Hi Bookworms and bookdragons!
I'm so sorry it took so long, I lost wifi for several days! But it's back, and today I'm writing about muses again. Specifically: The dead muse.
For the last month, my muse has not spoken to me. Not a single word. No funny ideas, no scenes, no characters, no nothing. I'm actually sitting here writing this instead of trying to stare at a blank screen and carve something from my imagination again.
So, I've taken to trying random things to try and wake it up again. This includes: Dressing up as characters. Drawing characters. Reading new books. Watching new movies. Watching old movies. Sewing. (literally. I got out a sewing machine and tried to sew a dress.)
Nothing has worked. Today, I myself have writing block. So I guess today is more a question to all of you: how do you revive a dead muse? Is there a type of song? A certain book? Incantation? Zombie plague? How?
I'll keep you up to date, and if you want I could even include more detailed elaborations of how I've tried (and failed) to wake up the muse. Just let me know.
Until next time!
Showing posts with label Writing block corner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing block corner. Show all posts
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Writing Block Corner: The Muse Pt. 2
Hello Bookworms!
It has come to my attention that my previous conclusion about muses is...incomplete. So, here are 10 more muses that you might come across! Have fun reading?
1: The Research Muse
This muse has ideas, and want to know if it could happen before it's written down. This muse doesn't lead to a lot of writing, but it is the one that makes sure you've got everything right. It wants to make sure you're getting every detail of your story right. It's unpredictable in its nature, and can show up at the strangest times, then last for anywhere from a few minutes to several days, asking the questions you don't honestly have the answers for at the moment, because who want to deal with that editor muse anyway?
2: The Editor Muse
If you haven't run across this muse yet, you haven't been writing long enough. This muse will come up to you at some point in time and yell at you to go back through all of your writing and fix everything wrong. This word doesn't make sense, you shouldn't use that pronoun in that sentence, and you've got an entire paragraph you need to rewrite. No, scratch that, an entire chapter. Well, why not the entire book while you're at it? This muse won't let you live down a mistake, only live it up. It's annoying as anything, and gives you massive insecurity about your book. Unfortunately it's impossible to fully get rid of, as it is necessary. Sorry, but someone needs to tell you to go back and fix your spelling. It just needs to learn timing. Really, dialogue is hard enough without the wrong voice in your ear!
3: The Auditory Muse
This muse is most helpful with dialogue, but really it can help with anything. This is the muse that has you speak your words allowed, and doesn't really like coming out in public. You speak the words allowed and find yourself pouring more emotions into the words than you had originally planned. This is the muse that lets you play out your situations, understanding how long it really takes to speak a paragraph! And if you give your characters the voices of certain actors, well, that's just par for the course.
4: The Actor Muse
I am not even joking when I say that this muse has taken up a large percentage of my Pinterest pins, and entire board. This is the muse that sees a picture of an actor, and suddenly a completely rounded character appears. Fully grown, and on his horse. The problem: this character has no story. Oh, the character has a story, but there's no story that the character belongs to. We're not just about to write an entire story for one character, are we? We're not that big into his previous works.
5: The Copy Muse
We're that big into his previous works. This muse is the muse that is tired of working with original stuff, and wants to see what it's like to experiment with other characters. This is the muse whose works we fondly keep in a drawer and pull out sometimes when we're sentimental. This technically isn't our own work, but hey. We wrote it, and we learned important lessons while doing so. And yes, it might be called fan-fiction, but we prefer to call it a nowhere story. Besides, did you hear the music for that film? Awesome!
6: The Music Muse
This is the muse that loves music. Not every writer has this muse, but for those who do, they find that they do more writing with music in the background than without it. Music is what gives this muse a sense of purpose. An emotion to key in on during a scene. A sense of epic purpose to help you transform your book for words to adventures. This muse works surprisingly well with other muses, which isn't honestly that common.
7: The Muse Clique
This is a group of several muses who never go anywhere without each other, and it's very hard to write one without writing all of them. These muses will copy each other's emotions. They are very difficult to break up, and usually become very upset if you manage it. Eventually you're just going to have to either try writing all of them at once, or take one of them out at a time and give them each your undecided attention for long enough that it no longer feels the need to band with other muses. Even the principal muse has difficulty ratcheting down on these muses.
8: The Principal Muse
If your mind is a school, then this muse is its principal. This is the muse that oversees the rest of them. Or at least tries to. Your principal muse is the means of communication you have with your other muses. If you have writer's block, it's typically because this muse isn't feeling well. This is one of your most helpful muses, until it decides that you should be writing, only none of your other muses are even awake. You're stuck with a desperate urge to write and no outlet, meaning that you generally end up stuck examining the morph.
9: The Morph Muse
You know one thing about this muse. Whether it's a character, or a general arc, or a world, or maybe even the way three characters interact. But other than that, nothing is known. Everything changes. Is it a Western? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it in the past or the future? Nothing is known. Everything is suspect to change. It's a very difficult muse to write, and also one of the most addicting. You just want to examine every aspect of it, peel away the surface, get underneath its edges, carve away at it...
10: The Constructive Muse
Unlike constructive criticism, this muse means constructive in a very literal term. This is the muse that works best when you're using your hands for something else. Whether it's drawing, cooking, building, blowing things up, this muse wants you to see that you've done stuff. This muse is also a very logical muse. Not everyone has this muse, but it's a very polite muse to have. Well, polite for a bit of a control freak.
Alright, so please! What experiences do you have with muses? Would you like for me to continue talking about muses? Or is there something else about the insanity of writing that you'd like me to go into?
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
It has come to my attention that my previous conclusion about muses is...incomplete. So, here are 10 more muses that you might come across! Have fun reading?
1: The Research Muse
This muse has ideas, and want to know if it could happen before it's written down. This muse doesn't lead to a lot of writing, but it is the one that makes sure you've got everything right. It wants to make sure you're getting every detail of your story right. It's unpredictable in its nature, and can show up at the strangest times, then last for anywhere from a few minutes to several days, asking the questions you don't honestly have the answers for at the moment, because who want to deal with that editor muse anyway?
2: The Editor Muse
If you haven't run across this muse yet, you haven't been writing long enough. This muse will come up to you at some point in time and yell at you to go back through all of your writing and fix everything wrong. This word doesn't make sense, you shouldn't use that pronoun in that sentence, and you've got an entire paragraph you need to rewrite. No, scratch that, an entire chapter. Well, why not the entire book while you're at it? This muse won't let you live down a mistake, only live it up. It's annoying as anything, and gives you massive insecurity about your book. Unfortunately it's impossible to fully get rid of, as it is necessary. Sorry, but someone needs to tell you to go back and fix your spelling. It just needs to learn timing. Really, dialogue is hard enough without the wrong voice in your ear!
3: The Auditory Muse
This muse is most helpful with dialogue, but really it can help with anything. This is the muse that has you speak your words allowed, and doesn't really like coming out in public. You speak the words allowed and find yourself pouring more emotions into the words than you had originally planned. This is the muse that lets you play out your situations, understanding how long it really takes to speak a paragraph! And if you give your characters the voices of certain actors, well, that's just par for the course.
