Poetry for Christmas

, by

Hello. I'm Donn Taylor, here again with comments on writing poetry. But this month, in honor of Christmas, I'm taking a break from describing the elements that make good poetry. Instead, I'm inviting you to join in celebrating the birth of our Lord with two of my poems (one negative, one positive) that are quite different from the usual Christmas poems. See what you think and leave a comment if you choose.    

Read More

PUGS Pointers #5

, by

Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about “PUGS”–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories, as well as a reason it’s important for authors to “polish their PUGS.” (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, www.KathyIde.com, or get a copy of my book “Polishing the PUGS” (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in…

Read More

Basics in Poetry Writing: Figurative Language I

, by

    Hello. I'm DonnTaylor, writing again about the basic elements of poetry writing. In previous blog sessions we've mentioned the late Lawrence Perrine's statement that poetry speaks "in higher voltage" with greater compression of meaning than most prose. We've also spoken of placing strong words in the emphatic positions of the poetic line, and we've discussed the necessity of using strong images. Now we move to one of the most important elements that achieve compression of meaning, often with striking effect: figurative language. In this session we'll look at personification, simile, and metaphor. We'll cover other figures later.  

Read More

PUGS Pointers #4

, by

Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. Iin addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about “PUGS”–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories, as well as a reason it’s important for authors to “polish their PUGS.” (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, www.KathyIde.com, or get a copy of my book “Polishing the PUGS” (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in…

Read More

Creative Writing Prompt

, by

Greeting and almost Thanksgiving blessing to you from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin@aol.com Sometimes writers draw a blank. They face a new novel with an empty page, and their creative process has taken a vacation. I am always looking for creative ideas on writing to add to my blog Writing Fiction Right at www.writingright-martin.blogspot.com I want to tell you about two very creative writing prompts that can help to stimulate your creativity and perhaps get you out of the slump that sometimes happens to writers. The two prompts that I thought were great are Creative Writing Prompts and Story Praxis….

Read More

Unique Settings

, by

Hi! Sherry Kyle here, writing from my laptop in central California. By definition, setting is the period and place of a story. It gives a story authenticity and gives the characters and plot believability. In other words, your setting is the large frame, which defines the surrounding for your characters. When I wrote my first published novel, it didn’t take long to decide where I wanted my story to take place. I lived near a charming coastal town that would, in my opinion, be a wonderful backdrop for the contemporary fiction world I wanted to create.

Read More

Basic of Poetry Writing II – Images

, by

                        by                   Donn Taylor     In my last poetry blog we talked about finding strong words and putting them in emphatic positions in the poetic line. The end of the line is most emphatic; the beginning, next-most emphatic. Now we go on to specific kinds of strong words.    As Lawrence Perrine wrote, poetry speaks in "higher voltage" than prose. One essential means of achieving that higher voltage is the effective use of images—words or phrases that appeal to one of the five senses. Why important? Because everything we know about the world we live in comes to us through one…

Read More

The Sagging Character

, by

Greetings from Gail Gaymer Martin, home from a refreshing Writers Retreat in the Caribbean. What could be better? Drop by to see me at www.gailmartin.com or look for me on Facebook and Twitter. Last month I posted ideas for creating real life characters. This month I'm sharing tips on how to bolster your characterization if you have worries that it sags. This can happen so knowing how to stop it before it begins is always a great idea.

Read More

PUGS Pointers #3

, by

Hi! I’m Kathy Ide, and in addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about “PUGS”–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories, as well as a reason it’s important for authors to “polish their PUGS.” (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, http://www.kathyide.com/, or get a copy of my book “Polishing the PUGS” (available through the website or at the conferences I teach at). If you’re interested…

Read More

Some Basics of Writing Poetry

, by

    Hello. I'm Donn Taylor. Last month I encouraged aspiring poets to write good-quality poetry that can be understood by ordinary readers. This month we begin on basic elements that can make that poetry good.     Ideally, poetry is more compact, more intense than prose. As the late Lawrence Perrine put it, poetry speaks in "higher voltage." William Baer says further that poetry emphasizes the line, the sound of words, and compression of meaning. All of these things are true, but accomplishing them is achieved only by attention to even the smallest elements. Oscar Wilde famously said he'd worked all…

Read More