Hello my faithful viewers!
I apologise in advance for any inconvenience, but I have made a whole new blog! I hope this one is better and much more successful!!
Thank you for your views and the link to my new blog is---
https://honestythroughwords.wordpress.com/
I will keep this blog up and running for a couple of month just to make sure people have seen. But i wont be posting anything on this blog they will be on the new one!
Again, thank you for your loyalty! Hope to see you on the new one!
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Sunday, 18 January 2015
Getting Started!
Hi all,
As promised another week and another post. I'm actually sticking to it, we at least trying to anyway. Another week of January has come and gone and I hope you have had a great January so far!
The point of this blog is to help people learn about writing, everyone has a writer in them it's just whether or not they decide to pursue it or not. Some don't have the patience or time or dedication or passion to carry on with something.
That's what writers need. They need to have all four basic points to make it through a novel.
PATIENCE to let the ideas come and get them down. Let the characters develop and form, the same with the plot line.
TIME to write it all down. Depending on what you are writing and how long it is depends on the time scale you need. But then there is editing, well unless you can afford to get a professional to edit your work, is it going to take a good few weeks to months, maybe a year, to do it.
DEDICATION, writers need to be dedicated to their plot line and to their characters to have the will to carry on with it. Even if you stumbled across an issue you can't figure out a way to get around, you have to learn how to find a new direction. A writer need dedication to keep fighting even if you feel like there isn't a hope left.
PASSION. A writer needs to feel like their story is one everyone needs to hear. If you feel that burning need to get something down on paper don't shy away from it, close your eyes and let it fill you up and just write the first words that come to mind. Don't judge them and don't over think them. Getting past the first page isn't the hardest part of writing but once you do that you'll get the ball rolling.
There are many different techniques you can use to get started. I am taking a few from Jack Heffron's writing guide called 'Idea book'.
On page 37 there are some suggestions to help with idea building. They are tips and ways to get around writers block or the fear of the first page. Either way I have used them a lot to help me so I wish to pass on the knowledge.
1- Free writing- sit at you desk for a couple minutes, then when you have an idea, even just a setting or character start writing about them. It doesn't matter how it forms on the page, just write about it.
2-Brainstorming- This is similar to free writing, but even less structured. This is just ideas and plot lines. It doesn't matter how it goes on the page. Get yourself a whiteboard so you have more space. Tac up a few A3 pages of paper on the wall and use them. This technique is just simply to get ideas down, simple plot lines that can lead to something bigger.
3-Listing- This is the easiest way of getting pen to paper. Lists are very easy to make and they don't even have to be full ideas or lines it can just be one word. One word that can prompt you later for another idea later on.
4-Cave writing- This is combining words and pictures. Although this might not have worked for me, my drawing is atrocious, don't write it off just yet. Take your time with it, it could be jotting down symbols and other things like that depending on the genre you are writing.
5-Cut and pasting- This is another great way to form new ideas you possibly wouldn't have thought of. Sometimes when you get an idea its hard to move it around and reform it. So this way you take characters, plot lines or settings from different projects you have on the go and you you mash them together to form a completely new idea. It might work for some people might not for others, but just give it a go and the results might just surprise you.
These are just a few written about and better explained in Jack Heffron's book, but they can be used for anything. If you're waiting at the bus stop or train station or waiting for your lecture to start, lunch break at work! You can do them anywhere about anything. When even the mood strikes you. Just have your phone handy, a note book and pen. I have to own up to this, I have used my hand a few times to jot things down, but I wouldn't advise that!
I hope these tips and tricks help you get started!
Enjoy your week everyone! Questions and comments are always welcome! If you have any other new ideas and tricks you wish to share.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
As promised another week and another post. I'm actually sticking to it, we at least trying to anyway. Another week of January has come and gone and I hope you have had a great January so far!
The point of this blog is to help people learn about writing, everyone has a writer in them it's just whether or not they decide to pursue it or not. Some don't have the patience or time or dedication or passion to carry on with something.
That's what writers need. They need to have all four basic points to make it through a novel.
PATIENCE to let the ideas come and get them down. Let the characters develop and form, the same with the plot line.
TIME to write it all down. Depending on what you are writing and how long it is depends on the time scale you need. But then there is editing, well unless you can afford to get a professional to edit your work, is it going to take a good few weeks to months, maybe a year, to do it.
DEDICATION, writers need to be dedicated to their plot line and to their characters to have the will to carry on with it. Even if you stumbled across an issue you can't figure out a way to get around, you have to learn how to find a new direction. A writer need dedication to keep fighting even if you feel like there isn't a hope left.