4: The Actor Muse
I am not even joking when I say that this muse has taken up a large percentage of my Pinterest pins, and entire board. This is the muse that sees a picture of an actor, and suddenly a completely rounded character appears. Fully grown, and on his horse. The problem: this character has no story. Oh, the character has a story, but there's no story that the character belongs to. We're not just about to write an entire story for one character, are we? We're not that big into his previous works.
5: The Copy Muse
We're that big into his previous works. This muse is the muse that is tired of working with original stuff, and wants to see what it's like to experiment with other characters. This is the muse whose works we fondly keep in a drawer and pull out sometimes when we're sentimental. This technically isn't our own work, but hey. We wrote it, and we learned important lessons while doing so. And yes, it might be called fan-fiction, but we prefer to call it a nowhere story. Besides, did you hear the music for that film? Awesome!
6: The Music Muse
This is the muse that loves music. Not every writer has this muse, but for those who do, they find that they do more writing with music in the background than without it. Music is what gives this muse a sense of purpose. An emotion to key in on during a scene. A sense of epic purpose to help you transform your book for words to adventures. This muse works surprisingly well with other muses, which isn't honestly that common.
7: The Muse Clique
This is a group of several muses who never go anywhere without each other, and it's very hard to write one without writing all of them. These muses will copy each other's emotions. They are very difficult to break up, and usually become very upset if you manage it. Eventually you're just going to have to either try writing all of them at once, or take one of them out at a time and give them each your undecided attention for long enough that it no longer feels the need to band with other muses. Even the principal muse has difficulty ratcheting down on these muses.
8: The Principal Muse
If your mind is a school, then this muse is its principal. This is the muse that oversees the rest of them. Or at least tries to. Your principal muse is the means of communication you have with your other muses. If you have writer's block, it's typically because this muse isn't feeling well. This is one of your most helpful muses, until it decides that you should be writing, only none of your other muses are even awake. You're stuck with a desperate urge to write and no outlet, meaning that you generally end up stuck examining the morph.
9: The Morph Muse
You know one thing about this muse. Whether it's a character, or a general arc, or a world, or maybe even the way three characters interact. But other than that, nothing is known. Everything changes. Is it a Western? Is it a Sci-Fi? Is it in the past or the future? Nothing is known. Everything is suspect to change. It's a very difficult muse to write, and also one of the most addicting. You just want to examine every aspect of it, peel away the surface, get underneath its edges, carve away at it...
10: The Constructive Muse
Unlike constructive criticism, this muse means constructive in a very literal term. This is the muse that works best when you're using your hands for something else. Whether it's drawing, cooking, building, blowing things up, this muse wants you to see that you've done stuff. This muse is also a very logical muse. Not everyone has this muse, but it's a very polite muse to have. Well, polite for a bit of a control freak.
Alright, so please! What experiences do you have with muses? Would you like for me to continue talking about muses? Or is there something else about the insanity of writing that you'd like me to go into?
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Monday, June 13, 2016
Writing Block Corner: Character Arcs
Hello Bookworms!
A friend of mine who has been a writer for a while asked me for this post. (Please ask me for specific posts!) So, I figured I could share what limited experience I have in this with you! Mostly I'm just sharing some of the various arcs I've seen. Have fun reading! (Oh, and spoilers for the ending of shows and movies, so be warned! I won't go into details, but I do say where characters end up.)
#1: Redemption Arc
I'm sure this is the one you're most familiar with. Example: Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He started out as a villain, but an understandable one and a redeemable one. Over the course of the show the writers portrayed him as struggling with his desire for something other people tell him is necessary, and battling external and internal expectations, and reconciling his own actions with his sense of justice. They showed the corruption of his justice, and how he slowly got it back, along with all his lapses in judgement, and how they each weighed on him until he eventually decided to join the right side. Even then it wasn't easy for him, but he eventually managed to get there. This was an excellent example of the struggles of overcoming something that's both external and internal. Redemption arcs take many forms, but this was one of the best I'd ever seen done.
#2: Trauma Arc
I don't have much I can say on this arc, as I haven't seen many good ones. (Probably because as a rule I tend to avoid movies about sports.) One was Fitz on Agents of Shield. He started out normal, and something (I can't say what!) happened that caused him to sustain major damage to his mind. Over the course of the second season he is seen struggling with being 'damaged' and learning where he finds his own value, and having everyone else start treating him like a member of the team again. It was an excellent way of showing several different ways in which people who've been through mental or even physical trauma find value despite their injuries. I think too many people ignore the fact that a lot of people are 'damaged', or if they allow people to sustain injuries they don't show how it impacts their life. Tell their story too.
#3: Unwanted Responsibility Arc
There have been several examples of this arc, because it's a fairly common one. The main character is destined for something, (typically to become king,) and he doesn't want the responsibility. It's usually because he's afraid that he might disappoint the people he has a responsibility to. It could be a girl facing this responsibility, but I've typically seen it in male characters, such as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia, or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. The character starts to see how they might actually be able to accept this responsibility, but also has moments, especially near the end of the story, where he doubts himself again. It's a constant struggle between whether or not he is capable of accepting this responsibility.
#4: Character Regression Arc
I have only identified this ONCE. I'm sure if I went back over some things I've seen before I could find more examples of this, but the only example that I recognized when I read it was Napoleon in George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has an EXCELLENT line that I loved. (Major spoilers!)
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
And that is how the book ends. Throughout the book the pigs, especially Napoleon, hated humans, and wanted to be clear that animals were above humans. As the book progressed however, they end up compromising their rule to have no interactions with humans, and eventually the pigs become the very beings they had claimed to hate so passionately. It was chilling to read, and I highly recommend the book.
Bonus: Flawed Arc: Introvert to Extrovert
DON'T WRITE THIS ARC, PLEASE! Being an introvert isn't a flaw, and it doesn't need fixed! Please, all you writers out there, don't write this arc! Extroverts don't seem to understand, we usually aren't scared of people, we just don't like them. And have you seen people? They're scary! Anyway. Being an introvert, or shy, or quiet, isn't a flaw. Please stop writing characters as if it is.
Alright! So, thoughts? Do you want me to write about more arcs? Is there an area in writing you're having difficulty understand? Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
A friend of mine who has been a writer for a while asked me for this post. (Please ask me for specific posts!) So, I figured I could share what limited experience I have in this with you! Mostly I'm just sharing some of the various arcs I've seen. Have fun reading! (Oh, and spoilers for the ending of shows and movies, so be warned! I won't go into details, but I do say where characters end up.)
#1: Redemption Arc
I'm sure this is the one you're most familiar with. Example: Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He started out as a villain, but an understandable one and a redeemable one. Over the course of the show the writers portrayed him as struggling with his desire for something other people tell him is necessary, and battling external and internal expectations, and reconciling his own actions with his sense of justice. They showed the corruption of his justice, and how he slowly got it back, along with all his lapses in judgement, and how they each weighed on him until he eventually decided to join the right side. Even then it wasn't easy for him, but he eventually managed to get there. This was an excellent example of the struggles of overcoming something that's both external and internal. Redemption arcs take many forms, but this was one of the best I'd ever seen done.
