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Dec 23

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How to tell when you have a good idea for a story

In her short ebook, “2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better and Writing More of What You Love,” author Rachel Aaron shares tips on how she went from writing two thousand words per writing session to ten thousand. For more details, see Carly’s earlier post.

In Aaron’s chapter “How I Plot a Novel in 5 Easy Steps,” she says that Step 0 is deciding whether the idea you have for your story or novel is the idea that you really want to spend your time on. How do you know if it is?

1.  You can’t stop thinking about it. You’re doing the dishes or some other menial chore and you find yourself totally lost in your thoughts about your story. Or, you’re at work and can’t seem to focus because your antagonist is whispering in your ear about his evil plans for your main character. Read more

Dec 19

Writing poetry as a way to explore the unspeakable

In this short video, Poet Adrienne Rich discussed love, poetry, and reading at the 2001 ChilePoesia.

She said, “…it’s in the writing of the poem that you find what you’re not saying and it’s in the writing of the poem that you find what you’re still having to push up against… it’s not so much a question of thinking, but of what the imagination allows itself…poetry was always for me a kind of probe into the unspeakable, because it was a way of speaking indirectly about things I couldn’t speak directly about…”

For a special treat, listen to Rich read her poem “Planetarium.”

Read Carly’s post for more tips on “How to draw from life to write poetry.”

Dec 18

Celebrate your family history this holiday season with the “Do You Know? scale

If you’re writing a memoir or family history, holiday family gatherings are good times to learn more about your family history.

As I wrote the draft of my memoir, I turned to my knowledge of family history I gained from stories shared at family dinners, Christmas parties, and sitting around the campfire on camping trips.

Research indicates that telling family stories and creating traditions can make families stronger and give children a sense of stability.

Bruce Feiler, author of The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More, wrote about Emory University professor and psychologist Marshall Duke’s research into what makes strong families,  and observations by Duke’s wife Sara, a psychologist, who found that children face challenges better when they have deep knowledge about their families.

A “Do You Know Scale” was developed by researchers to test family knowledge and predict children’s emotional health and happiness. The questions are also valuable research starters for anyone who also wants to write about their family. The “Do You Know” questions provide valuable information on their own, but also spark further discussion.

Here are several of the questions from the scale:

  • Do you know how your parents met? Y N
  • Do you know where some of your grandparents grew up? Y N
  • Do you know the source of your name? Y N
  • Do you know which person in your family you look most like? Y N

For more insight, read Feiler’s article, The stories that bind us in the New York Times. Then read Marshall Duke’s Huffington Post article, The Stories That Bind Us: What Are the Twenty Questions?, for the complete list and additional information about the study.

On a related note, in case you missed it, read Carol’s post, Lessons in character development: parental influences, for her take on how understanding family dynamics can help you create characters.

Dec 17

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Using the poetry in us to influence our writing

“….Everybody, even people who don’t read poems, have poetry in their heads…,” says poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger.

Filmed as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, the 4-minute video below features poets Enzensberger and Tracy K. Smith, who discuss the nature of poetry and their process of working together.

Enzensberger says we find poetry in nursery rhymes and prayer and other everyday occurrences. Poetry is part of the fabric of our lives. Poetry can be a way in to other writing formats.

Watch the video below and then check out my earlier post, “Using poetry to enrich your prose” to see more ways that poetry can inform our lives and our writing.

http://vimeo.com/47090158

Dec 16

How to write your annual holiday letter

It’s time to don your Christmas socks, brew a cup of tea, and write your annual holiday letter.

For tips and ideas, check out these past posts. In The holidays are upon us: Tips for writing a letter to friends and family, you’ll find ideas for what to write about. Then read, Apply your writerly skills to a holiday letter to find format and style tips.

Happy writing!

 

Dec 12

Last-minute gifts that help writers capture their best ideas

Ideas are a writer’s currency. If you’re looking for a writerly gift for a friend or even yourself, here are three ideas for gifts that spark and preserve your best ideas.

Aqua Notes – Waterproof Notepad – When I’m stuck, and even when I’m not, taking a shower is a sure way to clarify a writing problem, think of a title for a story, or come up with the perfect character name. Something about water makes ideas pop to the surface, and my Aqua Notes has saved many an idea.

The Writer’s Block: 786 Ideas to Jump-Start Your Imagination – Do you ever experience dreaded writer’s block? Laugh in its face with this real writer’s block. $10.26

Dream Essentials Nite Note, Night Time Notepad with Fisher Ball Point Space Pen – This nifty pad lights up when the pen that comes with it is removed from the pad. The Fisher Space Pen that comes with it is perfect for capturing those ideas when you’re lying in bed in the dark. $14.95.

In case you missed it this week, see Carol’s post, Holiday gift ideas for the writer in your life.

Dec 11

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Lessons in character development: parental influences

Our parents give us our first view of the world. We incorporate their lessons into our lives and, sometimes, we spend the rest of our lives trying to unlearn these beliefs and developing our own worldview.

The other day, I was wondering what the characters in my work-in-progress have learned from their parents about love.

Growing up, I learned some very specific things about love:  Read more

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