Tuesday 3 April 2012

Who's a crafty fella?

Today's challenge in the A to Z Blogging Challenge is dedicated to C for Craft.


I'm rather obsessed with the idea of perfecting my writing craft. If I'm not listening to podcasts on writing, I'm researching writing excersizes and printing off the ones I like most.


I thought I'd share some of my favourite ones with you today.





First up is a podcast from the Warwick University Writing Programme. I love how David Morley (the director and speaker) talks in depth about each of the areas of creative writing, before setting out the challenges, which include: Conflict and Crisis, Points of View and Murdering your darlings. Have a gander by clicking here.






Next is a website called Story Is Promise. The author, Bill Johnson, says "many writers who struggle and get rejected--myself included--fail because they violate the same foundation issues of storytelling" and he provides an Index of Essays dedicated to exploring these issues. It's really interesting; click here to have a peek.







PoeWar has a list of excellent writing excersizes. Their outlook: "Writing exercises are a great way to both increase your skill as a writer and to generate new ideas for future work. They can also give you a new perspective on your current project." If you're feeling uninspired, look at these Fifteen Writing Excersizes. If you're looking to give your main character a bit of misery, read How to create fictional characters using adversity.




Last (but not least) is one of my favourite writing podcasts: Bailey's Writing Tips. Morgen Bailey is fiercely passionate about the writing craft, which you can tell by her schedule: This lady breathes writing. I especially love listening to the author interviews, where the craft of writing is often discussed at length. Find out more about the podcasts here.

Have you any websites/podcasts you'd like to add to the table? Come on... feed my obsession!

Today's C Music Video is dedicated to Carmen, the opera. I remember being taken to see Carmen in primary school, and absolutely loved it. Enjoy!



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16 comments:

Tara Tyler said...

great way to hone the craft! keep writing!

Clare said...

Those look like some interesting links. Thanks for sharing. I will make time to check them out.

Morgen Bailey said...

Thank you, Catherine, for the honourable mention. I love it when I read / hear that others enjoy what I do. It makes the short nights oh so worth it. :)

Catherine Noble said...

Thank you, Tara! :D

Kyra Lennon said...

Thanks for the links! Funny, I was recently talking to one of my friends about starting a writing podcast, but at the moment, we are going to have to put it on the backburner while we focus on finishing our first novels!

Catherine Noble said...

@Clare: They really are interesting. Disclaimer though: you may find yourself become a bit too immersed in it! A good way to procrastinate, I suppose!

@Morgen Bailey: You’re welcome! Credit where credit’s due :)

@Kyra Lennon: Good luck finishing your novels! I could never do a podcast; I waffle on too much! Keep me posted on your progress :)

Amanda Saint said...

Catherine, thanks for these. I too am obsessed with honing my craft. Some other great writing resources are Mslexia's workshops: http://www.mslexia.co.uk/magazine/workshops/workshops.php

Its a shame you're not in London as I go to a brilliant class with the author Shaun Levin called Reading to Write, which is really great for developing new voices and styles.

mooderino said...

Ooh, nice links i didn't know about. Wiull check them out. Thanks.

now following,
mood
Moody Writing

Anne Mackle said...

Oh this is interesting can't wait to get onto the sites yo mentioned.Thanks.

Anne Mackle said...

Oh this is interesting can't wait to get onto the sites yo mentioned.Thanks.

Golden Eagle said...

Thanks for the list of resources! :)


The Golden Eagle
The Eagle's Aerial Perspective

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

I'm working on that crafting part. I'm trying to visit all the blogs in the A-Z Challenge.

farawayeyes said...

Hey Catherine, nice to meet you. Interesting pod casts. I'll be back when I have more time to listen to them all. AI love Bizet.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Wow, thanks for writing sites for perfecting our craft.

Teresa

nutschell said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks for giving us these awesome sites. I'm off to check them out!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Catherine Noble said...

@Amanda Saint: Thanks for that, I'll check out Mslexia right now; they sound excellent!

@mooderino: Hope you get on ok with them :)

@cassam: Let me know how you get on with them, I hope you find something of interest!

@The Golden Eagle: You're most welcome! :)

@Shakbytes (TM): ALL 1600+ blogs? That is spectacular, good luck with that!

@farawayeyes: Love the name! I'm glad you liked the song, and I hope you find the podcasts as useful as I do!

@Journaling Woman: Thank you for visiting :) I hope you like the sites I mentioned!

@nutschell: It's my pleasure: your blog is great! Happy browsing :)

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