Alright NaNoWriMo is quite the challenge! The best tip I have heard so far is to only stop writing once you know what will happen next... that way when you start back up, you wont be stuck there wondering what to write. Simple, but brilliant!
I am a little under 10k words in... checking out this program called Scrivener... I've heard great things about it, do any of you know how good it is? Recommend it? Avoid it? Let me know!
Hope you are all doing well both in writing and in life... I am feeling motivational today so here is something I always remembered from my health teacher way back in high school:
"Do the best with what you have, and where you are."
So keep at it guys! Share the blog, leave your comments, if you want to write a guest post then sweet! Let me know! Find me on Twitter (I promise I follow back) @MattTaylor1776
-Matt
Showing posts with label Tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tools. Show all posts
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Writing Interesting Characters: Quirks and Hobbies.
Alright, so one thing that I hear talked about a lot, is character creation and making characters that seem well rounded and not flat.
One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.
By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.
Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?
Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.
Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.
Happy writing!
Matt
One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.
By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.
Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?
Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.
Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.
Happy writing!
Matt
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Back at it!
Ok, so I had a fever of a little over 102.5 for the past two and a half days... But! I am feeling way better today. Just a stiff neck and a minor headache. I was curious, for those of you out there who write, do you prefer to outline your work completely? Do you discovery write all of it? or a happy medium between outlining and discovery writing?
For me, I prefer discovery writing with a very light outline. I pretty much only write down what the ending will be, but even that is subject to change!
Comment below and let me know!
-Matt
For me, I prefer discovery writing with a very light outline. I pretty much only write down what the ending will be, but even that is subject to change!
Comment below and let me know!
-Matt
Saturday, June 14, 2014
A quick writing tip for today!
Alright,
I hope you are all well today! I just want to take a second to address an issue I deal with more often than I would like, and that you probably have all had to deal with. WRITERS BLOCK. *queue dreadful music*
Here is a tip that I have found works out pretty well. Figure out what WOULDN'T happen next in the scene. If you start to make a short list of what would not happen, then you will most likely figure out something that would be likely to happen, and therefore get yourself out of your block! Think it sounds crazy? Go ahead... try it out!
I hope you are all well today! I just want to take a second to address an issue I deal with more often than I would like, and that you probably have all had to deal with. WRITERS BLOCK. *queue dreadful music*
Here is a tip that I have found works out pretty well. Figure out what WOULDN'T happen next in the scene. If you start to make a short list of what would not happen, then you will most likely figure out something that would be likely to happen, and therefore get yourself out of your block! Think it sounds crazy? Go ahead... try it out!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Two Writing Resources I Find Helpful! (Seriously, you may like them.)
Alright, some of you out there who are looking may be thinking about writing, or already write regularly, may find some of this stuff helpful —I know I have.
Wikipad
Wikipad is a very helpful tool I found out about through a podcast I regularly listen to (which is my second helpful item). It is essentially a personal wiki where you can create indepth documents to help with world building and thought organization. You can turn words or phrases into “wikiwords” which are words that also serve as links you can click on to navigate to a fresh page specifically about that item/topic/character. For example, if you have John Smith, you can turn his name into a wikiword and enable it so that when you double click “John Smith” it takes you to a blank page where you can fill out more details about him. This program lets you create a web of ideas and interconnects all of them for your own ease and lets you never lose track of something again!
You can download Wikipad here: http://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/
Writing Excuses
Writing Excuses is a podcast put on by: Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells. They release 15 minute long podcasts every Monday and cover a variety of topics related to writing, and have special guests on the show regularly. It is a very entertaining and informative podcast to answer any questions you may have!
Check it out here: http://www.writingexcuses.com/ Thanks for reading, Matt.
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