Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

The excitement from my writers group's blog launch is making it hard for me to stay in my seat. It took a few months of scheduling discussions and writing between children, holidays and whatever else life could throw at us, but we managed to pull it all together. And we're eager to share what we've learned so far on our writing journeys with you. Bucks County Writers' Group blog provides you with weekly writing advice posts to help you maneuver around frustrating writing-related obstacles and give you that push to help you reach your word count goals. On Fridays, you can share the ups and downs of the query process with The Scout's Guide to Literary Rejection. We hope you'll find it helpful. Head on over and show us some love. We would love to hear what you think!  What advice would you like to see us discuss on the Bucks County Writers' Group blog?

F irst sentences carry an enormous amount of responsibility on their shoulders, and writers need to ensure they can bear the weight. Make every word count. Source Think of the first sentence as the “host” of the story. The reader sits down. Eager hands open up the book to the first page. The first sentence greets the reader, setting the tone and voice of the story they’re about to experience. The writer must convince the reader to step over the threshold into the story. Remember, readers want instant gratification. The minute the first sentence makes them wait for something interesting or thought provoking, they get bored. A first sentence, and a good host, balances between an informative and alluring personality.  The first sentence invites a reader in and offers information in order to anchor them in the story. It should grab the reader's attention by engaging their curiosity. A reader supplied with the right questions will continue to read in search f...

passthepolicetest.com I’m running a bit behind this week. The hot weather and I don’t mix well. One word: cranky. And I’m planning my weeklong Tinker Mountain writing workshop in Roanoke, VA next week. Today, I am bringing you the last installment in the Pennwriters Conference Series, discussing a few things I picked up from Kathleen George’s class on Researching the Police . Kathleen shared her experiences and stories gained from researching her novels, and gave the group several tips to follow with our own endeavors. 1.      Let your potential research contacts know you are taking your writing seriously and you have a few questions regarding your plot. 2.      Keep in mind: People usually want to help you out. Just ask. 3.      When contacting the police, send an email explaining your intent. Then, follow up with a quick call; possibly leave a message, to give the individual you are trying to reach a heads up abou...

qnntv.com   During this challenge, you and I will probably read through a thousand+ blogs. So many people, so many writers, it’s inevitable to find more than one person writing about the same topic. Our world is a kaleidoscope. The ideas, situations and events we experience make the loose bits of colored material in the telescope-like toy. When you twist the tube an endless variety of patterns emerges, very much the way each of us approaches our writing.  Each writer brings their interests, dislikes and influences to each topic.  Reading through all the posts can get overwhelming, but meeting so many different people makes it all worth it.  On the other hand, sometimes my fear of idea stealing keeps me from sharing my writing. Then I stop and think. They can’t steal my life experiences that influence my story.  A great quote from Stephen King in On Writing really put it in perspective for me. “But once your basic story is on paper, you need to think a...

Well, I took a detour from my writing the past week.  The short story I’ve been working on stalled, which brought me down.  Posting on my blog every day became overwhelming and took time away from my fiction writing, bringing me down even more.  So, I turned off my main writing roadway, and had the brilliant idea to get out of the car.  My head, crowded with negative thoughts, started to hurt causing my vision to blur.  I stumbled around for a bit, before I tripped into a ditch.  My motivation to write dissipated, leaving me lying in the ditch for a bit.  I was able to make it to my  Bucks County Writers Group  meeting.  I always feel reinvigorated and motived to write after our meetings.   One of the members  suggested I put the short story aside for a while and work on something else.  Clearly I wasn't getting anywhere trying to force the story.  A simple solution I should have come up ...

I found this anecdote in a tiny book filled with wisdom from Mister Rogers. A young apprentice applied to a master carpenter for a job.  The older man asked him, “Do you know your trade?” “Yes, sir!” the young man replied proudly.  “Have you ever made a mistake?” the older man inquired. “No, sir!” the young man answered, feeling certain he would get the job. “Then there’s no way I’m going to hire you.” said the master carpenter, “because when you make one you won’t know how to fix it.” Mistakes.  Everyone makes them.  I'm bogged down with them every day.   Mistakes are a given in a first draft.    So, explain to me why I push my writing assignments off in fear of handing in something horrifying, embarrassing and badly written.        The process starts off encouraging.  The minute the assignment is posted my mind begins creating characters, designing settings and plotting.  Then, the fear cr...

No, no I am not planning on bedding agents and editors in exchange for publication.   No sexual impropriety here.   Sorry to disappoint.   I’m employing my dreams as a muse and mentor.   Growing up discussing my dreams with my family was commonplace, and as an adult, the tradition continues.    It’s a conversation with my unconscious, and one of the few times I’ll take my own advice.       Last night, I dreamt I was on a boat in the ocean.   The waves tossed me and the boat all over the place.   I remember struggling not to fall over.   As the dream progressed, the boat found calmer water.   When I woke up, I reached for my dream dictionary to find out what it meant and scribbled everything down in my journal.      Let's take a deeper look at my dream.   Deconstructing a dream helps you understand the different parts at work, and, eventually, determine what your unconscious is telling you.  Wa...

I just left Barnes and Noble in a frenzy.  They were closing up and I hadn't finished reading the magazine article from Poets & Writers.   Luckily, my smartphone (T-Mobile G2) has a Microsoft Office app, allowing me to write down all the new magazines I was perusing and online literary journals I wanted to check out.  Driving home in the car, a wave of euphoria passed through me and I couldn't wait to write.    The holidays proved to be more than my simple mind could handle.  Like every woman, I inherently posses the ability to multitask, but unfortuantely I reach maximum overload when I've gone over 20 tasks.  Then, my creative flow goes on strike.  I sit down to write and nothing comes out.  I avoid my computer, indulge in T.V. shows and movies, but the issue at hand always finds me. (Cue ominous music)  WRITER'S BLOCK .     The past month or so ...