Tag: Writing

Posted in Theme

Theme: Where to Find It

Posted on by L. M. Montes

To start with, theme is a lesson or idea the story teaches and is carried throughout the story. But where do we find a theme to center our stories around? We can Google a list of possible themes and go from there. After all, sometimes our mind goes blank right at that moment you want to think of something. Google helps boost our minds. Of course, there are other search engines, so the choice is yours which one you use.

Another possibility is yourself. You’re probably going, huh? That’s right. Your own experiences can shed light on various themes you can center your story around. In your lifetime what have you learned? How did you learn it? Did you have to learn how to get along with someone you didn’t like? Did you have to learn how to give more? Did you have to learn to be patient? Maybe you had to learn to take risks. The list goes on and on. Or maybe you know of someone who had a learning experience.

Does this all mean your story has to be directly related to your learning experience? No, absolutely not. You aren’t creating nonfiction. You are wanting to create fiction. All I am saying is to use your learning experience (or someone else’s) and come up with a fictional story that centers around the theme (or what you learned) from your own life.

There are times, though, when all you have to do is start writing a story and the theme will present itself as the story unfolds. Yes, there are some writers who write this way. I am one of them. I don’t like to restrict myself, and I find it more freeing to just start writing. How about you?

Posted in Poetry

Weather’s Dance by L. M. Montes

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Drops of plenty wet the soul,
a newness fills and now takes hold,
pinkish flowers sing scents so sweet,
indulging the mind when we are weak.

Breezes soar invisibly,
hovering, surrounding, playfully,
the freshness of air so crisp and clean,
conveying pictures of nature’s scene.

Grassy cushions so green and lush,
a silky sinking, dreaming of much,
sun returned, its beams pushed forth
the dancing clouds from way up north.

Posted in Poetry

Story Knitting by L. M. Montes

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Sew by weaving words,
knitting character, plot, and structure within
the fabric of emotions, habits, conflict,
bringing sparkle, glitz, pizzazz,
warming readers,
striking souls,
with words aplenty
of stories told.


Posted in Editing

Book Reviews

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Receiving a critique of your work can be nail biting, when the review can go in either direction. None of us enjoys being hammered with negative information regarding our own work. After all, everyone loves praise and pats on the back for a job well done. Realistically, nobody is perfect, so there’s going to be some negativity. But here’s the thing. Some reviews are brutal and probably unnecessarily so. You can take control of situations like this. You don’t have to feel bad about it. You can choose to let it help you. Here’s what you can do.

  • After you’ve read the negative review, clear your head and take a deep breath.
  • Then read it through again only this time write down what they didn’t like about your writing/book.
  • Go through each item on this list and think about what you can learn from it so that you don’t repeat the same mistake in your next book or piece of writing. If they don’t give you examples of what they’re referring to, try to find some of your own. Maybe the reviewer said your main character doesn’t show enough emotion but doesn’t give any examples in the text where the MC doesn’t. You will have to find these instances on your own. Or, you can ask someone else you know who has read your book if they noticed any lack of emotion in your MC.

The point of a review is not only to let other potential readers know about your book but also for you, the author/writer, to make you a better writer. So don’t let reviews hurt your feelings. Let them help your writing.

Posted in Writing

Write a Poem (Idea 3)

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Write down a number of topics. Then create a list of words and/or phrases under each topic relating to that topic.

Example:

Topics
Love– flutter, heart warming, constricting breaths, tingling, soft kisses, stab, gentle pulse pounding kiss, sweet thoughts…..

Rain– spattering diamonds, twinkle tapping, splashing, thought disruptor, meditation melder, a guide to dullness, sprouter of Spring…..

Expressions– muddied knowledge, human weeds, life’s tides, stabbing stare/glare, ice eyes, singing smile…..

Growth– as a mustard seed, a newness, knowledge comes knocking, the deepening of a flower’s color, life’s momentum…..

