Writing Tips for the #lunchwritinggroup by Alecia Hinston

Writing Tips for the #lunchwritinggroup by Alecia Hinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw Quotes taken from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott en-us 2016-07-13 18:13:26 UTC 2025-10-10 01:32:22 UTC hello@padlet.com Be like a ship's rat ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362446 “I took notes on the people around me, in my town, in my family, in my memory. I took notes on my own state of mind, my grandiosity, the low self-esteem. I wrote down the funny stuff I overheard. I learned to be like a ship’s rat, veined ears trembling, and I learned to scribble it all down.”]]> 2016-07-13 18:26:11 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362446 Decembers & Mondays ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362483 “December is traditionally a bad month for writing. It is a month of Mondays. Mondays are not good writing days.”

--> Agree? Disagree?

]]> 2016-07-13 18:27:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362483 Good writing is... ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362523 about telling the truth.]]> 2016-07-13 18:28:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362523 Start with your childhood ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362568 Don't know where to start? Or are you stuck? Start with your childhood.

Who were your teachers, your classmates?
What did you wear?
Who and what were you jealous of?
Did your family take vacations during those years?
Do you remember how much more presentable everybody else’s family looked?

Do you remember how when you’d be floating around in an inner tube on a river, your own family would have lost the little cap that screws over the airflow valve, so every time you got in and out of the inner tube, you’d scratch new welts in your thighs? And how other families never lost the caps? Notice the small details!

]]> 2016-07-13 18:29:24 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362568 Then, ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362606 try focusing on holidays and big events.]]> 2016-07-13 18:30:19 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362606 Those first three pages... ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362629 You don’t care about those first three pages; those you will throw out, those you needed to write to get to that fourth page, to get to that one long paragraph that was what you had in mind when you started, only you didn’t know that couldn’t know that, until you got to it.]]> 2016-07-13 18:30:56 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362629 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362659 E.L. Doctorow - “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”]]> 2016-07-13 18:31:40 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362659 One-inch picture frame ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362692 Write about a scene, a character, an image...but only as much that would fit in a one-inch picture frame. What do you see in the one-inch frame? What can you describe?]]> 2016-07-13 18:32:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362692 The 3 Drafts ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362744 1. The Down Draft: "Just get it down."
2. The Up Draft: Fix it up. Say what you wanted to say more accurately.
3. Dental Draft: Check every "tooth" to see if it's loose, chipped...basically, LOOK AT THE NITTY-GRITTY of your writing.]]> 2016-07-13 18:34:22 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362744 School Lunches ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362788 Write about school lunches for a set time as a starting point for writing/brainstorming]]> 2016-07-13 18:35:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362788 First Drafts are like Polaroids ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362831 Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can’t -- and, in fact, you’re not supposed to -- know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing.]]> 2016-07-13 18:36:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362831 Characters - Ya love 'em and you hate 'em ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362854 You are going to love some of your characters, because they are you or some facet of you, and you are going to hate some of your characters for the same reason.]]> 2016-07-13 18:37:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362854 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362872 As soon as you start protecting your characters from the ramifications of their less-than-lofty behavior, your story will start to feel flat and pointless, just like in real life.

→ Be realistic! Have consequences! Can you tie in the Gospel?]]> 2016-07-13 18:37:59 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362872 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362962 Base characters partly on someone you know, a model from real life or a composite -- your Uncle Edgar, but with the nervous tics and the odd smell of this guy you observed for ten minutes in line at the post office.]]> 2016-07-13 18:40:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362962 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362970 One line of dialogue that rings true reveals character in a way that pages of description can’t.]]> 2016-07-13 18:40:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362970 The Power of a Great Narrator ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362989 If your narrator is someone whose take on things fascinates you, it really isn’t going to matter if nothing happens for a long time. I could watch ____________ do dishes for about an hour without needing much else to happen. Having a likeable narrator is like having a great friend whose company you love, whose mind you love to pick, whose running commentary totally holds your attention, who makes you laugh out loud, whose lines you always want to steal. When you have a friend like this, she can say, ‘Hey I’ve got to drive up to the dump in Petaluma -- wanna come along?’’ and you honestly can’t think of anything in the world you’d rather do. By the same token, a boring or annoying person can offer to buy you an expensive dinner, followed by tickets to a great show, and in all honesty you’d rather stay home and watch the aspic set.” ]]> 2016-07-13 18:40:39 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116362989 22 Childhood Writing Prompts ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363037 2016-07-13 18:41:57 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363037 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363066 I like for narrators to be like the people I choose for friends, which is to say that they have a lot of the same flaws as I.]]> 2016-07-13 18:42:56 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363066 PLOT GROWS OUT OF CHARACTER! ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363087 I say don’t worry about plot. Worry about the characters.]]> 2016-07-13 18:43:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363087 What does each character CARE deeply about? ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363167 Find out what each character cares most about in the world because then you will have discovered what’s at stake. Find a way to express this discovery in action, and then let your people set about finding or holding onto or defending whatever it is.]]> 2016-07-13 18:45:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363167 What's at stake in the plot? ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363182 Something must be at stake or you will have no tension and your readers will not turn the pages. Think of a hockey player -- there had to be a puck out there on the ice, or he is going to look pretty ridiculous.]]> 2016-07-13 18:46:07 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363182 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363192 If someone isn’t changed, then what’s the point of your story?]]> 2016-07-13 18:46:37 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363192 ABDCE Formula for Writing a Story ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363199 A - Begin with Action that is compelling enough to draw us in

B - Background: let us see and know who these people are, how they’ve come to be together, what was going on before the opening of the story

D - Develop these people so that we learn what they care most about: plot will grow out of that

C - Climax, after which things are different for the main characters, different in some real way

E - Ending: what is our sense of who these people are now, what are they left with, what happened, and what did it mean?

