing house likes your book, a second story is already fashioned in their minds about a year away. You cannot rest easy but be plunking at the old keyboard again until the second book is ready out the door.
• Getting into a critique group is essential to success. But be warned some may want to whittle down your story to a cute representation of their own ideal story. It is noted that if most of your group has the same opinion in their edits, the populace should win in this respect and a change imminent in the process.
• Study writing books and other teaching materials to hone your craft.
• Register for conferences and workshops like this one, especially ones with published authors, agents and editors. You will gain writing expertise, possibly land a new agent for your new book, and/or win an editor’s heart for your finished story.
• Remember that creative writing is different from nonfiction. Suffering to follow all your p’s and q’s down to a “t” in nonfiction does not generate an impressive review from editors or readers for contemporary fiction. Creative writing does not follow all of the rules of grammar as it is most important to stress a creative flow and emotions in which to pull the reader into the story.
• Do not forget to write an outline or quick summary of your story, emphasizing descriptions of things throughout so as not to wind up becoming senseless, duplicating things or circumstances, or even names of people. Follow this rule after each book is published so the subsequent books do not carry the same names, cities, events as the previous ones.
• After your book is published, now comes the marketing part: it is up to YOU to market your own book! There are only a few publishers who will risk advertising your jewel of a book in order to bring in the customers, and most likely your precious gem is not one of the prized. Marketing your book involves speaking at workshops/seminars, networking with other people, hosting events with prizes such as winning an editor’s critique of your story, advertising online with popular websites such as Amazon.com, giving your book away to influential people to read and pass on to others, and more. It is not advisable to give book signings at book stores, as most stores are not willing to risk purchasing a lot of books for the event.
• Be courteous to your readers. Invite them online to share their comments about your books. Praise other authors’ books, as this lends support to their writing efforts and wells up your day with good thoughts.
• Do not forget to acknowledge all the people who have assisted you in writing your story in your newly crafted novel.
• If your story is too way out or passé, do not throw it out the window or burn it in the fireplace! It may have possibilities in the future, you never know.
• Humor can fall flat on your face because gestures and tones are not included in the writing. Be very careful with this possible lethal substance and sway far away if you cannot pass this genre over well in the physical world before attempting it on paper.
• Posting on your blog could have tremulous results if written during the wee hours after midnight and up to eight in the morning. What sounds fine at this time could have devastating conclusions with your network of followers.
• Practice elevator pitches on your book—a summary of your story. These succinct pitches must entice the reader to purchase the book, advertise it to a would-be agent, or grasp an editor headlong into desiring to read your manuscript. The pitches can also accomplish its task in queries before submitting your manuscript to agents or editors.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Personality Traits
Everyone has character, little quirks about themselves. There is no such thing as a “normal” person. No one is average; we are all at least a little bit if not a lot different from each other. This is what makes us unique.
Take writing. No person writes exactly the same as another. We may generically use other authors’ styles of writing, but it still boils down to our own personal traits blooming in the four corners of our papers. For example, although a person finishes a novel with perfect grammar, punctuation, and spelling that even an English teacher who swipes the words with her white gloves never finds a smidgen of a verb, adjective or comma out of sync across the virginal papyrus, there may still be something lacking in the story: the author himself. Don’t get me wrong; some novels do well with plain, simple words for easy expression. The novel may be an ordinary story, but the string of words displayed in an easy-going manner pull the reader into its world and the reader can’t escape and must find out the ending. Other novels weigh heavy in description, such as Jack London’s stories, and the reader cannot help but fall into its story trap until the finale.
My drama class teacher taught us a lot, but foremost the rule was to act naturally, and if needed, insert your own words to fit closely within the scene. This does not mean to change the entire lines, as the next actor may forget his or her lines, but to paraphrase them, add a little stuttering, maybe some trite phrases of your own to add to the whole gamut of the scene. In writing, the same goes forth, as synonyms can replace the usual words, and a glimmer of surprise awaits the reader.
