Miscellaneous Monday

What have you been up to so far this year? Any new projects on the horizon? Here are a few links that might help in your creative pursuits.

If you've been puzzling over how to create a good brand and platform, check out Jennifer Brown Banks' recent post, Is There a Disconnect in Your Brand Messaging? This award winning blogger has helpful insight for this important topic.

Want to write compelling dialogue? How to Write Dialogue That Captivates Your Reader, by seasoned author Jerry Jenkins, offers six no fail tips that will engage your audience.

Thinking about writing a memoir? Not sure how to begin? C.S. Lakin at Live Write Thrive offers encouragement and pointers in Important Considerations When Writing Your Memoir.

Looking to broaden your skills? Consider enrolling online at the Coffeehouse for Writers. Classes include How to Quit Your Day Job (Making a Living as a Full Time Freelancer), Blogging for Profit or Pleasure, Writer's Basic Boot Camp, Writing for the Chicken Soup series, and more.

If you need a little inspiration to get those cold weather cobwebs out of your head, check out Stimulate Your Mind with These Writing Exercises. They're quick and easy, and might give you the spark you need to light that writing fire.

 
Author Susanne Dietze stops by next week to discuss her latest book. Hope you can join us!

What's on your January reading list? Are you working on any special projects this month?

Happy writing,
Karen 




Photo credit: Pexels

Taking it Apart to Put it All Together

  

The following is an exercise I share with my teen writing students. I use it primarily with the research paper and essay writing classes as a means to help them consider their content from a new angle. 

• Step One: Take the first paragraph from your research paper, and write (or type) each sentence on a separate line from top to bottom. Examine each sentence separately, then consider them as a whole. Do they fit together and make sense as a unit? 

• Step Two: Try this with your second and third paragraphs too. It's a good way to get a better and more objective look at your content and how/if it relates together, and to make adjustments as necessary. Were there any surprises? Do you need to make any revisions? Did it reveal anything interesting to you?

I've used this exercise with students for years - just came up with it one day because I thought it would make them think. (I like to encourage them to develop critical thinking and related writing skills.) 

After I posted it on the class forum last week, I was reminded that it can be a useful tool for us adult writers too. When writing a blog post for a client, for example, I often mentally do this as means of stepping outside my head and gaining perspective. You know how it goes - things can sound super fabulous or extremely lousy in your own head sometimes. And breaking it down into smaller pieces helps view its cohesiveness, or not, and adjust accordingly. The reassembling can bring new clarity that works toward a polished, finished product. 

What do you think? What helps your writing come together? Do you employ any similar exercises when writing, editing, or are just plain stuck on a certain piece?

Happy writing,
Karen




Photo credit:Pexels