Tag Archives: how to be a writer

Writing With Greatness In Mind

25 Jun

003And a very happy Tuesday, the 25th of June, to all of you.  I hope you slept well and you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.

I wrote an article this morning about how to write scenes in fiction, or for that matter, nonfiction if you have a desire to do so.

Read the quote below and then I’ll continue.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A word is not the same with one writer as with another.  One tears it from his guts.  The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.”~Charles Peguy

You see, the point is that great writing engages the reader.  Great writing elicits emotions.  Great writing takes the reader and plants them down right in the scene.

Take a look at the picture prompt below and then we’ll continue again.

PROMPT OF THE DAY

grapes

This is a scene from the great movie, and book, The Grapes of Wrath.  Now, for an exercise, I want you to try and write a description of this scene.

Mediocre writers will tell you that it was dusty and hot.

Great writers will find a way to write this scene so that you taste the dust and feel the sweat in your underwear.

Get the point?

It is the same with art or music or sculpting or photography.  There is a very valid reason why the greats are called greats.

TIP OF THE DAY

Use all five senses to describe a scene or setting.

SITE OF THE DAY

The Elizabeth Ayres Center For Creative Writing is a pretty good site.  You can find it here, and you will also find good recommendations for writing workshops to attend.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I have to remember that I am writing to a wide-range of writers. Some of you simply write for your own enjoyment.  Others write with hopes of making some supplemental income, while still others hope to make it big submitting magazine articles or writing books.

As always, take what you need and leave the rest.  There is more than enough to go around for all of you.  One thing I think we can all agree on is that we want you to become the best writer you can possibly be.  Right?

MORE TOMORROW

Seriously, I want you to try and write a description of the scene in the writing prompt.  Remember the purpose of writing that scene.  Don’t tell me it’s dry and parched….make me feel it.

Have a productive day and thank you for stopping by.  If I can ever be of any help feel free to drop me a line at holland1145@yahoo.com.

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

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Writing To Your Readers

5 Jun

003Welcome back on this 5th day of June, and thank you for the visit.

That is what we are going to talk about today….the visit that our readers make each and every time they read our work.

Writing should be a personal experience for the reader.  Of course there are some types of writing that do not lend themselves to the personal touch.  Technical writing about science is a tough one, as is writing about the legal profession.  I understand that, but for the most part none of us deals in that kind of writing.

No, I’m talking about our creative writing….our poetry….our flowing prose….that must connect with the reader on some human level.  We must appeal to them as friends appeal to each other.

A huge step in this direction is taken when we develop a comfortable writer’s voice.

Remember always that you are not writing in a vacuum.  Keep your audience foremost in your thoughts and then speak to them.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“When we see a natural style we are quite amazed and delighted, because we expected to see an author and find a man.” ~Blaise Pascal, Pensées, 1670

What a great quote.  Yes, when we write in a natural style, we suddenly become a human being to our readers rather than just some disconnected name on the page.

TIP OF THE DAY

Engage with your readers!

What does that mean?  Picture yourself sitting down and having a conversation with a friend.  You are both relaxed, and there is a comfortable interchange of thoughts and ideas.  Your friend is interested in what you have to say and you feel the same about them.

Writing should be like that conversation.  The reader should feel like they are reading the words of an old friend.  They enjoy what you have to say and they look forward to your next words.

SITE OF THE DAY

NewPages.com has a handy list of writer’s conferences and festivals around the United States and Canada.  Check it out here and then give some consideration to going to one and advancing your writing career.

WRITER OF THE DAY

Say hello to my friend Jackie Lynnley from HubPages. I have known Jackie for over a year now, and found her to write with heart and soul.  Give her a shout out and tell her Bill sent you. J

BOOK OF THE DAY

Well, actually this is a magazine….Writer’s Digest Magazine….I get this each month and find it filled with great advice from the pros. It is my go-to source for new ideas and tips.  If interested in a subscription, go here, and no, I don’t get any money for saying that. J

PROMPT OF THE DAY

high dive

Yes indeed, another prompt to get your juices flowing.  I’m guessing you all have some reaction to this picture. Hopefully there is an article in it for you.