First, write YOUR words down quickly, without stopping to correct the grammar, punctuation or spelling. Let the words rise out of the depths of your soul. There is something to be said for letting go of oneself, to let the freedom of writing pursue itself with words loud enough to shout through the walls of standards. This inner core must speak boldly, come forth willingly and honestly in words heavy in expressive thought.
Next, embellish on these thoughts. Add descriptions of scenes or things of value; lesser descriptions where it is not needed. These treasures should stand out in 3-D form in eclectic style, like a mannequin without a head or with rebar arms and legs. Experiment with this unique style before bleeding it thoroughly on the open page.
Last of all, editing is most critical at this point. Put on the editor’s hat and start whittling away at drawn- out passages that may ho-hum the reader. Slice away at redundant phrases and words. Pull out those extraneous commas and either re-word the sentences or cut those intrusive curves dangling aside wary words altogether.
In any case, don’t forget to have fun writing to your heart’s delight before slashing away all those cumbersome words and thoughts. - Signed, Linda
Take writing. No person writes exactly the same as another. We may generically use other authors’ styles of writing, but it still boils down to our own personal traits blooming in the four corners of our papers. For example, although a person finishes a novel with perfect grammar, punctuation, and spelling that even an English teacher who swipes the words with her white gloves never finds a smidgen of a verb, adjective or comma out of sync across the virginal papyrus, there may still be something lacking in the story: the author himself. Don’t get me wrong; some novels do well with plain, simple words for easy expression. The novel may be an ordinary story, but the string of words displayed in an easy-going manner pull the reader into its world and the reader can’t escape and must find out the ending. Other novels weigh heavy in description, such as Jack London’s stories, and the reader cannot help but fall into its story trap until the finale.
My drama class teacher taught us a lot, but foremost the rule was to act naturally, and if needed, insert your own words to fit closely within the scene. This does not mean to change the entire lines, as the next actor may forget his or her lines, but to paraphrase them, add a little stuttering, maybe some trite phrases of your own to add to the whole gamut of the scene. In writing, the same goes forth, as synonyms can replace the usual words, and a glimmer of surprise awaits the reader.
First, write YOUR words down quickly, without stopping to correct the grammar, punctuation or spelling. Let the words rise out of the depths of your soul. There is something to be said for letting go of oneself, to let the freedom of writing pursue itself with words loud enough to shout through the walls of standards. This inner core must speak boldly, come forth willingly and honestly in words heavy in expressive thought.
Next, embellish on these thoughts. Add descriptions of scenes or things of value; lesser descriptions where it is not needed. These treasures should stand out in 3-D form in eclectic style, like a mannequin without a head or with rebar arms and legs. Experiment with this unique style before bleeding it thoroughly on the open page.
Last of all, editing is most critical at this point. Put on the editor’s hat and start whittling away at drawn- out passages that may ho-hum the reader. Slice away at redundant phrases and words. Pull out those extraneous commas and either re-word the sentences or cut those intrusive curves dangling aside wary words altogether.
In any case, don’t forget to have fun writing to your heart’s delight before slashing away all those cumbersome words and thoughts. - Signed, Linda
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Have you found yourself repeating the same word in a sentence or paragraph? Omitting articles like "the" and "a" and some verbs, do you have a habit of duplicating the same word from the sentence before, or including it in the same sentence?
When I begin writing something, many times I repeat myself in a sentence or paragraph. This is where synonyms replace those "weedy" words and thoughts. But those "weeds" seem to grow and multiply right before my eyes! The problem transforms itself into not only repeating words, but repeating thoughts, also. It's like writing legal mumbo-jumbo, where the same thoughts and words are expressed over and over. Wants to make you gag and stop reading the boring material.
If you still find yourself repeatedly employing the same words, try turning the subjects, verbs and objects around in the sentence. Make sure your spell checker is on to catch grammar you might overlook in your quest to write the perfect sentence. Now read the sentence and paragraph aloud a couple of times to hear the effects on the reader.
How do I stop repeatedly repeating words and thoughts?
