Helloooooo, just popping in to say I won't be participating in this year's A to Z Blogging Challenge (as much as it pains me!), as I have to focus all my writerly efforts on the novel. It's getting there, slowly but surely!
Last year, my theme was an A to Z of Creative Writing Warm-Ups. A few writers told me they'd love to have the warm-ups in a whole, complete format, so I have lovingly compiled it all into a PDF file for your viewing/writing pleasure.
To access the PDF, click here (I would recommend saving the file to your desktop for future offline use).
This PDF has a total of 158 warm-ups! Choose from:
26 photo prompts
26 mind maps
26 freewriting exercises
One personal questionnaire
79 sentence starts
Why don't you try a wee five minute warm-up at the start of your next writing session and let me know how you get on with it?
So this year, I forbade myself to take part in NaNoWriMo.
You're 20k away from the end of your novel. Focus, Catherine!
You have dozens of short stories waiting to be polished and sent off.
You have a writing class on Tuesdays to keep up with.
You have a writing group on Thursdays to keep up with!
But I couldnae resist. Sign me up!
Do you know the only reason I'm embarking on this madness?
Because... I've FINALLY finished my A to Z of Writing Warm-Ups PDF! Remember, back in April, doing the A to Z Blogging Challenge? I wrote 26 blog posts, with warm-ups for each letter of the alphabet.
It included:
26 photo prompts
26 freewriting exercises
26 mind map exercises
79 (I know!) sentence starts
In total, 157 writing prompts. I'm going to use them every day for NaNoWrimo. It's going to be a stream of consciousness novel, so there is no plotting or outlining. It's more of a warm-up for my other writing tasks, with the benefit of obtaining 50% off Scrivener if I reach the 50k (as good a reason as any to sign up, in my opinion).
So, I give you... my Writing Warm-Ups of 2013. Click here to open it and remember to save it on to your computer!
Just got back from my writers group and realised I hadn't posted today's post for the A to Z Challenge, deary me! Without further ado, I give you today's writing warm-up... D is for Dance
1. Picture the scene: a young couple, in love, dancing to a live swing band. Why are you watching from the back row? Is a broken leg/shattered pelvis preventing you from hitting the dance floor? Are you a creepy stalker to one of the lovebirds? Does the trombone player have something terrible on her mind? Scribble down your thoughts in a free-flowing manner for five minutes.
2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).
3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:
Today I was paired off with a new dance partner...
His two left feet landed me in A&E...
'The customer paid for a dance,' Antonio snarled, 'so get out there and give him one, Crystal...'
I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.
Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?
Take care,
Catherine x
Note: All photos in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)
Today marks the first day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge 2013. How can it possibly be April already? This is devastating. Slow down, time/life...
Although I haven't been blogging much of late, that's all about to change: I shall inflict upon you twenty-six blog posts over the course of April! I thoroughly enjoyed taking part last year, and will no doubt make it an annual tradition. Find out more about the challenge here.
My theme for the A to Z Challenge is: writing warm-ups.
I find if I start a writing session with a five-minute warm-up, I have a much more productive session.
There are several ways I like to do this. For each day of the challenge, I shall suggest various exercises such as photo prompts, mind maps and freewrites. I'm confident you'll find your muse lurking beneath one of them. Grab a cuppa and a notepad...
Today's warm-up is A for Abandonment.
1. Whose hat is this? How did it end up there? Simply overlooked by a harassed, unobservant mother (why is she harassed?)? Or a clue to something more sinister? Scribble down a scenario/character profile based on the poor wee hat.
2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).
3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:
It was hat & scarf weather...
She couldn't find it anywhere...
The rain made it soggy...
I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.
Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?
Take care,
Catherine x
Note: All photo prompts in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)
One of the most common pieces of writing advice I've read, is this:
Keep a Journal.
For most writers, it's a great way to expel their thoughts and ideas onto paper.
That's why I do it... mostly. Other times, I just question my mental health over and over again, and whine about why my novels aren't writing all by themselves.
If you'd also care to question my mental well-being, here's some entries from 2010/2011 that I felt acceptable to share with you all.
