Where have all the dots-dots-dots gone? 🤔

Oh see - more 🔴🔴🔴!

7) Ellipsis points are used to indicate faltering speech, especially if the faltering involves a long pause or a sentence that trails off or is intentionally left unfinished. Generally, no other terminal punctuation is used.

The speaker seemed uncertain. "Well, that's true ... but even so ... I think we can do better."
"Despite these uncertainties, we believe we can do it, but ...."
"I mean ..." he said, "like ... How?"

8) Ellipsis points are sometimes used informally as a stylistic device to catch a reader's attention, often replacing a dash or colon.

They think that nothing can go wrong ... but it does.

9) In newspaper and magazine columns consisting of social notes, local events listings, or short items of celebrity news, ellipsis points often take the place of paragraphing to separate the items.

Congratulations to Debra Morricone, our up-and-coming singing star, for her full scholarship to the Juilliard School this fall! ... And kudos to Paul Chartier for his winning All-State trumpet performance last Friday in Baltimore! ... Look for wit and sparkling melody when the Lions mount their annual Gilbert & Sullivan show at Syms Auditorium. This year it's ...

Ellipsis points are similarly used in informal personal correspondence in place of periods or paragraphing.

We'll be away for the weekend and then back to work Monday ... You're welcome to come for the graduation party at the end of the month.

And there you have it. Now, go forth and with a new command of ellipsis points and a new sense of confidence when you need to collect your thoughts on the page ... may the 🔴🔴🔴 be with you!

(Original at Merriam Webster's Dictionary)

Not done with dot-dot-dot yet! 🤓

  The 🔴🔴🔴 are back!

4) If the last words of a quoted sentence are omitted and the original sentence ends with punctuation other than a period, the end punctuation often follows the ellipsis points, especially if it helps clarify the quotation.

Workshop attendees are presented with a series of questions beginning "What advice would you offer someone who has experienced ...?"

5) When ellipsis points are used to indicate that a quotation has been intentionally left unfinished, the terminal period is omitted. No space separates the last ellipsis point and the quotation mark.

The paragraph beginning "Recent developments suggest ..." should be deleted.

6) A line of ellipsis points indicates that one or more lines have been omitted from a poem, as in the following example from Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." The length of the line usually matches the length of the line above.

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
.............................................................
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

 (to be continued 🔴🔴🔴)

 (More Dots hide at at Merriam Webster's Dictionary)

It's time to stop to call them dot-dot-dot 😂

🔴🔴🔴

...
👆You see those dots? All three together constitute an ellipsis. The plural form of the word is ellipses, as in "a writer who uses a lot of ellipses." They also go by the following names: ellipsis points, points of ellipsis, suspension points. We're opting for ellipsis points here, just to make things crystal clear. (And since we're aiming for clarity here, we'll also point out that ellipse is a different word, though, we're sorry, it's sometimes used to mean ellipsis.)

Some thoughts on ellipses are coming…

Ellipsis points are periods in groups of usually three, or sometimes four. They signal either that something has been omitted from quoted text, or that a speaker or writer has paused or trailed off in speech or thought.
That's the basics. Now we'll dig in to how they're used.
1) Ellipsis points indicate the omission of one or more words within a quoted sentence, as in the following example from the Preamble of the U. S. Constitution. Note that they are usually preceded and followed by a space:

"We the People of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

2) Ellipsis points are usually not used to indicate the omission of words that precede the quoted portion. However, in some formal contexts, especially when the quotation is introduced by a colon, ellipsis points are used.

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address ends with a stirring call for national resolve that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Its final words define the war's purpose in democratic terms: "... that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Ellipsis points following quoted material are omitted when the quoted material forms an integral part of a larger sentence.

She maintained that it was inconsistent with "government of the people, by the people, for the people."

3) Punctuation used in the original that falls on either side of the ellipsis points is often omitted, but it may be retained if it helps clarify the sentence structure.

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation ... can long endure."
"We the People of the United States, in Order to ... establish Justice, ... and secure the Blessings of Liberty ..., do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

If the omitted part includes the end of a sentence, a four-dot ellipsis may be used, with the first dot being, in truth, a period that follows immediately after the last word.

As the Declaration of Independence asserts, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.... That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ..."

(to be continued 🔴🔴🔴)

(Dots and idea borrowed from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)

Love your characters! While they live ...

The danger of beautiful spring walks...