SEE YOU TOMORROW

The weeks do fly, don’t they?  Tomorrow is Thursday and yes, I’ll be here…good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.  I hope you have a productive day of writing.  Remember….keep the reader in mind when you are writing.

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

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Writers Need To Schedule Time

28 May

003And good morning to all of you on this 28th day of May, 2013!

What’s happening with all of you today?

Today I do my SEO content work for customers until 10:30.  Then I post a new article on HubPages and then I will write my blog for tomorrow.

After lunch I will work on an editing job I am doing, and after that some research and reading about developing a platform.

Why do I tell you that?  I believe writers need to have organization and structure. It is much too easy, working for yourselves, to get distracted and waylaid by some other pressing issues. I don’t allow that to happen. I set my schedule each day and I stick with it, come hell and high water.

TIP OF THE DAY

Organize your workday as you would if you had a regular job working for someone else.  If you are attempting to make money from your writing then writing is your job. Treat it like one.

QUOTE OF THE DAY and TIP OF THE DAY

“Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ~Mark Twain

Come on…that’s funny!  And he speaks the truth about cutting the excess from our work. There is such a thing as being too wordy, and trying too hard to describe that which needs very little description.  If we have done our job as a writer, we have little use for words like “very.”

CONTEST OF THE DAY

The Iowa Award In Poetry, Fiction, & Essay, sponsored by the Iowa Review.  You can find their website at www.iowareview.org.  The deadline for the contest is January 1-31, and the first place prize is $1000 and publication in their review.

SITE OF THE DAY

The National Association of Women Writers can be found at here.  Belonging to a national organization looks good on your writing resume.  Check them out.

PROMPT OF THE DAY

odds and ends drive on Nov 11, 2012 007

No, I won’t tell you where this picture came from.  I hope you like it and I hope it kickstarts your creativity for the day.

WHAT DID I FORGET?

Oh, probably a myriad of things, but that’s going to be it for today.  I have people to see, places to go and best-sellers to write.  Until tomorrow, may the pen flow across the page and may your writing dreams all come true.

Bill

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Tips From The Masters of Writing

8 May

003Happy Wednesday to all of you.  This is Hump Day of course, but it occurs to me that, for a writer, there is no Hump Day.  We write….for most of us, writing is a seven day a week job of love. No, it is not necessary to write every day of the week, but we somehow always have something to say that needs to be written, even on days we think we are going to take off.

My next article is never far from completion.  Bev and I can be out for a country drive and I’ll see something and start writing the article in my head while driving.  As soon as I get home I head for the computer and begin.

I don’t know about you but I love writing.  I’m only sorry I started so late in life.  Now I write with reckless abandon, as one who realizes that his days are numbered and I only have so much time left to send my words out for eternity.

TIP OF THE DAY

I’m going to share several random tips today from some of the greats.  Hopefully you will find something in these quotes/tips that will inspire you.

“I’ve always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties.”

 

Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976)

“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

 

C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963)

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. “~Ray Bradbury

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”~William Wordsworth

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

There will be days when self-doubt creeps into your thinking.  Banish it!  There will be days when you receive no positive feedback and you feel like you are wasting your life being a writer.  Ignore it!

There are no guarantees in writing.  The long hours and endless days are never wasted.  We are writing for eternity.  What we write today will be read 100 years from now, and may be the source of inspiration for some other fledgling writer.  Remember always that what you do is important.

CONTEST OF THE DAY

The American Fiction Prize has a submission date of June 15th and a fee of $15.  Submissions must be under 10,000 words and the first place prize is $1000.

SITE OF THE DAY

I have done a lot of business with Vista Print for marketing of my novel.  Their prices are reasonable on such things as business cards and advertising items.  Give them a look if you are in the market for some inexpensive marketing tools.

PROMPT OF THE DAY

025

What say you? Where does your mind go as you look at this picture?  Any memories recalled?

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

My work calls me. I have another idea for an article, and I have an editing job to work on, and on and on we go….the life of a writer.  God I love it!

Bill

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The Courage To Write

3 May

003Welcome back to the best little writer’s blog on the planet.  LOL  How’s that for visions of grandeur?  It was said somewhat in jest and yet, if you look at the quote of the day below, you will see there was a method to my madness.

