It’s fairly easy when you start a story or a novel to come up with a basic character and a goal. The next part of building a story—the conflict—is a little bit harder, but not bad. And then comes the hardest part: the stakes. This is what’s missing when a lot of people try to… Read more »
Story Bites Writing Prompts
Story Bite 7: On Showing Character Through Dialogue
Maybe you’ve heard the old bit of writing advice that tells you to “show, not tell.” That’s an important adage to keep in mind when you’re working on characters. Readers get their strongest sense of a character through what a character does (action scenes!) or says. In this post, we’re going to work on that… Read more »
Story Bite 6: On Telling Your Own Story
This is an interesting time for me because I’m about to see my very first middle grade book reach the world. As a result of that, a lot of people are asking me questions about myself and how I came to write this book. Writing about yourself is rather different than writing about someone fictional…. Read more »
Story Bite 5: On Detail in Settings
As explored in a past story bite, setting is a crucial part of any story. It’s the world in which your characters live, and can be a character itself. Any world is made of a variety of features, from landscape and weather to buildings and roads. For this story bite, I want to look closely… Read more »
Story Bite 4: On Conflict
Conflict is an essential part of any good story. It’s what you throw at your characters to make their lives difficult. Conflict can be as universal as someone/something threatening destruction of the world, or as personal as trying to avoid hurt feelings. Conflict is what stands in the way of your character’s attempts to achieve… Read more »
Story Bite 3: On Food
Last month’s writing prompt was about setting. I hope your mouth won’t water too much over November’s prompt, which is about…food! For this month, write either nonfiction or fiction. Write as yourself, or pick a character (create your own alter ego, or go ahead and pick someone from your favorite book). Here’s a visual to start: This,… Read more »
Story Bite 2: On Setting
I hope you enjoyed last month’s story bite writing prompt. For October, let’s talk about setting. The setting is where your story takes place, and it’s ultimately description, but there are a lot of ways to show it. Take this castle, for instance. The picture shows the wall that leads up to the inner courtyard… Read more »
Story Bite 1: Focus on Character
In this story bite writing prompt, let’s talk about character. Characters are the very first step in making a story come alive. Think of this statement: In 1066, the Battle of Hastings determined England’s fate. Men from France battled men from England and won a decisive victory. Okay. That’s a fairly accurate statement. But now let’s… Read more »
Story Bites
Story bites are a tiny but important piece of a story—a starting point, a detail, an action, or a character—written as short and fun pieces of writing. On this website, I’ll give you a prompt and invite you to respond to it. What to do next is up to you. Make your piece as short… Read more »
Happy birthday, Mom! I wish she were still here so that I could call her and hear her lovely voice. I always rang her on her birthday, and we chatted about whatever was going on. Usually, she`d tell me a story about what her dogs were up to (she had two Rhodesian Ridgebacks who were great companions), something fun that had happened at work (she made so many friends, so the story might have been about one of them), and a thank-you for the flowers I`d sent.
Just sharing that memory and this, a picture of her that I have on my desk. She`s at Bug Point Light in South Portland, Maine, and it`s a freezing day with the wind whipping off the water, but she`s beaming because she`s with her family, including her son-in-law, whom she adored.
I miss you, Mom, but thank you for being such a warm presence in my life. I will always remember that feeling.
#Birthdays #ParentalLoss
Eight years ago today, I lost a person very important to my life, one of my best friends ever: my mom. Here`s one of my favorite pictures of her on Mount Desert Island, a place she loved. Mom was a huge support and advocate for me as I grew up on that island, and always believed in me. When I was an adult, though, we had a new and very special relationship. She`d come to visit me and we`d go on adventures, exploring the area where I lived. She had a job, but she`d leave early on Friday and spend the whole weekend with me, returning home late Sunday. Those times, just Mom and me, were so incredibly special. We joked, talked, sat in companionable silence, and just felt each other`s company. My mom loved to learn and adored history, nature, plants, and animals, and more. I miss her so much. The grief of loss softens, but it never goes away.
#ParentalLoss #Love