Short Story Ideas - Home ScriptShadow 25 Things You Should Know About Character Previous iterations of the “25 Things” series: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know 25 Things You Should Know About Storytelling And now… Here you’ll find the many things I believe — at this moment! — about characters: 1. Without character, you have nothing. 2. A great character can be the line between narrative life and story death. 3. Don’t believe that all those other aspects are separate from the character. 4. The audience will do anything to spend time with a great character. 5. It is critical to know what a character wants from the start. 6. It doesn’t matter if we “like” your character, or in the parlance of junior high whether we even “like-like” your character. 7. It is critical to smack the audience in the crotchal region with an undeniable reason to give a fuck. 8. You must prove this thesis: “This character is worth the audience’s time.” 9. Don’t let the character be a dingleberry stuck to the ass of a toad as he floats downriver on a bumpy log. 10. 11. 12. 13. The law of threes.
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. 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.
Write or Die : Dr Wicked's Writing Lab 25 Things Every Writer Should Know An alternate title for this post might be, “Things I Think About Writing,” which is to say, these are random snidbits (snippets + tidbits) of beliefs I hold about what it takes to be a writer. I hesitate to say that any of this is exactly Zen (oh how often we as a culture misuse the term “Zen” — like, “Whoa, that tapestry is so cool, it’s really Zen“), but it certainly favors a sharper, shorter style than the blathering wordsplosions I tend to rely on in my day-to-day writing posts. Anyway. Peruse these. Absorb them into your body. Let your colonic flora digest them and feed them through your bloodstream to the little goblin-man that pilots you. Feel free to disagree with any of these; these are not immutable laws. Buckle up. 1. The Internet is 55% porn, and 45% writers. 2. A lot of writers try to skip over the basics and leap fully-formed out of their own head-wombs. 3. 4. I have been writing professionally for a lucky-despite-the-number 13 years. 5. Luck matters. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Max Barry | Fifteen Ways to Write a Novel Every year I get asked what I think about NaNoWriMo, and I don’t know how to answer, because I don’t want to say, “I think it makes you write a bad novel.” This is kind of the point. You’re supposed to churn out 50,000 words in one month, and by the end you have a goddamn novel, one you wouldn’t have otherwise. If it’s not Shakespeare, it’s still a goddamn novel. The NaNoWriMo FAQ says: “Aiming low is the best way to succeed,” where “succeed” means “write a goddamn novel.” I find it hard to write a goddamn novel. Some of these methods I use a lot, some only when I’m stuck. The Word TargetWhat: You don’t let yourself leave the keyboard each day until you’ve hit 2,000 words.
My Unfinished Novels--Beta 25 Things You Should Know About Storytelling 1. Stories Have Power Outside the air we breathe and the blood in our bodies, the one thing that connects us modern humans today with the shamans and emperors and serfs and alien astronauts of our past is a heritage — a lineage — of stories. 2. We love to be entertained. 3. Segmentation. 4. Story is also not a square peg jammed in a circle hole. 5. You put your hand in a whirling clod of wet clay, you’re shaping it. 6. A story is so much more than the thing you think it is. 7. The storyteller will find no original plots. 8. The audience wants to feel connected to the story. 9. The audience isn’t stupid. 10. Conflict is the food that feeds the reader. 11. Tension is how you ramp to conflict, how you play with it, how you maneuver around it, how you tap-dance up to the cliff’s edge, do a perilous pirouette, and pull back from the precipice. 12. It’s not just tension. 13. The story you tell should be the story you tell. 14. The audience cannot relate to big ideas. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Words of Wisdom: 101 Tips from the World's Most Famous Authors » Online College Search If you've ever wanted to sit down with your favorite writer and ask advice, then you should take a look at these tips from some of the most famous authors in the world. These valuable bits of information provide guidance on strengthening your writing skills, becoming a better fiction writer or poet, learning to tap into your creativity, advice on education and school, and even a few suggestions on success and living a meaningful life. Of course, another excellent way of improving your writing is through traditional or online master’s degrees in creative writing. General Writing Tips Improve any type of writing you do with these solid tips from successful writers themselves. Ernest Hemingway. Tips for Beginning Writers If you are thinking about a career in writing, whether you have a bachelor degree or a master’s degree, or are just starting to write seriously, then use these tips for great suggestions. Stephen King. Fiction Tips Kurt Vonnegut. Poetry Robert Frost. Tips for Creativity Success
tony pierce dot om + busblog : by a really lucky dude named Tony by tony pierce, 110 1. write every day. 2. if you think youre a good writer, write twice a day. 3. dont be afraid to do anything. infact if youre afraid of something, do it. then do it again. and again. 4. cuss like a sailor. 5. dont tell your mom, your work, your friends, the people you want to date, or the people you want to work for about your blog. if they find out and you’d rather they didnt read it, ask them nicely to grant you your privacy. 6. have comments. dont be upset if no one writes in your comments for a long time. eventually they’ll write in there. if people start acting mean in your comments, ask them to stop, they probably will. 7. have an email address clearly displayed on your blog. sometimes people want to tell you that you rock in private. 8. dont worry very much about the design of your blog. image is a fakeout. 10. use spellcheck unless youre completely totally keeping it real. but even then you might want to use it if you think you wrote something really good.
Character Chart FAVORITES Color: Music: Food: Literature: Expressions: Book: Quote: Expletive(s) (swears): Mode of transportation: HABITS Smokes: What? How often? SELF-PERCEPTION One word character would use to describe self: One paragraph description of how character would describe self: What does character consider best physical characteristic? Immediate goal(s): Long range goal(s): How does character plan to accomplish goal(s)? How character react in a crisis (calm/panic/etc.)? Jewelry? Owns a computer? © (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Authors Note: I worked hard on this. ~ Permission is granted to LINK TO the Fiction Writers Character Chart. ~ Permission is granted to print out a copy of the Fiction Writers Character Chart FOR PERSONAL USE ~ Permission is NOT granted to copy and/or use the Character Chart in print and/or electronic form (including the internet) without express written permission)
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. 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. In my University years, a friend connected me with an organizer of Berlin techno parties. Despite not being particularly affiliated with this scene, I agreed to give them some stories loosely spun around the everyday craziness of life in Berlin. They agreed. And so I did. Public Readings & Indie-Printing
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