Writing Resources

Writing Tool Box

by Leave a Comment

Here are some of the tools, articles, snippets I’ve come across this month which credit a mention, in my book at any rate…

A Cheat Sheet – do you struggle to describe body language, defaulting to the same old same old? Well this handy cheat sheet has to have a space in your resource file…

A Book – if you want even more help with describing emotions and how they affect your characters, The Emotional Thesaurus is a must for your book shelf. I’ve been using this a lot during the 2nd edit of Wolf Moon.

A List – of ideas for Facebook and Instagram Stories for Authors… apparently this is the way to go and this is a great checklist of things you can talk about for these short term posts.

A Tool– this article ‘How to Mind Map Your Novel‘ includes useful apps and software to achieve this but essentially all you need are pens and paper. I used this method to revise for exams, many years ago but hadn’t thought about using it for writing purposes!

On The Book Shelf: Writing Craft Books

by Leave a Comment

This month I’ve decided to share the writing craft books that have changed the way I write and think about the whole process. So it’s a multiple author shout out.

I have read a ton of books related to the process of writing, from generating ideas, to character development, plot outlines and a premise – to editing, rewriting, polishing and publishing. Honestly, I could have filled a small room with them.

Though I can’t say that any particular book, advice or sage words changed my life considerably, I have taken bits and pieces from them and developed my own style. It’s an individual thing, this writing lark, there isn’t just one size fits all. So these are my top four favourite of all time which I would definitely save from fire or flood if need be.

The Morning Pages, by Julia Cameron has to come top of my list. I recommended this book in my tool box last month and wrote a post here about my reasons for using Morning Pages. I refer to this system many times as it’s my kind of daily mantra. Before I do anything else, I pick up a pen and journal and just let spill forth. It could be about writing, or life or whatever is bugging me at that moment. It sets up my day.

 

 

How to Write a Novel using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson. I’ve read everything there is out there on plot, and this one just clicks with me. Randy uses a very familiar fairy tale, well a mix of them, to demonstrate the steps required to build a story. And, for me, it works every time. I wrote post earlier in the year about using this method…

 

 

 

 

From 2k to 10k Words by Rachel Aaron. Again, this is not a book which shares any hidden secrets on the world of writing. There isn’t a hidden formula, it’s down to the writer to make it happen and the advice here does what it says on the can. What more can I say? I called Rachel out in an earlier post and I think she deserves another shout …

 

 

Writing a Novel in Scrivener by David Hewson. Scrivener is my favourite piece of software. I probably still don’t know more that a quarter of its capabilities but this book is a great start. It provides a place for everything, characters, places, scenes and allows you to move things around easily. I kind of use it like my story bible, along with my paper one of course! Just in case. 😉 and I’ve made a note to write more about my top reasons for using Scrivener so watch this space…

 

 

What books have your read which have had an impact on your writing? Always ready to add others to my shelf so please let me know!

Writing Tool Box

by Leave a Comment

Every month I share some of the resources I’ve come across and found useful… for one reason or another.

A Book: I mentioned the Morning Pages in last week’s blog, which features in The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. Definitely a must have for my book shelf. And it’s geared to all creative processes, not just writing.

A Website: If you write blogs and social media posts then having access to a professional library of images is essential. At Pixabay, you can find images to suit every post and most of them are free to download and use, but make sure you check first.

A Writing Community: This is a bit of a personal plug… if you are (or have been) an expat writer and want some support why not check out Writers Abroad? I set up this community over 10 years ago and we keep the numbers fairly small so that it’s a more intimate setting. We’re open for membership at the moment.

An App: If you are into travel and writing, Polarsteps might be just what you are looking for. I used if for our last trip to Scotland in May and produce an album as a keepsake. It’s very reasonably priced (the app is free but you pay for albums) and very professional. I’m so impressed I’m going to plot our Irish trip last year!

I’d love to hear if you have any recommendations!

 

 

Morning Pages: 5 Reasons I Write Them

by Leave a Comment

I’ve been doing ‘Morning Pages‘ ever since I first read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron back in 2015. This exercise entails three pages of long hand, free consciousness writing.

I don’t follow every bit of writing advice that’s put out there, nor do I generally give it. What I do is share what works for me. And this does. For the past four years. I’ve had the odd gap and paid for it with a severe case of the wobbles about me, about my writing, and castrophising (a term I’ve nicked from the indomitable Dawn French).

There is nothing to learn, but there is a habit to create. For me, first thing in the morning, in bed when my dreamy sleepy self is still not quite conscious. I just write whatever is on my mind. It’s not meant to be read, revisited, or used for any other purpose than de-cluttering.  Although sometimes I do write down something I need to remember because it’s crowding my head space.

