tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62502372024-03-13T18:15:34.950-05:00Fiction Writing: The Passionate Journey. Blog of Writing Coach, Emily HanlonThis blog is being revitalized. There are still many postings available here.
Visit my website, www.theictionwritersjourney.
Sign up for my newsletter and I'll let you know when the blog is back up and running. Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-23152509153565197952017-11-03T15:36:00.000-05:002018-01-14T16:24:26.783-05:00The Blog Has Moved!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's revitalized and loaded with prompts, articles, and inspiration!</span></h3>
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<a href="https://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/my-blog"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><b>Visit the new blog now!</b></span></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-89345373828476021942016-01-17T13:58:00.000-05:002016-01-17T13:58:46.596-05:00Characteristics of Right Brain Dominant People<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<strong>Right Brain Dominant People Who Are Comfortable Expressing Creativity...</strong><br />
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Creativity is forged in the fire of the unconscious and the unfathomable depths of the unknown where nothing is predetermined and everything is possible. This is the realm of the right brain, which is also the dream state. It is the place of images, feelings and mystery. It is non-linear. People at home in the right side of the brain swim in the sea of mystery and possibility with a certain fearlessness that they often do not know they own. <br />
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The right side of the brain is not afraid of or even aware of the potential for failure; it is looking for possibility not definition. People who are right brain dominant and are comfortable expressing creativity, allow themselves to swim in this great sea of possibility without fearing they will never make sense, grow or complete. They intuitively understand that the left brain, its organizational ability and its drive to complete will step in at the right time. In other words, they trust the creative process, which is a dance between the right and left sides of the brain.<br />
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<em>I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ... <br />without the least idea what was to happen afterwards.</em> <br />
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<strong>Right Brain Dominant People Who Are <em>Not</em> Comfortable Expressing Creativity...</strong> </div>
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<span class="bodyText"><em><strong>Right brain dominant people who are not expressing their creativity</strong> trust ne</em>ither the right nor the left side of the brain. They swim aimlessly in the great sea of possibility and often give up and feel unsuccessful, unworthy and even stupid because nothing they do ever gets finished. They are likely to believe the stories that have pigeon-holed them as ditzy, disorganized and sometimes even useless. These people have had little support for their right brain strengths, and even when their creativity is praised, the praise falls on deaf ears. They have lost belief in themselves and their self worth. This is a tragic situation for the person who is born right brain dominant. </span><br />
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<span class="bodyText"><strong>Left Brain Dominant People Who <em>Yearn</em> to Express Their Creativity....</strong> </span><br />
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<span class="bodyText">The realm of the left brain/rational mind is that of logic, order and definition. Its job is to process information, draw conclusions and complete. It does this in a linear fashion that is antithetical to the right brain's ability to swim in the sea of possibility and mystery. </span><br />
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<span class="bodyText">The left side of the brain does not know what to do with the first spark of creativity; it cannot deal with that which is yet unformed and hence unknown. Therefore, bringing the rational mind into the early phases of any creative undertaking is counter-productive. This is what makes the creative process so challenging for left brain dominant people who yearn to express their creativity. </span></div>
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<em>"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."</em><br />
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<em>One of the most wicked destructive forces, psychologically speaking, is unused creative power... If someone has a creative gift and out of laziness, or for some other reason doesn’t use it, the psychic energy turns to sheer poison.</em></div>
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—Marie-Louise Frantz </div>
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<em>Marie Louise Frantz was a life long associate of Carl Jung and the founder of the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich.</em></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-38097153290133547402016-01-06T15:39:00.000-05:002016-01-06T17:48:41.296-05:00Write What You Know? Maybe it's not such a good idea for the fiction writer!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Write what you know? </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span lang="EN"><br /></span></em><span lang="EN">This is not only boring for the fiction writer but is contradictory to the basic core of creativity, which by definition brings into being that which has not been before. If you write from what you know, if you remain slavish to the facts of what happen, you are writing out of you conscious mind and will remain stuck in the straight jacket of you conscious perception of “reality.” </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN">That said, there is nothing wrong with using your life or any aspect of your experiences as a jumping off point, as a doorway into the unconscious.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN">The key is not to be slavish to the known. Rather we need to have our writer’s antenna sensing for the opportunity to slip through the doorway into the unknown.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN">Gertrude Stein put it this way: </span>“You cannot go into the womb to form the child... What will be best in it (your writing) is what your really do not know now. If you knew it all it would not be creation but dictation.”</span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Philip Roth, known for his autobiographical writing, said, "By
