10 Ways To Stop Worrying And Start Writing by Dara Girard Many people claim that they want to write. Most won't because of a giant monster called FEAR. It looms over individuals and paralyzes them. "What if I'm no good?" " What if I'm wasting my time?" 1) Handwrite. 2) Send yourself an email. 3) Commit before you're ready. 4) Write out the fears. 5) Pretend to be someone else. 6) Find a postcard. 7) Come up with a mantra that allows bad writing. 8) Remember you're reading the finished product. 9) Fear means you care. 10) Procrastinate. About the Author: Dara Girard is an award-winning author of romance and nonfiction who provides support and information for beginning and experienced writers, to help them keep going when things get tough, or when nothing seems to be happening.
100 Mostly Small But Expressive Interjections David Bier Thanks for this – what a fun post considering there’s no actual narrative in it! Cecily Some of these interjections are quite culturally and age specific, so if people need to be told what they mean, they should probably not be using them.For example, to many Brits, va-va-voom is not old-fashioned at all, but instead is firmly linked to the long-running ads that footballer Thierry Henry made for the Renault Clio. Himanshu Chanda Whoa ! Seven Tips From Ernest Hemingway on How to Write Fiction Image by Lloyd Arnold via Wikimedia Commons Before he was a big game hunter, before he was a deep-sea fisherman, Ernest Hemingway was a craftsman who would rise very early in the morning and write. His best stories are masterpieces of the modern era, and his prose style is one of the most influential of the 20th century. Hemingway never wrote a treatise on the art of writing fiction. 1: To get started, write one true sentence. Hemingway had a simple trick for overcoming writer's block. Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. 2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next. There is a difference between stopping and foundering. The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. 3: Never think about the story when you're not working. 7: Be Brief.
What I've Learned From 10 Years Of Writing & Independent Publishing It’s been a long time since the writing bug first bit me. Before I started blogging seriously, I had always been writing fiction. In 2nd grade I wrote my first short-story. (It was about a man who befriends a robot and subsequently quits his nerve-wracking office-job because now the robot does everything from cleaning the dishes to wearing his tie… At least that’s what I can remember of it…) Until this day, the euphoria of writing, the magic of seeing people, places and ideas pop into existence, word after word has stayed with me. Nevertheless, during my adolescence years I quickly became aware of another, less comforting feeling. Get Published Or Die Trying As a teenager I used to print out stories and give them to my family and friends. Circulation was obviously limited. Parallel to that, I created a little webpage and uploaded the stories there, too. Also I used to send out stuff to a few publishing houses. They agreed. After it was all through, I could finally go back to writing. 1. 2. 3.
How to Eliminate "To-Be" Verbs in Writing Every English teacher has a sure-fire revision tip that makes developing writers dig down deep and revise initial drafts. One of my favorites involves reducing the number of “to-be-verbs”: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, and been. At this point, even before I begin to plead my case, I hear the grumbling of the contrarians. One of them mutters a snide, rhetorical question: Didn’t Shakespeare say “To be, or not to be: that is the question:”? What’s So Wrong with “To-Be” Verbs? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Adapted from Ken Ward’s E-Prime article at Problem-Solving Strategies to Eliminate the “To-Be” Verb 1. 2. 3. 4. A Teaching Plan to Eliminate the “To-Be” Verb 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. After teaching and practicing all four strategies, set the “rule” that from now on only one “to-be” verb is allowed in any paragraph (excluding direct quotes). Also see How to Teach Helping Verbs for similar strategies to improve student writing.
