Raw Material

Muze Taps are a series of advice columns by author Molly Tinsley that tackle the various challenges faced by creative writers.

Hotspots
You feel moved to write about a particular subject, and soon you have some paragraphs, maybe even pages. They may
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In Continuing Praise of the Verb
Of all parts of speech, verbs carry the greatest potential to energize sentences. The more we load meaning into them,
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All Parts of Speech Not Created Equal
We learned in elementary school to build sentences out of five different types of words. Verbs generate action; nouns flesh
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Could You be More Specific?
Creative writers share one goal: to capture life on the page. It’s a goal we can never reach. For how
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Showing Versus Telling
Since education is designed to produce members of society who will function logically and efficiently, most of us graduate from
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Returning to Our Senses
Creative writing starts with creative perception: it’s a mantra worth repeating. A special alertness to the information coming in through
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