"Practice makes perfect." How many times have you heard that phrase, and yet we all know it's true. Write, write and then write some more! Practice writing the correct way over and over again. This is what you did in grade school, right? Your homework involved the same types of problems, yet in myriads of forms. In high school, our learning approaches were dwindled down to possibly two or three practices on similar problems, and in college the homework, tests and projects were our only avenues of learning identical thoughts.
Another way to squash those duplicated dribbles is to read good books emphasizing metaphors and similes. Reading novels longtime on bestseller lists or the great classics can grow your writing immensely, as the visual reading connects with your brain and prompts copying the writing forms. Pick genres you enjoy reading to your heart's content rather than ones that are good textbook usage.
Last of all, creative writing is an ambiguous form of writing, and sometimes repeating words IS necessary to buoy a rhythmic effect on your audience. Cage this medium especially when writing for children. Children love the flow of words arranged in a musical or sing-song form, as it guides the child along on a whimsical journey.
If after agonizing over the words and thoughts there is no other recourse but to embellish on the expressions and you do not feel the piece is worthy to wave before a promising editor, then another way to deal with this situation is to put the piece down. Come back to it tomorrow, or the next day. Sometimes just letting the piece go on the wayside and returning to it later springs forth fresher ideas, and a whole new way of looking at it.
In any case, look at the overall picture in which you are trying to convey to the reader and decide for yourself which method to employ. Happy writing to all, Linda
Friday, June 4, 2010
Time-Wasters
Time-wasters. We all like to play, to do something other than housework, homework or work-work. In the case of a freelance writer, discipline is the key factor. Without discipline and striving to finish your writing projects, your writing will go slowly or the projects never get done.
Getting a room to yourself is the ideal location for your writing adventures. This will allow you to write almost any time of the day, unless, of course, your wee ones bang on your door for attention or whine what’s for breakfast or beg a shoe to be tied. Then it’s back to waking at the crack of dawn or plunging your thoughts down in the black of night, when your eyelids barely stay open. If you cannot use an extra room for your writing purposes, then write at a time when most of the noise or distractions are at a minimum.
One of the main problems to wasting time is keeping your desk or work area clean, void of extraneous mail or bills begging to get paid. Any distractions can keep you from the love between you and Muse writing together along the wings of time. Or, if there is no other place to keep your financial matters except at the desk where you write, set a time to dispense your payouts, such as twice a month when the paychecks pass through cyberspace to your bank’s URL, and two-minute daily walks through online debits and credits.
Place websites of your writing resources, freelance writing, dictionary and grammar on your desktop for quick reference and as a reminder of your goals. A bookcase of writing instruction, grammar books like the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA and APA, a thesaurus, current Writer’s Market, and books on English and American Literature are all good examples of a writer’s library. Feel free to add others to your library complementary to your own genres.
Another distraction I found was games. So many of us love computer games, but five minutes can spread to two precious hours, and your time allotted for writing has now disappeared. Because of my obsession with a particular game, I asked my husband to temporarily disable all of the games on my computer so that I would not be tempted to ride its plains at this time. I desire wholeheartedly to give this writing bug a try.
Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, IM messaging – these can all be purveyors of time-wasters. Sure, it is good to keep in contact with humanity, but this can also lead to an obsession. Limit your time with your friends so that you can get back to your passion. Announce to them your goal of writing a book or articles and your desire to finish these projects.
Everyone loves the television set. Who can tear themselves away from a gripping mystery, passionate romance, or creepy thriller? To prevent this all-known time-waster, the best deal to make is to leave it off until sunset or wait until the weekend and watch away to your heart’s desire.
We can find many kinds of ways to distract ourselves and waste time instead of fulfilling our life’s purpose. Don't hesitate any more. Now is the time to write!
