The write stuff.
Ok, I'll admit it: I have it bad. I started writing fiction when I learned how to write. You know, it seems to have been a simultaneous process of sort. My perspectives and plans for the future changed a couple of times as I grew up and tried to imagine "what I want to be when I grow up". But no matter what my options were, there never was any doubt in my mind about the fact that I would be writing. Fiction and poetry are my beloved muses. But sometimes I wander into different fields...
Writing doesn't mean being a world-famous author. Nope. It doesn't necessarily mean being published either. Seriously. It just means having the desire, the itch, the drive, the write stuff. And once you have it, you have it forever. At the very end of October 2005, I stumbled on NaNoWriMo. What a day to remember. What a joy to jump with both feet into such a month of perfectly reasonable madness! My first NaNoNovel was in English, my second in my native tongue: French. NaNoWriMo works for anyone, anyplace, anyhow.
Hope you enjoy this lens!
Links to get you writing!
- Writer's Digest Magazine - Writing books, competitions and other resources for writers
- Home of the world's leading writing magazine as well as writing books, competitions and workshops
- National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month
- National Novel Writing Month is an annual novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world.
- NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program - NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program
- National Novel Writing Month's junior program. For everyone under 13. And we mean everyone! You get to set your own wordcount goal, it can be 2,000 words for an 8 year-old! Great tool for teachers too.
- NPR : Novel Ideas
- We asked fiction writers to explain the essence of creating a novel, from how they write to their approach to writer's block.
- National Novel Finishing Month
- National Novel Finishing Month. Because you may have hit 50,000 words in November without having a finished novel.
- NaNoPubYe :: Home
- National Novel Publishing Month. They offer you "The Plan" to get that novel in print.
- A full list of links for writers.
- From an author's website: Etlizabeth Terrel. Very exhaustive!
- Writing Contest Database
- Title says it all.
- My NaNoProfile!
- So you can see for yourself how awesome it looks to be a WriMo.
Adventures in co-writing.
After reading 'Dragonworld', a (not recent) novel written by Byron Preiss AND Michael Reaves, something went 'click' in my mind. Yes, why not write with someone else? Hmmmm... Sharing ideas, working together to give shape to a story. However, after the initial thrill occasioned by the idea, came the 'who?' question. Who would make a good writing companion? That wasn't so easy. Like many of you, when I write I often share with the people close to me. Not necessarily every day mind you, no, and not just to anybody either. But this is something else. And then you need to present the adventure in engaging terms. Finally, you need to find something, a writing exercice of sort to warm up to this co-authoring thing.So, this is what I did: I emailed someone whose writing I like and even respect, and who happened to appreciate my own scribblings. In my message, I suggested we try a kind of exquisite corpse together. My friend, after stating he was both pleased and surprised by the offer, accepted the challenge. Yes, challenge would be just the right word. I suggested the exquisite corpse so we would get to it right away. Trying to map out a story together from nothing could have taken forever and caused a lot of frustration... to finally make the whole idea come to nothing. Wanna know how things are going? Well, I'll come back and tell you in a few days.
;)
Books for writers of all ages.
No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
Chris Baty is the man behind NaNoWriMo's very existence. Includes tips and advice from other NaNoWriMo veterans. Will take you through the November adventure week by week. Or you can use it for any other time of the year!
Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $14.95
The No Plot? No Problem! Novel-Writing Kit
Even more fun than the book alone: the kit! Complete with 'new daily noveling pep talks, magical prose-producing coupons, and other goodies designed to keep morale high and word counts soaring.' Designed to be an offline NaNoWriMo.
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $19.95
Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference
Now don't frown... you know we can all need it! I remember JRR Tolkien confessing there were a few mispellings in his original manuscript of the Lord of the Rings. Nobody's perfect, even when they're darn good.
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $24.99
Scholastic Writer's Desk Reference
A guide for all the young writers out there, to improve on all the important skills and gain confidence!
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $12.95
Fiction First Aid: Instant Remedies for Novels, Stories, and Scripts
Written by the head of the writing program at Orange Coast College in California, to help you identify and work on your weaknesses, whatever they may be.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/26/2008)
List Price: $16.99
Writing links for kids and teens.
