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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Mar 18

An on-the-job lesson in the art of observing

Last week, I was sitting in my cube at work when I heard the squeak and clatter of a cart being wheeled down the aisle near my desk. Since it was on the other side of the wall, I couldn’t see it, but I could hear the man who was pushing the cart sing as he rolled along.

He stopped on the other side of the cube wall near the water machine. I heard the thunk of a big jug of water as he replaced an empty one with the new, then the gurgle of water as it settled in. During all this, the man sang the Michael Jackson song, “The Way You Make Me Feel.” (He had a great voice too.)

As this was happening, I heard the sound of two men talking as they walked towards us down the hall discussing lunch and if the weather might be nice and if they should go out for lunch. The man pushing the cart stopped singing long enough to tell them, “It’s a lovely day.” He resumed singing, and I heard the ding of the elevator bell as he wheeled and bumped his cart into the elevator.

As I reflected on what I’d just heard, I realized that I had a picture in my mind of the scene on the other side of the wall, even though I didn’t see any of the “characters.” It also occurred to me that I probably picked up more sensory details that were auditory due to not being able to see, but only hear, the action around me.

I imagine if I’d been able to watch the action take place, I might have relied more on what I saw than heard, and I might have missed some of the auditory details. Read more

Mar 15

“Live at fever pitch,” and other advice by bestselling authors

Author Ray Bradbury, incredibly prolific throughout his life, penned several novels and over 600 short stories. He also gave many entertaining interviews sharing his writing advice to up-and-coming writers.

I especially love his advice to “live at fever pitch.”

Below is a post with a 1970’s interview with Bradbury on his thoughts about the role of literature and art in society:

“Ray Bradbury: Literature is the Safety Valve of Civilization”

And, in case you haven’t see them already, check out the following links with Kurt Vonnegut and John Steinbeck:

The Shape of A Story: Writing Tips from Kurt Vonnegut

John Steinbeck’s Six Tips for the Aspiring Writer and His Nobel Prize Speech

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Mar 14

1 Comment

Is your book title odd? Check these out and vote for the weirdest one

Selecting the right title for your book is important. It draws readers in, helps set the tone for your story, and hints at what’s to come. It can also get the attention of booksellers, agents, and editors.

But what if your title is just plain weird?

Well, for one thing, you might win an award. You can learn more in this Huffington Post article about the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year.

I like weirdness. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by “How Tea Cosies Changed the World,” (I love a nice tea cosy but never realized they’d changed anything more than the temperature of my tea!). And then there’s “God’s Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis.” (Does it get any better than that for a title?)

Read about the other odd titles and then vote for your favorite.

While you’re at it, maybe you’ll find inspiration for creating your own title.

For more ideas about book titles, read these One Wild Word posts:

Four tips to choosing a book title
Pick a winning title for your novel, memoir or screenplay

Mar 1

2 Comments

The awkward art of writing sex scenes

“It is not sex that gives the pleasure, but the lover.” Marge Piercy

In The New Republic’s recent article, “The Smitten Word: The Awkward Art of Writing About Sex,“ author Sam Lipsyte writes about one of the most difficult subjects for writers to tackle–sex scenes.

He says the conventional wisdom that less is more is usually best, but it can also be a cop-out. He writes:

“Sometimes, though, you have to face the multi-spined beast head on. Be brave, and trust in your love of language and your love of sex. (Or lack of it.) Trust in the modern gods who guide your hand: Sad and Funny. Like it or not, these are the twin poles for most of our tiny thoughts and doings. Sad and Funny are both the world and how we withstand it.”

Read the rest of Lipsyte’s article for more do’s and don’ts of writing sex scenes.

You can also read my previous post “How to Write a Good Sex Scene.“

Feb 27

How to write surprise endings

In his book Plot & Structure,James Scott Bell has a great chapter on story endings. He writes about the different types of endings, including the twist or surprise ending.

In a way, all of our endings should incorporate surprise or the unexpected. We don’t want our stories to be so transparent that the reader can guess what comes next, eventually becoming bored with our story.

So how do authors come up with great twist endings? Bell admits he doesn’t know exactly as it’s not something that can be boiled down to a formula. But he does offer tips for helping us brainstorm possibilities. Read more

Feb 26

Can’t find the wild word you need? Make one up

You would think that with all the words in the world, you’d have no trouble finding the ones you need in your writerly pursuits. Not so.

Sometimes, the words we want may be the ones we have to make up.

I’ve been reading children’s and YA books recently and love the way the authors have created words. One of my favorites is, Frindle, by Andrew Clements and Brian Selznick. It’s a story about a boy who decides to convince his classmates to start calling a pen by the name Frindle. Soon his town has joined in and then the country.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, is a heartbreaking and funny story about a terminally ill girl who meets and falls in love with a boy she meets at a kids’ cancer support group. Here are several of the made-up words Green uses:

  • askingly
  • prostitutional
  • cancertastic
  • cancervania

Using odd and original words and word combinations help set a tone and voice for a story, as well as create unique nuances in characters. In some stories, authors invent whole languages. Read more

Feb 25

Three posts to help you mine your life for writing ideas

One of my goals this week is to brainstorm ideas for a series of new poems. I thought I’d go through some of our previous posts for writing inspiration.

I hope you find the following three posts helpful in your own quest for writing ideas:

“Exercises in memoir: finding your story” offers several exercises to help you mine your memory for anything from memoir to poetry to fiction.

“Embrace your day job for writing inspiration” offers a Ted Kooser poem and insights from Carly about finding writing ideas at work.

“Four way to cultivate writerly inspiration” lists more ways to find inspiring ideas.

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