Emily Dickinson was an incredible poet. This edition, with its beautiful pages, honors her work. The publisher did a wonderful job with the printing. I am glad to see Dickinson’s star, again, rising this generation. She is, perhaps, the greatest poet in American history; she is immortal.
A lovely edition that will add nicely to any bookshelf.
There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
of prancing Poetry -
This Traverse may be the poorest take
Without opress of Toll -
How Frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human soul.
-Emily Dickinson
I cannot pretend to be a connoisseur of poetry, although I enjoy reading verse. What I can tell you, with confidence, is Dickinson’s work makes my heart leap, stop, turn about face, and get lost in mystery. I had not really thought of reading her until I watched Dickinson on Apple TV+. Which goes to show she is still enticing and relevant. I am, now, a huge fan of hers and I think many of you feel the same way.
T.S. Eliot remains my favorite poet, but Emily Dickinson is a very close second. Tell me whom your favorite poet is? I would love if you would comment the name of your favorite poem.
Every story has a beating pulse, and is told through the eyes of the character’s heart. Deciding which point of view best fits your writing project is critical. There are two basic point of views in creative writing: First-Person and Third-Person.
First-Person POV
Strengths of First-Person:
Widely considered to be easier to write than Third-Person.
Traditionally, the entire story is told through the eyes of one character.
Readers become a “friend” of the character.
It is possible to capture the character’s unique voice.
Weaknesses of First-Person:
Limited perspective
No intimate and internal look at other characters in the story. The reader can only guess at their motives and thoughts.
If you think in terms of camera (POV), there is no way to move perspective to the other characters.
Examples of popular novels told via First-Person would be: OutlanderSeries and the Hunger Gamesseries.
Third-Person POV
I prefer to write Third-Person.
Strengths of Third-Person:
Story is told through the eyes of several characters.
It is much easier to find depth and intimacy.
Complete freedom of storytelling.
Because the story can be told through several characters, it is possible to get a deep internal look at several different motives and thoughts.
Weaknesses of Third-Person:
This is a big weakness: Limited time allowed with any one character.
POV is critical. Whichever one you elect to use; you must stick with it throughout the story. You cannot bounce between First and Third-Persons. That is the kind of writing editors burn and never bother to respond to your manuscript.
If you are writing Third-Person, and the scene you are in comes from character A’s POV, then you cannot relay what character B feels or thinks.
I will provide you an elementary example:
Wrong: Jason glared at his boyfriend across the table. Pierre hated spaghetti.
Correct: Jason glared at his boyfriend across the table. Pierre looked like he hated the spaghetti.
Notice how the first example bounced between characters? That is bad writing, but the second sentence, does it right, keeps the scene being told by Jason.
A great deal of writing style is subjective, but this is one rule that cannot be violated. No matter what POV you choose to tell your story, you have to stick with it.
To my followers,
I am expecting, any day now, the arrival of our new baby girl. The due date is fast approaching. I would be grateful for good vibes and prayers. If my daughter is indeed born within the next few days, please do not be surprised if I do not post next week. We are excited to welcome her whenever she decides to come, lol.
Fortunately, school does not start back till January 18th, so by grace I have an adjustment period. If anyone thinks going to school full-time, watching a child all day, and keeping up the house, inside and out, is easy, they are insane. I have never been so busy, and once our second is born, I will be even more pressed, but I love it and very much would not wish for a different life. I am happy.
Tension is defined as trouble on the page. Tension is conflict, and is a technique writers use to keep readers guessing, forcing them to wait, making them worry, wonder, hope; it keeps the reader off balance. Without tension, a writers cannot hold the reader’s interest.
There is a ton of beautiful writing that fails to keep the reader engaged. Tension allows the writer to ensure their prose has enough pull to keep the reader, well reading.
A tip: Keep every line, sentence, stanza, etcetera in your prose closely focused on what the character wants, and what is keeping them from getting it. Present this desire both externally and internally.
Desire without danger is pathetic at worst, and boring at best. It can be beautiful, but boring writing.
Trust me…, stopping and noticing the details around you is life’s most generative experience, not only will your writing improve, but so will your mental…
When the writer combines what the character wants (desire), and the danger or harm that will come to the person if they get it, they automatically create tension. These risk factors need not be battles, high octane action scenes, or murders. Often the subtle, and tiny annoyances create the most tension.
