Writing Prompt: A Bony Halloween

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Here's a writing prompt for the Halloween Holiday! Have fun as you discover the story behind this picture. Ask yourself: Who was the person these bone belonged to? Who dressed up the skeleton, or did the skeleton dress herself? Is the skeleton a female or a cross-dressing male? Is this the beginning of the dead walking Apocalypse, or a bunch of teenagers playing a prank on their superstitious teacher? Write a story in 1000 words or less, and remember to have a Happy Halloween!

The Art of Shut Up and Listen

The world all around us gives us clues on how to do everything we need to do, including becoming a better writer. The more obvious clues come from reading other authors, taking writing classes, talking out problem areas with fellow writers, reading books dedicated to the writing profession. There are other less obvious clues that come from our everyday lives.

The people around us, the dog next door that won't shut up, the co-worker that steals your desk supplies and blames it on someone else, the mother that won't stop giving helpful advice, the doctor that that gives you the eye and tells you to lose 50 pounds or else, the mail man that runs his mail truck over the freshly planted flowers in the front lawn. Stories are all around us begging to be told. The people parading through our lives are holding their breath to play the main character in our next story. Why not take these gifts and make use of them?

Word Choice: Finding the Right Shade of a Word

As a writer you are an artist. The page is the canvas and the paint are the words. Use words to paint a picture, creating a movie in the theater of the mind's eye. - Michael Knost.

I know I've hit on this subject before in my Good Description series, but this topic deserves repeating because of the important and necessary role that words play in writing. This is one of the areas in my writing that I have been focusing on this year. I have found that actively being conscious of the words I chose makes a BIG difference in the way a story sounds and how successful I am at conveying the story message to the reader.

2 Ways to Be a Better Writer

Writing is a love affair of words and emotion, but there is also much more to it. There is a lot of work that is involved that includes perfecting craft, plot, character and much more. A writer's journey never ends as he or she blazes the trail of art and soul. The further along that trail a writer travels, the more he or she realizes that perfection will never be achieved, only stages of good and bad writing; however, a writer can accomplish better writing by putting into practice two very important things. Are you ready for the most important advice you will ever get?

The Art, Craft and Business of Writing Fiction

Here are some notes I took from a workshop I did by Linnea Sinclair when I went to Context a few weeks ago. I found them helpful and thought I would share. 

Are you a writer or author?

Writer= isn’t serious about being published

Author=  has published works

Writing is an art and craft, but it is also a BUSINESS!