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Aug 12

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How to ground readers in a scene using killer details

The more I write scenes, the more aware of my surroundings I become. In “The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer,” Sandra Scofield says that, “the incidental movements and activities of characters help to define them, and the things they surround themselves with and use are part of who they are….What they do in response to events can be external signs of what they are feeling.”

We don’t want to interrupt the flow of a scene or dialogue by filling the scene with unnecessary detail but we do want enough detail to have our characters feel grounded in space and time and, if possible, we want to use details that can show who the characters are. Read more

Aug 8

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How one writer’s self-written obituary leaves a legacy

As a journalist, I had the opportunity to write a number of obituaries, including several for people who had gained notoriety for their standing in the community, accomplishments, or circumstances of their deaths. I always felt it was an honor to be able to tell these people’s stories.

Everyone has a story to tell, and obituaries are one way to share the essence of a person’s life. Obituaries become part of a community and a family’s history. As one who loves the power of words and the meaning they can impart, I was touched by the self-written obituary of Seattle editor and writer Jane Catherine Lotter, who in her final written words shared details of her life, her family, and her philosophy. Lotter died July 18, and her obituary was published in the The Seattle Times on July 28.

“I believe we are each of us connected to every person and everything on this Earth, that we are in fact one divine organism having an infinite spiritual existence. Of course, we may not always comprehend that. And really, that’s a discussion for another time. So let’s cut to the chase: I was given the gift of life, and now I have to give it back. This is hard. But I was a lucky woman, who led a lucky existence, and for this I am grateful. I first got sick in January 2010. When the cancer recurred last year and was terminal, I decided to be joyful about having had a full life, rather than sad about having to die. Amazingly, this outlook worked for me. (Well, you know, most of the time.) Meditation and the study of Buddhist philosophy also helped me accept what I could not change. At any rate, I am at peace. And on that upbeat note, I take my mortal leave of this rollicking, revolving world-this sun, that moon, that walk around Green Lake, that stroll through the Pike Place Market, the memory of a child’s hand in mine.” Read more

Aug 7

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How to create your own “dialogue cue” practice

In an earlier post, I wrote about some of the great tips I learned from writing guru Margie Lawson at the recent Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference.

Lawson coined the term “dialogue cues” to describe the psychological/emotional subtext around dialogue. (For a great discussion of subtext with examples, read The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter).

I’ve been experimenting with creating dialogue cues since Lawson’s class and made up my own “dialogue cue” practice as I did with metaphor practice.  Here’s what I do:

1.  Using one word or a short phrase make a list of attributes of your character—try using what Lawson calls “power words,” words that have an emotional or psychological impact on your reader.

The list for the antagonist in my current work might look like this: Sexy, Sensual, Ancient, Devious, Infectious, Hypnotic, Charming. Read more

Aug 6

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Six mental tricks to boost writing productivity

My friend Sue has a Jack Russell terrier named Roger who has springs in his feet. Whenever Sue plays a video game, Roger jumps up and down as if he’s playing along. Sometimes I feel like I have a Jack Russell in my brain springing around from thought to idea to thought again as I go through my day.

In my ongoing quest to calm my inner terrier and be more focused and productive with my writing and other tasks, I’ve figured out several mental tricks — mind games I can play with my brain — to help me get things done. These tips place structure around the daily chaos.

Prioritize your top three to five tasks. Each day, I think of the three or four most important things I need and want to do and write them on a Post It note that I stick to my computer monitor. This helps me focus on a manageable number of tasks that are absolute priorities. To decide my priorities, I ask myself these questions: What’s been grating on me? What would make me feel most relieved if I could knock the task off my list? What has a deadline attached to it? What would be most profitable? What would help me move a project forward to the next level? As the day goes by, I look at it to stay on track.

Follow the two- to five-minute rule. Some tasks really don’t take that much time to do but just seem like they do. Many e-mails can be dealt with in a few minutes or even less. Other things can easily be dispatched in five minutes. Knocking off a bunch of quick tasks gives momentum for all the more time consuming ones. Read more

Aug 5

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Have a writing project to finish this month? Join #ProjectAugust

I attend at least two writing conferences each year—the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association Conference and the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. Both are fun and offer great courses, events, and opportunities to network, but I mainly attend for the opportunity to fully, one hundred percent immerse myself in the profession of writing. Three entire days where I eat, sleep and dream everything writing.

Being part of a writing community is important to me because it immerses me in what I love and feeds my soul. This month, through author kc dyer’s blog, I have an opportunity to immerse myself in another kind of writing community.

Do you have a writing project or any writing goals you’d like to achieve this month? Need some extra motivation and a community to do it in?  Dyer is offering #ProjectAugust this month—an opportunity to make yourself accountable to finish whatever project you choose. Read more

Aug 1

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How Stephen King and his wife created a new generation of novelists: imagination exercises

Earlier this week, the New York Times ran an article by Susan Dominus about novelist Stephen King and his family. In “Stephen King’s Family Business,” I learned that two of King’s three children have gone into the “family” business of writing novels and one son is married to another novelist. Wow. Can you imagine a family of novelists?

One thing that struck me was when King explained that as he and his novelist wife, Tabitha, put their children to bed at night, they didn’t read stories to their children, instead they asked their children to tell them stories. What a great idea and what a wonderful way to encourage young people’s imaginations.

Even as an adult, I try to think of ways to stimulate my imagination such as:

* I practice oral storytelling whenever I can, paying attention to my audience to see if I’ve hooked them. Read more

Jul 31

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Write what you don’t know and what you do

You’ve heard the writing adage, “write what you know.” Writing about what you know has a benefit of giving your writing a sense of authority — the level of detail and accuracy that makes readers feel confident and immersed in the story or ideas.

But I especially like to write about what I don’t know. For one thing, I’m a learning junkie, so I get to feed my curiosity while I write. And when it comes to some forms of writing, we don’t know what we know until we engage in writing, which is an act of discovery.

Think about how you can blend what you know with what you don’t know.

Think of your experiences and knowledge as an element or starting point. A place you know well might be your setting, but everything that happens could be brand new. Use what you know, the details and images, as a way to free your imagination. Then trust your creative powers to invent something new.

Here are two advantages to embracing the unknown: You’ll widen your writing possibilities. You aren’t limiting yourself. Think of yourself as a writing explorer. You’ll bring a fresh perspective. You might see something in an original, creative way that reveals a new spin, plot twist, or original idea.

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