Making our Stories Better

I have a habit of copying writing tips and putting them in a folder on my desktop. I have lots and lots of tips.

Which is a good thing to do.

But I also have a habit of forgetting about them after putting them in the folder.

It's a good idea to go back and review all those tips you save. You'll be surprised at what you may have forgot.

I went here and read a post about How to Start a Novel. I found a couple of their ways interesting and applied one to one of my manuscripts.

I'd changed the beginning paragraphs of this story many times and I thought I had a good beginning.

It was pretty good, but now it is so much better. The 'Why is he doing that' prompt is the one that brought about my change.

I sent the new and old version to two of my critique partners, and they both liked the new version better.

So, my manuscript has a new and better beginning, and it is all because I kept reading blog posts and I kept reading tips.

I didn't quit. I kept trying to make my story better, which is what we all should do.

We should keep striving to make our stories better.

Don't be satisfied with a so-so story. Make it the best story you can make it.

Writing Tips

I have ONE writing tip.

Get out those writing tips and re-read them!

If you are like me, you have printed numerous pages of writing tips. Or, you have numerous  books on writing.

But, how long has it been since you got out those tips and read them again or got out those books and refreshed your memory on the tips and info they gave you?

I have been organizing my writing space. I don't have a room devoted to my writing (wish I did), but I mainly use our family room for my writing.

I have rearranged my family room. I have went through and organized my three bookcases. I have gotten rid of a bunch of books (took them to the thrift store or my writing group). I have rearranged the books I have left and grouped them according to what they are about.

And, I switched out my dad's old trunk with another bookcase I had in an adjoining room. Now I have all four bookcases in one room.

The above are my reference books. I write articles for kids and these books are filled with helpful ideas and info. 

These are my writing books - how-to books, dictionaries, thesauruses, etc.

 

Here is my tray of folders filled with info - writing tips, publishers, submissions, etc.

What I am saying to do in this blog post is to use your info you have gathered down through the years.

Get out those tips and refresh your brain.
Get out those books and refresh your brain.
Have them organized so they are easy to find and get to.

Then do what you love - write!

Writing Tips on Prose

I attended a workshop by Cat Pleska about putting poetry in your prose.

How do you do that?

To make your narrative flowing and beautiful you can add metaphors and similes and figurative language.

As always, with your writing, choose your best words. Revise and move parts around. And, my favorite, use rhythm and sound. Make the words sing when read aloud.

So, when writing, create a mood, entertain and play with your words and phrases. Using elements of poetry can make your story memorable and a pleasure to read.

Here are a couple of links to elements of poetry.

Elements of Poetry: Examples and Techniques

Poetic Devices - Judi Moreillon

 

 I love putting poetry in my prose, whether it be a middle grade novel or a picture book. 

 

One of my favorite picture books, Owl Moon, is written beautifully using some of these techniques.

With passages such as:

 

we reached the line of pine trees, black and pointy against the sky

the moon made his face into a silver mask

the trees stood still as giant statues

 

I have also written a picture book (unpublished at this time) where I have used lines such as:

 

We walked past the cattails near the pond, standing tall like toy soldiers all in a row

The ground rose before us like a giant stretching his arms tall and touching the sky. 

 

So, give it a try, whether you are writing a picture book or a novel. Add a little magic to your writing to make it memorable and fun to read.

 

 Do you put poetry elements in your prose?

Happy Writing! 

 

Emotion Thesaurus, A Writer's Guide to Character Expression

Recently I received the PDF copy of the Emotion Thesaurus, A Writers Guide to Character Expression.

It is written by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

They blog over at the Bookshelf Muse. I am a follower of their site and if you aren't already, I recommend you consider becoming a follower. Their site is a great benefit to writers.

There are 75 emotion entries in the book, starting with the first entry of Adoration.
With each entry, they tell the physical signals, internal sensations, mental responses, cues of acute or long term adoration and cues of suppressed adoration.
The last entry is Worry.

But this book is much, much more than just a thesaurus!

They talk about the power of emotion in our writing. They tell how dialogue is a proven vehicle for expressing a character’s thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. But to convey feelings well, a writer must also utilize nonverbal communication such as body language, internal sensations and thoughts.

The Emotion Thesaurus will help writers brainstorm new ideas for expressing a character’s emotional state. And, it will help you avoid common  pitfalls such as telling, using cliched emotions and melodrama.

The book is also filled with writing tips throughout, such as:

WRITER’S TIP: Don’t get caught up on the eyes to convey emotion. While eyes are often the first thing we notice in real life, they provide very limited options for description possibilities as writers. Instead dig deeper, showing the how the character behaves through their body movement, actions and dialogue.

and

WRITER’S TIP: Smell triggers memory. Take advantage of this sense and build olfactory description into the scene. This will draw readers in and make them feel part of the action.