PASSION. A writer needs to feel like their story is one everyone needs to hear. If you feel that burning need to get something down on paper don't shy away from it, close your eyes and let it fill you up and just write the first words that come to mind. Don't judge them and don't over think them. Getting past the first page isn't the hardest part of writing but once you do that you'll get the ball rolling.
There are many different techniques you can use to get started. I am taking a few from Jack Heffron's writing guide called 'Idea book'.
On page 37 there are some suggestions to help with idea building. They are tips and ways to get around writers block or the fear of the first page. Either way I have used them a lot to help me so I wish to pass on the knowledge.
1- Free writing- sit at you desk for a couple minutes, then when you have an idea, even just a setting or character start writing about them. It doesn't matter how it forms on the page, just write about it.
2-Brainstorming- This is similar to free writing, but even less structured. This is just ideas and plot lines. It doesn't matter how it goes on the page. Get yourself a whiteboard so you have more space. Tac up a few A3 pages of paper on the wall and use them. This technique is just simply to get ideas down, simple plot lines that can lead to something bigger.
3-Listing- This is the easiest way of getting pen to paper. Lists are very easy to make and they don't even have to be full ideas or lines it can just be one word. One word that can prompt you later for another idea later on.
4-Cave writing- This is combining words and pictures. Although this might not have worked for me, my drawing is atrocious, don't write it off just yet. Take your time with it, it could be jotting down symbols and other things like that depending on the genre you are writing.
5-Cut and pasting- This is another great way to form new ideas you possibly wouldn't have thought of. Sometimes when you get an idea its hard to move it around and reform it. So this way you take characters, plot lines or settings from different projects you have on the go and you you mash them together to form a completely new idea. It might work for some people might not for others, but just give it a go and the results might just surprise you.
These are just a few written about and better explained in Jack Heffron's book, but they can be used for anything. If you're waiting at the bus stop or train station or waiting for your lecture to start, lunch break at work! You can do them anywhere about anything. When even the mood strikes you. Just have your phone handy, a note book and pen. I have to own up to this, I have used my hand a few times to jot things down, but I wouldn't advise that!
I hope these tips and tricks help you get started!
Enjoy your week everyone! Questions and comments are always welcome! If you have any other new ideas and tricks you wish to share.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Saturday, 10 January 2015
New Year Resolution!
HELLO!
We are now ten days into the new year! Come around fast, don't you think? If you, like me, have set yourself a new years resolution then you will realise that when you think about it it's actually quite hard to stick to.
I told myself that I would update this blog at least once a week to promote my work. Ironically I seem to be unwilling to commit to this job, unlike my writing habits. But never the less I am going to try it again!
I will try! At the very least I shall try!
So, if anyone has any questions about writing, whether it be grammatical or about punctuation. Seriously anything! I will try to answer. I might even try to promote my books, again TRY being the key word there.
If you have the need to explore the unknown, the undiscovered or the impossible, writing is for you. Being a fantasy based author I am a little biased. I attempt put the extra in to extraordinary, just taking a normal scene and putting an odd take on it is the best way. For example, I study creative writing at university, and one of my lecturers told the class when you are describing an ordinary scene and you want it to stand out put a space ship in there!
He has a point. First tip of the year for new writers-
If you want your readers to stick with you, then you have to make something stand out in the first few pages. A killer line! Although the blank page is daunting. Don't be afraid of a new page, embrace it and let your fingers soar over the key board or let the pen scribble. Don't think about it, you can come back to it at a later date. The first draft is just the first of many! Lay your foundations before you build.
So, first blog done and out of that way. Hopefully there will be many more along the way!
Thank you for listening, well reading. Good luck with your new years resolutions! I hope you stick to them too!
We are now ten days into the new year! Come around fast, don't you think? If you, like me, have set yourself a new years resolution then you will realise that when you think about it it's actually quite hard to stick to.
I told myself that I would update this blog at least once a week to promote my work. Ironically I seem to be unwilling to commit to this job, unlike my writing habits. But never the less I am going to try it again!
I will try! At the very least I shall try!
So, if anyone has any questions about writing, whether it be grammatical or about punctuation. Seriously anything! I will try to answer. I might even try to promote my books, again TRY being the key word there.
If you have the need to explore the unknown, the undiscovered or the impossible, writing is for you. Being a fantasy based author I am a little biased. I attempt put the extra in to extraordinary, just taking a normal scene and putting an odd take on it is the best way. For example, I study creative writing at university, and one of my lecturers told the class when you are describing an ordinary scene and you want it to stand out put a space ship in there!
