Tag Archives: fiction

30 in 30: Day Twelve – Turn left… here!

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Okay. Insert an argument. Let this argument start out with some tie in to what you have written previously or something deeply rooted to your character or theme. Then let the argument go left.

You know… when an argument takes on a life of it’s own and is no longer about what it started out to be about.

Yes. Do that.

Take it there.

The more absurd the better.

This makes for beautiful poetry and prose. It takes the reader on a journey that they are captivated with even though they clearly realize they are going in circles.

Have some fun today!

30 in 30: Day Ten – Insert random story

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Throughout your travels, take a moment to people watch. Pick a particularly interesting person out. Add that person to your mix. Do not approach them or ask them about who they are. Imagine it. Write their story. What brought them to the place where you saw them? What is their current set of circumstances? What goes on in their mind?

Variety in a longer story adds spice. It can add freshness to a collection of poems, essays, or short stories.

Have some fun with it!

 

Happy Writing!

 

 

*Sorry for the delay in this post. I thought I hit publish.*

30 in 30: Day Nine – Develop the picture

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Your image that you described yesterday… take it and build something more from it. Build a scene. Make it a part of a poem. Write an essay on how that image relates to something, to your characters you created earlier, or to you. Develop that image.

 

Happy Writing!

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 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!

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.