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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Nov 29

Research made easy: the five-click Google

Writers are fantastic procrastinators. We push papers, arrange paperclips, make those gigantic rubber band balls, and get sucked into the internet faster than the Roadrunner can outrun Mr. Coyote. We use any excuse to delay actually doing what we’re supposed to be doing: writing.

Research is another example. Yes, sometimes we need to do research for our stories or novels but too many of us can get sucked into that bottomless pit never to emerge again. I can’t count the number of times I’ve logged online to “do a little research” and find myself, hours later, knee deep in the different dialects that skinwalkers use. Read more

Nov 28

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The holidays are upon us: Tips for writing a letter to friends and family

It’s that time of year. Time to dress up the dog in a Christmas sweater, sprinkle tinsel on a tree, and write the beloved holiday letter. Just in case you’re at a loss for what to write about, here are a few prompts:

Milestones — Note anything you’ve knocked off your bucket list (if you don’t have a bucket list, start one!). In her letter last year, one friend reported her twins had graduated from college.

Life changes — How have you changed in the past year and how did the changes come about?

Plans for the future — What are your hopes and plans for the future? Give your readers a sneak peek of life to come.

For even more ideas and insight about writing holiday letters, check out my Apply your writerly skills to a holiday letter post from last year.

Nov 23

Author Salman Rushdie tells how to create realistic fantasy

Salman Rushdie said he always wanted to write a book with a flying carpet in it, and he finally did. He says the way to make a fantastical idea seem real and believable is to ask questions about the nature of the idea and relay the truth of it to your reader.

The 3-minute video below shows the process he goes through to make any idea believable:

Nov 21

Develop your inner story god by asking questions

Someone once told me that in our questions lie the answers. As writers, we know the importance of asking questions. We ask ourselves questions about our story, characters, plot, and even point of view.

Yesterday, I was trying to figure out how to integrate 1st and 3rd person points of view in my current manuscript without it feeling forced or artificial. As I sat in the sauna reading Chris Baty’s NaNoWriMo book “No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days,” I asked myself, “What would it take for this combination of different points of view to work and flow organically from my story?”

I played around with a couple scenarios and then an idea came to me. Instead of giving my protagonist the ability I was going to give her, I thought of another ability that would suit the story better and solve my problem—allowing the 1st and 3rd person points of view to grow naturally from the story. This new ability came from my protagonist’s backstory, was nurtured by her profession and was unusual and unexpected enough to pervert my readers’ expectations. Viola! Story problem solved. Read more

Nov 15

Use a voice journal to capture your character’s original voice

Have you ever written a passage of dialogue between two characters who sounded just alike?  I have. After awhile, I couldn’t tell which character was speaking. With a novel full of characters, it can be difficult to make each and every one stand out with a distinctive voice.

One way to find a character’s distinctive voice is keep a Voice Journal. Author James Scott Bell says he’ll do this if he finds one of his characters is starting to sound too dull or pedestrian. Read more

Nov 13

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Are your characters too polite?

Since the day we are born, we’re taught to be polite. Civilization depends on politeness. As writers, this can be a handicap. We strive for drama and conflict in our stories. Everyday, we strive to overcome our conditioning.

Reading over a chapter of my novel this morning, I realized the characters in one scene are far too polite. It’s not a scene that requires them to be rude or in conflict with one another but my dialogue could be shorter, punchier, and more direct.

The remedy is easy. Among the plethora of advice I picked up this weekend at the StoryMasters conference was a tip from author and writing mentor James Scott Bell. Sometimes, he says, he’ll just write dialogue down the page–a back and forth between the characters with no tags, actions or anything else. This can help us get in the flow of the exchange. Later, we can go back and add the other stuff in. Read more

Nov 9

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Write from the heart to capture your reader’s heart

Sometimes, I forget the simple things. Working on my fantasy novel, I’ve been caught up in figuring out plot points and events and looking at the larger picture which is great–all stuff that needs to be done. But I’ve also been reminded lately of the most important aspect of telling a good story–writing from the heart.

I gave a poetry reading last weekend with two other poets and several people came up after the reading to tell me their favorite poems. In every case, they were the poems that I wrote one hundred percent from the heart–from that space of total abandon and honesty. Read more

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