*WARNING: POTTY MOUTH AHEAD.* *Sorry Mum.*
20th August, 2010: I
believe writing a truly good book takes craft and skill, and I'm
going to learn it if it kills me (although I'm sure it wont).
27th July, 2011: I
just wrote the penultimate entry into my wee purple diary, and
totally squashed up the last page and rushed the ending, to save enough
space for when I go back to it, in whatever time it takes to make a
success of myself. I feel quite sad. It's like finding out your
best friend is moving to Australia the next day. We didn't get a
proper goodbye.
31st July 2011: Please
note it is 6:19 on a Sunday morning and I am awake, writing this
entry. Please let this be an encouraging sign that I'm ready to
write like a motherfucker.
20th August, 2011: (On
Nancy Mitford's “The Pursuit of Love”) I thought Uncle Matthew
was a big arsehole: violent, aggressive and vile. But the teeniest glimpse of him softening (the small edge of the wedge) made
me instantly adore him. But that says more about me than the book.
Give me an inch and I will call you master, unfortunately.
15th September, 2011: Colin
explained Scottish Football to me this morning, and I despair. It's
like the more I learn about something, be it the government, the
country's history, football associations and politics, the more I
wish I didn't know. Does
the privilege of knowledge come at a cost of personal contentment?
I envy the blissfully ignorant.
And lastly, on what I learned from NaNoWriMo, written on the day I completed it:
I've
learned:
I
can't sit and do 1667 words a day. I work better when I do clumps of
5-6k words every 2,3 or even 4 days.
I
can try and plot and outline and create spreadsheets all I want, but
at the end of the day, I'll probably not use it. From now on, I'll just be
writing the stories, then focusing on the craft later.
Sometimes,
I write until I get to a certain restless point. It comes to me
through no choice of my own and trying to battle through it is about
as effective as a chocolate teapot. My little mind is stubborn. If I
try to force myself to think about something, it will rebel. So, I
go for a bath. I watch a cookery program. I do the dishes. I
always end up drifting off into the land of my novel, thinking about
my characters and writing the story in my head. THEN I'll go back to
writing it.
I've
learned that I have to treat my writing like a good marinade or stew.
Sometimes, it's better to be left to develop. Perhaps for a few
hours, even better overnight. Too long, though, and it'll go off.
I've
learned that I'm at my happiest when writing, or thinking about
writing, or watching my characters coming to life. Even the nasty, vindictive ones. I love them too.
I've
also come to suspect that I may be quite mentally ill. I mean, who
can come up with some of the sinister shite I have in my novel?
Troubled soul? Or too many Virginia Andrews books in my lifetime? I
hasten to prefer the latter.
Honestly, I have about three years worth of this (and counting). Anyone want to buy it as a book? No? OK then...
Do you write a journal? Do you think it helps you with your writing?
Today's J music video, is Jefferson Airplane, with Embryonic Journey. It reminds me of my twinny :)
When I say Incubus, I'm not referring to the demon that sexually preys on women in their sleep...
(who sleeps like that, anyway?)
I'm referring to one of my favourite bands of all time.
I've chosen Incubus as today's I for the A-Z Blogging Challenge, as there is something unique about them that makes me feel better as a writer.
Why? Because they transcend genre.
I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I struggle with the notion of sticking to a particular genre in my fiction. Is it because I'm not dedicated enough, or have enough direction? I don't think it is.
In my "ideas spreadsheet" (lets not get too bogged down with my geekiness), my scribblings and ponderings span a whole range of fiction genres: sci-fi, romance, thriller, comedy, the list goes on.
When people ask me what genre I write in, I tense up. I waffle on about what my story is about instead, and let them come to their own conclusions. My WIP has yet to be pigeon-holed.
And, like Incubus, I don't think I fancy sticking to one particular route.
Prepare your ears for an audible feast as we explore my argument further.
Observe this track "You Will Be A Hot Dancer" from their debut album Fungus Amongus. Like many, I'd describe it as Funk Metal.
Fast forward to their next album, S.C.I.E.N.C.E and you'll hear their style changes. According toRolling Stone writer Rob Kemp, it "links funk metal to the rap metal" This can especially be said for New Skin:
Could that be any more different to this song, Drive, from their following album (aptly titled), Make Yourself?