#2: Trauma Arc
I don't have much I can say on this arc, as I haven't seen many good ones. (Probably because as a rule I tend to avoid movies about sports.) One was Fitz on Agents of Shield. He started out normal, and something (I can't say what!) happened that caused him to sustain major damage to his mind. Over the course of the second season he is seen struggling with being 'damaged' and learning where he finds his own value, and having everyone else start treating him like a member of the team again. It was an excellent way of showing several different ways in which people who've been through mental or even physical trauma find value despite their injuries. I think too many people ignore the fact that a lot of people are 'damaged', or if they allow people to sustain injuries they don't show how it impacts their life. Tell their story too.
#3: Unwanted Responsibility Arc
There have been several examples of this arc, because it's a fairly common one. The main character is destined for something, (typically to become king,) and he doesn't want the responsibility. It's usually because he's afraid that he might disappoint the people he has a responsibility to. It could be a girl facing this responsibility, but I've typically seen it in male characters, such as Peter from the Chronicles of Narnia, or Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings. The character starts to see how they might actually be able to accept this responsibility, but also has moments, especially near the end of the story, where he doubts himself again. It's a constant struggle between whether or not he is capable of accepting this responsibility.
#4: Character Regression Arc
I have only identified this ONCE. I'm sure if I went back over some things I've seen before I could find more examples of this, but the only example that I recognized when I read it was Napoleon in George Orwell's Animal Farm. It has an EXCELLENT line that I loved. (Major spoilers!)
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
And that is how the book ends. Throughout the book the pigs, especially Napoleon, hated humans, and wanted to be clear that animals were above humans. As the book progressed however, they end up compromising their rule to have no interactions with humans, and eventually the pigs become the very beings they had claimed to hate so passionately. It was chilling to read, and I highly recommend the book.
Bonus: Flawed Arc: Introvert to Extrovert
DON'T WRITE THIS ARC, PLEASE! Being an introvert isn't a flaw, and it doesn't need fixed! Please, all you writers out there, don't write this arc! Extroverts don't seem to understand, we usually aren't scared of people, we just don't like them. And have you seen people? They're scary! Anyway. Being an introvert, or shy, or quiet, isn't a flaw. Please stop writing characters as if it is.
Alright! So, thoughts? Do you want me to write about more arcs? Is there an area in writing you're having difficulty understand? Please leave a comment, and let me know what you think!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Writing Block Corner: the muse
Hello Bookworms!
Today I am doing another writing block corner. It seems that those are actually mildly helpful for people! Today I am talking about the ever present, ever invasive: muse. This is a term which has been used by several people, and I'm not sure who first coined it for writing, but it was a Grecian mythological creature. The teller of tales. The inspiration for writing. So, I have labeled the insane inspiration which comes to me and tells me to write: my muse. I have a different muse per each book. Sometimes the muse has the same name as the book. Sometimes it really doesn't. Anyway, on to my advice!
The muse is the foundation and the downfall of a writer. It will give you ideas, show you how things will happen, and be a great friend. It will also annoy you to death while you're trying to focus on anything else. As far as I can tell, the muse goes through several stages, in no particular order:
1: Awake.
This is the peaceful muse, who will give you story ideas when you ask for them, and will leave you alone for the most part otherwise. If this is the state your muse is in: you're new to writing. Don't get used to it, it won't last.
2: Comatose.
Your muse hasn't talked to you in a while. It hasn't given you anything to work with for a couple of months. Your muse is asleep, indefinitely. This muse is rather commonly misdiagnosed as writer's block. In my experience writer's block is when all of your muses go on strike, but I'll get to multiple muses later. The comatose muse will wake up when it wakes up. Leave it alone and go find another muse to talk to.
3: Sleepy.
Maybe your muse has just woken up. Or, maybe your muse has been awake for a while, and wants to go to sleep. It will give you an idea here or there, and for the most part will leave you alone, but it won't care when it talks to you. If you are trying to talk to it, it will be testy and make little shooing motions at you. If you are busy doing something else, it will collapse on you, and spout out some random piece of information, maybe two or three, then leave you alone. This muse is trying to decide whether or not to go get coffee, or go to sleep.
4: Caffeinated.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and now you know it. It will give you story ideas on Pinterest, while you're at your desk, while you're writing, while you're taking notes on something, while you're cooking. It will take a lot for this muse to leave you alone. The muse has found its coffee. It will probably make you write a whole chapter in one day, then maybe leave you alone for a week or two, maybe even a month or two if you're lucky.
5: Highly Caffeinated.
If the previous muse had coffee, this one just got about 10 shots of espresso. This muse will not leave you alone. This muse will refuse to let you sleep. This muse will keep you up at night, wake you in the morning, and pester you through the day. The caffeinated muse could write a chapter in one day. This muse will write two in one day, then come back and pester you to do the same thing tomorrow. You cannot work, you cannot sleep, you can barely eat without the muse yanking on your shoulders, pulling you back to the desk. This muse is impossible to deal with. Find something to act as a sleeping pill for the muse, and get it to shut up.
6: Napping.
This muse state usually goes along rather well with the caffeinated muse. After your muse has made you write about a chapter or two, it will decide that it needs time to think, and so will take a nap for a few days, maybe even a week or two. This is a nice break. While it is napping, you can catch up on all the normal life things you could have been doing while your muse decided to nag your ear off about writing.
7: Stubborn.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and it doesn't like you. Everything you see makes you think: Oh! This would go great in the story! And every time you go to write your muse turns its head, shakes it deliberately, and gives you the ultimate silent treatment. This muse is temperamental, and should change in a few days to a week or so.
8: Dead.
Yup. This muse is dead. It's gone, it won't be coming back. The story has died, and there's nothing you can do about it. This state usually occurs after you have found plot hole after plot hole, and the story no longer seems worth writing. The story hasn't been worked on for at least a year or two, and there's nothing there. You have no ideas. The characters have abandoned you, and you can't change it. Goodbye muse.
9: Ghost.
The dead muse has come back. It gave you a random story idea, and suddenly there's something there. But, like every ghost, it won't stay still long enough for you to see it. This muse will hover about your shoulders, whispering random ideas into your head, and waiting till it drives you mad. Mad enough to pick up the pen and start writing it again.
10. Zombie. (Contributed by Esther.)
This dead muse comes back in the form of letting its characters invade other stories. Sometimes, believe it or not, a zombie muse can be a good thing. Most of the time it just tries to take over the planet and makes a mess of a perfectly decent storyline. Beware of the zombie muse.
This is just my experience with muses. Do any of you other writers out there have different experiences with muses? What terms have you come up with to describe your inspiration? How have you coped? I've found that there are triggers for what makes my muses change temperaments, but I can't figure out what the triggers are. Anyway, please let me know if this helped!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Today I am doing another writing block corner. It seems that those are actually mildly helpful for people! Today I am talking about the ever present, ever invasive: muse. This is a term which has been used by several people, and I'm not sure who first coined it for writing, but it was a Grecian mythological creature. The teller of tales. The inspiration for writing. So, I have labeled the insane inspiration which comes to me and tells me to write: my muse. I have a different muse per each book. Sometimes the muse has the same name as the book. Sometimes it really doesn't. Anyway, on to my advice!
The muse is the foundation and the downfall of a writer. It will give you ideas, show you how things will happen, and be a great friend. It will also annoy you to death while you're trying to focus on anything else. As far as I can tell, the muse goes through several stages, in no particular order:
1: Awake.
