Freelance Writer & Aspiring Filmmaker
This article is part two of a series about starting your own creative writing group/club. Part one is here. Topics will include giving constructive criticism, running a workshop, and writing games/prompts. For feedback to be helpful, the writer must be open to criticism, and the criticism must be focused and kind. Here are some tips …
There are many advantages to belonging to a writing group. You can get feedback from several people at once and give yourself writing deadlines. It’s a way to steadily improve your writing through criticism and practice. It’s also just a great way to get together with friends and have fun writing.
When I first start working with students, they talk about how difficult it is to make the switch from academic to business writing. And that’s true. It is difficult. It feels like the opposite of what we’ve spent years learning. So, I’m here to say that business writing and academic writing don’t need to be antithetical. In fact, my writing has improved since I began applying business methods to both my academic and creative work.
I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and I always have been. I’ve watched the movies countless time, and I’ve read a good chunk of the extended universe. I am not a fan of The Last Jedi. It had its moments, but the overall story was problematic and lazy. I’m going to leave out my nerd reasons for disliking the movie and focus on the writing. So, I’ve put together some of the movie’s major weaknesses to hopefully provide some insight into how you can write better than the writer of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson. Most of the issues within The Last Jedi stems from Johnson’s unwillingness to follow up on The Force Awakens. He let plot points drop and ignored vital questions and clues for shock value. For being parts one and two of a trilogy, the two movies feel disconnected.
This summer I reread Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It had been awhile since I’d read them, so there was quite a bit I had forgotten. Somehow, I had completely missed the nuances of Eowyn’s story in my previous readings. There are many reasons to love Eowyn. She is an inherently brave and remarkable …
Language has always been important in the newest Planet of the Apes movies. It starts with Rise of the Planet of the Apes where Caesar’s uniqueness stems from his ability to communicate and understand the world around him. Caesar learning to physically speak begins the climax of the movie, and it allows him to communicate …
After Wonder Woman, I sat there through the entire credits, just thinking. Watching the first real, by which I mean actually given a decent budget and advertising, female superhero movie was an emotional experience. There were some spectacular moments such as when the Amazons fight the Germans on their beaches, and Diana runs through No …
As a fantasy writer, I find it difficult to refrain from giving every writing prompt that fantastical slant. So, when I come up with prompts for the teen creative writing club I facilitate, the fantasy/sci-fi prompts are always the easiest. Each meeting, we start with basic story prompts to warm up before we move on …