Did You Break Your New Year’s Resolutions?

Getting Inspired Again

by Deborah Owen

How to Get your Motivation Back

Have you already broken your New Year’s Resolution to write more? Did you want to take a writing class this year? Write more often? Finish that story? Try poetry? Breaking resolutions is only natural, but you mustn’t allow this to leave you feeling discouraged, demoralized and demotivated.

Life is busy, and it waits for no one. Don’t be cross with yourself for “failing”. No one really fails. They are just procrastinating; always thinking tomorrow will be different. It happens with diets. It happens with smoking. It happens with writing too. The main thing is to pick yourself up now and start over again. And should you fail in this effort as well, begin again another day. As long as you have new days, you have the opportunity to succeed.

Refocusing on your Writing

Daily resolutions are the only kind of resolutions that really accomplish anything, so now is the time to make your daily resolve. Here are a few ideas to help you refocus:

• Break your writing time into small chunks that you can work into every day. Fifteen minutes is a good start. That gives you five minutes to clear your mind and ten minutes to get into the groove. You’d be surprised what you can write in fifteen minutes. True story: An unpublished woman wrote and finished a book by writing fifteen minutes a day on her lunch hour. She sent it to an editor. He bought it, and she got it published. Writers, you make your own limitations, and you make your own chances in life. Get going!

Did you break your New Year’s resolutions?

• If you don’t find inspiration when you sit down to write, don’t worry! You can write about your work, your boss, a rude clerk in the store, a nice person you met, your mate, how you want to remodel the house, or about your dreams. What matters is that you string your words together in proper English, demonstrating proper punctuation, and good thought patterns. Remember: everything you write has meaning. It shows your attitude, your interest, your opinion, your intentions, your psychological status, and it develops your writing talents.
• Write at the same time every day, if at all possible. That is the key to wanting to write. If you write at the same time every day for a week, you’ll begin to feel the “muse” – the urge to write. When you resist that urge because you choose to do something else, the muse will be diminished the next day. Put writing at the top of your priorities.

If you haven’t met the muse, you’ll know it when it hits you. It will be hard to type as fast as your mind can deliver the content. You won’t want to stop. You won’t want to be disturbed. You won’t want to do anything but write… that is the muse. Cherish it. Love it. Obey it when it calls. The muse is to a writer what a car is to a driver. It’s your vehicle to transport you from this world into the one you create.

So, what were your writing-related New Years resolutions? Share them with us in the comments below! And after that, be sure to check out www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com and sign up for an affordable 8-week writing course!

How to Write Dialogue Tags

Advice for Setting Up Meaningful Story Dialogue

by Deborah Owen

Dialogue tags are the short insertions that identify the speakers in a written conversation. Without them, the reader would be lost.

Dialogue tags are quick signposts that keep the reader on the right path. When you change paths to another speaker, it is not always necessary to place a tag. Sometimes you can use characters’ speech patterns and the natural flow of conversation to identify a change in speakers.

Modern style dictates that all dialogue tags identify the speaker first, and then the action. In other words you should write, “Jason said” rather than “said Jason”. If you are selling your work, little things like this show you are up on the latest writing trends.

Don’t use tags such as, “Jack said mysteriously,” or “Crystal said wryly.” Avoid the use of adverbs that end in –ly. Stick to the same ole, same ole, mundane, “Jack said.” The reader’s subconscious mind will pass over this without realizing they have read it.

Readers expect to see tags. They flow with the story and don’t distract from the action.

When you introduce conversations into your stories, narration and exposition will become dialogue. And with that change will come an exchange of emotion, pace, conflict, and the actions of the characters as they progress through the theme.

Challenge yourself to give life and energy to speech. If you want to know what natural dialogue sounds like, quit talking and listen. Eavesdropping will become your best friend. Eavesdrop everywhere you go. Restaurant talk is fabulous. That is conversation at its best!

Can you hear what your character would say in your mind? If you can’t, you don’t know them well enough. Make a list of 50 things about your character, and you will know him/her inside out. When you can hear them speaking in your mind and can view them as real people, it will be easier to hear their normal conversation.

Always address the following questions:

• Does the dialogue reflect the speech of real people?
• Does it bring the reader into the emotion of the scene?
• Does it flow naturally?

The most common failing of authors is to write meaningless, or too much dialogue. The reader’s mind requires frequent rests to absorb the action and for that reason, you need to break the dialogue into groups and sprinkle short scenes of settings throughout. You can do this with just about anything.

Avoid conversations that are one or two-liners, like this:

“How are you?” Jane asked.

“I’m doing good,” Jack said.

“So, what’s new?”

“Not much.”

This kind of conversation is boring and says little or nothing. Every piece of dialogue should be there to add to the character, reveal something to the reader, further the plot, or introduce new material. If your dialogue is there just to make conversation, do some editing.

