Write Like CRAZY: where young writers gather

We’re Moving!

writerinspired — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:55:51 +0000

{photo: 123rentahome.com}

WriteLikeCRAZY is packing up and moving to a new home!

Because my goal is to focus on writing and teaching fiction, I decided to merge my two blogs into one powerhouse of information and inspiration!

What will change:

WriteLikeCRAZY blog will still be here so you can find archived prompts, tips and links like before
Writers Inspired will be home to how-to tips on the craft of writing and submitting your fiction work, for both young adult and adult writers
Writers Inspired will occasionally host published authors through interviews or guest posts on the writing, organizing and publishing processes, plus awesome Book Giveaways!!
Writers Inspired will also offer games, exercises and prompts for young adult writers (and their teachers!!) to use
Writers Inspired will be like an online writers group where you can read and share helpful topics, like: unique ways to find ideas, dealing with procrastination, the latest in writing contests and new markets, tools and resources for fiction writers, tips on tracking submissions and all aspects of the fiction writing craft.
Writers Inspired will have one page for young writers with links, prompts and advice PLUS one page for teachers with lesson plan ideas, games to energize the class and notes on what I’ve learned as a Creative Writing Teacher
Writers Inspired will also have a list of events for young writers and teachers in the DuPage County (IL) area

What you need to do:

Go to Writers Inspired
Click “Follow”
Be surprised by the updates you get in your email inbox or Google Reader every time a new post appears
Leave lots of comments! This new blog is for you – the readers-and I want to provide content that you’re interested in reading: )
Send your friends and teachers!

So, thank you to my current and future followers! Now, let’s get on the ROAD!!!

5 Prompt Friday

writerinspired — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 05:01:37 +0000

Here we go again…

Jimmy yelped when the person in the photo winked up at him.
The sound of someone rummaging through the garbage can outside
Milwaukee was the next exit.
Sitting in the first car of a new roller coaster.
Rachel picked at the scab on her knee trying not to hear her parents screaming in the next room.

Share with us! (your own writing prompts or snippets of what you wrote!)

Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’

writerinspired — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:18:52 +0000

{photo: commons.wikimedia.org}

Try this little game for unlimited story ideas:

Grab a pair of dice

Roll em

Create stories based on the numbers that are showing.

So, if you roll:

1 = a boy wearing a cast

2 = angry crowd around a flagpole

3 = spilled coffee on the carpet

4 = litter blowing in the street

5 = an obnoxious cell phone ringtone

6 = the first bite of a warm brownie topped with ice cream

So, with two dice you’ll get twice the numbers and you can combine two of the above: like if you roll a 3 and a 5 then start a story or poem or essay using spilled coffee on the carpet and an obnoxious cell phone ringtone. Or think up 6 more prompts if you roll numbers 7-12.

Think of the possibilities!

Student Writing Contest and Scholarship

writerinspired — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:02:00 +0000

Amazing opportunity for young writers! Can’t you just taste the salty sea air already? Good luck!

The Black Dog Tall Ships & Merlyn’s Pen Writing Contest

Start Date March 10, 2010End Date May 1, 2010Eligibility Writers ages 12 to 17

“I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sails’ shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied. . . . “ from

“Sea Fever,” by John Masefield

CONTEST TOPIC: NATURE AND THE SEA

Has something in nature ever called to you? Has your soul been tugged by something not quite seen, only felt? Have you seen a place in nature that you’ve never forgotten? Have you been outside in a storm or shower and felt, yes, I belong here. Writers, artists and adventurers share a sensitivity to nature’s claim on us. In their art and exploration, they are attuned to a hidden, even incomprehensible connection to the natural world.

For the young poet John Masefield, whose phrase “down to the seas” is never far from a sailor’s mind when he or she has been too long on land, it was the ocean that tugged at his soul, called out to him. For others, it might be the sky that beckons, or the mountains, a desert, or a grove. Or the tug could come from a simple tree, a creek, a pond, a garden, a country path, an arrangement of stones. This contest asks: What in nature calls, or has called out, to you?

ELIGIBILITY & PRIZE

Writers 12 to 17 years old as of July 11, 2010, are eligible. Poetry, personal narratives (nonfiction), and creative nonfiction are welcome.

The winner earns a full scholarship, plus a travel stipend of up to $400* to attend The Black Dog Tall Ships “Kids Cruise–Writers’ Week,” the writing & sailing adventure for teens this July in Martha’s Vineyard.

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST

Go to www.merlynspen.org, and on the home page click Submit Your Writing Here, or click “You Write,” then “Submit Your Writing.” Writers may submit up to three poems or two personal narratives during the contest period. (If you enter poetry and prose, send no more than two poems and one narrative.)

Click here for inspiration! See how some teen authors have written about nature and the sea.

5 Prompt Friday

writerinspired — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:13:47 +0000

Weary as I post this. ..my day job is kicking my butt! So, “5″ is our theme for prompts today:

Write about:

5 finger discount
5-day work week (or school week)
giving a high-five
Jackson Pollock’s abstract art “No. 5″ (pictured here)
Memory from age 5

Share your pompts or your product of these prompts.

Till next week, catch ya on the flip side.

Winner of book giveaway…

writerinspired — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:13:17 +0000

…is TRACY! Congrats, Tracy! I’ve sent you an email requesting your shipping address to receive your free copy of ARIES RISING.

Thanks to all who posted comments and to Bonnie Hearn Hill for guest posting.

Author Bonnie Hearn Hill (& book giveaway!)

writerinspired — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:01:39 +0000

Bonnie Hearn Hill

Today, we have a special treat! Author, Bonnie Hearn Hill offers tips for young writers in her guest post: “Six Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started Out.”

