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
Raveled See the kite assembled, tied, stretched taut on a bone frame, its colors a brazen flutter in a blue-white sky. See the kite coveted, owned, loved. New-toy perishable love. Kites are frustrating. Without wind, without a hand on the string they fall. See that. Or this: a dropped kite sliced by leafless branches, …
Perfectiosis. A disease that afflicts writers. Symptoms include but are not limited to the following: generalized anxiety, sweats, permanent worry lines on the forehead, permanent duck lips, muscle aches and pains, blurred vision, hair loss (self-inflicted), and ultimately death by defenestration, an option more appealing than hitting publish after spending an eternity on a piece …
I asked my high school writing class to complete a character draft, but I introduced a twist (I always introduce a twist). Each student received the worksheet with the same unfinished sentences. We began by filling out #1. Then we passed the paper to the right and filled out #2 and so on. What that …
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 …
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 …
"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 …
One of my goals last summer was to publish an eBook. I did it this summer-- better late than never. Were I not the perfectionist I am, it wouldn't have been all that monumental a task, but I am the queen of revisions. I read and re-read, suddenly hating this or that, spending hours and hours …
The Assignment: A 10 line iambic pentameter conceit poem. His Favorite Pair of Jeans He once compared me to a pair of jeans, Velveteen-threadbare, torn, and faded jeans. We were as close as clothing then, denim Dressed and pressed against each other. Thirteen Years my best friend. So best he could forget The holes, the …
Continue reading Nothing’s More Fun Than Doing The Assignments I Give My Students
KL Griffiths 