A blank page is no different than a blank canvas waiting for the painter's hands to create. Just as a painting conjures up a vision for the eye to behold, so must words. But words can do so much more.  They can speak for your character, they can think for your character, they can take you to many, many places in just a few pages.  And, they can even paint a picture in your mind.

Start a dialogue with two characters and through this dialogue let us "hear" your characters' voices.  Make your dialogue unique to each character.  Think of the different people you know and how each one speaks in a different tone, using different slang or cultural dialect.  A parent will not speak like a child and a child will not speak like a parent.  A teenager from the projects will not speak the same as a upper class teenager attending private school.  Paint their voices for us.

Start with a description. Paint it slowly and carefully, as you are choosing clothing particular to this person, a hairstyle particular to this person, shoes particular to this person, makeup particular to this person, jewelry particular to this person, piercings, tattoos, their style.

Start with setting. Paint it slowly and carefully, as you are creating places for your readers to go.  Allow them to see everything, from the cracked asphalt and smog in the city to the vibrant greens and rolling meadows in the country. Go further and allow your readers to smell the smog and hot asphalt and the clover and pine and daffodils in the fields. 

Now use one of these descriptions to open your story

Use plain old notebook paper and a binder to create a cheap, but effective journal. Design your own cover to get those creative images jumping around in your head.  Use bright colors, sparkly colors, designs, stick figures, whatever.

Or, better yet, hand your binder and markers over to a child and watch creations flow easily from those small fingertips.  Don't just sit and watch, write about the creator and what he/she creates.  Study  how the colors are carefully chosen, how the fingers move, how the tongue hangs slightly out of the corner of the mouth where a tiny spit bubble has formed. Notice how the colors find their way to fingers, arms, cheeks, and other places, and how there is a pause in the creation of the notebook to concentrate on a new creation--a snazzy, colorful tattoo on the hand or arm, or to paint each fingernail a different color.  You might even experience the delight of a tattoo being meticulously drawn on your hand.  Heck, go all the way and get one on your cheek while you're at it. 

Every time you take this "one-of-a-kind" journal to your favorite chair outside or to a park or to the lake, you're also taking a memory. When you can't think of anything to write about, turn to the cover, study those images again, and remember.

A great way to improve your writing is to review other writings, such as books, movies, plays, articles, even songs. By using your likes/dislikes of various literature, you determine what your writing needs are or at least what "you" as a reader would like your writing to possess. 

While reviewing, ask yourself these questions:

1) Did I like it?

2.  If so, why

3. If not, why not

4. What would I have changed about:

a.  the plot

b. the setting

c. characters

d. dialogue

e. the beginning

f. the end

5.  Did the "writing" succeed in its efforts to entertain/inform?

6. Did it affect me emotionally?

7. Could I recommend it to others?

8. Was it original?

9. Was it predictable?

You can develop more questions as you review.  Your questions and answers develop an outline for your work and what elements you need to concentrate on.

Share some of your reviews with us.

Richelle

We are writers. We search for stories in everything we do, everywhere we go. We write stories. We tell stories. We make up stories. We see stories in landscapes, in people, in works of art, in food. We hear stories in everyday conversations.

What is your story. About "being" a writer? About "staying" a writer?

Yes, we want you to tell us a story. After all....you are a writer.

Here is our American Flag, flying proudly, saluting us, telling us that no matter what goes on below, it watches from above, keeping us safe and free, at all costs. 

What does our country mean to you?