Blog :: Mel Menzies

Anti-Social Behaviour: Is It The Result Of Legislation Promoting Children's Rights?

Posted: Wednesday, 30th September 2009

Newspaper reports on the life and death of Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter make harrowing reading. Victims of abuse and anti-social behaviour by local youths, the lives of both were made a misery for years. However, despite making no fewer than thirty-three complaints to the police, her plight, and that of her daughter, was ignored. Until, unable to endure the situation any longer, she ended their misery in the only way she knew how: by taking her daughter to a remote place, and setting fire to the car.

I could weep for them both.

TACKLING ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR? HOW?

Three points particularly interested me about the story.

Articles on related themes: Books, Reading & Words; Family & Parenting; Life, Faith & Other Stuff

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Bereavement Poetry - Death Is But A Door

Posted: Friday, 25th September 2009

IF YOU WISH TO USE THIS POEM FOR THE BEREAVED DURING A FUNERAL OR THANKSGIVING SERVICE, PLEASE SEE THE FREE REPRINT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE.

I lost my daughter some years ago, so I know what it’s like dealing with the loss of a loved one. You wonder what life is all about; whether you’re the only person who feels you way you feel; if there is any sense in the pain you’re going through; and how much more you can bear?

Sometimes it seems no one wants to talk to you about death, generally; or the loss you’ve suffered, in particular.

Creative Writing Tips: Take Inspiration From The Poets

Posted: Friday, 18th September 2009

Sometimes the sheer effort of writing seems to be almost overwhelming. Whatever inspiration you once had has evaporated. You feel tired, drained and dispirited.

We’ve all experienced it. You wake up one morning and think, what on earth am I doing with my life? All those hours spent cooped up with no one but yourself and a bunch of fictitious characters for company have failed to set your writing career on fire. Your creative writing tasks are no more than a flickering flame; and the struggle to reignite them, to fan them into life and vigour is – well – simply beyond you.

Articles on related themes: Writing & Publishing A Book

How To Write Description In A Novel: Viewpoint

Posted: Monday, 14th September 2009

Viewpoint, or Point of View (commonly referred to as POV) is, arguably, one of the most difficult aspects of creative writing for a novice to grasp. Even when the theory is understood, it is so easy for a new writer to slip up and write from an omniscient (all-seeing) point of view. I have written on this topic in the past but I want to revisit it in this series of how to write description in a novel.

In the first article, I highlighted how little is required, when writing a character description, in order to flesh out the appearance and disposition of the individual in question.

How To Write Description In A Novel: Describing Location

Posted: Wednesday, 9th September 2009

When you read a novel, you are being invited to inhabit an imaginary world: a fictional place, in which fictional characters live, and move, and have their being. If good descriptive writing is used, their experiences become, for the duration of the book, yours, too. But because the medium is textual, visual imagery has to form part of the narrative for it to become effective. Your job, as writer, is to create, through the words that you choose, a cinematic experience in the imagination of your reader.

Articles on related themes: Content; Writing & Publishing A Book

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How To Write Description In A Novel: Characters

Posted: Wednesday, 2nd September 2009

Describing characters is a necessary part of creative writing, as is describing location. But I had to smile when I read yesterday’s review in The Daily Telegraph, of the American TV drama, The Tudors. It appears that in order to refresh viewers’ minds as to Who’s Who, from the first series, characters not only told each other what they were called, but also – helpfully – gave a brief CV of themselves! I can just imagine it.

“Good morrow, fair Anne Boleyn, the second of my eight wives, and a replacement for Catherine of Aragon.

Articles on related themes: Writing & Publishing A Book; Character