Writing

Are You In Love With Words?

Lynette M Burrows

Are you in love with words? Most writers I know are. Many readers are. So for this month’s fun quiz, let’s test our word knowledge. How many do you know? You’re on your honor—answer to the best of your knowledge. Scroll down the page to find the answers. Don’t cheat and look the answer up.   Quiz Questions A manzanilla is what?  What is entomophobia?  An arctophile collects what?  What do philatelists collect?   An irrational fear of trees is called? What is the blob of toothpaste on your toothbrush called?  How long is a zeptosecond?  What are fulgurites?  Do you know what mondegreen means? What is Tenebrescence? Bonus Questions Three of eight 2019 Spelling Bee Champions spelled these words correctly. Do you know what they mean? Auslaut is the word for what sound? Pendeloque describes what? What is an aiguillette? Answers A manzanilla is what? A light sherry. What is entomophobia? An irrational fear of insects. An arctophile collects what? Teddy Bears What do philatelists collect?  Stamps The word for an irrational fear of trees is? Dendrophobia. What is the blob of toothpaste on your toothbrush called? Nurdle How long is a zeptosecond? A trillionth of a billionth of a second. Read […]

Dirty Little Secrets to Writing a Good Story

Lynette M Burrows

In my post Two Secret Rules for Writers, I said the secret was that there isn’t a secret in writing. I may have to take that back. The truth is there are dirty little secrets to writing a good story. One secret? There’s probably no new story under the sun. Why? Are we writers’ incapable of an original thought? Heck no! The originality comes from the blend and the bend of the story as told by that particular writer at that particular time. Stories come from the stories we have consumed (read, heard, or viewed). So they are all a melding of a ton of different things. Study Story To write the best stories one must study the masters. Study the successful stories. What makes them tick? And how can I use that in my story? Pantsers decry outlines and story structure to their story’s detriment. The way the human brain processes story demands a structure we can recognize. You don’t have to start from an outline, but whatever you write must have the parts in it to be successful. Mish-Mash I’ve mixed bits and pieces of Westerns and Space Opera and Thrillers and mythology. Yes, they went into one […]

Re-visioning Again

Lynette M Burrows

It’s summer. I’ve got a book going live in a couple of weeks and there are family issues to attend. So, this Wednesday post is directing you back to an eight-week blog post series I wrote a long while ago. It’s my version of revising your manuscript. I call it re-visioning. Re-visioning Your Story: week 1  Revision is probably the single most difficult thing a writer must do. Now, I know some of you are going to remind me that there are those who advise not to revise, except to editorial demand. I believe there are some writers out that who have so internalized the process that for them there is little or no revision needed. I’m not one of those writers . . . yet. Am I an expert on revision? I don’t claim to be an expert. Or to know THE ONE WAY to revise. But, I have done a lot of revision – the wrong way. I have also read tons of how to write books and blogs, and taken more than a few classes. I’ve had a few stories published and I have taught a few writing classes. So I’d like to share what I’ve learned […]