Ascribe Writers – Page 57 – Writers write about writing

Place My Heart On The Page

January 4, 2016January 4, 2016 Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

You say you want to write? No, you say you need to write. You say it’s the thing that you are driven to do? You say you need it like water? Like breath?

I can understand that. I hear you. I feel the same. I’ve written for most of my life, though I spent a great deal of time writing and tossing out what I wrote.

You see, for the longest time I thought that what I wrote wasn’t worth sharing. It took me years to realize that the decision of whether or not my writing had value wasn’t my decision to make. Read more

From Ruby Slippers to Rings: Objects in Your Story

December 14, 2015December 15, 2015 Seana Moorhead Leave a comment

Robert Ray, in his book “The Weekend Novelist Re-Writes the Novel”, provides the following tip: “Plant a sacred object on page one that recurs in Acts Two and Three. By the midpoint, that sacred object could be growing into a symbol. Symbols can make you famous. That sacred object, grown into a symbol, should make you proud. A happy writer.”

I know the importance of characters and setting in a story. But objects? What’s he talking about? With the lure of “famous, proud and happy” on the hook, I decided to find out.

Unspoken

December 14, 2015December 14, 2015 Bernice Connell Leave a comment

The beautiful day beckoned us to the water and the boat. November on Rainy Lake is usually blustery or foggy but this crisp, sunny morning was perfect for a run to Fawn and John’s cabin. It felt like the four of us had the lake to ourselves, not another soul did we see.

Unencumbered with luggage and supplies, we cruised swiftly over the waves, our coffee thermos and wine bottles sitting alongside John’s portable oxygen tank. It was to be a brief trip; just long enough to relax on the deck for a few hours and pick up guitars that shouldn’t be left there for the winter.

Picking up the guitars was a good excuse to take one more trip; to bask in the familiar comfort of best friends and let the ritual of heading up the lake mark the beginning of our goodbye to John. Because what we all knew but no one said was that, short of a miracle, this would be the last time all four of us would be together.

She Shoots, She Scores, She Writes!

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 Tracey Richardson Leave a comment

If you’re a writer, do you write about the things you love doing?
If you’re a reader, do you gravitate toward novels with themes/settings/characters that share your interests?

The Maybe Not So Lonely Act of Writing

November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 Andrée Levie-Warrilow 1 Comment

12270583_10153378973376225_78268994_n — Photo by Lori Twining

Someone once wrote “writing is a lonely business”.

We all know the familiar cliché of the author sitting at his or her desk, coffee cups scattered about the work surface, dirty dishes with half-eaten food lying about, and wadded pieces of paper littering the floor and overflowing out of waste bins (ok, maybe only old people like me know that cliché).

The thing is, after all the lectures, grammar rules, tips and recommendations for better play/ novel/short story/ screen play/ writing, – well, the fact is, you’re the only one who can write your work. You. Sitting there, with your note pad, your tablet, your laptop, your desktop.

Editing is Writing

November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 Diane Ferguson Leave a comment

“What I write is smarter than I am because I can re-write it.” Susan Sontag

by Brian O'Rourke — The Orion Nebula by Brian O’Rourke

We’re not always trying to be smarter, be we are trying to be better. For some the words just flow and little editing is needed. These are the best storytellers! But for many of us writers, we need to edit, especially beginning writers, at least I did. I keep hoping it gets easier in time. I keep reading more about how to write and all the techniques and things to remember get stuck in my head and I hope one day they just become part of me. We’ll see as I start on my second novel. Read more

How to Rev Up Your Word Count & Finish That Novel

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015 Lori Twining Leave a comment

Lou-writing-1 — Lori Twining writing her current thriller novel.

So, you are a writer and you are writing a novel, BUT you just can’t find the time to finish it. Are you procrastinating? Are you spending more time thinking about writing that novel, than you are writing it? Are you stuck at Chapter Three and you don’t know what should happen next? Are you wondering what could you possibly do, to make your fingers fly across the keyboard at lightening speeds to finish telling your story? What could you do that will inspire you and motivate you into finally completing your novel? Do you want to know the quickest way to rev up your word count and finish that novel? I have four answers for you:

Faith In Writing

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015 Kelly Babcock Leave a comment

Well, that's part of it ... — Well, that’s part of it …

I have a T-shirt that says “Music is my Life!” and another one that says “Music is my Religion!” and they get a lot of wear. Neither one of them is wrong, they don’t lie, they’re just not complete.

The truth is that creating is my life. Creating music and stories and poems. And creating is also my religion. I’d call myself a creationist, but that would be misleading too.

The largest part of my creating by far is my writing, because it covers so much territory. And the larger part of the writing is prose in the form of blog posts and online magazine articles, freelance articles (though I haven’t done one of those in a while), short stories, and the ongoing novel.

But there is poetry and lyrics always lurking in my mind, waiting to be discovered and recorded, usually quickly, before it disappears again below the surface of the murky, unfathomable depths of my mired mind. Read more