Kilauea in the News
By Annette Rey
Exciting action scenes capture the interest of readers. Kilauea is currently very active and aside from the human tragedy, as writers you may want to pay attention to this subject and practice writing these real life events. Eventually, you may elaborate upon them and include these pieces in a future work.
You can experiment writing about this from different points of view.
My Invention
By Annette Rey
Here’s another writer’s block blocker exercise. Are you for it?
Online Writing Lab
By Annette Rey
One of my reasons for writing this blog is to help writers understand that learning correct language usage should never stop. If we love to write, we should love the vehicle that takes our readers to places we want to transport them.
I especially sympathize with aspiring writers whose first language is not English. They need additional help navigating the complexities of the language.
The following site offers free access to instruction that will improve all of our efforts to polish our writing projects.
Editing Exercises
By Annette Rey
Participating in writing exercises will help break writer’s block as well as improve your writing. Simple, short challenges work just as well. You wouldn’t waste energy exercising your body and not having a body part target in mind. Nor should you engage in writing exercises without a goal in mind for writing improvement.
The next exercise will help you target editing even before the editing stage.
Your Ending Sentence
By Annette Rey
Recently, I misinterpreted a writer’s call on Facebook. Someone asked for ending sentences. I thought it was an exercise to think creatively. It turned out to be a call for an actual ending a writer had used in his work.
This mistake gave me the idea to create a writer’s exercise that makes us think in reverse. Start at the end of your work, create that last line, and see how that line affects the way you construct the last chapter, or the ending of your short story, or article. Your physical brain needs exercise and asking it to respond in new ways will challenge a boring routine. These exercises are designed to shake you and wake you.
35-Word Challenge
By Annette Rey
This is a real challenge that beats even flash fiction word limits. Give this a try and remember to make it complete by including answers to the questions: who, what, when, where, and why.
Growing Your Character
By Annette Rey
There probably are as many ways to create a character as there are writers. Here is a quick way to get started and put meat on his bones.
Conversation Is Story.
By Annette Rey
Are you – short on ideas – stumped on character development – unable to complete dialogue – at a loss on detailing scene? Answers for these areas are a car trip away.
A Short Exercise
By Annette Rey
Make your sentences more interesting by choosing defining words. Detail particular traits. Specificity is better than vagueness.
Compare:
The car careened down the mountain pass.
The battered Volvo careened down the rocky mountain pass.
Compare:
The house was surrounded by woods.
Becky’s cozy, vine-covered cottage, nestled among old-growth firs, welcomed the returning airman.
Compare:
Dogs chased the rabbit to ground.
The cottontail narrowly eluded a pack of howling beagles by dashing into her burrow.
Or:
Three rowdy beagles relentlessly pursued a zig-zagging cottontail and lost her in the thick underbrush.
Replace a general word with an unambiguous one.
Examples:
Generic term Explicit replacement
restaurant Italian eatery, greasy-spoon diner
dog blue-eyed Malamute, formidable Doberman
building glass skyscraper, L-shaped ranch house, Celtic castle
library personal leather-bound collection, tattered paperbacks
detective veteran sergeant, cynical sleuth
You can see the benefit of replacing bland words with descriptive terms that beef up your sentences and put your readers in the mood you want to immerse them.
Now, you try a few words. Visualize the noun. Make those simple nouns more complex, reflect the characteristics of the item in question.
hairstyle
bedding
river
suit
subdivision
gun
airplane
jewelry box
bouquet
The next time you sit down to write, remind yourself to elaborate on the general words you use in a sentence. Your readers will be more entertained and satisfied with your writing style.
Writer's Block No More 