Search found 23 matches
- Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:46 am
- Forum: The Water Cooler
- Topic: Share Your Success - Cheering Section
- Replies: 25
- Views: 55304
Re: Share Your Success - Cheering Section
I won a Dutch writing contest! :D OK, it was a small one (500 words), but I'm encouraged all the same. The instruction was to write in the Fantasy/SF genre to a certain topic (I selected "expansion vs living together"). Remember the Genre-ally challenge season last year? I wrote "Beam...
- Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:23 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--KNOWING WRITING LINGO
- Replies: 16
- Views: 19075
Re: Be a Better Writer--KNOWING WRITING LINGO
About Purple Prose I'm afraid that before joining FW, I've produced my share of what I now know is purple prose. The very first challenge entry I sent out in a newly formed buddy group came back fluorescent, since one of my buddies had highlighted all adjectives and adverbs I used in an attempt to w...
- Tue Aug 11, 2015 6:44 am
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be A Better Writer--MORE ABOUT VOICE
- Replies: 8
- Views: 10371
Re: Be A Better Writer--MORE ABOUT VOICE
Yesterday I helped my daughter to learn a song from Emeli Sande ("River"...beautiful). I noticed she tried to copy Emeli' s voice--with disastrous effects. "Honey, sing it in your own voice," I urged her. "I don't know my own voice," she grumbled. "It's the one tha...
- Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:41 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--FIND YOUR OWN VOICE
- Replies: 13
- Views: 16319
Re: Be a Better Writer--FIND YOUR OWN VOICE
I think "finding your own voice" is one of the most difficult aspects of writing for me. I honestly don't now where - or how - to begin. I'm not sure I can even recognize "my voice" as opposed to any other voice I might write with. I totally agree and am looking forward to your ...
- Mon May 04, 2015 3:54 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
- Replies: 12
- Views: 13423
Re: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
Thanks for sharing these, Milly! (By the way--what's your first language?) Jan, my first language is Dutch. I am Dutch and lived in the Netherlands until I was 37. Then we first moved to France, and since 2004 we're in Italy. English is my second language (when I worked as a technical writer for IB...
- Sun May 03, 2015 9:09 am
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
- Replies: 12
- Views: 13423
Re: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
Hi Jan...I'm coming out: I'm one of the recent love-above poets :wink:. Well, actually I wrote only two poems so far, so I wouldn't even dare to call myself a poet. My process is totally rhymezone-dependent, but this also helps me to increase my vocabulary (remember, I'm a non-native speaker). Recen...
- Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:48 am
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--RESOURCES FOR THE WRITER
- Replies: 13
- Views: 20203
Re: Be a Better Writer--RESOURCES FOR THE WRITER
I just received a warning from Deb about citing a song that's not in the public domain, and she explained the huge risks involved :( So for all of you who would like to use song texts in their writing-- http://pdinfo.com/ contains information about copyright and a massive list of songs that are in t...
- Fri Apr 03, 2015 12:30 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
- Replies: 7
- Views: 10342
Re: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
Thank you, Jan, for your critique. I actually started to rewrite and include your suggestion... The only other thing I'd say isn't really critique, just personal preference. By far most of your little vignette is devoted to description of the lost people; I'm very interested, however, in this homele...
- Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:01 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
- Replies: 7
- Views: 10342
Re: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
Thanks, Jan, for this new opportunity to grow. First, a confession: my "natural writing style" includes the use of (too) many adverbs and adjectives. When I joined FaithWriters, I quickly learned that strong verbs can replace most of them. Nowadays, to write "correctly," I tend t...
- Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:29 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--WORD CHOICE
- Replies: 8
- Views: 10553
Re: Be a Better Writer--WORD CHOICE
I couldn't write without a thesaurus...being a non-native speaker. My vocabulary has increased considerably since I learned to use salsa words :D, but although I always search the internet whether a word can be used in a particular context, I must admit that I sometimes pour in the wrong salsa. So g...
- Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:23 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
- Replies: 36
- Views: 37940
Re: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
Thank you so much for the encouragement, Jan!
Feeling blessed,
Milly
Feeling blessed,
Milly
- Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:54 am
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
- Replies: 36
- Views: 37940
Re: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
I must admit that I never even considered something like POV before joining FaithWriters. But now I do, and I can see how it has improved my writing--although every now and then a mistake slips in. Thanks for another great lesson, Jan. A brief analysis of why I write in the first person... I'm a wri...
- Sat Dec 06, 2014 4:29 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
- Replies: 24
- Views: 24873
Re: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
One more question that came up. Can the author of a biography explicitly express his own opinion about his MC? Or should he write as neutral as possible?
- Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:54 am
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
- Replies: 24
- Views: 24873
Re: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
Oh wow, without this lesson and discussion, I would have written historical fiction for sure. Thank you, Jan!!
- Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:17 pm
- Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
- Topic: Be a Better Writer -- INSPIRATIONAL WRITING
- Replies: 16
- Views: 17445
Re: Be a Better Writer -- INSPIRATIONAL WRITING
That's what I was hoping for. Thanks for the immediate reply, Jan!