I hate to be a nag, but you have got to read. Like most authors, I run creative writing workshops from time to time, and speak, when invited to writers’ circles and at summer schools, and I’m continually amazed at the number of would-be writers who scarcely read. For ideas to germinate and proliferate there… Continue reading Read, read and then read some more
Tag: writing prompts
Good Reads and Warnings!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”Dr. Seuss My cousin just invited me to Good Reads which is a social kind of website that allows you to see what your friends are reading; you can also make book recommendations and read… Continue reading Good Reads and Warnings!
The Right Form of the Story
There are some books that refuse to be written. They stand their ground year after year and will not be persuaded. It isn’t because the book is not there and worth being written — it is only because the right form of the story does not present itself. There is only one right form for… Continue reading The Right Form of the Story
A Story in Your Fridge?
I’ve often entertained paranoid suspicions about my fridge and what it’s been doing to my poetry when I’m not looking, but I never even considered that my fan was thinking about me.George Murray I just found Fridgewatcher which is a blog where readers contribute pictures of the inside and outside of their fridge. At first,… Continue reading A Story in Your Fridge?
Warning Hazard Ahead!
Writers are not just people who sit down and write. They hazard themselves. Every time you compose a book your composition of yourself is at stake. ~E.L. Doctorow I think you have to get beyond “yourself” as a writer to be successful. I struggle with this when I’m working on my manuscript yet I am… Continue reading Warning Hazard Ahead!
Drenched in Words
One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper patterns at the right moment.Hart Crane, American Poet (1899-1932) I love the idea of being drenched in words. I don’t know any writer that doesn’t adore words and poets especially are infatuated with finding and… Continue reading Drenched in Words
Use all the colors
Detail makes the difference between boring and terrific writing. It’s the difference between a pencil sketch and a lush oil painting. As a writer, words are your paint. Use all the colors.Rhys Alexander Randomly pick up a book and read a few paragraphs…do you want to continue? Now look at your writing have you added… Continue reading Use all the colors
One Book on My Writing Bookshelf
What’s this business of being a writer. It’s just putting one word after another.~ Irving Thalberg If You Can Talk, You Can Write This book by Joel Saltzman is a short inspiring book that I keep on my writing bookshelf to remind myself of just that. It has exercises and prompts throughout the book and… Continue reading One Book on My Writing Bookshelf