Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Family History, Memoir Writing on Sep 23rd, 2011
In Part 2 of her guest post below, Linda Gartz, researcher and author of the ambitious and impressive Family Archaeologist blog, offers tips to others interested in documenting their family histories. Family History Writing Advice The first thing to do if you want to begin a family history is interview the living, preferably on video tape. There are [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Fiction on Sep 10th, 2011
Are there books you turn to again and again to inspire your muse or strengthen your writing? This post (and a few to follow) is about those books I most often recommend to my creative writing students. Why? Because each of these books covers a lot of ground in an easy, accessible way. You won’t [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips on Sep 2nd, 2011
To be a writer, you have to be self-motivated – even if you’ve been lucky enough to have a publisher pay you an advance to produce a book. There’s always the possibility that you’ll experience days when you feel you’re just not up to the challenge. Writers ask themselves (and me, as their instructor) as [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips on Aug 31st, 2011
If you’re always putting other activities before your writing, try the tips in the list that follows. 1) Eliminate distractions and time wasters. Get on “do-not-call” (www.donotcall.gov) and “do-not-mail” (www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference) lists to stop telemarketers’ calls and junk mail. Mute the TV and write during commercials. Cancel subscriptions to magazines you don’t have to time to [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips on Aug 27th, 2011
If you’ve been doing something else with your life up to now (and who hasn’t?), go ahead and start identifying as a writer. It’s not necessary to tell others that you’re a writer, but it’s critical that you tell yourself. Believe it in your heart. Believe it in your soul. You are a writer. [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips on Aug 24th, 2011
You’ve probably heard people say, “I’ve always wanted to write,” as often as I have. Gets old, doesn’t it? Maybe you’ve said it yourself. An estimated 80 million Americans want to write a book. But how many actually write anything, let alone a book? For most people, being a writer is just a vague dream. [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Family History, Memoir Writing, My Mother's Money on Jul 15th, 2011
The main branch of my town library invited three instructors to lead creativity workshops for folks 50+ years old last month. I had the pleasure of running the workshop on memoir and life story writing with three different groups of participants. I’d worried beforehand that the evening was packing too many activities (drumming, collage making, and [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Personal Essays on Jun 1st, 2011
I Had It All Wrong My early fantasies of the writing life bore no relation to reality, saturated as they were with a determined sentimentality. I must have gotten my ideas from photos I came across in which writers were always pensively portrayed in workspaces that overlooked meadows and streams drenched in dappled sunlight. [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Fiction on May 17th, 2011
Author Leigh Russell writes the bestselling series of crime thrillers featuring detective Geraldine Steel. Her novels are CUT SHORT (2009); ROAD CLOSED (2010); and DEAD END (2011). Leigh generously shares tips for aspiring writers in her guest post below. – Lynette Guest Post by Leigh Russell We hear so much these days about how difficult it is [...]
Posted in Creative Writing Tips, Hating Your Book on May 9th, 2011
The latest in my series, When You Hate the Book You’re Writing, is an interview with author and journalist, Beth Winegarner. Beth tells us about the strategies that help her persist in writing her latest book. – Lynette What are you working on? I’m writing a book for parents about teens and media influences. Specifically, I’m writing [...]