Ways to Decrease and Increase Tension:
Decreases Tension
Increases Tension
Agreement
Disagreement
Safety
Danger
Things are okay
Things are not okay
Generalization
Specific information; intimate details
One thing is going on
Two or three things happening at once
Linear, chronological exposition
Leaps
Moving ahead as expected
Reversals
Having all needs met, ease, simplicity
Wanting something badly, needing, yearning
Overcoming obstacles easily
Thwarted again and again
Solution = resolution
Solution to problem creates ew problem
Explanation, telling
Mystery, withholding
Static character, doing nothing
Character in action
Character alone with thoughts
Character in a triangle with two other characters
Speeches, interior dialogues
Crisp dialogue based on an argument
One technique used at length (all description, all dialogue, all interior thoughts …)
Variety of techniques (dialogue first, then description, then interior thoughts, then more dialogue …)
All long or all short sentences or lines
Short sentences or lines mixed up with longer ones
Seeing the big picture; long shots
Seeing things from very close up
(Sellers 236)
A common mistake beginning writers make is filling whole pages with direct dialogue. These conversations do not often create images in their reader’s mind; No images, no tension. Examples would be: character’s stating the obvious (in direct dialogues), monologues, long speeches, and anything predictable create weak creative writing.
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.”
Mark Twain
There is no reason to use dialogue to capture a happy moment. The skilled writer can, for example, cover a scene in two words, they kissed, and move on to the next moment of tension (Sellers). A good way to sustain tension in dialogue, is to remember that dialogue never happens outside human action.
Tension is a subject worthy of an entire book. I did not even bring up practices of layering with triangles, layering images, and layering dialogue and action. These are all important concepts that will be discussed in later posts.
I want to hear your thoughts. How have you weaved tension? What are some of your favorite tense scenes in anything you have read or watched? Have you found any material out there that improved your writing? Comment at the bottom of the page.
Source: Sellers, Heather. The Practice of Creative Writings, 3rd Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s Publishing. Boston, MA. 2017.
I read this devotional differently, because it was an assigned reading for class. Meaning, I read the year-long devotional in four weeks. My Utmost for His Highest is heart penetrating with surgical precision. There is no fluff; no prosperity gospel. Read this and you will be told the unsanitized and all challenging truth. If you are serious about serving Christ, and not yourself (your own desires for your life), then you will find this devotional life changing.
If you do not like the intellectual, academic approach, or perhaps prefer to be told how important you are, verses how loved, then this book is not for you. This is for the Christian whom is serious about their faith, and their relationship with Christ. I promise you will be challenged, and happier for it.
May God Bless and sustain whosoever reads my review.
Jesus did not die for our problems. He hates our sin to such an extent, He had no choice but Calvary. He died for you to have access to the Father. That is how much He loves you. God is not a therapist; He is salvation. – W. Alexander
This might arguably be the most important concept to get right about your writing. The four elements of storytelling are an absolute must. They are physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. Yes, P.I.E.S. Yum! How well a writer weaves together all four, is the difference between a great and terrible book.
Previously published under the pseudonym W. Alexander.
Portfolio: Escape Second Death (Poets Choice), A Nod To Derry’s Son (The Closed Eye Open)
Physical storytelling is the action and plot in your story. These are character descriptions, actions, story events, setting, conflict, resolution, and plot twists and turns. These are essential within every story.
But what is not physical storytelling? I am glad you asked. What is not physical storytelling is what a character is thinking, how they are feeling, goals, dreams, etcetera. I repeat, none of those are part of physical storytelling.
Intellectual storytelling is your characters analytical thoughts. These are character beliefs, understanding of the conflict, personal opinions about other characters (life, love, politics, etcetera), and of course your characters’ viewpoint. Pro tip here, ideally your characters viewpoints will conflict. Tension is everything in creative writing. Intellectual storytelling adds that element of tension because your characters will often have different thoughts and viewpoints, which clash until a resolution at the end. For more on creating characters see my post, Create Captivating Characters.
Things that are not intellectual storytelling is feelings, fears, what makes a character happy, and what they hope or dream for. Those are all wonderful things, and they have their place. But do not confuse them with intellectual storytelling. Everything has its place. Again, we will talk weaving at the end.
Emotional storytelling. Every writer has a particular strength, and this is my wheelhouse. I love revealing my character’s emotions. But what is emotional storytelling? Again, I am glad you asked. Emotional storytelling is your characters’ inner most feelings, dreams, hopes, how they react emotionally, how a character feels about an event in the story, and how your character will feel about other characters. Through your character’s emotions, your story will make the readers feel something. This is where you will find the pulse in my art. I get hot just writing about it. If you do this right, you can change a reader’s life.