This is the peaceful muse, who will give you story ideas when you ask for them, and will leave you alone for the most part otherwise. If this is the state your muse is in: you're new to writing. Don't get used to it, it won't last.
2: Comatose.
Your muse hasn't talked to you in a while. It hasn't given you anything to work with for a couple of months. Your muse is asleep, indefinitely. This muse is rather commonly misdiagnosed as writer's block. In my experience writer's block is when all of your muses go on strike, but I'll get to multiple muses later. The comatose muse will wake up when it wakes up. Leave it alone and go find another muse to talk to.
3: Sleepy.
Maybe your muse has just woken up. Or, maybe your muse has been awake for a while, and wants to go to sleep. It will give you an idea here or there, and for the most part will leave you alone, but it won't care when it talks to you. If you are trying to talk to it, it will be testy and make little shooing motions at you. If you are busy doing something else, it will collapse on you, and spout out some random piece of information, maybe two or three, then leave you alone. This muse is trying to decide whether or not to go get coffee, or go to sleep.
4: Caffeinated.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and now you know it. It will give you story ideas on Pinterest, while you're at your desk, while you're writing, while you're taking notes on something, while you're cooking. It will take a lot for this muse to leave you alone. The muse has found its coffee. It will probably make you write a whole chapter in one day, then maybe leave you alone for a week or two, maybe even a month or two if you're lucky.
5: Highly Caffeinated.
If the previous muse had coffee, this one just got about 10 shots of espresso. This muse will not leave you alone. This muse will refuse to let you sleep. This muse will keep you up at night, wake you in the morning, and pester you through the day. The caffeinated muse could write a chapter in one day. This muse will write two in one day, then come back and pester you to do the same thing tomorrow. You cannot work, you cannot sleep, you can barely eat without the muse yanking on your shoulders, pulling you back to the desk. This muse is impossible to deal with. Find something to act as a sleeping pill for the muse, and get it to shut up.
6: Napping.
This muse state usually goes along rather well with the caffeinated muse. After your muse has made you write about a chapter or two, it will decide that it needs time to think, and so will take a nap for a few days, maybe even a week or two. This is a nice break. While it is napping, you can catch up on all the normal life things you could have been doing while your muse decided to nag your ear off about writing.
7: Stubborn.
This muse is awake, it knows it, and it doesn't like you. Everything you see makes you think: Oh! This would go great in the story! And every time you go to write your muse turns its head, shakes it deliberately, and gives you the ultimate silent treatment. This muse is temperamental, and should change in a few days to a week or so.
8: Dead.
Yup. This muse is dead. It's gone, it won't be coming back. The story has died, and there's nothing you can do about it. This state usually occurs after you have found plot hole after plot hole, and the story no longer seems worth writing. The story hasn't been worked on for at least a year or two, and there's nothing there. You have no ideas. The characters have abandoned you, and you can't change it. Goodbye muse.
9: Ghost.
The dead muse has come back. It gave you a random story idea, and suddenly there's something there. But, like every ghost, it won't stay still long enough for you to see it. This muse will hover about your shoulders, whispering random ideas into your head, and waiting till it drives you mad. Mad enough to pick up the pen and start writing it again.
10. Zombie. (Contributed by Esther.)
This dead muse comes back in the form of letting its characters invade other stories. Sometimes, believe it or not, a zombie muse can be a good thing. Most of the time it just tries to take over the planet and makes a mess of a perfectly decent storyline. Beware of the zombie muse.
This is just my experience with muses. Do any of you other writers out there have different experiences with muses? What terms have you come up with to describe your inspiration? How have you coped? I've found that there are triggers for what makes my muses change temperaments, but I can't figure out what the triggers are. Anyway, please let me know if this helped!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Writing Block Corner: Villains
Hello Bookworms!
So, a friend of mine actually requested that I do another writing block corner, so here I am! Today I'm covering a little something I've learned about villains. This isn't applicable to everything, but it's something to keep in mind while writing whoever ends up being the antagonist of your story.
There's a saying: a hero is only as good as his villain is evil. I think I can expound upon that. Well-written antagonists tend to be almost a flipped-coin version of the protagonist. They have gone through similar experiences to that of the protagonist, or they have similar goals, or they care about people the same way. They have to relate to each other in such a way that makes you realize that the hero could very easily become the villain. If the hero had taken a different path, or if different people had been in his life, then he would have been just like the villain. Possibly worse. That's what makes it an interesting story: seeing the dynamic of what could have been, and what prevented it. Seeing how thin of a line there actually is between hero and villain. What makes an amazingly sympathetic villain however, is seeing that in the same circumstances, we ourselves as the audience could be just like the villain. But there's a fine line between making the circumstances understandable, and excusing them. Horrible actions are still horrible, you just have to know where the blame actually lies, and make sure the characters reflect that. Finally, some of your villains might be totally not understandable at all. There are some great, crazy villains who don't have any sympathy whatsoever. (Examples: Moriarty. Need I say more?) If you know what you're going for in a villain, great. Have fun writing your first draft. If you don't though, try looking at your hero. Find what makes him or her the hero. What if they didn't have that? What if they were almost exactly the same, but they didn't have that one thing? What would be different? Would they become something terrifying? Show the audience. And show yourself.
Ok, so was this helpful? Please let me know! And if you have any requests, please let me know! I actually have a few ideas, so we'll see how this goes!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
So, a friend of mine actually requested that I do another writing block corner, so here I am! Today I'm covering a little something I've learned about villains. This isn't applicable to everything, but it's something to keep in mind while writing whoever ends up being the antagonist of your story.
There's a saying: a hero is only as good as his villain is evil. I think I can expound upon that. Well-written antagonists tend to be almost a flipped-coin version of the protagonist. They have gone through similar experiences to that of the protagonist, or they have similar goals, or they care about people the same way. They have to relate to each other in such a way that makes you realize that the hero could very easily become the villain. If the hero had taken a different path, or if different people had been in his life, then he would have been just like the villain. Possibly worse. That's what makes it an interesting story: seeing the dynamic of what could have been, and what prevented it. Seeing how thin of a line there actually is between hero and villain. What makes an amazingly sympathetic villain however, is seeing that in the same circumstances, we ourselves as the audience could be just like the villain. But there's a fine line between making the circumstances understandable, and excusing them. Horrible actions are still horrible, you just have to know where the blame actually lies, and make sure the characters reflect that. Finally, some of your villains might be totally not understandable at all. There are some great, crazy villains who don't have any sympathy whatsoever. (Examples: Moriarty. Need I say more?) If you know what you're going for in a villain, great. Have fun writing your first draft. If you don't though, try looking at your hero. Find what makes him or her the hero. What if they didn't have that? What if they were almost exactly the same, but they didn't have that one thing? What would be different? Would they become something terrifying? Show the audience. And show yourself.
Ok, so was this helpful? Please let me know! And if you have any requests, please let me know! I actually have a few ideas, so we'll see how this goes!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Monday, April 11, 2016
Writing block corner, cliches.
Hello Bookworms!
Ok, so a friend of mine recently started writing, and so I decided now would be a great time to share some of my 'gathered knowledge about writing'. I'm sure that to some of you this is all going to be stuff you already know, but to others this might prove really helpful. So, if you think your story has cliches, please read! And let me know if this was helpful!
