“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
Category: Just Write
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…
A box, at a bazaar . . . Prompt #798
You walk into an outdoor bazaar. Tables are filled with everything imaginable. The sun is bright. Large colorful umbrellas shade the goods displayed on tables. A box calls out to you, beckons you to come closer. You pick it up. Is it heavy? Light? What is made of? You lift the lid, and . . . #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
High white clouds skittered . . .
“High white clouds skittered, their color matching the sheep that ambled below.” From: “How to Knit a Love Song,” by Rachael Herron Your turn: What beautiful phrasing can you conjure?
What informs your writing?
Excerpt from “The Dream Lover,” by Elizabeth Berg: “What once had been random observations and journal entries were becoming pieces of fiction that took on a kind of authority of their own. I learned that wind informed, that memory informed, that hopes and dreams did. So too, a fork on a plate, an unopened letter, the shine of wet on cobblestoned streets — all of these could help shape a story.” What informs your writing? Just write! #amwriting #justwrite #iamawriter
Making Kindness The Norm
Did you know . . . November 13 is officially World Kindness Day? I just heard about this, so I researched: “The purpose of World Kindness Day is to raise awareness of acts of kindness in the community, emphasizing the power of positivity and the compassion that unites us all. A fundamental aspect of the human experience, kindness transcends racial, religious, political, gender and geographical boundaries.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Every Day were Kindness Day! Let’s make it happen! Please go to Marlene Cullen’s Write Spot Facebook Page and add your ideas on what we can do to Be Kind. Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has ideas on how we can “make kindness the norm.” Thank you, Diane D. for letting me know that November 13 is World Kindness Day!