Be a Tree
There is an exercise that is often taught in acting classes, and most actors hate it. They not only hate it, they deride it and spend countless years after their initial training parodying it and using it as an example of why it’s completely useless to study acting. That exercise is to “Be a Tree.” [...]
Look After Your Gnome
We all have gnomes that follow us around and pop up at the most inopportune time. Some of yours might be named “I’m Just Not Good Enough” or “They Must Know Better Than Me” and “I’m Not Capable”. A writer might have a gnome called “No One Would Care About What I Have to Say” [...]
Writing Novels
Besides Weeping Willow, the book I wrote with Steve Mancini, I have written three novels (at least one of which should be published this year, a science fiction odyssey called Guardian Mosaic.) I am in the process of mapping out another one right now. While doing it, I am taking a sort of omniscient view [...]
Obsessive Much?
I often talk about the need to get stuff done as opposed to getting it done perfectly. The whole, “do you want it perfect or do you want it on Tuesday” philosophy is an apt one. Besides the notion that perfect isn’t possible, it can drive one crazy when one tries to reach it. Okay, [...]
Fictionalizing Stories from Life
If you are writing stories from your life, there are may reasons to fictionalize them, or at least fictionalize elements of them. I’m going to briefly focus on three: For your benefit For the benefit of the people you’re writing about For the benefit of your reader We’ll start with the most obvious, for benefit [...]
Why Most Advice to Writers Sucks
Many years ago, Steve had a subscription to Writer’s Digest magazine. In almost every issue, there were articles such as: “10 Writing Mistakes to Avoid” “The 5 Top Reasons an Agent Will Reject Your Book” “7 Query Don’ts” “Why You Won’t Sell Your Manuscript” “The Top 10 Things You’re Doing Wrong” “Why You Suck as [...]
The Myth of Talent
I had a life-changing exchange with a teacher, once. We were talking about pursuing our passions, our art. About spending our lives doing something we loved. I stood up in class and asked a question that had been burning in my heart for years: “What if I’m just not talented?” He asked me, “What if [...]
Can Creative Writing Enhance Other Types of Writing?
Can learning the techniques of fiction and creative writing enhance other types of writing? When we study creative writing, we learn how to structure stories, how to communicate their ideas. We learn how to evoke emotions, how to build characters and relationships between characters. Let’s look to see how any of these skills might go [...]
The Myth of Rules
I often talk about writer’s myths, things people think of as writing rules that often just get in the way of good writing. Are their any rules for writing that the writer should be aware of? Certainly. One such rule is, “don’t use sentence fragments”. An example of a sentence fragment, for those who missed [...]
A Writer’s Exercise
All artists have exercises to help them with the craft of their art. Painters and sculpters are always sketching. Musicians do scales and are always plinking and plunking and tinkling on something. Dancers do their bar work. Singes do vocal warmups. An exercise we recommend for writers is to sit down, look at something in [...]
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