Alright, so there are several things about writing cliches that should probably be mentioned. First: Cliches are Cliches for a reason! I know this might not make sense at first, but the reason something is a cliche is because it is so overused. The reason that it's overused? Because it's actually a really good plot point! But people have used it so much that it has become predictable. So, if you are going to write something cliche, just know that it's cliche going in. Don't expect to surprise your audience with it. You don't have to write something that the audience has never read, you don't even have to make them think that they've never read it before. Your job as the writer is simply to make them not care that they've heard it before because your work is so entertaining. I didn't come up with this myself. I got it from a fellow writer, who got it from someone else. I'm not that smart.
Secondly: if you can, point out the cliches. This can be expanded to an even better principle: have a mediator character. SO many movies and TV shows these days lose audiences because there's no one for the audience to truly relate to. No one is saying what the audience is saying, and they can't find someone who feels exactly what they feel. There's no emotional connection to these characters, and as such the audience has no reason to stick around. Now, pulling it back to what I was originally saying, have your mediator character point out the cliches. Yes, there is nothing wrong with using cliches. But if your audience can say mid-sentence: "That's such a cliche!" then you should probably have on of your characters be able to say it too. Unless it's a terribly stressful scene, but you have to be careful. If the audience knows where it's going, then their tension will already be decreased. It's a fine line, and I don't know everything there is to know about it.
Third, (and last): put your own twist on it. If you're writing a cliche, then you might end up boring yourself. Throw something random in that you didn't see coming. Remember: second drafts are when you go back through and make all the random, crazy out-of-nowhere stuff have some degree of foreshadowing. Have fun with it! Your audience your first time round is yourself. Remember: "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." (Terry Prachett.) It's from a pin I found on Pinterest, I honestly have no idea who this person is. Still, it's a good thing to keep in mind. So, have fun writing!
Alright, would you as my audience like for me to write more advice based upon the advice of my fellow writers in my community and the limited experience I have? And if there's something else you would like for me to write about, please let me know!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Ok, so a friend of mine recently started writing, and so I decided now would be a great time to share some of my 'gathered knowledge about writing'. I'm sure that to some of you this is all going to be stuff you already know, but to others this might prove really helpful. So, if you think your story has cliches, please read! And let me know if this was helpful!
Alright, so there are several things about writing cliches that should probably be mentioned. First: Cliches are Cliches for a reason! I know this might not make sense at first, but the reason something is a cliche is because it is so overused. The reason that it's overused? Because it's actually a really good plot point! But people have used it so much that it has become predictable. So, if you are going to write something cliche, just know that it's cliche going in. Don't expect to surprise your audience with it. You don't have to write something that the audience has never read, you don't even have to make them think that they've never read it before. Your job as the writer is simply to make them not care that they've heard it before because your work is so entertaining. I didn't come up with this myself. I got it from a fellow writer, who got it from someone else. I'm not that smart.
Secondly: if you can, point out the cliches. This can be expanded to an even better principle: have a mediator character. SO many movies and TV shows these days lose audiences because there's no one for the audience to truly relate to. No one is saying what the audience is saying, and they can't find someone who feels exactly what they feel. There's no emotional connection to these characters, and as such the audience has no reason to stick around. Now, pulling it back to what I was originally saying, have your mediator character point out the cliches. Yes, there is nothing wrong with using cliches. But if your audience can say mid-sentence: "That's such a cliche!" then you should probably have on of your characters be able to say it too. Unless it's a terribly stressful scene, but you have to be careful. If the audience knows where it's going, then their tension will already be decreased. It's a fine line, and I don't know everything there is to know about it.
Third, (and last): put your own twist on it. If you're writing a cliche, then you might end up boring yourself. Throw something random in that you didn't see coming. Remember: second drafts are when you go back through and make all the random, crazy out-of-nowhere stuff have some degree of foreshadowing. Have fun with it! Your audience your first time round is yourself. Remember: "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." (Terry Prachett.) It's from a pin I found on Pinterest, I honestly have no idea who this person is. Still, it's a good thing to keep in mind. So, have fun writing!
Alright, would you as my audience like for me to write more advice based upon the advice of my fellow writers in my community and the limited experience I have? And if there's something else you would like for me to write about, please let me know!
Scribe ergo quae vidiste vivere!
Friday, February 27, 2015
Writing block corner: writing exercises
Hello Bookworms!
Alright, so it took me a little longer than I had planned to get this written, but I think it was worth it. Today I am covering a few writing exercises I use when I feel my writing is lacking in something. If I know what my writing is lacking, I just start writing one of the ideas listed and see where it leads. If I don't know, then I'll just pick one randomly and start rambling seeing where my mind goes. These are some of the areas I find myself dealing with, and trying to work past.
My sister once said that the main difference between a short story and a novel or novella is that a short story focuses on one idea, while a novella can focus on several. As such, these ideas are simply inspirations for short stories, and I hope they help you as such. Also, the stories you write are ones you can keep to yourself, or dispose of if you find they aren't helping. (Or just aren't your style).
#1: Dialogue.
Sometimes when I'm writing, I look at the characters, then what they are saying; and they don't really match. So, I will go to the shelf, pull out a book of fairy tales, and start rewriting one in first person. This helps for several reasons. Firstly, it's a story which you already know, so you don't have to decide what's going to happen unless you want to. Secondly, first person is pretty much dialogue on its own, so you don't have to add much for whatever character you choose. Thirdly, you can choose whichever character you want to tell the story from, and also get some experience trying to find the right dialogue for each personality presented.
#2: Humor.
This idea was Esther's however I personally love the concept. Try writing a random list of insane ideas and rules, (Like, rule 9: Cedar wood makes bad spaghetti, go for pine.) then write a story explaining it. Another way to work on humor is not exactly an exercise, but it is a good way to get past the block: Reading Douglas Adams' works. Douglas Adams is best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and his humor is amazing. He balances the insanity of science fiction with the typical experiences of everyday life, and frankly of all the prologues I've read, his are the funniest. (No, I haven't read all his works, I'm working on it).
#3: Fear.
This is one I've been working on for over a year, since I tried writing a haunted forest into one of my books. For some reason, I can't get past a mental block of being too scary, and then I'm not scary at all. If you are dealing with being too scary, this isn't for you. If you can't write anything scary, this should help. In trying to deal with this I started asking a lot of people for help, and it was my dad who finally gave me the biggest hint. "When you give fear an image, it becomes less terrifying." He was probably quoting someone, but the principle is the same. If there is a vicious nameless terror behind one door and a vicious 30 headed dragon with razor sharp teeth behind the other, most people will choose the 30 headed dragon. The unknown is more terrifying than any monster of your own concoction, because you can always imagine something worse. So if you are writing something terrifying, don't say exactly what it is; let the reader's imagination tell him.
That was a rather long introduction, sorry, I'll get to the point now. I came up with a short story idea, and you can come up with whatever ideas work for you. (Yes, my first inspiration came from Doctor Who: the god complex.) Basically, a journalist is investigating an abandoned hotel, and there is one door which he is told up front to never, ever open. And when he goes around to the rooms, he finds that everyone there is insane with a multitude of random psychosis, however they all tell him the exact same thing: Never Open the Door. You can try coming up with whatever closed door scenario you want and experiment with it, it's your writer's block.
