My Messy Outlines

Do you outline before you write a draft?
I do—sort of. Writing topics come to me in little lines and words; everything is vague, but I write it down. The topics then transform into non-linear scenes. I keep those in my head. After a while though, I can see a relationship between the scenes, understanding and [...]

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3 Writing Excercises

Last summer, 2007, I went to a youth writing workshop for four days and three nights. I loved it there. 
I had fun being with other young writers and learning from the seminars; and because we stayed on a campus by the beach, the morning ocean air refreshed our minds. I even enjoyed most of the exercises.  [...]

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A Writer’s Space: Stationary or Portable?

Must a writer’s space always be stationary?
I’ve been asking myself this question all day. In light of Colby’s comment in yesterday’s post and the coming University year, I realized that, for months at a time, I won’t be able to look at my lovely notes on the wall or tap away on my five year old [...]

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My (Writing) Space

When it comes to writing, I’m a perfectionist: a line written down would have to go through at least five revisions in my head then another five once on paper or screen; more ink scratches than legible words cover a sheet of paper and the backspace button looks to be most worn. Yes. Perfection is [...]

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A Writer’s Flow

Flow: a completely involved, focused state of consciousness, with diminished awareness of self and time, resulting from optimal engagement of one’s skill.
I learned this term in my psychology class, and I find it fascinating. Everyone experiences it at one point—students, artists, and workers; they “lose themselves” for a time, so focused. When they come back, [...]

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Mistakes We Writers Make: a Blog Response (Take 2)

Agent Nelson strikes again! In her latest blog entry, she speaks about the “opening-chapter-back-story-info-dump” writer mistake. We all know what that is; the name says it all. It’s the writer’s notes and details that a writer thinks his readers need to know in the beginning (or middle or end or a large piece of in-between) [...]

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Mistakes We Writers Make: a Blog Response

 I love reading Kristin Nelson’s blog. Because she’s a literary agent, she is able to provide insight into the publishing business and point out writer’s mistakes she reads or witnesses—all very useful for us aspiring to be published. This week, she has been writing about mistakes beginning writers, and even seasoned writers, make at times.
“The [...]

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The Art of Dramatic Writing: a short movie

Sambgood presents a short video adaptation of Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing:

I made this video for an AP English project: based on independent reading assignments, we had to “teach” our classmates or, at least, show our class we learned something.  My video focuses on premises. I hope you enjoy it
The opening song is credited to [...]

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Experience to Write

 When a few of my friends heard I was going to Warped Tour with two of our friends, they laughed. I laughed too.
Before yesterday, I knew next to nothing about it: I knew the name, not the various music. I knew there would be many bands, not fifty. I knew loads of people would go, [...]

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When You and I Observe

I’m so small I can fit in the oddest places: the space under the bed, the box in the garage, or the cabinet below the sink. I’m so small I can slip into shadows—yours, his, the door’s—and stay there unnoticed for as long as the clouds hide the sun.
It seems that way at least.
Amidst conversation [...]

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