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Posts by Carol Despeaux Fawcett

Jan 2

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What writerly traits run in your family?

My father was a difficult person to  live with but, in his own way, he was very philosophical. He was a voracious reader of daily news and current events. He loved learning new things and was always calling me and my cousins into the kitchen where he sat on his favorite stool and read interesting excerpts to us. Granted, there was a lot of eye rolling going on at the time, but over the years I gleaned his enthusiasm for reading, learning, and considering new ideas. Read more

Dec 31

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Goal setting: look back before you leap forward

Before I set my goals for 2013, I’ve been looking back on 2012. My mind instantly goes to what I didn’t accomplish, instead of what I did accomplish.

It’s easy to be hard on ourselves—we have all those voices from our past that’ve become part of who we are. We may eventually learn to banish them, or at least the more vocal voices, but at some level they’re always there, always willing to whisper sour-somethings in our ear.

As writers and artists we probably have even more voices in our head—especially if we’re taking time away from family or work in order to pursue our art that isn’t yet earning its keep.

One way to silence those voices is to make a list of what you DID accomplish over the last year. This will also give you a springboard to setting your 2013 goals. Read more

Dec 27

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Start the new year by journaling

With the new year almost here, it’s a prime time to get into the practice of keeping a journal. By creating a journaling discipline, you’ll find you establish routines in other areas of your writing life. Below are three previous posts about how journaling can further your writing and storytelling mojo: 

“Three ways to unleash your inner journaler:” if you’re trying to decide what kind of journal you want to keep, check out these tips.

“Record significant daily events in the 5-Minute Journal:” discover this app for recording significant daily events, ideas for writing projects, or character traits that you notice while out in public. 

“My favorite writing journals“ is a fun post on some of my favorite types of journals. 

Enjoy! 

Dec 25

Merry Christmas from One Wild Word

Happy Holidays from OneWildWord

Whatever your faith or belief system, the holidays are a time to spend time with our loved ones and remind them how much they mean to us.

Over the years, I’ve tried to find ways to simplify my holiday. Instead of buying my neighbors the usual gift basket, I made homemade lasagna. They appreciated having to cook one less meal during a busy, sometimes stressful season. Read more

Dec 21

Three posts to help you revise your writing

Having recently finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I’m beginning to revise some of my 50,000 words. Below are three of my favorites posts about revision techniques and strategies. As I continue to work on my story, I find it helpful to keep these tips in mind. I hope you find them useful as well:

Two Steps to Stronger Verbs shows how to make your verbs stronger, which will make your stories and poetry stronger.

Four Ways to Revise Scenes helps examine scenes for these four key elements.

Edit Out Literary Throat Clearing to Make Your Work Stronger is a post about eliminating empty words or phrases in your writing.

Dec 19

When to use summary instead of scene in your story

I like author and writing mentor Martha Alderson’s definition of story.  Alderson, also known as “The Plot Whisperer,” says that, “Story is conflict shown in scene.”

In order to have the most impact, our stories should be written mostly in scene—in moment by moment detail. But we should also remember that a story made up entirely of scenes can inject too much conflict and exhaust the reader.

Summary is a place to rest. It’s a place where time is compressed. It’s tells the reader the events that aren’t important enough to show in detail. Read more

Dec 17

Writing as a path to healing

Since Friday, I, like many people around the world, have experienced an array of emotions–grief, anguish, anger, and compassion, among others.

I originally began writing because I wanted to tell people’s stories. My mother developed sudden onset dementia and writing was my way to try to understand it. As I saw my mother regress before my eyes, writing about it and talking about it helped me process my grief and my sadness. Read more

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