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Happy Spooky Season!
I am now scheduling October's writing and editing commissions. If you have a spooky story idea, if you need help with a book, or have a story you've always wanted to read--I'll help!

Here are a few of my previous spooky stories from last season:
The Watcher in the Snow
The Beast Under the House

You can find a complete list of all my stories, chapters, and writing advice here in my Writing Table of Contents Journal

Writing & Editing Commissions Information
Writing & Editing Commissions Information 2023
Art Commissions 2023
Writing Table of Contents (Free writing advice & fiction portfolio!)

Support & Follow My Work

Twitter: @ writingDD2R
Instagram: @ writingdaydreams2reality
Instagram Art: @ evangeline40003
Facebook: Writing Daydreams to Reality
Kofi: Writingdaydreams2reality
Patreon: Writingdaydreamstoreality
Wattpad: Evangeline40003
YouTube: WritingDaydreams2Reality

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

**This artwork belongs to me: you do not have permission to repost, sell, use as a reference, use as a stock image, or use for NFTs**

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

WWW #50 Bookish Terms and PhrasesWednesday Writing Weekly #50Bookish Terms & PhrasesWhether you are a reader or a writer, you will know there are many niche phrases that are important to know in the bookish world. In my future weeklies, I want to dive deeper into the editing, publishing, and querying but before I do, I will be sharing key bookish words you should know and next week I will focus on keywords in the publishing and editing world!When I am browsing bookstagram (Instagram) or Booktok (Tiktok) I commonly see many tropes and keywords about certain kinds of books. If you are a fantasy writer, it is important to read fantasy books and to identify what kind of ideas and tropes you may use in your own book. Do you write about Enemies to Lovers? A Chosen Hero? These are key terms to know to understand what your audience might be looking for or will enjoy.No matter if you like these tropes and ideas or not, they are important to know!What Are Tropes?Tropes are a figurative word or phrase used to describe an idea or moment. These are often themes or repetitive genre-specific themes found in books.Common TropesWhile there are countless tropes, here are a few you might recognize!Antihero: A hero with a dark past without heroic attributes.Big Reveal: A classic ending with a big reveal, all answers answered at one time in the book.Chosen Hero: A predestined hero is chosen to go on their quest.Damsel in Distress: Cliché a woman is trapped/ needs to be rescued by the hero.Enemies to Lovers: Characters that are at odds, fall in love.Everyone Did It: Mysteries or horrors where everyone is a suspect.Fake Relationship: Romance trope with a fake relationship, usually turning into real love.Forbidden Love: Romance trope where two unlikely lovers meet. Age gaps, different worlds, etc.Forced Proximity: Two characters are forced together in a small space, shared bed, overnight, etc. Sexual/ romantic tension.Friends to Lovers: Friends realizing their feelings for each other.Good VS Evil: Classic villain faces a classic hero.History Returns/ Repeats itself: A character’s past comes to haunt them; bad things keep happening again to drive the suspense and tension.Inclement Weather: Bad weather creates dangerous situations, increases stress, isolates the characters.Instalove: Fated lovers who fall in love the second they meet.Love Triangle: When a character is pursued by and must choose between two lovers.Mysterious Neighbor: Someone new moves in, creating a strange series of events.No Communication: Isolating characters by ignoring each other, knocking out the power, cell service, etc.Nosey Reporters/ Sleuths: Nosey characters who ask driving questions to ignite the plot.Opposites Attract: Two opposite characters falling in love.Parallel World: A world existing alongside our own to explain the plot or challenges in the story.Prophecy or Quest: Same as chosen hero; everything has already been predestined.Slow Burn Romance: Romance that burns slowly over a long period of time with high burning tension.Soulmate: Loves meant to be, predestined.The Reluctant Hero: A main character who doesn’t want to follow their prophecy or play their role.Tragic Backstory: Common with antiheroes… a dark story to help readers feel bad for and cheer on a morally gray character.Twist Ending: Common in all genres, to surprise the reader and create a surprise ending.How Are Tropes Helpful?It's good to be aware of what is being written in your genre as a writer. If I am writing a fantasy book, I better know every fantasy trope inside and out, so I know what my readers’ tastes are. I'm not advising you to write the same thing as everyone else, but these tropes are tried and true and are some absolute fan favorites. Know what is working in your genre and know how you can twist some of these into brand new ideas.ConclusionToday's topic is a little light. I want to get started with some definitions just to get everyone on the same page. Next week I want to dive into different kinds of editing and potentially that same week or the following week dive into the publishing world. Get ready to know the difference between beta reading and proofs, what a manuscript is, and what it means when I say “querying.”Have a great week!Danni Lynn WWW #48 Types of Poetry: The LimerickThis post was uploaded early for subscribers on 6/27/23Wednesday Writing Weekly #48 Types of Poetry: The LimerickHave you ever written a poem? There