creative writing

Writing Links: From Outlines to Submissions to Cursive Writing

A Shoreline View
A Shoreline View

I’ve found some interesting links in the past few days that I want to pass along.

The first is a blog by one of my favourite writers/bloggers Elizabeth S. Craig. In her post, “Chalk One Up for Outlining,” Craig explains that she is not an outliner by nature. “I despise outlining and I hate following outlines.” If you feel the same way, you might like to read how she found a way to make it work for her.

I loved Darcy Pattison’s blog post, “6 Ways Out of Writing Slump.” I could really identify with her reasons for letting writing fiction slide, and I could also see how her suggestions could make a difference.

If you’re getting a project ready to submit to a publisher, read about what seven agents say can stop editors and agents reading: “Seven Agents Talk About the Most Common Submission Mistakes.” Their comments cover the synopsis, the query and your first pages.

Finally if you love writing in journals or with pen/pencil and paper, you might be interested in this opinion piece by Andrew Coyne that was written in response to a report about the lack of teaching of cursive writing in school. “Words on paper – how we write affects what we write.” 

I’d love to hear your feedback on any of these links. Who do you follow for great writing advice?

Friday Wrap-Up (on Saturday)

BlossomsClearly it’s been one of those weeks. I seemed to have been playing catch up every day. I’m hoping that the weekend is just what I need to get organized for the projects ahead with some time, too, for family and a little work on one of my ongoing fiction projects.

One of the toughest things this week was negotiating a price for a large project with a local editor. It worked out well, but it was stressful, nonetheless. I said ‘no’ to the first price and the second, and then he called and a third price was chosen that I was happy with. I never expected the phone call after the second ‘no thanks,’ but it was a real morale boost when it happened. My work was valued, and he was willing to pay a price I was happy with to keep my skills in his writers’ stable.

That’s the mystery of freelancing. You never really know whether what you have done has made an impression on the person who has commissioned your work, or whether it’s just another project they can tick off on their list and move on. Have you been contacted because you’re at the bottom of their writers’ list (and everyone ahead of you can’t take the job,) or are you the first person contacted because the editor thinks you are the best match s/he knows for the project? Um, did I mention that a bit of insecurity comes with being a freelancer?

I also believe that work attracts work. As soon as I committed to this large project, I got a call about another job for someone I worked with last year. It was a much shorter project, but still, it’s a cheque, and it was a fun creative piece that I enjoyed working on. I’ll find out how his client liked it next week.

So the weekend will be spent with my calendar, blocking out work times for the several things I’m juggling over the next few weeks, including freelancing, wrestling with the new intranet program at the college to set up my fall courses, prepping said courses, and, I hope, carving out time for the fun, creative writing that’s just for me. I love calendars, and coloured markers, and getting organized. I know I’ll feel a lot better going into Monday, once I get it done.

How do you organize your writing, work time, and family time to make sure that there is room for all in your life? Love to hear some tips on the balancing act.

 

A Good Walk/Book Spoiled

I photographed these irises while on the golf course on Saturday. It was the one sunny day when we could actually be outdoors out of a long stretch of rainy and cool, breezy days. The flowers also distracted me from my first golf game of the year, which is filled with moments of great hope (sinking a chip and a very long put and a few great drives) balanced by the realities of my actual level of play (3-putt anyone?) Golf is just that kind of game, and, in my case, it always makes sure that I come back by letting me play like I know what I’m doing on the last hole.

Mark Twain is credited with saying that “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” But apparently that’s not likely. Here’s the scoop from Quote Investigator:

“In 1904 the saying was attributed to a popular novelist named Harry Leon Wilson who used a cleverly expanded version of the jape. Wilson employed a rhetorical device called reversibility to augment the humor [HW1]: Some of his friends have been trying to induce him to play golf, but he refused. He makes the following unique definition of golf:  ‘Golf has too much walking to be a good game, and just enough game to spoil a good walk.'”

Writing has as many challenges as a golf game. The equipment often needs improving, you need to practise, you need to experiment and try new techniques to succeed, you need patience, and mental and physical discipline, and it can take a long time to get to the level that makes you feel confident when you approach that first tee. But like golf can spoil a good walk, can writing spoil a good read? As a writer, how do you approach your reading? Does a good book get spoiled because you are busy analyzing how the author built the plot, or developed characters, or used symbolism or theme? Or can you put your writing brain on hold and just enjoy reading?

