Barbara V Evers

I love it when I can share my joy of reading and writing with others, especially children. A few weeks ago, an email in my inbox advertised the 60th anniversary of a book I remember from my childhood. Although I heard the story over and over again, I never once saw or owned the book. We had an LP with three stories on it, and the story depicted on the album cover, The Carrot Seed , was the one in the ad. I quickly clicked through to see what it cost, already knowing I had to purchase it. I bought four copies: one for my newest grandchild, one for my two-year-old grandchild, one for my two-year-old great niece, and, of course, one for me. Easter seemed the perfect time to give these books to them. I'm sure the book came out with a 60th anniversary version due to the carrot tie-in to the holiday. We spent the weekend with Reagan, my two-year-old granddaughter. I gave her the book, and she promptly sat in my lap and let me read it to her. When we finished, my daughter-in...

My daughter, Heidi, 3 weeks old. Today is my eldest daughter's birthday. Her arrival changed my life in a lot of ways, some anticipated, others surprising.  I'm the person I am today because of the journey I started as her mother. Every story's protagonist must experience an inciting incident in their story.  Something that  changes their life and creates conflict, big or small. Because of this change, they ask questions, pursue different relationships, and try different things. I doubt anyone who's had children would dispute the numerous shifts in their life story once their first child arrived, whether it occurred at birth, during the pregnancy or during attempts to become pregnant. Or maybe, they adopted a child. The inciting incident might be the journey to adoption, while the child's arrival is the conclusion of the story arc. It doesn't matter what inciting incident you give your character, they must have one. Without it, the story doesn't ho...

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles Freedigitalphotos.net A few years ago, I ran several posts related to editing and providing critique feedback on other people's writing.  Since these posts ran a while back, I thought it might be worth sharing them here. The series started with a  post about the writing group  and expanded from there. The rest of the posts are below. I hope you find something worthwhile or helpful in them. Editing: Removing Word Repetition Who's Telling the Story: Exploring 3 Point of View Options Who's Talking Now? Using Multiple Points of View What Is Omniscient Point of View and How Do You Write It? Why Should You Use Active Verbs? Recognizing and Eliminating Adverbs In Your Writing Story Time Line: 7 Steps to Checking For Issues 4 Ways To Identify Problems With Plot and Flow The Importance of Setting the Scene In Your Writing, Part 1 The Importance of Setting the Scene In Your Writing, Part 2 Getting Your Facts Straight:  5 ...