For a homework assignment in a creative writing class at UCDavis Extension, I was asked to write an incident that included a fragment of conversation, keeping as close to the actual incident as possible. 250 words. Next, I was to write an invented scene containing that same fragment of conversation. 250 words. In other words, I was to: Incorporate […]
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Serendipity
Do you believe in serendipity? While I was writing my first novel I did. No matter where I went, no matter whom I met, it seemed messeges came my way that directly related to the theme and plot of my story. It was eerie. It was mysterious. It was exciting. It made me feel as […]
Journal Treasures / Sweet Fluid of Expression
Every so often, I share something I’ve written in one of my journals to let readers in on how the mind of at least one writer works. Here’s an entry from 2003, two years into the writing of my first novel , Between Will and Surrender, and when I was about to start my second, Between Darkness and Dawn. Journal Entry, June 19, 2003 […]
Show Me the Details – Descriptive Details
After ten years of writing fiction, dealing with such story elements as plot, dialogue, characterization, and style, I’ve finally reached the point where I understand the value of descriptive detail in making my writing come alive, raising it from a lump of clay to a fine work of art. I punch, twist, slice, and carve my first drafts, […]
Final, Final Read-Through. Again
I’ve just finished the final, final read through of my novel, Between Now and Forever. Again. But at least this read through only took seven hours, a record, since the last one took ten, spread out over two visits to Starbucks instead of one. Final Read Through And now I’m done. Really. When I tell my critique partners this, […]
Dash Off A Memory / Create A Memoir
Are you trying to decide if the writing life is for you? Today, my friend and critique partner Dorothy Ann Skarles introduces her book, Learning to Write the Easy Way for Fun, Posterity and Money, in which she helps you discover your hidden writing talent. As she says in her introduction, “Connecting with your own past in a […]
