Wendy Weiler and Barbara Robertson
People continue to sign up for the Writing the Waves cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral on May 12, 2013. That may sound like a long ways away, but to get your choice of cabins and secure a spot in the limited number of spots available for the writing program, it’s…
Becky McGregor is a Writing Your Life class member who has had great success writing and publishing her work.
Last year, the Florida Writers Association accepted two of her stories for its 2011 anthology, Let’s Talk. Becky wrote a piece titled “Eight Wheels” in our spring 2012 class session, which will be published in this year’s…
Some of the most popular Writing Your Life workshops are those where we write in response to memory joggers I bring in each month. People often ask me, “How did you come up with that prompt?” It’s easy! Inspiration for writing is all around us every day. We just need to look for it.
Some of…
Social media guru and Writing Your Life class member Penney Fox did a presentation on blogging last week to the Orlando chapter of the Florida Writers Association. She brought the house down and gave great information about how we can use blogging to promote ourselves as authors and sell more books.
What struck me was the…
People sit around table. With pencil in hand and pages before them, they follow along as someone reads an excerpt from his or her life story. A discussion follows: I liked how you described this person. Your dialogue is well written. You might want to vary the structure of your sentences in this paragraph. I’d…
At the First Saturday Writing Workshop a couple of days ago, I was reminded of the importance of writing our life stories in such a vivid way . I gave a prompt to write about one of the most unusual things the participants had ever seen in the sky. I expected big sightings—the aurora borealis,…
Hook 'em ... Your first sentence or two can make or break the story. It can entice your reader to keep going or convince him to go take a nap, so it’s important to put time and effort into constructing a great opening.
But, and this is a big but, work on your opening after you’ve…
Picture this…crystal blue water, view of the horizon in every direction, azure skies with puffy white clouds, exotic destinations, scrumptious food, first class entertainment, fascinating people, time for adventure and relaxation, and a chance to learn more about writing your personal and family history. Now, pen yourself into this scene.
The first ever Writing Your Life…
I’ve never seen so much confusion, debate and misconception centered on one little item—the comma. Writing guides continue to produce pages and pages of text focused on how the comma should and should not be used. The problem is that outside the comma’s basic usage, none of the experts agree, so how do we as…
All writers have blind spots. We have our pets—favorite words, clichés, overused phrases, excessive adverbs—that we read right over when reviewing our stories. So, what’s the big deal? I love the word just. I can use just over and over again, and it sounds just fine to me.
The problem is that the reader often trips…