are many ways to start. You can begin by just writing whatever comes to mind. You can pick out a type of poetry or poem structure and follow those guidelines, or you can invent a whole new style yourself. I used to be the type of person who didn’t understand why you would write in a particular structure such as a villanelle or a haiku. Wouldn’t that be restrictive to stick to a certain style? It wasn’t until my undergrad years in a poetry workshop class where I learned that using different structures just helps to frame what you are working on and in a way, inspires and challenges your writing to blossom even more, compared to just freely writing a poem in freeform. To celebrate the many ways you can write a poem, let’s learn about Limericks. Poetry LingoStanza: A set of lines in one paragraph of a poem. Line: One line or sentence (sometimes) in a stanza. Rhyme Scheme: Dictates which lines in a structure rhyme with each other. Represented by letters i.e., ABAB. A rhymes with A, B rhymes with B. Meter: Rhyme count based on syllables. Poetry Style: The LimerickWhat is a Limerick: Limerick poems are humorous pieces with origins back in the 19th century. Structure: As you will see in this series, poems often have a rhyme scheme that is spelled out by letters. A Limerick has one stanza and has the rhyme scheme of AABBA. Each letter represents a line so line 1, 2, and 5 in one stanza rhyme. Three lines are long and two are short as well. Fun fact: You can duplicate the word that ends in line 1 as well as line 5. This is popular in this structure. Style: Short and punchy, these usually tell a tale that may be funny, trivial, crude, or just plain silly. Example 1: Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense (1846) Line 1: There was an Old Man with a beard,Line 2: Who said, "It is just as I feared!—Line 3: Two Owls and a Hen, Line 4: four Larks and a Wren,Line 5: Have all built their nests in my beard.As you can see, line 1, 2, and 5 all rhyme or repeat: “Beard,” “feared,” and “beard.” Line 1, 2, and 5 are also the 3 long lines in the structure. The two short lines, line 3 and 4 also rhyme. Keeping these structure rules in mind, read two more examples and look out for what rhymes, what lines are short or long, and more to understand the poem structure. Example 2: Dixon Lanier Merritt, “A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican.” A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill holds more than his belican. He can take in his beak Enough food for a week, But I’m damned if I see how the helican.Example 3: Leigh Mercer A dozen, a gross, and a score Plus three times the square root of four Divided by seven Plus five times eleven Is nine squared and not a bit more.How to write a LimerickWhen writing any kind of poem, it’s important to pick a topic. If you sit down and say, “I’m going to write a poem,” and then stare at the paper, that is really hard! It’s difficult because you have millions of possibilities in front of you. If you pick a topic or one single thing to write about, that will help to narrow your focus. If you are new to poetry and writing, I always suggest to pick something simple! You may want to write about big ideas from emotions to big events, love, and more. Those big ideas are easy to fall into cliches if you are not used to working with the topic. (Cliches are not inherently bad, but they will make your work sound unoriginal.) For practice, I recommend picking something near you and writing about it. I am not good at poetry, but I am always trying! To write an example for you, I will pick an item near me. How to Write a Limerick Example: Pick Your Topic: Ficus PlantNotes and details: Ficus plants are known to be an air-filtering plant, to be helpful in giving you fresh air, even at a small amount. It is a large plant in a pot. Has green leaves. In a plastic brown pot, a terra-cotta mimic. Sits in a pool of sunlight. In an otherwise dark apartment. Structure: 5 lines, 3 long, 2 short, AABBAStyle: Comedy, crude, or satirical Here is my attempt at a limerick: Apartment PlantLINE 1: My ficus, you sit in the sunLINE 2: purifying putrid air like none LINE 3: twenty green leavesLINE 4: a plastic mimicryLINE 5: I wish you did better, you bum.ConclusionAs you can see, it’s silly! It’s dumb! But that’s okay because I did it and at least attempted it. Up next…Can you give it a try? Pick something nearbyAn item boring An idea soaringShare with us below—buh’bye! All my best, Danni Lynn... WWW #47 Guest Feature: Charles de LintWednesday Writing Weekly #47 Guest Feature: Charles de LintBack when I was a student in high school, I was faced with the challenge of shadowing a professional in the field of my choice as a part of my senior project before graduation. Wanting to be a writer, I knew I couldn’t just go and watch one writer go about their day so I proposed an amendment to the project requirements and was allowed to instead interview several different authors about their work, experience, and advice. Years later, I want to share these interviews with you all (with permission from the authors) because I believe the best way to learn about how to be a writer is to learn from the many different ways each author approaches and completes their work. Charles de Lint BiographyCharles de Lint is a prolific Canadian writer with over 70 books published across the fantasy, horror, urban fantasy, and magical realism genres. Known for his memorable characters and a tapestry of cultural knowledge in both Welsh and Native American folklore, his stories will pull you in with their otherworldly themes. De Lint is a