For this shameless advertisement, I am directing you to my journal...
In short: it's a call to writers to buy books (fiction or books on writing) to help a fellow writer get her house ready for winter. If you are not eager in starving your wallet any more than it already is (believe me, I know), some links in my entry may still be of interest to you, as they take you to writing sites (one writing community, and one site bulging with brilliant writing articles and workshops that are free-for-all).
Thanks for reading! (^-^)/
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Doh! But there's plenty to do before then. For one thing, I just noticed there are some new thingies on the site this year, like an author bio and a short synopsis of your fic. They never had those before. Wooties!
So let's do that, eh? When people ask me what my novel's about, it's so hard to put into words in an instant so it always comes out as "Um...futuristic Nazi America...ecowarrior serial killer...death camps...time travel...doh!" It's time to come up with a short but succinct, well-composed little description. Yesh.
Incidentally, if you signed up for NaNo then friend me and we'll buddy up. My page is here. You can check out my buddy page for other groovy writers you might want to add, too.
Some other things you might want to check out are How Not To Write and The Ultimate Writing Productivity Resource, especially the 9 Free Apps Every Writer Should Consider. Some of those look cool!
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Look I wrote something that almost isn't furry! XP The thing amushed me last night and demanded to be written.
What kind of wolf do you find up a tree anyway...
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568 words
Hmmm...I'm not sure if I write wigged out thirteen year old boys very well.
And once Nano starts the posts will get bigger Promise ^_^ *Crosses Fingers*
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Don't worry I'm not going to post this big graphic everytime I'm just showing it off.^_~
| Writing_101 challange, post a min of 500 words a week with little to no planning before hand.
Summary: In the age of Darkness Year 4099 The Son of the Archmage meets the White Princess...
Part 1 - 700 words
Part 2 - 943 words |
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Hi !
Yes, I'm in too. Couldn't walk out of that one. I need to start writing again.
So, hi everyone. Looking forward to sharing things with all of you.
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![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) cozzybob |
| 2008-10-17 02:51 |
| Write, my puppets, write!!! |
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That's right, dudums! Ederyn made the mistake of making me a maintainer and I only just realized what that means. I can post writing challenges and no one can stop me! I'm unstoppable! I'm the goddess of awesomeness!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!
*clears throat*
Right, then. (PUN!!!) Erm. So! Yesh.
Click here:
http://www.susantaylorbrown.com/pictureprompts.html
Pick a number. Write about it. (No cheating!)
I got #4, but it's real late and I'm actually tired again, so I'll write about it laters. ^^ Anyone who does this gets a cookie. *points to icon* You want a cookie, don't you? Don't you??
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Anyone know any great fantasy/legendary/mythical races? I have Elves, Dwarves, Mermaids, Fairies/Pixies, and Ogres, but I'm also trying to find races from other cultures than Northern Europe (though if you have a great one that's not well known or not my list, you can still tell me!). I'm really looking for beings that would be another race, but animals are good too since I'll need them. I'm trying to navigate Wikipedia to start off with.
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| cozzybob |
| 2008-10-14 15:45 |
| Metaphor excerise! |
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So I'm still feeling rather bleh, and I'm too lazy to actually write anything or do something productive. So again, I went to the about.com writing exercise thingie and I found a thing on metaphors. This is the challenge:
Finish each phrase with whatever metaphor or simile comes immediately to mind.
To really get the most of the exercise, don't worry about coming up with something good, just write. The whole idea is to get your subconscious to make connections in a new, more creative way.
1. Blue paint spilled on the road like___________________________.
2. Canceled checks in the abandoned subway car seemed___________________________.
3. A spider under the rug is like___________________________.
4. Graffiti on the abandoned building like___________________________.
5. Nothing was the same, now that it was___________________________.
6. The dice rolled out of the cup toward Veronica like___________________________.
7. A child in _________________ is like a _______________ in _____________________.
8. _________________is like muscles stretched taut over bone.
9. The fog plumed through gunshot holes in the car windows like ___________________________.
10. She held her life in her own hands as if it were___________________________.
11. Lacey poured coffee down her throat as if ___________________________.
12. If I should wake before I die,___________________________.
13. The security guard walks the lobby as if___________________________.
14. The library books left in the rain like___________________________.
15. Music in the hallway like___________________________.
Anyone who does this gets a cookie!! That's a not-subtle hint, by the way!