PREPARE!

But do go out and collect those inspirations.

For some reason they spawn in the most unusual places.

😁😎😁

Are you allowed to break the No-Nos every writer is told?

I have a list next to my computer about all the things I'm not allowed to do as I write.

Now don't get me wrong: All the writerly advice regarding grammar and such I'm fine with - even though some make my favorite reads hard to digest (I hate myself for flinching and counting Robbin Hobbs adverbs). But other things I have more problems with and have a tough time being goody girl.

For example why the heck can't I write a Prologue?? 

Ok, I haven't. No I did, I just named it differently.

Then I moved it back and invented another.

Just so THAT OTHER character wouldn't be thrown in and disappear again.

He would have returned, but ok...

(growling)

I dang don't want to fit in the nice writer drawer!!! 

😤

Well, I found an older article by Charlie Jane Anders (author of All The Birds in the Sky) who handed me the fairydust and told me to fight drawers - and I shall! Because I am sure there are more readers with whom her words and wishes resonate. Maybe you are one of them? Or a writer who gets distracted by glancing at "What not to do lists"?
Let's look at what she said - one by one - over the next few days and I'll give you my thoughts in red. (I kept Charlie Jane Anders' links for reference)

"Science fiction and fantasy are genres where almost anything can happen — as long as the author can make it seem plausible, and as long as it’s part of a good story. But that doesn’t mean there are no rules. If anything, the fact that these genres are so wide open mean that there are tons of rules (tell me about it 🙄) out there, some unspoken and some written in black and white.

And sometimes, breaking the rules is the only way to tell a really fascinating story. Here are 10 rules of SF and fantasy that more authors should consider breaking from time to time.
Note: We’re not saying you must break any of the rules below. (>raises hand<😜)You can craft a brilliant work of fiction while still following all of the rules below. And most of these rules exist for a reason — because if you break them without knowing what you’re doing, you can screw up horrendously. Some of the rules below represent things that may have been done to death in the past, so it’s best to make sure you have a fresh spin. But at the same time, too many rules can be a creativity-killer, and sometimes it’s good to bust out some illegal moves. (Just think Pokemon. Great moveset and you win!)

1) No third-person omniscient.

Third-person omniscient used to be the default mode for a lot of novelists — a lot of the classics of literary fiction as well as science fiction are written in third person omniscient. This means, in a nutshell, that the narrator can see what’s going through any character’s head, and can flit around as the story requires. But in recent years, fiction writers have opted for first person or limited third — in which only one person at a time gets to be a viewpoint character. The thing is, though, when you have tight third person with multiple viewpoint characters, it often feels like an omniscient narrator who’s choosing to play games.

 And actual third-person omniscient can be fantastic — you need look no further than Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which freely lets you know what Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect and assorted other characters are thinking at any given moment. Or countless classic SF writers, for that matter. But I also want to put in a plea: anyone who’s serious about writing genre fiction should read Henry Fielding, who makes third-person omniscient into an art form. In novels like Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones, Fielding draws these brilliant tableaux where he pauses to show what everyone’s thinking, and how much at cross-purposes everyone is. It helps him be a keen observer of people, and also creates these beautifully funny set pieces.

I have to confess "first point" and I already fall in the good girl category. I LOVE close third and wont break that rule. I can't deal with first - it's TOTALLY awkward writing for me -  while close third means I have to BECOME ONE character at the time. 

Characters take individual shapes in my head as I become them...

I often stop to ask myself: What do I - he/she - see, hear, smell, what moves me, what pisses me off, how will I react... I don't feel limited, I feel intimately involved and asking the questions helps me not to head-hop. Truth be told I don't miss being able to to impart what others characters think, how they feel about what is happening at that moment because I have multiple POVs and therefor they can always get mad or jump six feet high when it's their turn in their chapter 😉

(tbc)

My manuscript returned!!!!

Excuse me while I read the notes...

Meanwhile if you need proof-reading help, 

I recommend today the sweetest BETA-READER

Jill C Corley Services!

Memories of first draft...

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself 

that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box 

so that later I can build sandcastles. 

 - Shannon Hale

When you finally see the light again while revising,

memories of first draft become less and less painful!

#alifetimetimeandbillionsleeplessnightslater

Review: The Word-Loss Diet by Rayne Hall

The Word-Loss Diet

Professional Self-Editing Techniques for Authors 

 by Rayne Hall 

Kill your darling words!

