-
Recent Posts
- The Love-Hate Relationship with Creativity
- Social Learning and Creative Writing
- Writing with Kennings
- No! I’m Not Insane
- Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?
- What Exactly is Imagery?
- The Writing Sampler
- Classics Don’t Qualify as Comps
- Dealing with Painful Critiques
- The Power of Laughter
- Scoring Your Sense of Humor
- Why Do We Read Emotions?
Archives
Meta
- Follow Write about what? on WordPress.com
Author Archives: knlistman
The Love-Hate Relationship with Creativity
Despite current praise of novelists, playwrights, artists, musicians and other kinds of creative people, the behavior that leads to these careers is often discouraged during childhood, adolescence and beyond. This is not just a matter of people trying to protect … Continue reading
Social Learning and Creative Writing
There is a trend to use existing social media (Facebook, Discord, Reddit, Quora, Instagram) to create a social learning group in which members collaborate and share knowledge with each other. So, I’ve visited some of these groups that might interest … Continue reading
Writing with Kennings
Creating imagery can be confusing. Ancient literature is difficult not just because of archaic words, but also figures of speech that are strange to our ears. These ancient authors were attempting to help the reader see the action. For example, … Continue reading
Posted in allusions, Creativity, Literary devices, Literature, Style and voice, Translations
Tagged Beowulf, breaker of rings, Figure of speech, giver of rings, idiom, kenning, old english, sail road, swan road, thee, whale road, ye
1 Comment
No! I’m Not Insane
Have you ever seen Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs inverted so it is upside down? If you are a writer or any kind of creative person, you should familiarize yourself with this. It is balanced on the tiny point of self-actualization … Continue reading
Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?
When running out of advice to help a struggling author improve their novel, a more seasoned author may point out the benefits of showing rather than telling. What exactly does that mean? Unless you are producing a picture book, it … Continue reading
Posted in Literary devices, Novels, Writer's resource
Tagged books, Creative writing, Description, Fiction, show don't tell, Writing, writing-tips
1 Comment
What Exactly is Imagery?
What is the difference between describing details and creating imagery? Perhaps I should ask what is the difference in describing details that are exquisite and those full of boring minutia. The concept is difficult to explain because it does depend … Continue reading
Posted in Showing versus telling, Writer's resource
Tagged books, Description, details, imagery, Literature, Philosophy, poetry, Writing
Leave a comment
The Writing Sampler
I recall a time when I could amble through a mall and be approached by marketing interviewers. If I fit the criteria, I could spend twenty minutes of time providing my opinion in exchange for a few dollars or coupons … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Ideas for writing, Literature, Teaching writing skills
Tagged books, content, critiques, Fiction, grammar, Publishing, trends, Writing, writing-tips
2 Comments
Classics Don’t Qualify as Comps
Before attending my first writer’s conference in Oklahoma, I poured over the biography of all the speakers. Each one was asked to disclose a classic novel in their want to read list. Despite the different books listed I was shocked … Continue reading
Posted in Drama and movies, Literary devices, Psychology, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books
Tagged agent, books, comparable-comp, dark-fiction, dostoevsky, Fiction, Literature, Publishing, Writing
3 Comments
Dealing with Painful Critiques
Educators often do not recognize their most creative students. I witnessed examples of this behavior as teachers described which poems they preferred in an anthology written by students. The cheerful rhyming poems were often considered better than those dealing with … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity
Tagged Alex Osbourn, brainstorming, business, Creativity, critique, Education, neurodivirgent, research, teaching, Writing
Leave a comment
The Power of Laughter
Evidently girls between the ages of 11 and 18 all over the world laugh more than any other group. They even laugh when nothing is particularly amusing. However, the very sound of an initial giggle seems to generate the impulse … Continue reading
Posted in Laughter and humor, Manipulation, Persuasion
Tagged humor, laughter, life, Mental health, placating, protection, Writing
Leave a comment
Write about what? 