Another way to revise our travel stories (or any story or scene) is to use the senses to describe the setting, the characters, and the action. Using the words “I smell…, we heard…, or you may taste…” is NOT the point. We can imply the senses by using rhythm with our words or utilizing descriptors that convey the sense itself. Continue reading “Revise a draft using the five senses.”
In a recent Travel Touchstones: Transformative Travel through Creative Jou
rnal Writing workshop with lively participants, I explained that I developed the writing exercises as a result of not having the right kind of material from my journals when drafting my coming-of-age travel memoir, At Home in the World: Travel Stories of Growing Up and Growing Away.
I offered a flow writing activity. Continue reading “Flow Writing followed by 3-step Revision”
Ira Progoff’s “Stepping Stones” Journal Writing Exercise
Stepping Stones is a journal writing exercise developed by Ira Progoff. He conducted research about how individuals develop more fulfilling lives. In his role as psychotherapist, he found that clients who wrote about their life experiences were able to work through issues more rapidly. Through this research, he then developed and refined the Intensive Journal Method to provide a way to encourage the processes by which people learn, grow, and develop as individuals. Continue reading “Insight from Travel through Journal Writing Exercise”
A WRITING EXERCISE THAT HELPS BUILD TENSION
Open your thesaurus; go to any letter in the alphabet. Pick words from that letter that prompts questions that may help you think about your characters, plot, setting, dialogue, actions, emotions, and especially tension. Then for every word, develop a question that can push you deeper into your story, hopefully building tension in your book, story, or scene. Continue reading “BUILDING TENSION”