#4: Tension.
I've had difficulty expressing the tension of others on paper, so what I often do is write down my own tension. Whenever I'm tense or nervous about anything, I will sit down, and write down exactly what I'm feeling. This accomplishes two things. Firstly, I have a basis for writing other people's tension; and secondly I have something to get my mind off of what is making me tense or nervous.
#5: Death.
Depending on the type of book you are writing, you will probably need to write a death scene at some point or other. Also, depending on how important this character and his/her death is; you might need to spend a lot of time and depth in arranging it. I used to deal with this problem a lot, until I got around it by describing the person's death through through the eyes of someone else. (Yes, I need to get over that; I'm working on it.) This might be a good exercise if you can't seem to convey the importance, or in some cases the unimportance of someone's death. Find a war which intrigues you, write a platoon/garrison/squad in the army, and write how each of them die all within 24 hours of each other. It can be on the battlefield, through poison, assassination, anything. But they all have to die in 24 hours, and you need to include how each particular one died.
That's all, I hope you enjoyed this post, I hope it helped! If there is an area which you can't seem to get past, please let me know! I would love to find an exercise to deal with it! Leave a comment, share, and be looking for my next post! It will be long, however it is also a Shady Friday, and beyond that it will be a complete Shady Friday! (Meaning that it's not a segment of a story, it's a complete short story!) It might not be next Friday, but it should be in the next few weeks!
dimidium facti qui coepit habet
Alright, so it took me a little longer than I had planned to get this written, but I think it was worth it. Today I am covering a few writing exercises I use when I feel my writing is lacking in something. If I know what my writing is lacking, I just start writing one of the ideas listed and see where it leads. If I don't know, then I'll just pick one randomly and start rambling seeing where my mind goes. These are some of the areas I find myself dealing with, and trying to work past.
My sister once said that the main difference between a short story and a novel or novella is that a short story focuses on one idea, while a novella can focus on several. As such, these ideas are simply inspirations for short stories, and I hope they help you as such. Also, the stories you write are ones you can keep to yourself, or dispose of if you find they aren't helping. (Or just aren't your style).
#1: Dialogue.
Sometimes when I'm writing, I look at the characters, then what they are saying; and they don't really match. So, I will go to the shelf, pull out a book of fairy tales, and start rewriting one in first person. This helps for several reasons. Firstly, it's a story which you already know, so you don't have to decide what's going to happen unless you want to. Secondly, first person is pretty much dialogue on its own, so you don't have to add much for whatever character you choose. Thirdly, you can choose whichever character you want to tell the story from, and also get some experience trying to find the right dialogue for each personality presented.
#2: Humor.
This idea was Esther's however I personally love the concept. Try writing a random list of insane ideas and rules, (Like, rule 9: Cedar wood makes bad spaghetti, go for pine.) then write a story explaining it. Another way to work on humor is not exactly an exercise, but it is a good way to get past the block: Reading Douglas Adams' works. Douglas Adams is best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and his humor is amazing. He balances the insanity of science fiction with the typical experiences of everyday life, and frankly of all the prologues I've read, his are the funniest. (No, I haven't read all his works, I'm working on it).
#3: Fear.
This is one I've been working on for over a year, since I tried writing a haunted forest into one of my books. For some reason, I can't get past a mental block of being too scary, and then I'm not scary at all. If you are dealing with being too scary, this isn't for you. If you can't write anything scary, this should help. In trying to deal with this I started asking a lot of people for help, and it was my dad who finally gave me the biggest hint. "When you give fear an image, it becomes less terrifying." He was probably quoting someone, but the principle is the same. If there is a vicious nameless terror behind one door and a vicious 30 headed dragon with razor sharp teeth behind the other, most people will choose the 30 headed dragon. The unknown is more terrifying than any monster of your own concoction, because you can always imagine something worse. So if you are writing something terrifying, don't say exactly what it is; let the reader's imagination tell him.
That was a rather long introduction, sorry, I'll get to the point now. I came up with a short story idea, and you can come up with whatever ideas work for you. (Yes, my first inspiration came from Doctor Who: the god complex.) Basically, a journalist is investigating an abandoned hotel, and there is one door which he is told up front to never, ever open. And when he goes around to the rooms, he finds that everyone there is insane with a multitude of random psychosis, however they all tell him the exact same thing: Never Open the Door. You can try coming up with whatever closed door scenario you want and experiment with it, it's your writer's block.
#4: Tension.
I've had difficulty expressing the tension of others on paper, so what I often do is write down my own tension. Whenever I'm tense or nervous about anything, I will sit down, and write down exactly what I'm feeling. This accomplishes two things. Firstly, I have a basis for writing other people's tension; and secondly I have something to get my mind off of what is making me tense or nervous.
#5: Death.
Depending on the type of book you are writing, you will probably need to write a death scene at some point or other. Also, depending on how important this character and his/her death is; you might need to spend a lot of time and depth in arranging it. I used to deal with this problem a lot, until I got around it by describing the person's death through through the eyes of someone else. (Yes, I need to get over that; I'm working on it.) This might be a good exercise if you can't seem to convey the importance, or in some cases the unimportance of someone's death. Find a war which intrigues you, write a platoon/garrison/squad in the army, and write how each of them die all within 24 hours of each other. It can be on the battlefield, through poison, assassination, anything. But they all have to die in 24 hours, and you need to include how each particular one died.
That's all, I hope you enjoyed this post, I hope it helped! If there is an area which you can't seem to get past, please let me know! I would love to find an exercise to deal with it! Leave a comment, share, and be looking for my next post! It will be long, however it is also a Shady Friday, and beyond that it will be a complete Shady Friday! (Meaning that it's not a segment of a story, it's a complete short story!) It might not be next Friday, but it should be in the next few weeks!
dimidium facti qui coepit habet
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Top Ten Quotes About Writing (Right)
Hello Bookworms!
Today I am covering another top ten, this time about my personal favorite quotes about writing. These keep me writing and stave off that dreaded writers block. So, without further ado, let us begin!
#10:
"Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but and escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it is to want to escape from these things."
~T.S. Eliot
I love this quote, because too often people write poetry just to express all their pent up emotions, and tell people what they think. This isn't poetry, it is a rambling on paper which happens to rhyme. I often use this quote to remind myself of the reason I write poetry.
#9:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
~Winston Churchill
This quote summarizes my view on my writing. I go through several mistakes in my writing, however I keep working, because writing, and the thrill of new adventures is what keeps me going in the morning. I use this quote to remember that success doesn't mean that I get something right the first time.
#8:
"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd."
~Max Lucado
This quote serves as an excellent example of standing out, and leading something brand new. Yes, your writing could influence several people, it could be brilliant and amazing, but in order to do that you sometimes have to turn your back on most of society, and ignore what most people say; unless of course they are experts, but that's a different story. I use this quote to uplift my spirits when I think my writing is so random people will never want to read it.
#7:
"If I had only one rule to live by, it would be this: Write to communicate, not to impress."
~Judy Bridges
Shakespeare was a great author, and play-write. (I'm probably spelling that wrong). However, he often wrote to impress his audience, several times using words which he himself made up. He had every right to do so, however a reader should be able to follow the story. I use this quote as a reminder that it doesn't matter if you're a genius, if people cannot understand you, you have bigger issues.