Their next album, Morning View, spans various genres, from Metal to tranquil songs like Wish You Were Here:
I'm not going to go through every album; I hope that's been enough to illustrate my point: That here lies a band who've reaped massive success without adhering to a particular direction, musical or otherwise.
Do you know of any authors who have fleeted between genres, successfully or otherwise?
I shall leave you my favourite Incubus song, Make Yourself. If ever I felt like just joining the rat race and aspiring to a life of mortgages, 2.4 children and wishing my life away, week after week, in a shabby office, I'd listen to this song and get a grip of my life:
You should make amends with you
If only for better health
But if you really want to live
Why not try and make yourself?
◦
If you let them make you, they'll make you paper mache
Of all the literary techniques I'm analysing right now, this one is proving rather enjoyable.
Today's H in the A-Z Blogging Challenge is for Hook, sometimes known as the "Narrative Hook".
Some people refer to the hook as the first sentence of the first chapter. Others define it as the first paragraph, or even the whole first chapter. Many will say it's vital to end every chapter with a hook, to convince the reader to turn that page.
Me? I don't care what it is, as long as it draws me into the story. In my own writing, I want hooks-a-plenty. I want my readers to feel perpetually hooked: Don't you dare put that book down, I'm not finished talking to you!
Anyway... *ahem*
I began to scrawl through possible examples of good hooks online, but turned to my very own bookcase for inspiration in the end. Funny how I always go to Google first, when I have a plethora of information right in front of me!
Here are some of my favourites:
This happened in 1932, when the state penitentiary was still at Cold Mountain. And the electric chair was there, too, of course. Stephen King - The Two Dead Girls
The last thing I expected was for Alexander Taylor to answer his own door. Michael Connelly - Lost Light
If a road could look welcoming, then Summer Street had both arms out and the kettle boiling. Cathy Kelly - Past Secrets
"It must look like an accident. Can you arrange that?" Sidney Sheldon - Memories of Midnight
"I'm going shopping in the village," George's mother said to George on Saturday morning. "So be a good boy and don't get up to mischief." This was a silly thing to say to a small boy at any time. It immediately made him wonder what sort of mischief he might get up to. Roald Dahl - Georges Marvellous Medicine
Oh I could go on, but I shan't. Instead, I'd love it if you'd share your favourite hooks with me?
In the meantime, have a listen to today's music video. It is dedicated to the humble Harp. I love the sound of harps playing. Lets all bask in the tranquillity... sigh :)
For many years, I spent my life accepting everything at face value. I celebrated things like Valentines Day, Pancake Day, Halloween, even Christmas, without questioning how they all came about. Those days are gone, my friend! Now I question everything to death. I even questioned why I started questioning everything to death (I know... there is no hope). I figure it could be because:
I'm a writer now; this is what I do.
I studied philosophy last year, which introduced me to the world of Critical Thinking.
I've simply become a cynical, bitter old swine, who trusts no-one.
I'm suffering from some kind of disease that's mentally reverting me back to my toddler years.
Fitting, really, that I start my A-Z Blogging Challenge, then, with a little piece on the origin of April Fools Day. This is another thing that escaped questioning. I merely laughed at all the funny pranks and winced at all the (completely unfunny) "I'm pregnant" announcements. According to Wikipedia: In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on March 25 in most European towns. In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on April 1. Many writers suggest that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on January 1 made fun of those who celebrated on other dates. The use of January 1 as New Year's Day was common in France by the mid-16th century, and this date was adopted officially in 1564.
New Years Day used to be March 25? I was not aware of that. To be fair, this could be common knowledge: I'm not really up to speed with general knowledge either...
What's the funniest April Fools Hoax you've ever played/had played on you? Go on... fill my page with hilarity! For all you music lovers out there, here's a song from Arctic Monkeys: Settle for a draw. This was a B side track to "When The Sun Goes Down" in 2006 and should have been brought out as a single in it's own right. Sigh.
Probably a good time to tell you, I used to be obsessed with this band. Enjoy!
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