Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Feb 08 2005
Some Of My Dog-Eared Books
I have a few books I turn to again and again in writing. One of them is Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students & Historians (Writer's Guides to Everyday Life). It describes typical furniture, slang, foods, medical practices, notes on the Civil War and the Old West and more.
Another valuable title is Plots Unlimited. It isn't a perfect book, and it can be tough to navigate if you try to follow their instructions, but if you sit down with it and just read a few entries and let your mind begin to wander into some variables, you can get some great ideas.
A little gem called How to Write A Movie in 21 Days is useful whether you're thinking movie, novel or short story. It asks you pointed questions, such as "Did the villain scare you?" It makes you zero in on your purpose and think in terms of rich visualization when presenting a story.
posted at: 15:19 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I have a few books I turn to again and again in writing. One of them is Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students & Historians (Writer's Guides to Everyday Life). It describes typical furniture, slang, foods, medical practices, notes on the Civil War and the Old West and more.
Another valuable title is Plots Unlimited. It isn't a perfect book, and it can be tough to navigate if you try to follow their instructions, but if you sit down with it and just read a few entries and let your mind begin to wander into some variables, you can get some great ideas.
A little gem called How to Write A Movie in 21 Days is useful whether you're thinking movie, novel or short story. It asks you pointed questions, such as "Did the villain scare you?" It makes you zero in on your purpose and think in terms of rich visualization when presenting a story.
posted at: 15:19 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Publicity: Tell Everybody, Every Way You Can
For reasons I'm not goint into, I want to say that this is a good tip sheet for those who are promoting events and news. The part about networking is especially noteworthy. I continue to be amazed at the seemingly smart people who don't utilize publicity, especially free publicity. Don't assume that free means inexperienced or inept. When it comes to networking, meet everybody on the planet you can. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody. You might be one or two people away from a really good contact, and you might miss that contact if you never take time to do your homework. It's amazing how many people will assist you if you treat them with respect and courtesy, and if you inform them of your event in a timely manner.
posted at: 14:06 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
For reasons I'm not goint into, I want to say that this is a good tip sheet for those who are promoting events and news. The part about networking is especially noteworthy. I continue to be amazed at the seemingly smart people who don't utilize publicity, especially free publicity. Don't assume that free means inexperienced or inept. When it comes to networking, meet everybody on the planet you can. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody. You might be one or two people away from a really good contact, and you might miss that contact if you never take time to do your homework. It's amazing how many people will assist you if you treat them with respect and courtesy, and if you inform them of your event in a timely manner.
posted at: 14:06 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Do-Overs For Marriage
I was originally born into a family that was Roman Catholic by tradition, though I only saw my own father in a church twice. I never understood the concept (along with many others) of nullifying marriage. I'm not really surprised to read that the Church has been working to reconfigure the details regarding such practices, and that the number of requests for marriage annulments is increasing. Look at some of the questions people have about the whole process. It sounds like a dance between the IRS and a taxpayer, with the one trying to find a loophole and the other compressing a maze of instructions into something that can never be understood by the average user anyway. And all this talk of judges and tribunals makes the hairs on back of my neck stand on end.
And what about those who don't want an annulment and are essentially forced into one anyway, especially when the other spouse gets the annulment so that he or she can marry someone else? What kind of message does that send to the children of the original couple? PBS took a look at that problem at one point. In some circles, being the child of an anulled marriage could hold more stigma than being a child of a marriage that ended in divorce. It's a convoluted issue, and one that many in the outside world view with pity and ridicule.
posted at: 06:41 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
I was originally born into a family that was Roman Catholic by tradition, though I only saw my own father in a church twice. I never understood the concept (along with many others) of nullifying marriage. I'm not really surprised to read that the Church has been working to reconfigure the details regarding such practices, and that the number of requests for marriage annulments is increasing. Look at some of the questions people have about the whole process. It sounds like a dance between the IRS and a taxpayer, with the one trying to find a loophole and the other compressing a maze of instructions into something that can never be understood by the average user anyway. And all this talk of judges and tribunals makes the hairs on back of my neck stand on end.
And what about those who don't want an annulment and are essentially forced into one anyway, especially when the other spouse gets the annulment so that he or she can marry someone else? What kind of message does that send to the children of the original couple? PBS took a look at that problem at one point. In some circles, being the child of an anulled marriage could hold more stigma than being a child of a marriage that ended in divorce. It's a convoluted issue, and one that many in the outside world view with pity and ridicule.
posted at: 06:41 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