the time the imagination is finished with fact, believe me, it bears no
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-90193440998611384062015-03-14T13:31:00.001-05:002015-11-27T13:39:26.466-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How to bypass the dictates of the mind, which is home to the Inner Critic, and write from the heart and gut, which are the realms of the Inner Writer, is basic to my teaching. The best way I know to make this shift is to use the image as a bridge into the unconscious. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why? Because the image resides in the right side of the brain, the place of dreams and sensations. The Inner Critic is terrified of a place where its logic, judgments, criticisms and evaluations go unheeded.</span><br>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why? Because the right side of the brain is far too chaotic, imagistic and sensory for something as complicated as language. Further, the Inner Critic lives to maintain the status quo, something that is meaningless in the cosmic potential of the creative unconscious.</span><br>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What follows is an exercise that takes you through the process of using the power of the image to unleash creativity. Then there are three writing prompts along with suggestions on ways to move from the free fall of the image into developing character and story born of the imagination.</span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2015/03/image-as-bridge-into-unconscious-how-to.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-72014347929302424792015-01-28T15:49:00.002-05:002015-01-28T16:16:37.431-05:00A New Writing Workshop and Video!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Writing Workshop: Tales of the Crone As Told by the Crone" border="0" src="http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/images/tales_of_crone2.jpg" height="400" title="Writing Workshop: Tales of the Crone As Told by the Crone" width="356" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we access the wisdom of a life ― wisdom gained through love, risk, successes, failures, challenges met and challenges refused? How do we process and grow with our heartache, passion, laughter and the constant cycles of birth, life and death that are our constant companions?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my new six month TeleCircle, Tales of the Crone As Told by the Crone, we will do this in a very particular way: through storytelling, whether it be as fiction, memoir, myth, fairytale, poetry or allegory...<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>And who is our storyteller?</b></span><br />
The Crone who lives within each of us and, in her wisdom, compassion and humor, has been a lifelong companion, whether we acknowledge her or not. And when we acknowledge her, what then?<br />
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To find the answer, please watch my new video: <i>Tales of the Crone As Told by the Crone</i>. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51F-Y_BOWW8" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">View on YouTube.</span></b></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The TeleCircle meets every other Thursday, starting March 5 at 7 pm eastern time and runs for 2 to 21/2 hours. Each session is recorded. </span><br />
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</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early Registration: 12 TeleCircles plus one private session: $600.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early Registration ends on February 10. Fee after February 10 is $700.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Circle is limited to 10. All TeleCircles are recorded. </span></li>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></ul><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u> </u><a href="http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/tales_of_crone_reg.html" target="_blank"><strong>Register Now. Save $100 when you register by February 10</strong></a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Email Emily: <a href="mailto:emily@emilyhanlon.com">emily@emilyhanlon.com</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">phone: 914.962.4432</span></span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-25376289716353899122015-01-27T18:15:00.000-05:002015-01-27T18:15:32.584-05:00The Fiction Writer and the Creative Chaos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Creative Chaos: It's Difficulty, Its Call, Its Freedom</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Creative chaos is probably the most difficult aspect of the creative process. And it is the most mysterious and exciting. This is true whether we are writing a book, creating a garden, redoing our house or deepening our relationships. Whatever the creative undertaking, the centerpiece of the process, especially in its opening stages (which can often last for quite a while) is the creative chaos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What makes the creative chaos such a difficult part of the process? Consider the word itself: chaos. What do you think of when "chaos" comes to mind? Anarchy. Mobs. Randomness. Out of control. “Oh God, my life is in chaos... My house is a mess... My kids are out of control... my bills are mounting.... Nothing is going right at work... Chaos. I live in eternal chaos! " Sound familiar? