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Apr 3

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Read and share your favorite poems during National Poetry Month

It’s time to celebrate poetry.

In the U.S., it’s National Poetry Month, and you’ll find plenty of ways to enjoy and share poetry this month. Attend a poetry reading (or organize one yourself), carry a poem in your pocket, or send someone a letter with a poem enclosed.

For more ways to celebrate National Poetry Month in your community, check out this list of 30 ideas.

If you’d like to enrich your life with poetry all year long, sign up to receive a poem a day via e-mail.

To mark this month, many state’s are holding events. Choose your state to find local poets, poems, events, literary journals, writing programs, poetry organizations, and more.

Apr 2

Use cause and effect to further your plot

Martha Alderson, otherwise known as The Plot Whisperer, defines plot as, “a series of scenes arranged by cause and effect to create dramatic action filled with tension and conflict to further the characters emotional development and create thematic significance.”

In her book, Blockbuster Plots, Alderson breaks down the above statement an element at a time to explain what each part means.

Cause and effect means that the events that happen in one scene cause the events that happen in the next scene. For the most part, we want our stories to flow from scene to scene and not feel episodic or random. Episodic scenes can make a novel feel disconcerting and choppy.  (Of course, this isn’t a hard and fast rule—I’ve read purposely episodic memoirs or novels where the author intended this. But, the key here is the authors knew what they were doing and used the technique on purpose).

If you want to hear more on cause and effect by Alderson watch this 7-minute video:

Apr 1

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What are your writing quirks?

As an editor, I’ve found that all writers — including me — have patterns of writing that I have to fix during editing. Over time, you learn some of your own quirks. But when you work on the same piece of writing day in day out, you get too close to your sentences to spot everything.

That’s when other writers who come to your work with a fresh perspective are invaluable.

I met with my writer’s group yesterday and feedback revealed overused and unnecessary words, repeated phrases or sentences left over from when I moved sections around, and passive writing that I missed when I read my manuscript for the umpteenth time.

At a certain point, it’s impossible to effectively edit our own work. Our brains glaze over.

If you start figuring out these patterns (with a little help from your friends), you’ll become a better writer. You’ll be more effective at self-editing because you’ll have a new level of awareness. Read more

Mar 29

Three posts to enhance your story’s emotional landscape

Below are three posts from me and Carly about enhancing the emotional landscape of your characters and stories.

In the post “Find your story’s emotional throughline” Carly writes about a babysitting experience she had where she learned about subtext–finding the real meaning beneath an event.

“Enrich your characters’ and readers’ emotional experience with these cues,” is a post about helping readers connect with your character’s emotions.

“Try these techniques to amplify emotion in your writing,” examines the use of anaphora to enhance your story’s emotional impact.

Mar 28

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Answer your pesky editing and writing questions with these resources

To capitalize or not. One word or two? These are two of many confounding questions we run into as editors and writers. I’m sure I’ll never have every grammar and usage rule at the top of my mind, so luckily I have resources to consult that keep me on the straight and narrow writing path.

If you’re puzzling over a grammar question, checkout — I mean check out — my go-to source: Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Fogarty also has a book by the same name, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.

Here are recent word and usage questions I looked up.

Further vs farther – “Farther” is for for physical distance and “further” for metaphorical, or figurative, distance. It’s easy to remember, says Fogarty, because “farther” has the word “far” in it, and “far” obviously relates to physical distance. Read more

Mar 27

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One way to free your subconscious writing mind

I had a writing date with a friend today who is a poet and playwright. As we set up our computers and writing space at the local coffee shop, she shared with me that she sometimes plays mahjong on her computer while working out a problem.

I said, “Huh?” I couldn’t imagine have a game open on my computer while trying to write. But she explained that when she has a problem she needs to work out in her mind, the clicking sounds of the mahjong tiles soothe her. I guess they create a kind of white noise.

So I tried it tonight. I download a free majhong game from http://ivorymahjongg.com and played it while thinking about the next scene in my book. What I discovered, besides the fact that mahjong is totally addicting, is that it did free me up to think about my plot. It felt as if I was keeping my conscious mind busy so my subconscious could get to work.

Sometimes, it’s necessary to take a step back from our writing to see where we want to go next. I often take breaks when I need to think about something—I wash the dishes, brush the cats, go for a walk, or even do some gardening.

Now, I’ve found another way to take a short mental break without leaving my chair.

What tricks do you use to access your subconscious writing mind?

Mar 26

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Do you need to leap out of your creative comfort zone?

One night I got an unexpected call from a former co-worker. We hadn’t talked in months and he caught me at a time when I was struggling with pushing my writing projects forward. I was stuck.

Something he said gave me a jolt of creative energy, although he probably had no idea it was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. It went something like this:

“Sometimes you get a feeling in your stomach that makes you feel a little nervous, and that’s to let you know that you’re close to the edge of something that’s exciting and challenging and you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

Even when we’re doing the things in life that we know we’re meant to do, it can be scary because the stakes are high. The best way to combat fear and resistance it immerse ourselves in our creative pursuit so that it becomes the focus instead of the fear.

Have you ever been scared of taking a leap but knew you just had to do it?

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