Category: details in writing

Powerful Vowels

details in writing / editing / reader suggestions / writing process

Powerful Vowels

SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) has a wonderful writer’s retreat each year. One year Darcy Pattison presented a discussion on the power of words, especially the energy of vowels. As readers and writers her ideas will shed light on how authors heighten energy in their stories. Here are a few details that may inspire you to occasionally stop and re-read for a different purpose. **High energy vowels include long e (tree), short i (sit) and long a (say). Compare these two sentences. Decide which provides more energy into the writing. The autumn I was seventeen, the nightmare...

Writing Strategies for ADHD Students Work for Other Writers as Well

details in writing / writing with kids

Writing Strategies for ADHD Students Work for Other Writers as Well

Students who have ADHD issues are often in need of extra support during writing assignments. As I look at the suggestions, I see that most writers will benefit from a review of the 6 strategies mentioned in an online #Edutopia.com article I read last fall. 1. Focus on Your Assignment Be clear and specific in your expectations. For a suggested topic of a joyous moment, make your prompt more specific: Think about the last time you felt joyful and describe (a) when it was, (b) the event that gave you the joy, (c) how that feeling of joy felt within...

Facts in Fiction

details in writing / musings / writer reminders / writing process

Facts in Fiction

Grounding fiction with pertinent facts makes the story more beievable. To that end a writer needs to select facts that feel like they belong in the story. There must be a reason for their inclusion, a purpose that moves the story along. Examples: In the ballet trilogy (84 Ribbons, When the Music Stops: Dance On, and Letters to Follow: A Dancer’s Adventure) I used facts: real streets in real towns, real layouts of homes, real ballet music, and real scenery you’d see if you visited the places I had Marta and Lynne visited. I especially enjoyed my visits to The...

details in writing / new works / Tasman

Tasman

I’m currently changing writing gears. While I enjoyed writing the ballet-themed trilogy, I have had a story gnawing at me for several years. It all started with a trip to Australia. Our foursome of travelers decided to visit the island of Tasmania. We flew across Bass Strait and stepped back in time to the Pacific Northwest in the early 50s. Life on the island was a slower pace than Melbourne and Sydney, even more laid back than Adelaide. The west side was still wild and remote; the east side filled with small towns and lovely beaches. On the southern end,...

details in writing / musings / reader suggestions / writing

Writing Genres

Fiction writers have many genres to pick from when they sit down: mystery, romance, science fiction, medical/police/legal procedurals, horror, western, historical,  comedy, adventure, fantasy, political thriller and more. New genres and sub-genres crop up every year as writers stretch their writing brains. My favorites are historical fiction, cozy mysteries (a sub-genre of mysteries), medical-police-legal procedurals, and women’s fiction. I enjoy having a host of characters to get to know and follow as they work through their problems or situations. I’ll leave the high adventure and new world making stories for my husband. I’m moving my writing away from pointe shoes,...

details in writing / musings / poetry / prompts

Found Poetry

I found this excellent resources for describing found poetry at www.waunakee.k12.wi.us/faculty/lcarthers. Here’s what was shared: Found Poem Instructions Find a couple random paragraph from a newspaper, magazine, book, etc. The selection should contain 100-200 words. You can also try recipe instructions, legal notices, and horoscopes. Read through your selection. Highlight or underline words, lines, etc that seem promising to you. Use what you selected to write a poem. You may add your own words, but no more than 50% of final poem may include new words. Your poem may be of any length, but it must focus on a single...

details in writing / musings / writer reminders / writing conferences

WOTS: a Great Northwest Writing Conference

2017 Write on the Sound: October 6, 7 & 8 Everything you need to know about the 2017 conference is now available on the website: www.writeonthesound.com Keynote: NYT Bestselling author Kristin Hannah in conversation with author Megan Chance A former-lawyer-turned writer, Kristin Hannah is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbusters, The Nightingale, Winter Garden, Night Road, and Firefly Lane. Friend, critique partner and author Megan Chance will lead a conversation with Kristin about the writer’s life and the writing process. Megan’s critically acclaimed, award-winning novels include A Drop of Ink, Bone River, The Spiritualist, and An Inconvenient Wife. Dates to Remember… Mid-June: the...

blog readers voting / details in writing / musings / reader suggestions

Results: The Most Antagonistic Characters in the Ballet Trilogy Are…

The votes are in! There are few surprises. The FINALISTS are: Drum roll, please…         The 5 most antagonistic characters in the ballet trilogy are… Madame Cosper…..Uncle Leo…..Lynne’s parents…..Suzette….Carol   Each character was deemed continuously selfish, with hidden agendas, and focused on how Marta and Lynne’s needs and successes disrupted their lives. Thanks to everyone who voted. If you have further comments, send them to me at Paddy@PaddyEger.com  

Slow Motion – A Writer’s Trick

details in writing / writer reminders

Slow Motion – A Writer’s Trick

Clive Matson got it right! In his book Let the Crazy Child Write: Finding Your Creative Writing Voice, he suggests that writers use slow action. When an important event occurs, slow the action down to freeze frame speed. That pulls readers closer allowing them to experience the physical tension with the character. Whatever the action looks like: a fall, a gun fight, or an ah-ha moment; it works. The next time you come across an action scene, see if the author has extended that scene through slowing down the time and movement. If it is a memorable scene, I’ll wager...

Unusual Book Styles

book reviewing / details in writing / musings / reading / writing process

Unusual Book Styles

You may read a lot and have found many of these unusual ways authors share their stories. If not, be aware that all books are not straight forward. Here are a few tricks that may entice you or, if you are unaware of what is being done, these methods may cause you to close the books or even toss them across the room in mild anger. **  Books with no paragraph separation **  Entire books in poetic form (E Hopkins) **  Books with excessive punctuation (E.E.Cummings) **  Books without quotation marks to alert you to who is speaking (C. McCarthy)...