writer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and has won many awards over the years including but not limited to the Great Lakes Great Books Award for The Blue Girl, World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines, and the Ontario Library Association’s White Pine Award. (source) WorksI’m sure if you look up some of his titles, you will recognize a few. My personal favorites are Wolf Moon, Someplace to Be Flying, and Dingo. Many of de Lint’s novels are set in his Newford Series, all sharing the same fictional setting in a North American City. The Dreaming Place, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, The Hour Before Dawn, Old Man Crow, Muse and Reverie, and more are a few titles in this series. His collection of works are a wide assortment of novels, YA novels, collections, short stories, and novellas. De Lint’s most recent book, Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls came out last fall. Amazon Link | Goodreads LinkJust take a look at some of these gorgeous covers...,How do you find an Agent/Publisher for your book and how do you find one that you can trust?I can’t really answer this question because it’s been far too long since I started in the business and everything has changed more than once during that time. But some things hold true: Write a good book. Research which publishers publish that kind of book. Submit it to themafter first making sure you fulfill their submission requirements. It’s pretty much the same thing for agents. The way you find out if they can be trusted is to get a hold of their client list (a good agent will provide one upon request) and talk to the authors on it. If you can also track down authors who left that agent it will give you a helpful perspective as to what might not work for you with that agent.Are you satisfied/happy with your book?Once a book is published, I have to be happy and proud of it or I wouldn’t have submitted it. I will admit that I can look back on early work and find nits to pick but that’s not something that’s worth dwelling upon except to keep in mind so you don’t make the same mistakes again in your current work.How would you describe the moment when you first held a published copy of your book?I must have been happy but it was over thirty years ago and I don’t remember the details.What is your motivation? How do you keep working on something that takes so long?I write books I’d like to read but nobody else has written them yet so I have to write them myself. I’m motivated each day because I want to find out what happens next.Did you have a contract with your publisher? Was there a set time that your book(s) needed to be finished?I’ve had contracts and deadlines and I’ve also written on spec. I prefer the latter.What is your process in writing a book? Ex. Writing from beginning to end or at randomuntil you piece the whole work together?I write from beginning to end, then go back in with rewrites and edits to make sure everything hangs together.What is your view on the beginning of a book? The first page is what the reader depends on to judge it all. How do you overcome that first part?They say that your first paragraph has to be great, to grab a reader’s interest. Then the whole first page. Then the first chapter...well, you get the idea. The whole book has to be great. I will say that the beginning of the book should start with the story already started. Too many new writers start with background on their setting or characters and that gets quickly boring. I don’t agree with a prologue either. Get the story started, then fill things in as you need them in a natural way.When did you start writing, why and how?I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember and probably started writing them down when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. Why? Because I love stories but couldn’t always find the ones I wanted to read. How? You just do it, whether using a pencil/pen, typewriter or computer. Stories don’t get written by talking about them.Did you ever feel lost while writing your book? If so, how did you get your focus back?That happens. When it does I go back in the manuscript to where things were still working and figure out a way to get back on track.If there was one, what was the biggest obstacle or problem that you had to overcome in the writing? – Anything within the entire process.Finding time to write or at least that was the case when I was starting out. I worked full time, played in a band three nights a week, and also wanted a social life. It was hard to fit it in sometimes. But I always made time.Did you have a lot of say with how the cover was made?Unless you write it into your contract, or you’re an indie publisher and doing everything on your own, you don’t get any say in the cover art.ConclusionI’m so thankful for all this amazing advice and the chance to learn about de Lint’s writing process and experience. Be sure to check out his works as well as his website to learn more about his expanse of stories. Novel Recommendation: Juniper WilesCharlesdelint.comGoodreads ProfileTumblr Profile Facebook ProfileTwitter ProfileInstagram Profile All my best, Danni Lynn... WWW #46 How to Plan a Story(This post was uploaded early on 6/27/23 for subscribers. The public version was uploaded on 7/5/23) Wednesday Writing Weeklies #46 How to Plan a StoryWhen writing a story, there are many ways to start. You can start writing without any direction, you can make an outline, or do all the above and just go for it. When I get a brand-new idea, I usually write it all down in one go. This is how I make sure I don’t forget anything, and