UNSTICKING A STUCK STORY 0:00 / 0:00 Unsticking a Stuck Story An idea for a great character drops into your mind. Then, you compose what you believe to be a magnificent first sentence, “Two hours before Simon’s life took a nightmarish turn for the worse, he stood in his grimy bathroom, under the dim light […]
HOW WATCHING PIXAR, INDIANA JONES & SEINFELD CAN UNSTICK A STUCK STORY Read More »
THE WRITER’S STORY PODCAST ON MAINTAINING CRITIQUE GROUPS Would you like to hear a discussion about writing communities and critique groups? How to form a group? How to organize meetings? Ways to think about group dynamics? Meredith Cole and Kristin Swenson invited me to participate in the podcast discussing the topic. I join the discussion
The Writer\’s Story Podcast on Starting and Maintaining Writing Critique Groups Read More »
HOW TO CREATE LIVELY CHARACTERSWRITING TIP Photo Courtesy of Bob Dass I take improv classes at The Big Blue Door. Recently, we learned a game called, Present, Past, Future. The exercise gave me wonderful insight in how to create characters who hop off of the page. Here’s how it’s played. One person starts a scene
TIP: HOW TO CREAT LIVELY CHARACTERS Read More »
TELLING A STORY CAN HELP YOU WRITE A STORY A few years ago, I found myself in the middle of a writing slump. All the short stories I sent out came back with a five-word rejection: Not Right For Our List. For a writer, those five words have the same effect as someone saying: “Are
TELLING YOUR STORY CAN HELP YOU WRITE YOUR STORY Read More »
DON’T IRON YOUR CLOTHES ON YOUR BODYNO MATTER HOW LATE YOU ARE Photo Courtesy of Annie Spratt 0:00 / 0:00 A Cautionary Tale The phone rang at six p.m. I was supposed to meet my husband and his colleagues at a fancy restaurant downtown for dinner at 6:15. I was running so late that I
HOW TO SURVIVE REJECTION Photo Courtesy of Jakayla Toney I am an expert in the field of rejection. I stand before you today with exquisitely impressive rejection credentials. I’ve been rejected by The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Ploughshares, a top children’s book agency in California, and my first grade boyfriend, Walter Flemke, may he