Getting a room to yourself is the ideal location for your writing adventures. This will allow you to write almost any time of the day, unless, of course, your wee ones bang on your door for attention or whine what’s for breakfast or beg a shoe to be tied. Then it’s back to waking at the crack of dawn or plunging your thoughts down in the black of night, when your eyelids barely stay open. If you cannot use an extra room for your writing purposes, then write at a time when most of the noise or distractions are at a minimum.
One of the main problems to wasting time is keeping your desk or work area clean, void of extraneous mail or bills begging to get paid. Any distractions can keep you from the love between you and Muse writing together along the wings of time. Or, if there is no other place to keep your financial matters except at the desk where you write, set a time to dispense your payouts, such as twice a month when the paychecks pass through cyberspace to your bank’s URL, and two-minute daily walks through online debits and credits.
Place websites of your writing resources, freelance writing, dictionary and grammar on your desktop for quick reference and as a reminder of your goals. A bookcase of writing instruction, grammar books like the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA and APA, a thesaurus, current Writer’s Market, and books on English and American Literature are all good examples of a writer’s library. Feel free to add others to your library complementary to your own genres.
Another distraction I found was games. So many of us love computer games, but five minutes can spread to two precious hours, and your time allotted for writing has now disappeared. Because of my obsession with a particular game, I asked my husband to temporarily disable all of the games on my computer so that I would not be tempted to ride its plains at this time. I desire wholeheartedly to give this writing bug a try.
Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, IM messaging – these can all be purveyors of time-wasters. Sure, it is good to keep in contact with humanity, but this can also lead to an obsession. Limit your time with your friends so that you can get back to your passion. Announce to them your goal of writing a book or articles and your desire to finish these projects.
Everyone loves the television set. Who can tear themselves away from a gripping mystery, passionate romance, or creepy thriller? To prevent this all-known time-waster, the best deal to make is to leave it off until sunset or wait until the weekend and watch away to your heart’s desire.
We can find many kinds of ways to distract ourselves and waste time instead of fulfilling our life’s purpose. Don't hesitate any more. Now is the time to write!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Writing is NOT a chore
Writing is NOT a chore. But unless Muse is riding on your shoulder, the words tumble out slowly, hitting jagged corners along the way, and may bounce right off into the deep end; they are so useless.
One way to remedy this is to find a quiet time to write. If that means getting up at five o’clock in the morning to jot down your thoughts or write an article, go to bed earlier to rise with the sun peeking over the horizon. The dawn of a new day can awaken those juices ready to burst out of the depths of your soul. Program your coffeemaker the night before so the smells of java come wafting through the house in the wee hours, and a cup with an egg and toast will bolster your body to start the day fresh.
Now sit down and get all quiet for a moment. Open your patio door and listen to the birds singing, leaves on the trees swaying, hum of bees or hummingbirds, and traffic rounding the bends in the road near your house. Walk outside with your coffee and smell the drifts of morning, the sun glowing in its corner and brightening God’s creation for all to see. Bask in this wonder for a few minutes, sipping your coffee slowly. Now go inside and write down whatever comes to your mind. This may or may not be what you just saw, but the moment of taking a whiff of daybreak awakened the Muse in you.
Some writers enjoy writing at night. For me, this is the time my senses start shutting down, and I do not feel the urge to caress words across the pages, but find it a chore instead. In any case, if you write at night, a few cups of java might keep those senses burning alive in your soul and the words tumble out with ease. Some people prefer writing in the sleep zone because their senses come alive from their nine to five grind. They are all wound up and writing releases the tension built up over the ten hours of commute and work.
If you ride the train to work, this is another place you may take your writing passion. Writing a novel while bumping along the tracks can prove to be either too distracting or a time-saver for your story. A writing pad, netbook or laptop is most handy for writing in this location. Look at the people around you. They are either reading a book, eating a breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee, chatting with friends, or writing on their laptop like you at this moment. People are very interesting to watch! Write down on a side note what you see and hear. There may be an unruly child and a mother either paying no attention or reprimanding the youngster. Describe what the people look like, what they’re wearing, the things they do. These can all be useful now or later in your project.