( My answers. )
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| cozzybob |
| 2008-10-12 21:30 |
| A test to eliminate backstory and make a scene stronger. |
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E said I should post it, so here we go! You can blame her! Woot!
I found this really awesome exercise about eliminating back story, and making a scene stronger via the link about dialogue the post before E's:
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/writingexercise1/ht/fowardmoving.htm
The challenge is to find a scene you don't particularly like (one that seems to be slow moving), and rewrite it as a screenplay. The idea is that, while writing it into a script, you're forced to think visually and through dialogue rather than narration. After the script is done, rewrite the scene again back into prose, and now you've got yourself a faster-paced scene with a stronger visual. (It's explained a lot better in the link... hee!)
Anyway, being tortured via insomnia, I decided last night to test it with an action scene that's been bothering me in my offline fic Stoop From Heaven. This is a GW fanfic, but there's no where it says you *can't* use fanfic, so here we go. ;)
Warning for bad language and violence!
( The scene written as a script. )
( This is the scene written back into prose. )
( This is the original scene. )
Doing this, I found it easier to spot inconsistencies in the action, as well as character's reactions. I think I rather like the rewritten version done this way, it seems to read better. I'll definitely replace it in the story.
Anyone else want to give it a go? It's rather hard to do and it takes forever, but in a bizarre way, it's also fun! It sort of makes me want to write a screenplay now. xD
EDIT: Oh, and I feel the need to say that even if I am happy with the rewritten version, I might need to add in some flowery-ness. Maybe. *ponders* One thing this certainly does is take away the literative beauty (metaphors, beat, ect) you may have had originally, and adding them back in is a pain in the butt. But it's still pretty effective with awkward scenes or a slow part of the story, I think.
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Oooh, NaNo's going to start up in just a few weeks, so we ought to begin planning for it now. Not that anyone has to join NaNoWriMo—no no no! But NaNo's an excellent motivator for the month of November, so we may as well take advantage of it, eh?
What's that? No ideas for a novel yet? Or maybe you have an idea for a plot but you're lacking some characters? Or perhaps you have characters, but no setting? Most of these came from ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) writers_cafe or no_utopia, and they're excellent places to start:
( World Building )
( Character Building )
( How to Avoid Writing a Mary Sue )
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| cozzybob |
| 2008-10-11 23:40 |
| Dialog help and pondering. |
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Hobbes: No dirt.
Fawkes: No dirt?
Hobbes: No dirt. This place is very *clean*.
Fawkes: And that spells danger to you?
Hobbes: With a capital ‘D’, my friend.
Fawkes: Really?
Hobbes: That’s right. Cleanliness is a sure sign of heekiness, my friend.
Fawkes: Is that even a word?
Hobbes: Yes it is. Heekiness.
Fawkes: Really?
Hobbes: A lot of heekiness.
Fawkes: A lot of...
I'm always struggling with dialog. It's my worst enemy, especially when I try (and fail) to attempt a certain accent. During random bouts of insomnia lately, I've been re-watching The Invisible Man--not the old one, but the newer one that aired on Scifi some years back, the one that got canceled. I noticed that while the show had some minor flaws, one thing it did very, very well was dialog--the speech patterns were very realistic. Characters repeat themselves, sometimes monotonously, and they talk over each other, endlessly interrupting what the other is trying to say. They also talk about the most mundane things anyone could conceive, ranging from obscure observations about cleanliness to an argument over food appreciation. And then there's the specific habits characters pick up--Hobbes' my friend added on to every other paragraph, for example. I spent the day listening to my family talk, and I noticed that they do pretty much all of these things on a regular basis. Real people hardly ever wait for what the other person is trying to say--interruption is almost expected in my house. Talking over each other is also common, as well as body language and tone.
Anyway, noticing these traits, I've been tempted to put it to use in a fic. I found this site:
http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/crafttechnique/tp/dialogue.htm
Seems really helpful! Anyone else have dialog problems?
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| cozzybob |
| 2008-10-06 16:05 |
| An idea! |
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Yay!! Welcome to all the new members and stuff! I'm Cozzy. But you probably knew that. ^^
Anyway, here's a super long post! Woot!
