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Posts tagged ‘writing tips’

Jul 10

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Find writing magic in your favorite movies and books, part 1

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and some image or scene makes you think, “That’s brilliant! I wish I’d thought of that!”

Last weekend, I was working on my next book and began to wonder about my favorite scenes, objects, and ideas that have wowed me in print or on the screen.

What makes them stand out? Where’s the magic?

Below are a few movies that stand out for me and why.

Movies:

Evita – My hubby and I recently saw this movie again and both started bawling in the scene where Eva is dying and her husband, Juan Peron, carries her so tenderly up the stairs. He brushes off the hired help who is supposed to help his wife and carries her himself, cradling her in his arms. The gesture is so touching, it makes his love for her come alive. I’m reminded how powerfully an outward gesture can portray an inner emotion. Read more

Jul 6

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6 tips for creating sustained energy in your writing life

This week, I’m reminded that writing is hard work in more ways than one. I’m working on a new book—brainstorming and following my 90-day plan–and am surprised at how much energy this takes.

After working for even two hours straight, going deep, and bringing up a plethora of ideas and information, I’m exhausted. I feel as if I’ve just run a race or swam for an hour. Actually, I feel more tired than if I’ve worked out because when I exercise, I usually get a rush of energy afterwards.

We writers need plenty of energy to accomplish our goals. Here are my top tips for keeping the mental gears well oiled while working on a new project: Read more

Jul 2

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Don’t write what you know, write what sets you free

Common advice given to new writers is to write about what you know. This can be good advice. For example, if you want to write legal thrillers, then having a background in law will save you research time and lend a sense of reality to your story.

Having been a paralegal for seven years, I have a background in law, but if I had to write a story with a legal theme, I’d end up as crazy as Jack in “The Shining.” So maybe better advice to a new (or seasoned) writer is to write about what interests you.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are you passionate about?
  • What makes you come alive?
  • What new things would you like to learn?
  • If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?

Exercise: Set a timer for 10 minutes and answer the questions above.

In my next post, I’ll share a technique I use to help discover what interests me.

Jun 22

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Three writing posts to motivate you

I’m a writer who appreciates being able to connect to a community of other writers. Some days I’m in the flow and fine working on my own. Other days, I need that extra little nudge. This week, I found three posts to help me stay connected:

Michael Haynes’ “Write Every Day,” shares a tip for keeping ourselves on track with our writing goals. I use this same tip to track writing contest entries.

David Farland’s, “Ten Reasons Why I’ll Quickly Reject Your Story,” has tips to keep in mind when writing any kind of story.

Author Bob Mayer has a page of five short video clips taken from his writing workshops including clips on “What to Write” and how to achieve “Conflict Lock” in your novel.

Enjoy!

Jun 18

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Work like a visual artist to develop new writing muscles

On a recent trip to Canada, I noticed a woman painting along the shore of the lake. She had her easel set up and was capturing the snow-capped mountains rising up out of the water. I noticed how she would look at the scene in front of her as if memorizing a detail, then bow her head to canvas and work on a section for several minutes before raising her head to memorize another detail of the setting.

This reminded me of advice I once read from author and poet Priscilla Long in The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life. To learn how to write body language in your scenes, she suggests the following exercise: Go to a public place like a coffee shop and observe two people as they talk to each other. Notice their body language. Write in your notebook all the body language you see. Read more

May 15

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How to use rejection to improve your craft

Rejection is how we writers grow thick skins, but we can also use it to better our craft. When I first started sending out my memoir, my husband suggested I send it to fifty or so agents right away. Since acceptance can be a numbers game, I understood his logic, but I felt it was better for me to start out slowly. And I’m glad I did. I received excellent, positive feedback early on that made me rethink my story and take my memoir in a new, more exciting direction. Now, I have a book I feel proud of as I begin to send it out again.

But what if you don’t receive helpful rejection letters? What if you get rejection after rejection and aren’t sure where you’ve gone wrong? Jessica Page Morrell, editor, author and writing teacher, has some good tips in her post, “25 Reasons Why Manuscripts are Rejected.”

You can also read my earlier post, “Six Guidelines for Turning Rejection into Success,” for tips on turning those rejections around.

And, if you want to really put rejection in perspective, try the rejection generator.

Do you have any rejection stories you’d like to share?

May 9

Creating high-concept story ideas, part 2

In my last post, I described what makes a high-concept story idea: one that grabs our attention or is a twist on the usual story.

In this post, I’ll share some places to find those high-concept ideas:

1. Your local newspaper. Whenever I find an unusual article, I file it away for possible use later. Example: Years ago, I read a story in the Seattle paper about an elderly couple who’d gone on an outing to the library and then simply disappeared for three days. Both had dementia and they drove around for days, trying to find their way back home. Wow! That, in itself, is pretty unusual. I could write a poem or short story about this or base a character in a book on this story. Read more

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