I get all my ideas on the page. Next, I build an outline. Today, I want to show you how I come up with a simple outline! The CharacterI always start with a character first. I pick a name, age, and their personality. This can be random, it can have meaning... whatever you like! Character Name: Lizzie MadisonAge: 24Personality: Chipper, thoughtful, overwhelmedNext, what do you think I should pick? You might be thinking about what she wears, what she likes to eat, maybe how she talks... but I want to guide you to something even more important. What does Lizzie want? You can dress your character up and make them very detailed, but what does that have to do with the story? Will the color of her shirt push the plot along? I don’t think so. Lizzie’s wants: Lizzie wants to get a promotion at work. Now, in real life and in a story, the character can’t always get what they want. If it was that easy, there would be no story to tell. For the next question, I ask myself, what is stopping Lizzie from achieving her goal? Lizzie’s Obstacles: A mean co-worker, Lizzie is often late to work, and Lizzie is a klutz. Poor Lizzie, it sounds like she can’t catch a break. Next, I ask myself, what is Lizzie willing to do to get what she wants? Lizzie’s abilities: She kisses up to management, she is a good worker, she will try to revenge prank her mean co-worker. Planning the PlotNow, we know what Lizzie is trying to do and how she is struggling. Let’s look at the details provided above and expand on them. Instead of adding brand new ideas to the story, I always build off of the prior details, so everything feels natural. Here are some questions I came up with based on the above information to help me brainstorm my plot. Why is Lizzie late to work? What kind of klutz is Lizzie? Why is Lizzie’s co-worker mean? What do they do to Lizzie? What is Lizzie’s manager like? What role does Lizzie work? Where does Lizzie work? What prank does Lizzie pull? Then, I answer everything to flesh out these ideas. Keep your answers simple. My answers: Lizzie is late to work because she has to babysit her little brother while her mom is at work. Lizzie often rushes around and tries to get things done too fast (in an effort to perform well) but this can lead to spills and accidents on the job. Lizzie’s co-worker likes to increase Lizzie’s messes. The co-worker (Fred) thinks she is not qualified for a promotion they are both competing for. Fred will spill stuff on purpose and trip Lizzie. Let’s pause and look at my above answers. They all build off each other. For example, Lizzie babysitting shows responsibility. I chose this to make her late. And if she is trying to do well and means well, she might rush around to get everything done at once which can lead to her making mistakes and being a general klutz. If Lizzie is trying her best but is struggling to get a promotion, a potential obstacle can be a jealous co-worker that wants her to lose. Lizzie works at a fast-food restaurant and in order to get back at her co-worker, I imagine she will reverse the tables. Set up a spill or accident so bad that Fred gets reprimanded. Being a sweet girl, Lizzie will probably be convinced into this path or revenge by other co-workers that are her friends. Another important detail is that things never go right on the first try. For example, if Lizzie tries to prank Fred, it’ll probably mess up. This will lead to her situation getting worse and her chances of promotion being lowered. Then she will have to try to recover and figure out how to get out of her situation. Maybe she can learn how to be the bigger person here and know it is wrong to stoop to the mean coworker’s level. To try and try again is important in storytelling. Plan an OutlineFrom only a few questions, we now have a whole story and a wealth of details! When I get to this part of the story, I usually write out a tiny outline focusing on the start, end, rise of conflict, and the climax of a story. Here is my mini outline: Lizzie is running late to work again after her mom gets home from her job. Lizzie arrives at work and slips in a spill. Enter Fred who laughs at her. Lizzie tries to get through the day. Manager announces they are leaving and will be promoting someone to take their spot. At home, Lizzie tells her mom about the job while helping with brother. Next day at work, Lizzie is working with a co-worker friend. They discuss the position and how to stop Fred from getting it. Fred comes in and is mean. Lizzie sets up a prank to get back at Fred. Lizzie launches her prank. Lizzie’s prank fails and the whole kitchen is a mess.The manager punishes all three workers. The next day, Lizzie comes to work earlier than normal and overhears Fred talking bad about her. Lizzie mopes at work. Fred is mean but takes it too far and does something in front of a customer. Lizzie stands up to Fred and defends the customer. Fred gets fired for his actions and Lizzie is apologized to by the manager. Lizzie gets promoted. Does this sound like the most exciting story? Probably not and it is so cheesy! But I wanted to show you how you can simply build an outline from scratch. From here, you can add more details and really flesh out what you want to see happen in the story. If it is a short story, I go ahead and add additional bullet points of information. If this is a longer piece of fiction, like a novel, I’ll split these parts up into chapters and continue to plan from there. ConclusionThat’s about it for today! What steps do you take when planning a story? What questions do you think are the most important to answer when planning? Best, Danni Lynn...

