I have been browsing writer-friendly sites and articles, and I thought I could share some of them with the girls.

1. Useful links to terrific articles and pointers from agents etc.

2. An Agent’s Wish List

3. Fab Writing Tips

4. Checkpoints when writing scenes

5. Brainstorming Techniques

Some of the links contain links to more useful writer’s resources.

Happy Reading, Girls!

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For an extended period of time, I have been influenced by Audre Lorde and her essays. Unsure if it is because of all the new writing deadlines that are emerging compiled with balancing “real world” demands but she has been circling my thought process. Will she ever land and assist me in sorting out all these thoughts? Its as though I have writers block with a tea kettle full of thoughts and nothing is taking true form. What a conundrum! As writers, is the ability to write/express be a luxury with the words and sounds we do not have yet?

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In my writing, I struggle with dialog. How do I get it to a point where the conversation is not only meaningful, it also advances the plot and reveals character?

I have done a few dialog-writing exercises, but the results are often dead, stilted.

But today I read some interesting bits about real-life conversation in a curious book called the 3 am Epiphany, which I’ve borrowed from a friend. They sort of made me realize that dialog does not have to be always clean, cut-and-dried, but can imitate life in various ways, all the while doing what I ask of it: advancing the plot and revealing character.

Without further ado, here are the pages I’m referring to:

3 am Epiphany on Conversations

Conversation examples

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In the last few months I have been without a running vehicleand I have been forced to take public transportation. At first I grumbled and groaned especially on snowy days but I have recently realized the treasure trove of new characters that ride the bus and train with me every day.  I know this seems like a desperate attempt for fresh creativity but I have never met more interesting people than I have while taking my daily commute.  Case in point, yesterday I met a snaggletoothed woman that was obsessing over a womans yellow dress. Over and over she would say how pretty it was and how she wished she had a yellow dress and how cute it would look on her.  Some people would consider this woman to be crazy and feel sorry for her, but I immediately started to create her back story about the yellow dress.  She quickly became a believeable and very real character…because she was real and I was witness to her.  I have decided that if I am going to be a serious writer that I would take each inspiration no matter how small or bizzare it may seem at the time.

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It’s inevitable that as you start on your journey in creating a story, you don’t start at day one. So where do you start?

For me, when I first started writing, I started too early into the story. My friend Bethany helped the inexperienced me understand that the story starts often after the trauma, after the move, after the big change. That ridded me of my first two chapters of book one. Now, as I write, I try to start where the story actually begins, but I realize that often I still need someone to say, “Nope, here’s the start to your story.”

That leaves the backstory to be woven into the novel, not dumped in, but layered throughout.

Often, we tend to think that something can’t be cut because it’s important for the reader to know. So, my question is: How do you work it in without dumping it?

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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I’ve read many a post where everyone lists their play lists for their manuscripts or their blogs. Back in the acknowledgment sections of books the author will sometimes list the music they listened to religiously while creating their story. It is everywhere! For some reason or another people find it necessary to listen to music while they write.

Those people have much larger attention spans than I!

I just can’t do it. Maybe it’s a form of ADHD or something, but I can not concentrate on any type of music (unless there are no lyrics) while I write. Maybe it even has something to do with the fact that whenever I hear a song I either have to A. Listen to the lyrics or B. Sing to the lyrics.

So do you listen to music as you write? If so, how do you do it!? Is there a certain type of music that works best?

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Marybeth is an aspiring novelist currently working on her second novel. For more information visit her website www.marybethsmith.com. She also has a blog Desperately Searching for my Inner Mary Poppins where you can keep up on her moments as mother, wife and writer..

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