In an effort to provide a helpful headslap, I offer you this setup: Pandora Smelly old socks A crack in the sidewalk Rowboat oars The countdown Your job, should you choose to accept, is to make a story out of these elements and to delight us all.
Here’s some boring, banal “telling” that needs work. Eloise drank too much. She loved the tinkle of ice cubes in her rocks glass filled with bourbon. She knew she was alienating the one daughter who still lived at home, but Eloise needed the pleasure that drinking brought. Her life hadn’t turned out the way she’d hoped. It made her mad. Show us what’s going on here instead of
What is the hardest thing you have to face when you sit down to write? Once I know some of your answers, I will happily give you some challenges that guide you right into the belly of your particular beast.
As of today, the content of the Ed2Go online course I taught between 2004 -2017 is now available–and a bit upgraded–in paperback form. You can find it at Amazon.com with the title, “Beginning Writer’s Workbook.” When I stopped teaching the course online, I kept the rights to the curriculum I had written. This workbook has taken the place of the course. I enjoyed teaching you all for many
The two-lane highway is dark at 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday in November. Low piles of snow line the dry road, shining in the headlights, still clean though two days old. They still have 70 miles to go, and only a few cars and pickups appear at random intervals. The driver puts in a CD, chosen blindly in the dark, turning out to be a compilation made by
Inside. That’s exactly where I wanted to be. If I could have dissolved the glass and stepped inside, I would have made a dream come true. Here’s what I saw….
We all have one. Accept that as fact. Think about the house or apartment where you grew up. Perhaps there was a small door near the floor in the back of one of the closets where it was dark behind all the clothes on their hangers. Perhaps you glimpsed it once or twice, wondered about it, but didn’t feel bold enough to open it. Picture it now. Perhaps you
I used to have many special possessions that have gone missing over the years. I wish I had them back, but I’m pretty sure I never will. They’re gone forever. I do, however, have some theories about where they are. I’m around 98% sure I’m right. I used to have a dark green, 1949 Chevy Pickup Truck with a silver knob on the floor you stamped on with
Theo stood at the bathroom sink, not looking at his reflection in the medicine cabinet mirror. It had a crack in it anyway. His iPhone played “Old Town Road” on Spotify. The question was, Could he manage to get moving?
That old hat turned up on the bus driver’s head on the same day he slammed his fist into some lady’s burgundy briefcase. I’ve seen that old hat before, I thought.
Beginning Writer’s Workbook helps you develop your writing skill and take your work seriously. You’ll discover how to make writing an ongoing part of your life and learn ways to keep going when you feel stuck. This workbook is based on over a dozen years teaching tens of thousands of beginning writers from all over the world. Filled with practice, strategies, new techniques, and lots of usable information. Enjoy the ride!