Editing | Coaching | Instruction
MFA ESSAYS Now that I am a MFA student in Creative Writing (Fiction) at Queens University, I am required to write a few short comparative literature essays about the books we read and the seminars we attended. I figured, might as well post these essays here, too, right? My first essay is about the Treatment […]
On my quest to find interesting writing prompts, I came across CreativeWritingPrompts.com (a not-so-creative url). Prompt #95: “List 31 simple pleasures. Every day for four weeks, write about one simple pleasure for five minutes” I love this prompt. So much so that I’m going to try to complete their challenge. Except I’ll probably spend longer […]
That’s me, isn’t it? People who don’t write don’t get it. They often assume that the stories I write — the stories all writers write — are taken entirely from real life. That our characters are just people we’ve met transcribed to paper under the guise of another name and a different hair color. I’ve […]
We support our fellow romance pioneers One of our lovely comrades over at The Page Girls (fight the good fight, girls), Cecily Gates, was kind enough to send me a copy of her debut novel, An Imaginary House by the Sea, the first of a series of novels set in Bridgeport. I have to say, […]
What do you think of when I say “Fanfic”? Neville Longbottom acting out stories about himself at the Fringe, perhaps? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtJAqSbzyKw No? Maybe you think of the ridiculous success that Fifty Shades of Grey turned into after starting as a humble fanfic for another surprising best-seller? What am I getting at here? Fanfic doesn’t have […]
If I don’t have another task to complete, I tend to hit refresh on Facebook until my eyes cross. It’s as if my brain were programmed with this as default: IF no tasks THEN refresh Facebook. The trick, I think, is setting tasks in my internal library.
Sometimes, the most telling details are found in unlikely places I was introduced to this exercise at Bekki Hill‘s workshop “It’s Not Just What You Say” at the Winchester Writer’s Festival back in June (used with her permission). Explore your character by exploring his or her hands. Think about it: what do your hands look […]
Where do you come up with this stuff?? Anyone who has ever told someone they’re a writer has been asked the question: where do you come up with your ideas? For me, stories are driven by characters, and characters are everywhere. Think about all the people with whom you interact on a daily basis: other […]
Many people don’t realize how much “behind the scenes” work goes into writing a story or a novel or other work, and many writers are loath to write something that won’t be “used” in the body of the text. But, truth be told, this “unused” work is some of the most important information you will […]
What’s a Mind Map? One of my favorite ways to brainstorm a story or a character is Mind Mapping. I actually learned this method in elementary school. To prove that we’d read a book, we had to map out the main characters and ideas in a cloud-like structure for the teacher to check over. This works […]