This little book is a treasure chest and worth every cent! 

What have I hunted through web and space, created docs from saved information, printed out, stapled together and stacked it on my chest – and here it all is condensed and ready to wipe up! Now don’t get me wrong. There is fun in the searching and sometimes it is an outright wonderful and legit excuse for procrastination, but when it comes to having it all at your fingertip for future reference Rayne Hall’s little book nails it.

Lets start to begin and turn to look at the chapters which could be full of advice J (Good Ms. Hall is alive and well or she would haunt me after this)

What made me smile and my character cringe were her advice on smiling and sighing – we are severely guilty on these charges.

As always the advice given is not a rule that has to be followed by all means – in many instances we are offered examples of “slimming in different levels”. It is up to a writer to decide how much fat is needed to convey the essence of the situation or emotion. What works well in one – or for one – may extinguish a voice in another. After all dieting is only healthy if you don’t disappear completely!

This self-editing booklet is a valuable companion for the new writer as well as the experienced one in my opinion. We may have heard it before, but this is a simple and effective handy reminder if you have exceeded your word-count – again ;)

My review on Amazon 

Read - Learn - Write

Writer's Break

How a Vacation from your world will benefit you!

 or:

Why You Need to Take a Vacation from Your World

part 2 

by Emily Tjaden - reblogged from This incandescent life

I’m not talking about going out of town, but if you want to/can, that’s great. Take a real vacation, as those are exciting. But what I’m talking about is far more simplistic than that. Just take the day off. Go somewhere if you want, but the most important part is to let your mind go. Get out of your story world for the day. Don’t even think about it.
This is something we as writers often neglect. We forget the real world; the here-and-now, and get caught up in creating things that could be. And you know, it’s amazing how nothing drains the well of creativity faster than this neglect. We forget where such things come from.
“Write what you know.” You’ve heard the saying—we all have. It’s just that we all have a fairly small pool of knowledge in the grand scheme of life. And we wonder why the well runs dry? Stop swimming in the pool and dip your toe in the ocean. The fact is, inspiration, even for fantasy, comes from the real world.  It comes from life. That’s why it’s crucial to take time to experience it outside of your own world. Doing this will directly fuel your creative juices.

As writers, we pride ourselves on perception; on assertiveness, and attention to detail. Then why is it so easy to sink so deep into our own worlds that we forget to stop and look at the things around us?
Go outside today, or if you’re busy, make some time in your schedule to leave your story world behind and go on an adventure. A real one. Take a walk, or meet a friend for coffee. Experience life. Ask questions. Take time to wonder about things perhaps unrelated to your writing. Who knows? You may end up with a plethora of inspiration.

Writer's vacation: Leaving your world behind for a while!

or:

Why You Need to Take a Vacation from Your World

part 1

 

by Emily Tjaden - reblogged from This incandescent life

 

As writers and other creative types, we spend a lot of time inside our own heads. That’s where we do our best work, after all. Our minds are constantly employed; we spend copious amounts of energy pondering ideas, creating unique characters, stories, and worlds—not to mention putting it all on paper. It’s not altogether surprising that writers are often accused of “living in a fantasy world.” Let’s be honest; sometimes we kind of do.

The time we spend inside our own worlds isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s our job. The problem is, writers sometimes find it much more difficult to take time off than people who work other sorts of jobs. For many of us, writing is not only our job, it’s our obsession.

It turns out that a lot of writers are prone to be workaholics. We simply don’t know how to take time off. And I don’t just mean taking time off from sitting at our desks, staring at our blinking cursers. I mean taking a vacation from that world.
If you’re anything like me, you demand a lot from yourself. If you didn’t write a thousand words today, you’re a lazy slacker who needs to cut Pinterest from your diet for a week until you catch up and meet all your goals. (Okay, I’m not that bad, but you get the picture.) Writers—serious ones—tend to set standards and self-imposed deadlines.
There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, keeping yourself on track is important. It’s your job. But as creative types, we can be very self-critical and leave little margin in our self-imposed schedules. We make ourselves feel guilty for taking time off. We even feel guilty for wanting or needing that time—even if our creative well is running dry. Instead, we just get frustrated.
Despite the toll it takes on our energy and brainpower, it’s super easy for us to convince ourselves that we don’t actually need to take vacations; that if we just work harder, things will eventually fall together. But the fact is, you do need that time. Time away from your work—whatever it may be—will help you do better work. It’s crazy, but it’s true.

