Alexis M. Collazo
Bio
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. An avid reader, writer and multimedia creator. Relocated to Pennsylvania where she is currently focused on writing, crafting and leading workshops online. Visit www.alexismcollazo.com for more info.
Stories (20/0)
Writing Better Dialogue
Dialogue is a major element in all stories, and it can be the hardest thing to get right. Natural speech patterns are hard to reproduce in writing. People don’t speak in grammatically correct full sentences, characters written that way would sound stiff and unbelievable. However, using fragments or other techniques to mimic natural speech can make it hard for readers to understand. Good dialogue needs to find a balance between the two while also serving the story in the best way possible. Here are couple of tips to help improve your dialogue writing.
By Alexis M. Collazo2 years ago in Journal
Trick or Tweet 2021
This past October, I joined in on the fun challenge of creating a tweet sized horror story each day, posted with the hashtag #trickortweet2021. I missed a couple of days but kept it up all month long. As I wrote, I imagined them all being connected, so I decided to collect them here to read all together. Enjoy!
By Alexis M. Collazo2 years ago in Horror
- Top Story - October 2021
Five Writing Lessons From Salman Rushdie Top Story - October 2021
I was first introduced to Salman Rushdie in a college literature class where we read Midnight’s Children. His novels usually combine historical fiction and magical realism to explore heavy personal, political, and cultural themes. While Rushdie’s writing is not an easy read, he’s become one of my favorite writers. After reading his memoir, Joseph Anton, I gained deeper insight into his novels and his writing process. Here are a few tips on writing I learned from him.
By Alexis M. Collazo3 years ago in Journal
New to Poetry? Start with Verse Novels
Why Verse Novels It can be hard to find enjoyable poetry when it's a new interest. In school, they try to teach poetry that's outdated, complicated and hard to connect with. Even if it's not, they suck all the fun out it focusing on structure and interpretation. It's no wonder most people either intimidated by poetry or assume they won't enjoy it. On the end of the spectrum is contemporary poetry dominated by Instapoets. Not to say they are all bad, but I've found very few that stand out and include the depth, wordplay, rhythm and other elements that make great poetry; most fall short in one way or another. They also rarely include narrative elements.
By Alexis M. Collazo3 years ago in Poets
Building A Writing Habit
The most common advice writers give is to stick to a regular writing routine, whether you feel like it or not. Like most advice, this is easier said than done. Maybe you can’t set up a regular routine, or maybe you had one and life threw a wrench at it. For me that wrench was a sudden unplanned move that left me struggling to rebuild a routine. Sometimes no matter how badly you want to write, you still just don’t feel like it. It took me a long time to get back, here a few tips that helped me.
By Alexis M. Collazo3 years ago in Lifehack