Charlotte Rains Dixon

Guest Post at The Golden Pencil

The thought occurs to me that in my rush to get organized to go on vacation tomorrow (I’m taking my computer as I cannot live without being connected to the internet and the blogosphere) and get all my work done, I failed to mention my guest post over at The Golden Pencil. Duh. The Golden […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/06/2015

Writing

The Weight of Things

No, this isn’t a post about diets (though if anyone has a good one, let me know). It’s about giving events in your novel or story the proper weight. Not everything that happens to your character will be weighted the same. For instance, giving birth to a baby should have more significance than eating breakfast. […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

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Things to Avoid in Writing: Expositional Dialogue

Today, class, we shall talk about dialogue. More specifically, expositional dialogue. What’s expositional dialogue, you say? Well gather round while we discuss it. Even if you don’t know it by the fancy name I used for it, you are no doubt familiar with it. When you are reading a novel and the characters start telling […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

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Another Great Blogger

One of the things I am consistently amazed about is how positive and supportive the blogosphere is. Over and over again, I meet other bloggers who are willing to go out of their way to help each other. The best community, as far as I am concerned, is Blog Catalog, but there are plenty of […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/06/2015

Writing

Reading as a Writer

Sometimes I long to read the way I used to, back in the days before I became a writer. That was actually such a very long time ago I have trouble remembering it. But the point is that once you start writing, all of a sudden reading is different. No longer do I just sit […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Publishing’s Dirty Little Secret….

….is that it is easier to get published than it is to stay published. This according to Larry Brooks, writing in last Sunday’s Oregonian. "Deep in the black heart of every writing workshop instructor resides a dirty little secret: We are praying that no one asks when our next book is coming out." So says […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

Writing Writing Exercises

You Asked For It, You Got It

Actually, you didn’t ask for it, I forced it on you. Well, you did seem to be enthusiastic. So here they are, drumroll please, the first two pages of writing exercises: Techniques for Generating Ideas and Getting Started The Da Vinci Device I know you are all rushing over to find out what the hell […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/12/2015

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Writing Exercise: The DaVinci Device

I learned the Da Vinci Device from one of my MFA mentors, Melissa Pritchard. (And let me note here, this was probably long before the dreadful novel The DaVinci Code came out and ruined the name.) The DA Vinci Device forces you to write in the three different styles of description. Take an object or […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

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Writing Exercises: Techniques for Generating Ideas and Getting Started

Techniques for Generating Ideas and Ideas for Getting Started Writing Generating Ideas MAKE LISTS: The best way to do this is to do it fast. Number a page from one to ten or twenty and go! Drawing from your own life: 1. Jobs you’ve had 2. Careers 3. Passions 4. Obsessions 5. Quirks 6. Pet […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Being Critiqued, Part Two

Last week I wrote a post about being critiqued. Today I was talking with my friend Suzanne about this getting critiqued and I thought a bit more about it. What we talked about was that feeling you have when you are confident in your work, and in you step sprightly to meet with the agent […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 18 years ago

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