How to Take a Writer's Vacation

By L.J. Bothell - reblogged from Absolute Write

Who are you kidding? Writers never take vacations. Even if you were stranded on a desert island, you'd still be observing sea bird flying formations and the interesting patterns that incoming surf makes in the sand. Why not find ways to put your writing know-how together with your vacation plans so you can get the best from both?

Preparation

Any writer should travel with some kind of journal. It should be lightweight and sturdy so you can write on buses, trains, and planes, and in airports, midnight hotel rooms, or at a park bench. It can cover any aspect of your vacation, such as international dining, savvy transportation, or tent-pitching/collapses. Jot down new smells, sights, sounds, cultural habits, language barriers, and little disasters. You never know what will provide your writing with just the flavor it needs.

Take plenty of pictures of anything that strikes your fancy. Photos help cement journal notes and provide pictorial supplements to travel articles. Take mood pictures as well as ones featuring your companions. Your family will want memories of their happy faces during camping; editors will want more tone and place-oriented travel shots.

Travel with an open mind. To achieve vacation Zen, pack light, research intended destinations in advance, and try to be prepared for anything. Then relax and let the experience happen so you can fill your journal and camera with anecdotes and lessons. If you are toting around too much luggage or don't know the first thing about hiking, you'll exhaust yourself just trying to get by. Instead, pack for the right weather, know the food you'll likely be eating, and study the public transit and local roads. If traveling internationally, learn language basics, the currency, and transit systems like the trains. Then focus on the nitty gritty of living like a temporary local and getting the insights that will perk up your characters and settings.

Writing Spin-offs

Writers use their travel experiences differently. You might be a straight fiction writer who wants to enhance mood and realism, or you might like to do something specific with your travel experiences, for instance, contribute blurbs and articles to your local papers. These might be as simple as "local writer goes abroad" to detailing the conditions at your airport. Offer an editorial on your travel experience, or develop a supplement with pictures of obscure beaches.

Write travel articles for publications and travel sites. Check out magazines from your insurance and auto club companies (like AAA) for writing about US destinations. Study airline in-flight magazines for international travel writing. You can find many other travel writing outlets for vacations to local or wilderness sites, festivals, and cultural events.

Give travel advice. How-to's make excellent curiosities. Have you ever arranged for a visa, leisurely toured Europe by train, or safely backpacked in Latin America? Do you know travel entertainments that work on your kids, or ways you and your hubby can sneak off for romantic moments? If you ever developed a list of packing tips, or know how to safely eat abroad, you can bet that there are others who want your experiences.

Share humor from any travel experience. Ever mangled French, or ordered something in Hong Kong that would have horrified you if you'd known what it was? Remember how you set up your first pup-tent, got soaked in an off-season monsoon, or got locked out of your motel in only your bathing suit and a towel? After the fact, you can always find something funny about missing plane connections, grabbing the wrong train, losing your luggage, or finding yourself lost in a rather colorful neighborhood. Many general markets look for these kinds of briefs.

Prose Improvement

Vacations can offer opportunities for observing people and unique locations. The more observant you become, the more detail and flavor you can build into your prose. Your sense of place will become more vivid, and your characters will begin to feel more like "everyman" than like your immediate circle of acquaintances. Your growing world perspective will help you incorporate richer themes into your stories.

Listen to the language of the places you go. The United States alone has regions with thick dialects to absorb, provided you focus on the flow and intent of the language rather than replicate it exactly. International communication can be even more fun, not just for the romance of the languages but for understanding how differently other cultures might put the same ideas together. Let your interaction with local and international peoples heighten your characterization.

Savor everything about different cultures and locations. What is it about French affairs, French

With good planning, you can turn any vacation into research and seasoning for your articles, stories, and books. Take yourself and your existing perceptions out of the equation and travel as a temporary local-- let everything be new and undiscovered. Experience new ways of doing things and mix with locals as much as possible. Be willing to see things differently than you do every day and to document your experiences. Then carefully select anecdotes, memories, and flavors that will inject vitality and realism into your writing.

architecture, or French food that makes Paris a standard for romance? How do different forms of architecture and art illustrate how a culture grew and what it experiences now? How does roughing it in a national forest bring out your inner grit? Use these journal entries to trigger your memories and enhance your settings.

