There is always a moment in the morning, between the silence of the night before and the noise of the day to come, when it seemed…that time stopped for a beat, when all the world was motionless, expectant. The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve (p.82) From my vacation lanai, I see and feel this every morning. The waves off Kona take a breather, slowing before they gather force to crash against the black lava coast. The palm trees stand dark against the dawn. Stars that were bright moments ago, fade and are forgotten for now. Facing west-southwest, I see the...
Where do you go to get inspired? the beach, a park, a movie? Or, are you the type that of person to find your inspiration in talking with people, joining a club or maybe the solitude of a day alone with a good book. Does sampling a variety of wines or berries or vegetables inspires you? How about the touch of a luscious fabric? Regardless of where you find inspiration, a writer often uses what they see, smell, hear, taste and touch to make a story sparkle. They take the inspiration IN, mush it around a bit and voila! It...
I started a journal of sensory impressions several years ago. The idea being to record what I saw, heard, tasted, touched and smelled as well as lines I read that impacted me Like many people, my daily follow through dipped after a few weeks. Now I’ve gone back to look at what I wrote to see if I can challenge myself to lift my mundane comments to original ideas. Examples of changes: Icy grapes ….. icy grapes, a burst of coldness The cars on a nearby highway ….. an ocean of cars, surging forward Grass clippings ….. mown grass: green...
Which statement is most true? Why do you believe that??? “That is the job of fiction: to put down on paper, a chain of words that anyone could find in an ordinary dictionary, which will bring to life real human beings in a real setting.” James Michener in The Novel p. 212 OR… “(The) words had too much power. They had to be handled with fireproof gloves or they’d burn you to the bone.” Kristin Hannah in Distant Shore, p. 5 Do the words have power or is it the author’s ideas that create the power in a book?
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