I’m lucky enough that I can still be swept away by story and enjoy a good book. But … there are times that being a writer can make me very critical of a novel. And that can be good. As I try to figure out what isn’t working for me in a particular story, I can store that as a cautionary piece of advice when I start to edit my own work. I’d love to know when you turn off or turn on your writer’s brain when you’re reading. Are their books that you would suggest to be read with the writer’s brain on because they have good writing lessons to teach?

Love to hear from you.

Friday Wrap-Up

Yay for Friday! I had a lot of fun this week writing a story for the SCBWI mash-up. The plan is for an author to write 500 words based on a four word prompt and an illustrator to create a drawing based on the same four words. Neither knows what the other is doing. This weekend they get put together, and we get to see how it all turned out. I’ll post the link as soon as it’s ready, so you can see the final result. This week’s words: Brascoe, Television news anchor, treehouse, T-Rex.

Peonies - My favourite June flower
Peonies – My favourite June flower

It’s funny how some writing prompts work and other don’t–well, for me anyways. I love prompts in which random words are thrown together, and you have to create a story or a scene from them. I like working with stray bits of dialogue, too. I wrote 65,000-word historical romance based on three words that I drew from a basket during one of my own writing classes. That kind of prompt requires my puzzle brain, trying to figure something out with just a few clues. It probably has to do with my love of mysteries, the books on codes and secret messages that I used to check out of the library when I was in my Nancy Drew phase, and the fact that I still like to do crossword puzzles and Sudoku.

What kind of writing prompts work for you? Do you like random words or sentences or do you prefer the ones that demand a deeply personal response? Why do you think you prefer one kind of prompt over another. I actually hope that you’re one of the lucky ones that has so many ideas in your head for stories or poems that you don’t need a prompt. If that’s you, celebrate!!

I create writing prompts every month. I ‘d love to know what prompts you’re looking for, so I can include them in my first-of-the-month-writing-prompt post.

Have a great weekend!

Music and Work and School

Conductor's Baton and Sheet MusicJust had to pass this link along to CBC Radio. CBC has compiled a playlist for students to listen to while preparing for exams. There are also a couple of links to information about the connections between music and the brain. I’ve been listening to this playlist since Monday while I wrote a story and did some prep for my fall courses. I’m a classical music fan anyways, but this is a compilation that I’ve really been enjoying. http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2013/6/Ace-your-exams-with-a-classical-music-playlist-for-studying
Do you listen to music when you work? If you do, what music do you prefer? Do you play music in your classroom while your students are working or do you ever let them listen to their own music during class work periods?

Friday Wrap-Up

Begonias and Something with Purple Flowers. My only planting of annuals.
Begonias and Something with Purple Flowers. My only planting of annuals.

This has been a busy chore-filled week. I am so not a gardener and our house is on a lot that presents a lot of challenges. A lot of my work seems to be done on a 45 degree slope. I’m strictly into low maintenance, but my mom, who has an apartment downstairs, is a force to be reckoned with in the spring, and plants keep coming home with her for me to dig in somewhere. What started out as just a little corner for her to putter in has grown this year by more than a dozen various plants and small shrubs and threatens to keep growing. I always cringe a little when she gazes over the back yard and says, “You know. I’ve just been thinking … ” You see, I’m a big fan of goutweed, hostas and day lilies to keep the weeds down, but her tastes are considerably more refined. I mean, she actually plants annuals! This is her happy time of year, so I keep digging holes where she tells me and trimming things that she says need trimming, and try to think positively of the calories that I’m burning, and the glass of wine that I’ll have earned by the end of the day.

On the writing side, I made a bit more progress at the end of the week and will be finishing a short story draft today that I started on Wednesday. Up until then, I was totally stymied by misgivings about whether I should rewrite a major project or just keep going ahead with the sequel. Should I change a project from third person to first? And then I realized I had started my mystery novel all wrong. And then … well, you get the idea. Shudder. Indecision is a real creativity killer, and there are times when I am nearly buried in it. Climbing out is a grim process, but I do, finally, get above ground again and back to the keyboard. Whew.

I’ve gathered a few months of writing starters and added them under the Writing Prompts tab today, and updated my list of publishing options for teen writers under the Where to Get Published tab. You can tell that I’ve also played around with the look of the site again. Sorry about that.

Have a great Friday and hope you have a relaxing and creative weekend ahead.

Thanks for Dropping By!

Wordpress map of visitorsJust want to say thanks to all those who come from all over the world to visit my site every day. I’m thrilled that you find some of the resources here useful. I’d love to know more about you, what you teach or write, and how you use the resources here. Please leave a comment and say “Hi.”

