Category: On Reading

Piecemeal

Andrée Levie-Warrilow Leave a comment

ONE OF THE BIG THINGS about creative writing  is how much a part of one’s self shows up in the work, even when the theme is something completely fabricated.
      I liken writing to a piecework quilt: beyond the grammar and words one selects to stitch everything together (although that can colour everything), in most of what we write, what we design – plot, theme, characters – everything originates as a pastiche of everything we have lived and learned. Just like those quilts that use symbols of colour and form to send a message, our minds gather up all those elements that we have to hand from our experiences and knowledge, even when we’re creating something uniquely from our imagination. Read more

A Glimpse of My Favourite Irish Character on St. Patrick’s Day

Lori Twining Leave a comment
Lori Twining’s bookshelf

Yesterday, on Sunday, March 17th, many people celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing clothing in the symbolic colour green, chugging green beer, and telling dirty Irish limerick jokes around the supper table. I’m lucky to have some Irish blood running through me on my mother’s and father’s sides of the family, so I have a few sweary tales that would make you laugh.

However, I want to share three facts that might blow your mind about St. Patrick’s Day:

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Sparking Discussions with an Ambiguous Novel Ending

Lori Twining 1 Comment
Lori Twining reading Crime Fiction

There is severe pressure on writers to have an excellent opening sentence, with an intriguing first page and a gripping first chapter. Most writers spend quite a bit of time rewriting this section of the book more than any other part of the novel. My current novel has had at least ten different first chapters, and I’m not even going to mention the hated prologue (I have written a few and deleted them all).

Then, there is the problematic middle that everyone talks about. I have a whole shelf in my library dedicated to writing your way through that. Truthfully, Write Your Novel From the Middle by James Scott Bell is one of the better how-to books for approaching this situation. It is easy to read, short (only 84 pages), and concise.

What we don’t hear much about is how to end the book. How do you deliver a satisfying ending that makes the reader walk away with a smile? How do you nail the ending and create a stir so magnificent that they are banging on your door for the next book?

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Life Keeps Happening, I keep Writing.

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

Last I left you, dear reader, I had submitted my first fifty pages, query and synopsis for critique, to a NYTimes bestselling author and I was awaiting her notes. In the meantime, my husband had knee replacement surgery and I lost what was to be my bountiful writing time. But hey, life happens…

Sound familiar? That was how my blog opened on November 27th and finished up like this:

Now I’m energized to go back to my old novel and fix the beginning, hone in on my climax, and then finish fixing the writing…And to top it off, my husband’s knee is on the mend and he’s back to driving which means I now have the writing time I was craving. But of course, Christmas is coming…

But then, life happened–again. On December 4th, playing hockey, I injured my knee. Now it was my turn on the couch. In some ways, the timing was good, we had all the equipment at home: ice packs, walker, cane. And my husband was now well enough to take care of me.

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Writers’ Summer Camp with 13 Strangers

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Lori Twining ~ Camp Zeke

Several decades ago, before I even had a steady boyfriend, I had this weird habit of flipping through bridal magazines, dreaming about the perfect wedding, the over-the-top Royal Princess taffeta ballgown, the jovial bridal party, and spending the most romantic honeymoon hiking through the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

That never happened for me. 

I mean, I did have a wedding–in fact, I had TWO beautiful weddings to two different people, with incredible velvet and satin dresses, and cool-but-not-that-funny bridal parties, but I never experienced the thrill of hiking through the Poconos Mountains… until this past weekend. A part of my old daydream finally did come true, slightly skewed from the original fantasy. 

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Life Happens, Keep Writing

Diane Ferguson Leave a comment
Eden Mills Writers’ Festival: Pathway to Publication with James Gordon, Barbara Kyle and Jean Mills

Before writing a blog, I review my past blogs to make sure I’m not repeating myself too much, and to assess where I was at and where I thought I was going. My last blog was August 28th and I was all set with my “MFA course”, personalized for a student of one: me. Now it’s a month later and have I made any progress?

Fortunately, I kept my plan flexible, I can adapt what I’m working on as life happens. the truth is, I’ve hardly been home in the past month. Labour Day weekend was spent moving my daughter to Ottawa for school. I was also determined to attend the Eden Mills Writers Festival this year. I hadn’t been in about 20 years! But as an almost empty-nester, and the threat of covid fading (not to mention this is an outdoor festival), and a workshop with Gail Anderson-Dargatz, my former mentor—I wanted to make sure I attended. Read more