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Posts by Carly Sandifer

Apr 10

Write a six-word story about why you belong at the library

This week is National Library Week, and it reminds me of how my addiction to libraries began. I struggled with reading until I got into the second grade. But once I could really read, I fell in love with books – and libraries.

When we were kids, my friend Tracy and I would ride our bikes to the library during the summer. We’d take brown paper grocery bags and stash them in the shrubs. Then we’d go in and check out a huge stack of books, put them in our bags, fold the top over our handlebars, and ride home. We’d pour ourselves a glass of fruit punch, line up our books in the order we wanted to read them, and launch ourselves into other worlds. Read more

Apr 6

Boost your writing progress with advice from three bloggers

Backstory can get a bad rap, as Janice Hardy says on her blog, The Other Side of the  Story. Backstory is a critical element of your story, you just have to know how to use it. Read her post, “Baby Got Backstory: Dealing with Backstory in Your Novel,” to get the scoop.

Do you want to write a page turner? Then make your writing exciting at the sentence level. KidLit.com blogger and agent Mary Kole shows you how.

I’m always in awe of anyone who can work full-time, raise children, have non-writing interests, AND complete a manuscript. Everyone has their own way of fitting writing in their life. In, How to Write a Book When You’re Really, Really Busy, Writer’s Digest editor Chuck Sambuchino tells how he wrote his most recent novel while, among other things, working full-time, going to school at UCLA, and training for a 50-kilometer footrace.

Apr 4

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Recommended reading from Ray Bradbury

If you read my last post, you learned about a writing assignment from Ray Bradbury.

As part of his reading advice, Bradbury recommended authors who inspired him and shaped his writing. I’m noting some below in case you’d like to add them to your reading list.

Bradbury advises reading essays on a variety of topics, including biology, anthropology, and zoology. In particular, he recommends Aldous Huxley, George Bernard Shaw, and Loren Eiseley. Bradbury read Eiseley’s The Fire Apes (.pdf) and later wrote him a fan letter.

Also at the top of Bradbury’s list: John Collier – author of Fancies and Goodnights, a short story collection that won the Edgar Award and the International Fantasy Award in 1952. Bradbury described Collier as one of greatest writers of this century, who wrote brilliant short stories that deeply affected Bradbury when he was 22 years old and learning to write. Read more

Apr 2

Ray Bradbury 1975
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Improve your writing craft with this assignment from author Ray Bradbury

Renowned author Ray Bradbury has an assignment for writers who want to improve their craft.

Read one short story, one poem, and one essay every night for 1,000 nights.

At the end of 1,000 nights, your head will be full of ideas and metaphors along with your own experiences and observations of the people in your life. His aim is for us to make new metaphors out of all of these ideas and images that are bouncing around in our heads. In other words, stuff your head with literature. Read more

Mar 29

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How writing changes us so we can change others

I have a theory that writing poems, or any form of literature, makes the world a safer, kinder, more peaceful place, not just for the meaning expressed in the sentences, but the effect the act of writing has on the writer and in turn readers.

Writing is a great equalizer — a way of connecting with people and by extension, the world. Because no matter where they live, people share the same feelings of loss and joy in the midst of tragic and hopeful circumstances.

Writing celebrates universal moments of surprise, love, and humor. It helps put perspective on our troubles. Transforms. Many people have been silenced until someone else’s words or images shined a light on their suffering, giving a voice to the voiceless.

Remember for a moment the heartbreak and joy we feel as we write — that connection with our characters and our humanity. Now imagine that when we do this for ourselves, we do it for the reader.

How has writing changed you?

Photo by Scott Bourne – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons

Mar 27

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A letter to my perfectionist friend: Follow your calling

Dear friend who says she has not started her book because she is a perfectionist:

Yesterday when we talked, you said you had an idea for a book but hadn’t started it yet. You cited being a “perfectionist” as the reason you’ve been blocked.

Give yourself a break. Writing by its nature is imperfect. Our pages are works in progress. Writing is a messy business. Words and ideas rarely flow onto the page the way we picture them in our minds. Sentences may feel awkward. Just when we think we know where our story is going, it stalls.

Beyond certain principles of storycraft, writing, like many other art forms, is subjective. No one writes a “perfect” manuscript on the first try. That’s why they’re called “drafts.”

Blank pages are clean and crisp – and boring. Read more

Mar 23

Super charge your writing with these three posts

In need of some creative fuel to finish off the week? Power up with this trio of blog posts about writing craft.

Marla Madison reviews Don’t Murder Your Mystery by Chris Roerden and reveals 11 tips to create compelling sample chapters that will entice readers to buy the whole book. As it turns out, these tips are just plain good writing advice.

Darcy Pattison at Fiction notes writes about her search for a scene to avoid a “sagging middle.” Learn more about her exploratory techniques and find other great links to scene writing tips.

Poets and writers of any genre will find a burst of creative energy from Keith Jennings’s guest post at The Write Practice about collecting and connecting images and words. At the end of the post, you’ll find a writing exercise to practice connecting the images you’ve collected.

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