Writer's Café fiction writing software - novels - screenwriting - short stories - creative fun Using Real Psychology in Your Writing Using Real Psychology in Your Writing Using Archetypes in Your Stories Writing Better Romantic Relationships This series looks at the Anima/Animus archetype, which is most often seen in romantic relationships, and how to use it to create more compelling romantic relationships, regardless of genre. Creating Better Antagonists Three-Dimensional Villains: Finding Your Character’s Shadow - Using Jungian archetypes and hands-on exercises, this article teaches fiction writers to tap their own dark sides to create realistic villains who will really challenge the hero/es and keep tension high. - by Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD The Other in Fiction: Creating Wonderfully Wicked Villains - The kinds of villains that keep us riveted to a story tap the darkest aspects of the human heart; learn about what those aspects are and how to use them in your fiction. - by Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD Forensic Psychology
Kurt Vonnegut -- troubling.info Eight rules for writing fiction: 1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. 2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. -- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Kurt Vonnegut: How to Write with Style 3 Steps to Writing a Novel with Unforgettable Characters Character development is one of the first essential steps of writing a novel and it involves creating the people who will carry out your story. There will most likely be a variety of characters needed for your story, but none as important as your lead character – your protagonist. A well-developed protagonist has much to do with the success of writing a novel. When writing a novel, the protagonist should be someone that your readers feel is a “real person” that they come to love (or at least like a whole lot), can relate to in many ways, and will care about and think about long after they’ve turned the final page on your novel. How to Create “Real People” for Your Novel When writing a novel, there are many ways to go about creating characters and much has been written about it in “how to write a novel books”, sometimes in great detail. Writing a Novel – Four Attributes of a Lead Character: 1. 2. 3. 4. Writing a Novel – Three Attributes Every Character Has: 1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
20 Basic Plots For Story Generators - Software Secret Weapons The 20 Basic Plots are collected by the Tennessee Screenwriting Association . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. (Note: Sometimes #19 & #20 are combined into rags-to-riches-to-rags (or vice versa) of a Protagonist who does (or doesn't) learn to deal with their dominating character trait). Looking At People Through Their Words illustrates the use of artificial intelligence and data mining for text analysis. Having the right merchant account and hosting including providers of dedicated servers which can also provide data recovery is the key the maximum uptime for your website.
» 5 Creative Cures for Writer's Block - World of Psychology It’s stressful when the words don’t come, when you’re sitting at your desk staring at the blinking cursor or the barren page. Minutes feel like hours. Hours feel like days. Deadlines loom, and you’re still stuck and staring. A kind of dread begins building in your stomach and travels to your throat, and then peaks between your temples. It’s reminiscent of firecrackers exploding. “Writer’s block, or any creative block, is really about fear,” according to Miranda Hersey, a writer, editor and creativity coach. Blocks are tough. 1. “Take the pressure off of your writing while you do something else that pleases you creatively,” Hersey said. Choreograph a one-minute dance. 2. If you’re writing fiction and you’re unsure about your direction, write some backstory for one of your characters, said Hersey, who also pens the blog Studio Mothers, a creative community for mothers. “Allow yourself to write 30 pages of something that might or might not show up in your finished work. 3. 4. 5.
Manuscript Format for Novels by Glen C. Strathy The manuscript format used in publishing has evolved a little over time as technology has changed, and if you grew up with word processors, it may seem rather quaint, old-fashioned, and downright boring to look at. Word processors come with many desktop publishing capabilities that are so tempting to use. However, if you are submitting your book to agents and/or publishers, it is best to forget about all that and follow the correct manuscript format for publishing that was developed back in the days before word processors existed and professional writers used typewriters. There are several reasons why this format became standard. 1. Think about this. 2. Despite the fact that everyone uses computers, many editors still like to look at a hard copy and make editing marks in pencil between lines and in margins. 3. I know, word processors today can count the words in a manuscript with one simple click. 4. 5. White paper.
Short Story Ideas - Home Brain a 'creativity machine,' if you use it right Scientists have long wanted to understand exactly how our brain allows us to be creative. Although there is still a lot left to learn, one thing has become clear in recent years: Creativity doesn't live in one spot. There are sites in the brain dedicated to recognizing faces, moving your left index finger and recoiling from a snake, but having original ideas is a process not a place. "There is a very high level of cooperation between different parts, different systems of the brain so that they orchestrate this process," said Antonio Damasio, a neuroscientist and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. Damasio is leading a panel today on creativity and the brain to launch the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in San Diego. There are differences, of course, between creating a painting and creating a new business strategy, writing a symphony or coming up with new ways to comfort a distraught child. Yet imagination depends on memory.