Description
Happy Spooky Season!
I am now scheduling October's writing and editing commissions. If you have a spooky story idea, if you need help with a book, or have a story you've always wanted to read--I'll help!

Here are a few of my previous spooky stories from last season:
The Watcher in the Snow
The Beast Under the House

You can find a complete list of all my stories, chapters, and writing advice here in my Writing Table of Contents Journal

Writing & Editing Commissions Information
Writing & Editing Commissions Information 2023
Art Commissions 2023
Writing Table of Contents (Free writing advice & fiction portfolio!)

Support & Follow My Work

Twitter: @ writingDD2R
Instagram: @ writingdaydreams2reality
Instagram Art: @ evangeline40003
Facebook: Writing Daydreams to Reality
Kofi: Writingdaydreams2reality
Patreon: Writingdaydreamstoreality
Wattpad: Evangeline40003
YouTube: WritingDaydreams2Reality

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

**This artwork belongs to me: you do not have permission to repost, sell, use as a reference, use as a stock image, or use for NFTs**

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

WWW #50 Bookish Terms and PhrasesWednesday Writing Weekly #50Bookish Terms & PhrasesWhether you are a reader or a writer, you will know there are many niche phrases that are important to know in the bookish world. In my future weeklies, I want to dive deeper into the editing, publishing, and querying but before I do, I will be sharing key bookish words you should know and next week I will focus on keywords in the publishing and editing world!When I am browsing bookstagram (Instagram) or Booktok (Tiktok) I commonly see many tropes and keywords about certain kinds of books. If you are a fantasy writer, it is important to read fantasy books and to identify what kind of ideas and tropes you may use in your own book. Do you write about Enemies to Lovers? A Chosen Hero? These are key terms to know to understand what your audience might be looking for or will enjoy.No matter if you like these tropes and ideas or not, they are important to know!What Are Tropes?Tropes are a figurative word or phrase used to describe an idea or moment. These are often themes or repetitive genre-specific themes found in books.Common TropesWhile there are countless tropes, here are a few you might recognize!Antihero: A hero with a dark past without heroic attributes.Big Reveal: A classic ending with a big reveal, all answers answered at one time in the book.Chosen Hero: A predestined hero is chosen to go on their quest.Damsel in Distress: Cliché a woman is trapped/ needs to be rescued by the hero.Enemies to Lovers: Characters that are at odds, fall in love.Everyone Did It: Mysteries or horrors where everyone is a suspect.Fake Relationship: Romance trope with a fake relationship, usually turning into real love.Forbidden Love: Romance trope where two unlikely lovers meet. Age gaps, different worlds, etc.Forced Proximity: Two characters are forced together in a small space, shared bed, overnight, etc. Sexual/ romantic tension.Friends to Lovers: Friends realizing their feelings for each other.Good VS Evil: Classic villain faces a classic hero.History Returns/ Repeats itself: A character’s past comes to haunt them; bad things keep happening again to drive the suspense and tension.Inclement Weather: Bad weather creates dangerous situations, increases stress, isolates the characters.Instalove: Fated lovers who fall in love the second they meet.Love Triangle: When a character is pursued by and must choose between two lovers.Mysterious Neighbor: Someone new moves in, creating a strange series of events.No Communication: Isolating characters by ignoring each other, knocking out the power, cell service, etc.Nosey Reporters/ Sleuths: Nosey characters who ask driving questions to ignite the plot.Opposites Attract: Two opposite characters falling in love.Parallel World: A world existing alongside our own to explain the plot or challenges in the story.Prophecy or Quest: Same as chosen hero; everything has already been predestined.Slow Burn Romance: Romance that burns slowly over a long period of time with high burning tension.Soulmate: Loves meant to be, predestined.The Reluctant Hero: A main character who doesn’t want to follow their prophecy or play their role.Tragic Backstory: Common with antiheroes… a dark story to help readers feel bad for and cheer on a morally gray character.Twist Ending: Common in all genres, to surprise the reader and create a surprise ending.How Are Tropes Helpful?It's good to be aware of what is being written in your genre as a writer. If I am writing a fantasy book, I better know every fantasy trope inside and out, so I know what my readers’ tastes are. I'm not advising you to write the same thing as everyone else, but these tropes are tried and true and are some absolute fan favorites. Know what is working in your genre and know how you can twist some of these into brand new ideas.ConclusionToday's topic is a little light. I want to get started with some definitions just to get everyone on the same page. Next week I want to dive into different kinds of editing and potentially that same week or the following week dive into the publishing world. Get ready to know the difference between beta reading and proofs, what a manuscript is, and what it means when I say “querying.”Have a great week!Danni Lynn WWW #48 Types of Poetry: The LimerickThis post was uploaded early for subscribers on 6/27/23Wednesday Writing Weekly #48 Types of Poetry: The LimerickHave you ever written a poem? There are many ways to start. You