Well, hopefully my tips are helpful to you. And I thought, "What if the next post is something everyone wants to hear from/about me?"
Therefore, it's your turn to pick something for me to write about next post. Everyone can comment something they would like to know from/about me, and I'll discuss it all in one post next week.
You can ask me a question about me, comment tips that you want me to share, ask about something and what helps me overcome it...etc. Basically whatever.
I thought this would a fun idea, so comment however many questions/tips/etc. you want! I'll probably post some writer-inspiring pictures as well while I'm at it.
Savo'lass a lalaith!
-The Writer
There is no idea so stupid or hackneyed that a sufficiently-talented writer can’t get a good story out of it. --Lawrence Watt-Evans
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
little tips
From a previous post...
" Did those first lines grab your interest?
Did you want to see what happened next? "
Hannah said: ...And yes, I am interested in what happens next, because I think it would be funny.
Sarah answered: I really liked the lines you put at the beginning. They were funny, and I did want to know what would happen next.
That's it. That's what I wanted. I wanted to grab the reader's interest, and keep it. In those moments in stories, you want your reader to want to know more. If they start out interested but later get bored, then you aren't doing a good enough job keeping the story suspenseful. I want to be a reader that can't wait to turn the page and finds out what happens next. Not because every single chapter ends with the hero's life in danger, but because it's a good story. I want my interest to be kept.
Well, sometimes you may ask, how do I do this?
One problem-solver: stop writing and start reading. Find something with a part similar to the one you're currently trying to write and read it. Figure out what's keeping you reading it, and what isn't.
Everything makes sense in your head. You're the one writing, you're probably interested in your story.
So that's probably why you don't realize that not everything makes sense to the reader.
Of course, these are my own personal opinions. I'm not trying to force my opinion at you. ;)
--
So. Next month on February 14th is the end of my short story contest.
Y'all ready?
I'm excited to see what everyone's come up with! Also, you can send it anytime you want between now and the 14th, just so you know! (please send it to thewriterofponderings@gmail.com whenever you want)
--
Savo'lass a lalaith,
-The Writer
" Did those first lines grab your interest?
Did you want to see what happened next? "
Hannah said: ...And yes, I am interested in what happens next, because I think it would be funny.
Sarah answered: I really liked the lines you put at the beginning. They were funny, and I did want to know what would happen next.
That's it. That's what I wanted. I wanted to grab the reader's interest, and keep it. In those moments in stories, you want your reader to want to know more. If they start out interested but later get bored, then you aren't doing a good enough job keeping the story suspenseful. I want to be a reader that can't wait to turn the page and finds out what happens next. Not because every single chapter ends with the hero's life in danger, but because it's a good story. I want my interest to be kept.
Well, sometimes you may ask, how do I do this?
One problem-solver: stop writing and start reading. Find something with a part similar to the one you're currently trying to write and read it. Figure out what's keeping you reading it, and what isn't.
Everything makes sense in your head. You're the one writing, you're probably interested in your story.
So that's probably why you don't realize that not everything makes sense to the reader.
Of course, these are my own personal opinions. I'm not trying to force my opinion at you. ;)
--
So. Next month on February 14th is the end of my short story contest.
Y'all ready?
I'm excited to see what everyone's come up with! Also, you can send it anytime you want between now and the 14th, just so you know! (please send it to thewriterofponderings@gmail.com whenever you want)
--
Savo'lass a lalaith,
-The Writer
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
the reader's point of view
The girl's screams echoed off the cavernous wall. The villain let out a cackle so chilling the dead should have woken.
"Any last words?" the villain asked, an evil grin splashed across his face.
"Help!"
"A bit cliché, hmm?"
The dagger moved ever closer, glinting in the pale light of the rising sun.
A slight thud sounded on the wall. The villain forgot the girl in that moment. Suspiciously, he looked around. No one there, not at the window...
The window glass gave out and shards went flying. The hero stood on the ground, a warrior's pose completed with a raised sword.
