You’re at the movies and the lights dim. A camera pans a cityscape. This is called a long shot. There’s no action but you get a sense of a location. Next, the camera moves in, focusing on something specific, maybe a particular building in that cityscape. The camera moves in
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As writers, some of your best mentors are successful writers in your genre. But you have to read them! Stephen King says, “If you want to be a writer you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare shot Cupid’s bow many a time with the ageless romance of those lines, and he makes a good point: Whatever you may call someone, they are who they are, no matter
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Everyday pleasures. My neon green transistor radio. The stack of ’45s I played on my turntable—the Temptations, the Jackson 5. Monday nights watching Laugh-In. Bazooka Bubble Gum. Astro Pops. Fizzies. It’s a 1960s childhood. I flattened my thick wavy hair with egg shampoo and wrapped it around my head every
Read more →What’s new? Whatever is new in your life makes a great writing topic. It’s where the energy is. Even if you’re already working on something else, try this: 1. Make a list of what’s new in your life right now — the standouts. Go for 3 to 5 topics. It
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It’s springtime in Texas, when the bluebonnets are in bloom and women from around the country come together for a conference in Austin to learn more about lifewriting. It’s the “Stories from the Heart” conference of the national organization Story Circle Network, “for women with stories to tell,” April 15
Read more →Recently, I finished preparing the over-fifty first-person tales of life through a century for “100 Years in the Life of An American Girl.” There are five or six stories in each decade/chapter and each one of those chapters opens with a short cultural history of the decade, offering a colorful
Read more →“Boom, Dynamite!” — From Chapter 9, “100 Years in the Life of an American Girl: True Stories 1910 – 2010″ (publishing summer 2013) “Boom, Dynamite!” Brianna — Grandville, Michigan Brianna lived in a large house in a woodsy suburb with her older sister, her stay-at-home mom, and her dad, a
Read more →“Survival Rules” — from Chapter 6 in my upcoming book, “100 Years in the Life of an American Girl: True Stories 1910 – 2010” (publishing summer 2013) “Survival Rules” Johnny, Arkansas Johnny lived in town with her family on four acres. They grew or raised everything they ate: collard
Read more →Memoir is about people and experiences. It’s about relationships, connection. And characters — the people in our life stories — are at the heart of it all. I see some of my students and clients writing memoir that can suffer from describing incidents one after another, neglecting the important fact
Read more →These 7 easy-to-follow essentials can get you started right or help you fine-tune your writing in progress. It’s a short, info-packed resource to help you improve on a good idea and give you the tools to build your exceptional story.
