Better Living Through Chemistry

Published on June 3, 2015June 2, 2015 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

The clock mocks me. Twelve, midnight. A soft sigh escapes as I scoot deeper beneath the covers. Just once, please let me sleep. The silent pray slips through my exhausted mind.

Water drips from the kitchen sink, a neighbor’s dog barks, and I twist amid the sheets like a swimmer tangled in seaweed. There’s a red 2 on the face of the clock. If I squint, it looks like a twisted smirk.

I give up, and reach for the night stand. The tiny white pill is bitter, but the water cool. I close my eyes and shut out the neon numbers.

Today’s Writing Prompt for Bite Size Fiction is brought to you by –

Julia’s Place 100 Word Challenge For Grownups – #154

…please let me sleep…

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Writing with Gerunds

Published on April 8, 2015July 26, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell1 Comment

G = Gerunds

Writers new and old sometimes stumble over writing with Gerunds.

Do you know the correct way to write with Gerunds?

Not all of these “ing” Devils are bad. This is a writing tip worth repeating. A reminder that I make sure the “ing” action matches the rest of my sentence.

“Running home she flung open the front door.” Hmm… This needs work.

Want to rid your writing of a few of these scary little Gremlins?

Head over to The Kill Zone’s post titled Gerunds Be Gone, for examples for writers.

For additional help, you might want to check out editing software Grammarly , Ginger and ProWritingAid. I use all three.

Ready to go Gerund hunting?

Elmer hunting

Read the post over at Writing-World. com for more help.

Click the link for more details on the A to Z Challenge

Talk to me, I love reading your comments.

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D: Description

Published on April 5, 2015April 5, 2015 by Jean M. Cogdell5 Comments

Blogging A TO Z CHALLENGE

D is for Description

Doesn’t matter where you write by plot or the seat of your pants. The Devil is in the details.

For me I write in waves. First draft is with broad strokes. With each pass I add more details to the scene and characters. Soon the road through my story gets bumpy.

Turning Flat Stanley‘s into flesh and blood characters.

“Mitchel was about six feet tall, and under two-hundred pounds.” This is a generic description. I know he is tall, dark and handsome, with eyes the color of dark chocolate. He has cute love-handles that roll over his belt, which are the results of too many home-cooked meals by his new bride. But my reader doesn’t see what I see, hear what I hear, or know him very well until I reveal the picture and turn on the audio.

To introduce him to my readers, I must give him life. Somehow I must depict not just his features and statistics.

What is he doing, saying? Is he moving or standing still? For the reader to understand the character, he must live. A little bit like Dr. Frankenstein, we as writers take bits and pieces to create something from nothing.

With each draft, I add more, until fingers crossed, my characters and scenes are visible to my reader.

I want to avoid…

Laundry lists of descriptions. (Blond hair, blue eyes, age 45 etc.)
Cliches that make characters appear like caricatures.

How…

by combining descriptions with actions, emotions, or thoughts, allowing them to do double duty.

For help with writing descriptions check out…

The Art of Description

The Art of Dynamic Descriptions

Use Vivid Description

How do you give life to your characters and scenes? Do you have all the tiny details mapped out from the beginning?

Smelled Like Death and Cheap Perfume

Published on March 10, 2015April 16, 2015 by Jean M. Cogdell9 Comments

The scent was overpowering, smelled like death and cheap perfume. I stepped over books and clothes, careful not to fall. Candy wrappers and trash littered corners. A pizza box teetered on top of the dresser.

I set down the Pinesol, snapped open the large plastic garbage bag, slipped on a pair of heavy-duty rubber gloves, and wished I’d brought a gas mask. Piece by piece I dropped everything into the trash bag.

Exhausted, but relieved glad I’d found nothing dead or squeaking.

“Mom, what’ve you done?”

“Cleaned your room.”

“But my stuff… .”

“Gone,” I said and left my daughter, stunned, standing in her empty bedroom.