Summer is finally here, and that means just one thing – it’s beach-reading season! As a writer, you must constantly be reading. If you’re working on your memoir, I recommend Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, or Stop-Time by Frank Conroy. Working on a novel? I can always find inspiration in William Faulkner – As […]
It’s not what you say, but how you say it. My friend, Kathie Seedroof of Simplified Interior, sent this email link to me as a part of her Feng Shui tips. I had to share it! Enjoy this one-minute clip. You won’t regret it. Think differently. Shift the energy. Change your words, change […]
When I have a lot of writing finished, but I’m not sure how to put it all together, I find that the following methods help my piece take shape: 1. Write one paragraph that tells what your story is about. Include motivation of the characters, where does it take place, what is the conflict? 2. Now distill […]
Catch this blog about our www.KitchenTableWriting.com Wendy wrote with us on Wed AM Terrific description of how our workshop works. http://wbterrien.com/blog/ Here’s the whole post. At a recent event for writers, I dropped my business card into the fish bowl on Anne Randolph’s display table. She was there promoting the various workshops she offers, both […]
Now that you have done some work developing your character, you can start delving deeper. Try exploring and expanding the character’s range with guesswork about their home, family and lifestyle. Develop a backstory – in essence, drop the reader into a trap door of the character’s past. You can even explore what your character dreams about. All […]
How do you handle emotions that might come up with your writing? Here are a few tips. 1. View your work as fiction. Consider your characters as part of a novel. 2. If reviewing past letters and other source material. Only look at one document at a time. A large stack of letters or research […]
Now that you’ve developed a character profile, take it a step further and create the character sketch. The sketch adds further depth to the character you are creating. While many of the factors used in the profile are “givens” (such as gender, age, birthplace, etc.), the specifics of the sketch often represent choices the character […]