I’m chatting about writing, prompts and what it takes to build a writing habit on this weeks’s Pencils&Lipstick #podcast
Getting Great Feedback – A Process
After a challenge like StoryADay (or a lifetime of writing) you may be asking, “How can I revise my writing so I can get published, without becoming distracted, discouraged or overwhelmed?”
I have a system for figuring out that very thing, that will help you identify and work on the stories that will keep you making consistent progress towards your writing goals.
Part 1 of this process is to assess the material you have, to see what you should work on, first. That’s what this article is about. Part 2 is about identifying what’s working and what needs to be improved in your writing. Part 3 is about strategies and techniques for making those improvements as you revise your writing.
Listen to the accompanying podcast episode
Part 2 – Identify What’s Working
It can be hard to see what’s working and what’s not in your own writing when you’ve stared at it for so long…and that’s when you need to get it in front of fresh eyeballs.
Do you freeze at the thought of revision or feedback, because you think it’s all about seeing how badly you screwed up your story?
Don’t panic!
It’s as important to identify what’s working in your story as what isn’t, to ensure you don’t revise away what made it special.
Continue reading “Getting Great Feedback – A Process”Revise Your Writing – A Process
After a challenge like StoryADay (or a lifetime of writing) you may be asking, “How can I revise my writing so I can get published, without becoming distracted, discouraged or overwhelmed?”
For more, listen to episode 226 of the StoryADay podcast
I have a system for figuring out that very thing, that will help you identify and work on the stories that will keep you making consistent progress towards your writing goals.
Part 1 of this process is to assess the material you have, to see what you should work on, first. That’s what this article is about. Part 2 is about identifying what’s working and what needs to be improved in your writing. Part 3 is about strategies and techniques for making those improvements as you revise your writing.
Part 1 – Assess
The first thing to do is read through all the stories you think you might want to work on. As you do so, pay attention to your gut and ask yourself a few questions about each story:
Continue reading “Revise Your Writing – A Process”Day 30 – Looking Back & Looking Forward
The Prompt
Write a story about someone who has just completed a huge challenge. What have they learned? What did they sacrifice? Was it worth it?
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Julie Duffy has hosted 12 StoryADay Mays and almost as many StoryADay Septembers. That’s quite a lot.
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 29 – Three Sides of the Same Story
The Prompt
Write a story in three sections, each section recounting the same event from a different character’s point of view
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Julie Duffy is the author of several guides for writers, available on Kindle. She is also an occasional columnist for WriterUnboxed.com
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 28 – Leslie Stack Objects To This Marriage
The Prompt
“Loretta’s face was hidden by the wide brimmed hat boldly covered in ribbons and one rose. Rising slowly from the fourth pew, she raised her chin towards the minister and declared, “I object.”
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Leslie Stack is a writer, musician, camper, and teacher who loves being on the water or in a museum. You can usually find her doing research behind dark glasses on a park bench. She lives in a house with her husband where the books are plotting a takeover.
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 27 – Miriam Laundry Cites The Golden Rule
The Prompt
Write a story for children. Prompt is “The Golden Rule,” treat others are you wish to be treated.
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Miriam is a best-selling children’s author who loves to empower children to believe in themselves. She does this through her own books and by helping other authors write and publish their books.
Learn the formula Miriam uses for outlining every single one of her award-winning books:
The Children’s Book Blueprint [free training & PDF]
www.miriamlaundry.com/blueprint
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 26 – A Story In Memos
The Prompt
Like the list story, this prompt encourages you to break the narrative rules. Let the story unfold through a series of updates, memos, social media posts, a technical manual, or some other document that creates gaps the reader must fill in.
Remember that each memo will be written in real time, reporting on an event, before the character experiences the next ‘episode’ and writes about it.
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Julie Duffy’s Gallup Strengths finders results accuse her of sometimes making logical leaps that other people find it hard to follow…
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 25 – Anita G. Gorman Is Mysterious
The Prompt
Someone finds two dates listed on a piece of paper. The dates are in their own handwriting, but they do not know what the dates mean. They have to find out what the dates signify.
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Anita G. Gorman grew up in Queens and now lives in northeast Ohio. Since 2014 she has had 85 short stories and 20 essays accepted for publication. Her one-act play, Astrid: or, My Swedish Mama, produced at Youngstown Ohio’s Hopewell Theatre in March 2018, starred Anita and her daughter Ingrid.
Anita’s website is anitaggorman.com
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!
Day 24 – Fleet Sparrow Sings A Song
The Prompt
I love concept albums, albums in which a singular story is told throughout the tracks. Some are silly, some are deep, but all of them are fascinating. Write the story that comes to you out of this lyric from Eagles’ Desperado album:
“The towns lay out across the dusty plains like graveyards filled with tombstones waiting for the names.”
Go deeper with enhanced content, videos, & training from StoryADay’s Julie Duffy
The Author
Fleet is a queer trans author usually found hanging out around the DC fandom waiting to be picked to write comics. Zie also does original work, some of which zie posts on Archive of Our Own (AO3). When not writing, zie can be found reading, thinking about writing, or slipping slowly into madness in Southern California.
Original work can be found here:
https://archiveofourown.org/users/FleetSparrow/works?fandom_id=2692
Read A Book, Support An Indie
This year’s StoryADay May official bookseller is Reads & Company, a privately-owned indie bookseller in Pennsylvania. Any purchase from the site this month supports Reads & Co.
Leave a comment and let us know how you used the prompt, and how you’re celebrating!