Category: Writing Process
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Blogging: Writing without a lens
Have you ever seen a TV show or video where, at first glance, it’s abundantly apparent that something is different. The look of the show has an amateurish quality to it; there is no lushness but only harsh contrasts. It seems more like a home video than a professional production. I’m no movie-maker, but I’m…
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Storyteller or Writer
I enjoyed THIS POST from a blogger who was recounting a teacher who was teaching a class of young writers concerning the difference between being a storyteller and being a writer. The blogger states how everyone in the class had been working on a story and they were revising like crazy to make sure the very best…
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Writing and Driving
I was in Kuala Lumpur this weekend on an amazingly fun softball trip. During the 5-hour drive home, I decided to do some writing. No pen or paper. No gadgets. No voice activated recordings. Just me in my thoughts, navigating a tricky plot sequence of my third novel. Thinking is the part of writing that you…
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Villains: An exercise in drama & writing
In my Intro to Theater Arts class, we did an exercise on villains. Everyone had to choose an especially wicked villain from a movie or book. I told them to chose someone who would be particularly unpleasant to be with in real life. Then, they had to pretend that they had to act the part…
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Force Yourself to be Creative
Have you ever just sat down and said to yourself: “Self, immediately produce a unique and creative work”? I do that sometimes. Today, a phrase popped into my mind. This happens to me all the time. A phrase will grab me – it doesn’t have to be a profound phrase or even an original phrase…
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Using Imagery in Writing: The Example of the Phuong Flower
I’m holding a writing workshop on Monday so I thought I’d unpack a few items I will be talking about. I’ll start with imagery. When I started writing Beauty Rising, I didn’t want it to be an interconnected mess of episodic writing. I wanted overarching themes and imagery which would, hopefully, drive home what I…
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Stay away from the gutter, please!
Yes, I’m at a bowling alley. And watching gutter ball after gutter bowl, I naturally thought of writing. What else? First we must define the purpose of a gutter. It’s to remove waste or unwanted or undesirable garbage far away from one location so that waste can end up with a bird of the same…
Author Mark W Sasse 