TECH: 101 Tips (27)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 16 June 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Experiment with voice. Step out of your objective authorial mode and address the readers. Take a different angle on the subject. Look for a metaphor or theme that might tie your story together and make it more than the sum of its parts." David A. Fryxell

Play with your writing. Experiment. Try different things, add, subtract... write a scene all in dialogue. Write another in second person (ouch, you dirty rat, you!). Push, twist, make the most of your ability to try things -- and then to pick out what's useful and drop the rest. What if... applies to the writing as well as the content.