Prompt #48 was about how to “Grow Your Character.” Prompt #49 was about setting the mood. Prompt #50 was “The Problem.” Let’s put them all together and write the scene. If you have freewrites on character, mood and a problem. . . use these elements to write a scene. Or, write a scene, using all new material. If writing memoir, write what actually happened, as best as remembered. Be sure to include details. Be specific. Not “car,” rather “1966 blue Dodge van.” “Scenes are capsules in which compelling characters undertake significant actions in a vivid and memorable way that allows the events to feel as though they are happening in real time. When strung together, individual scenes add up to build plots and storylines. — Make A Scene, Crafting a powerful Story One Scene at a Time, by Jordan E. Rosenfeld In Make A Scene, Jordan includes a recipe for…
Put into written words . . .
From the Hard Life to the Writing Life by Jay Baron Nicorvo Put into written words your understanding, and misunderstandings, of the world. — Jay Baron Nicorvo, Jan/Feb 2014 issue of Poets & Writers magazine. “The Miracle of Mentors: From the Hard Life to the Writing Life,” by Jay Baron Nicorvo.
The Problem . . . Prompt #50
Prompt #48 was about how to “Grow Your Character.” Prompt #49 was about setting the mood. Today’s prompt is about “The Problem.” These series of prompts are based on Sheldon Siegel‘s 2011 Writers Forum workshop. We’re working on how to write suspense, mystery, thriller. If that doesn’t interest you, you can also use these prompts to write memoir. Write a one-sentence premise. What’s at stake? Why should the reader care? If we follow along with Prompt #49: Our heroine is about to get into a limo to meet with Monsieur Blanchard. We know her father is concerned about her. We know she wants to look professional for this meeting. That’s about all we know. Let’s play with this. What if our heroine is a contracted killer? What if she is meeting with Monsieur Blanchard to receive her next assignment? What if she needs the money because her father is in…
Your writing will soar with Hemispheres Magazine
United Airlines Hemispheres Magazine “Hemispheres is written for the affluent, curious, sophisticated citizen of the world. Blending long-form journalism with trend stories, think-pieces and service [articles].” — Writer’s Digest Magazine, February 2014. 95% freelance articles, pays $.50 per word and up. Hemisphere’s Three Perfect Days series is gorgeous photography. Scroll through for a mental mini-vacation. Pitch your story. Details here.
Guest Blogger Amanda McTigue — The Power of Place
Guest Blogger Amanda McTigue — The Power of Place Writing is setting. Indeed, to write is to place (that’s “place” as a verb). We writers place readers in worlds. We set them into circumstances, stories, imagery, facts, memories, actions, fantasies, and so on. Setting in this sense isn’t mere background. It’s the sum total of every last word we write. And yet, so often we think of place as scenery. What a mistake! Place shapes voice. I’m not talking dialect here. I’m saying the ways we writers situate ourselves in imagined (or remembered) worlds give rise to the ways we convey those worlds to others. Our first task, then, is to place ourselves so fully that our readers go with us. “All well and good,” you say, “but how can we interrupt our action-packed, conflict=drama, page-turning flow to squeeze in some detail of setting? We’re writing to keep readers reading!…
Hard work got me here and only . . .
Hard work got me here and only hard work will keep me here. — Brandon Stanton, photographer and author of Humans of New York. Brandon is the amazing young man who founded the Humans of New York Project. Q & A with Brandon and Lee Shearer: Why did you start Humans of New York? The idea for HONY came very organically from a love of photography. It wasn’t really modeled on anything. It emerged from many small evolutions rather than coming from a fully formed idea. For my first year or so of doing HONY full time, there weren’t even captions or interviews. It was just a photography blog. What kept you going in the first months of HONY? Obsession, really. I just truly loved doing it, and I thought the work was unique and important. Even early on, I had a lot of confidence that if I kept working,…
Setting The Mood. Prompt #49
Prompt #48 was about how to “Grow Your Character.” We’ll talk about location as character (exterior and interior) in this post and how to set the mood, or the tone of the scene. Let the reader know right away where the scene is happening, include details such as place, year, season, weather, and perhaps time of day. Not in an information dump, rather, weave in these details. Furniture tells a lot about a person. Sparse? Elegant? Are there cooking utensils on the kitchen counter? Neat and tidy? Cluttered? The city (setting) can be a character in the story. Examples: Dashiell Hammett and San Francisco, Lisa Scottoline and Philadelphia. The Christmas tree in The Nutracker becomes a character as it expands. As you write details about the setting and location, try to use dialogue and action. Think Casablanca and the Maltese Falcon. Elements of setting the mood: Where does this scene…
I’d like you to meet Pat Schneider.
I am fortunate to have experienced the wonderful and intrepid Pat Schneider, founder of Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) . . . both in her books and in writing workshops. Pat was born in 1934, lived in tenement housing with her brother and single mother where there was seldom food in the cupboards, let alone on the table. When she was ten, Pat and her brother went to live in an orphanage. Those early experiences deeply influenced her writing, and fueled her passion for those who have been denied voice through poverty and other misfortunes. Through the help of a caring teacher, Pat was awarded a scholarship and was able to attend college, where she met her future husband. And so a life of writing began for this remarkable woman who lives and loves passionately. Here’s a story about Pat, from her website: I was a young poet, published in…
Grow your characters. Prompt #48
Grow your characters. For the next three writing prompts, we’re going to build our repertoire, so that we’ll have characters, location and a problem leading us to write a scene. One step at a time. First step: Write a brief description of character or characters. If you have a work in progress, use this time to discover something new about your characters. If writing memoir, same thing . . . find a new way to describe character. Include flaw or flaws. Example: Self-doubt, what would be challenging to character? What does the character fear? What big events molded character? Character’s likes and dislikes. What drives character? How does character react to pressure? Give your character a personality quirk, add internal conflict. These examples are from Sheldon Siegel’s 2011 talk at Writers Forum of Petaluma. Sheldon Siegel is one of my favorite authors. Need more ideas? Fill in the blanks. Answer…
We insist that all of our content is contrary.
Do you have some writing that could be considered contrary? Contrary Magazine wants your contrary writing. “The ‘n’ in the title on Contrary’s website banner is backwards, fitting for a literary magazine guided by the editorial statement, ‘We insist that all of our content is contrary. And, we insist, so is all of yours.’” — February 2014, Writer Magazine Contrary receives submissions throughout the year and publishes four issues per year, with the change of seasons. Spring deadline is March 1. Summer deadline is June 1, Autumn is Sept. 1, Winter is Dec. 1. Types of work accepted: Fiction, poetry, commentary. Click here for submission guidelines. Click here for Contrary Blog.