WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction running 750 words or less. Enlighten, dazzle, and delight us. Finalists receive responses from all judges. First prize is $200. Submit to the 9th WriterAdvice Flash Prose Contest by April 18, 2014. Complete details at www.writeradvice.com
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“When you’re beginning a book, or getting back into a book, as I am now, you have to learn to deal with the nervousness and stress of it. The blank page or the stalled page is incredibly intimidating. And you have to turn that nervousness – rather than into something that blocks you, rather than into something that makes you try to over-think, that makes you feel that you can’t proceed unless you have a clear idea of where you’re going – you have to harness that nervousness, almost like a natural force, and make it work for you. You have to trust that you’re just going to get inside the page and get inside the sentences, and you have to release the desire to feel in control and just follow the writing where it takes you and have faith that you’re eventually going to find the way. — Francisco Goldman
January 2014 issue of The Writer magazine.“Writers on Writing: Find the power to overcome writing fears.”
The Writer magazine article written by Gabriel Packard
Today’s Prompt: What I want to say . . .
Post your writing and watch for comments.
I love stories that are inspirational yet have a lot of heartache, because I think that’s what life is. Life is filled with struggles and yet there’s always beauty, and that’s what I get from films. — Ellen DeGeneres, Parade Magazine, March 2, 2014
Photo by Jeff Cullen
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 basic ingredients for compelling scenes. If you are looking for an excellent book on how to write, this is it! Click here for my review of Make A Scene.
