The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
Relish and revel in the sensuous nature of the summer and try to capture it on the page; the warm breeze, the sound of busy insects, the clarity of the blue sky. Even if the day is far from perfect, try to capture it as it is.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
K. Rowling uses third-person narrative in her Harry Potter series to tell the reader what Harry and his friends are doing.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
If a text is didactic it means that the moral message of the piece overwhelms the story or emotions.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
Spoken stories need to keep the listeners’ attention much more consciously and, as such, work much better if they are more straightforward.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
In terms of reading, autumn is the time I indulge in the dark and mysterious world of gothic novels.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
Webster wrote the wonderful gothic tragedies The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
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During this time I also began keeping a daily diary, noting and reflecting events going on around me, honing my ability to evoke the world rather than just make notes about it.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
If you want to keep the distance of the third-person narrative but would like to try something more challenging, why not try characterising your narrator. Again, you have several options here – making your narrator part of the story or keeping them separate.
Andrew Anderson • The Ritual of Writing: Writing as Spiritual Practice
As it is a stand-alone piece, rather than part of a wider story, all you have to focus on is capturing the essence of the place you are visiting. This is a postcard, from yourself to yourself, which you will be able to read when you are far away from this place and which will bring you back to this moment.