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Posts from the ‘Writing Exercises’ Category

Sep 7

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Two posts to inspire a do-it-yourself writing retreat

If you’re looking for ways to generate new work or push forward on an existing project, consider holding your own writing retreat. Retreats can be a great way to push aside the distractions that deter us from writing.

These posts detail how two writers approached holding a writing retreat alone or with others.

On her blog Book of Kells, Kelli Russell Agodon details how she and friends met to generate work using writing exercises. Agodon shares the writing exercises and benefits of doing them.

Jason Theodor wrote about his do-it-yourself writing retreat complete with tips from setting up a writing space to finding the time to get away.

Aug 16

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Try these techniques to amplify emotion in your writing

I like to say that good writing is about getting the right words in the right order.

In the novel, A Feather on the Breath of God, author Sigrid Nunez infuses her sentences with a tone of sadness and distance by using several techniques, including lists and a rhetorical device called anaphora.

Anaphora is a technique that involves repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences. It lends emphasis and can enhance the emotional impact. Read more

Aug 10

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How artists can benefit from meditation

Earlier this week, Carly wrote a blog post featuring a talk David Lynch gave about the effects of meditation on creativity.

Meditation is a wonderful tool that has added immeasurable benefits to my life, including:

  • Increased awareness of myself and my motivations;
  • An expanding of consciousness—I see things more clearly than I used to;
  • Increase in creativity; Read more

Aug 8

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What childhood books do you remember?

From the time I learned how to read, books have made a huge impact on me. I’ll never forget my third-grade teacher reading, “Where the Red Fern Grows,” and bringing me and my classmates to tears.

Other books I remember:

Charlotte’s Webby E.B. White. Wilbur the pig befriends a spider named Charlotte.

Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow. Celia Garth transforms from a fashionable dressmaker to a patriot spy during the Revolutionary War. Read more

Aug 1

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How to create fiction that moves readers

Literary agent and writing teacher Donald Maass says the most successful novels of the early 21st Century are beautifully written while telling powerful stories. He predicts less focus on genre and more focus on fiction that moves people.

What moves people? What connects readers to the heart of our characters? Emotions.

At the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference last month, Maass spoke about how to achieve an emotional landscape in our novels.

He says to ask yourself what new emotions you’ve experienced this year.  Then ask: is there a place in your manuscript where a character can feel this emotion? Read more

Jul 30

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Six elements of great short stories

In literary agent April Eberhardt‘s short story workshop at the recent Pacific Northwest Writer’s Contest, she gave us a list of six elements to look for in stories.

Eberhardt suggests that we write our story first and then overlay these six elements on it to help polish our work.

Six elements of short stories:

Setting.  Set the stage close to the beginning of the story. In my earlier post, I quote poet Nelson Bentley, “Give the readers a place to stand, and then you can take them anywhere.” Read more

Jul 18

Using difficult emotions to make your story stronger

Seven months into the year, and I realize I’ve been through so much: the passing of my mother, our two-week remodel that turned into nine-weeks, a mini-family reunion, and both expected and unexpected travel. I’ve had many different stressors and felt a gamut of emotions: sadness, grief, fear, love, joy, fatigue (well, maybe that last one isn’t exactly an emotion, but it should be!)

As I work on my next book—imagining my story and going deeper into my characters—I realize that my seven months have been a blessing, in more ways than one. Read more

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