Writer's Awakening

fuckyeahbookarts: Designing a Journal by smallestforest

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:49:55 -0400

Designing a Journal by smallestforest

ruuyn: So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man...

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:53:45 -0400

So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. —Dead Poets Society

How to Create Good Personalities for Your Character: 6 Steps

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:06:56 -0400

How to Create Good Personalities for Your Character: 6 Steps

How Authors Should Use Tumblr, A Five-Step Guide by Rachel Fershleiser

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:02:06 -0400

How Authors Should Use Tumblr, A Five-Step Guide by Rachel Fershleiser:

writeworld:

1. Don’t get fancy with your URL. firstnamelastname.tumblr.com will make it easy for people to find you and last longer than one book’s marketing campaign. You can still make the title of the blog You Rach You Lose or Release McCracken. Your Tumblr can be your main personal website or professional homepage. It’s free and doesn’t require any technical skill. Make sure you upload an image to be your avatar so you don’t have a creepy blue default profile and choose a theme from our theme garden to customize your look.

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Are you doing a writing group?

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 01:14:54 -0400

We haven’t gotten one started yet

amandaonwriting: “Let me let you in on a little secret. When...

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:25:32 -0400

amandaonwriting:

“Let me let you in on a little secret. When you are learning to write, you are going to suck. You are going to suck a lot. You’re just going to keep sucking for a while, and feel like you’re sucking, and actually that’s a sign that you’re completely on the right path. (…)

You know, you don’t have to be afraid that the first thing you turn out is going to be a huge masterpiece, or it’s going to be that big novel that makes a billion zillion dollars. Don’t worry about that. Don’t worry that it’s not good. Nobody- that’s the great thing about writing and not publishing right away — you can write tons of stuff that sucks.

This is precisely why when people write to me when you’re, you know, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen and you say, “I’ve written a book. I write stories all the time. I wanna publish them. How can I do that.” I say, “No, don’t do it, not yet, stop. Because you haven’t sucked enough yet.” And you may be thinking, “No, I do, I really really suck. You’re underestimating how much I suck, Maureen.” But I’m not. You haven’t sucked loooooong and hard enough. (Did I actually say that?)

Trust me, sucking is not just part of the learning process. It’s part of the professional process as well. First drafts, like the one I turned in at one o’clock this morning, basically exist to suck. They’re wrong. They’re the first pass. They’re my first attempt at the story. And they’re going to get changed and ripped apart. I mean, lots of writers I know, we sit and we laugh about the incredible sucktitude of our first drafts. But you have to go there and you have to try stuff out and you have to suck at it big time.

Have you heard this phrase, “Writing is rewriting?” Well it’s a hundred percent true. You don’t just write something once and then you’re done. You write it and it sucks. Then you write it and write it like five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five, whatever times, and *then* you’re done and it goes from ‘suck’ to ‘sort-of-kind-of-suck’ and then it kind of goes all the way to ‘awesome,’ and that’s the journey. It goes from ‘suck’ to ‘awesome.’

~Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is an author of young adult fiction. She has published eight young adult novels, including the Suite Scarlett series and The Last Little Blue Envelope

Source for Advice

Image Source

Quirks of Nature: For my fellow writers:

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:40:30 -0400

Quirks of Nature: For my fellow writers: :

lightspeedsound:

sheg0:

yeahwriters - lots of prompts, images, quotes and motivation

writeworld - prompts, quotes, references, tips

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment - character, plot development and vocabulary tips

writingprompts - amazing and original picture prompts

…

"Don’t write what you know. Write what you want to know."

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 02:49:29 -0400

“Don’t write what you know. Write what you want to know.”

- T.M. McNally (via lajeunefilleenfleur)

WriteWorld: Types of Point of View from Learner.org

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 02:32:15 -0400

WriteWorld: Types of Point of View from Learner.org:

archetypesandallusions:

Objective Point of View

With the objective point of view, the writer tells what happens without stating more than can be inferred from the story’s action and dialogue. The narrator never discloses anything about what the characters think or feel, remaining a…

Quirks of Nature: 10 Mental Blocks of Creative Thinking

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 02:36:54 -0400

Quirks of Nature: 10 Mental Blocks of Creative Thinking:

psych-facts:

1. Trying to Find the “Right” Answer

One of the worst aspects of formal education is the focus on the correct answer to a particular question or problem. While this approach helps us function in society, it hurts creative thinking because real-life issues are ambiguous….

Rare Words

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 01:57:39 -0400

acosmist - One who believes that nothing exists
paralian - A person who lives near the sea
aureate - Pertaining to the fancy or flowery words used by poets
dwale - To wander about deliriously
sabaism - The worship of stars
dysphoria - An unwell feeling
aubade - A love song which is sung at dawn
eumoirous - Happiness due to being honest and wholesome
mimp - To speak in a prissy manner, usually with pursed lips

tokyo4dinner: This is something I have been focusing on for the...