So these are the five benefits I have garnered from doing this very exercise…

  1. Creating Head Space – writing down what first comes to mind helps to clear the cobwebs away. It’s like a regular bit of house keeping for the brain. The thoughts that trouble me, the dreams that scare me and the things that are troubling me just seep away onto the paper. The actual issues don’t go away but I’ve parked them.
  2. Problem Solving – it could be about a life issue, or more than likely sorting out something in a writing project that’s been troubling me. I can write it out, as it were, and as I do I come up with solutions. It’s a great feeling when that happens.
  3. Easily Achievable – 10 minutes it takes me. Simon knows that it’s the first thing I want to do, the animals, well they don’t quite understand but I refuse to let distractions get in the way. First thing before the day begins to control my activities and it’s done.
  4. Improves my Confidence and Self Esteem– not just in my writing life but in all sorts of area’s. I often ask myself ‘what is the worst case scenario’ if something is troubling me and often it’s insignificant and I can forget about it… until it raises it’s head again! When I slack off this exercise, like whilst we were away, my belief in myself dwindles fast, like water going down a drain.
  5. Increases Productivity – I always feel ready to get on with whatever I need to do, it allows me to allocate priorities, set goals for the day and get things done. I’m not saying I never have a day where there is stuff I didn’t get done, but I’ve usually done the important stuff, more often than not that means something to do with writing.

It’s the best bit of daily work out I do… pity it doesn’t help the waist line! 🙂

Pages clarify our yearnings. They keep an eye on our goals. They may provoke us, coax us, comfort us, even cajole us, as well as prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. If we are drifting, the pages will point that out. They will point the way True North. Each morning, as we face the page, we meet ourselves. The pages give us a place to vent and a place to dream. They are intended for no eyes but our own.

Julia Cameron

 

Feeding My Muse

by Leave a Comment

Last month I wrote about the Social Media platforms I use, today I’m sharing a few ‘pins’ from My Pinterest board. You’ll learn a lot fromwhat goes on in my head from these pictures. For those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest it’s a place to save, organise and store images. You can follow other ‘Pinners’ with similar interests, create boards and save individual ‘pins’ (just another name for images).  A word of warning though, you can spend ages lost in the world of Pinterest and before you know it the hours have just slipped by. Very pleasurable time out though.

 

Pinterest is my absolute favourite because it is so visual, as you can see. I do need to do a bit of housekeeping. Like my home, it tends to get a bit untidy and grubby. 😉

You can follow me and my boards here and if you do, let me know and I’ll follow you back.

Planner or Panster – The Snowflake Method

by Leave a Comment

It is said that there are two kinds of writers in terms of approaching a project. The Pansters  and the Planners.

Pansters are the kind of fly by the seat of your pants (hence the name) kind of writers who don’t know where their story is going to start. Or finish for that matter. They go with the flow which ever way it may take them. One of the disadvantages reported of this approach is the danger of becoming stuck because there is no plan and the danger of having multiple unfinished projects gathering dust on the shelf.

Planners on the other hand, are the opposite, naturally. They have a plan, know where they are going, what’s going to happen when, and for that reason find it easier to deal with writers block. However, the disadvantage is that the plans can become too rigid and leave little room for change without a lot of work re-doing outlines.

If you had asked me several years ago which camp I fell in it would definitely be the first. And yes, I had in excess of six, yes 6, manuscripts all gathering that proverbial dust. But, I’m not a natural planner either, my brain is not that organised to know what I’m doing before I do it and I like to make diversions where I can.

So I guess I’m the third kind of writer (a Planster?) who falls between these two camps and with the help of the Snowflake method, I’ve learnt how to create a successful approach for my projects. Remember… I don’t profess to have any right answers. I just share what works for me. The Snowflake method allows me to combine both Pansting – I’m not sure that’s a verb 🙂 – and Planning.

It starts from the most simple premise possible, a one sentence story summary. From there nine more steps combine both plot and character development, each building on from the last step, making it very easy to go back and change things that will affect the final outcome, a detailed scene list. The system is essentially about growing your story so that you have a template from which to work from and discovers and identifies the plot holes, flat one dimensional characters and arcs before you start. So the flexibility of being a free spirit with the ability to easily re-trace your steps. What could be more perfect?

What’s more, Randy Ingermanson the creator of this method, helpfully recommends how much time you should spend on each step. This is helpful in understanding how long it will take you before you start writing the story but also will indicate if you are spending too much time on analysis and need to buckle down and start.

To find out more about the step and this method here are some resources you can consult and make up your own mind…