Tag Archives: roryckeel.com

Jump-start your writing in 2017

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Jump-start your writing in 2017

Rory C. Keel

I’ve never been very good at keeping any New Year’s resolutions so I‘ll not make any for 2017. However, I may be up for a challenge, perhaps a short-term challenge.

In the month of January I will attempt to write a few short pieces based on the following ideas:

  • A trivial event
  • A casual remark
  • An accident
  • A photo in the newspaper
  • A weather change
  • A vice that someone has
  • A virtue that a person exhibits

This should jump-start my writing in 2017.

Try it with me!

 

Verbs

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Verbs

Rory C. Keel

 

Lights, Camera, ACTION!

Without Verbs, stories would be boring. There would be no action such as running or jumping. No motion or movement, like when the spy rolled and dodged the bullet. There would be no romance without kissing or holding her tight.

Verb or Noun?

There are times when a word can be a verb or a noun, depending on how it’s used in a sentence. For example, the word dance would be a noun when describing a type of dance. The nutcracker is a ballet dance.

Dance is a verb when describing the action of those in the play. We watched the actors dance during the Nutcracker.

Verbs are what give life to your stories, so use them often.

Why do we feel the need to write?

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Why do we feel the need to write?

Rory C. Keel

The reasons people write are as varied as the individuals doing the writing.

Some are motivated by a desire to be famous and others write to express their personal feelings or beliefs. Some want to share their imaginations and others record the realistic facts that surround them.

For me, I have an appetite to learn about the past. It motivates me to write about how other people felt and their thought processes during their life experiences.

For me understanding the strength and wisdom of those who have written about their past struggles of life, as well as their ideas and hopes for the future, inspires me to share my thoughts for others to read in the future.

What are your hopes and dreams? What struggles do you face today that others could learn from tomorrow? Write about them.

Putting a Slant on things

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Putting a Slant on things

Rory C. Keel

When words are slanted to the right, they are in Italic. In writing, this can indicate several things to the reader.

Italic word are used to accent words with emphasis or importance. They can also indicate book, magazine or play titles, even words from a foreign language.

Standard practice when writing of typing a manuscript is to underline the words to be Italicized.

A Good Reason To Write

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feelingquotes4

National Novel Writing Month

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National Novel Writing Month

Rory C. Keel

November is National Novel Writing Month, NANOWRIMO for short. For thirty days writers from all over the world will be cranking out words on computers and word processors trying to reach 50,000 thousand words.

The goal is to encourage writers to put out a novel size piece of work in a very short period of time. With that many words completed, the work can then go through rewrites and editing for clean up to produce a polished and completed novel.

This year, I’m going to attempt this challenge as a way of motivating myself to write. It will certainly be a challenge at an average of 1667 words a day. My plan of attack will be to put the outline of my story down, then fill in the spaces. Maybe I should have participated when I had a chatty six year old at home who couldn’t stop talking. I could have taken dictation and made the word count!

If you are interested in participating, go to www.nanowrimo.org and sign up. It’s free, fun and who knows, you even might get a novel out of it.

Rory C. Keel


Where Do I get my Characters?

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Where Do I get my Characters?

Rory C. Keel

When we begin to write a piece of work, we need characters to fill our pages. Beginning with our protagonist, our main character, who will normally be opposed by the antagonist. Supporting characters fill in the gaps and make our stories interesting and full of life.

Characters are all around. Every day you’re surrounded by characters such as a spouse, children or even pets like a cat, dog or a goldfish. Maybe your boss at work or co-workers could add that personality you need for a story. And animals can offer the type of character you need based upon the creature’s instincts and habitat.

As you go through the day, notice who is around you and take notes on how they act and what they say.

Before long you will have the perfect characters for your work.

Little More Work

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Little More Work

Dialogue’s realistic,

the story moves along.

The character’s are believable,

But the point of view is wrong.

The ending makes more sense,

The conflict gets resolved,

With proper punctuation

And use of perfect tense.

                 Author: Rory Keel

 

Little More Work

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Little More Work

Dialogue’s realistic,

the story moves along.

The character’s are believable,

But the point of view is wrong.

The ending makes more sense,

The conflict gets resolved,

With proper punctuation

And use of perfect tense.

                 Author: Rory Keel

 

Be successful

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Be successful

Rory C. Keel

The word “Successful” is an adjective that is defined as accomplishing an aim or purpose.

As writers, success is accomplished when you start. With every step from learning how to write, doing research for materials, to putting letters on a page, each action is success.

Others reach success when they complete a piece or when they market a published work.

Being successful is not static or a finite level that a writer achieves, but success is a description of someone moving forward step-by-step accomplishing their goals.

Start writing today and be successful with every step.