Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. Often we read them as normal unless we think about the incongruity. Some examples I’ve heard and read several times in the past are deafening silence, dull roar, and crash landing. In Norman in the painting, my novel in progress, […]
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe: You’re It!
The blog hop continues with Vi Moore, one of the writers I tagged.
Red Herrings in Writing
A red herring is a diversionary tactic. In a mystery, a red herring can be a character, an object, a significant time, day, week, year, weather, or place. It appears to be a clue, but it’s a logical implication that leads readers on a false trail. The key is logical. Writers don’t use them only […]
Character BlogHop
Five Author Quotes For Inspiration
Lisa See says, “Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” How many of you have read her Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or my favorite, Peony in Love? I met her at the San Francisco Writers Conference a few years ago. She’s friendly and talked about how she frequently […]
When Characters Take Over the Story
If we imagine a boxing ring with our antagonist in one corner and the protagonist in the other corner, who is the referee? The writer is. Lani Longshore, co-author of Death by Chenille and When Chenille is Not Enough (science fiction genre about quilters saving the world from aliens disguised as bolts of beige fabric), […]
Charles Dickens Quote
Charles Dickens said, “An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.” I find that my characters need to be spoken to a little before they reveal themselves. Do you talk to your characters?