Felicia Denise's Blog, page 73
July 7, 2017
Filter Words and Phrases to Avoid in Writing Fiction…
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
Filter words act like a veil between the reader and the character
by Kathy Steinemann
on Anne R. Allen site:This article provides a list of writing filters, with practical examples of how to replace them. You’ll also find exercises that can double as story prompts.
All words exist for a reason. Use them wisely to create engaging narrative.
Why the fuss?
Filter words form a barrier that distances readers from a story.
Bertie felt the warm sand between her toes as she walked.
Bertie’s experience is relayed secondhand. When word economy is critical, this approach works. However, wouldn’t you rather become so involved that you almost feel it yourself?
With a few tweaks, we can strengthen the sentence.
The sand trickled between Bertie’s toes, radiating warmth with every step she took.
Strong verbs, trickled and radiating, amplify the sensory impact.
Five senses? Six? Twelve?
Most people can name…
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Distinguish Your Characters With Dialect
Writing your first novel-Things you should know
Do your characters have their own voice or do they sound the same? I had a critique partner tell me that she couldn’t distinguish characters in my manuscript based on dialogue. They all sounded the same. If I hadn’t provided a dialogue tag, she would have had no idea which character was speaking. She was right.
This was something I definitely had to correct. So I did some research, watched a webinar, and took a class on dialogue. Distinguishing between characters is a lot easier than you would think.
One way to differentiate characters and determine who they are is through dialect. We can learn a lot about a person based on their accent, grammar, and choice of words.
You don’t have to ask a person if they are from the North or South-just listen to how they speak and note their word choices. While this is one of the most obvious examples for me, you…
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July 6, 2017
Camp NaNo – Week 1
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As the end of the first week of July Camp NaNoWriMo nears, I am perplexed. I’m not sure if I should be…
Cautiously optimistic,
Over-the-moon ecstatic, planning a party and inviting everyone I’ve ever met, or
Terrified,
… because I have not encountered one problem… yet.
Words flow each time I open the WIP.
Characters are cooperating and not staging coups of silence.
My word count surpassed 12K this morning.
Looks around, confused.
What is going on?
It’s not that I want problems but every writer expects them. I know a couple who even add meltdown to their publishing timeline.
No matter how excited, geeked, amped, psyched, or pumped a writer gets about their latest project, the negative stalkers are unavoidable.
The icy fingers of You Can’t Do This tickle the back of your neck.
The dark cloud of No One Wants to Read Anything You Write looms above you… just out of reach, but always close.
Taunts from You’re Not a Writer, Is This a Joke?, and Don’t Quit Your Day Job are lobbed your way each time you complete a paragraph.
Even if you manage to avoid the relentless stalkers previously named, once your MS has been edited and revised, then edited and revised, then edited and revised one more time and sent off to the editor, the Bucket of Sarcasm plans its attack and drenches you to the bone with ice-cold You Suck.
And you haven’t published a word.
I have a lunch date with the mister and a mani-pedi date with the baby girl, and when I return, I shall write some more.
Looking over my shoulder.
The 3 Best Things about Writing Poetry
by Chloe-Anne Ross
Whenever I do get the chance to hear someone read out their poem on dying love or life’s long journey let’s face it…I want to run for the hills.
I know, I KNOW! It’s cruel, but hey I’m a writer and I’m an introvert. How else am I going to feel other than awkward? As much I like to poke fun at this idea, I do actually love writing and reading poems. There are some things a great poem can do that a novel just can’t and, as if you didn’t know where I’m going with this, here are three of those things.
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July 5, 2017
15 PUNCTUATION MARKS
Most of What You Need to Know About Punctuation. To
Enlarge This Infographic, Simply Press CTRL and Plus
Button (+) on Your Keyboard. Wishing ALL a Fun Day.
Trust Your Readers
by Josh Langston
After all, they trusted you enough to buy your book.
Let’s back up a step or two. Just who are these people who took a chance on your ability to string nouns and verbs together in an entertaining fashion? Where did they come from? Surely, they can’t all be related to you in some way, can they? I think not.
