5 Writing Tips

To round out our week on “character speak”, here are 5 tips on developing your characters:

Advice for Developing a Character:

• Start with what matters to you about your character:  Is he or she like you? Like someone you know?
• Put together a character so that all the parts fit together:  Do these different things make sense within one person? Do they fit together in a believable way? Are these traits here for a reason?
• Explain any general descriptions of your character:  What exactly does this description mean for this particular character?
• If a character seems too good to be true, make it more human: What is the downside of this trait? (too nice, too giving, etc.) How does this characteristic help and hurt the character?
• Know your character’s motivations (longings) and struggles.

What other tips do you use to develop your characters?

 

5 Prompt Friday

Miss your prompts last week? Did you write anyway? No?! *insert scolding and nagging*

Just kidding. I wouldn’t scold. I didn’t write last Friday, either. I was on a road trip to Michigan.

But, I’m back , baby! And here are your prompts for this weekend…

1. Write about a time when someone just snapped (lost control of themselves & freaked out.)
2. You had a premonition…
3. Write about an abandoned school
4. “I opened the drapes and saw…”
5. In the garden, the gnome blinked at me.

Have fun! Please share more ideas here.

Wacky Wednesday!

Wacky writing prompts for stories and more!

With one of the BIGGEST (and BEST!) Holidays coming up on Sunday, ahem, Mother’s Day, I was feeling the holiday spirit and found this site for silly holidays throughout the year.

Some  fun ones that you can create stories from:

(Today) May 6 is . . . . . Beverage Day : write about your favorite beverage and why or create a character who always has this beverage on hand and wakes up to discover there are no more cans of…!

May 7 is . . . . .Paste Up Day: what if in your fictional world this day meant everyone in town had to paste up their latest creation: a story, artwork, test or report. And what if the main character was too embarrassed to paste hers up?

May 9 is . . . . . Lost Sock Memorial Day: What would a memorial wall for lost socks look like? Would you wave a flag of the missing sock’s partner? Would there be a song or a funeral for the missing socks? (This one could get quite silly!)

See what other silly holidays you can find or create! Share your ideas with us here!

Wanna join the Hottest writers group to hit the scene?

Imagine…

The energy of a room full of young writers: pens tapping, notebook pages rustling and the voice on the mic 20 feet away is that of a best selling author! Learn how published authors come up with their ideas; how they write realistic characters even though those characters may slay dragons; tips to combat writers block and much, much more. All for being a part of Capitol City Young Writers.

Capitol City Young Writers is a new non-profit organization dedicated to teaching and inspiring young writers world wide.  “The goal is to educate not only on the art and craft of writing in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir and screenplay, but in real world applications of writing such as broadcast radio, journalism and technical writing.”

A young writer located anywhere in the world can become a member: a Senior Member would be those in grades 6-12 and a Junior Member would be any grade up to grade 6.

What do you get as a member*? A Junior Member will have access to all on-line materials, including  video tapings of 5 meetings each year, the Write On! Newsletter published 4 times a year and a chance to participate in writing contests year-round. Senior Members will have all the above benefits, plus the ability to attend the 5 meetings a year, each hosted by new guest speakers (authors, literary agents, editors, etc.) and participate in hands-on writing workshops. Plus, the Senior Members can apply for internship opportunities to work on and/or edit the CCYW Annual Literary Journal (a collection of writing by young writers!), attend writers’ conferences and writers’ workshops.  Our Senior Members will also have the rare and exciting opportunity to work one-on-one with a published author in a mentor program (details to be posted soon.)

Good Golly – what could all of this cost me??

$100 a year? No

$80 a year? Not even close!

$56.78 a year? Alright, now you’re getting sarcastic.

Members of any level can join for the annual fee of $25. That’s right, folks! $25 for all you see here and more. But Wait! If you join right now we’ll throw in this fine handcrafted silver-plated collection of Ginsu Knives!

Just kidding!!

But, seriously, guys. Haven’t you been wanting to take your writing to the next level? Capitol City Young Writers is that level. Dream. Write. Publish.

To learn about the organization, upcoming meetings, events and contest deadlines and to sign up for your membership, visit capitolcityyoungwriters.com

*Currently all meetings are being held in Sacramento, CA, but our goal is to have a CCYW location hosted in every capitol city in the US.  All members will still be able to “attend” on-line via tapings of the most recent meeting.

**We also have sponsorship opportunities for your teacher! He or she can join as a Sponsor for only $10/year and have the same access and benefits as that of a Junior Member.  Spread the word!

