Homonyms (also called homophones) are words that sound like one another but have different meanings. Some homonyms are spelled the same, like bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the outer layer of a tree trunk). Enchanted Learning Freewrites mean writing freely. You are free to write whatever you want. Use any or all of the following words in a freewrite: Flower – Flour Beach – Beech Bough – Bow Fur – Fir Morning – Mourning Birth – Berth Red – Read Time – Thyme Eye – Aye New – Gnu You – Ewe You’ll – Yule If ewe are knew too freewwrites oar kneed eh refresher . . . If you are new to freewrites or need a refresher: Freewrites . . . What Do You Call Them? What is a freewrite and what is a writing prompt? Lose Control and Just Write Writing Is Like Excavating If yule cast yer…
Missed my deadline
Missing a deadline . . . Not a good thing, right? One might agonize about missing a deadline to the point of being incapacitated. Not my author friend, Sandy Baker. Sandy recently sent an email with updates about all her books. She had high hopes of Adventures Of The Hotel Sisters being published in time for Christmas presents. When that didn’t happen, she simply said, “Missed my deadline! Hotel Sisters is going to be late–always good for a New Year’s, after-the-holidays late gift!” I love her easy-breezy attitude. It’s good to know what you can and what you can’t do . . . What you have control over and what you have no or little control over. And if you make a mistake, take ownership. You don’t have to be dramatic nor overly explanatory, just a simple statement of facts. I missed my deadline. And then get on with the…
Another POV choice: Free Indirect Speech
POV = Point of view. Point of view is . . . simply. . . from the point of view of whoever is telling the story. Writers get to choose who tells the story. It’s a very simple concept, made difficult by the many choice of who gets to tell the story: first person, second person, third person (limited, close, omniscient). Here’s another point of view choice: The Free Indirect Style. I’m posting about the free indirect style of point of view because I’m fascinated with learning new things and also because a friend, whom I admire and is an excellent writer said, “I have found that I use it [free indirect point of view] a lot in my writing, and always have, without even knowing that’s what it was. It’s a very “natural” voice for me and, I think, one that’s easy to read.” Ready? Here we go: “Free…
Heliotrope by JC Miller
Heliotrope reviewed by Ana Manwaring. JC Miller’s latest novel, Heliotrope, has been called “a coming of age story for the ages.” And it’s more than that. Heliotrope is a story about finding one’s path in a complicated world and finding peace in one’s own skin. It’s about finding a place we belong. For Kit Hilliard, home is a place to escape. She goes as far from the dusty, brown desert town of her shattered childhood as she can, to attend college in the lush world of 1975 Arcata, California. “Kit’s vision filled with green, quenching the arid ground of her birthplace, softening the brittle places in her heart. Eager to reinvent her life and thirsty for uncharted ground, Kit opened up like a flower turning to light.” But on the cusp of her senior year and graduation, her world begins to shift. Kit falls in love with her senior seminar…
Superstition Review
Superstition Review is the online literary magazine published by Arizona State University twice yearly (May and December), featuring art, fiction, interviews, nonfiction and poetry. Their mission is to promote contemporary art and literature by providing a free, easy-to-navigate, high quality online publication that features work by established and emerging artists and authors from all over the world. Superstition Review welcomes submissions of art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry during their two reading periods in spring (January and February) and fall (September and October). Submission Guidelines. Superstition Review maintains a strong year-round community of editors, submitters, contributors, and readers through social networks: s[r} Blog s[r]Facebook s[r]Goodreads s[r]Google+ iTunes U LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Twitter YouTube The Write Spot Blog is part of the Festive Spirit Blog Hop, hosted by Francis H. Powell. To read posts by participating bloggers, click on Francis H. Powell’s Home Page. Scroll down, choose a name, click on one and you will magically be…
What is on your bucket list? Prompt #212
This seems to be the time of year to make lists. I am normally a list maker, but I get real serious about it starting mid-December. With all the “kids” coming home for the holidays, I mentally list where everyone will sleep. Then I gather blankets, quilts, comforters and pillows. Some unlucky family members have to sleep on the floor. Can’t be too bad, because they keep coming back. Then there are the other lists: shopping (gifts, groceries), meals (breakfasts, dinners. . .I’m not used to cooking for nine), party planning (food, drinks, moving furniture), holiday cards (cards received, cards sent) . . . okay, probably too much information. But yes, I am that serious about making lists. I’ve been thinking about bucket lists. You know . . . things you’ve always wanted to do and some day you will. I’m wondering, what’s on your bucket list? For fiction writers….
Can you make ghosts come alive?
Guest Blogger Francis H. Powell: Writing About Ghosts. What are your feelings about…Ghosts…do they exist? They are ridiculed, have been made mundane, absurd films like Ghostbusters have trivialized them. Kids aren’t blinkered and naïve. Cynics rule. Christmas seems the perfect time to unleash a Ghost story. Many writers set out to write thrilling stories to a cynical disbelieving audience. Perhaps the golden age of ghost story telling, the Victorian age, was a period when readers were far more susceptible to believing in ghosts. Modern day readers are far more pragmatic, scrutinizing what they are reading. Houses are lit up with bright neon light, streets are not dark and shadowy as they were in past times. I guess very few writers who write ghost stories have ever encountered a “real” ghost, so they are letting their imaginations run wild. For a Ghost story to work it has to sustain a high…
Physical gestures reveal emotions . . . Prompt #211
Physical gestures do more than enhance dialogue . . . Writing dialogue usually includes physical gestures— those things we do when we talk. You don’t have to be exceptionally creative to write realistic action while your characters are dialoguing. Just write whatever it is they are doing: fingers drumming, shoulders twitching, cell phone glancing, eyes wandering, forehead scratching. So much nonverbal communication going on. Just don’t be boring about it . . . no fingers twirling hair, no lip biting. Like clichés, these are over-used physical gestures. Here’s what Steven James says in the January 2016 issue of the Writer’s Digest magazine, “If you find your character brushing his nose or repositioning his chair or crossing legs and so forth for no other reason than to provide a respite from the dialogue, recast the scene. Just as dialogue should reveal the intention of the characters so should the actions that…
“I’ve only regretted stuff I’ve left in . . . ” —Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes discusses her writing process with Jessica Strawser in the January 2016 issue of the Writer’s Digest magazine. “Frequently I will write chapters that I end up having to ditch. And they might be beautifully crafted, they might contain things I’m really proud of, but you have to be ruthless. There comes a point when you know in your gut something just isn’t working, or isn’t as good as it should be. What I’ve found over the years is that I’ve never regretted anything I’ve ditched—I’ve only regretted stuff I’ve left in.” The January 2016 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine is loaded with fantastic information for writers. Buy it now, because if you wait. . . you know how it goes. . . you’ll forget, or it will be off the newsstands. Or. . . aha! Lightbulb moment. . . Subscribe! I have been a subscriber for years and…
A Variety of Point of Views
Point of View (POV)- is the term to describe who is telling the story . . . or. . . who is narrating the story. Point of view is the story told from the narrator’s viewpoint and what the narrator’s relation is to the story, or . . . the distance between the narrator and the story, as well as the trustworthiness of the narrator. Involved narrator – the narrator is involved in the action as it unfolds Detached narrator – narrator is an objective observer or witness to the action Reliable narrator – a narrator whose account and perceptions we can trust Unreliable narrator – a narrator whose own ignorance, mental or emotional state, age, prejudice, etc. may distort or limit his or her perceptions Free indirect style – a lesser know POV, a style of third-person narration, using some of the characteristics of third-person along with the essence…