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Never Be Blocked: Keep a Writer's Notebook

Never Be Blocked: Keep a Writer's Notebook
When I was 11, I was given a little five-year diary with a lock and key. I wrote the usual pre-pubescent stuff in it, a few lines a day, most days. At 14, I began using steno notebooks, and over the next couple of decades I filled dozens with my tormented longings and occasional excited high points. To free your creative self, suggests Janet Burroway in her popular textbook Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft , you must give yourself permission to fail. Such a notebook may include observations, ideas, notes about projects, emotions, overheard dialogue, dreams, "what-I-did-today" accounts, notes kept during a trip or to record a particular harrowing experience such as a home renovation. In my notebook, I have lists by category for use as idea-joggers, including times I felt shame and experiences of painful loss. Then there are the meta-notebook entries. W. Stationery stores offer dozens of notebook possibilities, and there is a whole community of Moleskin fanatics. Related:  dianemarycowan2

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s so easy to hide in your little bubble, typing your little words with your little fingers on your little laptop from the comfort of your tiny chair in your miniature little house. It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer. Available in print withThe Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

How To Journal - From YouBeauty If the term journaling conjures up images of being a teenager and writing in your diary about the cute boy in social studies class, it’s time to see it in a new light. Effective journaling can improve happiness, help you express and realize your fears, allow you to explore your beliefs and values, exercise your imagination and heal emotional wounds. Journaling can change you. People have switched careers because of what they’ve discovered about themselves through journaling. MORE: Did you recently experience a highly traumatic event? When it comes to journaling, there’s good news and better news. All your journal has to do is meet your needs at the moment you’re writing in it, and your needs will change from time to time. RELATED RESEARCH: Journal Entries Predict Longevity The better news is that you can change your mind at any time about what you write and how you write it. How to get started:● Choose a journal that won’t intimidate you or block your thoughts.

Writing Tips - General On other pages of this site, you can read many of my best writing tips. But this page is for you! Your tip can be about a grammar or spelling rule, the writing process, or how to get published. Anything you think another writer will appreciate belongs here. Click below to see writing tips from other visitors to this page... Spelling, Spelling, Spelling!!!!!! What to do for Writers' Block. Agony first, ecstasy second As you and your contributors have noted, reading is essential; lots of reading and extra reading in fact cannot be emphasized enough. Avoid time warp Keep notes of details and timeline separate from what you will write or need to write in your novel. Google Images for the win! Your writing - your interests One problem I often face is that I get bored half - way through. Cliches and Sterotypes We always roll our eyes at these. interesting characters Think of how you would you be if you were the character you describe. Backwards! Dream When writing you must think! enjoy it! 1.

ASTRONOMICA by Larry Carlson 2010 How to Plot a Character Driven Book in 3 Easy Steps | Historical Romance Author Robyn DeHart, Legend Hunters , Ladies Amateur Sleuth Society Theme & Premise: Or How to Plot a Character Driven Book in 3 Easy Steps It is said that there are two types of writers: plotters and seat of the pants writers (or fly into the mist writers). Obviously the majority of us fall somewhere in between. Step 1 – THEME. To define your theme, you need to know what theme is, so what is theme? But how do you come up with a theme out of thin air, especially if you’re doing this with a book you haven’t even written yet? So now you have your theme, let’s move on to Step 2 – PREMISE/CHARACTER LESSON. This is the biggie for me when I’m doing my prewriting. Character lesson or premise is just what it sounds like: what does your character need to learn? Which brings me right into Step 3 – CHARACTER ARC. Now comes the plotting. So you have a character who is at Point A (believing her past dictates her future) and needs to get to Point B (accepting her past and allowing herself a future). That’s it. Let’s face it, writing will never be easy. Share this page

5 Amazing Towns on Perilous Cliff Sides Spot Cool Stuff loves a good cliff-side town. There’s something about them that’s romantic, daring and a little impossible. Here are five of our favorites places where no one with vertigo would want to live: Castellfollit de la Roca, Spain Castellfollit de la Roca, in the Catalonia region in the middle of Spain, has a doubly impressive location—this 1,000 person village is perched on a spit of land with cliffs on both sides. LEARN MORE | READ | ShareThis Manarola, Italy The uber-colorful Italian village of Manarola is not the most precariously placed cliff-side settlement of the five in this review. LEARN MORE | READ | MANAROLA B&Bs | BUY WINE ONLINE | ShareThis Al Hajjarah, Yemen Yemen is one of Spot Cool Stuff’s favorite travel countries (though, sadly, these days the security situation there for travelers is spotty). LEARN MORE | READ | ShareThis Bonifacio, France Many of the planet’s cliff-side towns were originally built in their location for some military reason. Ronda, Spain

Creating a Realistic Fantasy World by Penny Ehrenkranz Did you ever wonder how David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Piers Anthony, or J. R. R. Creating your fantasy world means building a world based upon reality and making sure that your reader knows the rules of that world. J. How do you go about creating a reality that readers will accept as readily? Defining the Physical World Defining your locale can be a good place to start. Orson Scott Card began his fantasy novel, Hart's Hope, by designing a map. Instead of a map (or in addition to it), you may prefer to jot down descriptions of places you will need to use in your story. Defining the Rules of Magic Magic is often the key in fantasy. In Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover series, wizards and witches have innate power. Your society will be structured around the question of who has magic and who doesn't. Is the magic in your story a gift treasured and respected by the general populace, or is it feared as an evil? Related Articles:

OLD CHUM - vancouver, gardening, lifestyle, plants, nature, sustainable lifestyle, do-it-yourself, creative environmental options, craft, organics, gardening, planting, flower pots, reusing, old and vintage, nature, environmental news, recycling tips, bro Great blog from Vancouver, BC - CATEGORIES: (5) Comments

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