With the new year comes hopeful organisation tactics. One of them is tidying up my old – soon to be closed – blog and bringing over any writing related items. Download these popular free printables and stick them to your wall for quick reference, or put them in your classroom. So far I’ve done writing aids for the sounds of your voice, words to use instead of look, touchy feely words and change the way you go. Are there any other words you can think of that need alternatives handy for quick reference? Or maybe something on using all of your … Read More
Writer’s Block – It’s real. Here’s how I fixed mine.
Up until recently I thought Writer’s block was some fable that happened to less creatively inspired writers. I had my story flow for the whole first novel and beginning of the second. I thought how hard can it be? You know your story, otherwise you wouldn’t be writing it. Right? Then along came NaNoWriMo and God forbid, I discovered the blank-eyed monster is real.
Writing competitions you can enter in early 2015
Fellow writers, I recently had to write my very first author bio. As a new writer, my bio sounded as bare as a new born baby’s bottom. I decided that this following year I would dedicate myself to entering some competitions. Not only for the prize of having the word ‘winner’ in my bio, but to hopefully have my work validated by peers and to gain valuable insight on my craft. Here is a list of Competitions you can enter over the next few months, click on the title of each list item to go to the relevant competition page.
Book Art – The Witch
This is one of the Villain’s from my novel ‘Hunting for Witches’. A little bit about Witches Witches are evil body snatching spirits. They were human once. They loved life, or something in their life so much they couldn’t let go. Not even after death. But they did die, and that journey to the other side has opened a door to the secrets of our human makeup. Now they can do anything consciously that we do subconsciously. Now, they can use our body better than us. They’ve been among us hidden for centuries, infecting the female population and taking over their bodies, trying … Read More
NaNoWriMo Write Night recap – did you go?
Last night I attended a wonderful event put on by the local librarians, writers, publishers and editors from the Southern Region team at NaNoWriMo. I almost didn’t make it due to a currently failing attempt at my Nano word count ( an abysmal 23k), and after a recent illness, death in the family and holiday, I feared it was just all over for me. But after I received the reminder to attend the event, I knew that I couldn’t leave the organisers in the lurch – they’d volunteered so much of their time to make the night the best they … Read More
Blurbs – Tips on writing them
For a beginner writer, it’s hard. In fact, I’m supposing it’s difficult for most writers. So what is a blurb? A blurb is the paragraph (or two) that goes on the back of your book, or in terms of ebooks, the description area of your sales page. The purpose of a blurb, unlike a synopsis is to give a teaser and entice your reader, not to give away any spoilers. In other words, it’s a sales pitch.
Wooden Character Checker – #amwriting aid
Nanowrimo is in full swing, and I seem to be keeping up to date but there are a few things that help me along the way. I’m a graphic designer so I like to make pretty posters to stick up on my pin board in front of my work station. These are quick reference guides that help me avoid stopping the flow to look up appropriate words or ideas. The latest creation comes in my Ultimate Novel Editing Kit (you can get the whole thing for free by signing up to my newsletter, or purchase it at my Etsy store). … Read More
Worksheets for #NaNoWriMo
The Ultimate Novel Writing Kit was created to help prepare the writer before starting a new novel. If you are stuck for ideas, or need a bit of structure for your NaNoWriMo project, then look no further. It’s very popular and I’ve had great reviews.
Character sketch – Tommy
This is one of my main characters – Tommy. He’s the youngest character by far in the book, an 18 year old Southern American boy. Smoker, photographer and in love with the main character – Roo.
Words that describe someone’s voice
I’m learning to write. Well, I should start that again. I’m learning to write a novel, and write it well. I found that I was lacking in a bit of auditory sensory description so created myself a printout I could stick on the wall in front of my laptop to remind myself to include descriptions of one’s voice. I got these words from the Macmillan Dictionary website. Its free to download. I hope you find it useful. There’s more words to use if you follow the link above.
3 writing tips from Constantine
Wow. Was anyone else blow away with the first episode of Constantine? I went into the episode a little cautious, dealing with demons and devils and all that jazz can be a little daggy or unrealistic so I wasn’t sure what I’d be walking into. I can say I was pleasantly taken on a nail biting journey, and as a new writer I’ve noticed a few tips that I can use in my own novel to help me keep my readers on the edge of their seat. I’ll try not to give away too many spoilers. Foreshadowing to create tension … Read More
Nanowrimo Checklist
So I’ve just signed up for NaNoWriMo this year – its two weeks away. EEK. For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month – It’s actually International. The aim of the game is to pump out a first draft of a novel in 30 days. That’s a lot of writing and a lot of prep. If you sign up, there’s heaps of help, inspiration and friends online to help you out. You won’t be doing it alone, and guaranteed there will be an area near you where you can meet up with other WriMo’s.
How to be an organised Writer
First off, I should point out that I don’t know. If you’ve seen my picture, you will have noticed that I’m a train wreck when it comes to organisation, but never fear… I have a plan!
Bloglovin
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Choosing a title for your novel
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet right? Wrong. Choosing the right title to go with your novel will help not only with your novels branding, but also help your novel stand out from the others. At the very least, a good title will not turn people off your novel. Personally, that’s the only reason a novel will send me packing – if it’s got nothing to do with the blurb. I’ve been lucky to have my title already in mind as I wrote my novel – ‘Hunting for Witches.’ But as I draw my writing to … Read More