by Wordsmith | Sep 7, 2022 | A Writer's Life, Doug's Stuff
Sometimes you need to prime the pump so to speak before writing the next chapter in your novel, or starting a new story. Something I often do is open the dictionary to any page, find a word and start writing. Another idea is to take a line from a book you like, and...
by Wordsmith | Sep 3, 2022 | A Writer's Life, Doug's Stuff
Whether you’re on vacation, or walking in your hometown, you’ll see people. If you spot someone interesting, write a brief description of the person in your notebook. You do have a notebook with you at all times, don’t you? This person could be a prototype for a...
by Wordsmith | Aug 29, 2022 | A Writer's Life, Doug's Perspective
Authors need to be good listeners. When you listen, you learn. And you may just uncover a great line of dialogue or a name for a character. I remember shopping for clothes in a department store. As I was waiting to go into the dressing room to try on a pair of pants,...
by Wordsmith | Aug 19, 2022 | A Writer's Life, Book Elements, Doug's Perspective, Doug's Stuff
When you write fiction, you need dialog. Dialog adds meat and interest to your stories. Your characters come alive when they speak. But the question is, what dialog to leave in and what dialog to leave out. Starting a conversation with, “How are you?” bores the reader...
by Wordsmith | Aug 13, 2022 | A Writer's Life, Doug's Stuff
Writers can be creatures of habit. I am a creature of habit. One thing I do every day before sitting down to write is Morning Pages, three pages of longhand stream-of-consciousness stuff. Your morning pages don’t have to make sense. They can help you plan the day and...
by Wordsmith | Jul 26, 2022 | A Writer's Life
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received about writing is to rewrite something from a novel you love. It’s best to choose a work you admire that’s in your genre. After deciding which novel, you’re going to rewrite copy the first two chapters by hand. This gives...
Recent Comments