The Write Focus

3:12 / Archetype and Allusion / Enhancements G

Last episode I had a major oopsie. Almost finished recording three tools (imagery / archetype / allusion) for our Enhancement Writer’s Toolbox, and I realized the recording had approached 40 minutes. Quelle surprise!

Now I stumble over words and pause and take long breaths, but I know—know—that I wouldn’t have enough errors to lose 20 minutes. I can accept reaching 25 minutes. We’ve had a ½ hour episode, part 1 of Symbols (the numbers). But multiple ½ hour and more episodes? No. NO. That defeats The Write Focus’s stated length: time for a quick commute, brisk walk, or fast meal-prep.

The plan to cover imagery, archetype, and allusion in one episode was because all three contain a wealth of information in one word or phrase (a Herculean task).

Therefore, rather than run 40 minutes, I broke that planned episode into two.

• Imagery last week
• Archetype and Allusion this week
• Finishing the Interpretive Realm with Allegory next week

Timings

• 1:45 Archetype
• 4:26 Shapes and Colors and Situations
• 5:38 Allusions
• 9:00 In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
• 11:40 Classical Mythology common allusions
• 12:09 Old and New Testament common allusions
• 12:52 Bordon Deal’s “Antaeus”
• 15:46 Next Week
• 16:08Inspiration / Natalia Ginzberg

Emily Dickinson ~ both versions of “I Never Saw a Moor” https://allpoetry.com/I-Never-Saw-a-Moor

e.e. cummings ~ “i carry your heart” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49493/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

 

3:11 / Imagery / Enhancements F

It’s the 100^th episode. Time to Celebrate.

And

Besides symbolic colors and numbers, how else can we add single words and short phrases to enhance our writing? We’re delving into simple touches that we can add to stories and poems and novels AND nonfiction essays and blogs to enrich the text for our readers.

Key words here are simple touches. These carry a tremendous wealth of information.

By having several tools in our writers’ toolbox, we can layer our enhancements in with a light touch. With our previously discussed metaphors and other figures of speech, we dab in a color symbol or three, a number here and there. But we’ve barely explored the writer’s toolbox.

In this episode of The Write Focus, we offer another method to touch a highlight to our writing.

• 1:30 Celebration
• 2:30 Imagery
• 3:00 Chiaroscuro in The Scarlet Letter
• 4:35 Omar Khayyim’s Rubaiyat, translated by Edward Fitzgerald
• 8:45 Emily Dickinson
• 10:39 Tone / Mood / Atmosphere
• 11:30 e.e. cummings’ “i carry your heart”
• 15:43 Next Week
• 16:00 Inspiration / William Shakespeare

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:10 / Symbols part 2 / Enhancements E

Last week was a half-hour episode on Symbolic Numbers. This week we’re all about symbolic colors, and we have our regular length: long enough to fix a quick dinner, drive a short commute, or take a brisk walk.

We explain the 3 primaries red, blue, yellow; the neutrals black, white, grey; the metals silver and gold; and the vivid purple, green, and orange. Can’t leave out brown, the color of old sacrifice.

Join us for ways to enhance your writing by changing a single word.

It’s the Enhancement series, on The Write Focus.

• 1:14 Symbolic Colors (and Times)
• 3:19 Only 3 Colors in One Culture
• 4:27 Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”
• 6:32 red / blue /white
• 7:07 green / purple
• 7:51 black / white / grey
• 8:56 silver and gold
• 9:46 orange and brown
• 10:34 NC Wyeth’s painting of Arthur Receiving Excalibur
• 12:12 F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby
• 12:44 Irene Hunt’s Across Five Aprils
• 16:42 Symbolic Colors and Times questions
• 17:31 Next Week
• 17:51 Inspiration / Alfred Kazin

Special Links

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost | Poetry Foundation

NC Wyeth 450px-Boyskingarthur-wyeth-excalibur-lady-of-the-lake.jpg (450×574) (summitlighthouse.org)

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:09 / Symbols pt. 1 (Interpretive) / Enhancements D

What’s an easy and ingenuous way to elevate our writing to the next level?

