Words & Deeds

December 13, 2015

Breaking the Fourth Wall on Page, Stage, & Screen

The term “breaking the 4th wall” started with theatre and the concept that the stage was a room with an invisible wall that the audience peeked through to see into the characters’ lives. A character could break the 4th wall by talking to the audience directly, making eye contact with them, or otherwise mentioning that he or she was part...

Categories Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Theatre & Film Comment: 1

December 12, 2015

Video Recommendation: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

While I’m on a Shakespeare kick, if any of you haven’t seen The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), it is well worth watching if you enjoy Vaudevillian humor. The three men of the Reduced Shakespeare Company perform all the works of Shakespeare in a single performance. That calls for some witty re-writes that are enjoyable for the less-knowledgable and have...

Categories Humor & Wordplay/Reviews & Recommended Reading/Theatre & Film/Videos Comments: 0

December 11, 2015

The Drama of Dialogue

When it comes to dramas, it’s all about dialogue. Seriously. The script of the play is a long series of conversations. That’s it. So if you’re not good at writing dialogue, then you have a choice: don’t write plays, or get better at writing dialogue.* If you want to get better at writing dialogue, I wish I could tell you...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Theatre & Film Comments: 0

December 10, 2015

Playwright: A Compound Word for a Compound Job

Fun fact: in older English, a “wright” was a maker or craftsman, which makes a playwright a maker of plays, an artisan. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool. And entirely appropriate.

Categories Quotes, Words, & Phrases/Theatre & Film Comment: 1

December 9, 2015

Compound Words As Writing Prompts

Ok, maybe I’ve seen one too many DBZ fusion parodies, but I think this could be a fun writing exercise. A Compound Word Writing Prompt The Process Pick a compound word OR take the idea of compound words (two individual ideas joined into one) OR make up a compound word (that could be interesting) Use your choice for 1 as...

Categories Creativity Builders/Inspiration/Research & Worldbuilding/Worldbuilding Exercises/Writing Prompts Comments: 3

December 8, 2015

14 Compound Words That Are Pretty Funny If You Think About Them

Unless you’re an elementary school teacher or a linguist, you probably don’t use the term “compound words.” I’d never really heard it until talking to an elementary school teacher. Like many terms, once explained it seems very obvious: words that are combined to make 1 word or 1 idea. For example, “homework” or “rainstorm.” It’s kind of like how prefixes...

Categories Humor & Wordplay/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 0

December 7, 2015

A Love Affair with Words

Like any love affair, there are ups and downs. Some days, it’s more of a hate affair. But when you love ’em too much to leave ’em, you learn to live with the bad days.

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comment: 1

December 6, 2015

What’s in a Name? (Besides Headaches, Heartaches, & Trouble)

Writing is hard. Writing regularly is harder. Doing both well is harder still. Despite all of that, naming what you’ve written can somehow be even worse. Sure, it’ll depend on the day and the piece, but naming stories, poems, plays, or songs can be a serious headache. There’s so much pressure. The title has to capture the idea of the piece...

Categories Creative Process Comments: 0

December 5, 2015

The Only Surefire Way To Become A Better Writer

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Inspiration/Quotes, Words, & Phrases Comments: 4

December 4, 2015

Falling off the Wagon of Writing Daily

After I posted yesterday, I realized that I’d given the impression that writing daily is an addiction. Once you start, you just can’t stop. That’s how addictions work, right? The addiction part is true. The second part? Not so much. Writing is work. No matter how much you love it, no matter how naturally it comes to you, it’s work...

Categories Creative Process/General Thoughts & Updates Comment: 1