In any case, the goal here is to write at a regular time when Muse is most likely to appear. Don’t hesitate! Now in your life is the time to write.
One way to remedy this is to find a quiet time to write. If that means getting up at five o’clock in the morning to jot down your thoughts or write an article, go to bed earlier to rise with the sun peeking over the horizon. The dawn of a new day can awaken those juices ready to burst out of the depths of your soul. Program your coffeemaker the night before so the smells of java come wafting through the house in the wee hours, and a cup with an egg and toast will bolster your body to start the day fresh.
Now sit down and get all quiet for a moment. Open your patio door and listen to the birds singing, leaves on the trees swaying, hum of bees or hummingbirds, and traffic rounding the bends in the road near your house. Walk outside with your coffee and smell the drifts of morning, the sun glowing in its corner and brightening God’s creation for all to see. Bask in this wonder for a few minutes, sipping your coffee slowly. Now go inside and write down whatever comes to your mind. This may or may not be what you just saw, but the moment of taking a whiff of daybreak awakened the Muse in you.
Some writers enjoy writing at night. For me, this is the time my senses start shutting down, and I do not feel the urge to caress words across the pages, but find it a chore instead. In any case, if you write at night, a few cups of java might keep those senses burning alive in your soul and the words tumble out with ease. Some people prefer writing in the sleep zone because their senses come alive from their nine to five grind. They are all wound up and writing releases the tension built up over the ten hours of commute and work.
If you ride the train to work, this is another place you may take your writing passion. Writing a novel while bumping along the tracks can prove to be either too distracting or a time-saver for your story. A writing pad, netbook or laptop is most handy for writing in this location. Look at the people around you. They are either reading a book, eating a breakfast bar, drinking a cup of coffee, chatting with friends, or writing on their laptop like you at this moment. People are very interesting to watch! Write down on a side note what you see and hear. There may be an unruly child and a mother either paying no attention or reprimanding the youngster. Describe what the people look like, what they’re wearing, the things they do. These can all be useful now or later in your project.
In any case, the goal here is to write at a regular time when Muse is most likely to appear. Don’t hesitate! Now in your life is the time to write.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Set Your Writing Apart
Set your writing apart from the others. Wow your readers with the obscure, eclectic look. Don’t let any of your writing become stagnant to the reader’s eye. Let your reader view something real, tangible and inviting.
Instead of pummeling your story along, slow down and let the reader get a whiff of your senses. Let them feel your anguish or joy, the softness or roughness of its outer core, or clarity of taste and smell. Describe the object or scene, delving into all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Don’t spare your gifts of the word in carving into detail this object, no matter how simple or complex it is.
Practice your craft with an ordinary object, a living organism or a man-made tech machine. If you’re facing a dull read of your story, this could spark up the drab and let in a little bit of light. Plain and simple stories, such as - boy meets girl, boy gets girl, they get into a fight and she leaves him (or vice versa), then they make up and end of story – can be given a second chance when a description of objects, scenes or people here and there bring them to life.
Start with sight—describe the texture, shape, colors, and clarity with metaphors or similes. Next, add hearing—do you hear anything associated with the object? If not, you can skip this sense. Touch the object, rubbing your hands along it if you can, and write down what you feel. Now, smell it—what do you smell? If you smell anything, even a chemical smell, write it down. Last of all is taste. You may not be able to taste it, but if you can, do not hesitate to show the comparison against another similar taste.
Now, combine some of these sentences to spare no workouts of the mind. Like going to a symphony or a Broadway musical, isn’t it? The reader will get caught up in this object which has now taken shape into their soul, and now cannot put the story down. They must read on. . . .
Instead of pummeling your story along, slow down and let the reader get a whiff of your senses. Let them feel your anguish or joy, the softness or roughness of its outer core, or clarity of taste and smell. Describe the object or scene, delving into all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Don’t spare your gifts of the word in carving into detail this object, no matter how simple or complex it is.
