thewritingzone-blog

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@be-happ-y @mo0nkin @erikaloquellano @dvr0501 @nightlightwriting-blog @funkou @23parisv @bangbang365 @samuelduzzit @onewishfish @mapleonthemove @grapheloton @watersofmars-photography-blog @oceanentry 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

[thewritingzone-blog]

@be-happ-y @mo0nkin @erikaloquellano @dvr0501 @nightlightwriting-blog @funkou @23parisv @bangbang365 @samuelduzzit @onewishfish @mapleonthemove @grapheloton @watersofmars-photography-blog @oceanentry 

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

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We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.

B.F. Skinner

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7.6.15 / 2:03 am - Journal “First thought, best thought”. A quote from Kill Your Darlings

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Staedtler Fineliners vs. Stabilo 88s

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11th of January 2007

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Creative Writing Exercise #1

Hello everyone!

I’d like to contribute to the writing community here on Tumblr by sharing a creative writing exercise I really enjoy using, especially when I’m feeling low on inspiration. 

And it’s called...

THE BOOK COVER CHALLENGE!

Sounds cool, right? It goes like this:

1) Go on a ‘vertical’ blog on Tumblr, or any other site that has a lot of vertical photography, and pick an interesting picture that must be vertically shaped so that it is in the same shape as a book cover.

Here is an example that I found:

2) Imagine this picture is the cover of a book that has just been published. Then ask yourself the following questions:

     ~ What would the title be?

In this case, you could think of a whole list of different titles. It could be something generic, like The Cove or The Tunnel, or maybe something a little more interesting, like Below the Seaway or Subterranean.

Once you think of a title, you can go on to the second, more important, question:

     ~ What is the book about?

This part is a little harder, but it tests your creative skills. Judging from this picture here, the book could have a dark undertone, some sort of mystery vibe. It could be about:

- A young woman trying to run away from her childhood, and when her grandfather leaves her his large house by a rarely-visited cove, the woman arrives to see that there are many secrets within the old house and the cliffside caverns below. 

- An adept deep sea swimmer who gets into cave diving and notices something sinister with one cavern he is exploring. 

Who knows! The story is whatever you want it to be.

3) Write the first few pages! After you have decided on the general plot of the book (no need to overthink it!), start writing from Chapter 1, page 1. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just remember what the book’s plot is, and set it up. You may even write more than just a chapter!

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Journal from a year backpacking in India - 1996.

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At LA Live! to see the US Women's Soccer Team! 🇺🇸

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Me: *tries to plan my novel*

Me: *starts daydreaming about the sequels to the novel I haven't even written yet instead*

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I’m in need of more writing/writer/book blogs to follow. 

Reblog if you are one?

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Reblog if you are a:

- studyblr - bookblr - fitblr - writeblr

Need more blogs to follow since I’m much more active on my side blog than main!

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It’s journal day today!

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This trend of turning books into shows instead of movies needs to continue because I’d rather have 50 hours of my favorite books with a TV show than 8 hours with a movie series. 

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when you accidentally type tis instead of its

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Any advice for how to start writing? Like how to get the story started?

My advice is just to dive right in! Usually when I get a new idea, it’s just a scene or a character or a piece of dialogue. So I just put that down on paper and start writing, without thinking about the bigger picture. I write until I can’t write anymore, which is usually when questions start appearing like, ‘who is this character?’, ‘why did they end up there?’, ‘why would they do that for?’

Then I start to answer those questions. This is not the most efficient way, but it works for me, so always go with what feels natural for you and don’t think about what someone else would do. I guess the trick is to not worry too much about the final product, and just enjoy the journey of discovering your idea.

There are lots of ways to start a story though. If you’re a little to nervous to jump into it, then maybe try these ways:

Question Your Idea

So you have this idea and before you write it, you might want to know more about it first. Ask it lots of questions! Who is this character? Why are they saying those things? Why would they do that? Where do they live? Who are their family members? Who are their friends? What do they do each day?

All stories start with a character. It is your job as a writer to give them motivation and work out all of the parts around that until you can orchestrate their story.

Create An Outline

Note down the particulars of the idea, as in, all of the things you definitely want to include from the initial draft. Then expand those out and write a brief outline of who the characters are, what their motivations are, what the world around them is like, and how you imagine this story ending. The more you outline, the more ideas you will find and the more you’ll be able to flesh out the beginning and middle.

Some good advice though is to write with the end in mind. This might help you to come up with all the stuff that appears before the end as you surely want to know how your characters get to that last part!

Don’t Worry Too Much

I always think… writing tips are good for second, third and later drafts… You really don’t want to be worrying too much about what agents think of prologues or info dumps when you’re just getting started! The key is to get everything out on paper, then worry about how it reads to somebody else. For now, do what you want to do and don’t even think too much about adhering to everyone else’s rules. Better to improve on what you have written than to have nothing written to improve on at all.

Most Importantly, Have Fun!

A novel isn’t complete overnight. Just enjoy this process of getting to know your story, it is honestly the most fun and inspiring part! Take off your shoes and run around in the grass, as it were. Really fill your mind up with this idea. Think up playlists, imagine your characters’ lives, imagine how they’d all interact. If you’re interested in what you’re writing, then it will be easier to obsess over and easier to get something down. So you absolutely have to love the idea, it will make everything much easier.

I hope these little tips help. Please keep an eye on follower responses, as there might be more good suggestions in reblogs/replies if none of the ones I’ve proposed are what you were looking for.

Best of luck with your story, I hope you can get started on it soon!

Resources

Six Ways to Start the Writing Process

How to Start Writing

Starting Your Story - Going Against the Rules

- enlee