Something New.

Hey, Hey, Greetings from Bulgaria.

Yes, I am currently in Bulgaria studying abroad for a semester and I am loving it.  As such, I have a challenge for all you writers out there.  Choose from one of the two.

   1. Put yourself in a new situation.  It could be talking to someone new, writing in a different place, going to a new store, anything, just something you've never done before.  Take a painting class, learn the piano, go skydiving (if you do you're a braver soul than I am), get your brain going.  It's amazing what a new setting can do for your imagination. 

   2.  If you're more of a recluse and don't like getting out that much, put your characters in a new situation.  Make them go to a new store or learn the piano or go skydiving (might be a good way to get rid of that pesky character).  See what happens when they're presented with something new and different from the routine.  Spice it up a little. 

Enjoy and happy writing!

~OwlHeart

National Novel Writing Month 2012

Hey all,

  Long time, no post!  Life is just crazy busy, but that's how it usually is.  Anyways I am taking this blog post opportunity to shamelessly promote an event that I have loved ever since I first found out about it 4 years ago.  This is the great, wonderful, and crazy adventure of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and it's just right around the corner!  *does dance of joy*

  NaNoWriMo is an all-out writing effort that makes a novelist out of everybody.  The basic objective is to write 50,000 (about 175 pages) in 30 days.  Now, you're probably thinking "That's crazy!  There's no way that someone can write that much in 30 days!"  I assure you it is possible and it's totally and completely worth it.  So go check out their site: www.nanowrimo.org and sign-up because you know you want to.  To quote the famous founder of NaNo, Chris Baty, "You have a story to tell and that story matters."  So start writing!

~OwlHeart

We the POVS...

So I am at a Model Organization of American States Conference in DC at the moment and we have been having to do everything in Parliamentary Proceedure (ie. "The Delegation of Belize" or "This delegate" basically speaking in third person at all times.)  It's hard to do when verbally communicating.  It takes some concious thought and effort.  So of course it gave me an idea for an exercise.

This blogger proposes that any readers of this blog try to write a paragraph to a page completely in second person.  This blogger knows that second person is a POV (Point-of-View) very rarely used in written communication and knows that that the times the blogger has used second person it is challenging.  So this blogger's challenge to all you fellow writers is to write in an unfamiliar POV for the day.  Try something new.  All in favor please go and write now.  This blogger thanks the readers of this blog for their time. 

Lost in Words

Hey all, go check out this YA Book Review blog a couple of friends of mine have started up called Lost in Words, it's pretty amazing.  Three days up and already 800 views!  They have "Throwback Thursdays", current readings, and promotions for YA author's future books.

Thanks!

http://gettinglostinwords.blogspot.com/

Does Your Story Need Some Character?

Hey all, sorry for the delayed posting.  As the semester starts winding down, the work load increases, if that makes any sense.  Anyways, here is a bit of an exercise for adding a fresh character to your story.  We did this in writer's group a while back and it actually turned out pretty good.

Items you'll need: A phonebook, doesn't have to be local, just a phonebook.  Paper (or if you're hip and modern a laptop), and your imagination.

Process: With this kind of excercise, instead of starting with a character in mind and giving them a name, you'll start with a name and give them a character.  Open the phonebook to a random page and choose the first name that you come to.  Take that name and build a person out of it.  Some things to think about while doing this if you get stuck: Do they have a family?  What do they do for a living?  Where do they live?  What do they look like?  What kind of history do they have?

Result: Congratulations!  You now have a brand new character to complicate-I mean spice up your current story or you can take them and start a whole new venture!  The possibilites!

Now go forth and populate your literary worlds!  Happy writing!

Something about Cats and Writing

"TS Elliot loved cats.
William Butler Yeats loved cats.
Christina Rosetti loved cats.
John Keats loved cats.
JRR Tolkein loved cats.
Mark Twain loved cats.
Christopher Smart loved cats.
Marianne Moore loved cats.
Ernest Hemingway loved cats.
Oscar Wilde loved cats.
Doris Lessing, Rita Mae Brown, Carolyn Chute, Nuala O' Faolain....Isn't it time you got a cat?"

How to Build a World

A VERY helpful website that provides an in depth outline to use when creating the world of your story.  I know in the process of using it for some of my writings I've discovered things about the story that added a whole other dimension to it!  Great for societies, landscapes, governments, everything. 

http://arcadia.net/Cruinne/DnD/Articles/dnd.worldbuilding.shtml

Neil Gaiman Talks Writers that Inspired Him

An article one of my friends shared that I thought I would pass along since I'm sure we've all those authors that have made us want to be writers, inspired us, made us think that this crazy, insane dream was possible.  Here Neil Gaiman talks about the three writers that he discovered in his childhood and that he continues to read today.  Enjoy!

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/01/speech-i-once-gave-on-lewis-tolkien-and.html

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Could you come up with 1000 words to go with this picture?

Spark Your Imagination

Some words have the power to spark a whole story for me.  So here are some words that might spark one for you.


Heist, Sword, Badge, Dream, Aloof