How Do I CAST My Story?
~ By Jeff Salter This post originally appeared here. First of all, let me say that it’s not particularly easy for me to delve into the “how” and “why” of what or who I write. Not that I’m trying to keep big secrets here… more like I just don’t think about the process all that […]
The Name Game — A Friday Writing Prompt
~ By Jeff Salter Happy Friday! Jeff is back with another writing prompt to get you warmed up for a weekend full of writing. We hope you have fun with this. Thank you, Jeff! — Through a social media promotional campaign, 31 people discover they have the same name —first, last, and middle initial. Several of […]
Sometimes It’s Better to Pretend You Just Didn’t See It
~ By Jeff Salter It seems I have interesting [true] experiences quite often. Take, as an example, this one from March 29th last year — which should have been an ordinary morning visit to my local credit union. Even though most of the staff know me, I still pull out my billfold to show my I.D. […]
Writing Contests — They Shoot Horses Don’t They?
Why Pay an Anonymous Judge to Smack Me Down? ~ By Jeff Salter I could write a book about contests. So today’s little excerpt will be just a few of my rants and raves. But first a disclaimer: For those talented and fortunate few writers with positively golden entries which win or ‘final’ — contests are […]
Too Many Cooks? It’s Not Just About the Cowboy Beans. . .
~ By Jeff Salter Note: read this true experience (from 6-26-2016) and then tell us what you would write for the very next line. He: “I’m thinking about making some cowboy beans this evening for supper. You okay with my beans?” She: “Sounds lovely.” – – – Later that evening – – – He is browning […]
Spooky Noise in the Dark Bathroom
~ By Jeff Salter We writers tend to have vivid imaginations… especially when it’s night time and we’re alone in the house. This is a true story from May of 2014. See if you can figure out the actual solution to this mystery. OR… how would you WRITE the solution? — Tap…clack-click. Tap…clack-click. My ears […]
Setting the Scene… Which Suddenly CHANGES
~ By Jeff Salter Sometimes when we’re writing and have a particular scene going, we realize that all kinds of things could happen AFTER that initial scene set-up. ~ The following actually occurred, in early July, four years ago. Sometimes you see things that make you wish you hadn’t. My wife and I were […]
Friday Writing Prompt — The Bank Robber
~ By Jeff Salter Happy Friday. Today, to kick off the weekend, we’ve got a writing prompt. Thank you to Jeff Salter for coming up with it! Don’t be shy. Dive in and give this a shot. It’ll get you warmed up for a weekend of writing, and prompts are a great exercise in learning about your voice. […]
Valentine’s Day — In Retrospect
~ By Jeff Salter I can only assume I had heard of it previously, but I didn’t sense the true importance of Valentine’s Day until fifth grade when my heart was first captured by Robbie B. [More about her in a moment.] Around the perimeter of that classroom, each student’s small paper sack was tacked […]
Interview With Book Reviewer Kathy Heare Watts
Note: This week, chapter member Jeff Salter had the opportunity to interview book reviewer Kathy Heare Watts, and has kindly shared some of the interview for us to post here. Thank you, Jeff, for giving us this valuable view into the mind of a reviewer! You can find the full interview here. If you have […]
Writing Sprints; I’m a Believer [Updated REPOST]
~ By Jeff Salter [Note: This blog is based on detailed comments I sent to Nancy Herkness in October 2013, as she prepared an article on various writing challenges. Several sentences of my material appeared in that article, in the February 2014 issue (Vol. 34, Number 2) of Romance Writers Report (RWR).] I used to […]
Writing Prompt — Incident on a Bridge
~ By Jeff Salter Happy Friday. Today, to kick off the weekend, we’ve got a writing prompt. Thank you to Jeff Salter for coming up with it! Don’t be shy. Dive in and give this a shot. It’ll get you warmed up for a weekend of writing, and prompts are a great exercise in learning about your voice. […]