Things that are not emotional storytelling are plot, actions, details of conflict and resolution, any ramifications of the conflict, or what what your character believes about anything. Keep in mind, you already know how to write all of this, it is intuitive. But being able to understand the difference, will allow you authority over your prose. As in, your characters will never run away from you and do their own thing. Which sadly happens all too often.
“…I hated him and his kind. I hated his affluence, his expensive clothes, his chiseled looks, and the arrogance he was born too. But most of all, I hated the power he held over me, his assumption of authority, and the truth of his superiority.”
Spiritual storytelling. I am going to pause here for a second. Many of you might say, how is spiritual not part of intellectual? And I would say, great question. The reason spiritual storytelling has its own place is because every character has a spiritual nature. Now that can mean your character is religious or not religious, but either view is a spiritual viewpoint. Atheist have a spiritual relationship, in that they deny one exists. Muslims have a spiritual relationship, in that they believe their choices have tangible consequences, and etcetera. Spiritual storytelling is simply your characters’ belief system or lack of one. Either perspective is a willful decision by your character. Good characters are human; they are walking contradictions.
Things that are elements of spiritual storytelling is a characters’ belief system (or lack of ), a possible spiritual backstory, and any internally or publicly spoken prayers. If you are writing religious fiction, or from a religious point-of-view, things like a god’s response to your characters actions (usually written in italics), a spiritual conviction, and hints as to why a certain deity is pursuing your character or vice versa.
W. Alexander Dunford I will never forget the television’s blue light that night fifteen years ago. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond played. Outside, beneath black skies, rain pelted our windows and the house’s bones braced against high winds. Thunder shook the walls. It was Father’s idea to watch the movie. He loved violence, and I loved…
Things that are not spiritual storytelling is plot, emotions, dialogue and action, etcetera.
When writing creative fiction or nonfiction, only spiritual storytelling is non-essential. You can still have a great story, leaving out anything of the fantastic (fantasy) or spiritual. But note, spirituality is a very human trait. Some might be religious-like observers of science (that would fall under spiritual). Spiritual storytelling is a great way to connect a character to the reader. But, again, this is the only element of storytelling, that is non-essential.
Weaving all four elements of storytelling is the mark of a good writer. Every page will, in every book, have all four elements together.
As you can see, I still have a ways to go with my craft. But I was brave, and wanted to share my prose with you. One reason, it incorporates all four elements of storytelling. Yes, it flows without you even noticing. And the one thing a writer wants more than anything, is for a general reader to never notice the writing. But writers do notice writing, and I hope you the writer can see the weave.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Especially, if you are a writer or want to be a writer. Please comment and share my blog. I love sharing the things I am learning at Liberty University. And now, more than ever, dealing with family grief, I am in need of some encouragement.
“What I took from this book? Stephen King is not superman, and neither does the aspiring writer need to be. King makes it clear, writers are made in the trenches, and those who put their nose to the grindstone, and never let anything stop their writing, succeed.”
I had never read Karen Kingsbury before attending Liberty University. Watching her lectures and having her share her process, has been a blessing. So when my inspirational writing class assigned a book of hers this semester, I was excited to study her prose. And she far exceeded any expectation I had. Wow! Listen to me; you have to read this book. I am about to read everything she has ever written.
Sure, I may be generous with my five star ratings from time-to-time, but Kingsbury’s book here, truly deserves six, seven, or twenty stars. When I finished it, I squealed hallelujah.
I am a thirty-one year old grown man. I cried so much reading this book, I had to wipe my tears just to see the screen. I am being honest. Chapter twenty-five (no spoilers), I had to take a pause from reading; my heart required a break. I have read hundreds upon hundreds of books, and never had the experience I had with This Side of Heaven. Not only did her writing help muster deep within myself a spirit of revival, reading it I feel has changed me forever. This is life changing fiction.
Every once in awhile I come across a book, I will never forget my experience reading. Like almost having a heart attack on my couch, because of this gem.
Anything else I say, will be perceived hyperbole. I highly recommend this book. May God bless and sustain her art. Just wow!
I am thinking of adding a couple book reviews to my regular blog. I am wondering if that is something, you, my readers would enjoy? Please let me know in the comments below or send me an email.
“…in that moment my fear retreated. I discovered I hated him and his kind. I hated his affluence, his expensive clothes, his chiseled looks, and the arrogance he was born to. But most of all, I hated the power he held over me, his assumption of authority, and the truth of his superiority.”
Derry, New Hampshire was the longtime home of Robert Frost. This poem is in dedication to my favorite poetry book: North of Boston, and his poem October.
