Novel Ideas: Opinions Please

Tags

choice, Decision, idea, NaNoWriMo, Novel, November, Writer, Writing

I’m still trying to work out what style of writing is going to keep me going for NaNoWriMo next month. So I was hoping that maybe some feedback might help me choose. If you have the time to read through these snippets and let me know if you enjoy any or dislike any, or think something sticks out as interesting, then please let me know.

November is Coming!

Tags

Creativity, Hobbies, life, NaNoWriMo, November, October, planning, Writing

Yes, I know, I know, it’s still October and I’m already days behind on my Inktober offerings but I am going to catch up … honest.

But I haven’t been at home over the weekend, and while I couldn’t be drawing then my thoughts turned to fear because November is almost here. And I wanted to have some kind of vague plan for NaNoWriMo this time, in hopes this will help me actually cross the finishing line.

So today, I’ve been trying to work out some ideas and going through some old writing prompts to see if there was an idea that I wanted to expand upon. At the moment my thoughts are not even in one particular genre (well, isn’t that a surprise), however I will have whittled down my favourites by the end of the week and hopefully you guys can help steer me towards one again.

At least I have a plan for my spare time this week:

1- Catch up with Mythical Innktober: Dragon, Treant, Water spirit, Wyvern.

2 – Organise NaNoWriMo ideas & post for opinions.

3- Announce Novel.

4 – Actually check facebook and catch up with some of the other Nanoers.

5 – Check out Overwatch Halloween event and probably annoy other people with my bad FPS skills.

My never ending story.

Tags

CampNanowrimo, idea, Stories, tips, typing, Writerproblems, writers, Writing

I’ve never been a planner with my writing and mostly I just write when I get the urge; I fool myself into thinking that this is because I need to be in the zone.

It’s not really true though is it?

As any writer knows, the main goal is just to actually write, whether you are in the mood for it or not. In fact this is exactly why CampNaNoWriMo exists: just to aid and encourage people to write something every day. It challenges you to pick up a pen, or attack that keyboard: but either way it pushes you to write something every single day for a month.

And I can do this, I know I can, with some self discipline (I’ll admit some days this is a challenge for me) then I know I am able to write something every day, for a month. I know, because I have done it before and I do start to get into a happy habit of it. 

Yet for some reason I just can’t seem to stick to one story. My writing goal is on target, yet only half of it is the story I want to be telling: the other is just inane chatter about other ideas.

 

I really can’t stay with one piece of writing or one character in the same part of the story line. Instead I either end up wandering off into another random idea, or moving my character to another part of his or her life. So yes, it’s nice to be able to write every day but at the same time, I’d really like to be able to say I have finished a story: or at least one chapter without distraction.

I so admire the focus and dedication of a lot of my peers for this, as I watch them produce coherent pieces of writing with a start, middle and end. Then I look to my own Middle, near end, middle, start, middle.

If anyone has any focusing tips I’ll gladly hear them.

 

CampNaNoWriMo: Lets do this!

Tags

Blogging, CampNanowrimo, Distraction, Handwriting, Motivation, Writing

It’s that time again, yes CampNaNoWriMo is here again, and this time I’m determined not to fall behind even on those days where I really don’t feel like writing. I just need that little kick to keep me going.

*sets daily alarm to add a nudge

This also means if you see me hanging about on Twitter for a lengthy period of time then feel free to give me a poke and tell me to stop procrastinating as I will just be there avoiding the writing.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing because I do, I just lack discipline to do it daily and tend to drift to it only at times that I feel the need to. I (like everyone else) get a little preoccupied with all the other things going on and Twitter is really a rabbit hole for me, I think it’s actually even worse than WoW. At least with WoW I have to be at my PC but Twitter can even catch me which on my notebook or phone.

I have tried handwriting and keeping away from the electronics but let’s be honest once you get out the habit of handwriting it becomes almost alien to do so and it’s slower. In my case it is often illegible afterwards too or gets lost, so a word document is definitely the best way to go for me.

So that’s my warm up exercise complete, let’s get stuck into the storytelling and see where it takes me.

Sunshine Award – Q&A

Tags

Blogging, Inspiration, Interaction, prompt, questions, Sunshine Award, Writing

A special thank you to MJ Cobra for tagging me in for this little Q&A and making sure that I have been writing rather than staring at a blank screen. Check out her great blog  HERE

Hope you enjoy the answers:

1. What’s number 1 on your bucket list?
Erm maybe to start a bucket list? I actually don’t have one, I prefer to just take the opportunities as they come rather than sigh at a list every time another year goes by without the accomplishment.

2. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?
Watching really cheesy films (especially Christmas ones), I don’t just mean bad chick flicks, I mean full on Hallmark type romance ones. Sometimes it’s just nice to get that heartwarming ending that is expected of that type of film.

3. How do you envision your handwriting if it were a person? Would you be friends?
My handwriting is a little bit unstable and tends to change depending on circumstances and moods. As a person I imagine it would be pretty much the same a little whirlwind of emotional baggage that changes every hour of every day…wait did I just describe myself? I think we could be friends, well some days.

4. If you could bring someone back from the dead, who would you choose?
Eww this just sounds gross, I’ve seen some of those zombie movies and they ain’t pretty. Although if we are talking in a nice clean skelatal form like Scraps from Corpse Bride then I will opt for my cat so he can once again stroll around thinking he is a dog.

5. What is your kryptonite?
Cute helpless animals – No matter how angry I am a cute baby otter can sway my attention – Anyone seen finding Dory?

6. If you owned a restaurant, what would be the best selling dish?
Surprise stew! Sometimes it works out spicy, sometimes bbq style and sometimes just plain with dumplings. I don’t really start out with a plan but it always seems to work out in the end.

7. What is your favourite part about blogging?
The random interactions. In the real world we are all so stuck in our own little bubbles, and penned in by our status in life that we often don’t interact with people that we would always choose but by those people our surroundings choose for us. Through blogging you are able to find interesting people that might not be within your usual sphere.

8. Do you have a crush on any fictional characters?
*thinks*
I’m guessing the obvious one would be Mr Darcy but if I’m being honest I’ve always had more of a thing for Brontë’s Heathcliff anyway. But if I’m steering away from the classic then I think I would opt for the odd choice of Geralt of Rivia – yes this is me crushing on the Witcher. He has just about the right amount of passion, fight and oddness to make it work for him, and if you haven’t read the books then these come recommended. He has, shall we say complex relationships yet there are definitely some heart racing moments in there.

9. What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received or heard?
I can’t remember the exact words but it was a pep talk email from NaNoWriMo and it said something like –

Even if you think it’s crap then just keep writing, even perfect roses need fertilser

10.Which of your blog posts is your favourite?
I think perhaps this one – Creativity meets Warcraft
A combination between two great loves and something I wrote after discovering a really friendly twitter community among Warcraft players.

The rules for this award are as follows:

Rules

• Show the award on your blog.
• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Answer the given questions.
• Nominate a blog(s) and give them questions to answer.
• Link your nominee(s) and let them know of your nomination.

 

However being a rule breaker and not wanting to try and being unsure of who would appreciate a nomination and who would not need the extra writing then I am not going to choose but I encourage anyone to take up the mantle and if you are so inclined then here are my questions.

1. If you could be a comic book hero/villain then who would it be and why?
2. What was the last film you saw in the cinema and did you enjoy it?
3. If you could only eat only thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
4. Do you enjoy reading and if so which genre do you enjoy most?
5. Would you rather be in a life like an old Western film or a Sci-fi one?
6. If your characteristics were an animal what would it be?
7. When you were a child what did you wish you could be/do?
8. Given the choice would you want to be cryogenically frozen?
9. What landmark have you always wanted to see?
10. Is there any advice you would give to your younger self if it were possible?

If anyone does use these questions for a blog post then please drop a note in the comments and I would love to pay a visit and read them.

Also

Have fun 🙂

 

 

I wish I were a Raccoon

Tags

Animal, creative, Inspiration, poem, prompt, Raccoon, Writing

I wish I were a raccoon with tiny grabby hands
To know exactly what I want and openly demand
I’d sport a nice snug tail and roll instead of walk
to get me places faster and I’d never have to talk
Instead I’d have cute glassy eyes
that no one could resist
and people would just give me cake
because I would persist.

A little snuggly raccoon, full of tenacity
I’d be a chubby, fuzzy ball of voracity.

 

Thanks for the Inspiration call over at

Creative Talents Unleashed

The Invitation

Tags

Blogging, Inspiration, invitation, prompt, words, writers block, Writing

It lay, glaring at me.

Bold as brass but far more flashy. It wasn’t meant to cause offence of course, just inspiration: an invitation from a friendly source with the aim to inspire.

