NA M ES “Names have power.” -Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief What's in a name? Plenty. The name you give your character gives the reader an instant impression, even if they don't know what the name really means. For example, w hat do you think of when you hear the following names: Destiny Colt Barack Ruby Hester Sierra Khan Jesus Barbara Magda Aloha Martha Kofi Prudence Lucifer Bilbo Miranda Filippo Jessie Duncan Anjali Peewee Ishmael Ludwig Ngai Dae won Amber Hercules Scarlett Ashley Midori Gabriel Xerxes Ralph Heathcliff Veruca Hannibal Roshanna Ramona Svengali Hans Isabella Lolita Jeeves Pip Ebenezer Rudolph Gump Scout Winnie Grendel Tarzan Scheherazade I bet each of them gave you an immediate impression,...
FEAR “Fear is felt by writers at every level. Anxiety accompanies the first word they put on paper and the last.” ― Ralph Keyes , The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear Fear isn't something we talk about a lot in terms of creative process. But it can keep us from following our dreams for years, even lifetimes. And that's a real shame. Because, at the end of your life, you don't want to have big regrets. Such as: I never wrote that novel I dreamed of. I never published a short story. I never wrote down that children's story. I never followed my dream of writing . I've heard lots of people say some variation of this. You probably have, too. The good news is, it is virtually never too late to follow your dream. Don't believe me? Check out these late bloomers: Grandma Moses began to paint seriously at the age of 78. Laura Ingalls Wilder didn't publish Little House on the Prairie until she was 64. ...
"What hunger is in relation to food, zest is in relation to life." -Bertrand Russell Zest is one of my favorite things: there are few foods that smell as clean and energizing as a citrus fruit--especially a lemon. Zest is, therefore, the perfect word to describe the excitement, or energy for life. We have zest for things that we love. And sometimes it is that zest, the tantalizing hint of what is to come, that hope for a more delicious future, that carries us through. "True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done. The zest of creating things new." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery If gratitude is for the past, hope is for the future, zest, therefore, is for the present." -Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004 "Zest. Gusto. How rarely do we see one living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer's make-up and ru...
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