Consider these woeful statistics excerpted from the Literacy Project Foundation (There’s plenty more to read on their website, and I urge you to spend some time there.):
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July 4, 2017
July 2, 2017
Calla
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52-Week Writing Challenge: Week 26
Evidently I don’t have enough to do — or I’m a glutton for punishment, because I’m adding July Camp NaNoWriMo to my never-ending (or ever-growing) to-do list. Calla, a romantic comedy, is my 30-day project.
Synopsis
Calla Barrett is a modern-day Cinderella.
Okay – not really.
She’s an accomplished RN and head of nursing at Montford Jones Rehabilitation Center. Calla is attractive, intelligent, respected, and well-liked.
She’s also thirty-four, single with no prospects… and she lives with her eccentric mother, Rose, who may or may not have a mild case of dementia.
Motivated by a close friend’s wedding and the bold heroines of her favorite novels, Calla sets a new course for herself and plans to escape the tiny farm town of Reedsville, Missouri.
No one wants Calla to leave—especially sisters Daisy, Iris, and Violet. If Calla moves away, they will have to take care of their mother. Wealthy sportsman, Birdy Ellison is determined to marry Calla… and teach her to skin a deer.
Calla Barrett’s first steps to a new life give her hope, but a newcomer’s temporary stay in Reedsville tests Calla’s determination… and her heart.
When family and friends butt in, chaos ensues, and Calla will have to pull out all the stops to get her happily-ever-after… and not skin any deer.
Tiny Possible-Snippet
Determined to kill the annoying fly, Rose raced around the room swatting in its general direction, overturning her iced tea and breaking a vase in the process. The fly flew through the doorway into the kitchen with Rose in hot pursuit.
“Look at her, Cal. How could you leave her? She needs you here.” Older sister, Daisy Barrett-Newman, was close to tears.
Sitting in the corner nursing a tumbler of gin, Violet Barrett raises her glass. “She’s right, Calla.”
“And what about Vi, Cal? You know she hasn’t been herself since,” Daisy leaned towards Calla, whispering, “you know…”
Giggling, Violet sets her glass down, pops off her prosthetic leg and waves it in the air.
“The accident, Daisy, the accident. Say it with me, “Since Violet lost a leg in a car accident!””
Rolling her eyes, Daisy glared at Calla as if to say, “See?”
“It’s my turn, Daisy. I missed out on moving away for college. I had to turn down a marriage proposal-”
“Oh, he wasn’t the man for you-”
“But that was my decision to make, not my family’s. I’ve lived my entire life in this house. I want out of it and Reedsville. I want to see the world… or some of it. I want to experience new things and meet new people. I want a life. I want to stand at the edge of the Grand Canyon. I want to take photos at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I want to walk into a New York pizzeria and order a slice!”
Violet pointed her fake leg at her older sister. “She’s right, Daisy.”
Daisy waved them both off. “Now you’re just sounding like one of those broads in those crazy bodice rippers you always have your head buried in.”
“Way to date yourself, sis. They haven’t been called bodice rippers in a generation.”
“Then what are they called, Miss Well-Read?”
“For your information, they’re called historical romances, and they’re just one of the literary genres I enjoy reading.”
Calla smirked, a maniacal gleam in her eyes.
“I also enjoy psychological thrillers. The kind where the ever-put-upon, loving sister snaps, has a mental break, murders her entire family, then rides off into the night… laughing.”
Daisy takes a step backward, horrified.
Rose Gentry Barrett re-enters the room carrying a white bone china dessert plate… with the dead fly lying in the center.
“Told you I’d get him.” Sitting the plate next to the spilled iced tea, Rose grabs the remote and turns on the large, flat-screen television.
The sisters watch her in silence while Rose turns to her favorite station… The Weather Channel.
“Gonna rain in Topeka!”
Lowering her voice, Daisy continues her pleading. “Cal, be reasonable.”
Defiant, Calla crosses her arms across her ample chest.
“Snaps, Daisy. Murder.”
Emptying the gin bottle into her glass, Violet continues her giggling. “I don’t want to read that book. I want to see the movie!”