He has a point. First tip of the year for new writers-
If you want your readers to stick with you, then you have to make something stand out in the first few pages. A killer line! Although the blank page is daunting. Don't be afraid of a new page, embrace it and let your fingers soar over the key board or let the pen scribble. Don't think about it, you can come back to it at a later date. The first draft is just the first of many! Lay your foundations before you build.
So, first blog done and out of that way. Hopefully there will be many more along the way!
Thank you for listening, well reading. Good luck with your new years resolutions! I hope you stick to them too!
Saturday, 15 December 2012
This is a sneak preview of ZENITH, my new addition to my books. If you love fantasy then you will love Zenith.
“Seth,
why do you want to escape your human life with such urgency? Life is
something to cherish and hold on to.”
After fight years, Seth still didn't know names.
"You don't have any idea what it's like. I was told i always wanted something i couldn't have. It's longed for a smile who would accept me as their own. You helped me when i needed someone the most. You helped me out of the deep sleep others had forced upon me."
After fight years, Seth still didn't know names.
"You don't have any idea what it's like. I was told i always wanted something i couldn't have. It's longed for a smile who would accept me as their own. You helped me when i needed someone the most. You helped me out of the deep sleep others had forced upon me."
You can get this novel from lulu.com and from amazon.co.uk for kindle.
Monday, 29 October 2012
JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HOPE
We all need a little bit of hope and belief in our lives. I am constantly talking about the search for something, the search of something that makes sense, a search for somewhere I can escape to. This is all hope, obviously. I can't exactly pick up and leave, but writing is my escape.
Jack Heffron quotes that 'hope is a complex emotion. It's tied to longing.' He then goes on to say that hope gives up some kind of jump to do something, it keeps us focused and directed with a hing of energy linked in. Hope gives us the chance to believe in something to make us move on, move up or carry on with something we are doing or how we are feeling. 'Writing is an act of hope' he says as an opening to this book. Meaning that hope gives us the ground level for everything, hope keeps us determined.
When I read his passage about hope, it made me realise that no matter what happens in life, we can never give up on ourselves or anyone else for that matter. When he give up hope, we give up everything we rely on. Writing is my act of hope, and if you feel the same, never give it up.
Thank you for reading
J.A.M
Jack Heffron quotes that 'hope is a complex emotion. It's tied to longing.' He then goes on to say that hope gives up some kind of jump to do something, it keeps us focused and directed with a hing of energy linked in. Hope gives us the chance to believe in something to make us move on, move up or carry on with something we are doing or how we are feeling. 'Writing is an act of hope' he says as an opening to this book. Meaning that hope gives us the ground level for everything, hope keeps us determined.
When I read his passage about hope, it made me realise that no matter what happens in life, we can never give up on ourselves or anyone else for that matter. When he give up hope, we give up everything we rely on. Writing is my act of hope, and if you feel the same, never give it up.
Thank you for reading
J.A.M
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Just a little tip
Through my own experiences, I have found it hard to get emotion through my novels, it takes me a while to get what I like to think is a great sense of emotion. There are moments in my books were characters are going through Hell, because writers always love a bit of drama, but in all honesty, I never really understood how to make my words more heart felt.
But then it came to me! Yes, it isn't about the dialog, its about the other things going on around the characters. You have to make what they are doing much more prominent. Put in what they are doing, facial expressions. People use characters eyes to get across how they are feeling. This is because people say that eyes are the looking glass into the soul, use it to get across how your characters are feeling.
It's a hard thing to do and it comes with practice, the more you write the easier things will get.
J.A.M
Thursday, 11 October 2012
FINDING YOUR VOICE!
A writers voice is the only thing we have for a claim to fame. It's the only thing we have to make people listen to what we have to say. I never really understood it, but no I know. To get a writer;s voice you have to believe in yourself, but most importantly you have to believe in your writing. If you can't do that, then there isn't any point in it.
To really understand your voice you have to know what you are writing, and your characters, so but understanding then you can create a strong voice. To be able to achieve you need to find where you belong. I'm referring to genre, whether its fantasy, crime, thriller and so on. As long as you enjoy what you're doing then the readers will enjoy reading it just as much.
You also have to imagine you're there, living with what's going on around you whether you decide on first person or third. If you believe you're there then you can get across the real emotions your characters are feeling.
Thank you, and enjoy finding your place
J.A.M
To really understand your voice you have to know what you are writing, and your characters, so but understanding then you can create a strong voice. To be able to achieve you need to find where you belong. I'm referring to genre, whether its fantasy, crime, thriller and so on. As long as you enjoy what you're doing then the readers will enjoy reading it just as much.
You also have to imagine you're there, living with what's going on around you whether you decide on first person or third. If you believe you're there then you can get across the real emotions your characters are feeling.
Thank you, and enjoy finding your place
J.A.M
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