Let us know which ones you like best.
Proofreading Practice
Many people think that just having a decent grasp more...1 point
Reading Is Fundamental | Reading Planet | Game Station
Fun stuff to get you writing... write away!0 points
WritingFix: Word and writing games for young writers
Writing Fix is a pretty cool website, check this o more...0 points
Fun Writing Exercises
A lovely blog, with cool ideas to start stories.0 points
How to Write Page 1
A site full of fun tips, by author Bruce Hale.0 points
http://www.creativewriting4kids.com/
Well, the name says it all, doesn't it?0 points
Breaking news, from the NaNoWriMo front.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWriting links for grown-ups too.
- WritersDigest.com - Free Writing Prompts -
- The editors of Writer's Digest have prepared 365 Writing Prompts, idea joggers and brain starters to get your writing going.
- creative writing prompts . com ideas for writers
- Creative Writing Prompts collection of writing prompts and story starters for writers. Come up with creative content for blogs and blog stories with the help of these creative writing ideas.
- Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests
- Writing.Com is the online community for creative writing, fiction writing, story writing, poetry writing, writing contests, writing portfolios, writing help, and writing writers.
- Know How to Write Well
- How to Write Well - Solving your writing problems since 1998
Make writing a part of your daily life.
That would seem obvious to some, but puzzling to others. How can I possibly find time to write every day? It depends on your point of view and of what you mean by 'write' actually. Of course most of us have such a busy schedule that we can't involve ourselves in the great art of writing fiction each day. But writing can become a way of life, a part of you, under different forms. Now you must understand what I'm getting at... Journal-writing. Yep. It can a be just a simple paragraph every morning when you get up or every night before you go to bed, or any other -preferably fixed- time of the day. One great thing to do is to keep a gratitude journal. I have a small notebook into which I write five things I feel grateful for each day. It's as good a tool as any to keep you writing every day, and it is a great tool to keep a positive and serene attitude as well. I found the idea on this website:http://www.simpleabundance.com/
You can even keep your gratitude journal online there, but I chose paper and pen... maybe I'm just too much of a romantic!
Back to my main point: WRITE!! Write letters to friends and relatives, old and new. Write a love-letter for that special someone. Write a letter to your kids on each of their birthdays. When you make a list of projects, take a few minutes to write down why each project is important to you. Just make a habit of writing, spelling things out. You may find it just a little bit easier when you embark on a full-blown fiction-writing adventure!
The Beat, or FrenzyNews.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHave a look at some of my... reading choices:
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Helen Keller
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Helen Keller, American author and lecturer, who was deaf and blind and who served as an inspiration for other people with disabilities. She was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, the daughter of well-to-do parents: Arthur Keller, a former officer in the Con...
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Jane Austen
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If you don't know why Jane Austen is often called one of the most brillant novelists of all time, or a literary genius, then I'll give you some numbers. At age 23, she had already written three novels: Elinor and Marianne, First Impressions and Susan...
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The life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien
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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien: one of the most fabulous names in the entire history of literature, art, imagination and dreams. It is the name of a scholar, a teacher, a linguist and a writer. Tolkien's life was made of many hard and/or sad events,...
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Victor Hugo
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Victor Hugo (1802-1885) Victor hugo is a famous historical figure who is remembered as a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and as being one of the most important of French Romantic writers. Among Hugo's best-known works are The Hunchback of Notre Da...
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Terry Pratchett
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Terry Pratchett has crafted an amazing and bizarre universe. Discworld he calls it. It's certainly not from any plane of existence I've ever visited. It's Tolkiens Middle Earth meets a world of sarcastic wit. For the uninitiated it can be a daunting t...
Great quotes.
- A successful book is not made of what is in it but of what is left out of it. (Mark Twain)
- Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words. (Mark Twain)
- Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money. (Jules Renard)
- Writing is the only thing that ... when I'm doing it, I don't feel that I should be doing something else instead. (Gloria Steinem)
- The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. (Marcel Proust)
- I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I write and I understand. (Chinese proverb)
- Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of mankind. (Percy Bysshe Shelley)
- The one who tells the stories rules the world. (Hopi proverb)
Cool stuff for writers of all ages.
