Finding A Writing Eggs-travaganza

When the Junior Halls were wee little tykes, they’d play Easter Egg Hunt.

All we needed were a handful of snap-apart plastic eggs and a couple baskets (or a sock, in a pinch). I’d stuff surprises in the eggs and hide them throughout the house. Then off those kids would scramble, keen on the hunt and eager to stuff their treats in their baskets (or socks).

To be honest, the treats might be the leftover jellybeans no one would eat. Or maybe the stickers from the dentist. But hey, they had fun. So I thought we’d have our own Easter fun today, eggs-cept I’ve stuffed the eggs with writing treats. And I promise they’ll be much better treats than what my kids used to get.

Ah…I see you’ve found the green egg. That’s morgueFile. I love this site that’s packed with free photos for you to use. And not only are the pictures free, but they also require no attribution. So if you need a photo and you’re not looking for something too specific (for example, I wanted a photo of Easter eggs for this post today and I was able to find plenty), then morgueFile is eggs-ceptionally sweet!

Oh! I think that’s the half blue, half pink egg in your hand. That’s all about naming your characters. If you check out “Tips for Writers” on BabyNames, you’ll find a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to finding the perfect moniker for your character, whether it be male, female, or even eight-armed aliens. You’ll also find a ton of name resources. Who knew choosing the right name for your character was such an integg-ral part of the story process? (Okay, put your hand down. It was a rhetorical question.)

Speaking of the story process, I believe you just picked up the swirly-colored egg! When I came across this mixture of science and fun at The Periodic Table of Storytelling, I laughed out loud. But after perusing the chart more closely, I found there was a molecule of story-telling truth across the board. And be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom where you’ll find the elements in action. If you like what you see, you can get a poster. Upon closer eggs-amination, I think this chart might be just what I need for writing inspiration!

Or maybe I need a bit of dialogue instruction. Quick! Grab that thrilling purple egg to your right! I wanted to exclaim, or shout, or maybe even bellow. But now that I’ve read about dialogue attributions over at The Kill Zone, I should probably keep my attributions simple and let my action do the talking. Fourteen suspense and thriller writers share their tips over there every day, so you’re bound to dig up even more egg-cellent writing treats.

Well, friends, I can’t seem to find any more eggs right now—plus there’s a HUGE chocolate egg with my name on it. But if you have anything eggs-tra to add, I’m all (cute, little bunny) ears!

~Cathy C. "Hoppy" Hall