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Posts by Carol Despeaux Fawcett

May 7

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Creating high-concept story ideas, part I

Recently, at our local Field’s End Writing Conference, author Shelia Roberts spoke about high-concept novels. Whenever I hear the term “high-concept,” it always brings images of espionage thrillers like John le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or a complex, multi-charactered story like Stephen King’s The Stand.

But what I learned from Roberts was that “high-concept” doesn’t necessarily mean exceedingly complex. A high-concept idea is one that is unique, unusual, or stands out in some way. Roberts describes it as, “stepping outside the box.” Read more

May 3

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Write to your white hot center

In my writing group last night, somebody talked about how as writers we often write around what we really want to say.

Think of your idea, story, or poem as a bright yellow sunflower or maybe a snow-white lily. Around this flower flits a multi-colored butterfly. He dances, darts, and flutters around the flower until he finally hones in and lands.

Writing can be like that. Sometimes, it takes me a while to warm up to what I want to say and that’s okay. Writing is a process of discovery. The key is in the editing after the initial dance of pen and paper. In a poem, I may cut the first stanza or even first half of the poem. In my memoir, the current chapter one is not the chapter one I first wrote. Read more

May 1

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What I learned by reading poetry in front of the Rotary club

Yesterday was the last day of National Poetry Month. We had a fun month here in the Pacific Northwest. It seems as if each year, more and more local community organizations get involved in promoting the arts.

Last night, I joined eight other poets for a reading at a local Rotary Club where we were featured in their program. I almost didn’t go to the reading because reading your work in front of other poets who you know is one thing, but reading your work in front of a group of strangers with probably no poetry background is quite another.

But, forcing myself to go fearward, I attended the event and I’m glad I did. We ate great food, had fun, and shared our poetry with others in the community who weren’t familiar with poetry. And, I think we dispelled a few myths about poets along the way: only one poet wore a beret, only one poet wore all black, and nobody dangled a cigarette from their lips while reading (though one poet did read her poem “19 Cigarettes” about when she tried to quit smoking). Read more

Apr 27

Famous writers’ rules of writing

Writers are apprentices. We are constantly trying to polish our craft. I know some writers who’ve written for years, are best-selling authors, and still strive to learn and grow as much as they can.

You can’t teach writing like you can brain surgery–there are just too many variables but you can head the advice of those best-selling authors. Everybody has their own method but here are a few tips from the pros:

George Orwell’s Five Rules for Effective Writing

Robert Heinlein’s Rules of Writing

Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing Plus Some – this post includes Leonard’s rules plus other authors, including Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, and Neil Gaiman.

Exercise: Create your own “rules” list and hold yourself accountable to them for 30 days. I’ll post my list soon.

Apr 25

Get your RDA of poetry here

As National Poetry Month draws to a close, make sure you get your RDA (recommended daily allowance) of poetry!

This 15-minute Ted.com talk by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins  should give you the boost you need. With his trademark wit, Mr. Collins shares a project in which several of his poems were turned into animated films in a collaboration with the Sundance Channel. Five of them are included in this entertaining and inspiring talk — don’t miss the hilarious final poem!

Apr 23

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Do your characters have secrets?

When developing characters–hair color, size, likes, dislikes, hobbies, background–do you think about what secrets they might have? Secrets can make your character more complex, human, and interesting.

For ideas on the types of secrets people have, listen to Frank Warren’s 11-minute Ted.com talk below about an art project he started back in 2004. He handed out 3,000 postcards and asked people to anonymously mail in their secrets. He has since collected over half a million secrets and posts them weekly on his website www.postsecret.com.

Warren says, “Secrets can remind us of the countless human dramas, of frailty and heroism playing out silently in the lives of people all around us.”

What secrets might your characters have?

Apr 19

Guerrilla grouting and writing

End of week 5, emergency remodel.

In February, our upstairs bathroom sprung a leak that dripped down the wall and through the ceiling downstairs. We wanted to replace the bathroom and kitchen floors anyway, so we hired our contractor friend.

We live in a 100-year-old house and, as these projects tend to go, one thing led to another and our two-week job is now almost into week six.

I appreciate our contractor because I’m about as handy with a hammer as an elephant is with a paint brush (excepting those amazing elephant artists). I do have an awesome pink hammer but the most action it’s seen is when I accidentally dropped it on my foot when I brought it home from the hardware store.

Since my contractor will be gone for the next week, I volunteered to do whatever needed to be done in order to keep the momentum going. I want my house back. I want my life back. And I have a deadline because of an event in May. So–my job this weekend is to grout the shower tiles and finish grouting the floors. Read more

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