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The problem with creative chaos is not so much the actual chaos, but our dumping creative chaos into the barrel of negative life experiences. We do this to the detriment to all our creative expression. Take relationships. To my mind, building strong, life enchancing relationships is one of our most creative challenges. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No powerful relationship in life, including your relationship with yourself, can escape the chaotic fires of transformation. Often, you are brought to the point of desperation. You yell, often in most self-righteous outrage, "I can't take it anymore! I'm out of here!" You think you're leaving the relationship but in truth what you are leaving, what is being burned away and transformed by the chaos, are those parts of the relationship that no longer serve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Picasso said, "Artists are destroyers of nicely ordered systems."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I believe the first system that artists/creators must destroy is the nicely ordered system of our persona that struggles desperately to keep hold the status quo. Creativity and creative chaos are warriors of change driven by passion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Creativity is revolutionary; it is active; it is daring; it requires risk. Creativity is not some law abiding, moderate participator in life! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Anything of worth in life must withstand burning if it is to give light. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://thefictionwritersjourney.com/Spring_Writing_Retreat.html" target="_blank">Explore Emily 2015 Writer's Retreat, May 2015: Journey Into the Imagination</a> </span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-56980200607823492762014-11-07T14:11:00.000-05:002015-10-21T20:15:46.365-05:00How the Fiction Writer Learns to Welcome the Unknown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>"... the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself... alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the sweat and the agony."--</i> Willliam Faulkner</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is good fiction writing technique? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do we unleash the creative energy through the channels of character and story? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Craft and technique are necessary, but the trick is to not put the cart before the horse. Technical expertise alone cannot release the writer's passion, and the perfectly turned phrase will please the ego, but if it doesn't translate into something meaningful for the character and story, it is so much wasted word count. </span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/11/how-fiction-writer-learns-to-welcome.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-49250484317916118982014-07-01T12:46:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:31:08.922-05:00The Power of A Good Critique for the Fiction Writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>A good critique never leaves you deflated. It always leaves you inspired. </b></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Receiving a critique with curiosity and an open mind and knowing how to critique others writing are two of the most enriching aspects of belonging to a fiction writing workshop. Having your work critiqued in a supportive atmosphere where there is a professional writing coach is a terrific learning experience in many way ways. </span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whether you are participating in a <a href="http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/fwj_workshops_in_westchester.html" target="">writing workshop</a> or working with a <a href="http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/" target="_blank">private writing coach</a>, a good critique encourages the <i>silencing</i> of your Inner Critic, your <i>willingness</i> to take risks with your writing and <i>releases</i> your creative passion. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>A Good Critique Inspired, Never Deflates...</b></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-power-of-good-critique-for-fiction.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-3418068853182302252014-05-18T14:05:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:31:40.318-05:00The Inner Critic Is Afraid of Your Creativity!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRlOHHuKulq2sXZscimg9shqVLzuIVwTT8VzL1sW4Ghk5Ha87Us-wzLhTddYWmBCrtaGqZyXsqSCZdTo2ru3OA_-h1-xQennQbHH_n0bz_7EoaIn1YFT_75cuCXBgG1-UHxkiKw/s1600/blog_Joy-Creativity-Passion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRlOHHuKulq2sXZscimg9shqVLzuIVwTT8VzL1sW4Ghk5Ha87Us-wzLhTddYWmBCrtaGqZyXsqSCZdTo2ru3OA_-h1-xQennQbHH_n0bz_7EoaIn1YFT_75cuCXBgG1-UHxkiKw/s1600/blog_Joy-Creativity-Passion.jpg" height="234" title="The Inner Critic is terrified of the creative unconscious" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Inner Critic is terrified of the creative unconscious because it is the home of feelings, emotions, images and it is chaotic and unexpected. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Inner Critic likes order and loves the status quo, which is antithetical to the creative unconscious. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That's why if you "fall down the rabbit hole" the Inner Critic won't follow you! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Free of the Inner Critic, you have the possibility of experiencing real creative freedom and passionate stories awaits you. Only then can the true dance begin!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-1141834255244182092014-04-29T00:00:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:32:28.392-05:00The Life Force of Creativity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">From Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXR_OwxOnw0EFY2JTrbJaNKRHSDgWywf59zhX9Or6mXuPC__HecEqMfoiDia195YPT7MFlgpspukZzbO87ilZP50m8hKTYv_JTKLMT6WGPI2_McTCdJp1lGaHew45PSQGGHkYyg/s1600/blog_creativty_as_a_life_force.