Author Archives: Turtleberry Press

30 in 30: Day Seven – Throw everything in a bag & shake.

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Today I want you to review everything you have written over the past six days. Then mentally, or literally, throw everything into a bag and shake. Then pour it out on the page today. You can take a little from each day or all of it and put it into today’s piece. If you wrote poems, you may want to take a few lines and join them in a piece. If you wrote prose you could drag paragraphs. You could just pull ideas and create something new from what was previously done.

Remember you have two characters, conflict, a setting, and plot to work with.

See what you can make happen! This is definitely the day to cut loose and have some fun. Great things happen when you get a little crazy.

Happy Writing!

30 in 30: Day 6 – What’s going on?

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Let’s get one thing straight. Conflict and Plot are not the same thing. In my opinion, conflicts are part of what makes up the plot. You can design an amazing conflict but it may not carry an entire story… let alone a novel.

Today let’s work on plot. What is going on in this story? The shorter your piece the less complicated this has to be.

Well… even if you are writing a novel you don’t actually have to have a very complicated plot.

Are you able to see the plot in poetry?

Plot to me is what your answer would be when someone asks you “what is this about”.

That is about all I am going to say on it because every writer is different. Every piece is different.

Take some time and begin to craft a plot. Write a scene that lays the groundwork and gives a sense of what is to come. Write a poem that tells a story.

Just remember to have fun with it.

30 in 30: Day 5 – Where are we?

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Before I get into this one I want to remind you that each prompt can be used to write a stand alone piece, a collection of pieces, or serve as parts that come together to equal a novella or novel.

So now let’s focus on setting. Where are you in this story you want to tell? Even a poem tells a story so don’t feel limited if that is the format you are writing in. Take sometime to describe the setting you have in your mind. Try your best not to simply tell. Show it. Showing it allows the readers imagination to get a jump start.

Just remember to have fun with it!

30 in 30: Day Four – So what’s the problem?

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Now is your time to create the conflict in your piece. There might be one big conflict or several small ones. It can be external or internal. Play with it. Use it to build your piece. Get creative.

Happy Writing!

30 in 30: Day Three – Antagonism

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  • Antagonist – An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution that represents the opposition against which the protagonist or protagonists must contend
    Okay… let’s start to build this story. Your character needs someone to highlight who they are. They need someone to assist in building conflict. There needs to be an antagonist.
    Take some time to build that character today.
    Remember how this character is different from your initial main character is important. However, so is how they are alike.
    Happy writing!

30 in 30: Day Two – The other side

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So yesterday you created your character and tried to sell them.

Today… let’s be realistic. No one is perfect, even in fiction. So no matter what form you are writing in we need to face flaws.

Take some time to be honest about the flaws of your character. These flaws are what makes your character realistic and gives them depth.

Go ahead. Get creative.

30 in 30 : Day One – Where to begin?

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Let’s get a little different with this 30 day challenge. At the end, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a collection or an almost finished something? If you aren’t writing a novel you could put together a collection of short stories, poems or essays. Whatever you decide to do make sure you are really stretching your creativity.

So… it is day one. Where shall we begin?

I like to begin with a character. Create a scene or a poem that describes your fictional (or real) character. Consider this the first impression that you WANT your readers to get. Play up all the highlights. You are basically selling your character to the reader.

Go for it!

To outline or not to outline… #NaNoWriMo Prep

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So if you are participating in NaNoWriMo (and you really should) you might be wondering if you should outline your project or not.

Honestly, it is entirely up to you. There is no right or wrong way to do this.

If you have an idea and things that you really want to include you may want to do an outline or a checklist to make sure that you don’t forget anything. If you are just winging it, don’t worry about it.

I do a little of both. I hate outlines. They make me feel trapped. However, I do use them along with lists in limited ways. I have outlined what I am thinking when I don’t want to forget things. I hardly ever stick to it exactly. Mostly I just let the story take me where it wants to go.

If you aren’t sure what to do then try it out and see if you like it. If you don’t, trash it and try something else.

November is almost here!

Are you ready for NaNoWriMo 2014?

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Have you started thinking about your project for National Novel Writing Month?

(If you don’t know what I am talking about you should check out the NaNoWriMo Website.)

50,000 words in 30 days can be daunting… especially if you have no clue what you are going to be writing about. Now is the time to really start focusing in on a vague idea of where you want to start. It is perfectly okay to let the story go wherever it wants to go. In fact I find that to be the way with the most fun.

I have begun to develop two characters and a general idea of where I want to start. I tend to start most of my writing with a character.

You can start with a situation, a character, a setting, or even a simple object. You can take a writing prompt and see how far you can take it.

The key is to find that starting point so you are ready to go November 1st.

Writing Prompt – Your ideal day

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Take a few moments to map out your ideal day. What does it look like? What does it feel like? Go from start to finish.

Use whatever form of writing speaks to you right now.

P.S.
Speaking it into existence makes it more likely to actually happen.