Welcome to a brand new year (almost!) and a brand new blog. Author Insight is your one-stop blog for insight into the world of writing. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed as Author Insight continues to develop into an informative and inspirational hub for writers.
This Christmas I got a really cool book, The Writer’s Book of Matches: 1,001 Prompts to Ignite Your Fiction. It’s compiled by the staff of Fresh Boiled Peanuts (www.freshboiledpeanuts.com). I’ve only read through a couple of pages and I’m already inspired. Here are a couple of prompts to get you going when writer’s block sets in.
“Stop thinking about how much you love him and start thinking about how much he hurts you.”
Upon reading the contents of his teenage daughter’s diary, a man is left fearing for his life.
“In all my time as a doctor, I’ve never seen this before. I’m at a loss.”
Happy Writing,
kathy
www.freerice.com
December 30, 2007 at 3:44 am |
I’m a psychologist starting a blog to include what we can learn about writing from the movies. Not to talk about huge matters, but how a particular movie teaches something particularly well. For example, the first five minutes of Little Miss Sunshine is an excellent example on how to “show don’t tell” and completely introduce every character with a unique entrance.
Atonement provides a good collection of object images to express emotions.
I’ll be interested in watching your site.
December 30, 2007 at 6:12 pm |
I totally agree with you. I think writers can learn a lot from watching movies, especially how actors convey characterization. There is an excellent book, Getting into Character by Brandilyn Collins, that explores how writers can take acting techniques and use them to write rich characters.
Something else I like to watch is Inside the Actor’s Studio on Bravo. It’s inspiring not only to hear how the actors came to their success (many of them suffered years of rejection before hitting it big, which parallels many writers’ journeys) but they also discuss how they approached each memorable character. It’s definitely an hour worth watching.