Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades do what you need to and get it back Remember writing doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on. A. L. Kennedy
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category
Word by Word: Openings make a promise to the reader
It’s full-on summer. and nights are again growing quiet after the raucous explosions from Fourth of July celebrations. Roses are spilling over throughout town, heat blasts from the sky until it bakes everything below including the miserable clay soil I’ve inherited in this yard, the roads are filled with campers and trailers, vacationers heading to […]
Read the rest of this entry »Quick Take: Everything has structure. Get over it.
I sometimes hear grumblings about story structure. As in a structure equals manacles or some form of onerous constraints. Or story structure is for wimps; real writers plot by the seat of their pants and the fairy whisperings of muses. But here I sit typing on a laptop, a machine with a screen, keyboard, off/on […]
Read the rest of this entry »What’s at Stake? part 1
Storms whipped through the region last week, the weekend was mild, and I woke up to a pearly sky and no rain in the forecast. Since we’ve already had temperatures in the 90s the respite from the heat suited me fine and suited my garden too although the weeds are now stampeding all over the […]
Read the rest of this entry »Quick Take: Write from emotion and imagination
Below me the Pacific is roaring into shore in shades of silver and indigo and white, gulls are whining and whirling in a pale sky, the air cool and deep ocean perfumed. I’ve left the Portland area for a few days to escape the pollen zone and spend time with my family. My headaches are gone […]
Read the rest of this entry »According to Ayelet Waldman
Most writers spend their lives standing a little apart from the crowd, watching and listening and hoping to catch that tiny hint of despair, that sliver of malice, that makes them think, ‘Aha, here is the story.’
Read the rest of this entry »Join me on June 1, Hillsboro, Oregon for From Idea to Story
I’m thrilled to help kick off an exciting new lineup of speakers in Washington County. Join us on June 1 for the first Writers Forum at Insomnia Coffee, 317 Main Street, Hillsboro. I’ll be speaking from 7-8 on From Idea to Story Writers have long grappled with the problem of taking a flash of inspiration through […]
Read the rest of this entry »Why Your Characters Do What They Do, part 4 goals
Goals push characters to act and strive because fiction characters are more goal-driven than triathletes. They can be: need desire ambition want purpose A goal will always be some kind of a test. Goals always mean everything to the protagonist. Subplots also require goals and conflict. Aim to make it as hard as possible for […]
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