Never Interrupt Yourself. 40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers. By Simon Kewin If you use Twitter, you’re probably already familiar with the idea of hashtags. These are simply a way of categorizing particular tweets by including within them a keyword prefixed with the hash or “pound” (#) symbol. So, for example, tweets containing writing advice will often contain the “#writetip” tag.
The point of this is to make it easier to find all tweets containing writing advice : you just search for “#writetip”. Similarly, you could find a stream of publication tips by keeping an eye on tweets with “#pubtip” in them. 7 Ways to Use Brain Science to Hook Readers. Writing and brain science Story is universal. There isn’t a society on earth that doesn’t tell stories. It’s no wonder, because stories captivate us in a way nothing else can. And yet, until recently, story was primarily seen as a delightful form of entertainment. Sure, we thought, stories make life much more enjoyable, but they don’t play a necessary role when it comes to survival. Wrong! It turns out story has been crucial to our survival from day one. In the same way that food tastes good so we’ll eat it, stories are entertaining so we’ll pay attention to them. Curiosity is the trigger. In other words, the desire to find out what happens next. This information is a game changer for writers. So, with that in mind, let’s explore 7 ways your story can hook the reader’s brain. 1.
Surprise gets our attention by defying our expectations. That’s exactly how a story grabs the brain’s attention: by instantly letting us know that all is not as it seems – yes, beginning with the opening sentence. 2. 4 Rules for Setting Designations off with Commas. By Mark Nichol Where do commas go in the vicinity of references to city and state names, or when identifying a date? Is a comma necessary before Jr. or II after a person’s name, or between a corporate name and a tag like Inc.? The rules for use of such functional punctuation follow: 1. City-and-State Designations In a city-and-state (or city-and-nation) construction, the state is set off from the city by a pair of commas: “A point near Rugby, North Dakota, is the geographic center of North America.” However, when describing an address, no comma appears between the state name or abbreviation and the ZIP code: “He listed his address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20500.”
(Note that DC, like all other abbreviations consisting of two or more uppercase letters, requires no punctuation. When should you list a state or nation in addition to the name of a city, and which cities are familiar enough that their location does not need to be further specified? 2. 3. 4. 13, Dorothy Parker. At the time of this interview, Mrs. Parker was living in a midtown New York hotel. She shared her small apartment with a youthful poodle that had the run of the place and had caused it to look, as Mrs. Parker said apologetically, somewhat “Hogarthian”: newspapers spread about the floor, picked lamb chops here and there, and a rubber doll—its throat torn from ear to ear—which Mrs.
Parker lobbed left-handed from her chair into corners of the room for the poodle to retrieve—as it did, never tiring of the opportunity. The room was sparsely decorated, its one overpowering fixture being a large dog portrait, not of the poodle, but of a sheepdog owned by the author Philip Wylie, and painted by his wife. The portrait indicated a dog of such size that if it were real, would have dwarfed Mrs. Readers of this interview, however, will find that Mrs. Your first job was on Vogue, wasn’t it? After my father died there wasn’t any money. What kind of work did you do at Vogue? I wrote captions. Mr. Mr. Clever.
Character Weaknesses, Flaws and Failures Create Plot. Character’s strengths and weaknesses influence plot, character relationships and how well we like a character. Before you decide on these, think about how these characteristics will ripple through the story. Character Strengths and Weaknesses Inherited or Acquired? Are your character’s strengths and weaknesses inherited or acquired? If inherited, they may be accepted easily by the character, or may be sources of great aggravation: the Prince is often irritated to BE the Prince and wants to see what a normal life would be like. Think carefully about a character’s weaknesses and strengths, because it has great impact on plotting. Editing Wizard. Four Ways to Keep the Passion for Writing | Write Anything. 15 Nov 2011 by Annie Evett in Annie Evett, Editors | 1 comment Inspiration and passion can’t be bought in a bottle, though I’m sure many have sought it at the bottom of one.
