Hello, dear readers,
After a few false starts in this part of the world, it looks like Spring is finally here. That last snowstorm in March brought the Bethlehem, PA area over a foot of snow, and I felt all hopes for my writing, like my garden, were buried under it. But now it is the time for renewal, and I have renewed my enthusiasm for my writing.
The theme of this issue of Roundtable is "Hope Springs Eternal," and what better theme for a writer? So, while I try to ignore the spring cleaning beckoning, I have gathered a number of links that might help give my writing a jump start. I hope they help you, too.
The first task is finding what I want to write about. I found a good link on How to Decide What to Write on the bewriting blog. After using these tips, I think I'll take a detour from my usual writing about Dreams of the Eggplant, and write about something from my real life--maybe about the time one of the little Wryte-Goodes broke her arm playing sports at school. Hmm. Yes, that will do nicely. Lots of action and angst. Enough for a short story, at least.
Maybe I can punch that nugget of an idea into something more if I add fantasy elements. But I don't know much about writing fantasy. I've read some with my book group, and always enjoyed it. In fact, there's even a blog post about How a Book Club Helped My Writing. It makes some good points.
So now I have to create a fantasy world. How to go about it? I found help at Shortcut Your Fantasy World Building, and at I Wanted to Ask About Fantasy World Building. Maybe I'll even be Writing Creepy Scenes with help from this link. I'll also keep in mind these tips on How to Write a Plot and avoid the same site's Show Stoppers in Writing.
The last "show stopper" listed is that "my characters are boring." We can't have that, can we? After all, there's a study that says that Fictional Characters Find Their Way Into Real Life for our readers. We must make them worthy of that honor. I must avoid, as this site suggests, Dead End Relationships between characters in my writing. That means I need to know Choosing Your Main Character and His/Her Essential Counterpart. It's not always as clear as you might think.
Dialogue can go a long way toward making your characters interesting. I found some good tips at Writing Dialogue in Fiction. And I learned Epic Jargon Solutions for Better Writing here.
I want to make sure I convey my characters' emotions well. Did you know there's a distinction between emotion and feeling? I found out more about it on Emotion vs. Feeling. Even armed with that knowledge, I need to remember to Choose Words That Convey Meaning to stand out as a writer.
Then, of course, there are all those pesky mechanics of writing that I need to watch out for. I think, after reading this, I finally get the difference between Colons and Semi-Colons. And while I don't consider myself a Ludite (since I spend much of my day online), I'm always interested in new ways to use technology to help my writing. There are lots of options out there, but I like Draftmap.com. I also found instructions for Setting Up a Macro in Microsoft Word to Target Weak Words.
I've learned that if there's anything better than a good beta reader, it's a few good beta readers. That's why I was happy to find: Beta readers; Your Complete Guide
But none of this is of use unless I find the time to write. Unfortunately, I am a world-class procrastinator. That's why I found Declare War to Procrastination so helpful. It helped even more when I found 5 Sneaky Ways to Steal More Time as a Writer. And to make the most of my time, I was also intrigued by The Benefits of Writing Rituals. So, I'm making the most of the Springtime and starting a new project. Wish me luck--just as I wish the best for you to meet your writing goals.
Happy Spring--and happy writing, everyone!
Betty Wryte-Goode