When I was in my early twenties, I felt overwhelmed, thoughts racing, fear driven, skittish. I could not settle my body or my thoughts. I was suffering from trauma, deprivation, and filled with unhelpful teachings from the church, my equally lost peers, and my family. I had no tools, no skills, no hope of finding safety in my body. I could not...
Tarweed Mystery School invites you to try this practice. It should take about twenty minutes. For best results, write down your impressions in a journal after you complete the meditation Sit or lie in a peaceful place where you will not be disturbed. Begin with Some breaths, simply watch the breath enter And leave the body with no effort And...
“Did you just look at me? Look at me. — How dare you! Close your eyes.” Before the dubious and un-meaningful Oscars are distributed to the highest bidders, a few thoughts about The Favourite: I wasn’t up for yet another round with British ruling class. I’ve recently had my fix of plucky servants conjuring feasts for...
Though you are by no means obligated to structure your story in a traditional way, it is useful to consider where traditional plot structures place events, high points, and low points in many stories. Below are some plotting traditions. Three-Act Structure Originating in Ancient Greece, the three-act structure is used most commonly in films...
Memorable characters struggle, they change, they succeed or fail in their own ways. The audience cheers for them, or condemns them, or relates to them. Vivid characters may reflect the reader’s own flaws and experiences, and might even carry a weak plot to success. However, creating characters can be hard, and fleshing them out is even more...
When I first met the founder of Tarweed, I was intrigued by the “business” model of helping writers engage with readers in a different, innovative and fun way. The old publishing model is on its head. Have you noticed? You can’t get an agent, you can’t get a publisher to look at your work unless you have already done the tough work of building...
For many writers, the fun part is the writing. Marketing, not so much. If you want your work to find an audience, you will have to moonlight as what Joey Garcia of the Belize Writers Conference calls, an ‘Authorpreneur.’ This means marketing. And one aspect of marketing will be reading your work in front of an audience, whether live...
Readings are an important tool for emerging writers–they help get your name and work out in the open, and give potential readers a taste of your writing. However, when you’re reading from your novel or another long work, it can be difficult to choose a selection to share. We here in the Tarweed team would like to share some tips for finding...
