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Apr 10

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Make your characters come alive with a character journal

I’ve been working on my fantasy novel lately and feeling as if I need to get closer to my protagonist. Scenes have been clicking along but I was starting to feel that some of my protagonist’s feelings and reactions to what is happening around her need to come out more.

Expanding on an idea I first heard about from author James Scott Bell, I decided to start a daily journal from the point of view of Caitlin, my protagonist.

My plan is that when I’m done writing a scene or a segment of a scene, I’ll take five minutes and write in her journal about how she feels about what just happened. Read more

Apr 9

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Celebrate National Poetry Month with a movie night

This month at One Wild Word, we’re celebrating poetry and its role in American culture. In my previous post, I offered several suggestions for celebrating National Poetry Month. Another way to appreciate poetry is through movies about poetry and poets.

Here are several films you might enjoy.

Janet Jackson, Khandi Alexander, Maya Angelou, Tupac Shakur are among the actors in Poetic Justice, which features the poetry of Maya Angelou.

The Basketball Diaries, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jim Carroll, a basketball star at a Catholic prep school whose promising future shatters down when he becomes addicted to glue-sniffing and then heroin. He finds healing through journaling and his poems and monologues become his Basketball Diaries.

Dead Poets Society is a classic film about poetry starring Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan Hawke. Robin Williams portrays an English teacher who doesn’t fit into the conservative prep school where he teaches, but whose love of poetry inspires several boys to revive a secret society.

For more movies about poetry, visit poets.org, the website of The Academy of American Poets.

Apr 8

How your audience can feed your writing soul

This weekend, my writer’s soul was nourished and fed. I gave a poetry reading at our local artsy coffee house, the Poulsbohemian, with two other poets—author and teacher Bob McAllister and Bill Mawhinney who runs the Northwind Reading Series in Port Townsend.

I was honored to read with these two prolific and treasured poets and they’re part of the reason I had such a great experience this weekend. But there was another reason the night stood out for me as the best reading I’ve ever given—the audience.

When I read, I like to take turns reading from my pages and glancing around the room at the faces in the crowd. My intent is to tune into their energy and take them for a ride with me. My goal is to entertain and move my audience.

Last night, I have to admit I was a bit tired when I arrived. But as soon as I started reading, I could literally feel the audience’s intent—they leaned forward, their eyes were open, they followed my words and wanted more. It felt as if they had all dialed into the same static-free channel at the same time. I’ve given readings before but this was the first time I felt the audience was really hungry. Read more

Apr 5

See how this author succeeded at age 80 by being himself

This week, author Berwick Coates scored a $130,000 deal and a two-book contract at age 80.

This after he was urged by his son to write a contemporary novel full of sex and violence, since his earlier efforts at writing historical fiction hadn’t panned out.

Ultimately, as Coates story illustrates, you have to write what you’re passionate about and what fits your interests and calling.

The lesson: To be successful as a writer, be more of yourself. Amplify what you’re doing and what makes you unique.

To read the story about Coates’s success, plus other valuable writing lessons, visit The Wicked Writing Blog at Writers’ Village.

Apr 4

Three posts to celebrate National Poetry Month

In honor of National Poetry Month, I wanted to share three previous posts on the subject of poetry:

What I learned by reading poetry in front of the Rotary Club is a fun post about my evening out with other poets at a local Rotary Club event. 

In Improve your writing craft with this assignment from author Ray Bradbury Carly shares my all time favorite tip from this amazing man. Hint: this advice is not just for poets.

Three poetry sites to inspire your muse is a post that lists three websites I subscribe to and why.

Enjoy!

Apr 3

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Read and share your favorite poems during National Poetry Month

It’s time to celebrate poetry.

In the U.S., it’s National Poetry Month, and you’ll find plenty of ways to enjoy and share poetry this month. Attend a poetry reading (or organize one yourself), carry a poem in your pocket, or send someone a letter with a poem enclosed.

For more ways to celebrate National Poetry Month in your community, check out this list of 30 ideas.

If you’d like to enrich your life with poetry all year long, sign up to receive a poem a day via e-mail.

To mark this month, many state’s are holding events. Choose your state to find local poets, poems, events, literary journals, writing programs, poetry organizations, and more.

Apr 2

Use cause and effect to further your plot

Martha Alderson, otherwise known as The Plot Whisperer, defines plot as, “a series of scenes arranged by cause and effect to create dramatic action filled with tension and conflict to further the characters emotional development and create thematic significance.”

In her book, Blockbuster Plots, Alderson breaks down the above statement an element at a time to explain what each part means.

Cause and effect means that the events that happen in one scene cause the events that happen in the next scene. For the most part, we want our stories to flow from scene to scene and not feel episodic or random. Episodic scenes can make a novel feel disconcerting and choppy.  (Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule—I’ve read purposely episodic memoirs or novels where the author intended this. But, the key here is the authors knew what they were doing and used the technique on purpose).

If you want to hear more on cause and effect by Alderson watch this 7-minute video:

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