Have you Fed your Writing Muse Today?

Donna Judy Curtin 1 Comment

What is it about this writing thing that we enjoy?

Why would anyone want to rise before the sun, to plunk away on a keyboard in the dark and put their precious words and feelings up for the judgement of others?

Is it all about the imagining of a character’s challenges and how they can overcome them in a heroic way? Or perhaps this writing thing is a way to come to terms with our lives or to imagine how the story could have ended differently.

 

When I consider the moments and life experiences that have inspired my best stories, I clearly see the muse for my writing.

Do you know yours?

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Why NOT to Throw Out Your First Novel

Diane Ferguson 1 Comment

Many writers throw their first novels out thinking them beyond redemption. I’ve taken the “dog-with-a-bone” approach and I just won’t let go of it. Every lesson I’ve learned has been through the lens of this novel. And every draft that isn’t good enough yet, is just a draft that needs more revision, or re-writing. For me, I just have to like my characters enough to stick with them. The story can change, my point-of-view can change, but I have to want to spend the time with the characters. And even they can change as I shape and mould my story into something someone else would like to read. Every problem is just looking for a solution. Read more

Applying screenwriting tips to your novel

Tracey Richardson 1 Comment

I recently came across some simple but impactful screenwriting tips. The advice said every scene should be one of three things: a fight, a seduction or a negotiation.

Sound a little too simple? Maybe. But when you think about it, especially when it comes to films or television dramas, there’s a lot of truth to it. Think about your favourite big and small screen scenes. One of my favourite films is “When Harry Met Sally”. Almost every scene between Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan is either a fight, a seduction or a negotiation (or all three at once). And man, does that make for a lot of tension and excitement.

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Creating Mood in Storytelling

Bernice Connell Leave a comment

A prologue that I read recently has provided endless inspiration for me.

I’ve studied it many times, deconstructing the composition and trying to pinpoint what impacted me so strongly. The scene that is depicted seems innocuous; a sunny day in a park, families milling around, but the narrator is focused on several individuals apart from the seemingly ordinary setting. Ever so subtly, the narrator describes an almost imperceptible pall that comes over the scene, creating an uneasy dread in me. In less than four hundred words, the author had set the mood and rendered this reader unable to resist turning the page. Read more

New Year’s Resolutions For Weird & Wonderful Writers

Lori Twining 1 Comment

Today is the last day of the year and we shouldn’t spend too much time crying about all the failed resolutions we didn’t follow through with over the past 364 days. Tonight at midnight will mark the moment of a fresh opportunity. We will have a clean slate for 2019. So, what can we do to make our new year as weird and wonderful as the unique souls that live within us?

I made a list of achievable goals specifically for writers ranging from quite simple to complicated tasks. You decide. I’m challenging you to pick one or two things off this list to push yourselves into becoming a happier creative person.

New Year’s Resolutions For Weird & Wonderful Writers:

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Second Book Syndrome

Seana Moorhead Leave a comment

I’ve been struggling with the second novel of my planned trilogy. I have all the words but it doesn’t feel like it holds together and I have no idea when or how to end it.  My two main characters split up and I don’t know how to structurally deal with that.  I try to console myself that the middle book of a trilogy is supposed to be the hardest to write.

Here’s my theory on why that is: a common problem with any novel is that the middle can sag. We spend so much time developing a great beginning and the perfect ending that the middle often drags.  Magnified into a trilogy, the middle book struggles to compete with the fantastic first book and the final resolution of the third.  Like a “middle” child, it can feel neglected, having neither the attention of the first child nor spoiled like the youngest.

This distresses me since I am a middle child. I am personally invested to have my middle book to soar.  But here’s the hard truth: I feel like I am failing it.  I have read many trilogies where the second book is weak; even with trilogies that I love, I often suffer through the middle book. Their flaws can be many: Read more