# 6:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
~Leo Tolstoy
Often as writers we get this idea of how we will change everything, and everyone will be better off. I don't know who first started saying it, but someone started the saying "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place-for me." Something may be wrong, or it may just be our way of looking at it which is wrong. Make sure that you as a writer have thoroughly examined why you think something before you tell other people what you think. This quote reminds me that not every story needs to be told, and sometimes things are better kept secret.
#5:
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
~Robert Kennedy
Sometimes, instead of looking at what is in the world and shouldn't be, I like to look at what isn't in the world and should be. Some concepts and ideas of several years ago have been lost, and some were never there to begin with. This quote reminds me that my writing is to bring things into the world, and explore the domino effect of the reactions.
#4:
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
~Scott Adams
To preface, the only thing I know about this guy is he writes a cartoon. I haven't actually read the cartoon, I don't think I would understand the humor. The point is, everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes we don't really understand why we made them, sometimes we read something we wrote late at night and think, "I call myself a writer?" And then sometimes we read something we read something we wrote late at night and think, "Maybe I should write more at night." This quote keeps me writing, realizing that maybe my mistakes actually aren't all that bad.
#3:
"Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It's as if they are showing you the way."
~Donal Miller
Close to the Judy Bridges quote earlier, writing is about communicating, and sometimes writing is simply a tinted window, in which one person can be taught how someone else sees the world, and why things mean so much to them. This quote reminds me that writing is less of a planned movie, and move of an observation deck. You never know what's going to happen, but you have to see things differently in the end.
#2:
"If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interstingly."
~Edward Albee, playwright
If you write enough, it's almost a guarantee that you will fail. So, don't write to succeed. Write to have fun. Instead of worrying about whether you will make the list of top one-hundred novels in the nation, instead write something that you could pull off your shelf after reading a hundred times, and still find funny, amusing, and entertaining. This one reminds me that I write not for a crowd of people, or for a generation of far off children, or even to be recognized as a great author; I write because at the end of the day, I want to be able to enjoy looking back over my work.
#1:
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
~Mark Twain
Alright, who didn't see me using a humorous quote as my last one. What can I say? This is how I work. Until I get all the facts, there is no way for me to know whether or not someone else has already used my ideas? Once I know how it happened, I can twist it around so that no one sees it coming, but I can drop clues as inside jokes to those who know the truth. (Yes, I'm talking about mystery novels, though it's really good for a parody novel as well:) ) This one reminds me, that in the end my writing is my writing, and no one can take that away from me.
Thank you for reading these, I really hope they helped! What are your favorite quotes? How do you stave off writers block? And what would you like me to talk about? My next post will be on small writing exercises which help me with stories, character development, and just experimenting with new writing styles. I will be posting it sometime next week, so keep a weather eye out!
dimidium facti qui coepit habet
Today I am covering another top ten, this time about my personal favorite quotes about writing. These keep me writing and stave off that dreaded writers block. So, without further ado, let us begin!
#10:
"Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but and escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it is to want to escape from these things."
~T.S. Eliot
I love this quote, because too often people write poetry just to express all their pent up emotions, and tell people what they think. This isn't poetry, it is a rambling on paper which happens to rhyme. I often use this quote to remind myself of the reason I write poetry.
#9:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
~Winston Churchill
This quote summarizes my view on my writing. I go through several mistakes in my writing, however I keep working, because writing, and the thrill of new adventures is what keeps me going in the morning. I use this quote to remember that success doesn't mean that I get something right the first time.
#8:
"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd."
~Max Lucado
This quote serves as an excellent example of standing out, and leading something brand new. Yes, your writing could influence several people, it could be brilliant and amazing, but in order to do that you sometimes have to turn your back on most of society, and ignore what most people say; unless of course they are experts, but that's a different story. I use this quote to uplift my spirits when I think my writing is so random people will never want to read it.
#7:
"If I had only one rule to live by, it would be this: Write to communicate, not to impress."
~Judy Bridges
Shakespeare was a great author, and play-write. (I'm probably spelling that wrong). However, he often wrote to impress his audience, several times using words which he himself made up. He had every right to do so, however a reader should be able to follow the story. I use this quote as a reminder that it doesn't matter if you're a genius, if people cannot understand you, you have bigger issues.
# 6:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
~Leo Tolstoy
Often as writers we get this idea of how we will change everything, and everyone will be better off. I don't know who first started saying it, but someone started the saying "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place-for me." Something may be wrong, or it may just be our way of looking at it which is wrong. Make sure that you as a writer have thoroughly examined why you think something before you tell other people what you think. This quote reminds me that not every story needs to be told, and sometimes things are better kept secret.
#5:
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
~Robert Kennedy
Sometimes, instead of looking at what is in the world and shouldn't be, I like to look at what isn't in the world and should be. Some concepts and ideas of several years ago have been lost, and some were never there to begin with. This quote reminds me that my writing is to bring things into the world, and explore the domino effect of the reactions.
#4:
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
~Scott Adams
To preface, the only thing I know about this guy is he writes a cartoon. I haven't actually read the cartoon, I don't think I would understand the humor. The point is, everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes we don't really understand why we made them, sometimes we read something we wrote late at night and think, "I call myself a writer?" And then sometimes we read something we read something we wrote late at night and think, "Maybe I should write more at night." This quote keeps me writing, realizing that maybe my mistakes actually aren't all that bad.
#3:
"Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It's as if they are showing you the way."
~Donal Miller
Close to the Judy Bridges quote earlier, writing is about communicating, and sometimes writing is simply a tinted window, in which one person can be taught how someone else sees the world, and why things mean so much to them. This quote reminds me that writing is less of a planned movie, and move of an observation deck. You never know what's going to happen, but you have to see things differently in the end.
#2:
"If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interstingly."
~Edward Albee, playwright
If you write enough, it's almost a guarantee that you will fail. So, don't write to succeed. Write to have fun. Instead of worrying about whether you will make the list of top one-hundred novels in the nation, instead write something that you could pull off your shelf after reading a hundred times, and still find funny, amusing, and entertaining. This one reminds me that I write not for a crowd of people, or for a generation of far off children, or even to be recognized as a great author; I write because at the end of the day, I want to be able to enjoy looking back over my work.
#1:
"Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please."
~Mark Twain
Alright, who didn't see me using a humorous quote as my last one. What can I say? This is how I work. Until I get all the facts, there is no way for me to know whether or not someone else has already used my ideas? Once I know how it happened, I can twist it around so that no one sees it coming, but I can drop clues as inside jokes to those who know the truth. (Yes, I'm talking about mystery novels, though it's really good for a parody novel as well:) ) This one reminds me, that in the end my writing is my writing, and no one can take that away from me.
Thank you for reading these, I really hope they helped! What are your favorite quotes? How do you stave off writers block? And what would you like me to talk about? My next post will be on small writing exercises which help me with stories, character development, and just experimenting with new writing styles. I will be posting it sometime next week, so keep a weather eye out!
dimidium facti qui coepit habet
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Writing block corner, writing tips
Hello Bookworms!
