Jeanette Taylor of The Scribes is a writer, instructor, mentor and editor. She shares monthly musings about writing, based upon her classes and workshops. She also posts history tales of the BC coast. Read more…
Nonfiction Writers Must Delve Deep Into Their Characters’ Lives
Writing about People in Nonfiction Intriguing people are at the heart of most stories and you need to know them intimately, whether you’re writing a community history, a travel piece, a memoir or a biography. Hemingway advised writers to compile...
Write clear, bold sentences in an ‘active voice’
Write Straight to the Point The passive voice—with its side stepping, roundabout phrasing—lacks clarity, punch and immediacy. Many of us speak in this suggesting-things way, but when it slips into our writing it both deadens the impact and requires more words. I know...
Two Mysterious Deaths in the Nixon Family of Twin Islands, BC
The Mysterious Deaths of Harpur and Margaret Nixon of Twin Islands, BC Reverend Harpur Colville Nixon, a well-to-do Anglo-Irish gentleman, bought Twin Islands, BC in 1912 or 1913. He and his wife had a farm on Denman Island so this new place was purchased as a haven...
Bring a flat character to life through a writing exercise
Get to Know Your Story Characters Whether it’s a real person you’re writing about, or a fictional one, you need to know everything about her. The good and the bad qualities, the quirks and charms. Only the tip of the iceberg of information you gather will ever...
The Galleys of Harbledown Island, BC
Settler Women’s Hidden Lives Charlotte Galley of Victoria & Mary Ann Galley of Harbledown Island Marriage was a gamble for Victorian women, a decision based upon intuition and promises. And it was for keeps, no matter what a husband’s life choices might...
Family Story as Bestseller
Two Great Reads That Draw on Family Stories Does your family’s history have the drama needed for a wide readership? The answer lies not in content but in your ability to find its story threads, the glowing strands that have relevance and insights for others. That’s a...
Lifelike writing to engage readers’ minds
Showing Versus Telling in Your Writing There are two different narrative modes: the breezy, dash through background information or set up, in which the narrator tells us what’s happening—and sometimes even what to think. The advantage here is the ability to move fast...
Writing a Setting into the Story
The Role of Settings in Fiction & Creative Nonfiction The setting might be of minimal importance in a story that focusses upon a character’s inner struggles, as in Nuala O’Faolain’s creative nonfiction biography Chicago May. Or place may be so important it takes...
Writing About History
The Art of History, Unlocking the Past in Fiction & Nonfiction, Christopher Bram Books about writing history are hard to find, so this new addition to the canon is a prize—in every sense. The Art of History is a slim volume that packs a lot of punch. Christopher...
The Big Snow, a Winter History Tale from the BC Coast
The Big Winter Mary Bryant's First Year on Quadra Island, BC Loneliness plagued most of the bachelors who settled on the Discovery Islands in the 1890s, when the Euro-Canadian gender balance was about ten men to one woman. It wasn't so bad in spring and summer,...
Good Writing Requires Great Storytelling
What is a “Story”? Think of a favourite family story. You’ve heard that tale repeatedly but it never fails to bring a gasp or a laugh. Now—deconstruct that story. It's not likely to be a memory of a picnic on a perfect summer day, when everything went right. The...
A Story Structure Guides Readers
Story Structure Gives Readers a Path to Follow Whether it’s a novel or a fact-based essay, your story needs a structure, a logical flow that’s like a winding path through a wilderness of ideas and details. Readers want assurance there’s a clear direction for this...