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXR_OwxOnw0EFY2JTrbJaNKRHSDgWywf59zhX9Or6mXuPC__HecEqMfoiDia195YPT7MFlgpspukZzbO87ilZP50m8hKTYv_JTKLMT6WGPI2_McTCdJp1lGaHew45PSQGGHkYyg/s1600/blog_creativty_as_a_life_force.jpg" title="Creativity as a Life Force in Writing"></a><span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">There is a vitality,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">a life force,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">a quickening that is translated through you into action,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">and because there is only one you in all time, </span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">this expression is unique.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">If you block it,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">it will never exist through any medium and be lost.</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">The world will not have it.</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">It is not your business to determine how good it is;</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">it is your business to keep it yours,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">clearly and directly,</span><br>
<span style="color: #336666; font-family: inherit;">to keep the channel open...</span><br>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-life-force-of-creativity.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-35038838972199184112014-04-27T08:30:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:33:10.667-05:00Why and How Your Inner Critic Stops You from Writing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoskK-dRL7EwHxOc7OiGP_qMZzvKN0SEVi_-IcE0Csnp5JYZL5M-LYUb2GBCpTbAB8M7nBavkzHOrAaIK_67THDXS-AJXrV_C9v2q5yMi7MEg3ny0k-ud-QO_Ux8FegG75awZWmg/s1600/blog_articles_ick_graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoskK-dRL7EwHxOc7OiGP_qMZzvKN0SEVi_-IcE0Csnp5JYZL5M-LYUb2GBCpTbAB8M7nBavkzHOrAaIK_67THDXS-AJXrV_C9v2q5yMi7MEg3ny0k-ud-QO_Ux8FegG75awZWmg/s1600/blog_articles_ick_graphic.jpg"></a><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>How the Inner Critic Gains A Foothold</b></span><br>Here is a scenario about how the </span><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2008/07/thoughts-on-inner-critic.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Inner Critic</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> gains a foothold in our lives. Imagine you are a little kid and you go to touch something that is hot and your mother screams, “Don’t do that!” Or, you are playing in the dirt, having a grand time, and your mother says in horror, “Oh my God! We are going to grandma’s house and you’re filthy dirty!”<br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Inner Critic Wants to Keep You Safe, but at What Cost?</b></span></span></div>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-and-how-your-inner-critic-stops-you.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-58162686747314949132014-04-12T11:56:00.001-05:002014-11-05T11:34:22.489-05:00The Agony of the Untold Story for the Fiction Writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "Avenir 45 Book","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>There
is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: "Avenir 45 Book","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Avenir 45 Book","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>-Maya
Angelou</b></span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Someone recently sent me this quote. Its truth brought tears to my eyes. The synchronicity of it's arrival was uncanny. Although I am a fiction writer and have written about ten novels, some published, some not, a few unfinished, others yet unborn, I have for the past ten years or so feared I would never give birth to another novel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Why my fiction writing dried up, I don't know. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It was a slow drying up, but one day it was gone. There were no more characters and stories inside me. It was astonishing, really. I had written all my life, since the time I was a little girl. There hadn't been any great long breaks. I wrote all through school, majored in writing in college. I married a man who loved my writing, believed in my career as a novelist. I wrote when my children were small and all through their growing up. I reveled in the freedom of the empty nest. My time was my own. I wrote more furiously. I expected I would write fiction for the rest of my life. </span></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-agony-of-untold-story-for-fiction.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-64069665349750135852014-03-26T18:45:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:34:54.441-05:00How to Use a Writing Prompt in Fiction Writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Some Tips Before You Begin</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVed4mbos_ny5VSnMiEP4x-OtW8XFt9oB9jiXHD2BrZZVlMgHgr25Gwu30HOUE9XJi70Ti3PzEh0lStArD3dyKHSE37U7AadldG0hJsNYlSgf6gTt1L4nIpad0XuRoohydUCLIIA/s1600/blog_mailing_a_letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="How to use a Fiction Writing Prompt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVed4mbos_ny5VSnMiEP4x-OtW8XFt9oB9jiXHD2BrZZVlMgHgr25Gwu30HOUE9XJi70Ti3PzEh0lStArD3dyKHSE37U7AadldG0hJsNYlSgf6gTt1L4nIpad0XuRoohydUCLIIA/s1600/blog_mailing_a_letter.jpg" height="247" title="How to use a Fiction Writing Prompt" width="320"></a></div>
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Any prompt is only a starting point. If your imagination takes you in a direction that has nothing to do with the prompts, go where <i>your </i><i>imagination</i> takes you. </div>
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Do not listen to the voice inside your head that says, “Oh, no! I shouldn’t be writing about this!” or “I’m not doing this right!” There are no “shoulds” or “should nots” in this process. The only thing you can do wrong is to <i>not </i>write.</div>
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<i>Always </i>name your characters, even if the name never appears in the story. Why would a character tell you her story if you don’t care enough to learn her name?</div>
