Category: Writer’s Blog
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Inspiring Lines from Roddy Doyle
Reading The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle for my book group. Love the writing. The opening story is about a father–Larry– who is meeting his daughter’s boyfriend. While the boyfriend is cool and poised, the father feels himself unraveling. It’s told in 3rd person and here are my favorite lines: “He [Larry, the…
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When are you too old to start something new?
For all my friends, colleagues, and adult students who are just starting to write their first novel or play or song… “When I was young, I was amazed at Plutarch’s statement that the elder Cato began at the age of eighty to learn Greek. I am amazed no longer. Old age is ready to undertake…
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Earning Inspiration
“Inspiration comes when I am organized and work hard. I have to earn it.” –artist Nana Bagdavadze I heard Nana speak at Ivan Amato’s DC Science Cafe. Her words are a great reminder that creative work is just that…work.
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Tip: Why Must You Carry Your Character’s Backstory?
As a fiction writer, you have to know your character’s back story (what has happened in your character’s life before your story begins) and you need to carry it with you as you write. If you don’t, you lose authenticity. Let’s say your main character’s mother drowned years ago and, at some point in your…
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Why Write?
“For me, anyway, [writing] is what infuses the world with meaning,” says Jennifer Egan in the Washington Post’s BookWorld (9-18-11). Not true for me. As I see it, the world is infused with meaning, whether or not I happen to notice. Writing, for me, is proof that I am noticing; it is also a way…
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Try Writing Blind
Thomas Kaufman, author of the new detective novel, Steal the Show, gave this tip at a recent booksigning: Turn off your monitor when you’re writing your novel. When you’re not looking at your words as they appear on your screen, you’ll be more likely to get into the flow and stay in character. Have you…
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Jim Benton’s Secret
Jim Benton, author of the popular Dear Dumb Diary series, says that the diary format frees him up. When he gets into character, in this case the “writer” is a middle school girl named Jamie Kelly, he lets it all pour out. “Jamie can write about anything because she thinks nobody will read it.” If you’re…
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Why You Should Take Notes When You Laugh
People ask where ideas for books (or scenes within books) come from. I think one of the most important things to do is very simple: Pay attention when you laugh. If you are sharing an anecdote or a family story with a friend, and you’re laughing about it, that means there’s some gold to mine…
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What Rhymes with Ketchup Bottle?
At a recent SoMIRAC (conference), author and illustrator Susan Stockdale told the audience how she grew up with a love for language in part because her mother used rhyme so playfully around the house. Here’s one rhyme she heard many-a-time during her childhood at the dining room table: Shake and shake the ketchup bottle, none’ll come and…
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Why are Ordinary Shoes so Important?
Writer Pamela Ehrenberg says it’s all about the shoes. Ordinary shoes. In college, she went to hear author Bobbie Ann Mason speak and recalls staring at her shoes. They were humble, inexpensive shoes, and Ehrenberg recalls being struck by the realization that this author had to stand in line and buy shoes, just like the rest…