can begin by just writing whatever comes to mind. You can pick out a type of poetry or poem structure and follow those guidelines, or you can invent a whole new style yourself. I used to be the type of person who didn’t understand why you would write in a particular structure such as a villanelle or a haiku. Wouldn’t that be restrictive to stick to a certain style? It wasn’t until my undergrad years in a poetry workshop class where I learned that using different structures just helps to frame what you are working on and in a way, inspires and challenges your writing to blossom even more, compared to just freely writing a poem in freeform. To celebrate the many ways you can write a poem, let’s learn about Limericks. Poetry LingoStanza: A set of lines in one paragraph of a poem. Line: One line or sentence (sometimes) in a stanza. Rhyme Scheme: Dictates which lines in a structure rhyme with each other. Represented by letters i.e., ABAB. A rhymes with A, B rhymes with B. Meter: Rhyme count based on syllables. Poetry Style: The LimerickWhat is a Limerick: Limerick poems are humorous pieces with origins back in the 19th century. Structure: As you will see in this series, poems often have a rhyme scheme that is spelled out by letters. A Limerick has one stanza and has the rhyme scheme of AABBA. Each letter represents a line so line 1, 2, and 5 in one stanza rhyme. Three lines are long and two are short as well. Fun fact: You can duplicate the word that ends in line 1 as well as line 5. This is popular in this structure. Style: Short and punchy, these usually tell a tale that may be funny, trivial, crude, or just plain silly. Example 1: Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense (1846) Line 1: There was an Old Man with a beard,Line 2: Who said, "It is just as I feared!—Line 3: Two Owls and a Hen, Line 4: four Larks and a Wren,Line 5: Have all built their nests in my beard.As you can see, line 1, 2, and 5 all rhyme or repeat: “Beard,” “feared,” and “beard.” Line 1, 2, and 5 are also the 3 long lines in the structure. The two short lines, line 3 and 4 also rhyme. Keeping these structure rules in mind, read two more examples and look out for what rhymes, what lines are short or long, and more to understand the poem structure. Example 2: Dixon Lanier Merritt, “A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican.” A wonderful bird is the pelican, His bill holds more than his belican. He can take in his beak Enough food for a week, But I’m damned if I see how the helican.Example 3: Leigh Mercer A dozen, a gross, and a score Plus three times the square root of four Divided by seven Plus five times eleven Is nine squared and not a bit more.How to write a LimerickWhen writing any kind of poem, it’s important to pick a topic. If you sit down and say, “I’m going to write a poem,” and then stare at the paper, that is really hard! It’s difficult because you have millions of possibilities in front of you. If you pick a topic or one single thing to write about, that will help to narrow your focus. If you are new to poetry and writing, I always suggest to pick something simple! You may want to write about big ideas from emotions to big events, love, and more. Those big ideas are easy to fall into cliches if you are not used to working with the topic. (Cliches are not inherently bad, but they will make your work sound unoriginal.) For practice, I recommend picking something near you and writing about it. I am not good at poetry, but I am always trying! To write an example for you, I will pick an item near me. How to Write a Limerick Example: Pick Your Topic: Ficus PlantNotes and details: Ficus plants are known to be an air-filtering plant, to be helpful in giving you fresh air, even at a small amount. It is a large plant in a pot. Has green leaves. In a plastic brown pot, a terra-cotta mimic. Sits in a pool of sunlight. In an otherwise dark apartment. Structure: 5 lines, 3 long, 2 short, AABBAStyle: Comedy, crude, or satirical Here is my attempt at a limerick: Apartment PlantLINE 1: My ficus, you sit in the sunLINE 2: purifying putrid air like none LINE 3: twenty green leavesLINE 4: a plastic mimicryLINE 5: I wish you did better, you bum.ConclusionAs you can see, it’s silly! It’s dumb! But that’s okay because I did it and at least attempted it. Up next…Can you give it a try? Pick something nearbyAn item boring An idea soaringShare with us below—buh’bye! All my best, Danni Lynn... WWW #47 Guest Feature: Charles de LintWednesday Writing Weekly #47 Guest Feature: Charles de LintBack when I was a student in high school, I was faced with the challenge of shadowing a professional in the field of my choice as a part of my senior project before graduation. Wanting to be a writer, I knew I couldn’t just go and watch one writer go about their day so I proposed an amendment to the project requirements and was allowed to instead interview several different authors about their work, experience, and advice. Years later, I want to share these interviews with you all (with permission from the authors) because I believe the best way to learn about how to be a writer is to learn from the many different ways each author approaches and completes their work. Charles de Lint BiographyCharles de Lint is a prolific Canadian writer with over 70 books published across the fantasy, horror, urban fantasy, and magical realism genres. Known for his memorable characters and a tapestry of cultural knowledge in both Welsh and Native American folklore, his stories will pull you in with their otherworldly themes. De Lint is a writer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and