1. Readers like to learn when they are reading!
2. Place can be used effectively as a character and readers like that, say if you were writing about Paris or this lovely end of Minneapolis: see what my family made in the front yard last night!
See the way they up-ended icicles pilfered from all over the neighborhood? They did this last night after dark and this morning we found the snow burgeoning with ice plants.
3. Readers like familiar things sharply observed, think of doing this with either sharp satirical wit or by making the ordinary extraordinary.
4. Use one detail or event that is memorable and unusual.
This list of course needs to be applied to my WIP, but I could also do well using it for my blog.
As Always(self-help for writers),
Tina
Posts
Your family must be very creative as well, I love the ice sculptures!
ReplyDeleteI remember reading The Giver when I was 12 or so, and it really spoke to me. I agree it's very thought provoking, definitely not dumbed down.
Charlie- I wish I could have read The Giver when I was 12. But reading it now was pretty great and my 11 year old is pretty attached to it. So that is good. Yes, I'd say my family is awesome! Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteAhhh thats a lot of snow!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Jen, yes, can you believe it!
ReplyDeleteGreat points about description. I can use them.
ReplyDeleteThe photo floored me! Until I read they were upside down icicles. Phew. I thought it was some really weird weather phenomenon.
I like the icicles. Very cool. And, your points about description are timely for me. I'm in the middle of a rewrite where Place is a major character. Thanks, Tina!
ReplyDeleteThat picture is horrifying, to a clumsy person like me.
ReplyDeleteYou already do those things in your blog, T. You just don;t keep tabs, but I see it each and every time.
Yo, go here. You are the first person I though of.
ReplyDeleteMy mom made me soooo afraid of icicles as a kid...I wish she had a computer, so I could send her a copy of this...we all love to tease the woman.
ReplyDeleteYour neighbors must have been so confused (and in awe) this morning! Love it, so creative!
ReplyDeleteAlso, excellent tips!!!!
I love the photos. Beautiful. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThe icicles seem right out of Calvin & Hobbes - perfect for Calvin's macabre snowmen. That Calvin, he's a sharp observer.
ReplyDeleteI love the ice sculptures! I think my son would be found out in the middle, tongue stuck fast. And great visual for a post about place as a character. Especially right now when world building is so important for me! Thanks for the thought provoking post!
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of snow in the US lately. Is this usual or totally unusual?
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the guidelines. I'll keep them and will make sure I follow them in my posts.
Sorry for the length of this comment everyone!!
ReplyDeleteMG Higgins- Ha! DANGEROUS phenomenon!
Paul- They are timely for me too! Wishing you luck!
Jon- At first we warned the kids about them, as the pulled them from the roof(not ours, thank goodness) and then we decided, what doesn't kill them makes them stronger. Like wasps. And thanks, friend! Did you mean to leave a link in your second comment? I'd love to see!
Anita- Ha! See above answer to J.
Becka- xoxo I'd love to show them to your kiddos.
Robert Guthrie- I love that. I have to tell my son!
Heather- Ha! My worst nightmare as a kid. Anything I can do! I'm here for you.
Ocean Girl- yes, more, at least than recent years. It sure makes winter much more palatable! But I bet Laura Ingalls Wilder got this much. And your posts already do this!!
Ocean Girl- But this winter is worse for the mailperson, she does not like the snow so much. I had to put in a caveat because not everyone feels as I do.
ReplyDeleteSorry, T. I meant to give you this link, which is a list of the top 100 MG's from a poll the School Library Journal did. They post five a day, they have revealed 100-71.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1190052519.html
Lol. I thought Jon's earlier comment was a cryptic post for WIBIJ. I have it on the brain!
ReplyDeleteHeather- Ha! Jon- I will check out the list.
ReplyDeleteJon- Thanks, that list is fun to read! Betsy Bird is a great blogger/writer. Made me want to go back and revisit The Egypt Game. Snyder was seriously creepy writer when I was a kid and I loved it! And I found this quote: Andrew Sarris wrote that "cynicism is often more naïve than passion" Some how that spoke to me.
ReplyDeleteI love it! Looks like your front yard is booby-trapped.
ReplyDeleteThe first point describes me. I love to learn when I read - as long as its not didactic. Though, I will read college textbooks if need be, for research, but they are not full of wit!
ReplyDeleteAnissa- Thank you! According to Heather and Jon it might be booby trapped. But it wasn't our intention (I promise).
ReplyDeleteLaura-- I know! I will read anything sometimes as long as I'm curious. Lately I don't want to read anything. It is so weird. What is up with me?
Very cool in a scary kind of way!
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon! Gosh you should see them now. The sun has been shining like crazy here and the icicles are pathetic versions of themselves. Couldn't scare a fly now. Although there are no flies... Thanks for stopping by!
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