MPL CREATIVE RESOURCES

Friday, March 13, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009

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"An Itty Bitty Column on Writing" by Mindy Phillips Lawrence
From Sharing with Writers (Carolyn Howard-Johnson)
March 7, 2009
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It’s Saturday morning and you’re staring at a blank page on your computer wishing it would miraculously turn into the Great American Novel. Unfortunately, it stays blank. You idea bin is dry and you aren’t sure how to express the one thought circulating through your head. Here’s an idea for you. READ.

In my home office, I have a pile of books that I’ve decided to study. They include Dan Brown’s THE DAVINCI CODE, V.I. Naipaul’s A BEND IN THE RIVER, Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s THIS IS THE PLACE, Dan Skelton’s OUT OF INNOCENCE and Laila Lalami’s ARC of SECRET SON. Lalami’s book weaves together the threads of a young man searching for his identity, the definition of “family” and the factions seeking to take over the heart of Morocco. I began to think how the writer structured her novel, developed the characters and set them on the road to either catastrophe or freedom. It was a perfect vehicle to study.

Here are some ways to turn the novels you read into classrooms for your writing:

* Pick one or two books that you think are exceptionally well written and in the genre in which you want to write.

Read these books once or twice, paying attention to how they are structured.

Choose one of these books and dissect it in these ways:

* Define the setting of the novel.

* Write a paragraph synopsis of the novel chapter by chapter.

* Make a character sketch of each main character.

* Outline how these characters develop throughout the story and how they interrelate.

* Is the setting a character in and of itself? Think the Mississippi River in Tom Sawyer. If so, list its characteristics as if it were a person.

* Look at the literary conventions used in the book: Metaphor, allegory, etc.

* Does the novel make a political, religious or social statement? If so, make some notes about where and how it achieves this goal.

* If the novel is a fantasy, in what way does it relate to the World we live in? What does it say about that World?

* What do you think you could have done better if you had written the book? Even Nobel Prize winners aren’t perfect.

Yes, this will take time. Yes, you will not be actually writing your Great American Novel when you are doing this. The important part is that you are training yourself to write it.

If you want to cut to the chase, look at the links below for sites that have already dissected classic novels. Not only do Sparks, Cliff Notes and Pink Monkey tell you about a book, they also show its structure. However, DO NOT use these tools in place of reading each book that you choose. You might differ with what an academic has said about the piece. In fact, please put your own thoughts down about the book and use the professional notes as a guide only.

Copying the plot of any of the novels you read is not the intention of this lesson. The goal is for you to learn character development, plot structure and insight in order to write your unique work. Whether you realize it or not, you have the same potential that published writers have. The only difference is they lucked out and found a publisher. You may have to write several novels until this happens to you--and it might not--but the process is paramount. There is CreateSpace.Com and other places to publish if you are not willing to wait for a big break (or if you have waited and get too discouraged). REMEMBER to edit your work to a fine polish whether you publish traditionally or otherwise.
Study, write and bloom!

LINKS

The Best Notes – Online Sparks and Cliffs Notes
http://www.thebestnotes.com/

Pink Monkey – A Web site that breaks down the plot, characters and meaning in famous novels. Use as a beginning, NOT a crutch.
http://www.pinkmonkey.com/

Writing a synopsis
http://www.ehow.com/how_4449207_write-synopsis-book.html

CreateSpace – Amazon’s arms for publishing on demand
http://www.createspace.com/

Pulitzer Prize Winning Authors
http://www.powells.com/prizes/pulitzer_fiction.html

Nobel Prize Winning Authors
http://almaz.com/nobel/literature/

New York Times Best Sellers
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/

Literary Terms
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/lit_term.html

Plot Development
http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/read/plot1.html

Reviews for Riters © on the HowToDoItFrugally site
http://www.carolynhowardjohnson.redenginepress.com/free_content.htm

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Kids’ Stuff

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Thinking Stone Press and MPL Creative Resources

Let Thinking Stone Press guide you through the process of publishing your OWN commemorative book for a loved one. We provide the book cover, the editing, formatting and coach you through placing your book on Amazon through CreateSpace – all for $250. It’s a great bargain!

E-mail thinkingstonepress@yahoo.com for details.

P.S. We do poetry chapbooks, too.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Rejection: A Positive Step Toward Publication

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"An Itty Bitty Column on Writing" by Mindy Phillips Lawrence
From Sharing with Writers (Carolyn Howard-Johnson)
February 3, 2009
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You send off a query and wait for an answer. And wait and wait and wait. One day, a thin envelope comes in the mail or an e-mail comes from the publisher. The contents says, “Thanks, but no thanks.” For the next day or so, you are in a blue funk. How could the editor not see how excellent your topic was? How skillfully you wrote about it? You begin to believe that all editors are born to reject.

