I came across this site some of the best writers ever offer their advice on Creative Writing.
Writers like Toni Morrison, Nora Ephron, John Updike, Carlos Fuentes, Norman Mailer, Wallace Stegner, and,many others.
http://www.openculture.com/2012/08/toni_morrison_nora_ephron_offer_advice_in_free_creative_writingclass.html
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Book Blogger helps sell your book
http://bookbloggerlist.com/ This site will post your blog and books that you have published in exchange for reviews. But you have to stay active on their site.
How to sell your book on Amazon.
One idea of how to sell your book on Amazon.
Give your book in exchange for a review.Not only will that stack up your reviews but will help with publicity.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Listen to poetry
http://www.rattle.com/poetry/bearer-of-the-light-by-ariane-branigan/
This is a great site for contemporary poetry postings. It even has audio for some poems.
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Find a place to publish your work
Here is a couple of places that help you find a place to publish your work. Although I'm sure there's a thousand more where these few came from.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Podcasts I need to listen to
strange stories and how our minds work
and
Criminal, short twenty minute stories .
and finally -
LoveandRadio
food geek show -
welcome to night vale-name of podcast series at
crime stories podcast
http://thisiscriminal.com/
Read any book
I like this readanybook.com site. Its not exactly a kindle book where you could thumb easily through the book but it does give you a personal library without having to login or check out.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Awesome site if you are writing a query letter for publication
This is a site for writing a great query letter: http://queryshark.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Are you writing a paper for school?
This site can help with novel writing or even if your writing a paper for school. There's tons of writers on this site that can help critique your writing.
scribophile.com
scribophile.com
Publish your writing
A place for where Writers can submit their writing:contests, blogs, publications
http://www.placesforwriters.com/
http://www.placesforwriters.com/
If you use google docs for writing
If you use google docs for writing, you can track your word count by adding this feature called track my words. The link is below.
This can help if you're shooting for writing that 50,000 word novel or if you just want to keep track of writing goals.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/track-my-words/cmenndbnbfkcdefgjpmdiejjhillbnlc?hl=en
This can help if you're shooting for writing that 50,000 word novel or if you just want to keep track of writing goals.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/track-my-words/cmenndbnbfkcdefgjpmdiejjhillbnlc?hl=en
Ever wondered what your writing sounds like?
This is a great site to help listen to your writing.
Maybe you have grammar errors that you can't tell from reading your writing and you want to listen to your work before publishing. Here is a great site:
http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.html
or
Google translate works even better for longer texts if you don't want to download anything.
https://translate.google.com/
Maybe you have grammar errors that you can't tell from reading your writing and you want to listen to your work before publishing. Here is a great site:
http://www.naturalreaders.com/index.html
or
Google translate works even better for longer texts if you don't want to download anything.
https://translate.google.com/
Organize your writing
I love this site I found that helps with organizing your writing by Melissa Donovan
http://www.writingforward.com/writing-tips/writing-tips-getting-and-staying-organized#more-48
I’ve struggled with how to organize my electronic writing folder. For some reason, printed materials are easier to group and label. By using subfolders, I’ve been able to create navigable directories that make it easy to find anything and everything I’ve written.
Here are the sub-directories I’ve created in my “Writing” folder:
Tell me, how do you keep your writing files organized? Share your organizational writing tips in the comments!
http://www.writingforward.com/writing-tips/writing-tips-getting-and-staying-organized#more-48
I’ve struggled with how to organize my electronic writing folder. For some reason, printed materials are easier to group and label. By using subfolders, I’ve been able to create navigable directories that make it easy to find anything and everything I’ve written.
Here are the sub-directories I’ve created in my “Writing” folder:
- Notes and Ideas: Notes on the craft of writing and random ideas that don’t fit anywhere else.
- Templates and worksheets: Blank character sketches or world-building worksheets as well as story-writing guides, like the Hero’s Journey.
- Completed Works: Pieces that are ready to be sent out or published.
- In Progress: anything that is not polished, with the following sub-folders:
- Fiction
- Poetry
- Non-fiction
- Scripts
- Journals and Freewrites: pretty self-explanatory.
- Feedback: feedback and critiques that I have given and received.
- Submissions: copies of work that I’ve submitted along with a spreadsheet for tracking submissions.
- Research for Writing Projects: information that I’ve found online and have saved because I think it might come in handy someday for one of my projects. Now that I use Evernote to clip material from the web, this folder has become an archive.
Tell me, how do you keep your writing files organized? Share your organizational writing tips in the comments!
Saturday, December 5, 2015
I was thinking apricot-y
This is chit chat I overheard from three women talking to one another.
Well hello! A younger woman said enthusiastically, I thought she was the witch from the Wizard of OZ. She approached an older
woman selling crafts at a coffee shop. (They clearly knew each other.)
Well, Hi Sarah!
“This is Deena.” The
younger woman said, “The woman I told you about. She does everything, ain’t
that right Deena?”
Yes. I work at Northwest, I am a publicist and a writer, and I am a small business owner.
What else am I? Said the older woman to the younger.
You’re a cancer survivor.
Yes, then there’s that.
