I’m a hang-gliding fashion model who moonlights as a rodeo rookie whose brood of 10 adopted children are perfect angels… Not! But in my dreams… Maureen Pratt, here, with my CAN blog for July. And, in keeping with themes of summer fun and expanding our horizons, I thought I’d pen a few ideas about how to use our alter egos in crafting more active, compelling characters. We authors hear much about "writing what you know," and "putting ourselves" into our books, stories, and non-fiction work. There is great truth about doing this – we can strike very real chords of…
Tag: Maureen Pratt
This is our archive pageOh, That Zany English Language!
Hello! Maureen Pratt here with another blog post about the writing art and craft. This time, some thoughts about the English language and how we might mix it up a little to yield fresh "color," insight, and depth to our work. Two real life events have inspired me to blog about this. One was a conversation I overheard in the post office. It went like this: Postal Clerk (handing Customer a pane of stamps): Here you go. Customer: Where? Here I go where? Postal Clerk: Your stamps, sir. Here you go. Customer: Where do I go? Postal Clerk (pointing at…
Drastic Measures for Drastic Situations
Hello! Maureen Pratt here for my monthly CAN blog contribution. I’ve just returned from the dentist, so am even-more-than-usually delighted to be here (she writes, grinning with those newly repaired pearly whites)! To be completely honest, although not exactly fun, my unexpected detour to drill-land has inspired my topic this month: Drastic measures for drastic situations. That is, what do you do when every trick, technique, and type font has been exhausted and you’re still not happy with what you see pouring forth on the page? Do you abandon the project (not easy, if you’re on contract and deadline)? Do you…
Your Devotional
Hello! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly CAN blog. This time, some thoughts on writing the devotional. The devotional is intensely personal, but can also provide tremendous support for many. I've experienced this first-hand. When I was first diagnosed with lupus, I suffered from a number of life-threatening symptoms. None, however, was as confounding as the non-life-threatening phenomenon of lupus brain fog, which is much like looking at the world through a pea-soup fog on a chilly day. It isn't permanent, much like those clouds of fog, and it doesn't cause changes in the brain, per se. But it does make memories…
Right There, Right Then: Immediacy
Peace to you! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blog about specific aspects of the writing process. Today, I thought I'd highlight some suggestions about immediacy in our writing. Whether we're writing fiction or non-fiction, we want our prose to carry the feel of immediacy, or a sense of time and place that draws the reader in to the exclusion of all other distractions and detractions. Compelling central plots do this to a certain extent, of course, but to carry someone along for the duration of a book requires some hooks-within-the-hooks. Immediacy boosts action to a more lively level, and it helps root scene and character…
Tips from the Pros: Maureen Pratt
New Year's greetings from central Florida! Now that you've finished off all the extra fudge and gingerbread cookies, I hope you'll take time from the treadmill long enough to read today's marketing insights from award-winning playwright, journalist, and author Maureen Pratt. Maureen has lots of wisdom to share, so let's get started. Maureen, how did you get into writing? How many books have you published, and what are a few of your latest titles? I was always writing–scripts, songs, stories, even a comic strip–when I was young. My first paid writing job was as a stringer for a local newspaper….
Beyond the Movie in Your Mind
Hello! Maureen Pratt here with another blog post about the craft of writing. I’m typing this just before I leave to see one of the "blockbuster" movies coming out during this holiday season. Many films are timed to open during the next couple of months so that they can be eligible for award consideration, so the selection these days is varied and abundant. Anticipating seeing "Lincoln," (my movie of choice today), I thought I’d talk today about fiction writing and a very specific way of filtering that "movie in the mind" to better hone story telling and characterization. The concept…
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD: WRITING CONTROVERSY
[The woman] looked closely at Peter and said, "This man was with him." But Peter denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. (Luke 22:56-57, NIV) A blessed day to you! Maureen Pratt here with my second CAN Blog post. This time, I'm going to dive right into the deep end and talk about writing controversial subjects, characters, and themes. I've had very recent (ongoing, actually) experience with doing this, so I'm looking at the topic with eyes wide open and have some tips for handling not only the material, but also the feedback that inevitably comes when one "stirs the…
Writing Short
Then God said: "Let there be light," and there was light. Genesis 1:1 Hello! Maureen Pratt here with my first CAN Blog post. I've been asked to write once a month about writing – one of my favorite topics! Today, I'm going to start off with a topic that sometimes confounds many writers – "writing short." As I'm the author of a 600-word syndicated, international column, I'm steeped in this style with each piece I file. And, more than ever before, we use this kind of writing, especially on the Internet. But it can be so difficult to adapt…
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