The shelter-in-place order for California may not give you extra writing time. You may be so busy finding work-arounds for your normal duties that you don't have energy for your stories. As a writer, however, this is what you've trained for. Flex those writing muscles and create a file for future work by watching life unfold around you. I've always heard that adversity … [Read more...] about This Is What We’ve Trained For by Lani Longshore
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A Few Prompts for the New Year by Lani Longshore
Whether you are blazing away on your writing New Year's Resolutions or still churning out excuses why you aren't, one thing that I've found useful is to have a list of writing prompts handy. If I'm stuck, a writing prompt can help loosen the word jam. If I'm falling out of love with my project, a prompt can give me a needed diversion without requiring me to abandon my work for … [Read more...] about A Few Prompts for the New Year by Lani Longshore
The What If Game by Lani Longshore
I was talking with other writers about story ideas, and we decided that we all needed to relearn how to be as imaginative as children. Young brains can combine random elements into any story, and by golly most of the time it works. That creativity gets beaten out of us because as adults we have to make the plot hang together, or there's a deadline threatening, or the editor … [Read more...] about The What If Game by Lani Longshore
Get Ready To Run by Lani Longshore
Fire season is the time to check your emergency supplies. As well as having a plan for your family (medicine, food and water, and power cords just in case you find some place with electricity), make sure you have an emergency plan for your writing. Do you have backups of your work-in-progress? Are your notes and research materials consolidated in one place, ready to slip in the … [Read more...] about Get Ready To Run by Lani Longshore
Place, History and Character Development by Lani Longshore
I read a cultural history of Saint Petersburg, Russia, that reminded me of how much place influences character. Almost all of my favorite composers, from the 1800s well into the 20th century, were born and/or trained in Saint Petersburg. I was amazed at how many of the 20th century musicians either stayed or returned despite the Bolshevik Revolution and the horrors inflicted on … [Read more...] about Place, History and Character Development by Lani Longshore
World-building from the News by Lani Longshore
I write science fiction, so I'm always looking for ways to improve my world-building skills. Sometimes I find my best examples in the news. Consider this item from an article in Foreign Affairs: “Since the beginning of written history, Chinese society has relied on extended kinship networks to cope with economic risks. Yet a rising generation of urban Chinese youth is made up … [Read more...] about World-building from the News by Lani Longshore
There’s A Story in There Somewhere by Lani Longshore
I used to teach a quilting workshop with my co-author Ann Anastasio called “There’s a Quilt In There Somewhere.” We had our students bring fabric they loved but couldn’t use to the class, and everyone would get a chance to offer suggestions on patterns, other fabrics to include, and embellishments. I mentioned this to a writer friend, who thought it would be fun to adapt this … [Read more...] about There’s A Story in There Somewhere by Lani Longshore
Plotting with a Different Question by Lani Longshore
Plot is what happens—first this, then that, then the other thing. What if we asked a different question at the beginning of our plot outlines? Try saying, “I was there and this happened to me.” Now we are focused on cause and effect rather than only the events. We’ve established that someone will be adapting to whatever happened, which opens the possibility of changing, … [Read more...] about Plotting with a Different Question by Lani Longshore
