Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts PLUS Thoughts on Writing Descriptive Settings

Today, I want to share a wonderful writing resource: Writing Active Setting Book 1: Characterization and Sensory Detail by Mary Buckham. If you haven’t had a chance to take one of Mary’s on-line writing courses, I highly encourage you to check out her schedule. She has a class on Understanding and Crafting Great Sexual Tension that starts on September 2. I’ve taken the class, and it’s excellent, too.

Here’s a blurb about ‘Writing Active Setting Book 1:

Readers usually remember the plot and characters of a story, but setting is every bit as important in creating a memorable world. Discover the difference between Ordinary Setting that bogs down your story, and Active Setting that empowers your story — creating a compelling story world, regardless of what you write.

* See how to spin boring descriptions into engaging prose.* Learn to deepen the reader's experience of your story world through sensory details.* Notice how changing characters’ POV can change your setting.* Explore ways to maximize the setting possibilities in your story.

WRITING ACTIVE SETTING is a powerful combination of fresh insights, practical examples, and how-to advice on the often overlooked but critical element of Setting ... written in a quick-to-read and easy-to-understand style, and packed with useful application exercises. ~~ Kelly L. Stone, author of THINKING WRITE: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind.

I have a scene in The Last MacKlenna that takes place in a library and is seen through the eyes of both the hero and heroine. Without Mary’s guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to write that scene in both POVs. She taught me how to relate the setting to individual characters. People don’t see the same things when they walk into a room. What’s important to a woman may not be what’s important to a man. The woman might notice how the colors in the chair’s upholstery are picked up in the accessories on the tables and in the bookcases. The man might notice the placement of the sound system’s speakers. Making your settings relevant to your characters is sometimes difficult to do, but a simple sentence can turn a blah paragraph into a memorable one. That’s one of the many things I’m looking at as I go page-by-page in this editing process.

Check it out. And thank you, Mary!

Happy writing & running, Kathy

~*~

If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again: 

1. Sell More on Amazon: Understanding Keywords, Categories, and Amazon's Algorithm's | Penny C. Sansevieri http://ow.ly/nRUMc
2. QueryTracker Blog: At the Scene: The Establishing Shot & Your Novel http://ow.ly/nRUTF
3. Six Common Myths about Book Reviews | Writing and Illustrating http://ow.ly/nRUWo
4. Ether for Authors: Maybe It's Not the Thought That Counts http://ow.ly/nRVdJ  Eliminating "thought" verbs. (Scroll down the article)
5. Author’s Corner: Suggestions on How To Promote Your New Self-Published E-Book http://ow.ly/nSHdG
6. Why You Should Read Introductions at the End of the Book - GalleyCat http://ow.ly/nSHle
7. The process of writing a blog post (from a timey-wimey perspective) | Creative Writing with the Crimson League http://ow.ly/nSHqI
8. How to Market Your Book at Events - BLOG - Stories To Tell Books http://ow.ly/nSHuo
9. Why Go to A Writers Conference? 10 Reflections and 10 Tips to Get the Most out of Your Conference Experience http://ow.ly/nSHxJ
10. 3 Disagreements About How to Use “Either” and “Neither” http://ow.ly/nSNS2
11. How to Tell a Story With Just One Character http://ow.ly/nT4Rq
12. Does Twitter Make Sense for Most Writers? | Jane Friedman http://ow.ly/nTwV5
13. Smashwords Now Offers Preordering, But Is it for You? | Indies Unlimited http://ow.ly/nTxd0
14. Will you be in the nine percent of publishers that survive? | The Passive Voice | http://ow.ly/nTxhj
15. Write It Sideways — Writing advice from a fresh perspective: Confessions of a Writing Group Virgin http://ow.ly/nTxpi
16. Official Website of Jami Gold, Paranormal Author: Do You Know Your Story's Subtext? http://ow.ly/nTxwh
17. The 5 Biggest Fiction Writing Mistakes (& How to Fix Them) | WritersDigest.com http://ow.ly/nTxMT
18. The Bookshelf Muse: The Big Lie: Encouraging your Readers to Suspend Disbelief  http://ow.ly/nTy33 

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