By the way I love your hair Deena. And it’s Curly.
What color would you say it is?
I was thinking apricot-y.
“Oh, and did I tell you?
I’m getting married this year!” Exclaimed the older women, “We’re going to
have a shin-dig across the border in Mexico.”
Oh really, my son’s seeing a girl, and they met in
Mexico. They live outside Montreal, can‘t
think of the name. Cornwell, I think it is.
The two women stood, not able to sit, not sure when the
older woman was going to finish the introduction portion of the conversation; the
time when most people would take theirs seats.
The woman not related to the soon to be married individual began looking
around anxiously, no doubt wandering if it was time to sit or move on to the
business of buying crafts.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Writer's Tips
Writer’s tips
- Say the “Writers dance” when you want to describe how the writer uses good word play.
- Is there enough emotion in your piece? Highlight emotion with a highlighter. Also, it's good to know what the character’s pain is; for each character, and what their struggling against.
- Be careful with characters delving out money from out of no where, especially if its cash.
- Note why a writer recollects on another character over and over again like their mother, question whether this is necessary.
- Be careful if something is supposed to be secret, if it’s secret it’s secret, there’s no gray area as far as who knows and who does not. For example If there in a cubicle and their mindful of who is listening, and then later in the scene their not mindful it doesn’t make sense.
- A call came in from someone who claimed they witnessed it- a line like this brings you farther way from the narrator when you don’t indicate who, exactly, the call was from.
- Going back and forth between characters needs to be real tight.
- The writer Checkov, is good at having his characters do exchanges, and one person is not really listening as another character says some pretty random things. Note that its not always important in dialogue to have a character understand exactly what the other character is saying.
- He was no where near tickled about the precipitation. This sentence doesn’t show the emotion of the character. Be careful with difficulty with negatives like the word NO.
- Prepositions are relationships between objects, too many prepositions are too many relationships that the reader has to keep track of, and too many prepostions indicate a run-on sentence.
- Parenthesis listed after a real long aside can have readers lose track of what the parathensis are used for.
- The beginning gets us to ask a question in short story, and the ending should answer that question. Choose one theme and run with it, like the sea, or a song, that has to run throughout the course of the story, don’t have too many themes.
- Be careful of professions and hobbies and what those individuals can do. Scuba divers can’t dive far, so if you’re talking about diving to the bottom of the ocean you might use but a deep sea can.
- For generalizations, careful how you phrase things in dialogue, to make it seem that this is what the character thinks and not the writer.
- Good to use reflections. Especially when your characters feel guilt.
- Think about the significance of a scene, and how much you lead into it.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Why I need to write a character similar to Harry Potter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcBJEXnouU0
I like this free lance editor's talk (in the above link)on what needs to be included in your novel writing. She talks about how you shouldn't have your character complain so much. Yes, there will be hardships but the character needs to seem like their rising above them. Similar to Harry Potter, we know he was an orphan but he takes his life in stride and comes off as fearless, honest and a good friend.
In the beginning of the novel don't have your character waking up from a dream or daydreaming. Don't have your character be sitting around and thinking about things instead of engaging in conflict.
I like this free lance editor's talk (in the above link)on what needs to be included in your novel writing. She talks about how you shouldn't have your character complain so much. Yes, there will be hardships but the character needs to seem like their rising above them. Similar to Harry Potter, we know he was an orphan but he takes his life in stride and comes off as fearless, honest and a good friend.
In the beginning of the novel don't have your character waking up from a dream or daydreaming. Don't have your character be sitting around and thinking about things instead of engaging in conflict.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
What I'm reading Now
The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand. I like this novel because its only my second exposure to life in Nantucket. The setting alone will make you wish you lived there. But I think the characters are people you can follow. Hilderbrand uses each chapter for each character tell their side of the story. This idea is not unique entirely, but given the fact that the children have their own chapters as well gives great perspective of the underlining story. I right away began to adopt my favorite characters based on my own personality. For example, I like hope, because she's shy and she she's underestimated and undervalued by her twin. How many times have I felt the same way as that character?
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
What I'm reading Now
I'm reading the Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarity. I like the way the novel has you asking some pretty intense questions. Who did it? What Would I do in the same situation. What stood out for me was the setting of Sidney, Australia. It wasn't presumptuous like California. It didn't shriek material world or extreme competition. I think the characters give readers a perspective about motherhood that they may have not thought of before. Things like researching your child's project and learning something you never knew. Or being an extremely organized mother and the power that can come from that. It gives a reader a lot to think about besides just being carried away by the plot.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
I'm reading Kent Kruegger's "Iron Lake" after I finished his "Orginal Grace" I couldn't help but want to search for more of those great plot lines that he is known for. So far I'm quite impressed with the ambiance of a Minnesotan winter setting. I also love the eerie coincidences of characters being connected. Like tribal leaders and fishermen, judges and tyrants.
Short Story
Short Story:
The question should be what am I not?
Well, they say I am not a psycho. I don't dry my underwear in the hand dryers of the downtown public restroom. I don't shout "what uuuup" like a barely teen would in a grocery store. A broken up women looking up me from the ground while I stock shelves and she asks, "Is that how you address your customers?"