Next:

Think about the kind of poem you would like to write. Let’s say you want to write a poem about growth; go to your topic entitled growth and read through the list of words/phrases you came up with. As you do this, ideas will start to flow, and you will begin to think of lines of poetry. AND you will end up using some of the words/phrases from your list in your poem. Also, you don’t have to stick to just one topic. Mix them up by pulling words/phrases from more than one topic to use in your poem. You will be very surprised at how easy it is to think of a poem by using these processes.

Above all else, have fun.

Posted in Writing

Write a Poem (Idea 2)

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Verse 1: Make something normal seem out of the ordinary.
Verse 2: Make something out of the ordinary seem normal.

This is not as easy as it looks.

Posted in Writing

Write a Poem (Idea 1)

Posted on by L. M. Montes
  1. Grab a photo of anything.
  2. Study it for a few minutes.
  3. Brainstorm a list of words that come to mind as you are looking at it.
  4. Take your list of words, and use them to create a poem of your choice.
Posted in Writing

Theme: That Sticky Thing Some Have Issues With

Posted on by L. M. Montes

How do you insert a theme into your story? Well, there are different ways of doing this. Just so you know, how this is done differs from writer to writer. After all, we are all different minded individuals. I tend to do things a little backwards. At least in my mind I do. To start with, theme is a lesson or idea the story teaches and is carried throughout the story. A story can have more than one, so don’t think you can’t go beyond that.

Examples
1. Good vs. evil
2. Power of corruption
3. Love
4. Free will
5. Tragedy

Of course, there are many many more. But, how do you incorporated it into your story? I have come to the knowledge over the years that it has much to do with how you write. I am a panster. In other words, I don’t plan. I make the story up as I go along. I know in advance the type of theme I am wanting to work with, so I set out writing my story. As I am writing, the theme is working in the background, a.k.a simmering in my subconscious. It will come to the surface as the story unfolds.

In my latest book The Cross’s Key, when I finished it, I started at the beginning of the book and looked for anything that pertained to the story’s theme and made notations of it. When that was finished, I went back to each notation and decided whether or not the theme was developed enough. If it wasn’t, what did I need to insert in order to develop it more. Was there anything that didn’t make any sense that needed clarification? Did the theme flow with the rest of the story, or was there something out of place that might derail the reader? Trust me, it’s your story, so you will know the answers to these questions at the moment you’re going through it.

If you are a planner and plan your story out before you set to writing that first chapter, then you are going to outline your chosen theme during the planning process. If this is the way you work, what I would do is come up with a theme first. Next, I would write down in a couple of sentences what my book is about (or a general idea anyway). Then go back to your theme and brainstorm various ways that theme could be incorporated into your story.

Whatever way you choose, please note, theme is an integral part of your story. Yes, I know there are many elements to a story that are important, but theme will pull at the reader’s mind and work toward making connections in ways only they will know.

Posted in Writing

High Winds

Posted on by L. M. Montes

High winds blew all of the leaves off my backyard trees in one swoop night. They were blown bare, which leads me to my next observation. As they stand there, a statement is being made by them in their own way. “Winter is coming, and we’re ready to go the distance.” In the spring, of course, they come back to life and grow to their fullest once more.

As writers, sometimes life blows in and knocks us down in one swoop. Whether it’s family issues, living issues, medical issues, writer’s block, a review your not happy with, or your motivation just isn’t there. Know this: set backs are temporary. There will be a Spring of sorts coming your way, and you will flourish again. Don’t allow the winds of life to knock you down and keep you down. Spring back to life.

Posted in Poetry

Weather’s War by L. M. Montes

Posted on by L. M. Montes

The rising sun kissed the horizon,
peeking shyly above the edge of Earth,
as it climbs in steady gait
beaming arms of light ready themselves
to slice through the day.

Clouds compete,
and waft across the sun,
arresting light till the day is done.

Then in gusts wind blows its breath,
and rescues sun’s beams glory light.

On and on this fight is fought,
until the elements blame and gust,
not caring who below it harms,
as long as all gets what they want.