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Write <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2007/03/five-ingredients-of-scene-in-novel.html">dialogue</a>. In thirty years of teaching writing, I have <i>never</i> worked with anyone who couldn’t write dialogue – only with people who <i>thought</i> they couldn’t!</div>
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Be a <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2007/01/finding-your-writers-voice.html">risk taker</a>. Don’t think. Write from your passionate core. Risk and passion are the essence of the creative journey and the sweetest nectar for your <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/02/heres-great-exercise-to-give-muscle-to.html">Inner Writer</a>. Don’t forget to have fun!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The Prompt</b></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-to-use-writing-prompt-in-fiction.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-26144591832518185712014-03-18T15:49:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:35:21.455-05:00Why Do We Make Writing So Hard?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RGhI4jQy560/UyigefwDcFI/AAAAAAAADf0/Ok2m9Sc3vJw/s1600/blog-digging-in-dirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQtzJsXClIXmlzeZraiRCgPUhtlGvOkGH0EgEw3oHKNBoNSeO6CXzH9l1wYwWQ1ipUVQ-TQ_Xx9X1JXh0bhswB1v9wlKFhzz58v1s6flFlJVYRyJjHJobuNwd7jTFYse_6lif5Q/s1600/blog_digging_in_dirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQtzJsXClIXmlzeZraiRCgPUhtlGvOkGH0EgEw3oHKNBoNSeO6CXzH9l1wYwWQ1ipUVQ-TQ_Xx9X1JXh0bhswB1v9wlKFhzz58v1s6flFlJVYRyJjHJobuNwd7jTFYse_6lif5Q/s1600/blog_digging_in_dirt.jpg" height="166" title="Why Do We Make Writing So Hard?" width="200"></a><span lang="EN">We make writing a lot harder than it is meant to be. Don’t get me wrong—writing is not a piece of cake. It is hard work, but it’s <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2010/10/being-warrior-for-your-creativity.html">good hard work</a>, like digging in the earth to make a garden. The problem for many of us is that our minds have convinced us that sitting down to write a story much less a book is at best painful, at worst impossible. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN">I believed this for many years –– and despite that I managed to get five novels, two picture books and one book on writing published. I don’t believe in the pain theory of writing any more. Experience and age has convinced me of this:</span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-do-we-make-writing-so-hard.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-1159062423647736222014-03-14T10:00:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:36:10.092-05:00Do You Want You Want Your Fiction Writing to Expand Like Crazy?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>Falling Down the Rabbit Hole: Wonderland as Metaphor</b>! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>How Far Down the Rabbit Hole Are You Willing to Go?</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWEtfQnbQ8dbvUCiQ-yPgzg4ndXZ-XmXcGrTQNTQc41kYnrFyWx9aDaQdIjN6SM2hwyAzZDoHUchutoqTm4MAPjLvlHYsI1MT97ZeLIgUT7ZXkrl17RwdOoayh2sxi_dI5TR4hQ/s1600/blog_rabbit_hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWEtfQnbQ8dbvUCiQ-yPgzg4ndXZ-XmXcGrTQNTQc41kYnrFyWx9aDaQdIjN6SM2hwyAzZDoHUchutoqTm4MAPjLvlHYsI1MT97ZeLIgUT7ZXkrl17RwdOoayh2sxi_dI5TR4hQ/s1600/blog_rabbit_hole.jpg" title="Wonderland as Metaphor for Writers and The Creative Journey" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Falling down the Rabbit Hole into Wonderland is a perfect metaphor for the creative journey which can never take place in the “real” or conscious world. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing, whether it be fiction, poetry or nonfiction, finds its origins in the dark, fertile chaos of the unconscious.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>The Importance of Tweedledum and Tweedledee</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you don’t meet Cheshire cats and Mad Hatters, Tweedledees and Tweedledums, mad queens, dragons, flying monkeys and monsters, or your version of the above, then you have not fallen. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is not to say you have to be writing fantasy or horror to open to your unconscious, but as you will see, the journey for the writer must hold metaphorically a good sprinkling of both.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 100%;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Explore Emily's workbook, </span></b><a href="http://www.thefictionwritersjourney.com/fwj_a_book_on_writing.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Art of Fiction Writing or How to Fall Down the Rabbit Hole Without Really Trying....</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 100%;"><b>Paperback and e-book available</b></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-83177948479976737232014-03-07T16:23:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:36:56.482-05:00Are You Right Brain or Left Brain Dominant? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Right Brain Leads the Dance of Creativity...</span></b></span></span></span><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Je_wvAZB8Z9hUnYPh3xzGPK-FOx-JIWWQNTVJB2-i31K_G4tBsJjDWg5Q0m9yJIfjb2mpHwbL8QGtOaiSp5wxEqC6-sLC1i3wvQbztmAFPitjLWhRrygu4Vvyiho1wpRjkNfpw/s1600/blog_right_brain_left_brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Je_wvAZB8Z9hUnYPh3xzGPK-FOx-JIWWQNTVJB2-i31K_G4tBsJjDWg5Q0m9yJIfjb2mpHwbL8QGtOaiSp5wxEqC6-sLC1i3wvQbztmAFPitjLWhRrygu4Vvyiho1wpRjkNfpw/s1600/blog_right_brain_left_brain.jpg" height="200" title="Are You Right Brain or Left Brain Dominant? " width="200"></a></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN">Creativity is a subtle dance between the rational and the intuitive, between the left and right parts of the brains. In terms of writing, we would say that technique comes from the left side of the brain and imagination from the right side. <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2008/01/creative-writing-is-not-linear-process.