I'm in Nashville this week, teaching a workshop called From Spark to Story, with my dear, wonderful friend Terry Price. I used to come to Nashville at least twice a year, sometimes more often, in order to teach at the Writer's Loft, (now called Write. ) But lately the orientations have fallen at the same […]
Here's the latest collection of prompts from my Tumblr. Enjoy! #267 It’s a beautiful, warm evening, what’s your character’s pleasure: dinner al fresco; a hike; taking the children to the park; ignoring the weather and turning on the TV or something else entirely? #268 Is your main character a talker or a listener? #269 And then, […]
Just for you, because I love ya, I've invented a new writing machine. Here's what it does: with a long metal robotic arm, it reaches out, grabs paper and pen, and plops it down in front of you. You can also program it to grab your laptop, tablet, or computer keyboard. There's an optional feature […]
Here's this week's corral of my daily prompts: #259 If only….she thought. We all have a lot of “if onlies” in our life. What is your character’s biggest if only? #260 The wind blew and blew. It blew so hard and so long she thought she’d go crazy from it. And then, all of a sudden, it […]
Cats are good at crossword puzzles, too! I have decided that there's one VERY IMPORTANT piece of writing advice that often goes unmentioned. It is sort of a secret writer thing, but I am dedicated to bringing such things out in the open, because I'm dedicated to helping you find success as a writer. (You […]
Please welcome my friend and fellow writer Anthony J. Mohr to the blog today. This post made me laugh out loud–probably because I'm all too familiar with the sentiment behind it. And I've been an admirer of Anthony's essays about growing up in Hollywood back in the day when it was still truly glamorous for […]
Here's the latest collection of posts from my Tumblr blog, where I post a prompt daily. #246 As a child did you (or your main character) go to church? Sunday school or sitting in the service with the adults? What was your experience—love or hate? Character building or destroying? #247 And then she had to start over […]
I was at a gathering of writers last night (Portlanders, we meet every last Monday of the month for Literary Libations, join us) and Angela Sanders, an accomplished mystery writer who is doing very well with her books (can you say number one on all Kindle sales?) was talking about her career. Angela talked about […]
Here's the latest collection of prompts from my Tumblr blog (minus one, because I forgot to do one on Sunday). #240 She sat up quickly. She forgot! She had totally forgotten about it! #241 What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? Write about it. Work details can enliven fiction. #242 Your character’s eating habits tell […]
Here's the latest collection of prompts from my Tumblr blog, all in one place for your convenience. #233 Use the words cried, red, burp and van in a sentence. Now use that sentence as a prompt. #234 It happens. You look up, and there s/he is. The phone rings, with good or bad news. The accident occurs. […]