L.J. Bothell is a graphic designer/writer with marketing communications emphasis who lives and temps/freelances in Seattle, Washington. Recent/upcoming writing vacations include Vancouver, BC, France, and Italy. Questions? Contact ljbwrite (at) att.net.

Try self-edit. Fail. Write will. Reconsider. Win lottery. Get editor. Kill him. Find editor keeping ur voice. Done!

 I cam up with above solution, but you might try below as well

Reblogged from Now Novel

How to self-edit your writing: 8 tips

Learning how to self-edit your writing empowers you to polish your prose. Ernest Hemingway famously quipped that you should ‘write drunk and edit sober’. This might not be good advice for teetotallers (or in general). But there is a grain of truth in Hemingway’s words: you need a state of mental clarity that allows you to be methodical when editing. A professional editor who has polished many novels can turn your promising manuscript into a sleek novel. Yet if you can’t afford professional editing services at present, or want to tidy up your work before showing it to an editor, you can learn how to self-edit well. See the infographic below for top tips on editing your story:

It often pays to read what published authors have to say on the nuts and bolts of writing. Here are three additional quotes to keep in mind when editing your own writing:

1. Dr Seuss, author of much-loved children’s books, was a master of concision (packing as much meaning into as few words as possible):

‘So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.’

2. Popular novelist Jodi Picoult reminds us that it is useful to have different strategies for writing and editing. You don’t have to be meticulous when drafting, but you must be when you edit your writing:

‘You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.’

3. Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s songs are full of witty wordplay and pack complex emotions into brief musical numbers. He advocates not editing as you go but separating the writing and editing stages:

‘The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you’ll do yourself a service.’

Do you edit your own work? What editing methods or strategies do you use?

Writer's frustration - part 2

Ok, so avoiding frustration by focusing on something else doesn't work so well - why? Because I follow a PATTERN. And the patter is, checking into Scrivener after all the procrastination to see if the program has magically filled in for me and scribbled down something really exciting on it's own that will make me want to immediately start.

Nope.

And now I'm REALLY upset. Another day wasted. Nothing achieved. Everything is going down the train. My story sucks. I suck.

Alas, discovering what those damning patterns are and following your reoccurring emotional reactions and working with them to help you stay focused is the key to reducing your frustrations. I write about working happy, but I had fooled myself into believing that I was enjoying the writing process, when in reality I was frustrated 75% of the time. I pushed through these feelings because that’s what I thought I was supposed to do. It wasn’t until I began to notice these patterns that I used them to my advantage.
Let’s say I’m working on my book and the words aren’t coming out right. Instead of banging my big head against this project, I try to switch gears and write a blog post about dealing with this frustration (like this post) or a letter about how my sunflowers grow this year (not sure my cousin is really interested but he's gotta live with that). These enjoyable topics keep my brain writing, but with no expectations for trying to make a clear message. I'm sure the positive emotions will start to come back and I’ll give my book another try.

That way I don't feel like I'm just losing time. I'm doing SOMETHING instead. Yep, I still have bangs of frustration and guilt - and panic that this will never get finished and I'll be old, gray and too fragile to enjoy the benefits from when this at last will find an audience (it will, right?! New panic...)

That’s why I can write when it feels like trudging through mud. I’ve watched my habits surface over and over. That doesn't mean I can successfully fight them, by noticing these feelings when they first occur I can TRY to direct my emotions in a more positive direction. There are almost always some positive thoughts that need to get out even if it doesn’t help me further my book.
If nothing seems to be working, which usually happens at least 1 day out of 7, or more likely once a day right now, I just throw in the white towel and go for a walk. Which has done a lot for my condition actually. Or I cuddle my cat, water plants or treat myself to a nice coffee and cake break with a puzzle. I no longer get only mad that the words won’t come out, because I know that tomorrow will most likely bring that little bit of magic that today just didn’t want to release.
Or the day after.
Or at least next week.
Hopefully next week.

