Secondly, the first character the reader usually meets is the protagonist, the main character, and you must show the reader things about this person that makes them want to know more. Is she sobbing at her desk? Is he running down the street? Is he in a fight? Or on the phone?
Writing Resources
I love writing, but I also love teaching writing and encouraging or coaching other writers. This part of my website is the natural outgrowth of that passion.
From time-to-time, I will add information or websites that I hope other writers might find useful, like this one from Purdue University:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/creative_writing/index.html
The owl at the beginning of the URL mean Online Writing Lab and it is the creation of Purdue University. This particular part of their site is the introduction to Creative Writing resources. If you look to your left, you will see just a glimpse of all the great resources available to you here.
Keep watching because I will add more resources, mostly dependent on either what I need or what my students need.
Creative Writing and Memoir Writing September 15, 2021
Welcome Back! from Carol Brennan King It has been a while since we have been together and it was great to see you in person and via Zoom. In person people - please note that you can bring your laptop or tablet to class, and set it to zoom so that you can see the…Read more Creative Writing and Memoir Writing September 15, 2021
Creative Writing and Memoir Writing July 14, 2021
Carol Brennan King Both classes may benefit from these notes because whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, you must be authentic. That means you may have to check and confirm what you think you remember, for fiction and for nonfiction. The narrative must take place in an authentic and believable world, believable because you…Read more Creative Writing and Memoir Writing July 14, 2021
Creative Writing and Memoir Writing Class Notes
Carol Brennan King July 7, 2021 Prompt for next week: Write something around the word vacation. Think school, holiday, family, short or long vacations, accidental vacations (a snow day) or intentional and planned vacations. The example that I am sharing here may seem a long way off from vacation, but I was on my vacation…Read more Creative Writing and Memoir Writing Class Notes
Creative Writing and Memoir Writing
Have a Happy Fourth of July! Image borrowed from https://www.phillymag.com/things-to-do/weekend-philadelphia/ Carol Brennan King June 30, 2021 About prompts: I give them, you do not have to use them. If you have a good thing going, keep writing. If you are feeling stuck or want to try something new, give one of these prompts a try.…Read more Creative Writing and Memoir Writing
Creative Writing and Memoir Class Notes
Today was devoted primarily to putting some resources into your hands and then trusting you find them helpful.
Creative and Memoir Writing Class Notes
Instead of thinking, “I want my reader to feel sad,” I needed to show how I felt the day I learned another girl thought of my boyfriend as hers. I sat in his car outside my school and told him I would not play second fiddle to anyone, and I cried, ...
Creative Writing and Memoir Writing Class Notes March 31, 2021
Remember, however, that the story’s action and its characters are vehicles through which the reader creates her own emotional experience. AND the goal is not to get the readers to feel everything as the character does but to stimulate the reader to consider his or her own response.
Creative and Memoir Writing March 17, 2021
When you are writing memoirs, your job is to recreate dialogue, not create it. Sometimes, that means you cannot remember exactly what you said. In that situation, you can recreate it, getting as close as you can to what actually was said and what and how your character would have said it.
Creative Writing and Memoir/Nonfiction Writing Class Notes
March 10, 2021 Taught by Carol Brennan King Creative Writing: today we focused on using white space, lines, and punctuation as tools to help us communicate our stories. We also talked about how using breath units, or the words we want to be read in one breath, help us reach our reader to interpret the…Read more Creative Writing and Memoir/Nonfiction Writing Class Notes
Carol's Notes 