Archive for category Topics
Surviving a Critique Group
Posted by wordimprovisor177 in Darlene, Special Editions on May 20, 2013
As writers, we spend a lot of time alone in a room with our characters and possibly a cat or two. We become very close to our stories, and sometimes we lose objectivity. Is my protagonist three-dimensional? Is the plot believable? Does the story flow? Are the sentences constructed with clarity? What’s up with that […]
The Writing Platform – Finding Your Niche by Dawn Frederick
Posted by jarviswrites in Guest Bloggers, The Writer's Community on May 16, 2013
Since we are discussing the writer’s community this month, we knew that we HAD to discuss the Writer’s Platform, a relatively new term with some serious buzz. To kick off our discussion on Writer Platforms, we are delighted to welcome guest blogger and agent extraordinaire Dawn Frederick! Dawn Frederick is the owner and literary agent […]
It Takes a Village
Posted by virgowriter in Brad, The Writer's Community on May 12, 2013
In 1996, Hillary Clinton published It Takes a Village, a book that asserts that it takes a community to raise quality (i.e. smart, well-adjusted, achieving, etc.) children. When you think about your own writing, it helps to think of your work as children, little beings who need a community of support to turn out well. […]
Finding Your Community of Writers
Posted by wordimprovisor177 in Darlene, The Writer's Community on May 12, 2013
People in the arts, in general, are drawn to each other. We’re odd. We see the world from a different perspective. We’re observers. We’re sponges. And we need each other. But what is this sense of community and how do you find it? The Writer’s Social Life One aspect of community is simply being around […]
Community Not Competition
Posted by jarviswrites in Jennie, The Writer's Community on May 2, 2013
Once upon a time, I was convinced that I had all the answers. I knew everything that I needed to know about getting my work out there for the world to see. Those other writer/directors out there were my competition, and they just needed to get out of my way. All I needed was someone […]
A Poet’s Perspective on the Use of Structure (Guest Post by Poet Ron Hayes)
Posted by virgowriter in Guest Bloggers, Structure on April 29, 2013
Ron Hayes is a poet and fiction writer from Erie, PA. He teaches English at East High School where he also coaches football, keeps stats for girls’ basketball, and continues to try to start a lacrosse team. A graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at Queens University of Charlotte, Ron was named Erie […]
Structurelessness
Posted by priceswrite in Linda, Structure on April 25, 2013
I started this post several times. I kept trying to get my hands around structure – to find a context in which to explain it. Then I thought I would write about structure in terms of Aristotle’s Poetics. But he’s already done that. Then I thought, “I’m a playwright. I should write about the changes in […]
Building Blocks of Storytelling
Posted by wordimprovisor177 in Darlene, Structure on April 23, 2013
You are a baby sitting in a high chair. Your parents, aunts, uncles, their friends are telling each other stories around the dinner table. Afterwards, you watch cartoons while the grownups chat some more. Later, your mom reads you a book (My fave: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein). You are absorbing it all. Story […]
Embracing Structure as a Tool for Your Story
Posted by virgowriter in Brad, Structure on April 7, 2013
In architecture, there’s an expression: form follows function. This means that the way something is used dictates the shape of the building (or components of it). So, for example, stairs on a stair case are designed the way they are so that they can function the way they are supposed to: to allow a person […]
Screenwriting Structure – The Three Act Paradigm
Posted by jarviswrites in Jennie, Structure on April 3, 2013
This month on 5writers, we’re going to be talking about structure, and what better way to kick us off than to talk about the most structured writing that exists – screenwriting! Not only do film scripts have extremely strict rules for how the script is formatted, but the underlying structure of the story has very […]
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