Divine Caroline has an article right now about 9 movies that they believe were better than the book. Not having read most of these books I cannot comment, but I find it difficult to believe that that many movies can be better than the books. Perhaps the movies seem better because most people experienced the movie version first. What do you think? Is it possible for a book to be better than the movie? Discuss.
Diary Entry Writing Prompts
Writing in a diary is an excellent habit to get into. Not only is your diary entry writing practice, it gets you in the habit of writing something everyday. You can also look back on your diary entries and uncover plots and themes to write about later. Nearly all professional writers keep some sort of daily diary or journal. It’s a great way to explore new writing techniques!
Diary Entry Writing Prompts
If you are stumped on what to write in your diary entry, use these prompts to help you out.
Entry Prompt 1
Write a fictional diary entry for a fake person. What does that person care about? What happens in a typical day for that person? Are there any events the person would want to be sure to write down to remember later? Try to make the entry as realistic as possible for that person’s universe, which could be anything from historical to space aliens.
Once, I spend an entire year writing a fake diary. It was a lot of fun.
Diary Entry Prompt 2
Stick to the facts for this one. Try to remember exactly what you did that day or the day before. Get as specific as possible. This will not only build your writing skills, but it will stretch your memory and build your descriptive writing skills as well.
Entry Prompt 3
Write down what happened today or yesterday but only write it down based on how it made you feel. Try to use words that convey emotion rather than simple facts. When you read back this entry, it should feel over-the-top emotional. Try to see if you can get someone to read it back and report on whether they could feel the same emotions while reading that you did while writing and experiencing the event.
Diary Entry Prompt 4
Write your diary entry in a different format, such as using bullet points only, or skipping any adjectives. Do something a little silly and out-of-the-box. Maybe make a cartoon or drawing of your diary entry for the day.
Do you keep a daily diary? What do you use it for?
More Writing Tips
Writing Tip: Checking Spell Check
Yahoo has an article today about ten commonly misspelled words that spell check cannot catch. It is important to watch out for these words in writing. In addition to these, my spell check has a hard time with the word algae and words that should end in ent rather than ant. It’s rather strange. Anyway, you can read the list of words here.
Writing Tip: Semicolon
Recently I have not been able to get away from the semicolon. It seems that every other sentence that I read now contains one. I don’t know if this is because I suddenly have become more aware of them, or because more people are using them. Either way, I find their excessive use distracting.
There are three “official” uses for semicolons in English.
The first use is with related independent clauses. This should be used when two short clauses, that could each be their own sentence, are pushed together because they are on the same topic. You could say, “I took my daughter to the park today; too bad it was closed.”
The second use is with related clauses that are linked with a conjunction or transitional phrase. You could say, “We went to the park today; however, we were unable to play, because it was closed.
The third use is in a long and complicated list. You could say, “The following people came with me to the park: my daughter Rosie, who is eight; her friend Ava, who never washes; Ava’s mother Candy, the exotic dancer; and our dog Snips.”
Writing Tip: Write What Interests You
This applies mostly to non-fiction writers, but it can also apply to fiction. When you choose to write for a long period it is important to choose a topic that you will be able to write at length about without getting really bored.
Even if you are writing a story, if you do not care about what happened to prehistoric vampire fish, then do not write a story about prehistoric vampire fish. Or whatever.
A subject that you are interested in will enable you to conduct better research and ultimately, produce better content.