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Both are needed</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">People, by nature, are usually right brain or left dominant. Some are more in balance than others, and no matter which you are, you can learn how to build muscle into whichever side you are weaker. </span><br>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Here is a look at some of the ways that the many people with whom I have worked over the past 30 years relate to their right and left brain <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">tendencies.</span> This is by no means a complete view of the spectrum but I believe it is fairly typical of fiction writers.</span><br>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/03/are-you-right-brain-or-left-brain.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-11836885622770238292014-02-25T14:02:00.001-05:002014-11-01T13:57:25.257-05:00Give Muscle to Your Inner Writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Getting up-close and personal with your Inner Writer</span></b><br />
Ask her or him to write you a letter. Seriously. I suggest you do this using pen andpaper.<br />
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Simply ask you <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/imagination-and-bruised-noses.html">Inner Writer </a>to write to you and tell you what she thinks about you and your writing.Actually write that down.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear Inner Writer, What do you think of my writing?</span></i></b><br />
Then, let her take control of the pen and write! You'll be amazed at what your Inner Writer has to say.<br />
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Hint: if you hear <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/imagination-and-bruised-noses.html">judgment or criticism</a> you know that your Inner Critic has taken over. Tell her/him in not uncertain terms to go away and invite your Inner Writer to keep writing.<br />
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If you like, please post your letter to the blog!</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-7686349853981270442014-01-16T19:23:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:37:44.863-05:00When Inspiration Strikes, It's well... Cryptic!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzVMhTzY0rkhw10EpZ5QtERAITcFGKFh7bukRjsXdYQLcaeAMRj7sZrDjcAuh2SAGt6aJFjLqHfBrzRZpScjuyJYzhKQIiY-Wn__GF_oXyQW2hSqR5WrOW502PXZ31zVPSgEvbQ/s1600/cryptic_connections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Writer's Inspiration comes from strange places! E.L. Doctorow Quote" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHzVMhTzY0rkhw10EpZ5QtERAITcFGKFh7bukRjsXdYQLcaeAMRj7sZrDjcAuh2SAGt6aJFjLqHfBrzRZpScjuyJYzhKQIiY-Wn__GF_oXyQW2hSqR5WrOW502PXZ31zVPSgEvbQ/s1600/cryptic_connections.jpg" height="240" title="Writer's Inspiration comes from strange places! E.L. Doctorow Quote" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How does the writer make sense of mysterious and cryptic connections that excites the </span></b><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2005/09/forged-with-fire-creativity-and_06.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">creative unconscious</span></b></a>? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't need it to make sense. Just go with it. Play with it. <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/12/image-as-bridge-into-unconcious-writing.html" target="_blank">See what turns up</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What follows is a quote from E L Doctorow on how his new book, <i>Brain of Andrew</i> began. Won't make sense to the logical mind, but clearly his creative unconscious saw it as something to run with!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Many years ago, I worked for a man, a good decent man in the movie business. And he told me one day that years before he had been feeding medicine to his infant child with an eye dropper and it was the wrong medication. And as a result, the child died. And he had a couple of other stories that made me realize that he was an inadvertent agent of disaster, leaving a wake behind him of terrible events. And I also had the image in my mind - I don't know where it came from - of a girl with colored pencils drawing on a pad and then she sees an adult trying to see what she's done. And so she takes the pencil in her hand and scribbles over what she's been so carefully doing. And those two images somehow combined in some sort of evocative way and got me writing this book."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Good advice!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you had such an experience? If so, share it with us.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-74089290013371140662014-01-12T14:05:00.000-05:002014-11-05T11:38:28.215-05:00Reading a novel triggers lasting changes in the brain...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #777777; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hide: all;">Sat 28 Dec 2013 - 12am PST</span><br>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #777777; display: none; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hide: all;">Sat 28 Dec 2013 - 12am PST</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marie Ellis</span></span></span><br>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reprinted from MNT-- Medical News Today</span></span></span><br>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><br>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lovers of literature can rejoice...</span></b></span></span></span><br>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A new study combines the humanities and neuroscience to take a look at what effects reading </span><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2005/01/wow-im-impressed.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a novel</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> can have on the brain. Researchers say exploring a book can not only change your perspective, but also it can change your mind - at least for a few days. </span></span></span><br>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Stories shape our lives...