Denise E Lindquist
Bio
I am married with 7 children, 28 grands, and 13 great-grandchildren. I am a culture consultant part-time. I write A Poem a Day in February for 8 years now. I wrote 4 - 50,000 word stories in NaNoWriMo. I write on Vocal/Medium daily.
Stories (1209)
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A Self-Deceiving Portrait
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Using the first person, write a self-deceiving portrait in which the narrator is not the person she thinks she is - either more or less admirable. You must give your readers clues that your narrator is skewing the truth. The Objective -- To create a narrator who unwittingly reveals - through subtle signals of language, details, contradictions, and biases - that his or her judgment of events and people is too subjective to be trusted. The reader must thus discount the version of the story offered by the narrator and try to re-create a more objective one for himself.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
Grandchildren Overnight Again
Okay, my grandchildren are probably a year or so younger than the photo, being at eleven and twelve years old. It isn’t all bad! Much of our time together was fun. I am just feeling my age, with very little patience for the morning scramble, “Grandma, can we go to our house before school. I didn’t bring clean pants.” We don’t have time. I will quickly wash them.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Families
My Tonsils Were Removed When I Was Five Years Old
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise: In no more than two pages, use the incident of "An Early Memory, Part One" and tell it from the vantage point of who you are today, that is, inject it with adult vocabulary, insight; subtlety, and comprehension. For instance, "My father was obviously confused" replaces funny look." You should change the way the incident is told without altering its structure or meaning. Use the past tense but keep it a first-person narrative. As in the first part of this exercise, try to let the material speak for itself. The Objective: As in a good many of these exercises, the idea is to empower the writer with the knowledge that he controls the material and not the other way around. There are countless ways to tell the same story, and each way says something a little different, not only about what happened, but also about how the teller feels about it. You're the first and last authority: your power - at least in this realm - is unlimited.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
Having My Tonsils Removed
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise: Using the present tense, write an early memory in the first person. This should be something that happened before you were seven. Use only those words and perceptions appropriate to a young child. "My father looks confused" won't do because a five-year-old is incapable of this articulation. "My father has a funny look on his face" is fine. The memory should be encapsulated in a short period of time -no more than an hour or so - and should happen in one place. Don't interpret or analyze; simply report it as you would a dream. When you can't remember details, make them up; you may heighten the narrative so long as you remain faithful to the meaning of the memory - the reason you recalled it in the first place. Limit: 550 words. The Objective: A fiction writer should be able to present a narrative without nudging the reader or in any way explaining what she has written. The narrative should speak for itself. In using a child's voice you are forced not to analyze but merely to tell the story, unembellished.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
The Mother Of The Groom’s Take On The Gathering
Author's Note: I am attending a wedding today, and my daughter is attending another wedding, so even though this is fiction, the idea came from a talk between my daughter and me about our wedding conversation.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
Writing Exercise Where Meaning To Action Is Hidden In The Subtext
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise — Write two very short examples of text, in which the true meaning of the action or dialogue is hidden in a subtext. Under each text explicate the subtext. The Objective — To learn to use indirection to illustrate the power of hidden meaning. This is something like a double exposure, a photograph that shows two images simultaneously.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
Family
When reading Facebook, I came across my granddaughter’s post. She is a good writer. This is a sample of some of her humorous writing, even though I’m sure that was not what she was thinking or feeling at the time. I thought I would share it with you. It is about my great-grandson that she is expecting.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Families
Public Speaking - Trauma. Top Story - October 2025.
Public speaking can be difficult, even if you take a speech class in high school. I no longer picture people in the audience in their underwear, or look at one person in the audience, or look over everyone's head, or look at the back of the room.
By Denise E Lindquist3 months ago in Writers
