Over the last two years, Canada Writes has collected a whole bunch of wonderful writing tips from Canadian poets, novelists, practitioners of creative nonfiction, and writers of children’s books. So pick a word, find a tip, and try it out!…
I absolutely love this interactive word cloud created by Canada Writes. The word cloud contains key words from two years worth of writing tips the program collected from Canadian poets and novelists.
Canada Writes part of the CBC Books website and has tons of information and interviews with Canadian authors. It’s a fantastic resource for Canadian writers to connect with each other through writing challenges and workshops.
If you’re interested in learning more about Canadian authors or Canadian works, I highly suggest checking out the CBC radio program Writers & Company. While there is a spotlight on Canadian writers or Canadian themes, there is an international focus as well.
Two of my favourite quotes are:
- “Write your obsession. Write your kink. Write the thing that keeps you up at three AM, the thing that your girlfriend tells you is weird, the thing that deep down is most you at that stage of your life. It’s those fetishes and eccentricities that allow you to make the familiar strange and unsettling” – Helen Marshall
- “Bend words. Stretch them, squash them, mash them up, fold them. Turn them over or swing them upside down. Make up new words. Leave a place for the strange and downright impossible ones. Use ancient words. Hold on to the gangly, silly, slippy, truthful, dangerous, out-of-fashion ones.” – Kyo Maclear