Ok, so it just recently hit me that I have a writing blog on which I don't give tips about writing. That shouldn't be! So, today I am giving random pieces of advice on writing, and I'm not entirely sure where they came from. Some came randomly, Some are from family and friends, and some I remember hearing a long time ago, so just remember that I probably didn't come up with the original idea myself.
~
#1 Keep Writing!
So you've probably heard this a lot, but one of the best things to do if you have writers block is to write down anything that comes to mind, no matter how bizarre it is. Sooner or later, you will have all the nonsensical ideas that you can't use down on paper, and you can focus on the really good ideas that you write for.
#2 Enjoy Your Writing (Esther)
When you start writing, you aren't going to be good to begin with. If you put off writing until you're good, you're never going to get there. But if you write to impress people when you aren't good, you won't get anywhere, and you will probably get discouraged. So write something you would enjoy in the years it will likely take to get reasonably good. I mean, it took me seven years to get here!
#3 Character Development
Ok, so I was going to do something on whether or not to plan out your stories, or to just let them run on their own, but I realized that to each their own; in other words you have your own specific way and style of writing, and I don't know what it is. But, when it comes to characters, I find that planning them out is much better than making it up on the go. With characters, I find it's best to plan where they start from, where they end up, and how they got there before writing it down. It helps realize where the story needs to go, and it also helps with character development, on of the major parts of writing.
#4 Feel Free To Ramble
"A writer is someone who has taught their mind to misbehave" Pinterest. When you are writing your plot, don't feel the obligation to follow a strict plan, let your story flow. Make it sound natural, and also insane. But don't go overboard on rambling! Don't spend three chapters describing something that has nothing to do with the plot, or character development. When all you do in your writing is get from a to z with as few complications as possible, you're writing an essay, not a story. So use that imagination!
#5 Details
One thing I found helps, is to visualize the scenery in my head, and write it out on paper. Nothing helps you pull the reader into your book like describing the little details. The crackle of the fire in a viking era fireplace, the dripping dew off of the emerald leaves of an oak tree; the reader should be living the scene as much as the writer. But don't get carried away! Tolkien took that too far, spending up to two pages describing traditions and gossip of a culture we didn't need to know that much about for the plot. But still, don't let that discourage you from details.
#6 History
If you come across a writers block and nothing is working, you might want to try tracing the history of your characters, culture, even important artifacts. You don't need to include this in your writing, but it can help if you are completely lost for words. Plus, it gives you deeper insight into your own characters.
#7 Read
The single most important thing you can do is read books you are inspired by. You will learn how your favorite authors described the same events, and learn how to get past your own challenges. Also, it's always good to read a published author's work and learn how you think a sentence should work.
~
Ok! So I hope these helped, and I hope to be posting more later!
Ok, so it just recently hit me that I have a writing blog on which I don't give tips about writing. That shouldn't be! So, today I am giving random pieces of advice on writing, and I'm not entirely sure where they came from. Some came randomly, Some are from family and friends, and some I remember hearing a long time ago, so just remember that I probably didn't come up with the original idea myself.
~
#1 Keep Writing!
So you've probably heard this a lot, but one of the best things to do if you have writers block is to write down anything that comes to mind, no matter how bizarre it is. Sooner or later, you will have all the nonsensical ideas that you can't use down on paper, and you can focus on the really good ideas that you write for.
#2 Enjoy Your Writing (Esther)
When you start writing, you aren't going to be good to begin with. If you put off writing until you're good, you're never going to get there. But if you write to impress people when you aren't good, you won't get anywhere, and you will probably get discouraged. So write something you would enjoy in the years it will likely take to get reasonably good. I mean, it took me seven years to get here!
#3 Character Development
Ok, so I was going to do something on whether or not to plan out your stories, or to just let them run on their own, but I realized that to each their own; in other words you have your own specific way and style of writing, and I don't know what it is. But, when it comes to characters, I find that planning them out is much better than making it up on the go. With characters, I find it's best to plan where they start from, where they end up, and how they got there before writing it down. It helps realize where the story needs to go, and it also helps with character development, on of the major parts of writing.
#4 Feel Free To Ramble
"A writer is someone who has taught their mind to misbehave" Pinterest. When you are writing your plot, don't feel the obligation to follow a strict plan, let your story flow. Make it sound natural, and also insane. But don't go overboard on rambling! Don't spend three chapters describing something that has nothing to do with the plot, or character development. When all you do in your writing is get from a to z with as few complications as possible, you're writing an essay, not a story. So use that imagination!
#5 Details
One thing I found helps, is to visualize the scenery in my head, and write it out on paper. Nothing helps you pull the reader into your book like describing the little details. The crackle of the fire in a viking era fireplace, the dripping dew off of the emerald leaves of an oak tree; the reader should be living the scene as much as the writer. But don't get carried away! Tolkien took that too far, spending up to two pages describing traditions and gossip of a culture we didn't need to know that much about for the plot. But still, don't let that discourage you from details.
#6 History
If you come across a writers block and nothing is working, you might want to try tracing the history of your characters, culture, even important artifacts. You don't need to include this in your writing, but it can help if you are completely lost for words. Plus, it gives you deeper insight into your own characters.
#7 Read
The single most important thing you can do is read books you are inspired by. You will learn how your favorite authors described the same events, and learn how to get past your own challenges. Also, it's always good to read a published author's work and learn how you think a sentence should work.
~
Ok! So I hope these helped, and I hope to be posting more later!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Writing block corner
Hello Bookworms!
Alright, so I have found that every single writer I know suffers from writer's block. Therefore, I have decided to do a small blog post on how to move around writer's block. Today's is basically explaining a character flaw and development idea.
When you think your characters are either too cliche (In the bad way) or too perfect, one way to advance them is reading over the 'evil overlord' list and others like them. I personally have developed countless villain's plot lines and character traits using these lists. Basically all I do is look over the list, and think to myself; Which of these mistakes would my villain make, and which would he be clever enough to avoid? This helps me a lot with all my characters, and also the plot points. After all, if the villain is trying to kill all of one type of character or another, wouldn't some of them get angry and try to rebel? Anyway, I hope this helps you with writer's block! And even if you aren't going through writer's block, it's a fun idea to try reading through them anyway, and trying to remember who made those mistakes.
Besides that, I have a clue as to the plot-line of my new story, and I would like you to try and examine it.
~
Dedicated to the mistaken heroes of literature
~
Have a great day!
Habent sua fata libelli!
Alright, so I have found that every single writer I know suffers from writer's block. Therefore, I have decided to do a small blog post on how to move around writer's block. Today's is basically explaining a character flaw and development idea.
When you think your characters are either too cliche (In the bad way) or too perfect, one way to advance them is reading over the 'evil overlord' list and others like them. I personally have developed countless villain's plot lines and character traits using these lists. Basically all I do is look over the list, and think to myself; Which of these mistakes would my villain make, and which would he be clever enough to avoid? This helps me a lot with all my characters, and also the plot points. After all, if the villain is trying to kill all of one type of character or another, wouldn't some of them get angry and try to rebel? Anyway, I hope this helps you with writer's block! And even if you aren't going through writer's block, it's a fun idea to try reading through them anyway, and trying to remember who made those mistakes.
Besides that, I have a clue as to the plot-line of my new story, and I would like you to try and examine it.
~
Dedicated to the mistaken heroes of literature
~
Have a great day!
Habent sua fata libelli!
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