I am not a therapist. I do not listen to the hurt purge their problems on my ears as if my ears were their garbage cans. I am not one of those psycho ex-husbands who takes a divorce the wrong way and decides to issue a restraining order against his ex-wife and calls the police if she even shows up at a restaurant to ask for her alimony checks, while her kids squalor in the background.
The Rubber Ducky wasn't so Lucky
Short Story
"And what is scary?"
"Scary is web surfing in the wee-hours of night and getting real bored. Exhausting every search ideal until you you start googling people."
"Oh yeah! Who'd you google? Asks Franny.
I started with my ex boyfriends and was met with one of the scariest mugshots I ever seen. Once I clicked on the mugshot-I was met with a world of pain. Sentenced with fifth degree misdemeanor: assault by strangulation.
"Lucky for you, right?"
"Yeah, but the Rubber Ducky wasn't so lucky."
Friday, October 23, 2015
ballerina's jumping
love this clip of ballerina's jumping. Gives you positive energy if all for the moments you have in the airhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viL-HEis-h4
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
What I'm reading now
The Patron Saint of Desperate Situations by John Harrigan. All of Harrigan's books are pieces he researches thoroughly. But what you'll find great is the sincerity in the narrator's voice. I feel as if I'm standing alongside each of the character's in History when reading Harrigan's novel whether they're written in Minnesotan setting or in Cuba. Catch Harrigon's books on Amazon.com
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Silent Wife
The book I'm reading now:Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison. Great book if you like reading about inspiring women who fall prey to deceitful husbands. The routines of the wife in this novel made me think about how I could organize my own days better.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Friday, October 9, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Writer's tips
1.Fragments are okay and sometimes used for dramatic effect as long as you use an introductory sentence to the fragments. Ex: The moments were beautiful:Sarah's music playing on the element's sound system.
2. Don't use use Big references if your novel doesn't even have anything to do with the topic. Ex: Using the Book of Revelations when your novel doesn't have anything to do with the Apocalypse.
3. Its often easy to employ our interest into the novel, although sometimes it can be distracting. For example employing names of New Orleans musicians. Instead direct contrast between the appeal of the music and a character's ongoing frustration and how the music is relaxes the character.
4.If your reader is able to draw up a list of questions they want answered by chapter 2, means that your novel is well on its way.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Writer's tips
Writer's tips
1.Best writer's advice:Look at your first page in your book you wrote and then scrap it and start your book on the second page. The first page may never gauge the writer's interest like the second page might.
2.If there is a character in your story with authority make sure the character's underdogs are showing respect to that character and its consistent. Ex: responding "Yes sir" to commanders.
3.Be careful in using generalizing adjectives like: The character was paralyzed: without explanation of what paralyzed looks like.
4.When describing a setting that is scary, you can't just write: She went through the dark tunnel, she couldn't see any objects, she wished she had her lover by her side. How is the tunnel scary if there is nothing in the tunnel to suggest its scariness?
5.Its okay to have an abundance of characters as long as readers can come to understand each one of them.
6.You don't need to give the same action verb throughout multiple paragraphs. For example, He is swimming the channel, he continues to swim even though his heart is racing. He swims harder and faster than anyone you know. Readers can assume the action is in continuation without you repeating it.
7.Best writers advice:If you seem to be having trouble continuing the plot, try to hash out everything you can about the main character.
Monday, September 21, 2015
I've made it to 10,000
I've made it to 10,000 views. Thanks and much appreciation and shout-outs go to all my readers of my blog. It took quite a while to get to this level. But I take nothing for granted. They always say count your blessings and look for something positive in everyday and today I'm looking at this achievement. Thanks once again.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
I like the opening of poison tree novel by Erin Kelly. its fast pace beginning reminds me of the fast paced summers of my past. immersed in walking the streets of downtown. faster and faster rippling through the skyscrapers through their tunnels and up the elevators and paths that I have never touched before. I can escape I can move. Laurie and i had a conversation of greatness about people with multi personality disorders. they cannot stop. one in particular she remembers, had to pace, had to move had to talk. talk fast fast, yell, had to clean, talked nothing but of the perfection of cleaning, talking talking, moving their lips just for the sake of moving. eating skittles moving. drinking tea, moving, moving, doing pushups, listening to music, moving, setting up for the next day and moving, fast with great great energy. moving. i remember those summers and not sleeping, i remember those summers and listening to music that traced my same patterns of thinking that i had in my mind.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
I had another good day. There is something that makes a day special. like summer mixed with two friends outings. i love meeting with two friends in one day...there is something so great in perspectives between the two friends and sharing and then talking about my dad. My dad is like me- he is a free spirit. I think to myself...i could be a happier self if could enjoy my life more -if i were like him. If i wasn't bogged down by work or took life wherever it took me, on the streets into someone's life, walking everywhere, laughing with someone random when i saw them. meeting any amount of people. it sounds glorious. I picture my dad sitting in my house and we catch up on a million things, just listening to his voice and sharing in some story that he never heard because he missed out on my entire life.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Friday, June 26, 2015
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