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Nov 4

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Create a chaos board to capture your writing ideas

When I’m working on a new project, my mind spins. I make connections from all the whirling ideas and even think of totally unrelated ideas that I might turn into a story or poem. I capture these images and ideas on whatever I have at hand. If I don’t have a notebook nearby, I write on an index card, envelope, or a sticky note.

It feels chaotic to have all this creative flotsam floating around. So when I read about something that author Debra Marquart did to corral her bits and pieces of ideas, I knew I had to try it.

When she was working on her memoir during an artist’s residency at the Ragdale Foundation, she created a chaos board. Read more

Oct 31

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What stops an agent from wanting to read more of your story?

One of the most popular events each year at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference is a workshop called SIWC Idol.  Think American Idol except for writers. Anybody who’s brave enough can submit the first page of their manuscript to be read in front of a panel of judges—four literary agents.

Author Jack Whyte, in his deep and resonant voice, reads a random selection of first pages in front of the 200 or so writers. He reads until at least two of the agents raise their hand indicating this is where they’d stop reading if they were reading the submission in their office. The agents then explain why they stopped where they did.

I was lucky enough to be one of the few submissions where a hand wasn’t raised. But what exactly stops an agent from wanting to read further?

  1. Too much description up front that’s not interwoven into the action and dialogue. A long paragraph of description. Read more

Oct 30

How to keep readers turning the page: tips from bestselling author Diana Gabaldon

How to keep readers turning the page was the title of a workshop I attended last weekend by author Diana Gabaldon at the Surrey Writers’ Conference.

Gabaldon, bestselling author of Outlander now being made into a TV series, knows what she’s talking about. She has an avid fan base and for good reason—she knows how to tell a good story and how to keep her readers turning pages.

Have you ever read a book or heard of one that was poorly written but developed a big following? Several come to mind that I won’t name here. But there are reasons for their success.

One bestseller from a few years back was set in an art museum and, despite trying to read the novel three times, I could never get past the first third of the book. But others evidently did as it sold millions of copies and spawned a movie. This book kept readers turning the page because the author used cliffhangers at the end of each chapter. Read more

Oct 29

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How writing anything in your notebook is a promise to your muse

If you ever feel stuck, out of ideas, or simply so busy you can’t fit in the writing time you wish for, know this: Your muse will reward you if you write anything at all in your notebook.

Something about writing even a word or describing an image reassures your subconscious that you’re present and engaged. By this very act of recording a snippet of conversation or a description of a scene, you’ll reinforce your connection to your writing self.

You’ll retain your momentum. You won’t feel such a gap in your writing practice, and your muse will present you later with ideas and images that you can use in your current or future writing.

Exercise: Double-check you’re carrying a notebook with you today. Maybe you’ll only have 20 minutes while you’re waiting for an appointment or 15 minutes while you wait to pick up a child from school. It’s enough time to write down an image, a description that might go in your current manuscript, or something you’ve observed as you go about the day. Write it down and then spend five or ten minutes letting your mind drift. Think about it and let it develop in your mind. I guarantee you’ll feel happier and on track with your writing, even if you don’t have as much time to write as you wish you did.

Oct 28

Listen to your characters and use these six dialogue tips to advance your story

Writing dialogue is more than just putting words in your characters’ mouths. Try listening to your characters and find out what they have to say to tell the story. By using this practice of listening, you may find unexpected meaning and your story may go in surprising but satisfying directions.

Here are six tips for writing dialogue:

Show instead of tell. Craft dialogue that shows feelings instead of specifically stating how the characters feel. Whenever you start to use the word “felt,” stop and see how you can show that emotion through dialogue instead of telling the reader how your character felt. This showing technique will put the reader squarely in the action.

Advance the story’s meaning with descriptions of character movement and body language. Show how characters gesture, sit, stand or move around as they talk and how their body language mirrors inner emotions.

Don’t let your characters directly answer each others’ questions. A more indirect approach hints at the story below the surface and adds depth.

Read more

Oct 24

Be a writer activist by penning a love letter to a stranger

Hannah Brencher believes the world could use a little more love. And she believes in the power of the written word to spread it.

Brencher grew up receiving handwritten letters from her mother. When she became depressed in college, she found recovery in writing love letters for strangers to find. Her campaign has become a global initiative, The World Needs More Love Letters, which sends handwritten letters to those in need of a boost.

If you believe in the power of the pen and paper, watch the 5-minute video, then visit MoreLoveLetters to learn more about how you can spread love in your community and the world.

For another way to spread global understanding with your pen, read my post, Write a postcard to spread global understanding.

Oct 23

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Get set for NaNoWriMo with these tips

November is almost here and that means National Novel Writing Month kicks off. If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is a month-long writing project in which writers write a 50,000-word draft of a novel in 30 days.

Novels can be any genre or language. Planning and extensive notes are allowed but pre-written material can’t go into the body of the novel for it to count. To complete the project in 30 days, you’ll need to write an average of 1,667 words a day.

A deadline is one of the best incentives to get writing and NaNoWriMo can help writers get into that non-analytical state of mind and write a draft from start to finish, a key step to ultimately finishing a novel.

While most novels are longer than 50,000 words, meeting the goal and “winning,” can mean writing a 50,000-word novel or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be finished later. According to Wikipedia, notable novels of roughly 50,000 words include The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Brave New World, and The Great Gatsby.

Here are a few tips for writing massive numbers of words in 30 days. Read more

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