Greetings fellow writers! Below are suggested texts that may be helpful with your writing and/or may help to motivate you when it seems like you have come to a halt in the writing process.
“Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke
“What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers” by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
“Letters to a Fiction Writer” by Frederick Busch
“Crafting the Very Short Story – An Anthology of 100 Masterpieces” by Mark Mills
“A Way of Writing” by William Stafford found at
http://ualr.edu/rmburns/RB/staffort.html
“The Creative Habit – Learn it and Use it for Life” by Twyla Tharp
“Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Mariner and the Mutinous Crew” by Ursula K. Le Guin
Tips that I gained along the way:
1. Stories have to show some kind of change – big or small.
2. The first sentence/opening of a story should always draw a reader in.
3. A story doesn’t always have to be a story that makes a point.
4. Readers should have a quality of acquaintance with the characters they are reading about.
5. Write everyday and practice reading some of your work aloud.
6. Try re-writing sentences that you have enjoyed reading or the way it sounded. This will help you to learn and understand how sentences are formed and as a writer it will help you to discover different ways of writing than what you may be used to.
7. Try creating a new or foreign language when writing.
8. Write “economically” – dialogue doesn’t have to be extensive or lengthy. A lot can be said in a few words and sentences between characters, or between scenes.
9. Find a mentor. Connect with someone you can communicate on a consistant basis that can give constructive feedback on your work.
10. Read the work of other writers. It tends to spark ideas, creativity, and imitation. Imitation is an excellent writing exercise that can ultimately lead our writing in new directions. Not only does reading benefit us as writers, it’s an enjoyable pastime.
Ask yourself these questions and see what you come up with. It’s a reflective exercise to help evaluate who you are as a writer. After answering the questions, the next step would be to think about what aspects of being a writer you would like to develop more.
1. What kind of writer are you?
2. Do your stories tend to be chronological?
3. Do you tend to write with similar characters in mind?
4. What is his/her overall goal in the story? Who or what stands in the way of the goal being achieved?
5. Do you find it difficult or easy when it comes to writing dialogue?
6. Who are your favorite writers?
7. Do you write for fun?
8. Do you tend to write with the same genre in mind?
9. Is setting important in your stories?
10. Do you write an outline for your stories before starting your first page?
Written Passages 