Sarah Lovett, Author at

Writing a Memoir: Write the Journey

October 1st, 2017Sarah Lovett3 Comments

You’ve logged the miles and now it’s time to write the journey. Writing a memoir is your opportunity to share a transformational story or collection of stories from your life’s journey. You’ve logged the miles, and, along the way, you’ve faced challenges, taken risks, failed, given up, risked again; until, finally, you emerged transformed in some way. You’ve reached a crest where you can see 365 degrees around you, and you pick out the faint trail of your passage all the way back to your beginning. You know you have a story to share with others. Where do you begin? Begin at the …

Dialogue and Scenes – Making Them Great – Quick Writing Tips

April 14th, 2017Sarah Lovett2 Comments

Great dialogue makes for great scenes In last week’s post, I focused on tips for writing great scenes–scenes and summary are the building blocks of fiction and memoir. A friend who blogs and writes essays read the post and reminded me that scenes and partial scenes also lend energy and veracity to nonfiction. So true! C’mon, make a scene! First of all, a vital reminder: a scene is a piece of story action, played out moment-by-moment on page, stage, or screen. Conflict drives every scene. No conflict, no scene. A scene moves, dynamically beginning in one place and ending in …

Write Great Scenes to Build Great Stories – Quick Writing Tips

April 3rd, 2017Sarah Lovett1 Comment

Action, Conflict, Scenes! Scenes and summary are building blocks of stories–both fiction and memoir. A scene is a piece of story action, rendered continuously moment-by-moment, without summary, but with action and, often, dialogue. A scene can be acted out on stage. She wants, he wants: Characters work in conflict. If they both want to go to the same party and they go, sorry, no conflict, no scene. In contrast, let’s say Joe and Suzy are on their third date and Joe wants to take Suzy to Dave’s party. Dave is Joe’s best friend. But Suzy absolutely doesn’t want to go to Dave’s party–Joe just pointed …

Publish Your Novel to Success: 5 Must-Take-Action Steps!

February 7th, 2017Sarah Lovett0 Comments

You’ve written one draft, two drafts, you love your novel, your retired 5th-grade teacher loves your novel, so you must be ready to publish, right!? Whoa back, wait up, hold on a sec, Pardner. Before you even think about sending your book out into the big (sometimes bad) world to publish, you must make sure you’re both ready! That means getting a professional copy edit, finding qualified beta readers, deciding between traditional and indie publishing options, and researching accordingly a) overall market b) agents or c) indie publishers. Of course, while you’ve been writing your book, you’ve been building your …

Story—The Journey from Darkness toward Light, from the Existential Scream to the Universal Sigh

November 20th, 2016Sarah Lovett0 Comments

Here’s the thing, being human isn’t easy. We are human and we are animal—savage and tender, mindful and thoughtless, loving and cruel, base and divine—and then toss our heart and spirit into the mix and try telling our story. Wait, shhhh, hear that existential scream? Yup, understanding the complexities of human nature is an ongoing challenge. If you have any desire to try, and if you are a writer, painter, musician, actor, creative seeker of any stripe, you are a storyteller and you are on the journey toward transformation and this is a gift. When it comes to story, transformation …

Jiggery-pokery and Elections and 2.0 US Fluid Ounce Pours

July 18th, 2016Sarah Lovett0 Comments

It’s been a dark week, a dark month, a dark year for news. Countless writers are covering current stories—some with intelligence and sensitivity, many without—and after I absorb what I can, my eyes wander and my mind leaps at the chance to follow. While perusing news-lite this morning I came across the word “rejiggering”—think it was in the Huff Post—and that made me think of jiggering, meaning a person or thing that jigs, and before you picture someone dancing wildly, remember that to jig means to manipulate or alter something in order to get things done (often illegally). I’m still not …

Bring Your Story to Life

July 3rd, 2016Sarah Lovett0 Comments

Gift your characters and their worlds and their journeys of dilemma, conflict, and transformation generously.

Emphasis on transformation.

Of course well-told stories have the power to simply entertain us. But the best stories also have the power to transform by offering new vision, new insight and awareness. They wake us up. And yes that is a tall order.

I watched two films at the Regal 14 with my ten-year-old daughter this summer. Both were major studio productions with big budgets.

The first, a very recent box office hit—a save-the-universe archetypal saga—featured a reluctant, off-beat hero and his vagabond “knights”, one of whom was female, with green skin and a fighting spirit. Make no mistake, she could kick ass with the best and the worst of the guys. The film was loud, action-packed, entertaining and the same ole’, same ole’ story. My daughter loved it! (more…)

Free Your Creativity

June 30th, 2016Sarah Lovett0 Comments

If you’re one of those people who ask how, when, where writers get their ideas, it might be hard for you to imagine the need to get a handle on Idea Overwhelm. But when it comes to generating ideas, many Creatives struggle with too much, too many, too fast! The ability to sift, hone and focus ideas and material is crucial to every writer’s success. Here are 10 ways to begin to get a handle on your wealth of creative material: Go for your hot spot! Write your passion! Life is too short to choose tepid subjects. You will only …

Help, I’m stuck on the page! — 10 Tips to Get Your Pen Moving Again~

April 24th, 2016Sarah Lovett2 Comments

1) Breathe! Slowly, deeply, it’s all okay and normal and you will be fine, truly. (And repeat.) 2) Put the story structure info away—in a drawer, in a trash can, in a virtual trash can—and don’t look at it again. When it causes anxiety it is no longer useful. Shred any piece of paper that tells you that there are rules for writing a novel. 3) Know that finishing is difficult for your creative self (and mine and everyone’s!). Resistance can swell a bit when the end of a draft (or even “almost-draft”) nears. 4) Know that you are the …

Tuesday’s Writing Tip: Put Words on Paper & Give it Up

March 22nd, 2016Sarah Lovett1 Comment

Put words on paper, forget whether the putting is easy or hard, and don’t believe the voice judging shitty or brilliant, give it up and stay curious around what happens—we writers are never really in charge, we are channels for flow.