One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

April 7, 2014beccakinla advice, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, passover, pesach Tags: advice, cleaning, focus, hard, I L Peretz, inspiration, joy, music, Passover, Pesach, pleasure, reading, recommended reading, work Leave a comment

Here’s today’s teeny post:

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Passover is just a week away, but if you’re cleaning your house like me, scrubbing mysterious substances off of flatware and appliances you intend to use during the holiday, it can get hard to think beyond getting the house chometz-free. To get myself in the mood, I listen to lots of fun music while I clean (Jewish, classical, and jazz) and attend classes about Passover with local rabbis and teachers. I enjoy practicing singing the seder songs with my kids during carpool, and we usually read I.L. Peretz’s “The Conjuror” at some point during the week.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?

4 Questions for author Tamar Ansh about her new Passover cookbook

March 17, 2014March 3, 2014beccakinla book, books, children, children's books, Jewish, Jewish writing, Judaism, kids, kosher, literature, parenting, parents Tags: 2014, advice, author, book, children, cookbook, interview, jewish, kids, new, Passover, Pesach, preparation, recipes, Tamar Ansh Leave a comment

I recently conversed via email with the enormously popular author, Tamar Ansh, about her new cookbook. Let My Children Cook! is her first cookbook for kids, and it tackles a particularly pertinent area of Kosher cuisine for this time of year: Passover.

Tamar Ansh’s latest cookbook, out in time for Passover!

4 Questions:

Rebecca:

What made you want to write a cookbook for children this time? And why specifically one for Passover?

Tamar:

For this book, Let My Children Cook!, Hashem sent me the inspiration from a totally unexpected angle. Continue reading →

How writing a novel differs from writing a screenplay: my last post on STORY

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014beccakinla advice, stories, style, Uncategorized, writer, writing, writing process Tags: advice, book, compare, comparing writing a novel with screen writing, difference, film, guidance, lessons, manual, McKee, movies, novel, process, Robert McKee, screenplay, screenwriting, story, storytelling, strategies, writer, writing Leave a comment

After reading my earlier posts on STORY, you might think I’m 100% sold on the book. I have to admit that I’m a fan, but I do have some quibbles, largely on the adoption of screenwriting techniques for short story or novel writing.

Differences between writing for readers and for viewers that limit the utility of STORY:

1) (The only one I noticed pointed out by McKee) You may get inside the characters heads and explore their thoughts in literature. This creates a greater intimacy between the narrator and the reader. It also means the conflict can be much more subtle and much more interior.

2) Some readers like descriptive, sensory details that can’t be experienced with film — smell and touch can be better evoked, for example (unless you’re viewing in smell-o-rama).

3) The audience must work harder when reading print–in a good way.

4) When contrasted with other useful literary guides, you see some shortfalls. Continue reading →

How to write funny: what you can learn from Isaac Asimov

January 26, 2013beccakinla advice, book, books, funny, how to write, reading, recommended reading, review Tags: advice, asimov, funny, gallows humor, how to be funny, how to tell a joke, how to write funny, humor, icebreakers, isaac asimov, joke, literature, purim, purim spiel, read, reading, recommended reading, shaggy dog stories, shaggy dog tale, shpiel, spiel, story, style, tips, treasury of humor, write, writer, writing 3 Comments

A must-read for anyone who wants to write humor

When I first married my husband, I was delighted to discover among his possessions a copy of Isaac Asimov’s Treasury of Humor. I had read the book in high school and enjoyed reading it again, this time discussing it extensively with my husband.

Not only does this book contain jokes–great, classic ones–but Asimov explains why they’re funny, how to tell them, the origin of them, and if there are different versions. He explains the differences between shaggy dog stories, puns, black/gallows humor, and so on, and what makes each type tick. Asimov does this all in a chatty way that reminds you of your great-uncle shmoozing with you–it’s just so much fun.

Flash forward a few years. Continue reading →

On Writing About Writing: a guest post by Miriam Hendeles, author of Mazel Tov, It’s a Bubby!

January 24, 2013January 24, 2013beccakinla advice, blogger, blogging, blogs, family, words, writer, writing, writing groups Tags: advice, binah, binah magazine, bubby, fun, grandmother, humor, jewish, mazel tov it's a bubby, miriam hendeles, oma, wacky, writers, writing 2 Comments

Miriam’s Book!

Today’s guest post is from my partner in ~~crime~~ writing, Miriam Hendeles.

What do writers write about? We write about our lives and our families. Some of us write about our struggles and triumphs. Others write about philosophies and opinions; hope and dreams.

We tell stories, and conduct interviews; we compose lists and craft essays.

We even write about “Writing.” Now what is there to tell, conduct, compose and craft about Writing?

So much. We can write about the writing process, solutions to writer’s block, publishing opportunities, strategies for success, online writing techniques, SEO, PLR and myriad other acronyms. Bloggers and gurus craft advice to the masses on how to become the most polished, pithy, and popular Writer. You see, many writers choose to write about Writing, because if we write about Writing, we know we are guaranteed an audience, comprised of the following loyal and faithful readers:

Writers. Wannabe writers. Bloggers. Publishers. Agents. Editors.

But when we do not write about Writing? Then who is our audience?

Random Interested Persons of Non-Writing topic.

For example, Continue reading →

The 2 Best Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills (with a little backup from Anne Lamott)

January 20, 2013beccakinla advice, writing groups, writing process Tags: advice, Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, bum, chair, community, consistency, improve, improvement, literature, opinion, practice, regular, reliable. help, share, sharing, sit, skill, skills, strategy, support, tush, writer, writing, writing group 6 Comments

I’m going to offer some advice today that seems simplistic, so basic as to be ridiculous. Yet recently, I’ve experienced people who have neglected these 2 important strategies that are pretty much guaranteed to improve their writing abilities. So here I am repeating them.

Almost every book about writing offers the following advice. (The wording might vary according to the delicacy of the audience, but the meaning is the same.)

Okay, so you might need more than a chair. This guy isn’t going to get much writing done if he doesn’t pick up a pen!

1) PUT YOUR TUSH IN THE CHAIR.

By this, of course, we learn that if you tell us you want to write, well that’s a nice sentiment. But we know that you mean it if you sit at a desk, pick up a pen (or keyboard) and actually practice writing. Certainly weekly, and preferably daily, you need to write. A human being is only a writer if s/he is a person who writes. Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

Author page of Rebecca Klempner

advice

One week until seder night! How to keep focused and full of joy

Getting through the long, hard slog with a smile on your face.

Writing can be hard work like that, too. What do you do — either while Pesach cleaning or while plugging away at the keyboard — to give you inspiration and focus?