This way works down into the words we place on the page. In character descriptions. Setting development. Plot dynamics. It’s like a secret language that most readers don’t know about even as their subconscious recognizes that secret language. In many respects, this is global, recognized everywhere. If no one spots it—which is always good—this secret gives us writers a satisfactory glow every time we touch it onto the page.

What is this easy and ingenuous way to elevate our writing? Symbols.

• 1:16 Symbols: Realm of the Interpretive
• 4:13 5 Clues to Interpretation
• 4:48 symbols in Toni Cade Bambera’s “Blues Ain’t No Mockinbird”
• 5:39 bird symbols in James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis”
• 7:19 symbols and allusions unlock additional knowledge
• 8:46 :: 1, 2, & 3
• 10:38 :: 4, 5, & 6
• 16:53 :: 7, 8, & 9
• 21:52 :: 10 & 11
• 24:09 :: 12 & 13
• 26:27 Using Symbolic Numbers
• 28:08 Next Week
• 28:20 Inspiration / Honoré de Balzac

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:08 / Figurative Language, part 2 / Enhancements C

Similes: easy enough. Metaphors: also easy. Direct Metaphor: just like a simile. Implied Metaphor: now we’re getting complex. Hyperbole: easy again. Great for insults.

How about metonymy and Synecdoche?

“Wait, I know these,” you say. “Let me remember. I haven’t heard them since high school. Metonymy’s when a part of something represents the whole. Oh, that’s synecdoche. I don’t remember metonymy.

Don’t stress. This episode of The Write Focus will help.

• 04:10 Comparison Equations
• 07:42 Simile
• 11:35 Metaphor
• 14:05 Simile vs. Metaphor
• 16:15 Metonymy
• 17:25 Synecdoche
• 19:52 Hyperbole
• 22:49 Next Week
• 23:09 Inspiration

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements, necessary word craft building to improve our writing at the word and sentence level.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:07 / Figurative Language part 1 / Enhancements B

Similes: easy enough. Metaphors: also easy. Direct Metaphor: just like a simile. Implied Metaphor: now we’re getting complex. Hyperbole: easy again. Great for insults.

How about metonymy and Synecdoche?

“Wait, I know these,” you say. “Let me remember. I haven’t heard them since high school. Metonymy’s when a part of something represents the whole. Oh, that’s synecdoche. I don’t remember metonymy.

Don’t stress. This episode of The Write Focus will help.

• 04:10 Comparison Equations
• 07:42 Simile
• 11:35 Metaphor
• 14:05 Simile vs. Metaphor
• 16:15 Metonymy
• 17:25 Synecdoche
• 19:52 Hyperbole
• 22:49 Next Week
• 23:09 Inspiration

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus! We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. Our podcast is for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Our current focus is Enhancements.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3: 06 / A ~ Introduction / Enhancements

Apostrophes ~ no, not the mark of punctuation. It's the literary term. Know what it is?

How about paradox? Sure on that?

Chiasmus: my favorite, people enjoy when they see it, but do you know the term when you want to practice it? Can I stump you with these?

Polysyndeton. Epistrophe.

These are all Enhancements that can help your writing sing on the page. That's an implied metaphor, BTW.

Enhancements from anastrophes to zeugmas ~ the series starts with this episode.

• 02:25 Who needs word tricks?
• 05:18 Basic language information
• 07:00 The only rule to remember
• 08:25 Taste
• 10:20 Periodic vs. Cumulative (more of a grammar lesson than helpful to writers)
• 13:40 Denotation vs. Connotation
• 16:40 Practice Connotation
• 16:53 Next Week
• 17:13 Inspiration / Charles Lamb

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus. Our focus is productivity, process, craft, and tools. The New Year starts with the challenge to be a writer. We ended 2021 with a manuscript, written during the fall writing challenge. Now we turn that manuscript into a document we can publish.

