Our family subscribes to a magazine called WORLD. It leans toward a conservative viewpoint in reporting world affairs, books, music, and movies. In the Feb. 11, 2012 edition there is an article called “Be Specific.” In this article Marvin Olasky says, “Eighty percent of good writing is rewriting, but rewriting in a middle-school or high-school […]
Archives for 2012
Writing Lesson 3.25 – Your First Hundred Words
March 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I recently read about a contest where writers could send a portion of their work to an agent. One person would receive a request for the full manuscript. Nice offer! The rules allowed each writer to send the first 100 words of their book. Yes, you read that right. One hundred words, plus or minus […]
Writing Lesson 3.24 – The Curse of the Thirty-Pound Sword
February 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
You see it all the time in stories … the hero has a sword so awesomely big (hey, he got those muscles somewhere, didn’t he?) that the heroine can barely lift it. I even wrote one such sword into my own story … “If you are Lady of this kingdom, then I would be your […]
Writing Lesson 3.23_ Beginning with Theme in Mind
February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I recently viewed a movie with a refreshingly brilliant script. Sadly I can’t recommend the movie by title because Hollywood felt compelled to add explicit scenes, but let me see if I can describe why the movie impressed me. The writer began with the theme in mind: “Communication is more about understanding each others’ hearts […]
Writing Lesson 3.22_Verbs That Leap, Love, or . . . Lose
February 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Verbs, verbs, verbs. Get used to it, because now that you’re a writer, you’ll hear about them often and be told again and again to make them stronger. What in the world is a stronger verb anyway? It’s one that leaps into a reader’s visualization of a scene. It shows love or pain in such […]
