Apropos Anthony Trollope

Newsweek recently devoted a good portion of its content to “What to Read Now. And Why.” http://www.newsweek.com/id/204300 . It’s a fun read, but most interestingly for me was the editors’ choice for number one: The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. This is how Newsweek summarizes the tale: “The title says it all. Trollope’s Read more about Apropos Anthony Trollope[…]

5 Paragraphs – Backwards

The Five Paragraph Essay – BACKWARDS If you’re having a hard time feeling the flow and confidence that mastering the five-paragraph essay offers, try doing it another way: start from Act V and move backwards to the introductory paragraph of Act I. Act V: The Resolution or Conclusion. This paragraph resolves the story, the experiment, Read more about 5 Paragraphs – Backwards[…]

Practice: 5 paragraphs

The 5-Paragraph Essay Fun writing exercises are … FUN. And everyone knows that mastering the five paragraph essay is essential to solid, coherent writing skills. Sometimes it’s been so painstakingly drilled into kids that college educators plead with high school teachers not to wear out students with the clichéd, boring style that permeates all their Read more about Practice: 5 paragraphs[…]

Chess Pieces

Chess Pieces From the time I was eight years old till I was well into my teens I played chess with my father practically every evening. Over the years, each chess piece became imbued with characteristics that brought each game to vivid life. Bishops tended to be pretty conservative. You knew as soon as one Read more about Chess Pieces[…]

Letter Writing

Writing a Letter Here’s a practice that’s practically obsolete: letter-writing. That’s okay – pretend you’re living during the last century when letter-writing was pretty commonplace. Here’s the basic block structure for a letter: Address Date Dear Friend, Body of text. Sincerely, Your name Now write a letter to a fictional friend: You’ve just arrived in Read more about Letter Writing[…]

Eavesdropping

Despite what you’ve been told, eavesdropping is a writer’s most valuable resource. For several days in a row write down a conversation that you overhear, without describing the people who are speaking. Use your ears, not your eyes, to imagine the speaker. Practice trying to remember phrases that are used. As you write them down, Read more about Eavesdropping[…]

Favorite Dialogues – 1

From The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it plunged the little prince into deep dejection. “What are you doing there?” he said to the tippler, whom he found settled down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and Read more about Favorite Dialogues – 1[…]

Favorite Dialogues – 2

From Sleeping Fires, by George Gissing

In this passage, middle-aged Langley seeks permission from eighteen-year-old Louis’s guardian, Lady Revill, to take the boy under his wing and help guide him through the shoals of youthful adventuring. Lady Revill is a former lover of Langley with whom he has only recently reconnected, after a twenty-year separation. She knows of Langley’s true relationship with young Louis, that Langley is his father – a fact of which Langley has not yet been apprised. Here’s the dialogue: […]

Practice: Story-telling

Story is fundamental to our lives: we tell stories all the time. About ourselves, each other, someone we don’t know, someone we make up. When we describe a book we’ve read or a film we’ve watched, we’re telling a story. In telling stories we are able to be wherever and whoever we wish. Imagination and Read more about Practice: Story-telling[…]

First Sentence

The One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is a weaving of hundreds of stories that Shahrazad told to her bloodthirsty husband King Shahryar every night. By keeping him hanging on the edge of his seat with suspense, he postponed his usual practice of eliminating his bride the morning after their wedding night just so he Read more about First Sentence[…]

Create a Story Map

A story map is a picture of a story. Draw your sequence of events in five bubbles: beginning, beginning-middle, middle, middle-end, end. Think of set-up, climax, conclusion. Surround your story bubbles with smaller ones that depict your characters’ actions and reactions to the events. This is a great tool to help you organize your story. Read more about Create a Story Map[…]

Practice: Description

Description evolves best from observation. Observation offers a way of watching your inner experiences reflected back in outer phenomena. Instead of writing “I felt gloomy,” you could write: “The clouds pressed in, prematurely darkening the bleak sky.” By strengthening your powers of observation you’ll be able to transform your plethora of confusing emotions into the Read more about Practice: Description[…]

Looking Out of a Window

Describe what you see out your window in minute detail. Do this at approximately the same time each day. Try to evoke a different mood on different days (gloomy, cheerful, excited…) just from the description itself – don’t mention any personal emotion.Describe what you see out your window in minute detail. Do this at approximately Read more about Looking Out of a Window[…]