Let it Percolate! Stephanie Reisner It’s happened to all of us. We’re someplace horribly inconvenient and a great idea pops into our heads. We do our best to record that inspirational thought for later when we have time to sit down and write. Then, when we show up at the computer to type it all up,…
Tag: writing tips
Magic-Wand Words
Remember the Disney production of Cinderella, when the good witches waved their magic wands of blue, red and green? Their glitter flowed like Fourth of July sparklers, creating magic. That’s what my blog is about this month—the magic that happens with words. In an entire novel, only a few or at most several dozen of…
Motivation
Motivation. You hear it all the time. Your characters need to be motivated to pick up that sword and slay the dragon, venture to a distant galaxy, or figure out why there’s a dead body at the bottom of the well. What motivates your character to do what they need to do in your story?…
Lazy Writer’s Syndrome
Strategies to keep your story hot and productive There’s nothing worse than Lazy Writer’s Syndrome. There are no symptoms in its early stages. It only becomes apparent when we look up from our busy lives and realize we haven’t been writing for—oh, ten days, ten weeks–ten months. We have an ongoing accountability system in my critique group….
Sell the Premise – Foreshadowing … by Terry Odell
Johnny Carson said, “If they buy the premise, they’ll buy the bit.” Without foreshadowing, you’re left with deus ex machina and readers don’t like outside forces solving plot threads, or things conveniently appearing just when they’re needed. You have to be a bit of a magician. Think sleight-of-hand, although in this case, it’s more like…