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Posts by Carol Despeaux Fawcett

Sep 23

Doodle to tap creativity and focus

As mentioned in my post “Happiness Projects for Your Writing Life,” I was introduced to doodling by my massage therapist who decided to doodle every day for a month as part of his Happiness Project.

More recently, I learned that practicing doodling while learning new information can increase our retention and understanding of that information by up to 40%. I’ve never really been a doodler, but I wanted to test this idea at a recent two-day seminar to see if it really worked.

It took me awhile to get the hang of doodling while taking lecture notes. I’m not a “natural” drawer so I had to consciously thing of things to doodle at first (I started with a lot of hearts). It felt good and I was having fun. I also did seem to be more aware of what the speakers were saying. Read more

Sep 17

Young People’s literature gets a boost from the National Book Foundation

For the first time in its history, the National Book Foundation has announced the 2013 Young People’s Literature Longlist for the National Book Award. This is the first time the National Book Foundation has announced a “longlist” of ten titles for each National Book Awards category. The list includes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The Longlist for Poetry will be announced today, the Longlist for Nonfiction on Sept 18, and the Longlist for Fiction on September 19. The short list of five finalists in each category will be announced in mid-October.

The nominees for Young People’s Literature address important contemporary issues, including the immigrant experience, coming of age as an LGBT teen, and the impact of technology on civilization.

Personally, I’ve read some great books for young people and I’m excited this category is doing more to recognize the incredible talent in the field.

One example is Lisa Graff’s nominated book, A Tangle of Knots,which takes place in a slightly magical version of our world, where most everyone has a special talent—something he or she is uniquely gifted at, often to a supernatural degree. Read more

Sep 11

Neil Gaiman reads Coraline aloud with famous authors

Neil Gaiman’s N.Y. Times bestselling novel Coralineis celebrating its 10th anniversary. To read an overview of the novel and learn about all its successes, check out this post by Anne Margaret Daniel in the Huffington Post.

To celebrate the book’s birthday, Gaiman reads aloud the entire novel with a few of his famous friends including, Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket; Cassandra Clare; and R. L. Stein.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

To learn about the benefits of reading your own work aloud, please read my previous post “Editing Techniques to Make Your Prose Sing.”

Sep 9

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Editing techniques to make your prose sing

Having been a poet for 30+ years, I know the importance of each word. Every single word needs to be polished and perfect—perfect for our intended meaning, the emotions we want to evoke and the music it brings to our ears.

A great way to learn how to improve your prose is to read poetry. For help developing a daily poetry habit read Carly’s post “Write lyrically by reading poetry.”

The great news is we can apply the lessons we learn from poetry to our prose. It seems like a daunting task, doesn’t it? Every word in your 90,000-word manuscript polished and perfect? Read more

Sep 4

Elmore Leonard answers 10 questions about writing

In this interview with Time magazine, the late author Elmore Leonard answers 10 questions about writing and his career.

I was intrigued to learn he wrote all his novels by hand–with pen and paper. He then typed his scenes on a typewriter. I usually write my scenes on the computer but go back to pen and paper when I’m stuck or when the words aren’t flowing. There’s just something about the physical act of writing that gets me going again. Do you write by hand? Typewriter? Computer? Why do you write the way you do?

Listen to the short interview below to hear what else Leonard has to say and what his “perfect crime” would be.

To find out what other famous author used a typewriter, read this earlier post by Carly.

Aug 28

Neil Gaiman and Phillip Pullman discuss imagination and creativity

Have I died and gone to writer heaven? I must have, because I just discovered that two of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman and Phillip Pullman, have a podcast togethe. In this conversation, between the two prolific authors, they discuss everything from The Wind in the Willows to what they remember reading as children to mysticism and science.

Near the end of the piece, Gaiman reads from his newest book The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

One of my favorite moments is when Gaiman says, “Imagining things is the point of it all…it is not a waste of time.”

Listen to this interview and see what imaginings you can conjure along the way.

Aug 26

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Dialogue tips I learned from reading Elmore Leonard

My favorite books are fantasy, paranormal, some horror, and stories about anything strange or extraordinary. But I’ve also read many classics, crime stories, and mysteries. When another writer told me a few years ago that I should study Elmore Leonard’s novels to see how he writes dialogue, it took me awhile to pick up one of his books, but when I finally did, I was blown away.

My first foray into Leonard territory was the novel Road Dogs about bank robber Jack Foley and street-wise Cundo Rey who meet in prison and quickly become friends, referring to themselves as Road Dogs. Foley is released two weeks before Rey who insists that Foley stay at his home—but warning him not to mess with his girlfriend Dawn (who really just wants to milk Rey out of his money). Below is an excerpt early on in the book, before either man is released from prison. Read more

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