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Category: starters
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POWER POSITIONS IN PROSE: Niloufar-Lily Soltani’s ZULAIKHA
I met Lily Soltani at the Robson Indigo bookstore this past weekend, where she was doing a book signing. In fact, I was the first to get a signed copy… I cracked open the cover, began to read, and quickly discovered what the publisher, Inanna, must have noticed when they selected this book for publication;…
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STRONG STARTS: Dawn Miller’s “Howl”
STRONG STARTS: Dawn Miller’s story “Howl,” in The Things We Leave Behind Storytellers are sometimes tempted to do the “James Bond”—start with a chase scene, an explosion, something quick and frantic to get the heartbeats going. Truth is, the opposite is often more effective. Early on, it’s important to include detailed description so readers can…
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Picture it #004: Blessing in Disguise
Sometimes it’s good that we don’t get as much as we want as soon as we want it: Try this: Write about a time when you didn’t get what you wanted…and it was a GOOD thing!
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Quotation Inspiration #009: Words, not swords!
The power of words can be amazing: Try this: Write about a cause, a person, an idea you believe in!
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Quotation Inspiration #007: Dostoyevsky asks a good question for all of you with writer’s block
Dostoyevsky asks a good question for all of you with writer’s block: Try this: Choose a year of your life (by date, grade, year of university, year of marriage) and focus on one event of that year. Use it as a springboard to a new piece of writing!
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Zoom in for a great opening…like Jennifer Landels’ “Allaigna’s Song” !
If you’re looking for a great way to start your next piece of writing, think Hollywood and ZOOM IN, like Jennifer Landels does in her serialized novel, Allaigna’s Song. Take a look at the opening from the first excerpt published in Pulp Literature: If you walk down the grand staircase of Castle Osthegn, you will…
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Make your opening paragraph Google-worthy!
Strange title for today’s post, I know. I’ll let you know in a minute or two what I mean by it, but in the meantime, read this short passage from “Man Changing into Thunderbird,” by Armand Garnet Ruffo(published in the summer 2013 edition of The Malahat Review): The room is cramped with people. an…
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Picture it #001…a photo to inspire your writing!
Ok, so it might lead to some angst, but just look at this image by Brooke Shaden–a girl in white falling into a dark abyss–and you’ll see that there’s a poem waiting there for you to write!