Tag: writing tips
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Beware “But I love this…”
Wrote a new song. Loved it. Well, most of it. I was having a little trouble with the bridge, which didn’t seem to lead anywhere. So, I played the song for my music partner Bill Williams, expecting him to suggest a little touch that would do the trick for the trouble spot. He floored me…
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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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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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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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Mary Amato’s Tips for Teachers: How to Encourage Creative Writing
Children have a lot of writing assignments in school. Often, time for creative writing is squeezed out of the curriculum. If you are a teacher who wants to introduce/encourage more creative writing, here are some ideas. Keep a Writer’s Notebook. See my Tips for Keeping a Writer’s Notebook for more info. Create a Writer’s Corner.…
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Getting Out of the Way
“I don’t know [expletive] about words. The reason the language comes out that way is, it’s me just trying to get out of the way.” This provocative quote from Irish playwright Enda Kenny (from a recent Washington Post article by Peter Marks) speaks to an important concept that I am continually stressing to students. Writing…
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What is the Weirdest Thing?
When Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief and editor-in-chief of One Story Magazine, gets bored writing, she doesn’t ask, “What happens next?” She asks herself this question: “What’s the weirdest thing that can happen right now?” At this year’s AWP conference, Tinti said that you don’t want weirdness for the sake of weirdness, but…
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Procrastination
Do you procrastinate? Here’s a clever solution. According to James Surowiecki in his New Yorker article on procrastination, Victor Hugo would write in the nude and tell his valet not to give him any clothes until he finished for the day. Of course, in order for such a plan to work, one would need a…