Last year I participated in the A to Z challenge on my daughter's dedication website. I loved it. Each day of the challenge I dedication the posting to my daughter. This year I've decided to do it for both her website as well as this one. My hope is you will join me over the next 30 days as I make my way through the alphabet from A to Z. However, due to the challenge I need to temporarily put my 365 day writing journey on hold for the month of April. Don't worry. I promise it will be back … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2014
I’m doing it again this year… A to Z Challenge
Some of you may remember that last year I participated in the A to Z challenge on website. I loved it. Each day of the challenge I dedication the posting to Mari in honor of her memory. This year I've decided to do it for both this website as well as my author website (kristenatunstall.com). My hope is you will join me again this year over the next 30 days as I make my way through the alphabet from A to Z. My hope is that you enjoy this next month as much as I will. To give you a heads up of … [Read more...]
Day 103: Closing the Gap
In our own world as we are learning to write down what has formed in our heads, whether a story idea or a journal entry, we all have a place where we start and somehow learn to close the gap to where we want to be. I still remember the first night I sat down to start writing the story idea that came to me. I wrote a little bit of it and then read it to my hubby. It was listening to his reader perspective and how in his experience of reading that he helped me to better the story I had come up … [Read more...]
Day 102: Five Things Writers Can Learn from Cats
1. Stay focused. As writers it's important to stay focused on our writing to make it the best we can. When we don't we end up with a mess and more likely than not have to go back and either do some major edits or to rewrite it all. No fun at all. So staying focused is paramount to making the writing successful. 2. Retain mystery. It's important to keep the story a mystery so the reader will continue to keep the reader engrossed in the story otherwise they would lose interest. 3. Hunt … [Read more...]
Day 101: Waiting for the Train
We all have our ways of writing. Some write on a computer. Some write on paper. Some write in a journal. Some write on post-it notes. We each have our own unique way of doing things. When we do sit down to write do we allow ourselves to get into the moment to really take off like a freight train and everything flows smoothly out or are we trying to force something that may not be right, or even ready, for what is being written, especially writing a book? So far I'm the latter. If I'm feeling … [Read more...]
The Journey with Angela Meyer
Please welcome this weeks guest Angela Meyer for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? God has always been a part of my writing. Since junior high with the first pen scratches, poems of angst and attempts at stories. My heart poured out to God in written prayers and lessons He taught me. He drew me closer to Him in those early years on my journey of faith. About 7 years ago I wrote my first full length novel and over the course of 5 … [Read more...]
Day 100: Writing as Therapy
Since I can remember I have kept a diary. I think I was in the fourth grade when Grandma Patton sent me a diary for Christmas as well as a pen. I could write whatever was on my mind. Whether it was that I hated my mom for something I probably got in trouble for or that she wouldn't let me do whatever I wanted. If I'd only known then what I know now. I promised myself I'd never be like my mom, yet the honest truth is all kids can't stand their parents as kids from time to time but so appreciate … [Read more...]
Day 99: Writing Your Own Corner
I love this. Most of us only know the areas where we have lived or been surrounded by. For an army brat they're constantly being moved around the country and sometimes even living in different countries. For another they may have lived in the same small town their entire life. Another might have been raised in the foster care system constantly being moved from one home to another. Think about it. We are all so different. No two people have lived the exact same life. Yes, many people have … [Read more...]
Day 98: Ideas in Limos and Planes
I love this quote in the book: "You can’t just dance or paint or write or sculpt. Those are just verbs. You need a tangible idea to get you going. The idea, however minuscule, is what turns the verb into a noun." —TWYLA THARP Think about that. As a writer, no matter how small the idea might be, we're able to turn that into a full length book. We can get ideas from any where. Almost eight years ago I was told I needed to add fiction elements to my daughters book. The problem was I had … [Read more...]
Day 97: Clear Language
When we write do we want to be vague or do we want to be as clear as possible? I hope your answer was the latter. In our writing we should want to be as clear and straight forward so there is no confusion on the part of the reader. The clarity of our story needs to not make sense only in our heads but also the reader. If we didn't have readers there would be no need to write a story in the first place. One morning my niece and her friend that had stayed the night were upstairs in her room … [Read more...]
