Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 27, 2017 ·
What is Art? What is Poetry?
For centuries, people have been asking what is art? Is art a question? An answer? An expression? A statement? Maybe it’s sheer entertainment.
It’s a question we must answer for ourselves, especially artists and writers.
I believe the best art entertains while it provokes thought or emotion, but that’s just my personal opinion. You might seek art that makes you laugh or fills you with awe. Some prefer art that is masterfully crafted, regardless of the content or messages it communicates. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 22, 2017 ·
Creative writing prompts inspired by historical events.
Today’s prompts include selections from the book 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. Enjoy!
Nonfiction writers are obviously inspired by the real world, but fiction writers and poets also take inspiration from real people and events.
Wars, scandals, scientific advances, and famous figures in history have all been represented in every form of writing. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 20, 2017 ·
Good grammar and good manners.
I’m a writer, but before I’m a writer, I’m a human being. And as a human being, sometimes I make mistakes.
Let’s face it, we all make mistakes — some big, some small. Today I want to talk about what happens when we, as writers, make a mistake in our work: a typo, an incorrectly structured sentence, or a misspelling.
When writers make mistakes like these, it can be embarrassing. Occasionally when I’m going through old posts here at Writing Forward, I’ll come across some typo or mistake and I’ll fix it.
I do everything I can to ensure that this happens as rarely as possible; I proofread everything I write from my blog posts to my comments, tweets, and emails. But sometimes, mistakes slip past. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 15, 2017 ·
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Rock and Rhyme Poetry.
Today’s post features an exercise from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises, which is filled with exercises for various forms of writing, including fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. It will inspire you while imparting useful writing techniques that are fun and practical.
This exercise comes from “Chapter 8: Free Verse.” The creative writing exercises in this chapter focus on free-form poetry writing.
I chose this exercise because it’s playful and inspiring. It asks you to use a song as a foundation for writing a poem. Many song lyrics are poems in their own right. This exercise focuses on rhyming, but it also shows you how to look at your writing’s musicality and encourages you to think about rhythm and meter in your work. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 13, 2017 ·
How to remember the difference between homophones hear and here.
When I see professional signs or business documents with words spelled incorrectly, it’s like someone’s dragging nails down a chalkboard, which is something I don’t want to hear.
But I try not to get too riled up. I know that spelling isn’t easy for everyone. However, I do believe that with a little effort, anyone can learn the proper spelling of a word.
I also realize that homophones present a special challenge, because when two words sound exactly alike but are spelled differently, we have to work a little harder to remember which spelling goes with which definition. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 8, 2017 ·
How can you put story concept and premise to use?
Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter eleven: “Concept, Premise, and Loglines.” Enjoy!
Most audiences are first introduced to stories as concepts, premises, or loglines.
These are hooks used for pitching and marketing; they draw people’s attention, get them interested in a story, and compel them to buy it.
Writers often start with a concept or premise as the initial idea for a story. It’s certainly not the only way for a story to be born, but identifying a clear concept or premise early on can lend clarity as you work your way through the composition of a story. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 6, 2017 ·
Creative writing prompts that you can really feel.
In fiction and poetry, one of the greatest skills that a writer can possess is the ability to make the reader feel. If you can engage readers on an emotional level, you’ll have them hooked.
Think about it. Most of the books, poems, movies, and TV shows that you love best are the ones with which you forged an emotional connection. You felt like the characters were your friends, so you felt for them. You felt with them.
Sounds easy, but emotionally effective writing can be a complex and difficult endeavor. Let’s look at a few simple guidelines you can use to produce emotionally compelling creative writing. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on June 1, 2017 ·
Make good grammar part of your lifestyle.
I recently started relearning how to play the guitar after a rather long hiatus. It’s not like I ever learned how to play it properly in the first place — so I’m still a beginner. And at times, I find it frustrating. I just want to pick the thing up and rip out a song, but I’m constantly tripping over my own fingers, and let’s not even talk about the pain that comes from pressing your fingertips against thick metal strings, repeatedly and for extended periods of time.
Writing’s not so different from playing the guitar. Sometimes we get hung up on the technicalities of the language, and the creative flow is hindered. It’s not easy to rip out a short story when you’re worrying about whether you can end a sentence with a preposition or whether your terminal punctuation marks go inside or outside of the quotation marks. These kinds of setbacks can be painful.
Learning the rules is a drag when you want to fly, but to master any craft, it’s essential to build a solid foundation. Learn the basics; memorize and practice them until they become second nature, and then you can really take off. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on May 30, 2017 ·
Stephen King on reading and writing.
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King
Writers Must Read
Stephen King’s statement is one of my favorite quotes on writing. It should be repeated often and expressed in as many ways as possible. Read More
Posted by Melissa Donovan on May 25, 2017 ·
Poetry Prompts from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts.
Today’s poetry prompts come from my book, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts, which is jam-packed with ideas and inspiration for writers and includes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction writing prompts.
Some of the poetry prompts in the book ask you to use a list of specific words in a poem. Some give you a topic to write about. Some ask you to draw on your life experience. Some give you images to use as inspiration for a poem.
All of the prompts are designed to spark ideas and inspire you to write. And you don’t have to use the prompts to write poems. Use a prompt to write an essay or a blog post. If you get a prompt that contains a list of words but one of the words isn’t working in your poem, delete it from the list. If one of the images gives you an idea for a story, write a story. Use the prompts in whatever way you see fit. Read More