</b></span></span><br>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The researchers, from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, published their findings in the journal Brain Connectivity. Neuroscientist Gregory Berns, lead author and director of Emory's Center for Neuropolicy, says: "Stories shape our lives and in some cases help define a person. We want to understand how stories get into your brain, and what they do to it." </span></span></span><br>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span lang="EN" style="color: #111111; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> To investigate the inner workings of the novel-reading mind, the researchers recruited 21 undergraduates from Emory, who were instructed to read a thriller written by Robert Harris in 2003, titled Pompeii.</span></span></span><br>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/01/reading-novel-triggers-lasting-changes.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-75981198890237334112013-12-31T11:59:00.000-05:002014-11-01T14:14:32.655-05:00Top Ten Resolutions Every Writer Should Make<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_p-K9o1LXHtwFP5bwQDt6YgYqL8WTmbK447_oqhauI0kQ1dpL9eOxi_viY9V4Uy0cB90N0XhAzSSydeSaYqoYzN8qBWge7ai4vrIeMrxer3gDLCjJH_xm1w9rLzSLWPFwuWoTA/s1600/blog_writing-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Top Ten Resolutions Every Writer Should Make" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_p-K9o1LXHtwFP5bwQDt6YgYqL8WTmbK447_oqhauI0kQ1dpL9eOxi_viY9V4Uy0cB90N0XhAzSSydeSaYqoYzN8qBWge7ai4vrIeMrxer3gDLCjJH_xm1w9rLzSLWPFwuWoTA/s1600/blog_writing-love.jpg" height="320" title="Top Ten Resolutions Every Writer Should Make" width="303" /></a></div>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ytwWqiwHRMM/Ux4Q-4qPHNI/AAAAAAAADdY/ZfP759LCC64/s1600/blog_writing-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">1. I write for the joy of writing.<br /><br />2. I<a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-and-how-your-inner-critic-stops-you.html"> ban my Inner Critic</a> from my head and my home each time I sit down to write.<br /><br />3. I know that first draft writing is filled with rich, uncovered gems.<br /><br />4. I do not expect my first or second or third draft to be perfect.<br /><br />5. I expect the unexpected in my writing.<br /><br />6. I love <a href="https://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=VwMZqkUBAAA.b8kJkYdWVVLagow3bM5M4w.nvMJLpu8AL50yJ1y81UMxA&postId=114183425524418209&type=POST">being a writer</a> and I love my writing.<br /><br />7. I remember that writing comes from my heart and my gut not my head!<br /><br />8. The only thing that can stop me from being a writer is to stop writing.<br /><br />9. I am a writer always and no one can take that away from me.<br /><br />10. And finally, a Message from the Muse: "Writing is the axe that breaks the frozen sea within me." ~ Kafka </span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><i><span style="color: #674ea7;">How do these resolutions resonate with you? </span></i></span><i><span style="color: #674ea7;">Any resolutions to add?</span></i></span></b></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-49346008921007521682013-12-26T09:50:00.001-05:002014-11-05T11:39:01.365-05:00How to Develop Point of View in Fiction Writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Problems of the human heart....</span></b><br>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">William Faulkner wrote: "... the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself... alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the sweat and the agony."</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Faulkner has given us a tough assignment, yet it is an assignment at which we must excel as fiction writers. The best way to succeed at this is to leave behind what you believe to be "true" and open yourself to the vast possibility of life experiences outside your own. For it is not true that we can only write what we experience. As writers, we have enormous access to the cosmic imagination where anything is possible -- including the great expanse of human emotions.</span><br>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Writing an emotionally strong scene...</b></span><br>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/12/point-of-view-in-fiction-writing.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-35376570766831822922013-12-22T11:26:00.000-05:002015-10-24T19:34:45.279-05:00Waiting for Inspiration: Fiction Writer's Beware!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnNZdhYCPvyCe23NS6SSYZZupG2KG8rVWU8-1hFFXHcT6_QToGn5FJla2gIQssZCJAJK5Kz8sCpHO_uGM36DZKoQrrK9iV7EtMi-yUIGQtLQIlwkbCV1EC6VB6YWuovNCVpscdA/s1600/inspiration2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Waiting for Inspiration: A warning to Fiction Writers" border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVnNZdhYCPvyCe23NS6SSYZZupG2KG8rVWU8-1hFFXHcT6_QToGn5FJla2gIQssZCJAJK5Kz8sCpHO_uGM36DZKoQrrK9iV7EtMi-yUIGQtLQIlwkbCV1EC6VB6YWuovNCVpscdA/s1600/inspiration2.jpg" title="Waiting for Inspiration: A warning to Fiction Writers" width="320"></a><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Waiting</i> for inspiration to write, or searching for the "just right" opening sentence or paragraph will, more often than not, make you nuts.</span></b> </div>
Let's look at <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/04/inspiration-and-proverbial-apple-cart.html">inspiration </a>first. It does come to all of us. It might appear as a sudden flash of a whole story or scene or poem or essay. You have it! You know you have it! You sit down to write and the words flow like magic. Moments like this are truly a gift from the Muse and to her I say, "Thank you so very much."<br>
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More often, inspiration gets you to pick up pen and paper or go to the computer to writer, but no sooner do you begin than you find yourself in a labyrinth of words and thoughts. And all had been so clear only moments before. In despair, you give up, feeling like a <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2010/12/ten-tips-on-writing-and-creativity.html">failure</a>. <i>"So much for inspiration,"</i> you sigh.<br>