Practice your craft with an ordinary object, a living organism or a man-made tech machine. If you’re facing a dull read of your story, this could spark up the drab and let in a little bit of light. Plain and simple stories, such as - boy meets girl, boy gets girl, they get into a fight and she leaves him (or vice versa), then they make up and end of story – can be given a second chance when a description of objects, scenes or people here and there bring them to life.
Start with sight—describe the texture, shape, colors, and clarity with metaphors or similes. Next, add hearing—do you hear anything associated with the object? If not, you can skip this sense. Touch the object, rubbing your hands along it if you can, and write down what you feel. Now, smell it—what do you smell? If you smell anything, even a chemical smell, write it down. Last of all is taste. You may not be able to taste it, but if you can, do not hesitate to show the comparison against another similar taste.
Now, combine some of these sentences to spare no workouts of the mind. Like going to a symphony or a Broadway musical, isn’t it? The reader will get caught up in this object which has now taken shape into their soul, and now cannot put the story down. They must read on. . . .
Friday, May 21, 2010
Lights, Camera, Action!
The most memorable writing, in my estimation, comes from carefully planned out metaphors or similes and personification intermixed with a mere sprinkling of passive sentences. "Artsy" writing is what I call it. Pulitzer prizes and other awards adorn authors who praise the metaphor and personification words to their advantage. Locking these creative doses with simple passive sentences tone down the heavy medley, and instead blossom forth what the writer is actually trying to say. Succinct and precise words describe a scene to additionally complement the sentences.
A metaphor or simile describes something using words that are not literal to explain further with figures of speech, phrases or symbols. The simile adds "as" or "like" to the entity to mellow out the figure of speech, while the metaphor is straight-on with its descriptive words. Personification adds life to an object or abstract notion. Passive voice sentences use 1) non-active verbs, and 2) pose the object at the beginning of the sentence and the subject placed at the end of the sentence preceded with the word "by."
Example: (metaphor) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back. She is a snake.
Example: (simile) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back, like a snake.
Example: (personification) She sat down in the velveteen chair, the wings rounding off her arms to its sides, its purple plush caressing the girl's shape, softening her grief.
Example: (passive voice) A man was struck by a car while crossing Main and Oak Streets. (An active voice would be "A car struck a man while crossing Main and Oak Streets;" notice the passive voice has the man (object) in the front of the sentence instead of the car (subject) as in the active voice.)
Other passive voice sentences contain non-active verbs, such as linking verbs: She made it to the play. This may seem very bland, but mixed with active sentences, it can abruptly halt the reader to sum up all the active sentences to one meaningful statement.
A metaphor or simile describes something using words that are not literal to explain further with figures of speech, phrases or symbols. The simile adds "as" or "like" to the entity to mellow out the figure of speech, while the metaphor is straight-on with its descriptive words. Personification adds life to an object or abstract notion. Passive voice sentences use 1) non-active verbs, and 2) pose the object at the beginning of the sentence and the subject placed at the end of the sentence preceded with the word "by."
Example: (metaphor) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back. She is a snake.
Example: (simile) She gossips a lot, talks about others behind her back, like a snake.
Example: (personification) She sat down in the velveteen chair, the wings rounding off her arms to its sides, its purple plush caressing the girl's shape, softening her grief.
Example: (passive voice) A man was struck by a car while crossing Main and Oak Streets. (An active voice would be "A car struck a man while crossing Main and Oak Streets;" notice the passive voice has the man (object) in the front of the sentence instead of the car (subject) as in the active voice.)
Other passive voice sentences contain non-active verbs, such as linking verbs: She made it to the play. This may seem very bland, but mixed with active sentences, it can abruptly halt the reader to sum up all the active sentences to one meaningful statement.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Welcome!
Have you ever thought about writing the great American novel? Well, there are many times in the day I say to myself, "If I could only get the time to write," and the next day comes along, and there are a million things to do again.
Suffice it to say, I created this blog to spur my imagination, my muse, to write and get that novel done! I hope this blog will compel your creative juices to flow, too. I wish you many happy writing days to follow!
- Linda
- Linda
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