A friend is getting ready to teach an online college-level course about “the business of creative writing.” He asked me for any strategies I would suggest along those lines and to pass along “things I’ve learned.” His prompt led me to write this note, below. Here’s what I sent him. ++ Things I’ve learned ……
Tag: motivation
Summertime Blues
The living might be easy, but the writing . . . not so much. Perhaps because I am a writer of horror and mystery, I prefer a melancholy atmosphere—dreary weather and short, dark days—for holing up with my laptop to create twisty stories. When the pools open, the barbeques belch smoke and the drinks don…
The Power of Now
It’s a cocky thing to say, but I’ll say it: I rarely get stuck when I’m writing. (Notice I didn’t say ‘never.’) If I feel slightly stuck, here’s what I do: I start writing down everything my character is feeling in the moment, in the “now” of that character’s situation. If the character isn’t feeling…
Finnegan Begin Again
Back in the 80s, Mary Tyler Moore and Robert Preston starred in an HBO rom-com that has mostly faded into history. In it the main character – a writer named Mike Finnegan – has to begin again. He’s assigned to write the advice column for his newspaper (remember them?) and learns that people have to…
Deep POV Lesson 11 – MRUs
MRUs? Huh? An MRU is a Motivation Reaction Unit. It’s a term coined by the inestimable Dwight Swain, and it’s a magic key to keep your reader immersed deep in the story. It may not be DEEP POV, but it’s closely related. So, I’ll just give you a taste and send you off to Google…