For those who go to the Writing Prompts tab a lot, I’ll be uploading some new prompts by the end of the week to give you something new to work/play with.

Below is a list of the countries that visited the site in the last 30 days. Welcome! I’m so glad you dropped by.

United States 664
Canada 112
United Kingdom 108
Australia 87
New Zealand 42
France 20
India 16
Ireland 10
Philippines 7
Sri Lanka 6
Republic of Korea 5
Saudi Arabia 5
Spain 5
Belgium 5
Pakistan 5
Thailand 5
Argentina 5
Mexico 5
Indonesia 4
Germany 4
Singapore 4
United Arab Emirates 4
Bangladesh 3
Egypt 3
Nigeria 3
South Africa 3
Nepal 3
Trinidad and Tobago 2
Hong Kong 2
Malaysia 2
Peru 2
Brazil 1
Japan 1
Serbia 1
Slovakia 1
Slovenia 1
Marshall Islands 1
Afghanistan 1
Austria 1
Jamaica 1
Saint Lucia 1
Romania 1
Hungary 1
Iceland 1
Bahrain 1
Algeria 1
Switzerland 1
Italy 1

June 2013 Writing Prompts

Peonies - My favourite June flower
Peonies – My favourite June flower

I can’t believe it’s June already. We had every kind of weather in May from snow to a heat wave with thunderstorms, high winds and hail in between. I’m hoping that June calms down a little–and not just here, but for those other parts of North America that have already had enough destructive weather to last a lifetime.Here are the writing prompts for June. If you don’t find any of these inspiring, you can find lots to write about at the Writing Prompts tab above, too. Hope you have a creative month!

1. Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem.

a) music, heart, fear, jacket, flower, door

b) basket, park, jewel, mirror, thunder, hope

2. Here are some opening lines for your story.

a) Jenny smelled like cookies.

b) It was only 8:30, and already I knew I should have stayed in bed.

c) Red cars are best.

d) The wind moaned in the chimney.

e) Flat tires aren’t funny.

3. Some things I think of when I think of June. Maybe they’ll inspire a story or poem.

weddings, the longest day, summer solstice, “June is busting out all over,” June bride, D-Day, Juno, school’s out, June bug, report cards, graduation, Father’s Day, midsummer, taking off the first hay, fresh mown grass, bird song, gardens, planting, change.

4. Here are some lines of dialogue that you can use to create a story.

a) I’ve had enough

Enough what?

Enough you.

b) I’ve stepped in something

You’re right. Now, keep moving.

What is it?

You don’t want to know.

c) There’s a light flashing.

Don’t worry. It’s only a problem if it’s red.

It’s red.

5. The year is nearly half over. Where are you with the resolutions you made in January? Is it time to make some new ones? Are you making progress? Are New Year’s resolutions just dumb anyways?

Hope you have fun with these prompts and find some joywriting time for yourself in the next 30 days!

 

Writing Links for Writers and Teachers

Work-in-ProgressThought I’d share a few blogs and resources that I’ve found useful this week.

A great blog from Janice Hardy showing writers how to set tone and mood in their scenes. The examples are excellent and capture a lot of writer flaws that are easy to see in your own writing–mine included. Sigh. http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/04/how-to-set-tone-and-mood-in-your-scenes.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+janicehardy/PUtE+(The+Other+Side+of+the+Story)

An interesting blog on why the word “suddenly” should be deleted in your writing. The comments add some other words that can be deleted, too. http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2013/04/most-common-mistakes-series-why.html?utm_source=feedly

Skype in the classroom offers ways to connect with teachers and specialists who are willing to connect to you and your students through Skype. https://education.skype.com/

Have a great Wednesday!

Friday Writing Wrap-Up

day 7 photoHow has your writing been progressing this week? What are you working on?  I’ve been working on a sequel to a middle readers fanatasy that I’m in the process of publishing. I had my biggest day yesterday, adding just over 1500 words to the manuscript. That’s a big day for me! If you’re stuck for inspiration check the writing starters on this site and see if you can find a story idea that works for you.

I also have some reading on my agenda, too: Mary Kole’s Writing Irresistible Kidlit, and Kristi Holl’s Writing Mysteries for Young People. I love reading about the craft of writing, and I can’t think of a better time than on the first long weekend of the summer.

Hope that you find some time today to be creative and that you have a great weekend ahead.

 

 

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