Many writers get their story ideas by watching people. How they look. What they do. How they interact with others. Without judging, can you guess the motivations that might lie behind their actions? Start with the most obvious, but don’t stop there. Make a list of all the possible reasons for what you see. I’ll […]
Archives for 2012
Footnotes of History
June 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The seed that sprouted to become my first manuscript, More Precious Than Gold, was no more than a footnote in the historical account of my hometown. During the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, an agent of the Freedmen’s Bureau was sent to investigate a hate crime. The victim was a nameless African-American boy, and […]
A Quick Announcement…
June 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Those who entered our student writing competition in May are probably wondering when you can expect to hear the results. June has been a REALLY busy month for many of us–weddings, new grandbabies, speaking engagements, etc. So please be patient just a little bit longer, as we attempt to give each entry the attention it […]
Ahhhh! Summer!
June 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Each summer we’ve delved into one particular aspect of writing–story prompts, a tour of author blogs, basics of self-publishing. This summer let’s look at where story ideas come from. This is one of the questions most often put to writers by people who don’t write. For people who DO write, it’s almost unnecessary to ask. […]
Writing Lesson 3.36 – Contests–My Perspective as a Judge
June 1, 2012 By 2 Comments
After entering contests and being a part of critique groups for a while, I felt brave enough to volunteer as a contest judge. What does it take to be a judge? It’s more than, “do I like this story or not?” You do need a working knowledge of the different elements of the writing craft: […]
