Tweet I started out my writing career trying to be invisible. I wrote as neutral as I could so that my words would come through. To be honest, so that my color could not been seen. This is the way it was supposed to be. It’s the way my culture survived WWII and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It’s the way we were raised – to be good enough. Not so good that you stood out. But you didn’t want to shame your family either. For years, it went this way until I realized my writing was stunted by neutral,…
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Tweet Don’t you wish people would post neutral news on social media? I’m not talking about what someone ate for dinner. But lately, my Facebook feed is filled with a monopoly of good news. Maybe it’s because we all need to hear some right now. I just saw a commercial talking about the joy of seeing the bright side of things and then I saw it was an ad for wine. The message was mixed. Do we need alcohol to see sunshine these days? Hopefully not. Here’s some neutral news. The publishing industry is getting flooded. I know that sounds…
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Tweet Recently, I took a free Coursera course on “How to Craft Contagious Content.” The information was so compelling I realized that you could use it to write anything. Emotional. How many times have you received a rejection or a critique that your story wasn’t emotional? It didn’t have enough heart in it. This is the emotional pull that makes people keep reading or unable to turn away from the television during a commercial. What affects you on an emotional level is what you remember. A social worker once told my mother that while my grandmother wouldn’t remember details, she…
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Tweet If you ask me what the difference between fiction and nonfiction is, I’d say, “apples and oranges.” And to most writers, that’s a given. For people who don’t write professionally, however, words are words whether they’re made up or based on fact. There’s an art about each. And both have their challenges. For me though, using my imagination, and letting go into it are difficult. There is no way of controlling what will happen to my characters. There is no specific date or fact that can completely direct my story. That’s why writing a children’s book has been a…
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Tweet Since I’ve become a SCBWI member (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), I’ve learned a lot of ways to beef up my fiction. An easy way I just read about in our recent Bulletin, is to read your story aloud in front of a mirror, to a loved one or a crowd of kids. The key, however, is to do it without a manuscript in front of you, but to recite from your memory. Obviously if you have a novel rather than a picture book, you won’t be able to read the whole story. But that shouldn’t matter.…
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Tweet “Friends sometimes ask, ‘Don’t you get lonely sitting by yourself all day?’ At first it seemed odd to hear myself answer No. Then I realized that I was not alone; I was in the book; I was with the characters. I was with my Self.” – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art The more I commit to writing fiction, the more I appreciate the genius that is Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. I made up a fiction’s children story on the fly. My husband and I were resting at the most beautiful country cottage in Point Reyes. It was…
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Tweet Think of these features as the fast food of writing wisdom. Quick. Meaty. And effortless. Grab and go back to your writing. This week’s post is on fiction straight from the words of Rachel Joyce, author of a recent book I read and am still digesting: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. In the back of this inspiring novel, I found an interview between Joyce and another author, Charlotte Rogan. I gleaned a handful of fiction and even insights on life from their conversation. I hope you will too: Rachel Joyce: “Reading is a creative process. As writers, we…
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Tweet Going to the SCBWI Hawaii Chapter Conference was well-worth the Benjamin this weekend. I learned a ton about fiction-a topic I rarely write about. It was an eye-opening experience teaching me all the mistakes I’m making and probably will make in my fiction future. I thought I’d save you the expense by sharing all the secrets I learned this weekend. So close your wallets and pull up your laptop. It’s going to get good right now. 1) Showing off. It’s tempting to be like a peacock and show off your feathers. But puffing up your ego with superfluous verbiage…
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Tweet You’re a writer. Fiction, nonfiction it’s all the same. Or is it? To me, they feel like two different literary monsters. One’s like breathing. The other? It’s what I imagine skydiving would feel like. Super fun and exhilarating, but also vomit-inducing. Which one you experience all depends on your comfort level. For me, nonfiction is safe. There are research, experts, facts to back up my words. Fiction? Fiction is like free falling. I never know where my imagination will take me. It’s part thrilling, part walking on the edge scary. When I’m feeling particularly insecure, my left-brain tries to…
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Tweet When I was frantic last week, a few fiction writers graciously helped me out. And so did an article I picked up today. As I side note: Did you ever notice that answers come when you ask the right questions? The surprising source was one of my favorite home decor magazines, Coastal Living. In their November 2011 issue, Million Dollar Decorators star Kathryn Ireland answers a few decorator question. I skimmed through them until I stopped at this: If you can’t make it out, it says: What are your rules for hanging art so that it looks pleasing and…