Thank you, Carole Milstead, for responding to my request for requests. I’ll be using your ideas for the next few months. I’m certain many Breakthrough Writers have the same questions.
If any of you want to add to her response, please do. Most strong writing comes out of reading, learning, collaboration and practice. Here’s Carole: Dear Mary, Funny you should ask what it is I want to learn about writing…my answer would be everything. To me writing is like Taiji (Tai Chi, if you prefer) writing is the journey, never stop learning and never stop enjoying the art itself.
Yes, I need to write more alive characters, certainly, more vivid descriptions of the places. I need to know how to write dialogue and how to make it natural and compelling. I definitely need to learn how to move through the parts. I need to learn how to flow to the middle, make the middle standout and how to move to the end of my writing. More motivational tricks and nudges would be very welcome. And last but not least, any info on navigating the world of hard copy and internet publishing would be appreciated.
Thanks for asking, by the way.
To begin at the beginning of your questions: Start paying attention to your conversations with friends, beloveds, grocery clerks… Eavesdrop on doctors, drunks, privileged people, down and out people, a woman who speaks with an accent, teen-agers… Take notes. Watch a good t.v. series, i.e. Justified, Shameless, The Wire. Pay attention to how the screen-writers use rhythm and pauses. Then set your writing timer for 30 minutes. Begin with this prompt and follow it with all dialogue: The light outside the window kept changing. We were…
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