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:50:05 -0400

tokyo4dinner:

This is something I have been focusing on for the past couple of months so I decided to make it presentable. I need stuff like this around me so I don’t lose my nerve. I have noticed a lot of people have this in their brains like, automatically but I however do NOT. Maybe you are a little like me and will find it helpful.

WriteWorld: Six Tips for Writing Young Adult Novels

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:11:00 -0400

WriteWorld: Six Tips for Writing Young Adult Novels:

writeworld:

by Nora Raleigh Baskin

I didn’t start out writing for children. Like many of my fellow young adult/middle-grade authors, I spent quite a few years (five) writing adult fiction before getting published. Then a well-intentioned woman in a writing course made the unwelcome suggestion that I…

Quirks of Nature: A collection of writing resources:

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:37:24 -0400

Quirks of Nature: A collection of writing resources::

Commonly Misspelled Words → Pretty self-explanatory. It’s just a collection of words that are frequently misspelled.

The Difference Between Affect and Effect → We all pretend to know the difference, but do any of us really understand it?

Paper Rater → Submit your paras/bios here for…

AL Kennedy's 10 Rules for Writing Fiction

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:58:52 -0400

AL Kennedy's 10 Rules for Writing Fiction:

onlyaworkingtitle:

Have humility. Older/more experienced/more convincing writers may offer rules and varieties of advice. Consider what they say. However, don’t automatically give them charge of your brain, or anything else – they might be bitter, twisted, burned-out, manipulative, or just not very like you.

Have more humility. Remember you don’t know the limits of your own abilities. Successful or not, if you keep pushing beyond yourself, you will enrich your own life – and maybe even please a few strangers.

Defend others. You can, of course, steal stories and attributes from family and friends, fill in filecards after lovemaking and so forth. It might be better to celebrate those you love – and love itself – by writing in such a way that everyone keeps their privacy and dignity intact.

Defend your work. Organisations, institutions and individuals will often think they know best about your work – especially if they are paying you. When you genuinely believe their decisions would damage your work – walk away. Run away. The money doesn’t matter that much.

Defend yourself. Find out what keeps you happy, motivated and creative.

Write. No amount of self-inflicted misery, altered states, black pullovers or being publicly obnoxious will ever add up to your being a writer. Writers write. On you go.

Read. As much as you can. As deeply and widely and nourishingly and irritatingly as you can. And the good things will make you remember them, so you won’t need to take notes.

Be without fear. This is impossible, but let the small fears drive your rewriting and set aside the large ones until they behave – then use them, maybe even write them. Too much fear and all you’ll get is silence.

Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back.

Remember writing doesn’t love you. It doesn’t care. Nevertheless, it can behave with remarkable generosity. Speak well of it, encourage others, pass it on.

People who frequent baby name websites:

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 03:21:00 -0400

thelegendofjenna:

Expecting parents

Writers

ainesseyspiegel answered your question: Who would be interested in starting up a writing group? This...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:09:20 -0400

ainesseyspiegel answered your question: Who would be interested in starting up a writing group?

This seems like a glorious idea. How would you go about it?

Good question. My idea is to maybe start a group on Wiggio (a site where something like this would be great).

Does anybody have any other suggestions?

5 Ways Not to Write a Novel

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:57:32 -0400

5 Ways Not to Write a Novel :

writeworld:

Writing a novel? There’s first-draft flow, and there’s editing flow. And then there comes a time when you think you might be done, yet the manuscript is still not quite “there.” To sell your work to an agent, and then to a publisher, and finally to a great many readers, put thoughts of flow aside now, and consider the following advice. Each of the guides mentioned is worthy of your careful attention.

The Shortlist:

Don’t describe your characters in generic terms.

Don’t construct a majority of your sentences the same way.

Don’t be clumsy in your use of foreshadowing and anticipation.

Avoid flabby phrases.

Don’t write scenes in which “it’s all good.”

For full explanations of each tip on the shortlist, click the link above.

wellitszam answered your question: Who would be interested in starting up a writing group? Any...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:09:11 -0400

wellitszam answered your question: Who would be interested in starting up a writing group?

Any specific type of writing?

Nope. This would be free-reign. We can set aside specific groups for each genre once we get enough people. However until then it would just be a place for us to get together and share each other’s work for critiquing.

Writing Challenge #7: Let Go

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:46:58 -0400

What are you holding on to right now that you just want to let go?

What is tugging at your heart and your brain everywhere you go with everything you do?

Write about it. Express any feelings you have towards this feeling.

If it helps, write it on paper if you’re angry. This way you’ll write harder and physically get your emotions out as well as mentally. Y~~ou might want to use a strong pencil.~~