Friday 30 September 2016

Secret Writing Techniques
by Deborah Owen, CEO

Storytelling and writing techniques have been around since Adam and Eve bounced little Cain and Abel on their knees, but if you get the feeling there are secret writing techniques that can nail your eyes to the page, you’re right, and successful writers are not quick to talk about them.

There are at least 100 techniques (probably more). Listen to your inner voice and you will know when and where to use them. Regardless of the technique, one rule always applies... don’t overuse any of them. Fine writing is always balanced.

This would be a good time to grab a notebook and pen (or copy and paste this article into a special file) because this series will be an advanced and ongoing study.

Last month we discussed onomatopoeia and today we will talk about asyndeton, which
means disjointed and unconnected. You can listen to the pronunciation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49_3sIYdmK4. Asyndeton is the art of stringing clauses together without benefit of conjunctions, or to phrase it more simply, it is writing a list that is separated by commas and does not use a conjunction. Look at these superb examples:

From Double Indemnity: Why, they've got ten volumes on suicide alone. Suicide by race, by color, by occupation, by sex, by seasons of the year, by time of day. Suicide, how committed: by poisons, by firearms, by drowning, by leaps. Suicide by poison, subdivided by types of poison, such as corrosive, irritant, systemic, gaseous, narcotic, alkaloid, protein, and so forth.
 
Writers aren’t the only ones who use asyndeton effectively.
Orators and statesmen use it, too.

Julius Caesar: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Sir Winston Churchill used it in 1940 in the address known as “We shall fight on the beaches:

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.  

John F. Kennedy: ...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
 
For hard core impact with a dramatic effect, try asyndeton in this week's writing.


Write to our CEO at DeborahOwen@CWInst.com.

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Visit Diane Mae Robinson's dragon books for children website: www.dragonsbook.com


Friday 23 September 2016

Sir Princess Petra's Mission Goodreads Giveaway

Enter The Goodreads Giveaway - 5 Days Left.


Sir Princess Petra's Mission 
by 
Release date: Jan 12, 2016
Sir Princess Petra's Mission - The Pen Pieyu Adventures, Book 3 in the multi-award winning children's series.

"Book 3 in The Pen Pieyu Adventures
series is an impressively and thoroughly entertaining read." Midwest Book Review


"A story with a character that obviously has a future. The degree of imagination is matched by the terrific humor and sense of fun as always in Diane's books. This book is a treasure – and one that is highly recommended." Grady Harp, Top 100 Amazon Reviewer    

Coloring contest for       children and adults,coming soon. Sign up for the Dragon Newsletter to stay updated on new releases, contests, and giveaways. Get a free 55-page pdf coloring book upon sign up: 
Giveaway ends in:5 days and 7:32:09 
Availability:5 copies available, 357 people requesting
Giveaway dates:Sep 04 - Sep 28, 2016
Countries available:US and CA
Format:Print Book

Saturday 10 September 2016

10th Book Award for The Pen Pieyu Adventures Series by Diane Mae Robinson

Sir Princess Petra’s Mission – The Pen Pieyu Adventures, Book Three
Author: Diane Mae Robinson
Illustrator: Micheal Bermundo
Publisher: Tate Publishing, 2016.
Paperback: 106 pages
Description Categories: adventure kids books; children’s fantasy books; dragon books for children
 
Sir Princess Petra’s Mission, book 3 in The Pen Pieyu Adventures, is awarded a 2016 Readers’Favorite International Book Award in the Children – Adventure category.  This recent award is the 10th book award for The Pen Pieyu Adventures series.


5 * Review by Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite. “Diane Mae Robinson’s epic fantasy and adventure tale for children, Sir Princess Petra’s Mission, is the third book in this original and highly acclaimed series about a princess who’d really rather be a knight.” Read More on the Readers’ Favorite Review Page.
 Previous Awards for The Pen Pieyu Adventures series: 2012 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award (literary award); 2012 Purple Dragonfly Book Award; 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award; 2013 Sharp Writ Book Award; 2014 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award; 2015 Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval; 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award; 2015 Children’s Literary Classics Book Award; 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival Award. Read more about the awards.
Discover The Pen Pieyu Adventures Series–humorous dragon books for children: