November 23 was designated the International Day of Words, by the Fundación César Egido Serrano to promote "the word as a bond of humanity, against any violence." What can mere words do, you ask, against any violence? Being a lover of words, I believe they can do great wonders. Consider the words of Christmas. Peace. Merry. Bright. …
Tag: writing
If We Were Having Coffee…
...we'd be sitting in Panera because my son has Psychology at the local community college, and I drive him. It's his first time taking a class, and he alternately loves and hates it. I put him there for two reasons: 1. Psychology is interesting, and 2. I'll take any opportunity to get him off the …
The Sunshine Blogger Award
Some bloggers reel me in—usually with a strong literary voice and brutal honesty. I'm a sucker for poetic confession. We all struggle inside ourselves, and I appreciate a writer who can fly that flag and call it fiction or essay or Dear Diary... MrHushHush is one such blogger, so when I saw he was looking for …
Dear Diary…
Some people can't think of anything to write. I don't have that problem. I can always, ALWAYS throw some words down on a page. Probably a result of hours spent freewriting with my students, if you put on a timer and tell me to write, I'll fill pages and pages of stream-of-consciousness. Some people start …
A Writing Exercise on Mood Creation
Two canoes. With a rope I drag one behind me and return to the place. The empty canoe yaws and straggles and hampers so I have to relearn my paddle. Last time the water was serrated, chopped into spades by homeless and invisible gusts. The sudden rain made the most fragile bubbles when it struck …
Fiction: Hear No Evil
I decided to try my hand at the assignment I gave my 13 & up class this week: 500+ words using one of the seven basic plot types and using the picture to the left as a prompt. Confession: I didn't decide on a plot type first. The picture was inspiration enough. I just began …
Don’t Forget – What It’s Like Writing my First Novel
I've been toying with the idea of changing my novel around. This morning I decided to change the point of view from 3rd to 1st-- just to experiment. I've read many 1st person novels and loved them. Right now I'm reading We Were Liars by e. lockhart. If you want to hear a distinctive voice, …
Continue reading Don’t Forget – What It’s Like Writing my First Novel
A is for Albatross
I received an email* from one of my students. His problem: writer's block. I think he knows there are better-written articles on the subject by better-written writers than me. But I've been where he is. I'm there right now actually. You see, were it not for that A, I wouldn't be here. I'd be watching …
Carpool*
Carpools. Whatever responsibility they take from you in terms of time-on-road, they drop back on you in burden-for-others. The half hour stint in rush hour is often fraught with excitement: Thanks to the idiots who use their commute to act out Grand Theft Auto and the crashes they leave behind, or the excitement of a …
Don’t Want to Forget: Garbage Sentences
"See, Mom." Gabe said as he handed me his grammar sentences, "They're not garbagy three-word sentences." "What's that?" I asked. "You know. Like you said before: 'garbagy three-word sentences.' These are definitely not that." I looked at his sentences. They were indeed lovely. Gabe writes sentences every day for several subjects: spelling (when he gets …
KL Griffiths 