Have some good suggestions on somewhere else to eavesdrop on great dialogue? Let us know in the comments below! And for all things Creative Writing, check out www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com to find out about our exciting (and affordable) creative writing courses.

Tips and Tricks to Writing Emotions

Are Emotions Absent in your Scenes? If they aren’t, don’t look now, but you just lost your readers.

by Deborah Owen

There are tips and tricks to writing emotions. As a creative writer, you must feel the mood you’re writing. This is imperative if you want to reach your audience. How can you do that? By experiencing the mood.

Let’s suppose you want to write a scene that displays anger. Maybe the story is about abuse, a mom and dad arguing, or sibling rivalry. Maybe it’s about a girl breaking up with her boyfriend because he was cheating on her. If the scene is intense, you have to get into the mood. I mean red, piping hot angry.

Remember the guy or gal that dumped you 30 years ago? Remember the time you had a bad dream about your pal and you wouldn’t speak to him/her all day? How about when you got steamed at the boss, or got into a heated argument over politics, world affairs, abortion, women’s rights, etc.? As a writer, you must recapture those emotions and write them into your scenes. It should be so real that you attend anger management classes to get over it.

Do you need to be happy? Then think of some happy occasions. Sing a crazy song as loud as you can. Laugh like an idiot! When you begin laughing at yourself, it’s time to write that joy into your scene.

Another way to develop absent emotions is to imagine yourself as the character and write entries in a diary from his/her point of view. Live the make-believe life. Do whatever it takes to crawl into your character’s skin. You can’t write effectively what you don’t know or aren’t in the mood for. (You can, however, write a draft for the scene and come back to build it in a more realistic way later.)

Remember that your protagonist (main character, hero) and antagonist (villain) must be three-dimensional characters. They must have a past and a future; they must have problems in their lives and they must work through those issues like real, live people. Your characters should be real enough to walk off the page and sit next to the reader. If your reader can’t identify with the characters, he or she will probably not continue reading.

When my daughter was 16 years old, it was not uncommon for her to sit cross-legged on the floor and bawl her eyes out over a dramatic TV show. One night I winked at my husband and said, “That actress is playing her part really well, isn’t she?” He picked up on it and we talked back and forth about the actress’ career and wondered out loud what movie she would be in next – although she just died in that scene.

Our daughter turned around, tears dripping off her cheeks, and said, “Quit it, you guys. You’re ruining the show!” But what she really meant was, “I’m into the character. I feel what she is feeling. Don’t move me out of the scene.”

If your characters aren’t three-dimensional, (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) you’ll lose your readers. Put yourself into the mood and into the groove. Live what you write.

How do you best write emotions? Let us know in the comments below, and don’t forget to head over to www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com to find out about our creative writing courses!

You can find me online at http://www.deborahowen.wordpress or deborahowen on Twitter. Don’t forget to “like” us before you leave! Click on the title to leave a comment. Thank you!

Writing Fantasy

Fantasy Writing Tips

By Deborah Owen

Have you ever wanted to write fantasy but didn’t know where to begin? Then this is the article for you. By the time you finish reading, you will be able to write your first fantasy story.

Writing fantasy is the art of turning an impractical idea into a reality in the reader’s mind. It’s using your imagination to find its deepest creative power. It’s the ability to visualize things and places you have never seen. What a vast and exciting realm that opens!

Begin by freeing your mind of everything that is real and tangible. Escape this world of gravity and float beyond the ties of places and time. What do you see? Purple beings with six snouts and wings? A planet completely engulfed in water with underworld cities? An atmosphere where the inhabitants breathe gas and explode when they reach maturity? Fantasy is the place of no bounds, no limits – the place where anything is possible.

When you get your first vision of a new world or new life, go to the next step. What characters are in this world? What problems do they encounter? How will they solve these problems?

Remember that your characters must be three-dimensional. You must have a physical description in mind. How do they typically act? What is out of the ordinary for them?

How do they communicate? How do they move from place to place? Do they fly? Slither? Swim? Waddle? Can they function on their own, or are they dependent on something else for life? Are your characters supposed to be royalty? Are they prisoners? Are they heading up a revolution? How intelligent are they? Do you want to involve some kind of magic? Is it a story of good versus evil? You must know all of this and more before you can advance the plot.

Take the time to write down fifty things about each of the main characters and the world they live in. What do the inhabitants eat? What things are unacceptable in their world? What is their vocation?

Now decide what the overall story is about – not just the middle conflict scene. The middle climactic scene is called the plot. The meaning in the overall story is the theme, so what will your theme be? Slithering lizards battling dinosaurs over human prey? Colliding worlds that give birth to a new planet?

