Rob Bignell's Blog, page 308

Writing prompt: Sensuous dissection

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your writing routine. To that end, try this tip: Choose one scene from a story that you would like to write. Like a journalist, spend 15 minutes describing the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the scene.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Indianapolis, Indiana, or a small town like Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky, I can provide that second eye.

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“I never started from ideas but always from character.” – Ivan Turgenev 

“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” – Joss Whedon

“You don’t really understand an antagonist until you understand why he’s a protagonist in his own version of the world.” – John Rogers

“You can’t blame a writer for what the characters say.” – Truman Capote

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.” – Henry David Thoreau

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Boston, Massachusetts, or a small town like Boston, Georgia, I can provide that second eye.

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Each time I write, I reaffirm my soul

Does the soul exist? Does the question really matter? Even if there isn’t a ghost-like spirit within each of our bodies, we recognize that within all of us there is an inner essence that behaves as if it were a soul, something that is individually me.

All too often in these modern times, we lose touch with our soul. We’re caught up in the material world that says if something cannot be physically sensed it cannot be real. We’re trapped in a mass of humanity in which our individual say and views possess too little weight to make a difference.

Writing, however, allows you to reaffirm your soul, to reaffirm your core being.

When writing, the words flow from the essence of who you truly are. When you edit those words, either in your head or on paper, you conduct a dialogue with your very self. You might decide in that conversation whether those words best express who you really are or if they portray yourself as the way you wish to be seen. If honest with yourself, you will seek the words that express who you are.

When writing, if you are true to yourself, you will feel less constrained. The rest of the world expects you to conform to its various standards – dress this way, speak like this, act this way, think like this – but when writing, the only one you’re accountable to is you. Your characters can dress, speak, act and think any way you choose. Writing liberates you, allows you to express your individuality.

When writing, if you allow yourself to be free, you will recognize your inner beauty. No matter the shape of your body, the color of your hair, or the scars upon your skin, each of us as writers possess the ability to create. That special talent, regardless of how much it has been honed or shaped, is beautiful. And whatever we create is an expression of our innermost self, meaning your very core shines brilliantly.

To break down barriers that separate you from yourself, to be free, to recognize your own beauty, feels wonderful. It is like being told you are loved, that who you are is worthy, that you are cherished. It is a gift of great kindness that you give to yourself.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or a small town like Boring, Oregon, I can provide that second eye.

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Long-time editing client’s novelette published

A long-time editing client of mine has published his most recent book, “The Cursed Poet.” Oliver Frances’ novelette traces the life of a writer who overcomes great misfortune only to face a downfall at the zenith of his success. In disgrace, he suddenly vanishes, and his death is widely reported. As legends about his disappearance and life arise, as his writings and controversial ideas eerily gain popularity. The book can be purchased online.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Las Vegas, Nevada, or a small town like Accident, Maryland, I can provide that second eye.

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Is bad writing space cramping your creativity?

The human body really isn’t meant to perform for hours on end some of the tasks that our modern writing and office equipment demand of it.

All too often, our necks cramp from looking at computer screens at slanted angles, our eyes burn from staring too long at the fixed distance of a computer monitor, and our fingers turn numb from the strain of our wrists performing repetitive motions. If you’ve spent all day working in an office under such conditions, the last thing your body wants to do once you’re home at night or for the weekend is to keep it up by writing.

Take some time to explore ergonomics issues and see if you can modify your writing space so you can get back to working on that book.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Austin, Texas, or a small town like Bald Knob, Arkansas, I can provide that second eye.

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Recent editing client publishes his first novel

A recent editing client of mine has published his first novel, “A Christian Fiction/or Not.” James A. McClung Jr.’s book tells the story of a man who while on a Montana fishing trip stumbles across a secret terrorist camp. Captured, tortured and finally rescued, the man struggles to recover from his serious injuries, finding that just as his faith allowed him to survive his imprisonment, so it also allows him to come to grips with his trauma. The novel can be purchased online.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Corpus Christi, Texas, or a small town like Hell, Michigan, I can provide that second eye.

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Writing prompt: Objects you pass daily

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine. To that end, try this tip: List at least a dozen objects you pass each day – the toothbrush in your bathroom, a billboard on the way to work, a tree outside your window. Think of ways these objects might be incorporated into your story as an image or a plot point.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like San Antonio, Texas, or a small town like Toad Suck, Arkansas, I can provide that second eye.

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What is a ‘cookie cutter’ story?

Q: While reading the submission guidelines to a writing contest, the rules said “no cookie cutter stories.” What do they mean?

A cookie cutter story is one that lacks originality because it is like every other story on that topic. This often is a problem whenever a trend is hot in popular culture; for example, when vampire novels, television series and movies were widely enjoyed during the early 2010s, a lot of writers in love with the subject would simply write tales that were about replicas of their favorite characters and that featured their favorite plot elements in books they’ve read or videos they’d seen.

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Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Sacramento, California, or a small town like Intercourse, Pennsylvania, I can provide that second eye.

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How to make dialogue sound realistic

Since dialogue in fiction is contrived, a challenge facing authors is to find ways to make it sound realistic. Try these techniques:
g Pay attention to speech rhythms – Read the dialogue out loud to see if it sounds natural. If it sounds like you’ve written a homework assignment or like the characters are too dumb to say more than a couple of words at a time, then it probably needs to be revised.
g Create generational tags – Each new generation creates its own slang that separates it from those who came before. Your characters, whether living in the 16th or the 26th century, will do the same.
g Devise local tags/slang – In science fiction, colonists on other worlds will have specialized slang that arise out of their new surroundings; just think of Australians. Mark Bowman in his short story “The Drop” uses such future slang words as “spliced “touching down” and “cropping the juice” and aphorisms such as “Time is energy” in light of their technology that allows space travel.
g Develop economic class tags – People of the future, if there are economic classes, will have ways of identifying themselves as different from one another, merely based on their lifestyles. Perhaps the wealthy will be able to travel between planets while the less fortunate are “grounded” to never leaving their world.
g Build a lexicon of shop talk – In-group jargon of specialized professions will be used with even greater frequency that today as we become more dependent on technology. Warp drive engineers must use some jargon and have some inside jokes down in the engine room.
g Minimize mannerisms – Stutters and spelling words to match the pronunciation of dialects only forces the reader to pay attention to individual words rather than the story. Save mannerisms for special occasions.

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Chicago, Illinois, or a small town like Humptulips, Washington, I can provide that second eye.

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Five Great Quotations about Bad Writing

“...bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do― to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.” – Stephen King

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” – Dr. Seuss

“...all bad writers are in love with the epic.” – Ernest Hemingway

“Tediousness is the most fatal of all faults.” – Samuel Johnson

“...it is harder to make bad writing good than to make good writing better.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

Need an editor? Having your book, business document or academic paper proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Dallas, Texas, or if you come from a small town Why, Arizona, I can provide that second eye.

 

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