do you ever reread something you wrote a long time ago and just
(Source: ladygrantaire-archive)
do you ever reread something you wrote a long time ago and just
(Source: ladygrantaire-archive)
"Writing is hard for ever last one of us… Coal mining is harder. Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig. You need to do the same, dear sweet arrogant beautiful crazy talented tortured rising star glowbug. That you’ve so bound up about writing tells me that writing is what you’re here to do. And when people are here to do that they almost always tell us something we need to hear. I want to know what you have inside you. I want to see the contours of your second beating heart. So write, Elissa Bassist. Not like a girl. Not like a boy. Write like a motherfucker. Yours, Sugar."
- Sugar for the Rumpus, Dear Sugar: Write Like a Motherfucker (via maha-atma)
(Source: , via fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment)
This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s stuck like a record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.
- Gary Provost, author of “100 Ways to Improve Your Writing”
lesson 5.4—vary sentence length
Shannah’s favorites are 6, 7, 8, 13 and 18.
It starts with an idea
that continues with another and more.
Now you have a protagonist,
here have an antagonist,
make sure you clarify which one is which,
unless you want a princess as the witch.
It’s your story, your own little glory.
Now here is a conflict,
don’t hesitate to add some romance,
it makes the story dance.
The lover could be the problem, the solution,
or the fuel of confusion—anything you would like.
Remember, failure is only fruit to hesitation.
It’s your story, your own little glory.
Make the land less blurry, make its time in no hurry,
now you have the dough of the story.
Sprinkle a sub-plot here, expound over there,
now you have icing for the story you could share.
More sub-plots there, fix plot holes here.
Now, my friend, I can tell you the becoming of a story is near.
It’s your story, your own little glory.
And as you take cover,
as writer’s block takes over,
I encourage you to rise for it non-existent,
it’s only the writer not being persistent.
Predicting you’ve stood up,
allow every idea to flow out and erupt.
It’s you story, your own little glory.
Perhaps you’ve reached the end,
I’ll tell you, congratulations, my friend,
but a story written, is a story to be rewritten,
so please go back to it again.
Now it’s a story,
now it’s your own little glory.
Seriously, write it again.
how to write a story