has won many awards over the years including but not limited to the Great Lakes Great Books Award for The Blue Girl, World Fantasy Award for Best Collection for Moonlight and Vines, and the Ontario Library Association’s White Pine Award. (source) WorksI’m sure if you look up some of his titles, you will recognize a few. My personal favorites are Wolf Moon, Someplace to Be Flying, and Dingo. Many of de Lint’s novels are set in his Newford Series, all sharing the same fictional setting in a North American City. The Dreaming Place, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, The Hour Before Dawn, Old Man Crow, Muse and Reverie, and more are a few titles in this series. His collection of works are a wide assortment of novels, YA novels, collections, short stories, and novellas. De Lint’s most recent book, Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls came out last fall. Amazon Link | Goodreads LinkJust take a look at some of these gorgeous covers...,How do you find an Agent/Publisher for your book and how do you find one that you can trust?I can’t really answer this question because it’s been far too long since I started in the business and everything has changed more than once during that time. But some things hold true: Write a good book. Research which publishers publish that kind of book. Submit it to themafter first making sure you fulfill their submission requirements. It’s pretty much the same thing for agents. The way you find out if they can be trusted is to get a hold of their client list (a good agent will provide one upon request) and talk to the authors on it. If you can also track down authors who left that agent it will give you a helpful perspective as to what might not work for you with that agent.Are you satisfied/happy with your book?Once a book is published, I have to be happy and proud of it or I wouldn’t have submitted it. I will admit that I can look back on early work and find nits to pick but that’s not something that’s worth dwelling upon except to keep in mind so you don’t make the same mistakes again in your current work.How would you describe the moment when you first held a published copy of your book?I must have been happy but it was over thirty years ago and I don’t remember the details.What is your motivation? How do you keep working on something that takes so long?I write books I’d like to read but nobody else has written them yet so I have to write them myself. I’m motivated each day because I want to find out what happens next.Did you have a contract with your publisher? Was there a set time that your book(s) needed to be finished?I’ve had contracts and deadlines and I’ve also written on spec. I prefer the latter.What is your process in writing a book? Ex. Writing from beginning to end or at randomuntil you piece the whole work together?I write from beginning to end, then go back in with rewrites and edits to make sure everything hangs together.What is your view on the beginning of a book? The first page is what the reader depends on to judge it all. How do you overcome that first part?They say that your first paragraph has to be great, to grab a reader’s interest. Then the whole first page. Then the first chapter...well, you get the idea. The whole book has to be great. I will say that the beginning of the book should start with the story already started. Too many new writers start with background on their setting or characters and that gets quickly boring. I don’t agree with a prologue either. Get the story started, then fill things in as you need them in a natural way.When did you start writing, why and how?I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember and probably started writing them down when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. Why? Because I love stories but couldn’t always find the ones I wanted to read. How? You just do it, whether using a pencil/pen, typewriter or computer. Stories don’t get written by talking about them.Did you ever feel lost while writing your book? If so, how did you get your focus back?That happens. When it does I go back in the manuscript to where things were still working and figure out a way to get back on track.If there was one, what was the biggest obstacle or problem that you had to overcome in the writing? – Anything within the entire process.Finding time to write or at least that was the case when I was starting out. I worked full time, played in a band three nights a week, and also wanted a social life. It was hard to fit it in sometimes. But I always made time.Did you have a lot of say with how the cover was made?Unless you write it into your contract, or you’re an indie publisher and doing everything on your own, you don’t get any say in the cover art.ConclusionI’m so thankful for all this amazing advice and the chance to learn about de Lint’s writing process and experience. Be sure to check out his works as well as his website to learn more about his expanse of stories. Novel Recommendation: Juniper WilesCharlesdelint.comGoodreads ProfileTumblr Profile Facebook ProfileTwitter ProfileInstagram Profile All my best, Danni Lynn... WWW #46 How to Plan a Story(This post was uploaded early on 6/27/23 for subscribers. The public version was uploaded on 7/5/23) Wednesday Writing Weeklies #46 How to Plan a StoryWhen writing a story, there are many ways to start. You can start writing without any direction, you can make an outline, or do all the above and just go for it. When I get a brand-new idea, I usually write it all down in one go. This is how I make sure I don’t forget anything, and I get