Writers Can Lay Easter Eggs

Do you like Easter egg hunts? No, not the kind with puzzled toddlers and woven baskets and brightly colored candy and hardboiled eggs. The type of Easter egg in question is a hidden message or other feature in any piece of content or even a computer or software program. A variation on this theme is naming or describing someone or something in a story to give readers a clue about a plot element.
Writers employ this device all the time, merely by giving a character an evocative name. The moniker of Ebenezer Scrooge, for example, thanks to its grating, discordant qualities, does not inspire a reader to visualize a kindly, generous figure (though names can be — or, in this case, can become — deceiving).
But authors can go a step further and foreshadow plot revelations or twists by assigning a name that, at least for some readers, will hint at later developments. Here are a few examples of this strategy (which, for all I know, may have another name):

The Egg of Columbus
Speaking of eggs, an anecdote about Christopher Columbus features him countering the claim that anyone else could have accomplished his feat of discovery by challenging others to stand an egg on end. When they fail to do so, he taps the egg on a table, breaking the end, and sets it upright on its now-flattened base. (A similar, possibly apocryphal story predates this incident, which itself may or may not be historical.) This analog to the Gordian knot — or a reference to the Gordian knot itself, part of the lore of Alexander the Great — could allude to an offbeat solution to a problem.

Kobayashi Maru
This is the name of a fictional spaceship in the Star Trek universe, the subject of a computer simulation that tests a prospective Starfleet officer’s character by presenting a scenario in which the vessel is disabled in forbidden territory. The exercise, similar in theme to the riddles of the Egg of Columbus and the Gordian knot, is ostensibly a no-win situation: The simulation program cheats so that the test subject always loses, thus guaranteeing that the focus will be not only on the person’s approach to solving the problem but also their reaction to the failure.
However, several Star Trek films, series episodes, and novels refer to efforts to subvert the test. In your story, a ship or person so labeled — perhaps with the names inverted — will tease knowing readers with the understanding that some similar stratagem is in the offing.

Arthur Conan Doyle
The creator of Sherlock Holmes can lend his name to any one of a number of intriguing ideas. A character named Doyle (using the full name would be overkill) might allude to sleuthing or presents a link to one of the following alternative notions:

• At least one researcher suspects that Doyle was a conspirator in the Piltdown Man hoax, in which a fossil skull found in England in the early twentieth century was believed to be the fabled missing link between apes and humans.
• Doyle became an ardent spiritualist after the deaths of his wife, a son, and other close family members, and argued for the existence of fairies.
• He was a friend of escape artist Harry Houdini until the latter’s antispiritualism crusade, during which Houdini debunked fraudulent psychics and mediums, led to an estrangement.
• Doyle also created another legendary character, Professor Edward Challenger, hero of The Lost World and other adventures.

This post does not suggest using these specific examples; my hope is that they will inspire you to cook up some of your own Easter eggs purchased in your store of knowledge and served in a story in the appropriate genre.

Original by Mark Nichol on Daily Writing Tips 

For Easter prep I asked: Why do you write?

The answers are a tribute to the creative genius + passion of writing

Summed up, here are the twenty best reasons why we - you & I - love to write:

1. IDEAL. It’s one of the most accessible & portable creative passions in the world. You can do it anytime, anywhere, either alone or around others.
2. INTUITIVE & CLEAR. It puts you & keeps you in intuitive awareness & perception, in creative flow: if you’re having a bad day it instantly uplifts you if you let it, both through releasing doubts and fears, helps you gain clarity by just being able to lay everything out and see it all on the page and keys you into the true opportunity of learning by showing you what you are really resisting.
3. PERCEPTIVE. Your journal is a constant companion that listens without judgment, allowing you to see and accept yourself in quite no other way: writing keeps you authentic.
4. PRODUCTIVE. You can write even when you are sick: you can still squeak out some pretty decent stuff and hey you get to stay in bed AND still be productive.
5. PURE RELEASE. It’s the perfect way to lose yourself in the play of words & ideas.
6. UNLIMITED REACH. Writing is one of the most effective, efficient ways to get your creativity out there, connect with like minds and inspire an unlimited audience. And it’s always out there reaching people 24-7 once created. It’s one of the perfect vehicles for unlimited reach especially if you are online.
7. FUN. It’s just fun, pure & simple. I’ve never met a writer yet who doesn’t secretly & seriously love what they do.
8. INSPIRATIONAL. Writing uplifts & inspires. Even on the rainiest day, or when you don’t have a lot of time, or get caught waiting. You can carry a notebook and pen wherever to catch those ideas.
9.  CREATIVE POWER. When you put your dreams, desires, visions & intentions in writing they tend to happen, often all on their own.
10. FOCUS. Writing trains focus, which in this world, is one of the most important skills you can possess.
11. VOICE. Writing brings out your voice which once you get a sense of ultimately empowers you AND the world.
12. CREATIVE PROCESS. One of the best ways I know from all my personal creative experience to learn and experience the creative process itself, is writing. Once you get the basics, you can apply these creative process skills to just about any & everything creative. {It’s what got me started, then came dancing and singing}
13. INTRIGUE. There are so many genres, you’ll never get bored, plus exploring new genres not only strengthens and empowers your creative voice, it enhances your writing skills.
14. STYLE. You are free to develop your own style and rules – it’s an open canvas to be as creative as you are inspired to.
15. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT TOOL. In addition to giving you your own 24-7 access to your intuitive voice & skills, a journal can be the best listener you’ll ever find allowing you unlimited access to your deepest dreams, desires, aspirations & motivations. There’s nothing quite like it to reveal exactly what you think and feel.
16. LINE OF THINKING. Unlike just thinking, writing out your thoughts allow you to explore a particular line of thinking, which usually gets cut short by some immediate external stimulus or distraction, or by an associated idea or line of thinking. Such exploration is the key to understanding & realizing the potential of a particular creative idea or inspiration, which might otherwise have been missed.
17. ZONE. There’s no better feeling than just letting loose on the page, the ecstatic rush of anticipation of what is going to emerge next, when you lose yourself in the free flow of writing, in the absorbing intoxication of words.
18. CREATIVE. It’s an amazing way to create and to share your message, your life’s motivation with the world.
19. PLEASURE. Not only is writing so pleasurable to the author, it gives so much pleasure to others.
20. IMAGINATION. Writing is the most fun way to stretch & exercise your imagination, whenever you want or need it: the perfect excuse and permission to indulge.

