Last week, I received an email telling me that I’d made it to the first round for the 2016 Catherine Contest sponsored by the Toronto Romance Writers. Boy, did that feel good, especially since most of the comments from judges were so positive. I had a few days to clean up my entry, so I hit the keyboard, edited, added more conflict then sent it off with a much shorter synopsis. Scary, but exciting. I also entered a contest sponsored by the New Jersey Romance Writers. Two weeks ago, I sent in a story to the Canadian Authors Association Vancouver 2016 Story Contest. My creative brain is on fire. I’m on a roll, but time is passing and I have to be. In June I…
… random observations from my journeys through a well-lived life
Posts from the “writing” Category
There’s nothing better than getting lost within the story world within minutes of starting a book. And as writers, this is what we’re striving to do: pull the reader in, pull them down deep into the words, make them feel like they are experiencing the story right alongside the hero or heroine. A big part of achieving this is showing the character’s surroundings in a way that is textured and rich, delivering this description through a filter of emotion and mood. It means we have to be careful with each word we choose, and describe the setting in such a way that each sight, sound, taste, texture, and smell comes alive for readers. This is no easy task, especially since it is so easy…
Categories: writing
Have you seen this illustration? According to Wikipedia, “Friedrich Schumann is often credited with the discovery of illusory contours around the beginning of the twentieth century, however illusory contours are present in art dating to the Middle Ages. They evoke the perception of an edge without a luminance or color change across that edge. Illusory brightness and depth ordering frequently accompany illusory contours. It’s odd, but when I first Googled Friedrich’s name, the first hit was for a serial killer of the same name. I wonder if that had any impact on either one of them turning out as they did? In the graphic above, you ‘see’ a white triangle between the three black Vs and the Pacman-like almost circles. However, our minds fill…
Categories: What I'm Doing, writing
As if my scattered mind doesn’t have enough to contemplate, I signed up for another excellent online course offered by Future Learn. Digital Storytelling takes students through the why, what and how of using video or other visual media to tell stories. While the focus is on short films, the lessons on what is story, the elements of compelling story and storyboarding apply equally to writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Why am I interested? I want to start telling stories, digitally. It’s something new, but not so new. Elementary schools, arts faculties, enlightened correctional institutions and regular folk are using digital storytelling as a medium of expression with visual and audio elements. I can’t wait to set up a YouTube Channel as part of my…
PechaKucha ((Japanese for chit-chat), which started in Tokyo in 2003, is defined as: “The art of concise presentations.” Concise is right! 20 slides with 20 seconds of talk for each slide. PechaKucha Night is now in over 800 cities, so it’s a genuine phenomenon. I’ve heard it pronounced pecka koocha, pe-ka-coo-cha, peek-a-boo-choo and other almost unrecognizable versions. Regardless, it’s a fascinating approach to creativity. When Ange Friesen, Community librarian at the Markham Village branch, asked me a few months ago, I thought, sure, sounds like a good way to test my public performance skills. They expected over 400 people in attendance (some came for the free food). And there’d be wine and beer. Yeah. Not scary at all. I mean, I used to teach…
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