Among the myriad other issues and problems I’m currently wrestling with, I’m having serious problems with deciding where and when to start my WIP. I’ve got a number or possible starting points, but I cannot for the life of me make any of them work for me in the long run. Anyway, Pub Rants had a really great post about this here that you should check out.
How do you know you’ve got the right beginning? Do you use back story? Think it’s a good thing? How much description is too much? How do you know?
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Showing posts with label words. Show all posts
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
How do you do it?
I’ll admit it. I can be a little slow. Even so, it took me a while to realize just what an act of courage writing is. Good writers/writing evokes feeling on a visceral level from readers. We craft and shape our words to draw our readers in and make them part of the story being told.
But in so doing we have to open ourselves up, reach deep inside ourselves, and spill our deepest innermost fears and sorrows and joys onto the page with our words. And the risk of failure is great, the learning curve steep as we hone our craft and open ourselves up to others’ judgment. Writing is at once an act of affirmation and of courage as well as an act of defiance. Failure will not prevent us from trying as long as we feel we have something to say
Alan Rinzler over at The Book Deal had an interesting post on how writers build courage.
So how do you do it?
But in so doing we have to open ourselves up, reach deep inside ourselves, and spill our deepest innermost fears and sorrows and joys onto the page with our words. And the risk of failure is great, the learning curve steep as we hone our craft and open ourselves up to others’ judgment. Writing is at once an act of affirmation and of courage as well as an act of defiance. Failure will not prevent us from trying as long as we feel we have something to say
Alan Rinzler over at The Book Deal had an interesting post on how writers build courage.
So how do you do it?
Monday, January 18, 2010
Third Monday in January
Maybe it’s because I’m starting the 60s and the Civil Rights Movement unit with my kids this week, but I find myself thinking a lot about MLK, Jr. lately.
This flawed hero, with his insecurities, missteps, and fear finds the strength and ability to step up and transcend those things to shoulder the burden of a movement; something he believes in, something bigger than himself.
In spite of criticism from some of those in his own movement and resistance from outside.
Words are his tools and his weapon, and I don’t think they’ve been wielded more eloquently or more movingly than in his I Have a Dream speech.
We all have dreams and we all have words. Both have an inherent value. We all have fears and insecurities. I may not change the world, but I hope that as a writer and a teacher and a person I can transcend and use mine to create something honest and moving.
I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. We celebrate heroes and leaders for a reason.
So what about your hopes and dreams?
This flawed hero, with his insecurities, missteps, and fear finds the strength and ability to step up and transcend those things to shoulder the burden of a movement; something he believes in, something bigger than himself.
In spite of criticism from some of those in his own movement and resistance from outside.
Words are his tools and his weapon, and I don’t think they’ve been wielded more eloquently or more movingly than in his I Have a Dream speech.
We all have dreams and we all have words. Both have an inherent value. We all have fears and insecurities. I may not change the world, but I hope that as a writer and a teacher and a person I can transcend and use mine to create something honest and moving.
I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. We celebrate heroes and leaders for a reason.
So what about your hopes and dreams?
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