Author Tip: Is Short Story Writing Something You Should Do?

Great article 🙂

Mundus Media Ink

Why Short Stories

By Michelle Rene Goodhew

You may not have considered short story writing before, but here are some reasons why you should. This article will also tell you how to go about crafting a short story.

Short stories are for everyone. They are fun and easy to read as well as easy to write. Short stories can be read in one or two sittings, they grip the reader’s attention and don’t let go until the end. They are popular. Remember all of those story ideas that just weren’t developed enough for that novel? These are perfect little critter’s to get you started writing short stories.

Maybe you are a new author just starting out trying to finish up that first great book. Or maybe you’re an experienced author working on a sequel or at best trying to dream one up. As a writer you need to keep busy…

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I ‘dig’ good books

http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMy0yYmRhNmE3ZjA4ODBkNTBm

“And if you think that’s funny…” Writing dialog that does more than tell a story.

Great writing advice 🙂

S.L. Shelton

He dropped, exhausted, into the chair next to my writing desk, his low rider holster digging rudely at the fringe of the cushion. “I heard what you said about me.”

“Get over it,” I muttered without missing a keystroke.

He leaned forward and sneered at me. I felt his glare boring into the side of my head. “You made me sound like damned amateur,” he said, separating out each syllable. “I wouldn’t even trust me based on that.”

I stopped typing and breathed in a cleansing breath before turning to him, smiling. “Get over it,” I whispered and then winked.

When I turned to resume typing, he stood abruptly. Though I continued to type, I wondered if he was about to cross the room and give me a beating. A mild wave of relief flooded my chest as he stomped away.

“Payback’s a bitch,” he said under his breath…

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Words & Books

 

 

Writing rituals

We all have them, the little rituals we do every time we write.

I have a fixation with sparkling water. I get my water bottle, my glass, and as long as it is morning my cappuccino as well, and head up to my writing room. I always tidy my desk up before I start. There is something about having a tidy space that makes me feel work ready.

If the cats are in the house (more likely if it is a chilly winter day) they follow me up and find a comfy spot behind my laptop and snooze while I write.

I check Facebook, twitter, my blog stats. If anyone has left any comments on my blog I will respond. Then I close all them.

I open scrivener—my writing tool of choice.

Then I am ready to go.

I used to be terrible for editing as I go, but I have become more disciplined of late. I still have a little read of the last written chapter, but restrict myself to only basic fixes and then I move on.

I reward myself for a productive bursts by snacks, and little breaks.

Mostly, if I am actually writing, I just go with the flow and try not to interrupt myself. If I am struggling to focus, more breaks inevitably creep in.

What are your writing rituals? What is your favourite place to write?

Strange Rituals of Famous Writers

The Daily Rituals of Famous Writers

 

 

Writing Tools – Emotion Wheel #amwriting

Writing Tools – Album on Imgur.

 

11 Charts That Accurately Sum Up Being A Book Nerd (Link)

Made me chuckle 🙂

11 Charts That Accurately Sum Up Being A Book Nerd

Where you stumble, there your treasure is

Mythology is full of stumbles that turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps one of the greatest examples is from the Arabian Nights. A man is ploughing a field, but the plough becomes caught. When he investigates he discovers a ring, but it is not just a ring, and he instead finds a cave full of jewels.

Our treasure is not necessarily about a chest of gold, though. Our treasure may be the thing that gives us greatest pleasure, makes us feel at peace, and alive.

The stumble might be considered a point of failure. We are going about our day, doing what we always do, when something stops us, blocks us, causes us to halt or pause, to slip or fail. There, in that moment, is where we can find our treasure.

Perhaps the stumble is not the obstacle we first presume, but is in fact, the thing we most need.

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life.

Perhaps a failure leads us to take another road or approach that reaps an entirely unexpected reward.

The very cave you are afraid to enter turns out to be the source of what you are looking for.

And perhaps those stumbles, are our greatest opportunities for us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves, and ultimately, to grow.

More articles…

Inquiry Institute 

Huffington Post 

100 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Write Your Novel

Lots of great tips 🙂

Story Fabric

I came across this blog post, and since I’ll definitely be looking at these questions as I get ready to start working on my novella for class, I thought I would share.

From thescriptlab.com

The Main Character

1. Who is your main character? Hero? Anti-hero?

2. Why should we be interested in them?

3. What attracts you to your protagonist? Do you like them? Loathe them?

4. Why do you need to write about them?

5. Why should we be excited about them?

6. Why do you believe we will find your hero sympathetic? Empathetic?

7. What makes us curious about them? What is their “mystery”? What is their “magic”? Charisma? How do you show it?

8. What does the audience find in the main character’s story that is relevant to them? Why do you believe they will identify with them?

9. What is the cherished secret desire of your…

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Editing, beaches, and winter sun

I have spent most of this week working my way through edits on book 2. I am about 50% done on this first pass. A few more iterations before it is ready for professional editing, but I find that I have come to enjoy the editing phase of writing. I like watching it morph and shift, and find it strangely theraputic.

A lot more enjoyable than trying to write a book blurb!

We took a break Sunday morning to get out of the house. The weather’s been wet and windy, and generally pretty grim lately, but it was nice and sunny briefly (and conveniently) while we were taking a stroll along the beach.

Chucked it down again once we got home. Nice when it waits 😉

Looks nice and sunny in this direction 🙂

My long suffering husband…

Not so sunny this direction…rain heading in.