Are you SURE about that? If that is true, how do all those OTHER articles, stories and books get published? Someone gets accepted. Why not you? Rejection exposes all our insecurities, dragging them to the surface. Even seasoned authors tend to question their abilities and rejection fuels thatfire.

But, here’s the thing. Rejection is a powerful teacher. Here are some ofits lessons:

~Rejection lets you know how deeply you want to fight for publication
~Rejection makes you tweak your writing and make it better
~Rejection makes you read the markets you query more closely
~Rejection makes you study the market’s cycle to see what’s hot and what’s not and try to produce a hot bit of writing
~Rejection teaches you not to take rejection letters personally
~Rejection makes you decide whether to choose to think positively ornegatively about your work

I read somewhere that when you receive a rejection you should allowyourself FIVE MINUTES to throw a temper tantrum in a room by yourself. After you have done this a time or two, you will realize that five minutes is an awfully long time to rant all alone.

So, get back to writing!

LINKS

“How to Deal with Rejection,” Shruti Chandra Gupta
http://literaryzone.com/?p=340

“How NOT to let Rejection Ruin Your Writing Career,” Melanie Marten
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/76897/fiction_writers_guide_to_getting_over.html?cat=24

“Relishing Writing Rejection,” Janet Grace Riehl
http://ezinearticles.com/?Relishing-Writing-Rejection

“Coping With Rejection,” Moira Allen
http://www.writing-world.com/basics/rejection.shtml

“Rejection: A Normal Part of a Writer’s Life,” Jason Lusk
http://writinghood.com/writing/rejection-a-normal-part-of-a-writers-life

Sunday, August 24, 2008

INTO WORDS: An Itty Bitty Column on Writing

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"An Itty Bitty Column on Writing" by Mindy Phillips Lawrence
From Sharing with Writers (Carolyn Howard-Johnson)
August 24, 2008 _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

EAVESDROPPING FOR WRITERS

A group of retired men met weekly in the small café on Saturday morning for breakfast. They crowded around the same set of tables to talk and to escape from women. They didn’t quite succeed. I usually sat at a nearby table where I could overhear their discussions – usually on sports, politics, family or cars. It occurred to me how wonderful it was to sit there and get a male perspective on life, so I started listening more closely and taking notes. I became a well-trained eavesdropper.

If you want to develop dialogue for your book or short story, take a notebook to a café or other public venue, sit with a cup of coffee or a glass of tea and listen. Listen to the servers, to the men, to the women, to the children. You will learn the rhythms of their speech and the topics of their conversations.

I pray you never hear something illegal that has occurred, but eavesdropping, politely of course, is a great way to learn how to write dialogue and develop characters.

Conversations aren’t the same as dialogue but they help in its development. Be discreet, but tune those ears of yours onto conversations.

LINKS

Writing Dialogue: Elizabeth Rose
http://www.scribesworld.com/writersniche/articles/WritingDialogue1ER.html
Writing Dialogue, Fiction Writing: About.Com
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/crafttechnique/tp/dialogue.htm

Baylor University, Writing Dialogue
http://www3.baylor.edu/~Greg_Garrett/writing/dialogue.html

Arts Edge, Kennedy Center (PDF)
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2233/2233_fictionchar_dialogue.pdf

Writing Great Dialogue: Rob Tobinhttp://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=677

A Cultured Breakfast

When I used to live less than a mile from a Steak and Shake, I’d often go there for breakfast on Saturday mornings. The waitresses knew me and exactly where I’d want to sit – near the two tables scooted together where all the retired men had their conversations. I’d sit there with my cup of coffee, a notebook and a pen trying to catch snippets of their conversation. It made good background for dialogue.

As I sat there one Saturday, a dark-haired man took the small booth in front of me. I noticed that he contemplated the menu more than usual and then called a waitress over. As I listened in, he asked her what might be on the menu that contained no pork and that wasn’t cooked in a container where pork had been prepared. The waitress shook her head, confused, and tried to help him work it out. I didn’t hear what he ordered, but it made me curious.

As I was leaving I said, “Hello. Are you a vegetarian? I overheard you ordering.”

“No, I am Muslim,” he said. “Would you like to sit with me and talk?”

“Yes,” I said and took the seat across from him at the small booth. In a post-9-11 world, this might have been considered strange but I didn’t consider it anything but solving my curiosity. We talked about many things. He had a lovely smile. Eventually, he asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable sitting with me.”

“No,” I said--and I didn’t. But I remembered it.

As the conversation closed, he scooted my bill to his side of the table and bought my breakfast. I thanked him for his kindness and never saw him again. Later I learned he owned a motel in a nearby town.

The entire experience came about because I eavesdropped. I learned a bit about his culture, had a very interesting conversation and a good breakfast thanks to a very kind man.

MPL CREATIVE RESOURCES

Friday, March 13, 2009

Character Development

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Writing Hot

Sunday, March 8, 2009

ESSAYS ANYONE?

Presenting with the Best