There is no starting or stopping, just doing...

I've just finished reading a book that had characters who constantly began something, or stopped another. I learned early on that that is a no-go. Characters should always do something, draw the reader into action.
I don't know if this specif author/agent/editor trio did not believe in this, but I focused - just for fun (like hunting for adverbs - another sport while reading nowadays) - what it did to me as a reader.
It created the tiniest pause.
It was like suddenly (necessary adverb) being flipped out of the characters mind and life, watching from a distance. Only for the blink of an eye, but it's done.
And I also discovered that (and I didn't believe that in the beginning as I insisted myself that my characters had to begin and stop doing things) if you begin or stop doing something it is instantly replaced by new action. New action, that draws in again and creates atmosphere.
Consider:
She stopped running while the bustle around her charged on. (From the book)
and replace it with
She stood still, the waves of the bustle around her crushing past.
Better? Different!

I went over old scribblings and tried to replace a couple of began and stopped. The change in the scenes was tangible. Suddenly the characters moved from one thing to the next in a fluent motion.
I am sure I will come across a sentence where I will still insist that I need either, but I may try harder before I give in next time. It certainly is a nice exercise I recommend to try.
Wish someone would have suggested it to the author of my last past time
.

The ten worst writing tips I’ve received... by Dylan Hearn

Reblogged from http://authordylanhearn.wordpress.com/ Dylan Hearn

The problem with writing advice is that every writer is different. This leads to lots of advice being passed around, often with the type of reverence reserved for holy scripture, that may be of limited use, or at worst, incredibly harmful to a new writer. Following on from my Ten Most Valuable Writing Tips I’ve Received, I thought I’d share the ten worst. Again, this very subjective. I’m sure there will be one or two tips listed here that some of you swear by (or according to number 3, by which some of you swear). The best advice a writer can receive is to go with what works for you. The following definitely didn’t work for me.

Write what you know

This is an incredibly frustrating piece of advice. We have been blessed with a wonderful imagination yet when starting out as a writer you’re told to stick to what you know. How many wonderful works would never have been written if authors only wrote books based on their own experience? Whole genres would disappear overnight. Instead of “write what you know”, try “know what you write”. Go where your imagination takes you but make sure you’ve done your research. I have never cloned anybody, worked in data analysis or run a missing persons investigation (although I have witnessed mass civil disobedience at first hand), yet all appear in my novel Second Chance, and I’ve been complimented on its believability. To do this, I did plenty of research to ensure what I wrote was plausible within the world I created.

