Nathan Bransford recently posted the question, “Has your ambition changed in the past few years?” on his Blog. Hmmm . . . My answer: My goal, since 2003, has been to encourage writers, especially people who want to write but think they can’t. The older I get, the more I am inspired to keep doing what I’ve been doing: Posting inspiration to Just Write! And so, here we are, on The Write Spot Blog asking: Has your ambition changed in the past few years? You can click on Nathan’s Blog post and comment there. Or: Since I no longer have a comments section on my blog (because I couldn’t keep up with deleting spammers), you can answer the question on Marlene Cullen’s Write Spot Facebook Page. Just Write! #justwrite #iamawriteer #iamwriting
Category: Just Write
Armando Garcia-Dávila: Writing With Prisoners
Something new on The Write Spot Blog: A video! Some of us hold our cards close to our chest, reluctant to reveal anything personal. Not Garcia-Dávila. In this video, Armando opens his heart to tell us about his experience with prisoners. “I present my experiences volunteering at San Quentin State Penitentiary in Marin County, California. I interacted with inmates over three-day retreats. An unexpected takeaway; there are many decent people, some admirable, that are serving sentences from two years to life. I had an interaction with one particular inmate that was life changing for both of us.” —Armando Garcia-Dávila The video is about 50 minutes long. Scroll down for link to video. Armando opens with a poem “Keeping Quiet,” by Pablo Neruda. Suzanne Murray wrote about “Finding Magic in the Mundane,” referencing Neruda. “I have many favorite poets but, the Nobel prize winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda tops the list in…
More than “Just the facts”
Balancing Facts With Narrative “Fact-packed prose might feed the mind, but stories stir the soul. This is where structuring your narrative to build interest comes into play. The goal is to weave your facts into a story arc that escalates the wonder, making each page a gateway to the next surprise. By balancing detailed factual content with engaging narrative structures and vivid scene-setting, you transform your nonfiction into a compelling story. This isn’t just information, it’s an experience, a journey through the phenomenal world of your subject that educates and enchants.” — “From Ordinary to Extraordinary,” Ryan G. Van Cleave, Writer’s Digest Sept/Oct 2024
Create Original Phrases
Rather than using a tired cliché, create your own phrases that might become popular and memorable. Like this one: “ . . Maureen Seaton wrote beautiful poems the way some people eat potato chips.” — Mario Alejandro Ariza, “Writers on Writing,” Writer’s Digest, July/August, 2024 Have fun with clichés. #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter
Concise Poetic Forms
“While excess can be fun when writing nature poems, many poets find minimalism is preferable. Emily Dickinson wrote several nature poems — often in fewer than 10 lines — including ‘Who robbed the woods’ and ‘My river runs to thee.’ One of the most concise poetic forms is also a nature poem: the haiku! Many poets debate the number of lines and syllables (not everyone believes in the 5-7-5), but every haiku poet agrees haiku should focus on a brief moment, provide a sense of enlightenment, and offer a cutting and season word.” Excerpt from “Poetic Asides” by Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest, July/August 2024. More about haiku and nature writing: Nature Journaling Crystallize a Moment Why I Love Writing Ekphrastic Poetry #justwrite #amwriting #iamawriter
Nature Journaling
“With nothing more than a pen and a notebook, nature journaling can help you slow down and create a reference you can call upon to bring your reader into the worlds you build on the page.” Excerpted from “How Nature Journaling Can Help Your Writing,” by Maria Bengtson. Writer’s Digest, July/August 2024. Go outside with pen and notebook, get settled, observe, use sensory detail to enhance your writing. Bengtson suggests using these prompts I notice . . . I wonder . . . It reminds me of . . . “Your observations will create a reference that will help you transport your reader from their cozy chair to the world on your pages. Sketch a tree or flower or a critter you see. The work of creating a rough map, schematic, or stick-figure diagram forces you to think about how things are related to one another, and how the environment…
Re-visioning aka editing
“An editor’s job is to make you, the author, look good and save you from embarrassing mistakes.” — Unknown source Hiring an editor is like looking in a mirror before you leave the house, checking to make sure everything is where it should be and nothing is showing that shouldn’t be showing. — Marlene Cullen Editing is like a captain having a good crew to help steer the craft. — Marlene Cullen Let’s talk about editing. Or, as I like to think: Re-visioning. Some writers love to edit . . . making their writing better and better. Other writers loathe to edit . . . finding it tedious and nerve wracking. Some writers are in the middle, or elsewhere, on the continuum. The best scenario: Writers and editors work together as they dovetail their skills and expertise to come up with a product that is ready for publishing. It’s a…
Passions
Going through an old (paper) file folder, I found something I wrote around 2011: I am passionate about writing. It is my joy to find the exact right word for what I’m looking for. Some people work crossword puzzles for a hobby. If there was such a hobby for finding precise words, that’s what I would do. Well, it is what I do! Grant Faulkner also appreciates discovering the right word, as described in his Substack essay, “A Grab Bag of Trinkets, Flotsam, Jetsam, Doo Dads, Dad Doos, Rusty Objects, Found Objects, Attempts at Erudition—and More (but not less): “Words have halos, patinas, overhangs, echoes.” —Donald Barthelme “I steal “frotteur” from James Salter, who said, “I’m a frotteur, someone who likes to rub words in his hand, to turn them around and feel them, to wonder if that really is the best word possible.” As a frotteur of words, I love this quote,…
Lyric Essays
“A lyric essay is a type of creative nonfiction that fuses personal essay with poetry to tell a powerful story or reinforce a primary message.” “A meditative essay encourages contemplation, wonder, and curiosity.” Example: “The Death of a Moth,” by Virginia Woolf. A collage essay is a collection or patchwork of thoughts, of found things, that together point to a greater whole. Example: “Going to the Movies,” by Susan Allen Toth. A braided essay weaves multiple strands together with the goal of creating a work that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Example: “A Braided Heart” by Brenda Miller. The hermit crab essay takes on the form of the content type it inhabits. Examples:“Solving My Way to Grandma,” by Vivian Wagner, written as a crossword puzzle.“Son of Mr. Green Jeans,” by Dinty W. Moore is written as a glossary. In a counterpoint essay, the writer alternates between two narrative strands to convey a larger truth. Example: “The Search…
Pick Up The Pace
Quick pacing hooks readers, deepens the drama, creates and increases tension.How to pick up the pace:1. Start story in the middle of the dramatic action, not before the drama commences.2. Keep description brief. This doesn’t mean using no description, but choose one or two telling, brief details.3. Combine scenes. If one scene deepens character by showing a couple at dinner and a few scenes later they have a fight, let them have the fight at dinner.4. Rely on dialogue. A lot of the story can be carried by spoken conversation. Readers seldom skip dialogue.5. Keep backstory to a minimum. The more we learn about characters through what they do now, in story time, the less you’ll need flashbacks, memories and exposition about their histories. All of these slow the pace.6. Squeeze out every unnecessary word. This is the best way of all to increase pace. There are times you want…