While E's still contemplating writer's block, I've been thinking about how to go about writing my own fic. I'm sort of using NaNo as an excuse to start it, but experience dictates I doubt I'll actually write 50,000 words in 30 days. My goal is more like 20-30,000. (Anyone else participating? Anyone skipping out this time?)
Even if I get 50,000, I highly doubt the story will be finished, so the show must go on even after those particular curtains close. Now, I'm not very good at finishing things. In fact, I'm downright horrible. So! I came up with this idea.
If I remember right, Hope Of Dawn (a GW writer) managed to write Fealty in it's entirety by posting 500 word snippets over the course of a year or so, every day. In the Buffy fandom, Anna S managed to write Subtleties in the same manner (500ish words in her LJ every single day) over the course of a similar amount of time. Both fics are gorgeous. Seriously--the two of them are in the top ten of my favorite fanfics, evar.
So I was thinking--it's not a bad way to go about a fic, when you really think about it. For one thing, it requires much less effort once you get into a rhythm, and for another, any comments you get by posting the snippets will no doubt inspire you to write more, and continue the story (we can trade writing buddies if it comes to that!). Who doesn't love feedback?
I'm thinking about doing this myself during NaNo and afterward, simply because I rather like the idea of posting a little bit every day (or every other day) to keep the story moving. I'm not sure about Hope of Dawn, but from what I've heard, Anna S's fic was completely random and she had no idea where she was going nor where she'd end up in the long run. That's probably part of the charm of writing this way.
So, the challenge:
--Write at least 500 words at least once a week for a fic, and post into in your journal. It's okay to be slow at first, but production should be constant. Find someone to kick you if it isn't.
--Keep up the pace, and don't be afraid to veer off in wildly different directions... edit later.
--Try not to assume the ending ahead of time, or map out specific details--the story goes where it wants, be in no hurry.
--Edit later.
--Oh, and edit later.
--I did say edit later, right?
--Srsly. Write first, edit later.
--EDIT. LATER.
Hee! Obviously, depending on how fast you normally write, 500 words can be adjusted. Some will write 1,000, some will write 200, whatever works. Just make sure you're posting *something* at least once a week--more often is okay too.
If any of you decide to do this, I'm up for pairing up with someone as a writing buddy! An I-give-you-feedback-and-you-feedback-mine partnership sort of thing. Doesn't have to always be critique, things like "Dude! I totally want more!" to get the egos pumping is fine too. Just remember--and this is important--don't be afraid to kick a writer if he/she needs it! Sometimes tough love is necessary! *nod* Yes, we're all that shallow. It's part of the gig. xD
Any takers?
(If you're already in the middle of a novel and want to do it, that's fine too! Either post what you have of the novel somewhere and start where you're stuck, or just start the posting where you left off and explain any confusion. Or you can post the chapters first, like you would with the snippets, and then do the snippets when all the chapters you've already done are posted. Whatever works!)
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Hi, new here just like everyone else. ^_^
I do have something to offer though, I recently found this and thought it looked shiny. Has anyone else here ever used it?
Liquid Story Binder XE
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| wystii |
| 2008-10-06 15:50 |
| Hello... |
| Public |
| apathetic |
*wanders in*
OH! Yet another assylum for me to lurk in...
Want a teaser?
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| yanagi |
| 2008-10-05 22:15 |
| Hi |
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I'm here, sort of. *goes back to lurking*
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I'm new to the community, and just dropping by to introduce myself. :)
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| ederyn |
| 2008-10-05 17:08 |
| (no subject) |
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So carrying on my boring discussion from earlier about writer's block, I found some things that might help. Or not. Oooh, that was a sentence fragment...which reminds me, I found something else of interest today too. Wooties for Google!
But back to writer's block. I found some things that might help. Although the first one was written by a college professor about writing term papers, the same principles would apply, methinks. Anyway, here's the list:
Symptoms and Cures for Writer's Block
Things That Might Help
Hack Your Way Out of Writer's Block
Dissolving Writer's Block
Widgets to Cure NaNoWriMo Writer's Block
Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block
15 Ways To Break Writer's Block
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