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 Bites Writing Prompts
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 »
Story Bite 22: Finding Your Beginning Through Sound
One of the most common questions I’ve heard from students about writing is how to find ideas to start a piece. They’re often told to start with action in the middle of a scene. But sometimes they can’t think of an action or a scene, and the ideas just won’t come. A scene is a… Read more »
Story Bite 21: Writing Symbols
Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a great year of writing ahead. Late in December, I had a lovely chat with a young reader and writer about a story she was working on. She’d come up with a great scenario and there were many places her story could go. Ever since, I’ve been thinking… Read more »
Story Bite 20 (Special): How to Write an Action Scene!
This is a little bit different from my other Story Bite posts. I wanted to try this format and see if young writers would this kind better (maybe I’ll just mix it up in the future). In this post, I’m sharing a video for a series created and hosted by Debbie Ridpath Ohi called Ask Me… Read more »
Story Bite 19: Building Character Through Sensory Details
Sensory details—of smell, taste, sight, and sound—make a scene come alive and can also make a character feel real. Thinking about sensory details and how someone reacts to them tells you a lot about that person. So even though this may feel like a post on descriptive writing, it’s really about digging deep into who… Read more »
These lilacs have the most glorious scent, but are pretty modest in their way. The former colleague I lost over the weekend to cancer would have liked them for both those reasons.
#flowers #grief #lilacs
It’s been a tough week. A moment with a few flowers can make a difference.
#flowers #azalea #springflowers