"You nefarious, scheming villain!" the hero cried out. "You shall never succeed! Hand over the girl."
----
Did those beginning sentences grab your interest? I was trying for that. ;)
I like the uplifting moments. In the paragraph above, everything seems at its final moments for the girl. Then suddenly, the hero bursts in, guns blazing (or swords, in this case.).
There's a book series you should seriously check out --Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl-- that has epic moments like these. Just as everything seems lost, there's this prince who comes and offers you a hand.
In a TV series --Merlin-- our main character is practically on his death bed, surrounded by these huge killer scorpion, and in comes a dragon who heals Merlin with magic and chases away the beasts.
In the Hunger Games --oh wait, nothing uplifting happens there.
People like uplifting moments.
The reason I'm telling you this is, I'm giving you tips from a reader's point of view. I realized how helpful a reader's point of view is when my sister and I were editing, and I suddenly said, "No. Don't do that. I'm not going to read that. People just don't like that."
She looked at me and was astonished. "They don't?"
"No. They'll do it if you make that part shorter, put it here, do this..."
It was something my friend and I had discussed, whether we'd read this particular scene or if we wouldn't. We didn't.
My sister then began to ask me more questions. "Would you read this if I wrote it? What about this?"
She didn't know. She had like the idea, but she didn't know that other people would skip this sort of thing. This is the importance of having someone else read your story because you're going to think, oh lovely, I like this so I'm going to put it in. This is because you're thinking from a writer's point of view.
Not that that's a bad thing, just have a couple readers by your side.
--
The scene I wrote wasn't from any story, by the way, in case you wondered whether I would really write something that corny. But answer me these, please?
Did those first lines grab your interest?
Did you want to see what happened next?
I would like to use some answers in my next post.
What are your thoughts?
-The Writer
"Any last words?" the villain asked, an evil grin splashed across his face.
"Help!"
"A bit cliché, hmm?"
The dagger moved ever closer, glinting in the pale light of the rising sun.
A slight thud sounded on the wall. The villain forgot the girl in that moment. Suspiciously, he looked around. No one there, not at the window...
The window glass gave out and shards went flying. The hero stood on the ground, a warrior's pose completed with a raised sword.
"You nefarious, scheming villain!" the hero cried out. "You shall never succeed! Hand over the girl."
----
Did those beginning sentences grab your interest? I was trying for that. ;)
I like the uplifting moments. In the paragraph above, everything seems at its final moments for the girl. Then suddenly, the hero bursts in, guns blazing (or swords, in this case.).
There's a book series you should seriously check out --Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl-- that has epic moments like these. Just as everything seems lost, there's this prince who comes and offers you a hand.
In a TV series --Merlin-- our main character is practically on his death bed, surrounded by these huge killer scorpion, and in comes a dragon who heals Merlin with magic and chases away the beasts.
In the Hunger Games --oh wait, nothing uplifting happens there.
People like uplifting moments.
The reason I'm telling you this is, I'm giving you tips from a reader's point of view. I realized how helpful a reader's point of view is when my sister and I were editing, and I suddenly said, "No. Don't do that. I'm not going to read that. People just don't like that."
She looked at me and was astonished. "They don't?"
"No. They'll do it if you make that part shorter, put it here, do this..."
It was something my friend and I had discussed, whether we'd read this particular scene or if we wouldn't. We didn't.
My sister then began to ask me more questions. "Would you read this if I wrote it? What about this?"
She didn't know. She had like the idea, but she didn't know that other people would skip this sort of thing. This is the importance of having someone else read your story because you're going to think, oh lovely, I like this so I'm going to put it in. This is because you're thinking from a writer's point of view.
Not that that's a bad thing, just have a couple readers by your side.
--
The scene I wrote wasn't from any story, by the way, in case you wondered whether I would really write something that corny. But answer me these, please?
Did those first lines grab your interest?
Did you want to see what happened next?
