Volume III, Issue 40
November 3, 2014
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Dear ,
J.K. Rowling knew the building blocks of a great story. Harry Potter is filled page-turners -- places where we have to keep reading to find out what happens next. (Hey, you know your story's successful if they make a Halloween costume out of it!)
This week, I'm letting Ira Glass, of "This American Life" fame, share what he knows about the building blocks of a story
with you. He's talking about TV and radio, but this information holds just as true for the written story. Watch this oh-so-helpful video here.
Yearning to spend time writing, in community with kindred spirits? Give this "story question" a happy ending...The WordPlay Coastal Retreat is this
weekend! Full details here.Happy
storytelling,
Maureen Becky Gould Gibson, author of Heading Home (Winner of the 2013 Lena Shull Book Contest) wrote of " Ten Thousand
Cicadas Can’t Be Wrong, my upcoming poetry book that "These exuberant poems find holiness in what we may overlook or refuse to think about too deeply—aging and dying, yes; but also pokeweed, dandelions, stinkbugs, crickets, oak gall, acorns, the first wild strawberry, a mother ironing—all those ten thousand things that make up “the messy, glorious/ noise that is life." Order your copy for a brief time only for the hugely discounted pre-publication price of $8.50 by clicking on this link today. Upcoming WordPlay
COASTAL WRITING
RETREAT Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn (Writing -- and more -- as Renewal and Inspiration) Full details here. Register now if you want to come: just one spot left!WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 7 - Sunday, November 9, 2014. TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or
910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first). --------------------------------------------------------------
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT: PROJECT BOOK GET YOUR BOOK OUT OF
YOU AND INTO THE WORLD (Writing; Publishing Your Book-length Writing Project) A hands-on workshop for any writer who would like to write and/or publish a book and 1) doesn't know how
2) doesn't get around to it
3) feels
a) intimidated
b) confused
c) overwhelmed
d) uninspired
e) all of the above Full details here. WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 14 - Sunday, November 16, 2014. TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then
call). -------------------------------------------------------------- WINTER WRITING RETREAT (Writing — and More — as Renewal / Creating New Writing) Renew and delight yourself. The Winter Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing
and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they have not failed to elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you’ll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You’ll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch and supplies.WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
WINTER WRITING RETREAT: Saturday, December 20, 2014,10 am – 5 pm
TO REGISTER: Register online here. Or email info@wordplaynow.com for details on registering via mail.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt This is WordPlay -- so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "story." Have you watched Ira Glass's video on the building blocks of a story yet? If not, click here.
PROMPT: Choose any sequence of events from your own life, or the life of one of your characters, and write it out, weaving these events
into the shape of a story by deliberately throwing out questions to "bait" your reader and then answering them. (Listen to Ira Glass's example again if you need to.) When you reach the conclusion of events, write out some kind of "reflection" that makes it clear to the reader why your story matters.
Note: If you find this is difficult, take heart! A good process to help you is to go through books that do a good job with this (like, say, the Harry Potter books) and highlight the raised questions and the subsequent answers.
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MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn -- and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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