Almost every piece of writing advice I’ve seen lately encourages setting goals to promote productivity. The idea is if you write your goals down on a list, you are more likely to achieve them. I am living proof that writing down goals is not enough. I have a weekly to-do list that I augment with …
I returned from an art quilt retreat to find my writing space covered with random pieces of paper. I shouldn’t have been surprised, because that is the way I left it. Once again, I had succumbed to the oldest lie I tell myself: “I’ll remember this later when I have time to write.” Although I …
Clutter, Creativity, and the Writer’s Mind by Lani Longshore Read More »
RUE–Resist the Urge to Explain. Over-explaining is one of the quickest ways to get your readers to skim. The problem is, no one can define how much backstory is sufficient or can pinpoint the exact place to insert it. This is one of the aspects of craft that can drive even an experienced writer around …
Waiting for inspiration is the death knell to writing. If literary brilliance eludes you, don’t give up; write something fun. I have written one crime novel, one historical fiction, and two travel guides: one to Lake Huron’s shoreline and the other to Lake Michigan’s coast. When it’s hard to create a worthwhile sentence, I switch …
Isaac Asimov wrote that it was easy to predict the income tax, but difficult to predict the expense account. Futurists get a lot of things right, but predicting societal paradigm shifts is more akin to magic than logic. Writers could learn from this. We may be creating the world of our novels, but we are …
Writing What No One Could Predict by Lani Longshore Read More »
When the car passed in the dark street, my first thought was, “What sort of story will that driver tell about us later today?” My husband, son, and I trundled through the dark and cold, way-before-dawn, to view the eclipse of the Blue Blood Moon. Our neighborhood is filled with street lights, but within a …
Point of View and People Watching Me by Lani Longshore Read More »
Every January offers a chance to reinvent yourself, including your writing self. If you aren’t satisfied with where you are and what you are doing as a writer, now is the time to try something new. 1. Create your own writing prompts. As you go through your day, jot down the odd questions that pop …
Three Steps to Become A Better Writer by Lani Longshore Read More »
Shameless self-promotion alert, I’ll have a new book coming out in the next couple of months. I’m evaluating ways to promote it, and Julaina Kleist-Corwin gave me a suggestion: try video. Julaina leads the Tri-Valley Writers Social Media Group. Each month she presents great tips about building your platform. Her research indicates that more and …
Jordan Rosenfeld, who presented a workshop for Tri-Valley Writers on character and point of view, gave a brief writing exercise on creating new metaphors and similes. She presented a list of phrases that had become cliches and challenged us to create something fresh. I thought a different way of saying right as rain could be …
Similes, Metaphors and Phrases by Lani Longshore Read More »
I have a pad of paper on a magnet on the refrigerator for the grocery list. There are stacks of scrap paper by the telephone, and a legal pad on my nightstand for ideas that wake me from a sound sleep. One could believe I am a die-hard devotee of paper as the perfect writing …
