Your Characters: Your Babies by Catharine Bramkamp
Ask me about a favorite book – and I’ll describe the heroine.
Tagged: story
Time and Your Story by Kay Keppler
Now that we’ve entered a new year—a new time, essentially—it seems like a good moment to think about how you use time in your story and what place and function it serves.
Losing NaNo This Year Does Not Make Me a Loser By Raina Schell
This is the first year in the three years that I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer’s Month) that I didn’t “win”. In case you don’t know, NaNo is where you write 50,000 words in the month of November. I started my fourth novel for NaNo this year and then life got in the way. I’ve been disciplined enough to write a novel outside of November in the past but having that month to completely focus on word count has always been ground breaking. Being competitive with yourself works for some people but not for others. It works for me.
Make Holiday Gifts of Your Creative Writing by Annmarie Miles
I wonder have you ever thought of gifting your writing. One thing that many writers have in common is that they are short of time and short of money. Maybe this year, your writing could be the gift you give.
Failure is an Experience, Not Who You Are – Get your Sisu On! by Carol Malone
Why do we let failure identify us? Why do we not realize that adversity, burdens, writer’s block, etc. are just isolated events from which we can recover? Sometimes we let failure define who we are, making us believe we’re actually … A failure!
Fiction Physics (remember, the F in Physics is for fun!) by Catharine Bramkamp
I work with an engineer on the show – someone devoted to reality as much as he’s devoted to fantasy. Interestingly my son is a Geo-Physicist and is equally passionate about fantasy and science fiction. Which should be a lesson to writers: even brilliant people read to be transported to far away lands. Remember that you are writing for brilliant readers, some even more brilliant than you.
Find Your Fear and Strengthen Your Story by Wyatt G. Bessing
As Halloween nears, I consider the origins of the holiday. Many scholars believe the idea of wearing masks originated in the fear of lost souls roaming the earth this time of year, when the veil between living and dead thins and the world grows darker. The masks allowed revelers to imitate or hide from their fearful foes.
“Always Worth It” by Nevada McPherson
Today I gave my classes an assignment: write about a story or event that is significant to you and why it’s significant or memorable. I haven’t seen their papers yet but some of the students told me what they had chosen to write about and these stories were very meaningful to them for various reasons. This just proves what I heard one of my writing heroes, Garrison Keillor, say on the radio show, A Prairie Home Companion years ago: telling a story and figuring out the best way to tell it is “always worth the effort.”
The Stages of A Story by Kay Keppler
Structuring genre novels and Hollywood movies is simple. (It’s the writing that’s hard!) They’re built on only three basic elements—character, desire, and conflict—and have a plot structure that consists of six basic stages. These stages help you build tension and conflict into your story and strengthen its emotional impact.
Urban Legends and the Joy of Mis-information by Catharine Bramkamp
Urban Legends are the sturdy children of ancient myths and legends. We love to believe the story about the hook on the car door, or the dog drying in the microwave, or the car following a driver in the middle of the night and honking because there was a killer in the back seat. We love these stories, we believe these stories because we heard it from a friend who heard it from their aunt who swore she knew the victim, or at least heard of the victim. No names are ever exchanged. But even so, the story must be true. Preposterous, but deliciously true.
Frame by Frame Tells the Story by Nevada McPherson
If you’ve read any of my previous posts you know I’ve talked about my experience creating hand-drawn graphic novels and the joys and challenges of undertaking such a project. I’ve discussed how my process has evolved since my first book, Uptowners, and how I’m trying something different and more collaborative for the upcoming sequel, Queensgate.
The Shape of the Story by Nevada McPherson
I wrote last time about the evolving process of creating my first two graphic novels, and how I plan to break this next one down even more into manageable bites that don’t feel so overwhelming. Now I’m considering breaking the story into three parts: a triptych as it were.
The Tortured, Tormented yet Tantalizing Tale of How I Became a Writer Written by Theresa W. Bennett-Wilkes
I began writing short stories to ease my sense of isolation and help me make it through each day. I recall experiencing a profound sense of exhilaration. You could say I was falling in love.
Failing at Life? Become a Writer (Tips from YouTube)
Welcome back to the Sunday Video Series on Writing, where I steal gems from YouTube that I think are funny, insightful and useful… Actually, I don’t agree with Clutchology’s premise that one turns to...
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