Angela Rydell Instructor Page

With the year coming to a close--and the Inlet Advent Calendar wrapping too--look back on something from the past and ask yourself what new insight you've gained (or a character you're writing about has gained) from the vantage point of the present.

Sometimes we are our own harshest critics. How can we create objective distance while still listening to our inner editor's criticism without letting the harsh judgement make us want to throw down our pens? Try "modulating" your inner editor's voice:

Take some time to tinker with little pauses for big effect.

An advent typo correction. Oops! Here's the corrected prompt from the 27th, changing "by" to "but": The Rest--Part I. What is “the rest” of the story? In part, it’s what hasn’t yet been said but will be “told” or understood. Today, build in a pause in the big picture: withhold something unsaid or implied and soon to be revealed but still set up in order to garner meaning. (not "revealed by still set up...")

Between louder beats, build in something quiet--a whisper, an easing summary, a lull after great tension. It can help to conceptualize it as a metaphor: material that reads like coasting, gliding, or the ebb of the tide.

Rest is necessary as we create, and necessary within our creative work as well. What type of pause might you build today? (And speaking of rests, please forgive the pause in the posts!) ALSO, here's a TYPO CORRECTION changing "by" to "but": The Rest--Part I. What is “the rest” of the story? In part, it’s what hasn’t yet been said but will be “told” or understood. Today, build in a pause in the big picture: withhold something unsaid or implied and soon to be revealed but still set up in order to garner meaning. (not "revealed by still set up...")

Tis the season for reflection. Use the process of mulling to instruct you on how to capture good reflection on the page.

We're all standing on the shoulders of giants. What writing has influenced what you're writing right now? It could take a lifetime to answer this question. But zero in on one thing that you see influenced not just you, but others you've been reading. Lean into it--and let it teach you something not just about the piece you're writing, but the origins of all writing.

Listen. Ask yourself, or a character: What do you hear? How long does it take to figure out what its source is? Delight in that approach and encounter. (Sorry for the delay with the post!)

Everyday mysteries abound in winter--and like the root system of trees, can give your writing depth and breadth.

Change is inevitable--and great fodder for a piece of writing.

Ever feel like there's some voice outside yourself saying, stop, turn around, change direction? Write about it--or a character's experience of that cosmic stop sign on life's universal road, and the light of knowledge is coming from the sun itself, on the darkest day of the year, changing direction while hidden from view.