Writing for Life

Mondays

Putting Passion in the Pages

book with heart

Last week I started delving into idea and passion and exploring what those things really are and where they come from. I’d like to focus a little more on passion this week. I mentioned how some writers’ passion seeps through into their pages. It seems to be something tangible, electric, contagious. I believe that kind of passion comes through the best when we step aside and get out of our own way as we write.

What do I mean by that? Well, those things I mentioned that can trip us up—the need for success, validation, an audience—create roadblocks to passionate writing. On one shoulder, glaring at us as we write, is that infernal internal critic. And on the other shoulder is the needy, worrying, insecure author thinking she’s just fooling herself and everyone else by assuming she can write well. We need to get out the duct tape and put a strip over each of those two annoying hecklers’ mouths. Really. Continue Reading…

Shoot Your Novel

Wednesdays

Your Life Flashing before Your Eyes

car speeding by

Has it ever happened to you—had your life flash before your eyes? What about one of your characters in your novel—has it happened to her? Think about a character in a story—let’s say a mother sitting in church waiting for her daughter to come down the aisle in her beautiful white wedding gown. This is a key moment in this mother’s life. All the years she spent raising her daughter have brought them both to this moment. Perhaps she’s regretted the way she raised her, feeling she’s been a failure as a mother. Maybe she’s suffering from empty nest syndrome. Whatever this character is feeling at this key moment in her life in the story can be heightened by the use of a montage scene, which is what we began looking at in last week’s post. Continue Reading…

Say What?

Fridays

How Much Further?

saywhat2

The adverbs farther and further are often a problem for many writers. It helps me to think of farther as only applying to actual distance, but you would say, “We cannot travel any further tonight” if you are talking about physical distance. Farther is used to note the progression of physical distance. “I ran farther than I ever had before.”

Further seems to cover everything else:

  • Thoughts of leaving are furthest from my mind.
  • Let’s discuss this further.
  • The farther we go into the desert, the hotter it gets.
  • I am farther away from the store than you are.
  • I am further from realizing my goals than I was last year.
  • Stop before you go any further on that topic.

If you’re dealing with a sentence that seems a bit ambiguous, you really can use either word. People regularly use either word for physical distance and it’s become acceptable. But to be safe, default to further, and you’ll probably be fine. No need to fret further on the subject.

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