Join a critique group

Let me start by saying I’m not against critiquing itself, just against joining established critique groups when you first start out. I know there are many helpful groups out there but for a first time writer who is trying to find their feet, joining an established group may be too much, too soon. I’ve spoken to many writers who found the experience demoralising, and in some cases destructive. If you ask for a critique, those critiquing feel obliged to find fault, even if what you’ve submitted is perfectly fine. There is also a macho culture of offering ‘tough love”, to prepare writers for the submission process. Add group dynamics into the mix and the result can be turn from being a critique to just plain criticism. If you are a new writer who wants to improve their writing – and you should – my advice would be to find a mentor, join a class, use friendly beta readers or form your own critique group with partners you trust.

Don’t end a sentence with a preposition

I know this advice may be a mystery to many American readers but at school in England I was taught never to end a sentence in a proposition. To this day I still find myself mentally correcting conversations whenever anybody does it, yet it’s grammatical nonsense. This is not how people talk – or think – in real life. Re-arranging a naturally flowing sentence to fit this grammatical rule ends up producing something that reads unnaturally and will throw a reader’s concentration. Ignore.

Be unique and unpredictable

I don’t like this piece of advice, not because I want every book to follow the same formula. I like difference and I like to experience the new. The problem is, most writing won’t necessarily be unique and unpredictable to the writer themselves because they are the ones that are writing it. This can lead to all sorts of problems as they try to artificially add unique and unpredictable elements. I prefer Neil Gaiman’s advice: be true to yourself because out of the millions of writers out there, you are the only you. If a writer remains true to themselves and their characters, their writing will be unique and unpredictable.

Before you start, know everything about your lead character

It is true you need to know enough about your main character’s background and motivations to be able to give depth and realism in your writing. But do you need to know the name of their best friend at Kindergarten, or what they received from their parents for their seventh birthday? Unless you are writing about a woman battling to find the last remaining red-headed cabbage patch doll to give to her childhood friend who will otherwise kill her parents as revenge for a horrible birthday, I suggest you develop the information you need to know for your story and enjoy discovering new elements as they pop into your head during the writing process.

Try X to get in the writing mood

If you take your writing seriously, you need to be able to write when you can. We all have our little quirks – I like a cup of tea and some biscuits while writing – but looking to get yourself in the writing mood is the same as only writing when the muse takes you. The more you write when it is tough, the easier it gets. The more you wait for the right mood, the less frequently you will write.

Start with your character and go from there

This one is going to annoy all you pantsters out there but this piece of advice annoys me. Not because it doesn’t work for many writers but because it is put up as the way to write. And of course, there isn’t just one way to write. Before I start my first draft I need to know what I’m writing about and where it is going. Yes, I need to know about my characters, but I also need to know location, environment, external events and everything else that will have an impact on the story, and depending on the original idea, any one of these may come before the character.

Learn about what’s hot and what’s not in the industry

I’ve seen this a number of times and I think it’s codswallop. For a start it encourages you to write for money, which is never a good target as the majority of us will never have a runaway bestseller. Secondly, books take time to write so if you target a trend, by the time your book is published it may well be over. Thirdly, if your heart is not in your work, if you don’t love what you are writing, it will be obvious to the reader. Learn about how to structure a book so that it is commercially appealing by all means, learn what turns readers on or off (but again, reading trends come an go), but if you write the book you would like to read and forget about trends, there is a good chance others will want to read it too.

Find your voice

This piece of advice also goes hand in hand with “you’ll know when you find it.” It’s terrible advice, not because it isn’t important for a writer to find their voice but because it gives a new writer no idea what voice is or how you find it. I am sure there are hundreds of writers sitting out there as I type, sitting in the lotus pose and meditating in the hope of reaching the enlightenment of the voice. Much better advice is to write as you speak, or to write so quickly you aren’t consciously choosing each word.

Write the best work possible

The problem with this piece of advice is not that a writer shouldn’t try their best but that so many writers end up in a perpetual state of editing because they are trying to reach the unattainable: perfection. The hardest part of editing is knowing when to stop. The breakthrough for me came after see in Philip Pullman’s annotations of Northern Lights, one of his most famous works. Please click on the link. You will find images where he has completely shredded the well loved piece and rewritten large sections, not because it is bad but because he feels differently now to when it was written. Yet the piece he is editing has been published and sold in the millions. When editing, always ask yourself if you are improving or just changing. If you are just changing, stop editing.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/interactive/2013/may/18/philip-pullman-northern-lights-annotations
So what about you? Do you agree with me? Are there any that I’ve missed? Or do you think I’m peddling nonsense? Please let me know. I’d love to hear from you.