Tag: Literature

Novel Writing, Writers on Writing

Discovering the names of novels

Mandy Webster
English: Statistic of titles the English Short...
But where did all of those titles come from? | English: Statistic of titles the English Short Title Catalogue categorised as “fiction”, 1600-1799. black line: yearly production, red line: ten year moving average (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Names and titles used to be the bane of my existence.

I can’t begin to tell you how much time I have wasted agonizing over names for characters and titles for stories. I have recently realized that those names and titles will eventually reveal themselves to you once you learn to listen for them.

I’ve had a name for my current novel-in-progress for some time, but I haven’t been entirely happy with it. It’s okay, but it doesn’t really sum up the novel in the way I want it to. But, I hate thinking about titles, so I just went with it and kept writing. After all, there’s no sense agonizing over a title at the expense of writing the story. Continue reading “Discovering the names of novels” →

Novel Writing, Writers on Writing

How to write the most boring scene in your novel

Mandy Webster
Writing
Can’t force yourself to get excited about writing your next scene? Start by writing down the reasons why the scene is too boring to write. | Writing (Photo credit: jjpacres)

Last night, I sat down to write chapter 10 of my novel, and I just couldn’t get into it. I knew what the chapter was supposed to be about, but I simply could not get excited about it. Then I remembered author Rachel Aaron’s advice  on getting excited about what you’re writing.

“If I had scenes that were boring enough that I didn’t want to write them, then there was no way in hell anyone would want to read them.” ~Rachel Aaron

So, I sat down with my notebook and began to scribble my thoughts about why I thought the scene I was about to attack was too tedious to write. Continue reading “How to write the most boring scene in your novel” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Poetry Friday: Miss Kitty

Mandy Webster
A picture of my kitten, Zelda
This is Zelda. Don’t worry, I don’t let her roam about outside unsupervised. She just likes to hang out on the patio with me while I sit in my comfy chair and read.

It’s been some time since I’ve posted for Poetry Friday, but inspiration struck a moment ago, so I decided to pounce. Is it too soon to hope I’ve finally recovered from my bout with writer’s block?

Today’s poem is inspired by my kitten, Zelda, who is turning out to have quite the personality:

Miss Kitty

My cat thinks I’m her prey.

She stalks me through the house,
Crouching on the stairs
Or behind a curtain,
Just waiting for me to pass
So she can pounce.

~By Amanda L. Webster Continue reading “Poetry Friday: Miss Kitty” →

Writers on Writing, Writing Prompts

Wednesday Writing Prompt: Are you a real writer?

Mandy Webster
"Writing", 22 November 2008
Do you consider yourself a "real" writer? | "Writing", 22 November 2008 (Photo credit: dr_ed_needs_a_bicycle)

Yesterday I promised that I was going to begin to share a writing prompt on Wednesdays here on my blog. So, without further ado, here is today’s prompt:

Do you consider yourself a “real” writer? Why or why not? What makes a writer?

For today, I chose a topic that will likely make a better essay or blog post than a short story. However, I think it’s a topic we should all be considering if we take our writing seriously. Continue reading “Wednesday Writing Prompt: Are you a real writer?” →

Poems by Corbin DesJardins, Poetry

Corbin’s poems about Far North

Mandy Webster
Cover of "Far North"
Cover of Far North

Earlier this week, my 12-year-old came home from school with a booklet of poems he’d written for his English class. They’d read the book, Far North, by Will Hobbs, and had to write several poems about the book in a variety of forms.

