Writing Archives - Page 22 of 45 - Charlotte Rains Dixon

In the Election Day Department of Odds and Ends

It's election day, in case you hadn't noticed. Have you voted? Or, if you live in Oregon, have you taken your ballot in (we have vote by mail only here). If not, what are you doing reading this blog? Go get in line to vote. I'm alternately biting my nails and cautiously optimistic. Fortunately for […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Happy Halloween

I'm in the process of cleaning and cooking for a Halloween party we're having tonight. Somehow, my annual chili dinner for one or two friends has turned into a last-minute shindig. Alas, this means not a lot of time to write today. However, I did rise early to work on Emma Jean,inspired by comments from […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

When One is Born a Writer….

…one is simply different. That's all there is to it. We writers are unique (some might say odd), and often misunderstood, because we have a passion for words. Queen Victoria, ever mindful of propriety and history, once told her granddaughter, Princess Victoria Eugenie, the future queen of Spain, "Young woman, when one is born a […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing Writing Events

Top 5 Ways to Prepare for Nanowrimo

I'm not going to do Nanowrimo this year, because I need to focus on the final rewrite (yeah, right, how many times have I said that) of my current novel. But I'm a huge fan of it and had a blast doing it several years ago, when I "won" by the way. (In case you […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Eudemonia

As in yoo-di-mo-nee-uh. I was ostensibly cleaning up my office just now when I came across my word book, (pictured, left), and decided that pondering words is infinitely more important than a clean office. After all, what is the use of a word book if one isn't constantly leafing through it to see what one […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Avoiding the Curse of the Superficial

The superficial, the general, skimming across the top, whatever you want to call it, hear me now, it is not a desirable thing, either in people (sorry, Paris Hilton) or the written word. I've read several different pieces lately that shared this dreaded affliction. The words stayed on the surface, never delving deep. Think about […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Strong Verbs and Other Good Words, Part Three: The Word Book

In part one of this series, I talked about strong verbs. Part two featured a rant essay about the thesaurus. And now we come to part three, which is about the word book. It could also be titled, write the word down, stupid. (For those of you youngsters, or people with short memories, I'm riffing […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

How to Ferret Out Strong Verbs and Other Good Words

Big Word Hunting, Part One: What is a Strong Verb? Have you ever read a novel and been impressed with the originality of the author's use of verbs? One of the hallmarks of good fiction is the use of strong, original verbs. Yet how does one go about finding these verbs when our daily lives […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

Another Way to Get Publicity

Publicity for me, that is. Here's the deal. Drumroll please….Wordstrumpet is now an Alltop blog! What is Alltop, you ask? They call themselves a "digital magazine rack" and since I am a magazine harlot as well as a Wordstrumpet, I like that description. What this means is that they gather up a bunch of sites […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Writing

When Art Gives Up its Secrets

Yesterday, I wrote about the fabulous workshop that Darnell Arnoult gave for the Loft and talked about how she presented an exercise called "Finding Fiction in a Photo," wherein we looked at pictures (amazingly enough) for a full five minutes and then wrote about them. I can't express how important this kind of deep connection […]

Charlotte Rains Dixon 17 years ago11/03/2015

Charlotte Rains Dixon

Category: Writing

In the Election Day Department of Odds and Ends

Happy Halloween

When One is Born a Writer….

Top 5 Ways to Prepare for Nanowrimo

Eudemonia

Avoiding the Curse of the Superficial

Strong Verbs and Other Good Words, Part Three: The Word Book

How to Ferret Out Strong Verbs and Other Good Words

Another Way to Get Publicity

When Art Gives Up its Secrets

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