all my ideas on the page. Next, I build an outline. Today, I want to show you how I come up with a simple outline! The CharacterI always start with a character first. I pick a name, age, and their personality. This can be random, it can have meaning... whatever you like! Character Name: Lizzie MadisonAge: 24Personality: Chipper, thoughtful, overwhelmedNext, what do you think I should pick? You might be thinking about what she wears, what she likes to eat, maybe how she talks... but I want to guide you to something even more important. What does Lizzie want? You can dress your character up and make them very detailed, but what does that have to do with the story? Will the color of her shirt push the plot along? I don’t think so. Lizzie’s wants: Lizzie wants to get a promotion at work. Now, in real life and in a story, the character can’t always get what they want. If it was that easy, there would be no story to tell. For the next question, I ask myself, what is stopping Lizzie from achieving her goal? Lizzie’s Obstacles: A mean co-worker, Lizzie is often late to work, and Lizzie is a klutz. Poor Lizzie, it sounds like she can’t catch a break. Next, I ask myself, what is Lizzie willing to do to get what she wants? Lizzie’s abilities: She kisses up to management, she is a good worker, she will try to revenge prank her mean co-worker. Planning the PlotNow, we know what Lizzie is trying to do and how she is struggling. Let’s look at the details provided above and expand on them. Instead of adding brand new ideas to the story, I always build off of the prior details, so everything feels natural. Here are some questions I came up with based on the above information to help me brainstorm my plot. Why is Lizzie late to work? What kind of klutz is Lizzie? Why is Lizzie’s co-worker mean? What do they do to Lizzie? What is Lizzie’s manager like? What role does Lizzie work? Where does Lizzie work? What prank does Lizzie pull? Then, I answer everything to flesh out these ideas. Keep your answers simple. My answers: Lizzie is late to work because she has to babysit her little brother while her mom is at work. Lizzie often rushes around and tries to get things done too fast (in an effort to perform well) but this can lead to spills and accidents on the job. Lizzie’s co-worker likes to increase Lizzie’s messes. The co-worker (Fred) thinks she is not qualified for a promotion they are both competing for. Fred will spill stuff on purpose and trip Lizzie. Let’s pause and look at my above answers. They all build off each other. For example, Lizzie babysitting shows responsibility. I chose this to make her late. And if she is trying to do well and means well, she might rush around to get everything done at once which can lead to her making mistakes and being a general klutz. If Lizzie is trying her best but is struggling to get a promotion, a potential obstacle can be a jealous co-worker that wants her to lose. Lizzie works at a fast-food restaurant and in order to get back at her co-worker, I imagine she will reverse the tables. Set up a spill or accident so bad that Fred gets reprimanded. Being a sweet girl, Lizzie will probably be convinced into this path or revenge by other co-workers that are her friends. Another important detail is that things never go right on the first try. For example, if Lizzie tries to prank Fred, it’ll probably mess up. This will lead to her situation getting worse and her chances of promotion being lowered. Then she will have to try to recover and figure out how to get out of her situation. Maybe she can learn how to be the bigger person here and know it is wrong to stoop to the mean coworker’s level. To try and try again is important in storytelling. Plan an OutlineFrom only a few questions, we now have a whole story and a wealth of details! When I get to this part of the story, I usually write out a tiny outline focusing on the start, end, rise of conflict, and the climax of a story. Here is my mini outline: Lizzie is running late to work again after her mom gets home from her job. Lizzie arrives at work and slips in a spill. Enter Fred who laughs at her. Lizzie tries to get through the day. Manager announces they are leaving and will be promoting someone to take their spot. At home, Lizzie tells her mom about the job while helping with brother. Next day at work, Lizzie is working with a co-worker friend. They discuss the position and how to stop Fred from getting it. Fred comes in and is mean. Lizzie sets up a prank to get back at Fred. Lizzie launches her prank. Lizzie’s prank fails and the whole kitchen is a mess.The manager punishes all three workers. The next day, Lizzie comes to work earlier than normal and overhears Fred talking bad about her. Lizzie mopes at work. Fred is mean but takes it too far and does something in front of a customer. Lizzie stands up to Fred and defends the customer. Fred gets fired for his actions and Lizzie is apologized to by the manager. Lizzie gets promoted. Does this sound like the most exciting story? Probably not and it is so cheesy! But I wanted to show you how you can simply build an outline from scratch. From here, you can add more details and really flesh out what you want to see happen in the story. If it is a short story, I go ahead and add additional bullet points of information. If this is a longer piece of fiction, like a novel, I’ll split these parts up into chapters and continue to plan from there. ConclusionThat’s about it for today! What steps do you take when planning a story? What questions do you think are the most important to answer when planning? Best, Danni Lynn...