Bend Your Mind, Stretch Your Imagination by Nevada McPherson
Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Nevada McPherson as she shares with us “Bend Your Mind, Stretch Your Imagination!” Enjoy!
Tagged: story
Enhance Your Voice, Sharpen Your Word Choice by Alicia Rasley
I’m just going to give a few quick tips on enhancing your voice by sharpening your word choice.
13 Prime Principles of Plot, a Guest Post by Alicia Rasley
Please welcome guest author, Alicia Rasley as she shares with us “13 Prime Principles of Plot.” Enjoy!
You’re Not A Failure, Even if You’ve Failed by Carol Malone
Please welcome author and book coach in training Carol Malone. Today she’s going to share an article about goal setting success … or failure? Enjoy!
Get More from Your Settings by Kay Keppler
Have you ever picked up a book and read back cover copy that sent shivers down your spine? You know what I mean: stories located in a peaceful country garden filled with sweetpeas and butterflies, or the brooding castle that bristles with medieval weaponry—these are the settings that tell you what adventures lie in store.
Q&A with Hugh Tipping
Please welcome Hugh Tipping to our Featured Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.
Why I Don’t Hate Editing by Hugh Tipping
Arguably, the most popular episode of the 1950’s sitcom “I Love Lucy” was the episode “Job Switching” in which friends Lucy and Ethel took a job in a candy factory. In that episode’s celebrated scene, they had to hand wrap individual chocolates moving along a conveyor belt into a packing room. They were able to keep up until the belt sped up resulting in a hilarious scramble to prevent any unwrapped candies from getting by.
Lift a Sagging Middle with “What If?” by Kay Keppler
Most writers, sooner or later, will hit the problem of the Sagging Middle. The story pacing slows—the plot might even bore you a little bit now—and you don’t know what to do about it.
Once You Start, Where Do You Stop? by Nevada McPherson
Greetings! Hope your summer reading and writing projects are coming along nicely. If you’ve been busy with other summer activities you’ve still got a few weeks to read a novel or two or to pen a rough draft before fall arrives. I’ve personally been in the process of moving into a new apartment and am only now getting to some projects I’ve been planning.
Impressions: A Game of Details by Wyatt Bessing
In her book Thinking About Memoir, Abigail Thomas reminds us: “Details. Specifics. Eliminate all abstract nouns.” Of course, this rule holds true for writing fiction as much as memoir. Whatever you write, use specific details to craft a full, believable world.
Playing with Personification by Wyatt G. Bessing
Whenever I read a particularly good book, I find myself enwrapped in its world and its telling. I want to examine it closely, stop for awhile to see what it is that captivated me. How has this writer woven her magic spell?
Enrich Your Story with Foreshadowing by Kay Keppler
The goal for every writer has to be writing a book so compelling that readers can’t put it down. Using foreshadowing can help you create that kind of suspense, because it hints at what comes later and motivates the reader to find out what that drama or secret is. Foreshadowing can also convey information that helps readers understand future events.
Playing Games With Your Characters’ Emotional Spaces by Wyatt Bessing
There are multiple kinds of truth, in fiction as in life. As fiction writers, we move as close to the truth as possible without ever quite veering into truth entirely (otherwise we’d be writing nonfiction). One kind of truth emanates from a realism of scene and detail. By identifying with familiar settings and character traits, readers are pulled into a story and become personally attached to it.
Be a Game-Changer by Wyatt Bessing
Some writers enjoy the process of rereading and combing through each word, looking for ways to strengthen sentences, remove extraneous detail, sharpen plot and develop characters. But for many it’s pure torture. Editing can feel like it lacks the punch and excitement of the initial writing, too analytical and uncreative.
Recent Comments