Openings. They’re hard. “You have to grab the reader in the first sentence.” “If you haven’t gotten the reader’s attention in the first three pages, you’ve lost them.” “The first three chapters are all you’ve got. If you can’t take … Continue reading →
Wednesdays during the summer my brother and my cousins and I would spend the day with my aunt. We were primarily interested in the backyard pool at my aunt’s house, but my aunt committed herself on those days to making … Continue reading →
My partner in crime, Rachel Wilder, has some thoughts about maps for you. Rachel, take it away! This turned out to tie in with the previous post. I guess great minds think alike! Maps are great in preventing you from … Continue reading →
Please help me welcome Grace Kahlo, one of the newest members of the Writer’s Retreat. Grace, take it away! No matter which genre you write, location is a fundamental base to your story. The setting complies of more than time … Continue reading →
Karl shook his head. What an unfair nickname! He wasn’t really Karl the Kibitzer, was he? Sure he liked to joke around, but his wisecracks weren’t disruptive like the Yiddish word implied. At least he got off relatively light. Those … Continue reading →
We all use them. They’re the little words that don’t really need to be there, like “really.” They come from colloquial conversation and pepper our writing because it’s how we talk, but not necessarily how we write. Here are some … Continue reading →
When I attend prompt circles and other writerly groups, one question that keeps cropping up is, “How do I get started?” It’s usually asked by someone that, to my eye, is quite ready to get onto the page, they just … Continue reading →
I tend to write without outlines, character sheets, or even much of a plan. Sometimes this approach fails utterly because the stories can go off on a tangent and then sputter out. Or, as referenced in the name of this … Continue reading →
I adore fiction. I always have. I wrote my first story at the age of nine, and I devoured books upon books from the library, booksellers like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, and when I discovered my first Barnes and Noble … Continue reading →
Besides posting some A to Z entries here and the entire alphabet for my Darla M. Sands blog, I am also endeavoring to meet another writing challenge. The Office of Letters and Light, hosts of November’s National Novel Writing Month, … Continue reading →