I was more than just a little impressed with some of the poems my son had written, so I asked him if I could share one on my blog for Poetry Friday, which is sponsored this week by Random Noodling. This is the poem he chose for me to share:

Clint (a name poem)

Could you see that plane fly by
Like a bird
In the sky
Now the plane is going down
The bush pilot Clint was never found

~By Corbin DesJardins

And I wanted to share one more. This place poem was one of my favorites in Corbin’s collection: Continue reading “Corbin’s poems about Far North” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

April is National Poetry Month

Mandy Webster
Poetry
Write poetry this month, even if it's a few magnetic words on a car. | Poetry (Photo credit: Kimli)

It’s April. The poetic vibes fill the air as our collective minds turn themselves to poetry for National Poetry Month. I haven’t shared anything for Poetry Friday in several weeks, but I’d like to get back in the habit, at least for this month.

I wrote a lot of poetry last fall while taking a course in writing poetry for children and young adults, but I haven’t written much since. I’ve noticed that if I’m reading poetry regularly, the poems flow from my pen (or keyboard) with little effort. But, when I’m not reading poetry regularly, I just get the occasional snippet. And if I don’t sit down right away and work that snippet into a full poem, it just sits in my pretty poetry notebook and goes to waste. Continue reading “April is National Poetry Month” →

Random Writing Rants

What happened first: The fight, or the apple pie incident?

Mandy Webster
Nederlands: Het Short Story bushokje op transf...
Image via Wikipedia

Today I’m writing a story about something that happened to me about 13 years ago. I don’t know how you feel about the passing of time, but for me, 13 years is a LONG time ago. So, I can remember major details, but some of those minor details have me questioning my memory. In this particular story, there is a nasty fight and an unfortunate incident with an apple pie. But I can’t, for the life of me, remember which happened first. Dilemma, dilemma.

So, what do you do when you’re writing about something that actually happened but can’t remember such important details? And what if you can remember the details, but the story works better if you rearrange events? I’m not writing a memoir, simply using actually happenings as the basis for a short story I’ll pass off as fiction. All names will be changed to protect the identities of those involved, of course.  Continue reading “What happened first: The fight, or the apple pie incident?” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Poetry Friday: Solitary Muse

Mandy Webster
Poem written by Rolf Jacobsen located in the e...
Image via Wikipedia

For this week’s Poetry Friday, sponsored by A Teaching Life, I am sharing a poem about writing. This poem is written in the Triolet format which is structured as follows:

  • ABaAabAB rhyme scheme.
  • Often all lines are in iambic tetrameter: the first, fourth and seventh lines are identical, as are the second and final lines, thereby making the initial and final couplets identical as well.

Solitary Muse Continue reading “Poetry Friday: Solitary Muse” →

Random Writing Rants

Finding my niche

Mandy Webster
Cover of "Diamond Willow (Frances Foster ...
Cover of Diamond Willow (Frances Foster Books)

I’m one course and a thesis paper away from completing my masters degree in professional writing at Mount Mary College, and I’m feeling pressed to decide on a specific career course. So yeah, I’m a writer: but what kind of writer am I? I’ve written poetry, short stories, parts of novels, but for a long time I’ve struggled to find that one niche that I am really passionate about. Until I recently discovered YA.

Okay, so I’m sure I’ve read plenty of YA novels in the past. I’ve occasionally read some of my son’s books, and he’s getting into that age range. And, I’m quite sure I read tons of YA when I was a YA myself. But until recently, I haven’t really studied the genre.

While taking my poetry course this past fall, I read Crossing Stones,  a novel in verse by Helen Frost, and I just LOVED that book and form. I then read a few of her other books: The Braid, Diamond Willow, and her latest, Hidden. All great reads. I found a lot of inspiration in these books and began to wonder if I could write something similar myself. Continue reading “Finding my niche” →

Poetry, Poetry by Mandy Webster

Poetry Friday already?

Mandy Webster

Friday..

Wow, is it Friday already? I somehow lost an entire week in the shuffle of tieing up lose semester ends. For today’s Poetry Friday, sponsored by children’s author, Robyn Hood Black, I am sharing an original poem written by myself:

Hoard Horde

Sneaky spider in the night
softly spinning in moonlight.
Resting, dangling in the day,
watching, waiting for your prey. Continue reading “Poetry Friday already?” →