I have went through my PDF copy and copied and pasted all the writers tips and ran them off on my printer to have as easy reference. As a writer, I feel we can never have enough tips!

Here is a quote from me . . . 
Some people say anyone can write, but writing a good story is what we strive for. Can everyone write a good story?

With the help of this book, we can all become better writers.
I highly recommend it.

You can order the book here or go over to their site and order the PDF, which is what I have. 

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.
©Janet F. Smart

Writing Happenings

Hi everyone, it has been busy here in the Blackberry Patch and I haven't had much time to post.
Spring is here! I just hope that winter doesn't decide to poke his dreary head in on us again. (But we all know he will)

My husband got spring fever a few days ago and tilled our garden. Nothing is planted yet, but it might not be too early to put out a few onions.

I have my manuscripts ready to mail out to the WVWriters annual contest! Whew! Now I can get back to normal around here.

There is a great call for submissions over at Write From the Heart. Go check it out. Linda is a funny lady and a great writer.

I won a pre-release copy of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide To Character Expression!
I am so excited. Angela and Becca have a great blog called, The Bookshelf Muse. If you haven't visited their site before, go check it out. You will not be disappointed.

I am also reading Vada Faith, a book by my friend Barbara Whittington. Go check out her site, Writing - the ups and downs. 

 As you can see, there is a lot going on in the writing world. We had our weekly writing meeting yesterday. I took my synopsis of my MG and we tweaked it a little. I don't know what I would do without my writing friends.

Writing Tip: Instead of using adjectives like beautiful, pretty and handsome, get more specific. Describe their features that show why you think they are beautiful, pretty or handsome.


What's happening in your world?


Happy writing.

Posted by Janet Smart at Creative Writing in the Blackberry Patch.
©Janet F. Smart

Writing Info

From the comments on my last post about the mail box, it seems that maybe I was right, most good news seems to come via email, not snail mail. But, there are a few exceptions.

Thanks for your input.

I browse the internet looking for sights about writing.

I recently found this sight. It's called the Dabbling Mum.

On the bar at the top of their sight click on Writing.

I'm stilling looking around, but so far I have found many good articles. The nice thing about it is that the information is all in one place, you don't have to go looking everywhere.
The topics include anthologies, book writing, fiction writing, general writing, getting paid, grammar, magazine writing, prompts, queries and success stories.

The Recipe Section is also interesting.

If you get the time, (which is hard to come by when you're trying to write and do everything else that needs to be done around the house) go take a look. You just might find some information you've been looking for.

Picture Book Writing Tips

Well, one down and only six to go.

I've drafted my first picture book in the challenge. Now to my housework.

I'm far from an expert, but I like to browse the internet, read articles and books and find out all I can about the craft of writing.

Here are a few tips on writing picture books to help us all in the challenge:

Don't Focus on how your main character looks. Leave that to the illustrator, unless it is integral to the story.

Leave the illustrator space to create the pictures. ( This is hard for me. I want to put in all the colorful and fun descriptions. We need to leave that up to the illustrator. Don't write anything that doesn't need to be written).

Pick your character's name well.

Use the following to help your story:

Onomatopoeia (sound words)

Repitition

Rhyme (But, if you use rhyme,it has to be perfect!)

Rhythm

Examples of sound words:

Achoo!
Baa Baa, Bam, Bang, Beep, Boing, Boom, Bubble, Buzz, Burp, Babble
Cheep, Crash, Click, Clatter, Cluck, Chirp, Crackle, Clang, Crunch, Cuckoo
Ding, Dong
Eek!
Fizz, Flutter
Gurgle, Gobble, Gargle, grr
Hiss, Honk
Moo, Meow
Neigh
Oink, Ouch!
Plunk, patter, poof! plop, pop! pow, plunk, purr,
Quack
Ratatattat, rattle, rumble, ribbit
Screech, sizzle, sniff, snort, splatter, splash, squish, snap, swoosh, sputter, splat
Thump, tick-tock, tweet, twitter, tinkle
Varoom!
Whack, whizz, woof, wham! whir,
Yelp, yowl
Zoom, zing

Run the list off and add more words of your own.

I have a fabric covered bulletin board where I slip tips and story ideas, calls for submissions, and such behind the criss crossed ribbons. It sits by my computer for easy reference.

While writing your stories, you can post writing tips, examples of sound words, etc. on the board to help your creative juices flow.