For many students who struggle to write, coming up with an idea—or even a sentence—feels like one of the biggest challenges. Often, writers are told to just get words on a page, and the rest will come. But what if your initial words look pitiful and nothing else comes? Bolstering your confidence is a crucial… Read more »
Story Bites Writing Prompts
Story Bite 31: Mentor Books
As I always say at my school talks, mentor books are crucial for me as an author. I read widely, but these favorites always encourage me, teach me, or just lift my spirits when I’m struggling for inspiration. Mentor texts can be useful for writers of all ages, so I hope this story bite will… Read more »
Story Bite 30: To an Empty Page
I hope this writing tip is especially fun for students who struggle to get started on writing assignments. Imagine that you’re having trouble writing. Write an angry letter to your blank page. Let it all out! How do you feel about the writing assignment that you’re struggling with? Do you wish that you could find an… Read more »
Story Bite 29: Word Inspirations and Character Creations
This month’s writing tip involves taking a delightful (and perhaps unusual) word and creating a wholly original creature based on it. The word is crepuscular. This word is used to described an animal or another kind of creature that’s active in the twilight. Your task: Invent an animal (a monster, if you like) that represents this…. Read more »
Story Bite 28: Figurative Language
April is National Poetry Month, so here’s a writing tip that’s extremely useful in poetry as well as prose: figurative language. Start by picking an object, feeling, or scene. Right now, outside my window, it’s raining (and I mean serious rain). So I’m going to start with that. And with this simple statement: It’s raining…. Read more »
Story Bite 27: Shifting Perspective
My writing tip for this month is shifting perspective: describing something that might inspire a strong negative reaction in people with positive words. This can be a fun linguistic game, but also a chance to think of how we view things beyond our own initial perspective. In this exercise, we’re going to: Describe something disgusting… Read more »
Story Bite 26: Starting a Story (With Just Three Words)
For many students who struggle to write, coming up with an idea—or even a sentence— that feels like a good one is one of the biggest challenges. Often, writers are told to just get words on a page, and the rest will come. But what if your initial words look pitiful and nothing else comes?… Read more »
Story Bite 25: Using Mentor Texts
Mentor texts are books that inspire us, books we love that bring great pleasure to our reading—but also can help our writing too. In this post, I’ll explore some ways to use a mentor text to inspire an idea, or just help you with a scene. 1. Choose a book you love, one that inspires… Read more »
Story Bite 24: Finding Your Beginning Through Touch
When students are having trouble with the beginning of a piece, they’re sometimes advised to think about what their character is feeling. Often, this means emotions. But the actual sense of touch can be effective too. This series of posts—Finding Your Beginning—offers tips for students on how to jump-start a scene through the senses. By… Read more »
Story Bite 23: Finding Your Beginning Through Smell
Students often struggle with the beginning of a piece of writing. (So do many published authors as well.) This is the second series of posts—Finding Your Beginning—that offers tips for students on how to jump-start a scene through the senses. Using sensory elements can put the reader—and the writer—directly into a piece of writing. For… Read more »
Today is the birthday of @michaelmagrasbooks, a brilliant writer and critic who happens to be a fantastic actor, singer, and altogether witty gent too. His creativity, humor, intellect, empathy, and progressive ideals make him an absolute joy to be married to. Happy birthday, my dear!
#birthday #NovemberBirthdays #AmazingPeople
More gorgeous brown leaves, but this time backlit by the morning sun. These are one of two kinds of oaks in our yard (the other one is golden-brown), and these are red-brown but glow crimson in the sun. They`re gorgeous with or without sun. I adore these warm colors.
#AutumnColors #NovemberColors #Autumn #Maine #trees