Gay Ingram's Blog - Posts Tagged "writers"

Here in East Texas, we've been enjoying a final spell of Indian Summer weather before winter really sets in. Makes a person want to spend all their time out of doors, soaking up sunshine and watching leaves drift to the ground. Of course, all those falling leaves portend hours of raking sometime in the not too distant future.

But lounging in an Adirondack chair, steaming cup of coffee in hand, does not get the writing assignments completed. So, reluctantly I drag myself to my little office building and shuffle through writing possibilities, trying to stir up those writing juices.

I am not a spontaneous writer...one of those people who can't wait to face a blank page; someone whose brain is brimming over with ideas and story-lines that tumble in their head, each one scrambling to be first on the page.

I work best with a designated objective in mind. Sometimes it's a contest whose guidelines seem to jive with my style of writing. At other times, I find myself with a contract to produce a series of specific pieces of writing and I struggle as I reshape my words to conform to their requirements. Or I may need to present a concept of the craft in a manner acceptable to my favorite editor.

In fact, I have a shelf-full of motivational books for writers. You know, books like What If? or 30 Exercises For Lazy Writers. Oh, I always have good intentions but I just can't seem to stay enthused spending my writing time putting down words as if I were spilling my thoughts.

Every once in a while, I'll take one or another off the shelf, carry it to my writing desk and open a page. But I end up flipping page after page, looking for a topic that grabs me and inspires me to put something down on the paper.

Now that I think about it, my writing habits reflects who I am. I'm that person sitting in the group, not saying anything but vitally interested in hearing what others have to say. I'm a listener more than a talker. And how I choose to spend my writing time is a reflection of that. Only when I feel I have something that can't go unsaid will I apply myself and put it down on paper.
I may not be a prolific or financially successful writer, but I do feel what I have written has had something worthy to say.

Fiction is most effective when readers can see vividly what it is you're describing on the page.

Scenes need to hook the reader, make us eager to find out what happens next. A scene needs to be a unified action with its own beginning, middle and end, usually taking place in a single location, in a single period of time. A scene should be a mini-play with its own powerful climax and resolution.

Filmmakers can serve as helpful guides to writers striving to achieve 'visual language.Use visual elements to capture the electricity, tension, and suspense.Try to write your scene with out adjectives, using instead really strong verbs. Help your reader learn about your characters by way of descriptive traits.

Use the elements of plot, characterization, tone, point of view, voice, etc. to tell your stories in the most compelling way possible.

Her's just a few sites to check out:

nanowrimo.com - month-long challenge in Nov. to write 50,000 words in 30 days

writingfix.com - Useful lessons and tips along with fun writing prompts

grammarbook.com - basic grammar and punctuation rules with interactive quizzes

sfwa.org/beware - devoted to helping writers avoid getting scammed by agents and publishers

agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html - where you can check prospective agent's public record

anotherrealm.com/preditors - Preditors & Editors provides info and contact as well as warnings

duotrope.com - free data base of over 2,300 markets for short story, poetry and novel/collections

fictionfactor.com - everything you want to know about fiction

kidmagwriters.com - get a better understanding about writing for children's magazines

critiquecircle.com - give and receive reader feedback for writers of all genres

Hope you will find them helpful.