More on Writer's Portable Mentor
I am nearing the end of this book. As I read I underline as I did in school, and mark with flags the exercises to go back and work. She encourages us to use current work, and revise based on the techniques she teaches. I feel so much hope after I read this book. It looks like I can get there if I just follow the steps she lays out.
A piece about my mother came out of one of the exercises. After reading about the different types of sentences (my brain aches still-in a good way, like after a long run) she goes over four types of paragraphs. At the end of the section on paragraphs there is an exercise that has you make a list of ten sentences, the topics for your ten paragraphs, and voila, there's a 1,000 word piece.
Snooze, I know, but for me this stuff is wonderful, I feel like I am getting to the meat of what I need to know in order to move forward as a writer.
It hit me all at once, and the sentences spilled out and the piece is now halfway written-and it's about my mother, an important topic lately since the anniversary of her death was two days ago. I have already "seen her" twice in the last week. Weird. Random people lately can look like either one of my parents, both of whom are gone. Pancake butt standing ahead of me in line at Costco with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the menu board gave me a momomentary slip, thinking my dad was with us and we were on an outing. It was a nice slip, then it was gone and I stood there wondering if I was losing my mind, or if this was just one more part of the uberfun grief process. My mother materialized as this woman sitting in her motorized scooter on a street corner. A dog was tied to the chair.
So here I go, trying to apply the principles of good writing and all this material is right there, begging to be used. Does she provide excellent writing prompts? Yes. Is my brain already full of stuff to write about? Yes. Either way, I am still so grateful she finally published this book and again, I can't recommend it highly enough.
I would also like to add that boning up on all this stuff on sentence structure has enhanced my reading experience. I am nearing the end of Atlas finally and find that though I still think a modern editor could have tons of fun with this book, I appreciate the many of the meandering sentences, and the way Ms. Rand structures her thoughts, ideas, and monologues. Word choice is something I am more critical of now, since I am on the hunt for both good words, and excellent model sentences.
A piece about my mother came out of one of the exercises. After reading about the different types of sentences (my brain aches still-in a good way, like after a long run) she goes over four types of paragraphs. At the end of the section on paragraphs there is an exercise that has you make a list of ten sentences, the topics for your ten paragraphs, and voila, there's a 1,000 word piece.
Snooze, I know, but for me this stuff is wonderful, I feel like I am getting to the meat of what I need to know in order to move forward as a writer.
It hit me all at once, and the sentences spilled out and the piece is now halfway written-and it's about my mother, an important topic lately since the anniversary of her death was two days ago. I have already "seen her" twice in the last week. Weird. Random people lately can look like either one of my parents, both of whom are gone. Pancake butt standing ahead of me in line at Costco with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the menu board gave me a momomentary slip, thinking my dad was with us and we were on an outing. It was a nice slip, then it was gone and I stood there wondering if I was losing my mind, or if this was just one more part of the uberfun grief process. My mother materialized as this woman sitting in her motorized scooter on a street corner. A dog was tied to the chair.
So here I go, trying to apply the principles of good writing and all this material is right there, begging to be used. Does she provide excellent writing prompts? Yes. Is my brain already full of stuff to write about? Yes. Either way, I am still so grateful she finally published this book and again, I can't recommend it highly enough.
I would also like to add that boning up on all this stuff on sentence structure has enhanced my reading experience. I am nearing the end of Atlas finally and find that though I still think a modern editor could have tons of fun with this book, I appreciate the many of the meandering sentences, and the way Ms. Rand structures her thoughts, ideas, and monologues. Word choice is something I am more critical of now, since I am on the hunt for both good words, and excellent model sentences.
Posted by Sarah Martinez at 10/12/2010 12:18 PM 
Categories: Book Reviews, Writing
Tags: Writer's Portable Mentor Priscilla Long
Categories: Book Reviews, Writing
Tags: Writer's Portable Mentor Priscilla Long
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