Writer Pains

Photo

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:01:39 -0700

WriteWorld: What's Your Point of View?

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:01:22 -0700

Objective - the story is told only through action and dialogue. The reader doesn’t get any insight into the characters’ thoughts or feelings.

First Person - the story is written from one character’s point of view using ‘I’, ‘me, ‘my’; I did this, I said that.

Second Person…

The night is starless and humid.

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:01:35 -0700

writeworld:

Writer’s Block

In one sentence is the spark of a story. Ignite.

Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a memory about this sentence. Write something about this sentence.

Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

WriteWorld: Writing Sites for Posting Work Online and Getting Good Feeback

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:01:16 -0700

WriteWorld: Writing Sites for Posting Work Online and Getting Good Feeback:

writeworld:

Anonymous asked: I don’t think you answered my previous question. Do you or your followers know of any quality writing sites? I want to post my work online and receive good feedback.

Here’s a decently long list:

Anobiumlit

Authonomy

Booksie

Burrst (endorsed by K)

CritiqueCircle (endorsed by

How to Interview People

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:01:23 -0700

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

totalrewrite:

There are things that some writers will never be able to understand. A straight writer will never be able to experience the emotion that goes into a girl coming out to her parents. A writer who was homeschooled will never be able to understand the pain of being bullied in the schoolyard. A male writer will never truly understand what a woman feels while on her period.

There will always be experiences you can’t have for whatever reason. However, there will always be people who have lived through the experiences already. And what can you do about it? (Hint: you can’t beat them over the head and steal their memories.) You can interview them.

So here’s how to interview people whom you’ve never met before on Tumblr.

Find your subject. What do you need to know about? Is it a mental experience? Physical?

Do a Google search. Make sure you’re not going into the interview completely blind. Do some research before hand and come up with questions that should be answered by another human, not a Wikipedia article.

Come up with your questions. While interviewing someone you’ve never met before, you should stick to at most ten questions. Try to get as much information as you can out of as few questions possible.

Find people to interview. This can be done by looking through Tumblr’s tags. If you’re looking for someone who has a certain phobia, search that and look through the posts until you find someone who mentions having it.

Send an ask. While sending your ask, always make sure you start with a ‘hello’ and end with a ‘thank you’. Make sure you’re polite and explain yourself well. This was my initiative ask while looking for people to interview about thixophobia.

Hello. I saw your post on the thixophobia tag, and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind being interviewed about your phobia. I’m writing a novel where the main character suffers from the same fear as you do, and I’m trying to portray it as accurately as possible. Thank you for your time.

At this point, you might have to wait a while. It’s entirely possible that the person you asked will never answer you, but you have to be patient. Do not spam them, do not send rude messages. But after waiting a few hours or a day, they might say, “Sure, I’ll help you out.”

Set rules and boundaries. Tell them that their answers are completely confidential. Tell them how many questions there are total. Tell them that if any of the questions are too personal, they do not have to answer. Remember, the person you asked didn’t have to agree to this.

Ask your questions. While I interviewed people, I chose to send one question at a time because of the Ask Box character limit, and also so as not to overwhelm the person I was asking.

Copy and paste the answers into a document. Save everything so it’s easy to find for future reference. Your Tumblr inbox can get cluttered, and things can get lost or accidentally deleted.

Thank your interviewee. Do not skip this step. Thank them, tell them how much you appreciate them taking time from their day to answer your questions. They didn’t have to do anything for you. They could have just deleted your ask and been done with it, but they didn’t. They deserve a big thank you.

And now you’re done. Congratulations, you have successfully interviewed someone you’ve never met before, and hopefully you have a better idea about whichever topic you’re writing about.

Well, this goes deliciously with this recent post of ours.

Disability Contacts

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:01:35 -0700

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

Here is the compiled list of people who wrote in yesterday saying that they are willing to be contacts for character reference. A great big thank you to everyone on the list for being willing- you may message me anytime asking to be removed from the list if you so choose (additions are also welcome). Followers, remember to be polite and respectful.

Read More

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning..."

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:01:14 -0700

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”

- Mark Twain (via sarahangelwrites)

"Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it."

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:01:14 -0700

“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.”

- Truman Capote (via sarahangelwrites)

"There is probably no hell for authors in the next world — they suffer so much from critics and..."

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:01:31 -0700

“There is probably no hell for authors in the next world — they suffer so much from critics and publishers in this.”

- C. N. Bovee (via sarahangelwrites)

"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because..."

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:01:25 -0700

“It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.”

- Robert Benchley (via sarahangelwrites)

"Being a poet is one of the unhealthier jobs—no regular hours, so many temptations!"

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:01:31 -0700

“Being a poet is one of the unhealthier jobs—no regular hours, so many temptations!”

- Elizabeth Bishop (via sarahangelwrites)

"PROOF-READER, n. A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the..."

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:01:38 -0700

“PROOF-READER, n. A malefactor who atones for making your writing nonsense by permitting the compositor to make it unintelligible.”

- Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary” (via sarahangelwrites)

"Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there."

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:01:29 -0700

“Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there.”

- Thomas Berger (via sarahangelwrites)

"You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say."

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:01:31 -0700

“You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald (via sarahangelwrites)

"Plot is a map and I begin with it. It is what made me admire the novels of the 19th century; that..."

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:01:19 -0700

“Plot is a map and I begin with it. It is what made me admire the novels of the 19th century; that the stories are foreshadowed. They’re going someplace.”

- John Irving (via sarahangelwrites)

"Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible."

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:01:19 -0700

“Fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.”

- Rod Serling (via sarahangelwrites)

"A story consists of someone wanting something and having trouble getting it."

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:01:28 -0700

“A story consists of someone wanting something and having trouble getting it.”

- Douglas Glover “The Enamoured Knight” (via sarahangelwrites)

"Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:01:28 -0700

“Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.”

- Lawrence Kasdan (via sarahangelwrites)

"Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity..."

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 12:01:26 -0700

“Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself—it is the occurring which is difficult.”

- Stephen Leacock (via sarahangelwrites)

"Becoming a writer means being creative enough to find the time and the place in your life for..."

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:01:37 -0700

“Becoming a writer means being creative enough to find the time and the place in your life for writing.”

- Heather Sellers (via sarahangelwrites)