onewildword

Feb 17

How to create a metaphor practice, part 1

Before I sit down and “go in” to my writing for the day, I like to do a few warm ups—kind of like a singer going through her repertoire before going on stage.

I might reread a few pages from the day before or maybe do a free-write on an aspect of my story I’m still trying to figure out. Sometimes, I’ll play around with creating metaphors or similes that I might use in my story. All of these are a great way to get my creative juices flowing.

Reminder: a simile compares two different things and usually uses the words “like” or “as” in the comparison; a metaphor describes two different things by stating that one thing is the other or has some of its qualities.

Simile: his eyes were as blue as the ocean

Metaphor: his eyes were the ocean

What are the benefits of creating a metaphor practice? Read more

Feb 13

1 Comment

Writing body language that empowers your character’s emotions

Let’s face it, writing body language is hard. In my first drafts, I either try to stay away from writing body language, or I just face the fact that it will be all cliched and awful and I’ll have to rewrite it from the ground up.

Thanks to writing teacher Margie Lawson, I’ve been learning tips for writing better body language and using tools like back-loaded sentences, cadence, and rhetorical devices.

For tips on writing body language with examples and break downs of those examples, read Margie’s latest post here.

Also, check out my earlier post, “Character emotions: two ways to write about the body,” that shows how author Dorothy Allison writes body language.

If you’d like to share some of your experiences or tips about writing about body language, please do so in the comments below.

Feb 12

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Polish your prose and enter a writing contest

Sending your writing out into the world is a good way to get recognition for all your hard work. My blogging partner Carol Despeaux should know. She was notified in December that she’d won 7th place in the Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards. Congratulations Carol! She’ll be receiving $50, recognition in Writer’s Digest magazine and promotion on WritersDigest.com, and a copy of the 2014 Poet’s Market.

To inspire you, I’ve listed several contests with upcoming deadlines. For information about other contests, check out writing magazines, including Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and Writer’s and Poets.

Ruminate magazine

Award: VanderMey Nonfiction Prize

Deadline: Feb. 15, 2014

Entry Fee: $18

Website: www.ruminatemagazine.com

Ruminate’s annual VanderMey Nonfiction Prize winner receives $1,500 and publication in the summer 2014 issues of the magazine. The runner up receives $200 and publication. Submit an essay or short memoir by Feb. 15. Visit the website for guidelines.

Pacific Northwest Writers Association

Award: First and second place is awarded in 12 categories, including children’s, middle grade, nonfiction/memoir, poetry, and various other genres

Deadline: Feb. 21, 2014

Entry Fee: $35 per entry for PNWA members, $50 per entry for non-members.

Website: PNWA Contest

Each entry receives two critiques. Winners are announced at the Summer Conference in front of writers, agents, and editors. First-place winners receive $700 and second-place winners receive $300. For contest rules and submission guidelines, visit the website.

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

Award: Donald Hall Prize in Poetry, Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, Novel, Creative Nonfiction

Deadline: Feb. 28, 2014

Entry Fee: $30 ($20 for AWP members)

Website: www.awpwriter.org/contests

Two prizes of $5,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a poetry collection and a short story collection. In addition, two prizes of $2,500 each and publication by a participating press are given annually for a novel and a book of creative nonfiction. Submit manuscripts online by Feb. 28. visit the website for guidelines.

Colorado Review

Award: Nelligan Prize (short story)

Deadline: March 14, 2014

Entry Fee: $15

Website: http://nelliganprize.colostate.edu

The Colorado Review awards a prize of $2,000 and publication annually for a short story. Current and former students of Colorado State University are not eligible. Submit a story of any length with a $15 entry fee by March 14. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for guidelines.

Feb 11

Make your setting active to keep your reader engaged

When reading other authors’ novels, do you ever find yourself skipping over the setting descriptions? I do. If that description goes on for more than a few paragraphs or, God forbid, a page, I’m annoyed.

I know some bestselling genre novels do this and get away with it, I think, because of the big names of the authors—they come from an earlier time (you know, when raptors roamed the earth). But, after a few weeks, they seem to fall off the list. Those books that tend to stay on the list for weeks and weeks (I’m thinking books like The Help and Water for Elephants), don’t annoy us with pages of dead description but have learned how to tell us what we need to know when we need to know it.

One way to keep your reader engaged in your story is to make sure your setting is active. Instead of dropping big chunks of setting description in your scene—which may have been all the rage when Jane Austin was alive but is a sure way to bore your reader to death now—is to drip in bits of description and to “make it active.” What do I mean by that?

The easiest way to explain is to show you a “before and after” example from my work-in-progress: Read more

Feb 10

1 Comment

Make lists to find out where to take your story next

I’ve been working on a children’s story off and on and find that I stop when I get stuck about where to take my character next. A post last week by Seth Godin, Exhaustive lists as a reliable tool for unstucking yourself, made me think of how I could use his technique to figure out where my character needs to go next in his quest. Thanks Seth!

Here are my examples of exhaustive lists to make when I’m stuck on a writing project.

All the possible names I could name each of my characters.
Every type of trouble I could inflict on a particular character.
Every source of help my character might seek to get out of trouble.
Every publisher that might be a fit for my story.
Book titles that would pique readers’ interest.
Editors or agents who might want to represent my work.
Out of-the-ordinary ways to market my story.
Publishing options from traditional to non-traditional.

The idea is to go crazy. List everything. Then team up with another writer friend and share your ideas. Together you’ll likely build even more crazy good ideas to push your writerly self forward.

Godin says that going beyond the obvious is where innovation lies.

Feb 6

1 Comment

Style is more than the arrangement of words on a page, part 2

In my previous post on the subject of style, I mentioned how style is not achieved by merely the order of words on the page but through all aspects of writing as they coalesce into a whole.

Another way of looking at style is through the words of author Lowell Cauffiel who says, “Style is not how a writer puts words together but what he perceives and how he thinks.” He says beginning writers often think of style as how words are put together—i.e. they think, “Should I write sparsely like Hemingway or use more words like Faulkner?”

Cauffiel says style is not about word techniques but how you perceive the world around you and how you relay that information. Read more

Feb 5