What is From Drivel to Magic: The Writing Journey?

From Drivel to Magic aims to help you be the best writer you can be whether your aim is fiction or memoir.

I’m not claiming to be the most wonderful writer in the world or anything close (and that goes double for description! and punctuation, and hanging participles—you get the idea), but I hope that some of the learning I have picked up about writing over the years will be useful to you.

What is Drivel?

We have all written it—snatches of dialog, an interesting situation, a poetic bit, a moment of insight, a well-turned phrase. We record them because they in some way speak to us.  Good ideas that could go somewhere if we had the time, technique, confidence, whatever.

The itch to make something of these moments doesn’t go away. I want to help you take your flashes of drivel and turn them into magic.

What is Magic?

Magic happens when your words and story make your reader laugh, cry, ponder, care and a myriad of other emotions. You’ve taken part of who you are and put it in a form where others can feel what you feel and see what you see.

Going from Drivel to Magic

This blog will help you to turn your drivel into magic with three streams of thought:

Stream One: Writers as Humans

Writers not only have to master the craft of writing but must also deal with the emotional and life issues which surface as you start down this path. Posts will cover topics such as:

• Holding onto your vision while listening to feedback
• The inner critic
• Finding the time to write
• Self-censorship
• Can I write a memoir?
• Should I write a memoir?
• Feeling discouraged
• Dealing with writer’s block

 Stream Two: Mastering the Craft

All writers (even memoir writers) need to get a grip on the techniques of telling a good story. Without these skills, even the most riveting event will lose its dynamism and excitement when it is transferred to the page. Sample posts in this stream are:

• Where do I start?
• Creating your fictional world
• Getting at the underlying emotion
• Writing with energy
• Breaking the rules
• Developing ideas into stories
• Showing not telling

Stream Three: Writers Learning from the World

Lessons about writing are all around us, there for the taking. Movies, TV, books, etc. can all help us be better writers. Some of the posts are:

• Learning about ‘Show’ and ‘Tell’ from The Life of Pi
• Creating a ruthless character we root for as in The Good Wife
• Meryl Streep’s One True Thing
• Life learnings from The Chronicles of Narnia

Naturally, I can’t promise magic every time but striving to be well-grounded in writing skills, in yourself, and in what the world can teach, will up the chances that it will strike. Join me as we take the journey From Drivel to Magic!