Bonnie will be popping in to answer your questions! PLUS – by leaving a comment or question today (March 16) you have a chance to win the first book in her new Star Crossed Teen series: Aries Rising. ALSO!!! Scroll to the bottom for instructions on entering to win an iPod Touch. Yep, we’re all about the prizes today. Cha-ching!

Wanna Win this Book??

Winner of Aries Rising will be announced tomorrow (Wed., 3/17)

Six Things I Wish I Had Known When I Started Out

By: Bonnie Hearn Hill

1. There’s a reader out there. Writing isn’t about you, the writer. It’s about the character’s relationship with the reader. If you want to write a journal, that’s fine. You might even steal pieces of it for your “real” writing. But they are not one and the same. (Another thing I wish I’d learned is not to use orphan quotes the way I just did around the word, real.)

2. To avoid the nasty little habit of using myself as my main character just because it’s “easier.” It’s not. Readers want protagonists who are 1. proactive and 2. sympathetic. Create a character who is larger than life, someone far different from yourself. When you do this, who you are and what you believe will become clear on the page.

3. Don’t preach. Yeah, I know it’s tempting, but it doesn’t work. Readers read for four reasons: to be informed, to be instructed, to be entertained or to be inspired. The more of these tasks you accomplish, the more readers you will touch.

4. Guard your feelings. Not everyone will support your writing. Some will want to steal your time or be overly critical of your creation. Think of yourself as playing strip poker in world full of people who are dressed. Share only with those you trust, and don’t listen to anyone who tries to destroy your dreams.

5. Focus. I wish I’d learned this far earlier. Writing that succeeds is focused. Writing that falls short is not. In nonfiction, I ask myself: Who is my reader, and what do I want to tell this person? In fiction, I ask: Whose story is this, and what does this person want?

6. You don’t have to write what you know. Have you ever ridden in a spaceship or tried to escape a monster? That doesn’t mean you can’t write about a character who does. Unzip your skin, step into your character’s skin and just imagine.

Write your passion. That is the only true rule.

www.bonniehearnhill.com

facebook.com/bonnie.h.hill

facebook.com/StarCrossedseries

The Star Crossed Series

Aries Rising, March 2010

Taurus Eyes, Summer 2010

Gemini Night, Fall 2010

: Wanna Win this Book??

31 Days of Aries

Your chance to free books–and maybe an iPod Touch

The Aries Rising Blog Tour & Book Giveaway continues through March 31. Destinations will be posted daily, and a free copy of Aries Rising will be given away at each one. At the conclusion of the tour, a drawing will be held for an iPod Touch. No purchase is necessary. You can enter as often as you wish, and you can qualify in three ways. 1. Be an Aries. Just send your birth date (month and day) to starcrossed.contest@gmail.com. 2. Write a review and post it anywhere. Send the link to the same address. (More work, I know, and I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to spread the word about my astro series). 3. Post a fan badge on your Facebook page and send the link to above address.

Bonnie Hearn Hill worked as a newspaper editor for 22 years, a job that, along with her natural nosiness, increased her interest in contemporary culture. Prior to her new Star Crossed series from Running Press/Perseus Books, she wrote six thrillers for MIRA Books, as well as numerous short stories, nonfiction books and articles.

An interest in astrology along with her close friendship with Cosmo Magazine Astrologer Hazel Dixon-Cooper inspired the Star Crossed series: Aries Rising, Taurus Eyes, and Gemini Night.

A national conference speaker, Bonnie founded The Tuesdays, a bonded and successful writing workshop in Fresno, California, and she also teaches an occasional online class. On Fridays she meets with her private critique group (humorous astrology author Hazel Dixon-Cooper, prescriptive nonfiction writer Dennis C. Lewis, mystery novelist Sheree Petree, and musician/thriller novelist Christopher Allen Poe). What happens in those groups ranges from spontaneous applause to “getting filleted,” as Bonnie’s students and colleagues call it.

5 Prompt Friday!

writerinspired — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:35:54 +0000

Git your writin’ stick and git goin’!

Writing Prompts to move you and your pen:

The moment you notice spring has arrived.
A strange little boy is seen wandering the neighborhood and then, watching your house at night.
“You’ve just won one million ______________!”
Melody never even wanted to join marching band.
Quirky traits of a new teacher.

Add your own! Share your story ideas! Have a great writing weekend!

Addictions

writerinspired — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:55:40 +0000

Sometimes, “addictions” can be a good thing. Like when you’re addicted to BOOKS!

Check out this wicked blog I discovered: Addicted 2 Novels. The blog’s creator, Lena, LOVES books but, better for you and me, LOVES to give books AWAY!

Contests to win Teen novels are ongoing. See you there : )

P.S. Speaking of teen novels, check out my interview with Bonnie Hearn Hill and enter to win a copy of Aries Rising

WIN A VISIT FROM KATHERINE PATERSON

writerinspired — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:47:41 +0000

Would your school or library like a visit from Katherine Paterson, the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature?

The newly named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2010-2011 is Katherine Paterson, author of such critically acclaimed and popular classics as “The Bridge to Terabithia” and “Jacob Have I Loved.”

Paterson’s theme for her ambassadorship is “Read for Your Life,” and she will be carrying that message with her during her travels as National Ambassador.

Tell us what kind of event you would develop if Katherine Paterson were to visit. Also, tell us how you would promote the event and to whom. Describe the event and its promotion in detail in no more than 250 words.

The Center for the Book, the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader — the CBC foundation — sponsors of the National Ambassador program, will choose one winner. It could be you!

E-mail your entry no later than midnight EDT on March 15 in a Word document attachment to cbc.info@cbcbooks.org.

No more than one entry from each institution, please.