Tag: Writing advice

“Pick Six” Writing Tips

robert clay norman
Author Robert Clay Norman

Football season is here, and so I offer these suggestions to assist you in scoring your own “touchdown.” (For you non-pigskinners, “Pick Six” refers to a defensive touchdown from an intercepted pass.) My book is a narrative memoir, but I think these principles would apply to both fiction and non-fiction writing. Some of these tips come from others, and I pass them along certain that the originators would encourage it. A few of the ideas are mine. Perhaps some of these tips will be of help to you.

 

1. Buy the book Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark. It is only about $9, and contains 50 tips that will improve your writing skills. It is a small book and a fun read. One good thing about this book is that you will realize that you are already using some of these tools, and reading this book will reinforce and validate your work thus far. Even better, you can pick and choose which tools to emphasize and adopt. The book can be read in any order you select. The reader doesn’t have to begin at the beginning in order to gain insight into these tips. Besides, can any of us really remember 50 of anything? Clark does a wonderful job of offering dozens of useful tools, and the user can consider and accept those of choice. Kind of like a great Asian lunch buffet. Continue reading ““Pick Six” Writing Tips”

No Writing Allowed

KSBrooks at Mesa Verde
Or you could just go somewhere with no internet and no electricity.

Let’s face it, writing a book is hard work. You might even break a sweat, or pop a cog in your brain. Who wants to do that? So, enter November – NaNoWriMo – National No Writing Month. This is one month where we authors, writers and scribes can legitimately rest our brains from the toils of our literary efforts. I know, I know, it won’t be easy – so here are some tips to keep yourself from writing that book without losing your edge.

#1 – Committees and meetings are an excellent way to prevent progress on any level. So, form a committee for your book! Find a bunch of people who also write and invite them to your own Yahoo!, Facebook, or Goodreads group. If you can actually get them to pay attention to anything you have to say in between announcements of their free eBooks and basic spamming, you might get some input. That input will probably spark a discussion. That discussion will most likely get sidetracked onto the subject of kittens or television shows. See? It works. Continue reading “No Writing Allowed”

Dragons and Cowboys and Jason Bourne, Oh My!

Virginia McKevitt

That got your attention didn’t it, but the topic really is about crossing genres; can you, should you and if you do, can you pull it off. This coming from a fantasy, mystery, thriller, romance, action, eh, novelist (try slinging that out there when someone ask you what your book is about).

Someone once told me fantasy has rules. I agree, its magic, you can do anything: pigs can fly, cows can talk, a kiss can wake a princess, but wizards always have to carry a staff. No I’m serious. I was told never to break that rule. It has to do with quantum physics and pole shifts. Serious stuff that could change our world as we know it. Continue reading “Dragons and Cowboys and Jason Bourne, Oh My!”

Write Like a Playwright

The best three words to get a good discussion going among writers are: “Show, don’t tell”. When I first heard this instruction, I actually did explode: What do you mean, ‘show’, don’t ‘tell’? I want to TELL a story, for Pete’s sake!

Always remember Jimmy –
Show, don’t tell.

I want to be a storyTELLER – it’s in the job description, you see? And now you tell me that I’ve got to ‘show’ and not ‘tell’ my story? How should I do that, exactly? Put a few arrows around the page, pointing to the words? Draw little pictures of stickmen? Get my printer to emboss cupcake shapes into the pages?

However, that was sometime ago now, and I ascribed my misunderstanding to the fact that I’m left-handed and, all my life, little sayings that everyone understands have left me baffled, unless and until they are explained differently. In this case, it happened with an example I want to share with you. Now, because you read Indies Unlimited, you are clearly a cultured person and doubtless go to the theatre (work with me here, I’ve heard that a little flattery goes a long way). Imagine you’re in a theatre now, watching two characters on the stage. They say this: Continue reading “Write Like a Playwright”