Search found 23 matches

by Milly Born
Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:46 am
Forum: The Water Cooler
Topic: Share Your Success - Cheering Section
Replies: 24
Views: 40756

Re: Share Your Success - Cheering Section

I won a Dutch writing contest! :D OK, it was a small one (500 words), but I'm encouraged all the same. The instruction was to write in the Fantasy/SF genre to a certain topic (I selected "expansion vs living together"). Remember the Genre-ally challenge season last year? I wrote "Beam...
by Milly Born
Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:23 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--KNOWING WRITING LINGO
Replies: 16
Views: 18281

Re: Be a Better Writer--KNOWING WRITING LINGO

About Purple Prose I'm afraid that before joining FW, I've produced my share of what I now know is purple prose. The very first challenge entry I sent out in a newly formed buddy group came back fluorescent, since one of my buddies had highlighted all adjectives and adverbs I used in an attempt to w...
by Milly Born
Tue Aug 11, 2015 6:44 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer--MORE ABOUT VOICE
Replies: 8
Views: 10067

Re: Be A Better Writer--MORE ABOUT VOICE

Yesterday I helped my daughter to learn a song from Emeli Sande ("River"...beautiful). I noticed she tried to copy Emeli' s voice--with disastrous effects. "Honey, sing it in your own voice," I urged her. "I don't know my own voice," she grumbled. "It's the one tha...
by Milly Born
Sun Jul 19, 2015 3:41 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--FIND YOUR OWN VOICE
Replies: 13
Views: 15497

Re: Be a Better Writer--FIND YOUR OWN VOICE

I think "finding your own voice" is one of the most difficult aspects of writing for me. I honestly don't now where - or how - to begin. I'm not sure I can even recognize "my voice" as opposed to any other voice I might write with. I totally agree and am looking forward to your ...
by Milly Born
Mon May 04, 2015 3:54 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
Replies: 12
Views: 12854

Re: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS

Thanks for sharing these, Milly! (By the way--what's your first language?) Jan, my first language is Dutch. I am Dutch and lived in the Netherlands until I was 37. Then we first moved to France, and since 2004 we're in Italy. English is my second language (when I worked as a technical writer for IB...
by Milly Born
Sun May 03, 2015 9:09 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS
Replies: 12
Views: 12854

Re: Be a Better Writer--IMPROVE YOUR RHYMING SKILLS

Hi Jan...I'm coming out: I'm one of the recent love-above poets :wink:. Well, actually I wrote only two poems so far, so I wouldn't even dare to call myself a poet. My process is totally rhymezone-dependent, but this also helps me to increase my vocabulary (remember, I'm a non-native speaker). Recen...
by Milly Born
Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:48 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--RESOURCES FOR THE WRITER
Replies: 13
Views: 19419

Re: Be a Better Writer--RESOURCES FOR THE WRITER

I just received a warning from Deb about citing a song that's not in the public domain, and she explained the huge risks involved :( So for all of you who would like to use song texts in their writing-- http://pdinfo.com/ contains information about copyright and a massive list of songs that are in t...
by Milly Born
Fri Apr 03, 2015 12:30 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
Replies: 7
Views: 9909

Re: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY

Thank you, Jan, for your critique. I actually started to rewrite and include your suggestion... The only other thing I'd say isn't really critique, just personal preference. By far most of your little vignette is devoted to description of the lost people; I'm very interested, however, in this homele...
by Milly Born
Sun Mar 29, 2015 4:01 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY
Replies: 7
Views: 9909

Re: Be a Better Writer--MINI-CRITIQUES, THIS WEEK ONLY

Thanks, Jan, for this new opportunity to grow. First, a confession: my "natural writing style" includes the use of (too) many adverbs and adjectives. When I joined FaithWriters, I quickly learned that strong verbs can replace most of them. Nowadays, to write "correctly," I tend t...
by Milly Born
Sat Mar 21, 2015 4:29 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--WORD CHOICE
Replies: 8
Views: 10208

Re: Be a Better Writer--WORD CHOICE

I couldn't write without a thesaurus...being a non-native speaker. My vocabulary has increased considerably since I learned to use salsa words :D, but although I always search the internet whether a word can be used in a particular context, I must admit that I sometimes pour in the wrong salsa. So g...
by Milly Born
Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:23 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
Replies: 36
Views: 36496

Re: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV

Thank you so much for the encouragement, Jan!

Feeling blessed,
Milly
by Milly Born
Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:54 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV
Replies: 36
Views: 36496

Re: Be a Better Writer--A TOUCH OF POV

I must admit that I never even considered something like POV before joining FaithWriters. But now I do, and I can see how it has improved my writing--although every now and then a mistake slips in. Thanks for another great lesson, Jan. A brief analysis of why I write in the first person... I'm a wri...
by Milly Born
Sat Dec 06, 2014 4:29 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
Replies: 24
Views: 24176

Re: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY

One more question that came up. Can the author of a biography explicitly express his own opinion about his MC? Or should he write as neutral as possible?
by Milly Born
Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:54 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY
Replies: 24
Views: 24176

Re: Be A Better Writer -- BIOGRAPHY

Oh wow, without this lesson and discussion, I would have written historical fiction for sure. Thank you, Jan!!
by Milly Born
Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:17 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer -- INSPIRATIONAL WRITING
Replies: 16
Views: 16772

Re: Be a Better Writer -- INSPIRATIONAL WRITING

That's what I was hoping for. Thanks for the immediate reply, Jan!

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