Word by Word

Practical insights for writers from Jessica P Morrell

Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category

January

Wishing you a productive year filled with inspiration. But of course inspiration simply doesn’t fly in the door. We invite it by reading and writing and taking in art. We invite it with stillness and walks and attention. How are you going to achieve your writing goals this year? Are you staking out morning hours […]

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A book, too, can be a star….

A book, too, can be a star, a  living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe. ~ Madeline L’Engle

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Wishing you peace in the holiday season

Snow and freezing rain swooshed into the region on Christmas eve leaving a dangerous layer of ice. But with it, came beauty and a winter’s hush. Wishing readers and writers peace and hope in this lovely season. I realize that 2017 has been a hard, trying year for many of us, but together we can […]

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Book Recommendation for History Buffs: The Color of Lightning

More dry and cold weather is on the way. I’m winding up my Christmas shopping, staying cozy, and started baking Christmas cookies. Now to give most of them away….  But first, in case you still need books for holiday giving I have another title for you. Last summer with current events threatening my sanity, I […]

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Book recommendation: Winter’s Bone

Another fine sunrise this morning and continued dry, crisp weather. Tonight it’s going to freeze–oh happy days. I have allergies so a freeze kills off the abundant leaf mold that’s around here. My tree is installed and tonight I’m going to add the ornaments. Christmas baking has begun and a few gifts exchanged. Saturday night […]

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Book Recommendation for Dog Lovers: The Art of Racing in the Rain

Was just watching the sun rise over a stand of Douglas firs. Pale pink striations because we’re in the midst of a lovely dry spell. Winds have been whipping in from the Columbia Gorge, whisking away the leaves I needed to rake up. Although I enjoy raking, don’t you? I’m going out Christmas tree hunting […]

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Storytellers ought not be too tame….

Rains are here again today–steady thrumming against the tin roof of my porch, the backdrop as I work on a client’s story. I’m still eating Thanksgiving leftovers, getting over a cold, and wearing layers as befitting my circumstances. A house not as snug as I’d like during these short days of winter’s looming.  But, I’m […]

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Description must work for its place

Description must work for its place. It can’t be simply ornamental. It usually works best if it has a human element; it is more effective if it comes from an implied viewpoint, rather than from the eye of God. If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it […]

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Fill your ears with the music of good sentences….

“Fill your ears with the music of good sentences, and when you finally approach the page yourself, that music will carry you. It will remind you that you are a part of a vast symphony of writers, that you are not alone in your quest to lay down words, each one bumping against the next […]

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What Writers Can Learn from Good Night Moon

What stories are embedded in your memory? Why do they keep resonating as years go by?  In The Atlantic’s By Heart column Celeste Ng describes how she was influenced by Good Night Moon, a story she read again and again to her toddler son.  Read it here. “For the first three years of his life, my son insisted […]

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