Tag: women writers
Persona: When the Voice Is Not Your Own
This whole process began with hearing voices. I was working in my journal one night when this voice began, with no prodding, no expectation. It was strong and sure, a woman’s voice, dictating lines, whole poems. The first scribbled line was, Well I guess this is the freak show. I was shaken, to tell the […]
Writing Lessons From My Dog
Sounds wacky, doesn’t it? I learned valuable writing tips…from my dog? Maybe I should rephrase that. Thanks to my dog, I have learned how to be a more disciplined writer. I’ve had dogs my entire life but it wasn’t until my husband and I brought home a little black fuzz ball—a Schipperke we called Zoey—that […]
A Protagonist We Can Root For: Likable, Relatable, Neither, Or Both?
The question of likability, especially for female protagonists, is a topic that has sparked heated debate. Male protagonists have, traditionally, had an easier time of it. There have been rascals and rogues as well as knights; for every Atticus Finch, there’s a Rhett Butler. Yet female protagonists have had a more difficult history. Eccentricity is […]
How Do You Get From 0 to 1? From Dreaming to Writing, Writers Tell Their Stories
After I graduated from college, I wanted to write a novel. I’d had this dream ever since I could remember. But first there was the small matter of supporting myself. I didn’t look for a full-time job; I wanted a job that would earn me enough money to pay for rent and food while still […]
On Becoming (Otherwise Known as Finding Courage)
It seems I have a problem. I worry too much about what other people think. It’s part of my nature to be empathetic to other people’s needs and alert to their expectations. My radar, like that of other writers, is finely tuned. My heart tells me to transform myself into shapes to suit others, even […]
From Long To Short: A Short Story Phobic’s Tale
Being honest, I found short stories difficult. Distilling a tale down to 1,000 or 2,000 words without making a good, meaty story seemed a terrifying task; no character development, no sub-plots, little if any world-building, no wide cast of characters, no complexity, I thought. As a newbie writer several years ago, I tried very hard […]
In Conversation With Ellen Langer, Mother Of Mindfulness
I came across Ellen Langer’s research online, in a NY Times article What if Age Was Nothing But A Mind Set? My first reaction to the headline was skeptisicm. But, as I often do when something makes me feel uncomfortable, I decided to read. The article described her landmark 1979 “counterclockwise” study in which elderly men lived for a […]
Why I Write: Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli
The earliest I can remember wanting to write was when I was around twelve. I had thoroughly enjoyed many of the books in Enid Blyton’s “Adventure” series featuring two sets of siblings: Phillip and Dinah, and Jack and Lucy-Ann, and Jack’s parrot Kiki. I had lived vicariously through them by reading The Island of Adventure, […]
What Happened When I Reached For The Lifeline Called Writing…
Growing up in Oklahoma in the 1960s, writing was reserved for professionals, and voice as vocation or vocalization was too. Journalists. Singers. Politicians. Diaries came with miniature locks and tiny keys and typewriters pecked out papers letter by letter. Being a cheerleader or singing in the choir was as loud as a lady could respectfully […]
Words You Need To Redefine
You cannot write if you live your life by someone else’s definition of a word. When your words are not your own, you can’t tell your own story. It’s time to redefine these five words and change the way you see your work. Aggressive This is when you’re pushy. You say what you’re not supposed […]
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