Writing Advice ~~ Summer 2024

You can say a lot in a letter that you might have trouble saying in person.

September Writing Prompts

Ever read an epistolary novel? You can say a lot in a letter that you might have trouble saying in person.

Here are some things to try:

Write a letter to your younger self offering advice.

Write a letter to your grandchildren telling them about your life or life in 2024.

Write a letter to your partner telling her/him whatever you haven’t said to her/his face.

Write a letter to your child or children telling them how you see them now and how you imagine them in the future. Or tell them about life in 2024.

Write a letter to your parents telling them what they did right and what you wish they had done differently.

Write a letter to someone in power or running for office that shares your views about what needs to change in the world.

Write a letter to an unregistered voter telling her/him why s/he should register.

Write a letter to your future self saying what you hope you will become.

We’d be honored to read what you write. Send it through the contact box on the home page. I’ll tell you what I love in the writing and answer any questions you may have. 

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“Red herrings can be seasoned to a reader’s taste. Just don’t choke them.”  ~~ Tracey Lampley

This guest article is by Tracey Lampley, author of All Money Ain’t Good Money. She graduated from Miami University with a BA in English Technical & Scientific Communication. She earned an MS in Publishing from Pace University. She is currently pursuing her MA in Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. She resides in the Atlanta Metro area with her pooch, Neo.

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Cooking With Red Herrings

By Tracey Lampley

One of the secret ingredients to cooking up a great mystery is planting one or two red herrings. Either the author can include enough seasoning for a reader to ask for a second helping in the form of reading the author’s next mystery, or the author can include enough seasoning that could choke an elephant, in which case, the author has lost the next sale and the power of word-of-mouth marketing.  Instead, when cooking up your mystery, you must include just enough secret sauce, or better yet, a secret ingredient.

Ingredients For The Red Herring

Remember when you asked your grandma for the ingredients to include in her delicious turkey dressing? She would say, “Add a pinch of this, a teaspoon of that. But I don’t measure.” Well, to add a red herring, you need some ingredients to augment your investigation, which is the meat and potatoes of your mystery. So, include evidence or events that misdirect the reader.  We want to keep readers turning the pages. WE want them wondering, “Could this be the solution?” Skillfully planting red herrings helps cook a great mystery.

Combining The Ingredients

In a good mystery, your sleuth, investigator, or private detective stirs the pot by asking questions of witnesses and suspects. Their reactions often create the best red herrings. Perhaps the sister-in-law of the dead person won’t make eye contact with the sleuth, investigator, or police detective. Perhaps the neighbor was having an extramarital affair with the dead person, and the spouse is suspected of murder. A girlfriend has unexplained bruises on her face. Authors can use body language to describe a character’s emotions. If a character comes across as unaffected by a traumatic experience, this could serve as a red herring. Red herrings can be seasoned to a reader’s taste. Just don’t choke them.

You can learn more about the author at https://www.traceylampley.com/category/all-products. Find her book at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-money-aint-good-money-tracey-lampley/1145537634

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Some Writing Prompts for August

Sometimes responding to someone else’s statement can take your writing to all kinds of surprising places. What if you used one of these as a starting or an ending line?

Write a poem, a story, or a personal essay. Write a dialogue or a debate. Write a journal entry or a letter to someone you care about. Write an open letter for the editorial page.

When you finish, I hope you’ll proofread it and send it to us. We’d love to read your work, and if we decide to publish it, you will be compensated.

“Summer is a state of mind.” –Anonymous

“Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.” —Russell Baker, journalist

“Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy.” —Regina Brett, author

“I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.” ~~ Greta Thunberg

“We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to.” ~~Terri Swearingen

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”  ~~ Walt Disney

OR pick up a book and quote any line you want to write about.

 

July Writing Prompts

I’ve taken some phrases from various writers and listed them  below. Try starting a story with them.

OR try working towards them as ending lines. 

Your story can be in any genre. 

Let me know how it goes in the comment box below. Want to share? You can do it there or through the contact box on the home page. 

She wants to fling open her arms and drink up the sky, the sea, the whole world. From Kat Rosenfield’s You Must Remember This

This could turn into something way scarier than a roller coaster ride on top of a ladder. From B. Lynn Goodwin’s Disrupted

I thought to myself that the flower was going to be much happier now.  From Wendy Lichtman’s The Writing on the Wall

Tippi took. in a deep breath. “Easy Come,” she said. “Easy Go.”  From Ace Atkins’ Don’t Let the Devil Ride

You scare me. From Jonathan Kellerman’s Therapy

In the eyes of the world, I’m already a guilty man. From Matthew Blakes’ Anna O

If love was a game, the score was tied.  From B. Lynn Goodwin’s Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62

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“Nobody can tell your story but you.”  –Pat Schneider

Open-ended questions to ask yourself:

1. Why do you want to be a writer?
2. What do you think writers do?
3. What kind of books do you like to read right now?
4. What kind of writing do you enjoy doing right now?
5. What writing goals do you already have?
6. If you change your mind about being a writer, what else can you imagine yourself doing?

 Why not journal about one each day for the next 6 days? Think of more to say? Add it in. Does this seem like it’s written for someone in a different stage of life than you? Feel free to rewrite the questions to fit you. Or imagine yourself answering them when you were that age. 

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Jobs for writers — taken from a handout I used for an eighth grade career day not long ago.

1. Author
2. Illustrator
3. Journalist
4. Content writer
5. Book formatter
6. Author website designer
7. Copy editor
8. Developmental editor
9. Blogger
10. Podcaster
11. Copywriter for marketing
12. Technical writer
13. Textbook contributor
14. Book reviewer
15. Publicist writing press releases and promotion for authors or any company
16. Scriptwriter
17. Comic book writer
18. Greeting card writer
19. Ghostwriter
20. English teacher
21. Bookstore owner

Pick 3-5 that intrigue you.

• What do you think a person with this occupation does?
• What would you do in the job?
• How might it change your life? (You can answer that last one whether you’re 17 or 77.)