Between the Lines

…where the magic of writing happens

  • Between the Lines Professional Critique Service

    Laurin runs Between the Lines Critiques, providing professional critiques of manuscripts and synopses for a very reasonable fee. For more information on this service please see the Between the Lines Critiques page.

  • What Between the Lines clients are saying…

    “Laurin Wittig has a phenomenal gift for identifying the problems in a story and, more importantly, suggesting ways to fix them. I can’t imagine trying to write a book without her!”
    Pamela Palmer
    Award-winning author of the Esri series from Sihouette Nocturne and the Feral Warriors series from Avon.

    “Laurin Wittig’s talent for finding the essence of a scene and pointing it in a logical and more focused direction is unmatched. Laurin’s guidance is kind and to the point. More importantly she MOTIVATES!”
    Elizabeth Holcombe
    Author of Heaven and the Heather from Berkley/Jove

    “Laurin Wittig is the sharpest story surgeon you could ever desire. She peels away the unnecessary layers to find the strong bones of your plot and character. Laurin has discerned things about my characters that I was still waiting to discover, and I find her insights stunning.”
    Anne Shaw Moran
    The Marlene Award Finalist

    “Laurin Wittig is a genius. Her insightful comments and suggestions helped me change a good manuscript into a great manuscript. I plan to use her critique service for all my future novels. She's the writing/critique partner that we all secretly hope to find -- someone who will help your book become the best it can be, without any power struggles, jealousy or secret agendas.”
    Beverly Giroux
    Golden Heart Contest Finalist

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Archive for December, 2008

The Perils of (Not) Proofreading

Posted by Laurin Wittig on December 5, 2008

Just a little something to tickle your funny bone today.

Laurin

Posted in Craft of Writing | 2 Comments »

Playing with Words

Posted by Laurin Wittig on December 3, 2008

210ywwjkpvl_sl160_One of my favorite creativity coaches, Julia Cameron, has a book called The Sound of Paper: Inspiration and Practical Guidance for Starting the Creative Process.  One of the exercises she has in it is to create a collage to find out what’s really going on in your head. 

Here’s how it works, paraphrased:

1.  Collect several magazines and/or catalogs.
2.  Rip out anything that appeals to you.  Do this fast.  Don’t think.
3.  Get a piece of poster board, cardboard, a big piece of blank paper, a shirt box, heck anything that you can paste things to.
4.  Arrange your pictures and/or words in a way that pleases you.  Let your inner child/muse play!
5.  Glue everything down.
6.  Admire your work.  See if it inspires anything — a new idea, a plot twist, a deeper understanding of a character or a deeper understanding of yourself.

It’s fun to get a friend to look at it and tell you what she sees.  Sometimes these look like pieces of art, and sometimes they are more of a mess, but as long as they make your inner artist happy that’s enough.  When I did this last, I found poetry.

Playing with Words

Collaging with Words

It’s a little hard to read there, but here’s what it says:

The Thinker

Last night I dreamed the laws of gravity don’t apply to euphoria.
If you love what you’re doing
Just breathe between the lines.
Fight back.  Put a little order in your life.  Get wet.
Between the lines.
Swifter, higher, stronger.
Better than ever.
Beyond compare.
Carefree utopia.
What do you have to say between the lines?
Once you start, you’re already finishing.

Now I’m not a poet, but I like what I created and it spurred me on to follow my bliss, find the fun again, and oh yeah, it gave me the name of this blog.

If you want some awesome inspiration for another way to play with your words and pictures, check out this blog entry from my BFF Elizabeth Holcombe who is an artist and a writer.  She uses collages a lot for inspiration and as a reference source for her characters.  She’s done run of the mill collages, but sometimes she gets even more creative and uses unusual forms like this altered book collage.

So go forth and play with words and pictures.  I’d love to hear what you learn about yourself, and/or your work in progress.

Laurin

Posted in Inspiration & Artist's Dates | 1 Comment »