16 Ways to Not Win a Poetry Contest: Guest Post by Miriam Sagan | WritersDigest.com Please welcome our guest blogger Miriam Sagan, who has read thousands and thousands of poems submitted to a variety of national and local poetry contests Fellowships for Writers and Poets – No Entry Fees! (… Creative writing fellowships are plentiful… Continue reading Trusted Links for Writers and Poets
Category: Creative Writing
The Rule of Three in Creative Writing
How do writers use the rule of three? As a chef I know the magic of three. Always garnish the plate with odd numbers, usually threes. Two raspberries looks OK nestled next to the creme brulee and the sprig of fresh mint. But add just one more and the plate is perfect. Writers know the same… Continue reading The Rule of Three in Creative Writing
10 Ways to Improve your Writing
“Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.” William Faulkner 1. Take Mr.… Continue reading 10 Ways to Improve your Writing
an owl’s warm feathers
This morning my gym was offering free 10 minute sport massages so I waited 30 minutes after class ended to take advantage of it. My backpack was filled with books to read while I waited, but a pen and my traveling notebook were more interesting to me. I opened the notebook to phrases from the last poetry workshop I took.… Continue reading an owl’s warm feathers
A fine soft beautiful day
Sunday 27th December 1801 A fine soft beautiful, mild day with gleams of sunshine. I lay in bed till 12 o clock, Mr Clarkson’s man came, we wrote to him…Dorothy Wordsworth The Grasmere Journals I’ve kept a journal for more than 20 years. Some entries read like Wordsworth’s, simple observations of the weather, the garden and… Continue reading A fine soft beautiful day
Writing…you don’t have to get it right the first time
“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time unlike, say, brain surgery.”— Robert Cormier (1925-2000) It’s been two years since I blogged regularly…I started ten years ago to build a daily writing practice and it worked. Writing here on the Internet to no one or maybe… Continue reading Writing…you don’t have to get it right the first time
The Writing Habit
“We become what we repeatedly do.” ― Sean Covey On Google, there are more than 64 million links on “the habit of writing.” Here’s just one. 10 Steps to Create the Habit of Writing. In procrastinating my writing, I’ve probably read several hundred. Jeff Goins made it even simpler when he wrote, “pick a space, set a… Continue reading The Writing Habit
Already planning for 2016?
Every man should be born again on the first of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle, if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but, on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take interest… Continue reading Already planning for 2016?
6 Genre Categories for Short Stories
*A guest post by Anne Martin Alpha Omega Publications LAN 1008 The Short Story The toughest form of creative writing is writing a short story. You need to tell a tale in a minimal manner without taking too long to get to the point. Writing a short story is akin to creating your own world.… Continue reading 6 Genre Categories for Short Stories
Thoughts on the Subconscious-Part II
“It is only through your conscious mind that you can reach the subconscious. Your conscious mind is the porter at the door, the watchman at the gate. It is to the conscious mind that the subconscious looks for all its impressions.” Robert Collier (American motivational author, 1885-1950) If you read part 1, I am using… Continue reading Thoughts on the Subconscious-Part II