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Dec 24

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Beginning January 1, don’t break your writing chain

Despite dire predictions that the world was going to end last week, I’ve been thinking ahead to how I’ll meet my writing goals in 2013. One reason I like to learn how successful writers work is to see if they have any rituals or routines that I can follow myself.

There’s no way around it: A regular writing routine is crucial to producing finished work. So I was intrigued when I read about the Don’t Break The Chain calendar idea attributed to comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

As the story goes, each January, Seinfeld hangs a year-at-a-glance calendar on a prominent wall of his office, and for every day that he writes new material, he gets to mark a big “X” over that date. After a few days, a chain of Xs begins to form. The annual goal is to write every day and not break the chain. Read more

Dec 21

Three posts to help you revise your writing

Having recently finished NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), I’m beginning to revise some of my 50,000 words. Below are three of my favorites posts about revision techniques and strategies. As I continue to work on my story, I find it helpful to keep these tips in mind. I hope you find them useful as well:

Two Steps to Stronger Verbs shows how to make your verbs stronger, which will make your stories and poetry stronger.

Four Ways to Revise Scenes helps examine scenes for these four key elements.

Edit Out Literary Throat Clearing to Make Your Work Stronger is a post about eliminating empty words or phrases in your writing.

Dec 20

Two notebooks that won’t let your ideas wash away

My best ideas and writing breakthroughs rarely come to me when I’m sitting in front of the computer. Unfortunately, those ideas can be fleeting, which is a prime reason to carry a notebook.

Inspiration often strikes when I’m on a walk, driving around in my car, lying in bed — and in the shower.

Fortunately, I’ve discovered another writing tool to add to my kit for writing in wet places. Aqua Notes are waterproof notepads that come with suction pads for sticking in the shower. AquaNotes tablets also include a pencil, and you can even write under water. Read more

Dec 19

When to use summary instead of scene in your story

I like author and writing mentor Martha Alderson’s definition of story.  Alderson, also known as “The Plot Whisperer,” says that, “Story is conflict shown in scene.”

In order to have the most impact, our stories should be written mostly in scene—in moment by moment detail. But we should also remember that a story made up entirely of scenes can inject too much conflict and exhaust the reader.

Summary is a place to rest. It’s a place where time is compressed. It’s tells the reader the events that aren’t important enough to show in detail. Read more

Dec 18

A different kind of reading list: Melancholy books

I think a really great book touches all of a reader’s emotions. Have you ever read something where you were laughing one minute and crying the next? On his blog, author Matt de la Pena advocates embracing rather than avoiding sadness in writing. He discussed this topic in Novels Have Become an Escape on “Room for Debate,” a feature of the New York Times opinion pages.

If you’re writing a melancholy book, you may want to read books from a list de la Pena compiled, which includes his comments about the books. You can also learn more about writing from de la Pena in this post, Get out of your reader’s way with these tips.

“Melancholy Reading List”by Matt de la Pena:
– Suttree by Cormac McCarthy (Best novel I’ve ever read.)
– Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr (Beautiful and quiet working class YA from a female perspective.) Read more

Dec 17

Writing as a path to healing

Since Friday, I, like many people around the world, have experienced an array of emotions–grief, anguish, anger, and compassion, among others.

I originally began writing because I wanted to tell people’s stories. My mother developed sudden onset dementia and writing was my way to try to understand it. As I saw my mother regress before my eyes, writing about it and talking about it helped me process my grief and my sadness. Read more

Dec 14

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Have you read these banned books?

I’m one of those people who wants to go through doors that say “authorized personnel only,” whether I’m authorized or not. So when I see a list of books that are “banned,” I want to read them more than ever. Maybe you do too.

In 1998, the Radcliffe Publishing Course compiled and released its own list of the century’s top 100 novels, at the request of the Modern Library editorial board. Below, you’ll find the ones from the list that at some point in time have been challenged or banned from classrooms or library bookshelves.

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger Read more

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