Tag: Come Go Home With Me

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The Writerly Cafe

A Large Serving of Muse, Please

A HEARTYWELCOME-1

Here at the café, I’ve received several questions on what a writer’s muse is and where writers can find it. The questions have been heavy on my mind during these hot summer days when my muse seems to have abandoned me for a hammock somewhere in the shade.

So let’s begin with a simple definition for a writer’s muse:  It is a source of inspiration for a creative work.

Now for the fun part! Pull up a chair and let’s throw out ideas as to where we can find our muse. I’ll get us started. Please join in via the comment section.

Some ways I stir my muse:

  • I always have a small notebook with me in case inspirations strikes. I have been known to pull over in a parking lot after seeing something that I knew would make a great story or devotion.
  • One sentence from an article online can spark an idea for a totally different subject. An overheard conversation can lead to a short story plot.
  • I live in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains where every bend in the road offers inspiration for a writer. A writer friend of mine rents a cabin near me where she writes poetry.
  • I’ve found children and animals inspire me. One of my next projects will be a story inspired by a young girl and her gift to my daughter on her wedding day.
  • Music is high on the list as a muse. A few words from a song can inspire a story or even a melody, evoking emotions for the perfect story.
  • I am a people watcher and I often write stories in my head about a person that walks by, sits in a park, or stands outside a homeless shelter. A favorite piece I wrote was about a man I met in a thrift store whose wares funded food and shelter for people recovering from substance abuse.

Join me over at Cathy Baker’s site, Cultivating Creativity, to learn more ways I find my muse. (You will also learn about a hidden talent of mine!)

Thank you for sharing one way you find your writing muse in the comment section.

 

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Developing Your Writer's Voice Uncategorized

Find Your Writer’s Voice Through Blogging

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I enjoy blogging about the Appalachian mountains where I live. My blog speaks to the traditions, faith, lifestyle, and character of the Appalachian people.

My heart pitter-pats when describing a snowy day while walking along a mountain path, conveying the inviting smell of a cast-iron skillet of cornbread or sharing the shades of coral and blue of a sunset over a mountain peak. I also love sharing stories of mountain characters that live in the hollows around me.

After reading past posts of my blog I realized my blog is where my writer’s voice blossomed. In post after post I saw my voice grow, not only clearer, but also stronger.

I choose to use first person tone in my storytelling throughout my blog thus allowing me to create a bond with my readers. Using first person tone allows me to infuse my personality, observations, and my experiences within the posts. This cozy type of blogging voice transferred onto the pages of my Appalachian novella.

“One reason I encourage people to blog is that the act of doing it stretches your available vocabulary and hones a new voice.” Seth Godin

I agree with Seth Godin; blogging can help hone a new voice, or as in my case, further develop a voice.

Do you blog? If so, set aside time to read over past posts. Watch for the ways you see your voice growing. If not, you may want to consider this popular communication tool. Who knows, your writer’s voice might emerge from your blog posts.

“The best way to develop your writer’s voice is to read a lot. And write a lot. There’s really no other way to do it.” Stephen King.

Writing a blog demands discipline in forming content, and out of content, comes the

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Developing Your Writer's Voice Uncategorized

A Simple Exercise for Finding Your Writer’s Voice

pencil-918449_640Many of us belong to writers groups that meet regularly with the goal of honing our writing skills, finding our writer’s voice, and receiving critiques of our work. Unfortunately, some writers have no such groups in their area. Online groups now offer this excellent opportunity, but for some, even this is not a viable option.

A novice writer, with no group in her area, and with limited computer skills, once asked if I had a suggestion for helping her to find her voice. She had started a novel in which her protagonist, a young mother, suffered loss in many areas of her life and wondered if her voice was true to the story line.

I created an exercise that requires only two people; of which being a writer was not a requirement for her partner.

The exercise consists of:

  • A topic chosen for a letter that each participant writes; such as an upcoming wedding/vacation memories etc.
  • Both participants choose the same recipient for the letter, such as a mother/friend.
  • Both participants complete the exercise, and then exchange letters.

The goal of this exercise is to compare the letters, and hopefully recognize each voice by studying the tone and style and of both writers.

The writer contacted me after completing the exercise saying she easily heard the voice difference between the two letters. She now understood, and heard her voice much clearer. After reading her first three chapters of the novel, I agreed with her assessment.

The protagonist in my new friend’s novel was tender in her words and actions; her losses in life having made her compassionate, and a friend to the less fortunate.

I find when writing fiction the character partners with the author to produce voice.

“A word is not the same with one as it is with another. One tears it from his gut. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket” William Wadsworth