Yet it lay on my screen, blinking out it’s gesture in defiance of my inability to react. It sat, expectantly in my list, silently demanding a reply with its innocent face. For a time I stared back, waiting to see if I could scare it into submission, assert my own blank dominance and allow it a healthy retreat.

But the invitation stood its ground, raising my heckles and taunting me with its propitious  prompt. It mocked me for idleness, chided the brain numbing sloth I had succumbed to, and spurred me into action.

The singular word became clear.

It was an invitation to write.

 

via Daily Prompt: Invitation

 

3am and still awake

Tags

awake, Blogging, Insomnia, life, Motivation, passion, thinking, work, Writing

I don’t know what it is about 3am but I always feel more alert, more alive somehow. Even though most of the day has been spent walking around feeling like a zombie with my brain only working on autopilot: there is something about this time of night (or morning) that kicks it into gear.

It might be the fact that my body finally feels balanced with all its levels or perhaps the caffeine taken earlier to prop me up for the day finally comes into to its own. It could be the fact that 3am allows me to actually just enjoy silence and finally I feel relaxed enough to enjoy it. I’m not sure what it is about 3am – I only know that it works for me.

Ideas race around my brain and I begin to think about all the possibilities (and sometimes the impossibilities) that life could hold and feel more inclined to want to reach out and grab them. Maybe it’s just my brain working overtime but in the dead of night is when things actually feel possible.

I start to plot together ridiculous ideas of future plans and how I can leave the rat race and focus on something more fun, something I can throw some passion into – This is about the time I start to believe that sitting in a box, staring at a screen whilst making money for somebody else is a terrible idea and maybe I could just use some creativity and keep myself afloat without the daily grind, or at least make the daily grind something I can feel happier doing.

Then I get to thinking about all the things that I want to do and all the things I should do, then all the things I need to do…and alas I’m back at square one knowing that I have to at least try and sleep so that tomorrow isn’t even more terrible.

I guess tomorrow I can at least say I updated a neglected blog (even if it is only inane wittering) so that’s one thing more than I did yesterday…slow progress is still progress I guess 😉

July CampNanoWrimo

Tags

CampNanowrimo, goal, hot chocolate, Motivation, planning, Random musings, Writing

 

Yes it’s here once again, that lovely boost from a writing camp: yes CampNaNoWriMo really does help to add some focus to the everyday writing aim.

This time around though I am not rolling up prepared and pitching up an idea to write about. Nope, instead I’m having a good old clear out , a spring cleaning of thoughts and ideas if you will. This time around I am just typing, any little thing that pops into my head because let’s be honest my brain is filled with so many weird and wonderful (or just plain bizarre) thing that sometimes it gets a bit hard to focus on one solid project. so instead I feel like I need to get a lot of things off my chest, sketch out a few ideas for stories to get back to at a later date. Trawl through anything left unsaid that I just want to vent about but not necessarily out loud, and perhaps flesh out a character or three so I can use them in future.

My main aim this time is just to type and get back into the habit of it, with the idea to actually make it to the end of a NanoWriMo this time. This year I want to be more focused and actually complete the Novel draft. I would like to go in with some kind of vague plan and direction. OK, I know this will most likely change as the days near yet still if I’m prepared maybe I might just get there this time.

So here’s to July may it be a good testing ground for me and a great experience and productive for those of you who entered camp *raises hot chocolate*

 

CampNaNoWriMo- Day 1

Tags

CampNanowrimo, Motivation, Support, Writing, Writing Prompts

Ok ok so I was a little late to the party today but thanks to Tim’s Nano prompts

 

Some pink fizzy stuff

Source: Yellow Tail

and some encouragement from CampNaNoWriMo cabin mates, I managed to get off to a flying start ringing in at 860 words. A lot of which were used to explore a character so I’m happy with this. I need to keep most of it under wraps however I can share the warm up waning moon sprint.

The moon wanes to a fingernail as the hollow shriek of the foxes call out in the darkness. I hear them play at night, their soft paws padding on the lawn, noses snuffling into trash cans and paper bags left folded under the guise of recycling. Nobody ever washes out the jars though, nor the plastic packets curled around meat haunches which the fox kits love to lick and suck . They come from far and wide to this hot spot, the only place in the neighbourhood where people are too lazy to rinse.

Hope everyone else enjoyed a good first day, and remember there is plenty of time to catch up !

Source: Lucy Bellwood