Where are all my writing elves?

Last night, I found myself browsing writing courses in my area. I attended a creative writing course a few years back, which was utterly dire. For two reasons: I wasn't as committed to writing as I am now (although the passion was obviously always there), and there was too much poetry for my liking. I've tried. I just can't get into poetry. What's wrong with me?


Tell me, what are your thoughts on writing courses? Have you been on one and did it improve your writing? Am I better off just trawling through the free online courses (on that note, any suggestions?)? Or do you think the best form of learning is through living?

Forgive the barrage of questions. I'm desperate to write well. I want to write as beautifully as Nancy Mitford or Elizabeth Jenkins, but with the lure and page-turning-against-your-will ability of the likes of Virginia Andrews and Stephen King. Is that too much to ask?


In other news... over the past few days, I've found myself poring over all the writing advice on author Jody Hedlund's website. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a gentle nudge. I especially like the post: 4 Ways to Hook Your Readers and Keep Them Wanting More.


Despite being somewhat dubious, I've also printed out a Character Worksheet from The Writer's Craft. It strikes me as potentially useful, as it doesn't require me to write down what the character's neighbour's goldfish looks like. Time will tell whether it will prove beneficial; I'll be sure to let you know!


Aside from doing some housework (which simply cannot be ignored any longer), I hope to chain myself to the writing desk today. After all, as Neil Gaiman once told us, the Writing Elves aren't going to come along and finish my work for me!

Have a lovely weekend :) x ◦

Where are all my writing elves?

Getting into your writing zone

Before I get into my post, I'd just like to thank every single last one of you, who've graced me with your fabulous presence over the past 30 days. I've thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the A to Z Blogging Challenge, and look forward to taking part next year.

For my final entry to the A to Z Blogging Challenge *sniffle*, I'd like to dedicate Z for Zone.


As a writer, I feel there's a certain writing zone I get into: when the words flow from my pen/keyboard and, when I'm done for the day, I look back and think "that was an excellent day for my writing".


Naturally, I've been keen to try and capture the essence of this zone, to make sure all my writing sessions are as creative and productive as possible.


I would love to hear what you do to get into your zone. Do you just plonk yourself down infront of a blank page and open up a vein? Or do you, like me, require a bit of a mental pep-talk to get into the full swing of things?


I know it's only been a month, but I shall look back with tearful nostalgia over my last 25 posts and pick out some things that help me reach my zone. I'll probably print this page out and stick it to the wall above my writing desk, for further encouragement!

• Practice my craft - Make sure I use writing excersizes from the likes of Warwick University Writing Programme and Morgen Bailey's Writing Tips.

• Create a writing schedule - My fortnightly schedule is proving to be an excellent way to make sure I'm committing the hours to my writing (therefore increasing the opportunity to get in said zone!)

• Get rid of silly expectations - My new focus is to put the hours in and don't even look at that word count!

• Write short fiction - Coming up with wee stories such as The Fortune Teller and Ungrateful have been great for putting myself in the writing zone. Perfect for when working on my WIP starts to feel a bit tedious...

• Analyse narrative hooks - "It must look like an accident. Can you arrange that?" (Sidney Sheldon - Memories of Midnight) Finding out what pulls me in to a story as a reader inspires me to create my own hooks!

• Keep a journal - I keep a word document open whilst I'm writing, and often turn to it to vent before, during and after my projects. I like to write what I plan to do with my writing time, then make a note of what I'd like to do next, at the end of it! Extreme Zone-age!

• Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs - Keep a picture of the pyramid on my wall and select one of my character's "basic human needs" to toy with... muwahahahaa.

• Read Stephen King's "On Writing" - Instant Zonification, if you ask me. I defy you to read more than three pages without reaching for your pen!

• Listen to Radio 4 - Tuning into Podcasts such as "Books and Authors", "Play of The Week" and "A Point of View" always get my cogs whirring :)

• Use Motivational Wallpapers - Tough love desktop backgrounds such as this one speak my (foul) language:

Alas... the time has come for the end of the post. From now on, you will find me blogging here EVERY FRIDAY. Please add me to your Google Friend Connect thingymajig, or subscribe to get a wee notification for when I post.


My Z music video (I'm going to miss these) is Zero 7 with In The Waiting Line. And relax...

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Getting into your writing zone

On Writing

Today's A-Z Blogging Challenge is dedicated to O for On Writing: A memoir of the Craft, written by Stephen King

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with "How To" books, especially when they're written by people who haven't the goods to back up their words! That could never be said about Stephen King, however. He's an absolute master of his trade.

In the first of two sections in this book, he goes into quite personal detail about his life; about how he came to be the writer he is today. From writing Carrie in a laundry room with a child's desk balanced on his knees, to his alcohol and drug problem, with his struggles as a writer throughout. We all know how that turned out, though :)

The second part details how he writes. He admits it may not work for everyone, but if you're like me, you'll love reading this kind of stuff. His words are very inspiring. I'm fairly sure a person with no interest in becoming a writer would want to start their first novel after reading this!

When I'm feeling bogged down with my WIP, or losing direction, I just dip into this book and, magically, it won't be long before I'm inspired again. Therefore, I'd gladly recommend this to any writer in the hope that it does the same for them.

Some of his words of wisdom that ring true for me:

"The scariest moment is always just before you start.”

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”

“In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it 'got boring,' the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.”

Today's O music video is for my favourite Oasis song: Slide Away. Enjoy!

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On Writing

Keeping It Simple

Well, here it is.

My first novel outline.  EVER.

It's just under 6000 words, split into "developments".  Not scenes, chapters, plots, or POVs.  Just... development thingys.  This is Novel Writing: Catherine Stylee. 

I did try to do the "Chapter 1 = This Happens" structure, but it was messing with the flow of my story.  I'm taking a leaf out of Stephen King's "On Writing" book and telling the story first.  I'll work on the craft later.

Years of novel-structure research has been cast into the fire, in favour of Lazette Gifford's advice in her booklet: NaNo for the New and The Insane - A Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo:

"An easy outline is to list 30 points in your story which can be written in about 2,000 word clumps.  You only need 1,667 words per day to reach 50,000.  If you have 30 things and write one each day, you'll reach your goal. It's that simple."

So, my outline describes what happens, from start to finish, in very brief detail.  The different colours establish a new event, whether that be a change in perspective or new dilemma (but not restricted to such).  There are 34 "developments" in my outline.  My shoddy maths tells me that a 50k word target will boil that down to 1470 words per development. 

I'm confident that I can waffle on for more than 1470 words for each, so I might just get to that self-imposed 70k mark!  Fingers crossed...

I don't know if it will work; It's quite a haphazard approach for an organisational geek like me.  I've got no choice but to go with it, now that NaNoWriMo is 3 days (and 13 hours) away. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

How are you all getting on? x

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Keeping It Simple