by Sarah Chauncey | May 18, 2017 | Writing
This post is primarily for authors of practical nonfiction. However, vulnerability and bringing oneself on the page is an essential tool for connecting with readers regardless of your nonfiction genre. In some types of writing it’s optional (if you’re writing an...
by Sarah Chauncey | May 11, 2017 | Writing
I’ve written about engaging the senses to bring your reader into an experience. The same principle holds true when you’re writing about people. To fully convey the essence of a person, it helps to show (rather than tell) through characterization. Think of your...
by Sarah Chauncey | Feb 9, 2017 | Writing
Language is symbolic. Words can’t possibly capture the essence of the person, place or thing they represent. That’s why people abuse adjectives and adverbs, to try and convey a noun or verb more precisely. But the word “cat,” for example, is...
by Sarah Chauncey | Jan 18, 2017 | Writing
Nearly every blockbuster movie of the past 40 years (and possibly before that) has been deliberately structured around something called the “monomyth,” also known as the Hero’s Journey. Star Wars. The Matrix. The Lion King. So were Dan Millman’s book The Way of the...
by Sarah Chauncey | Sep 9, 2016 | Writing
A while back, I wondered about the origins of the phrase “woo-woo” (often shortened, including by me, as “woo”). In my mind, I heard the sound produced by a theremin—an instrument used to create ‘outer space’ sound effects for 1950s and 1960s sci-fi movies—and in the...
by Sarah Chauncey | Sep 1, 2016 | Writing
In the first POV post, you learned about why POV (perspective) is important, and about separating facts from interpretations. First-person POV has considerable limitations. However, there are ways to work around it, to create a richer, more engaging reading...