</div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/12/waiting-for-inspiration.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-88366549102898902322013-12-17T14:47:00.004-05:002014-11-05T11:40:19.755-05:00When Your Inner Critic Attacks, Challenge Him with a Gift to Yourself! I Dare You To!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-WpNa5e53LsPJU36maniYQXPgkzJkEDlaXGlkT8MmFDhO0RWrn4piM8t5Z41Kz9bVQhVokMbn2HN41bDs_hinWMPpNVlLuz_CbPxMVeTTXi29b80-Xm2DTRnF8adFesb7EWNFg/s1600/blog_celebrate_self.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="For the Fiction Writer: When Your Inner Critic Attacks, Challenge Him with a Gift to Yourself!" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-WpNa5e53LsPJU36maniYQXPgkzJkEDlaXGlkT8MmFDhO0RWrn4piM8t5Z41Kz9bVQhVokMbn2HN41bDs_hinWMPpNVlLuz_CbPxMVeTTXi29b80-Xm2DTRnF8adFesb7EWNFg/s1600/blog_celebrate_self.jpg" height="320" title="For the Fiction Writer: When Your Inner Critic Attacks, Challenge Him with a Gift to Yourself!" width="320"></a></div>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NtqszUFwBfY/Uw0yV1azk5I/AAAAAAAADIY/CCRtC7Z3P94/s1600/blog_celebrate_self2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I was sent this from a friend and thought to pass it on. </span><br>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I posted a </span><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2007/01/finding-your-writers-voice.html">gift </a>idea for your
fans</span><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> last week, so it only
seems fair that I post a gift idea for yourself this time around. Consider
this: You are on an intense journey as an indie author that can be very
rewarding. The rewards might include fulfilling your dream of being published
or perhaps earning enough money to cover your monthly bills. But the journey is
full of peaks and valleys. At times, it might seem that </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> the peaks feel
impossible to climb and that it's also incredibly easy to stumble and fall into
the valleys. From time to time, you might face critics who appear to want to
block your way to success, but interestingly enough, the biggest critic among
them is most likely <b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">you. </span></b></span><br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/12/offer-gift-to-writer-in-you.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-78633984296252981002013-12-16T14:46:00.001-05:002014-11-05T11:42:37.802-05:00Nothing Kills Creativity Faster the Criticism: Enter the Inner Critic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjXED5oUFCTH-tMH08IajUf-DHJjD7ISX1cksXQycIwZnEvldKfaAa0DfQDvxZAQMSwDuOKt5kB3GR5MhVguFMO2Ww1HPsiGey2MU_Uho3_KO8zuC0jEBG-2dmF4FyUuMNWw-Ag/s1600/blog_inner_critic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Nothing Kills Creativity Faster than Criticism: Enter the Inner Critic." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjXED5oUFCTH-tMH08IajUf-DHJjD7ISX1cksXQycIwZnEvldKfaAa0DfQDvxZAQMSwDuOKt5kB3GR5MhVguFMO2Ww1HPsiGey2MU_Uho3_KO8zuC0jEBG-2dmF4FyUuMNWw-Ag/s1600/blog_inner_critic.jpg" height="200" title="Nothing Kills Creativity Faster than Criticism: Enter the Inner Critic." width="200"></a>Imagine your conscious mind is tuned in to a radio station run by a single disc jockey, your Inner Critic, and you have no way to turn down the volume much less turn it off. </div>
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In fact, you’ve grown so used to the constant talk from the <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2005/01/what-does-your-inner-criti_110652215846455081.html">Inner Critic</a> you hardly notice he’s ordering you about, commenting, passing judgment and evaluating just about everything you do or say; this is all so subtle and insidious that you don’t separate out the Inner Critic from other parts of you. </div>
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The Inner Critic has become you—it seems as if the only time you can escape his badgering is when you sleep. There is a reason for this. <br>
</div></div><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/12/image-as-bridge-into-unconcious-writing.html#more">Read more »</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250237.post-11360012233278649432013-12-06T08:26:00.001-05:002014-11-05T11:42:53.268-05:00Words, Structure and the Passion of Fiction Writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vpMbzrzLWctZHPHc0Sa09sXcA-_S1Z2UPj_aaZX0L8m4ABqPcMbjN2VuiqCX7zY5pJV5k4YeblwWiS2sto2w1r5azkPGB_aJzy2fHFQ-1il8W-ChK6GFWsmK28mXrKGJLY8z2g/s1600/blog_sherlock_holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Words, Structure and the Passion of Fiction Writing" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vpMbzrzLWctZHPHc0Sa09sXcA-_S1Z2UPj_aaZX0L8m4ABqPcMbjN2VuiqCX7zY5pJV5k4YeblwWiS2sto2w1r5azkPGB_aJzy2fHFQ-1il8W-ChK6GFWsmK28mXrKGJLY8z2g/s1600/blog_sherlock_holmes.jpg" title="Words, Structure and the Passion of Fiction Writing" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-power-of-image-for-writer.html">Words and structure</a> are crucial to fiction writing, but a great story demands far more. It is only through the journey into the unknown that you uncover the </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">exciting, <a href="http://fictionwritersjourney.blogspot.com/2011/01/pitfalls-of-character-driven-writer_17.html">passionate characters</a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> who will make your stories come alive for both you and your readers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: inherit;">What do you think??</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Blog of Writing and Creativity Coach, Emily Hanlon. Visit her websites at www.thefictionwritersjourney.com and www.creativesoulworks.com</div>Emily Hanlonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11222669833500145549noreply@blogger.com0