No-one can give you more passion or inspiration. It has to come from deep inside you. With NaNoWriMo mania well and truly gripping writers around the globe, many find the challenge and pressure of writing to a strict time-limit and wordcount too extreme and drop out, citing they lost their passion for writing. A large proportion of these writers then suffer self-imposed guilt over their decision with a sad percentage never writing again. Although there is no quick-fix solution to this quandary, review these four tips on uncovering or rediscovering your passion for writing, before NaNoWriMo is over. Surround yourself with the greats. Immerse yourself with great things. It doesn’t hurt either to surround yourself with the works of writers whom you aspire to, or whose works hold a deep connection. Know your why Annie Evett. 9 Tips on Opening Lines & Opening Chapters of Your NaNoWriMo Novel.
Pro Book Covers. Life, Inspiration, and . . . a Red Sheep? - The Fictorian Era. What a week to have to write a post for this wonderful blog (authored by some of the greatest human beings I know!). Somehow, I’ve got to write a post that follows David Farland–arguably one of the most successful writers of just about anything and everything speculative fiction–a book give away, and an insightful and scary look into the functioning of the brain?
What if I just put a cool picture of a red sheep out there and call it a day? No? To be honest, the picture has nothing at all to do with this post. I just liked it and wanted to use it in a blog post. I probably should have saved it, using it when I had an idea for a post that would actually work with a picture of a red sheep. And if I’m honest once again, this is about the most I’ve written in the last three weeks. And just so I don’t give the wrong impression, nobody died. For three weeks, I’ve tried on occasion to sit at the computer–butt in chair, hands on keyboard and all that–but nothing has happened. I was empty. What an Editor Does, by Steven Harper - Penguin Community Blog post.
The Bottleneck - The Fictorian Era. Of late, I’ve had a somewhat difficult time committing words to paper (okay, fine, words to screen). There are many reasons for this. Insufficient world-building, insufficient characterization, laziness… trust me, there’s a lot of blame to go around. When it comes to finding time to sit down and write, if I have something to write about, this is fairly easy to accomplish. Whilst in the middle of a novel, I have no trouble getting my butt in the chair, since I’ve achieved momentum. But what about before I start a novel? It would be easy to label it a discipline problem, but I don’t think that’s it. I can try to force myself to write before the pieces are in place, but I never get very far. Fair enough.
It’s possible that I’m just slow, that other people get through this conceptual period a lot more quickly than I do. I so badly want to be prolific. Anyone else in the same boat, or is it just me? The Office of Letters and Light Blog - “Faulkner, You Don’t Have a Story to Tell!” To get you ultra-ready and inspired for NaNoWriMo, literary expert Celia Blue Johnson—author of the new book Dancing with Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature—has a few behind-the-scenes anecdotes to share about those classic novels we know and love.
(Here’s Part 1.) No, you didn’t misread the heading above. William Faulkner’s publisher sent him a rejection letter that would prompt most writers to pick a new career path. Even worse: Faulkner thought he had created a masterpiece. The book was Flags in the Dust and it was written on the heels of Faulkner’s second book, Mosquitoes. After you’ve toiled away on your manuscripts during National Novel Writing Month, you are going to ask the inevitable question: “What next?” Margaret Mitchell had a huge stack of paper that was gathering dust in her closet in Atlanta, Georgia. If you want to free yourself completely from critics, then follow in Virginia Woolf’s footsteps. Write a novel in 30 days with NaNoWriMo. [Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared in 2008.] November 1 marks the first day of National Novel Writing Month. It’s a fantastic event where regular people are encouraged to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. If you always wished you could find the time to write a novel, maybe November is the right month to finally make that dream a reality.
In order to encourage Macworld readers to unlock their creativity, we’ve published several articles on topics related to NaNoWriMo. We’ve got articles from several Macworld contributors who have participated in the event and met the 50,000-word goal several times. In “Advice from a noveling veteran,” Nathan Alderman gives some sensible tips about how to make it to 50,000 words. (One of his suggestions—blogging your novel—seems pretty crazy. Last year we covered NaNoWriMo in this edition of the Macworld Podcast. As Dan and Nathan both point out, you don’t need to use fancy tools in order to write a novel. Let’s do this together. Six Sentence Sunday.
BLOGGING. WRITER'S LIFE. CRAFT OF THE STORY. EDITING, WORD STUDY, & GRAMMAR. BUSINESS SIDE (eBooks, agents, platforms)