Writing tips | Time to Write In this section, I’m sharing some of the most powerful writing tips I’ve come across or devised myself. I hope you find them useful. There are more like these in every monthly issue of the Brainstorm e-bulletin, which I’ll be happy to send you free. And if you have great writing tips you’re willing to share with the rest of us, please let me know at JurgenWolff@gmail.com, or by using the ‘contact me’ button. → Tips for when you don’t know how to start writing your project → The mindset you need in order to market your work → The ten steps you need to follow to create your writing projects → Listen to “What You Need to Know About Agents!” → Listen to “Making characters come alive!” → Music for the Writing Mood → Coping With Failure → Shading Your Self-Talk → Creative Ideas for Working at Home → Use Twyla Tharp’s Magic Box → Use The Improviser’s Secret: “Yes…and” → How to Get into the Writing Flow → Why You Need a Writer’s Panic List → Bust Your Writing Gremlins → Who Can Tell Your Story?
Procrastinating Writers Pro Writing Tips » Grammar and writing tips Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers (Kennedy and Jerz) ( Tips And Tricks For Writing Fast (And Professionally!) So what do you do when you’re pressed for time, swamped under works and you still need to get some stuff written, and written well? Your nerves are tightened up so well that you can’t sleep, but you can’t squeeze even a sentence out of your mind. I know the feeling so well, but what I did then was, just start writing fast without even thinking, then a professional article was born with the time shorter than usual. Heck, it might be even more professional than my previous articles! (Image Source: Fotolia) The phenomena has nothing to do with the God I worship, or any supernatural phenomenon, it’s just how brain works: we write fast and professionally if we can just limit something, abandon certain habits, and put up some beneficial habits. Articles you might be interested as well: 1. To be honest, I hate this method. (Image Source: Fotolia) If you’re pressed for time and really want get some writing done, open up a fresh Microsoft Word document, and start typing. 2. (Image Source: Fotolia)
Writing Quickly: A Secret Strategy I wrote a blog post about a month back in which I gave a couple of tips for writing quickly. This is not a repetition of that post, but rather an expansion. You see, when I wrote that post I mentioned this thing I hadn't tried, but I'd heard a lot about called Write or Die. In short, Write or Die is an app meant to strip out all other distractions and get you writing. How? It's pretty simple. Before your writing session you set the amount of time you'd like to write and what your word count goal is. After you've dictated your goals, you may choose four different "consequences" and three different "grace periods." According to the website, the consequences are as follows (and I quote): "Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. Ok, so the catch? I tried it. That's a pretty big deal for me. No longer. So there you go.
25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing I read this cool article last week — “30 Things To Stop Doing To Yourself” — and I thought, hey, heeeey, that’s interesting. Writers might could use their own version of that. So, I started to cobble one together. And, of course, as most of these writing-related posts become, it ended up that for the most part I’m sitting here in the blog yelling at myself first and foremost. That is, then, how you should read this: me, yelling at me. Then go forth and kick your writing year in the teeth. Onto the list. 1. Right here is your story. 2. Momentum is everything. 3. You have a voice. 4. Worry is some useless shit. 5. The rise of self-publishing has seen a comparative surge forward in quantity. 6. I said “stop hurrying,” not “stand still and fall asleep.” 7. It’s not going to get any easier, and why should it? 8. 9. The mind is the writer’s best weapon. 10. Complaining — like worry, like regret, like that little knob on the toaster that tells you it’ll make the toast darker — does nothing. 11.
25 Things Writers Should Start Doing Consider this, if you will, a sequel to the gone-viral post, “25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right Fucking Now)” — sort of a mirrored-reflection be-a-fountain-not-a-drain version. Now, a warning, just in the rare instance you don’t come to this site all that often: Here There Be Bad Words. Naughty profanity. The sinner’s tongue. If you’re not a fan of profanity, no harm, no foul. Please to enjoy. 1. This is a real thing, this writing thing, if you let it be. 2. Said it before, will say it again: we all get 24 hours in our day. 3. Branch out. 4. Another entry from the “Set The Box On Fire” Department — with the almost obscene advances in personal technology (the smartphone alone has become more versatile than most home computers), it’s time to start thinking about how we can tell stories in new ways. 5. Poetry? 6. 7. Ah, that old chestnut. 8. You also know pain. 9. I don’t care if you’re good at what you do. 10. 11. You’re crazy. 12. 13. Get the hell out of your house. 14. 15. 16.
How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Writing Procrastination has to be one of the top enemies of productivity. Steven Pressfield, author of “War of Art” would call it one form of resistance. Today, author and blogger Ali Luke from Aliventures provides some strategies. My personal tools include Write Or Die for first draft writing and diarizing like a crazy person, blocking chunks out for each part of my life. Admit it, you procrastinate. Too much procrastination, though, can be incredibly frustrating. And if you’re not sure you have a procrastination problem at all … well, just read on. Recognising Procrastination Procrastination doesn’t just mean playing your umpteenth game of Angry Birds. Reading blogs about writingBuying more books about writingTidying your desk so that you’ll be ready to write … really soon …Hanging out with other writers (offline or online) and talking about writing If a lot of your time revolves around thinking about writing or learning about writing without actually writing, chances are, you’re procrastinating.
Creative Writing Prompts Write a scene that includes a character speaking a different language, speaking in a thick accent, or otherwise speaking in a way that is unintelligibe to the other characters. (Note: You don't necessarily need to know the language the character is speaking—be creative with it!) Describe a character's reaction to something without explaining what it is. Write a story or a scene about one character playing a prank on another. Writing Prompt: Write a story that involves confusion over homonyms (words that have the same spelling but different meanings) or homophones (words that sound the same but are spelled differently). For World Storytelling Day, share the best story you've ever heard or told by word of mouth, or have a fictional character recount their favorite story. You're making your way down a cobbled street when a stocky, red-bearded man beckons you into an alley. Pick an item from each column in the chart to create a simile.
Set up Your Story in the First Paragraphs by Jodie Renner, editor, author, speaker I receive several first chapters (and synopses) every week as submissions for possibleediting, and I always read the first page. Some are clear and compelling and make me want to read more. There are three cardinal rules of successful novelists: 1. 2. 3. I’ve discussed the negative effects of starting off too slowly, with too much description and/or backstory, in other articles (see the links at the end of this article). Your first paragraph and first page are absolutely critical! So try to work in the basics of the 4 W’s below in your first page — preferably within the first two or three paragraphs. Who? What? Where? When? Also, your first page is a kind of promise to your readers. Evaluate Your Hook: With each story you start, always remember that an effective hook needs to do seven things: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. by Jodie Renner, editor, author, speaker There are three cardinal rules of successful novelists: 1. 2. 3. Who? What? Where? When? 1. 2.