The courage to bet on our ideas and take a calculated risk…..wow, does that describe a writer or what?

I’m big on positive thinking, and positive thinking fuels me on those long days when it’s just me and the computer and visions of being a successful writer.  Writers must believe that they have what it takes, and they must visualize being successful.  Let’s face it, we don’t have many people in our corner.  Family, sure, and a few good friends, but for the most part the motivation and courage to write daily have to come from within.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

 

“Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk — and act.”
~ Maxwell Maltz

TIP OF THE DAY

Don’t worry about selling the story you wrote. Worry about writing a story that will sell itself…..in other words, although I do believe that everyone has a novel inside of them, I do not believe everyone has a great novel inside of them.

Great novels take work and re-work, and if we are writing a novel or a magazine article or whatever, our first goal should be to write an article so good that it will sell itself.  If you do that then wondrous things just might happen to you.

CONTEST OF THE DAY

Dream Quest One has a contest for poetry and writing with a due date in July. Find it here.

 

WRITERS OF THE DAY

You get a two-for-one deal today because I’m highlighting two writers.  First, a shout out to a wonderful lady who is a poet at heart.  Her name is Ruby and you can find her on HubPages here.  She has the ability to bring poetry to life and I’m all for anyone who brings beauty into this world.

The second friend I want to point you towards is Sha.  You can find her on HubPages as bravewarrior here.  She writes poetry as well as prose, and a little bit of her heart is in each of her pieces.

PROMPT OF THE DAY

summer of 2010 010DSCN0811

This is my son….and Bev….and they are family.  What does family mean to you? How important is family to you?  Draw on the people of your past….draw on the lessons learned from them….you just might discover your true writer’s voice in the process.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND

As is my norm, there are no blog postings on weekends.  Even I need a break from time to time, and the weather is going to be gorgeous and it is calling to me.  Some time outside will fill me with the inspiration I need to carry on again next week.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for taking the time to visit my humble site.

Bill

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Use Your Own Experiences In Your Writing

2 May

003Welcome back to Artistry With Words.  I’m happy to entertain you for a few minutes during your busy day.  If you are here then you must be a writer at heart and as such you are my peer and friend.

Check out the quote of the day.  It speaks to my writer’s heart.  When I was first starting out I hesitated writing about of my own experiences.  My first thought was that nobody would be interested in my life.

How wrong could one man be?  It wasn’t so much that my life was fascinating; it was the fact that we all have similar experiences that we can relate to.  I found my writer’s voice the day I decided to draw on those experiences and find lessons in them. I found so many people who understood perfectly what I had gone through, and a bond was formed between me and my readers.

Use your past life.  It is a part of you and as such needs to be a part of your writing.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time.”

 

George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950)

I agree with George 100%.  We are each unique individuals but we share common traits with everyone else.  Do not ignore that aspect of your writing.  You have a treasure chest of information to draw upon.

SITE OF THE DAY

If you have never visited Fivrr then now is the time. You can find it here.

Fivrr is an interesting site where you can sell things for five dollars.  What does that have to do with writing you ask? Well, I have sold quite a few writing gigs here.  I offer to proofread a paper for five bucks. I offer to write blogs for five bucks.  Give it a try if you want some supplemental income. You just might be surprised with the results.

CONTEST OF THE DAY

July 11th deadline for this Horror Writing Contest.  First prize is $100.

TIP OF THE DAY

Well, I already gave you one tip now didn’t I?  How about a bonus today?007

These five tips from author P.D. James:

5 Bits of Writing Advice

  1. Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it.
  2. Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.
  3. Don’t just plan to write—write. It is only by writing, not dreaming about it, that we develop our own style.
  4. Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.
  5. Open your mind to new experiences, particularly to the study of other people. Nothing that happens to a writer—however happy, however tragic—is ever wasted.

PROMPT OF THE DAY

Yellowstone 2009 019

A picture is worth a thousand words….so here is your picture of the day. Let’s call it Word Bonanza Thursday.  What do you see when you look at this picture?  By the way, this is a picture taken in Yellowstone National Park.

MORE TOMORROW

I’ll be back tomorrow with a new Writer of the Day, and other goodies that are free for the taking.  Remember to write and write often, and have a great Thursday wherever you are.

Bill

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