That’s our focus here: writing and the knowledge to solve any writing-related issues. We’re for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:5 / Publish & Promo / Prep to Publish

This week on The Write Focus:

We have the MS finished. We’ve revised. Our first readers cry and gush over our story. They think it’s great. We’ve received the cover from the professional designer, and it’s glorious: it captures the reader’s imagination and the story and the genre.

We are ready to publish.

It’s a simple matter of clicking a few buttons, right?

Not quite.

We have business details to gather. We have to format the MS. Then we can publish and plan our promotions.

• 1:20 Coming Next: Enhancements
• 2:25 Introduction
• 2:35 Business Details ~ Blurb (long info) / Tax ID / ISBN / Copyright
• 9:52 Formatting ~ headings / table of contents / front matter / back matter
• 11:50 Publishing on KDP and D2D ~ Metadata / Content / Previewer / Pricing
• 13:37 Promotions ~ Media presence / types of posts / Ads and ROI / Launch
• 16:30 Think Outside the Box.
• 17:32 Next Week
• 17:45 Inspiration / Isabelle Allende

Resources

Fiction Sales Copy by Dean Wesley Smith

Free Amazon Book Description Tool from Kindlepreneur

Internal Revenue Service / Tax Identification Number

Bowker / ISBN

Copyright / US Copyright Office

Amazon Key Word Descriptors :: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201298500

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus.

We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. The New Year starts with the challenge to be a writer. We ended 2021 with a manuscript, written during the fall writing challenge. Now we turn that manuscript into a document we can publish.

That’s our focus here: writing and the knowledge to solve any writing-related issues. We’re for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

3:4 / Edit and Correct / Prep for Publication

Edit and Correct are harsh-sounding words that can strike fear in writers. They think, “I know nothing about grammar. I can’t edit. Let me hire someone.” And I retort, “Yes, but not yet.”

What do I mean by “not yet”? Why am I implying that we can do most of the editing and correction ourselves? Because we can. Be Brave and Try.

• 1:00 Never Fear Proofreading
• 2:25 You are in Control
• 3:35 Proofreaders & Line Editors
• 5:20 Objective Distance / 1^st Editing Round = Full Speed Ahead.
• 6:12 2^nd Editing Round = Segment the MS
• 6:45 3^rd Editing Round = Reverse Engines
• 7:15 4^th Editing Round = Full Steam Ahead w/ Many Eyes & Real-Life Awkward Example from a Seminar (Names not given, a few details changed to protect the innocent, main details untouched)
• 11:17 Can’t Afford a Proofreader?
• 13:39 Next Week
• 14:00 Inspiration / Elinor Fuchs

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus!

We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. The New Year starts with the challenge to be a writer. We ended 2021 with a manuscript, written during the fall writing challenge. Now we turn that manuscript into a document we can publish.

That’s our focus here: writing and the knowledge to solve any writing-related issues. We’re for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)

 

3:3 / Revision is a Process / Prep for Publication

Revision can be a beast. Conquer it by using The Write Focus process.

• Revision ~ the Next Project Goal 1:28
• Is the Manuscript Complete? 2:14
• The Goal of Revision 3:57
• Objective Distance 4:55
• 1^st Step 7:15
• 2^nd Step 8:12
• 3^rd Step 10:17
• 4^th Step 13:31
• Examples of Strong Voice 17:00
• Coming Next 17:44
• Inspiration for the Week / Bernard Malamud 18:40

This episode runs for 20 minutes.

Welcome to The Write Focus. We focus on productivity, process, craft, and tools. The New Year starts with the challenge to be a write. We ended 2021 with a manuscript, written during the fall writing challenge. Now we turn that manuscript into a document we can publish.

That’s our focus here: writing and the knowledge to solve any writing-related issues. We’re for newbies who want to become writing pros and veterans who are returning to writing after years away.

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus!

For more links and resources, visit www.thewritefocus.blogspot.com  .

Write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

If you find value in this podcast, please share with your writing friends or write a review. (We’re small beans. We don’t have the advertising budget of the big peeps. You can make a difference.)