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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Dec 15

Thirty-two best books of 2011

Mary Ann Gwinn, book editor for The Seattle Times, recently published a list of top 32 books for 2011. Read her article here, including her criteria for placing a book on the list. She admits any “top books” list is “squishy” and depends on the criteria you use. I’m sure we could find many more “top books” list for 2011.

What I love about The Seattle Times list is the variety of books represented: fiction, non-fiction, and even poetry.

As a writer, I love reading the blurbs for each book. One of the most useful tips I learned as I began writing my current novel was to have a one or two sentence bullet for my book that contains my original idea. This helps keep me focused as I write and will come in handy as I begin to pitch and promote the book. Also, book blurbs are goldmines for ideas. Read more

Dec 14

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Deepen your memoir by imagining character thoughts and feelings

One of the challenges of writing a memoir is describing feelings, reactions, and events that we didn’t witness. By the time I began writing my memoir, several family members who were central to my story had died. Some events happened before I was born. And in some cases, I was too young then to understand the significance or meaning of some dramatic moments that fueled my story.

I interviewed family and friends for insight, but in some cases, the passage of time dimmed some memories, or the family just didn’t have answers. Based on what I knew about my family, I used a technique I learned from writer Maxine Hong Kingston to fully imagine scenes and my characters’ feelings. Read more

Dec 6

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Memoir “The Tender Bar” inspires unique character descriptions

“The Tender Bar,” tops my list of favorite memoirs, not only because of the voice and emotional pull of the story, but for how it inspired me to think more creatively about character description in my own writing.

J.R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wrote The Tender Bar about growing up without a father but with the guidance of his Uncle Charlie and a group of other men at their neighborhood bar who filled in as father figures.

Here’s how Moehringer uses cultural icons to describe Joey D, one of the men from the bar:

“…a giant with a tuft of gingery hair atop his spongy orange head, and features glued to the head at odd angles. He seemed to be made of spare parts from different Muppets, like a Sesame Street Frankenstein — head of Grover, face of Oscar, thorax of Big Bird.”

Moehringer goes on to write: “Though hulking and slouch-shouldered, Joey D had the manic energy of a small man. He speed walked, fluttered his hands, spoke in word spasms that left him winded. Like hay fever sneezes, whole sentences exploded from his mouth in one burst: Ocean’sgoingtoberoughtoday!” Read more

Dec 5

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Using poetry to enrich your prose

French writer and philosopher Voltaire wrote that poetry is the music of the soul. He also said, “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.”

Besides being an end in itself, poetry also helps me dream up ideas for the novel I’m writing.

Some people create storyboards or collages to help them brainstorm. I’ve done this but, recently, I wanted to delve deeper into an idea I was developing so I decided to write a poem about it.

Poetry is all about getting the right words in the right combination in a small space (well, at least smaller than a novel). Poetry is about condensing details and sense impressions, and using metaphor to evoke an emotional response in our readers. When I write poetry, it forces me to go deeper into my subject and think of it in new ways. I can relate to what Voltaire said because poetry becomes an echo that stirs up images and ideas on the periphery of my original idea or thought that I may not have otherwise seen. Read more

Nov 30

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Three ways to start writing your book now

People often tell me they want to write a book. They’re stuck, they say, because they just don’t know where to start. The thought of writing a book can be daunting. In fact, the more I learn about writing, the more I feel the enormity of what it takes to create a well-written manuscript. Compiled from workshops, personal experience, and advice from mentors, try these ideas to get your story moving.

Write the ending first. Many writers have an ending to a story in mind before they even know what comes first. If you know your ending, write it out first and use it as a springboard to create the story that comes before. If you know your ending, you likely have a sense of the themes and emotional throughline that will drive it forward. Read more

Nov 25

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Give yourself permission to play on the page

Sometimes, I take the title of “writer” too seriously. I worry and fret about my stories and characters. I stress out that every choice I make is the wrong one. When I get in this mode, I forget the joy of writing. I forget why I write in the first place. Writing, I’ve discovered, is not for the faint of heart. This is why I’m so excited as I read author Alan Watt’s book, The 90-Day Novel: Unlock the story within.

Instead of promoting a stiff set of rules for finishing your first draft in 90 days, Watt encourages writers to spend a good amount of time loosely playing on the page. He has a list of prompts or questions to write about from the protagonist’s and/or antagonist’s point of view. He suggests setting a timer for five minutes per prompt and just writing down what comes, not worrying about whether or not you’re going to use it. Read more

Nov 22

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Three common pitfalls that prevent a compelling beginning

One of the pleasures of reading a new book is sinking into the world of the story. But almost nothing annoys me more than being ripped out of my dream state by having to back up and re-read the beginning of a story to figure out what is going on.

I experienced this recently and in my quest to be a better writer, I decided to analyze a few stories to figure out what was pulling me out of the story world. Here’s what I discovered:

The author introduces too many characters at once. Readers have a hard time keeping the characters straight and knowing their roles in the story because they haven’t had a chance to get to know them yet. Read more

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