Use your I*m*a*g*i*n*a*t*i*o*n!

“Fantasies are more than substitutes for unpleasant reality; they are also dress rehearsals, plans. All acts performed in the world begin in the imagination.”

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Author and Publicist

 No matter if you write fantasy, horror, chick lit or even creative nonfiction – an imagination is key! What starts as a twinkle in the daydreams of writers become stories woven onto the page.

Don’t let anyone tell you to stop day dreaming or that your ideas or goals are foolish. All great things begin with a new, fresh idea!

So, how do you use your imagination, you ask? Take real life situations and observations and put a twist on them: a fellow student gets to the lunch line late and misses the last slice of pizza. Instead of sulking and picking something else to eat, What if   he freaks out, yells at the cafeteria staff, climbs over the counter and begins to rummage through ingredients to make his own pizza? Now that’s a story!

Share your imagination warm-ups here with other young writers. This is your community – participate daily!

Monday Memories…

Today, I’d like you to make a list of memories and then expand on them using your 5 senses (sight, touch, taste, sound, smell):

1. First day of school you can remember (kindergarten? preschool?) Describe in as much detail as possible.
2. First time you saw an adult cry. (What was going on? How did it make you feel?)
3. First crush – did you like them first; did they give you the time of day?
4. First toy, game, book, etc you bought with your own money. How did you save for it? How did it feel handing over that cash?
5. First fight you had with your best friend – did the friendship survive? Was it because of a 3rd party?

If I hear some of your memories, I’ll share some of mine! But, I don’t want to be the only one talking over here…

5 Prompt Friday!

More phrases, words and prompts to fill your mind and your notebook!

1. Mix together your favorite TV show characters with your favorite cartoon characters and see what happens: Carly from iCarly has to do a webshow with Edd from Ed, Edd and Eddie
2. What does “financial crisis” mean to you? Write an essay or short story on how the nation’s bank closings could affect kids your age.
3. Try something new and write about it! (a new sport, new video game, reading a book on an unfamiliar topic, tasting a new food, trying a new craft, cooking dinner for the family.)
4. I know you’re already browsing around YOUtube, so why not pick a silly video and write what you think happens next.
5. Even if you don’t follow astrology, this will be fun! Look up your best friend’s horoscope in the paper, magazine or online for today. Now, make it come to life by writing about it: “You will be visited by a long-lost relative” could turn into a story about a swindling “rich” uncle who takes your buddy on a road trip…

What prompts can you share with us?  What stories were born from one of these ideas? Share them here!!

Monday Musings…

What do you daydream about? Do you relive past conversations and change the ending to make your outcome better? Do you fantasize about situations yet to materialize?

Or…do you just stare off into space and let your mind go….?

Try this next time:  when you are lost in thought, pull yourself back (just enough) to write your rambling thoughts in your notebook. Just write, don’t read, don’t edit, don’t erase. Write it out as images or dialogue or internal thoughts and fantasies. Come back to it in a week and see if there are any story possibilities there.

So, what do you daydream about? Tell us!

Question of the week: Do we have a forum?

First of all, what’s a forum?

A forum is a place where you can link on-line and join a group of others who are in a discussion about a certain topic. Like a group who is writing horror fiction and want to talk about their characters with other horror fiction writers. We can set up different writing topics for different discussions. Those who were in YWP NaNo know what a forum is!

A: No, we don’t have a forum, yet! Do we need one? Do you guys want one? Let’s take a vote! Vote “yes” I want a forum so I can talk back and forth with other young writers on-line. Or “no”, not really interested in that.

Post your vote in the comments here. Come back on January 16 for the results!

5 Prompt Friday!

Use one or all of these prompts to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Think of something that really annoyed you this week (zipper broke on your backpack, teacher “made an example” out of you when you forgot your homework, etc.) and write a new law on why this annoying thing should be against the law!
2. Start collecting random lost items: mitten, button, shoestring. When you need an idea, reach into your box of lost items and write about where one of them came from. Use your imagination!
3. Is the story line in your role play video game (like Zelda or Tomb Raider) super scary, funny or exciting? Try writing the script for your own video game: include heroes, villains and mystical worlds.
4. Write about the word “delicious.” Either a delicious treat or a delicious scheme. Use all of your senses!
5. What if you found an old love letter written to your mom? But it wasn’t from your dad. Would you want to know more about who wrote it and why? Now, write your own letter back.

Have fun and remember – I’m always anxious to read the stories you’ve come up with. I’ll be looking for some interesting ones to post here on the blog!