Category: Random

Happy Friday all :)

Today’s topic is words. Round ones, curt ones, leisurely ones, quick ones.

Let’s face it, words are the tools in our craft toolbox. As writers and artists, it’s imperative we choose our words (or paint brushes, or camera lenses, etc.) carefully. Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

This is why a thesaurus is a must. And my new one just arrived yesterday! Yay! I have a pocket one that I keep in my purse, but an extensive volume is so much better.

Consider the following examples:

She walked across the room.
* She meandered across the room.
* She trudged her way across the room.
* She stormed across the room.

While a basic example, the 3 sentences with asterisks (*) give a better description of the character than “walked” which is generic. The word choice offers deeper insight into the character, thereby connecting with your reader more.

Now consider phrases we can shorten by choosing alternate words:

He talked softly.
* He whispered.
* He muttered.
* He murmured.

FYI – you should always try to find a more descriptive verb than a verb + adverb. Using a verb + adverb (in this case, “talked softly”) weakens your sentence.

Use descriptive terms when you can. Instead of saying “he got wet in the rain” you can use words like immerse, drench, soak, plunge, douse, etc. Always keep a balance; you don’t want your writing to sound like you’re putting on airs or showing off your latest dictionary. But use strong terms where you can.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Monday, all!

Hope everyone had a great weekend, and you took some time to enjoy yourself.

Yesterday, I went to see a well-written film called “The Joneses.” I loved it. Would see it again. I think it was a combination of an original idea, combined with great writing. Four people, who aren’t related, “pretend” to be a family and move into a wealthy neighborhood to sell products to their demographic–by simply living. That old phrase “keeping up with the Joneses” gives this new meaning–what if retailers actually put fake families into strategic areas to help improve their sales? Kind of mind-bending. Watch the trailer here.

With so many predictable stories out there these days, it’s rare that a film truly surprises me. This one did, perhaps because the concept was a bold and risky one.

At the closing credits, I heard a familiar song, one I’d heard before. The music video is almost 4 minutes of a rube goldberg. It’s different, unique, unusual.

What’s the point of today’s post, you ask? Rare things stand out. Taking bold risks can lead to stronger connections from your readers, viewers, customers, what have you. That’s not to say every risk is worth taking (for example, don’t send query letters to agents using polka-dotted stationery–it’s a no-no).

But take bold steps where you can, make your characters fresh in some way we haven’t seen before. Your reader will connect to you more. If you’re a painter, try some color blending you hadn’t considered until now. Play. Let the muse dance. See what happens.

Until next time, keep on dancing.

Elaine

Hey everyone,

Many thanks for the recent follows on my blog! I appreciate it and hope to update this with news and info on artistic pursuits. This includes anything from latest Indie films I’ve seen, to tips for writers, to pretty much anything else. There are days when one feels random, yanno?

Hope y’all can see the Doors documentary “When You’re Strange” if you haven’t yet. It’s in select cities now and will air on PBS on May 12, I believe. I’ll post another update closer to the time.

And by the way, if anyone wants to ask a question or spur a blog topic, email me or leave a comment and let me know :)

Thanks!

Elaine

Aha! Got your attention with the title, didn’t I? Well, let’s hope so. These thoughts seemed to spill from my mind this morning…

Writers are like the jockeys on race horses. The thoroughbred under us is our creativity, our passion to write, dance, sing, film, whatever your goal might be. The race is the journey.

Now before you sit back and think, “She’s become a blogger of fortune cookies!” let me assure you that I do have a point. And while I’m using writing as an example in this blog, you could really substitute whatever you want–whatever your goal is–in its place.

We writers have a way of sabotaging ourselves. We might know that we write best in the morning, but rather than face that blank page and all the terror/joy it brings, we do “mindless” things first. We check our e-mail, put a status on Facebook, post a few things on Twitter, toss a load of laundry in, spending what we think will be a harmless few minutes.

It’s never a few minutes.

And no, I’m not against these networking sites at all; I quite enjoy the networking with other writers and artists, not to mention the avenue to promote various works.

No, what I mean is, if we are morning writers, we should do that first thing. Don’t stall. Doing it first thing is like taking that burst of energy and adrenaline, and charging from the gate to race that horse down the track. The horse is excited, it’s ready to go, it’s tired of being caged up and not released. When we dive into our writing without doing these “mindless” things first, our horse (creativity) is charged fully, ready to go.

Ideally, this is the best way to write and achieve a goal. Then if we need a break around the 3/4 mile mark, we can briefly hop on Twitter or elsewhere to check in, provided we return to the track.

But that’s not what writers do. Writers might charge for a paragraph or two, but then slip into the bad habit of twittering, facebooking, emailing, emptying the dishwasher, laundry, polishing rocks, and well, you get the picture. We procrastinate out of fear; we don’t want to face that blank page–so we stall.

Stalling on your goal is like running your horse around the track 300 times *before* the important race. The horse gets tired, gets worn down, even if it’s just a light jog around the track over and over. Its energy gets DIVERTED from its original purpose: to win the race.

That’s what we have to avoid. Diverting our energy out of procrastination.

Now I, like all writers, have succeeded and failed at the above. There are days I charge ahead into the writing, not allowing myself any time on the web until I’ve hit my wordcount goal. There are other days where I will scatter myself on these tasks first, and if I’m able to, I will sit down and eventually get that wordcount…but it’s difficult. It’s riding a tired horse across the finish line.

The social networking with other writers is wonderful, and all those sites have their time and place. Once I’ve hit my wordcount, I love connecting with other artists. But we have to reach our goal however we can. If you’re an evening writer, turn off the TV and don’t get on the web until you’ve written. Figure out what works best for you and stick to it.

Elaine

Hey all,

I was thrilled this morning to read writer/director Tom DiCillo’s blog about WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE (the new Doors documentary, narrated by Johnny Depp) — it has won an award at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas. YAY!

Read the story here.

For more information and updates, see my previous post.

This film starts on April 9 in Atlanta, and I plan to go see it that weekend. Been waiting 2 years to see it, and finally going to be able to!!!

Until next time,
Elaine