I would like to use some answers in my next post.
What are your thoughts?
-The Writer
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
merry merry christmas
Hullo Writers!
I hope y'all have all had a wonderful Christmas. I did.
For one, I always used our family desktop to post from, or my mom's computer.
But today, I am posting from my very own computer.
I got a bunch of Whovian things, so I am one happy camper. (I'm actually wearing my Bowties Are Cool socks.) My sister gave me a Hunger Games leather bracelet with 'May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor' on it. Completely me. I'm very happy to have gotten the stuntbook I've been nagging everyone to get me....LOL!
And now I just got the Hunger Games trilogy on my laptop for freee. (I own the last two already but I didn't have the first one. STEAL!!)
Anywho, Hannah, I saw that you've been putting up the Christmas short stories on your blog! Very excited to go read that. [ check it out here ]
I'm supposed to be editing my Five Glass Slippers story, but Christmas at our house is a very busy time of year. Very. I get to read a few other submissions that fellow writers are sending me; they're reminding me that I need to finish. They're so good, y'all!
This is also a post to say hello I'm alive and I won't be posting for a while. I'm probably going to start posting again once the New Year's are over. Until then!
Savo'lass a lalaith!
-The Writer
I hope y'all have all had a wonderful Christmas. I did.
For one, I always used our family desktop to post from, or my mom's computer.
But today, I am posting from my very own computer.
I got a bunch of Whovian things, so I am one happy camper. (I'm actually wearing my Bowties Are Cool socks.) My sister gave me a Hunger Games leather bracelet with 'May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor' on it. Completely me. I'm very happy to have gotten the stuntbook I've been nagging everyone to get me....LOL!
And now I just got the Hunger Games trilogy on my laptop for freee. (I own the last two already but I didn't have the first one. STEAL!!)
Anywho, Hannah, I saw that you've been putting up the Christmas short stories on your blog! Very excited to go read that. [ check it out here ]
I'm supposed to be editing my Five Glass Slippers story, but Christmas at our house is a very busy time of year. Very. I get to read a few other submissions that fellow writers are sending me; they're reminding me that I need to finish. They're so good, y'all!
This is also a post to say hello I'm alive and I won't be posting for a while. I'm probably going to start posting again once the New Year's are over. Until then!
Savo'lass a lalaith!
-The Writer
Saturday, December 14, 2013
In a land of myth and a time of magic...
the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders
of a young boy.
His name,
Merlin.
I have been absent for while. Yes, I was going to give excuses. But really, it's just one.
Merlin.
Last month, I came to the family room and saw my sister was watching something.
"What're you watching?" I ask.
"Merlin," she says.
I freaked out. I had seen the cover on Netflix before, several times and I could tell it was something I would love. But I never had tried it out.
"Do you like it?"
"I'm only on the second episode, but it's great so far," she says. "You can watch it."
And so I did.
OBSESSED.
And that is the reason I have not been posting. I've started taking my time with it, because I realized that yes, it has an end. Endings are never happy. The show ended last year, ending with 5 seasons. I'm in the fifth season now, and I'm starting to slow down LOTS. I really don't want it to end.
I had a thought. "Oh. Look. I'm not busy...watching Merlin...I can post now."
Just to tell you that I'm still alive.
The main character, Merlin, is acted by Colin Morgan. The first time I saw Colin, it was in one of my favorite episodes of Doctor Who.
His name was Jethro in this episode called 'Midnight'. He was favorite one in this episode, actually, because he actually did something besides talk and ask the Doctor questions. He noticed things.
I noticed that he was the same face on the cover of Merlin.
Now after watching Merlin (and of course behind-the-scenes!) Colin Morgan has officially made it to my top favorite celebrity list.
No, none is writer-related. But I'm alive and posting!
Also, if you're interested in this sometimes-overdone, hilarious, magical series, here's a trailer.
I'll be back!
Savo'lass a lalaith,
-The Writer
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