Questions

I’m a fiction writer with a main character (teen girl living in US) with asthma. The main things I’d like to know is what certain things feel like, so I’d appreciate any information from someone who has personal experience with asthma.

Would she be on a daily preventive medicine? How often and what time(s) of day would she take it, and would that be on a full or empty stomach? Are there side effects?

She has a rescue inhaler. At what point would she use it? How many times would she pump it? What are the immediate effects of using the inhaler? Does it have a taste? What’s that like? Does the taste linger, or is it pretty much while she’s getting the med? Does it have any side effects? How long does it take to stop an attack? Are there circumstances under which it doesn’t work? When would she decide to call for medical help?

How does it feel when an attack comes on? Are there early early signs (the way I can sometimes tell I’m about to get a migraine before the aura because I suddenly find it hard to read the computer screen)? What are the first symptoms? What are the sensations that lead to a full-blown attack? What are the feelings of an attack that’s subsiding? After it’s over, how do you feel? Do you rest or go on with your day?

Or, to say it shorter and sweeter, please describe an asthma attack.

Thanks a lot for your help!
- Illyria

JK Rowling, I know for a fact, writes her Harry Potter books long-hand before typing them. I don’t know about others.

Can someone give me pros and cons?

Which is better, in your opinion?

Is it just the type of person?

Are distraction an issue? (I can find a lot for both)

PS: I listen to music when i write. Does that play an element on which i should settle with?
- My Name Doesn’t Fit Here

What is the effect of Bhakti poetry on modern society? Have you read any work written by Kabir/Tulsidas or Surdas? Waht are your feelings about their relevance in the present age?
- Sujay S

What is the significance of color in poetry?

is it considered a form of imagery?

Can it relate to a speaker’s feelings? If so than in what way?

Thanks in advance
- Cherry_Red

I love to write, but for some odd reason I need to write poetry. How do I do that?
- Lissa E

The poem can
- paint word pictures
-appeal to the senses
-reveal their feelings
-arouse our emotions
-describe people
-describe the world of nature
or
-try to change our attitudes

Please reply but not with poems too hard to understand!
And also not too long as i have to do an oral presentation on it with an analysis.
- Johnoh

i need to write an essay on why i want to pursue creative writing. so far i have this:

The reason why I want to pursue creative writing is fairly simple. When I write its like I am putting my feelings out of my brain and sharing it with the rest of the world. When ever I write I feel like I’m doing myself a favor and letting everyone read what I feel and think. I get to explain my many thoughts and beliefs on paper using any technique of writing and words.

can anyone give me some more advice on whatelse i can say in my essay.
- calbright2005

so i keep having these great titles for stories popping up in my head… and they relate to issues in my life.. i write to get my feelings out. but lately im not sure how to do it. i want to become more serious with my writing. my teachers say im talented and i should try to do something beyond school work so i figure whats gonna hurt to try? so… for example of my writers block:

i quit softball and i bought these new brand on cleats.. very expensive.. and i miss the sport. my dad, who was my coach for 14 years and biggest fan, is disappointed and i feel like i let myself down. but because of reasons that i cant explain here… i cant play any more. and well something keeps telling me to write about it, but i dont want it to be plain and be like “this is what happened. i quit, i cant play, and i have these new cleats that haunt me every day about quitting because theyre sitting in a box and bug me.” well the title would be “Brand New Ringors”… i know it needs some work, but the work cant come until the story does!

(and dont worry… i dont write like i talk, meaning to clarify that i know i probably seem like a bad writer right now because im not using any form of any kind.)

i HAVE tried to start several different stories but nothing seems quite right to fit.. to get my feelings out.

but basically what im trying to ask is how to overcome this hill… and what the best way to go about doing it is, and getting started. i never have this problem.. so i dont have a clue as to how to fix it.

any help??
- hns2715

Ok so i like to write, mostly poems.
I’ll write anything, but usually it’s either bout love, bad/abusive relationships, best friends, parents, or my feelings and what I’ve been through ect.

But, I got a lil’ bit of writers block right now,
so if ya’ll could just like throw some ideas out there, or if ya want to tell me sumthin you’ve been trhough that I can write bout, or I don’t title all my work, but if ya can put some titles I may be able to come up with something.

thanks, all help is much appriciated!

Also, I’ve had help like this before and the people that gave me the ideas wanted to read what i came up with, so if I use what you put down, and would like to see what I wrote, let me know.
- cowgirls do it better.

You’ve probably seen Snoopy on top of his doghouse typing “It was a dark and stormy night.”

That famous opening line from Bulwer Lytton has been satirized and ridiculed and turned into a writing contest because it’s overdone purple prose at its finest.

While you would never submit a novel to a publisher with that opening line, there’s no reason not to use it (or something like it) in one of your drafts. In fact, using that line or any other over the top phrase is perfect for getting ideas down on paper.

At your next writing session, get out the purple paper, the purple pen and write down the most overused phrase or cliché you can think of. The closer it is to dreck, the better. In this draft, you want to write as badly as you possibly can. As you start describing the scenes and some of the actions in it, overwrite as much as possible. Have fun with it.

Don’t try to get it right. That’s what causes the words to freeze up and go into hiding until you go do something else.

Try writing crap on purpose. Instead of trying to get it right, write one of those “dark and stormy night” paragraphs (or two or three or more). The more purple the prose, the better. Get all those feelings you have about the situation and the characters onto the page in as lurid a way as possible. As you work, the right words will eventually come and it’ll end up being a lot better than you expected. More importantly, you’ll have something on paper that you can work with.

Then you can revise until the prose isn’t purple any more, but at least you will have written and moved your story ahead. More importantly, you also had fun. And that’s what makes it easier to sit down the next time and do some more.

So what kind of night is it where you are?


- Kieran Mckendrick