]]> 2016-07-13 18:47:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363199 Tips for Writing Dialogue ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363227

Sound your words -- read them out loud

Remember that you should be able to identify each character by what he or she says. They should not all sound like you; each one must have a self.

Try putting together two people who more than anything else in the world wish to avoid each other, people who would avoid whole cities just to make sure they won’t bump into each other. Take a character whom one of your main characters feels this way about and put the two of them in the same elevator. Then let the elevator get stuck. Let these characters hold back some thoughts, and at the same time, let them detonate little bombs.

]]> 2016-07-13 18:47:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363227 Every room tells a story. Think about what story each room in your setting tells. Look around each room in your house for ideas. ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363252 Every room is a little showcase of its occupants’ values and personalities. Every room is about memory. Every room gives us layers of information about our past and present and who we are, our shrines and quirks and hopes and sorrows, our attempts to prove that we exist and are more or less Okay. You can see, in our rooms, how much light we need -- how many light bulbs, candles, skylights we have -- and in how we keep things lit you can see how we try to comfort ourselves. The mix in our rooms is so touching: the clutter and the cracks in the wall belie a bleakness or brokenness in our lives, while photos and a few rare objects show our pride, our rare shining moments. ]]> 2016-07-13 18:48:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363252 Be an Archaeologist ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363286 As the photographer Catherine Wagner has pointed out, these rooms are future ruins.

--> If someone found one of the rooms in the setting of your story, what would they find? What would they infer about the characters, the main events, from those findings?]]> 2016-07-13 18:49:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363286 Writing is... ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363345 about learning to pay attention and to communicate what’s going on.]]> 2016-07-13 18:50:52 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363345 See Through the Eyes of a Child ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363356 This is our goal as writers, I think; to help others have this sense of -- please forgive me -- wonder, of seeing things anew, things that can catch us off guard, that break in on our small, bordered worlds. When this happens, everything feels more spacious. Try walking around with a child who’s going, ‘Wow, wow! Look at that dirty dog! Look at that burned-down house! Look at that red sky!’...I think that is how we’re supposed to be in the world -- present and in awe.]]> 2016-07-13 18:51:30 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363356 A Possible Reason for Unfinished Stories ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363366 If you find that you start a number of stories or pieces that you don’t ever bother finishing, that you lose interest or faith in them along the way, it may be that there is nothing at their center about which you care passionately.

]]> 2016-07-13 18:52:00 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363366 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363388 If your deepest beliefs drive your writing, they will not only keep your work from being contrived but will help you discover what drives your characters.

]]> 2016-07-13 18:52:50 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363388 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363402 If you don’t believe in what you are saying, there is no point in your saying it.]]> 2016-07-13 18:53:14 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363402 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363406 To be a good writer, you not only have to write a great deal but you have to care.]]> 2016-07-13 18:53:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363406 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363413 A writer always tries, I think, to be a part of the solution.]]> 2016-07-13 18:54:03 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363413 Index Cards ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363426 I fold an index card lengthwise in half, stick it in my back pocket along with a pen, and head out, knowing that if i have an idea, or see something lovely or strange or for any reason worth remembering, I will be able to jot down a couple words to remind me of it. Sometimes if I overhear or think of an exact line of dialogue or a transition, I write it down verbatim.]]> 2016-07-13 18:54:27 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363426 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363432 One of the things that happens when you give yourself permission to start writing is that you start thinking like a writer. You start seeing everything as material. ]]> 2016-07-13 18:54:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363432 Still stuck? ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363471 Write a letter to someone explaining your story or a memory...whatever!]]> 2016-07-13 18:55:17 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363471 ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363487 You are lucky to be one of those people who wishes to build sand castles with words, who is willing to create a place where your imagination can wander. We build this place with the sand of memories; these castles are our memories and inventiveness made tangible.]]> 2016-07-13 18:55:53 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363487 Dear Aniyah, Lizzie, Karalena, Isabelle, Katlynn, and Kayla, ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363604 Hello lovelies! Remember when I told you about the writing institute I would be attending this summer? Well, first of all, it has been wonderful. I can't wait to tell you all about it! Second, one of our projects was to read a book on writing and create a response. I thought of you all and our Friday lunches as I was reading this book, so I decided to create this Padlet for you! Here you will find the helpful tips from the book for you to apply to your writing this summer and next year when you aren't in my class. (#tearsfordays) Remember to come upstairs to see me and keep me updated on your writing!
Love,
Miss Hinston]]> 2016-07-13 18:59:09 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116363604 Creating a Character Worksheets ahinston https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116514992 Download to your heart's content! ; ) ]]> 2016-07-17 17:34:15 UTC https://padlet.com/ahinston/t471cdlknhtw/wish/116514992