When you have answered all of these questions, begin writing the middle conflict scene of the story. Next, write the ending. (You don’t need to connect them yet.) By that time you will know what needs to be in the beginning of the story to complete it. Develop that last. And finally, connect the three parts.

This is called the DeBowen writing system and it’s very easy. If you write your story in this order, everything will fall into place naturally, and that which you have imagined will become a reality.

So, have you come up with any cool fantasy ideas after reading this article? Did this help at all? Let us know in the comments below! Also, if you’d like more great tips and guidance with much greater depth, don’t forget to head over to www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com to find out about our creative writing courses–they’re priced quite competitively!

Should You Write for Free?

Is Free Writing Worth It in the End?

by Deborah Owen

Writing for Free Leads to Money

I can almost hear you say, “You want me to write free of charge? Are you nuts?” Bear with me. There’s a method to my madness. Write for free, so you can get paid.

This is a controversial subject, but the fact is, this is how most writers get their start. If it will help you break into the writing market, why wouldn’t you?

Question

Why do you want to be published? To fill a void in your life? To teach others from your experience? To leave your mark on the earth? There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. You have important things to say—so say them, but first you have to break into the market so people can read your articles/stories.

An editor’s first question will be, “Where have you been published?” And you should have a list as long as your arm. So where do you get that experience? We’re back to writing for free.

Where to Begin

• Write for ezines that pay in subscriptions (some will pay $5)
• Write for your church bulletin
• Write for newsletters at work
• Volunteer work for a nonprofit charity
• Ask your local newspaper if they need someone to cover sports and/or political     meetings. (These are hard jobs to fill, and almost every paper has such a position.)
• Write an article on odd things you see in the community, and sell them to the local paper. (Always take a picture. You’ll get $10 for the article and $5 more for  a pic.)
• Write for Associated Content or eHow

As your articles are printed, be sure to clip, date, and save them in a photo album. These are called “clippings”. (If you take writing courses and receive a Certificate of Completion, you may want to keep them in the same album.)

When you move up the ladder, editors will ask to see samples of your work. That’s when you copy your clippings and send them for inspection. When sending your first piece to a magazine don’t say, “My teacher liked this piece,” or “I’ve never been published before, but I work hard,” or “I belong to a writer’s club and this article was voted best of the month.” These are amateur remarks and editors will recognize them as such.

You may be asking, “But when I send clippings from bulletins, newsletters, and charities, won’t the editor know I’ve been writing for little or nothing?” Yes they will, but they won’t care. They’ll know you were learning the market, and you must have some talent or no one would’ve published your work.

If you don’t have publication credits, avoid the subject altogether, but send a short cover letter with your submission. Give a very short story on how you started writing and what your goals are. Don’t forget to thank the editor for his or her time.

In Conclusion

• Writing for free is a great way to establish credentials
• Keep dated clippings in a photo album
• Present yourself professionally

You make your own chances in this business, and writing for free is part of the learning curve. What about you? Have you tried writing for free? Did you find it profitable? Click on the title to leave a comment, and don’t forget to “like” us! Thanks.

Go to www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com to get a personal tutor in your writing course. How many schools offer that?

Story Writing Tips

Tips on Writing an Enticing Story

by Terri Forehand

There are thousands of story writing tips, but don’t let them entrap you until you want to quit. Think of writing rules as guidelines written in stone… but only for a while. For now, they will keep you focused so that you can write a properly structured story that is clear and intriguing.

Yes, learn the story writing tips, but after you’ve sold to a few small markets and a couple of bigger ones, branch out and experiment with style. See what works best for you.

Outlines

Most creative writers use some form of outlining to capture the essence and form a plot before they start writing. A formal outline offers beginners crucial structure that makes the story flow. If that idea scares the bee-gees out of you, you aren’t alone, but give it a whirl. It might surprise you. Although some writers fear it will starve their creativity, facts point in the opposite direction. It’s always a good idea to use a road map on a trip.

Whether you do it mentally or by analysis, you must know where the story is going. It will save rewrites and editing in the end. Outline by scenes and fill in the details as you go.

Research

Research is essential. It might broadly define insanity, responsibility, or foster care, or it may be so detailed that it includes extensive history of an area, government operation, or clinical trials for a new cancer treatment. Invest research time in your story/article to add realism and convincing arguments.

Verbiage

Verbiage is the fancy word for writing tight. Fall out of love with your words. Learn to brutally delete favorite phrases and anything that doesn’t move the story forward. Store those deleted phrases and use them another time. Most writers can delete 500 words out of 2,500. Slash unneeded adjectives and adverbs that end in –ly. Use descriptive adjectives and active verbs that make a statement. Anything that survives the cut will be solid meat.

Setting

Another story writing tip: use settings to your advantage. Spoon-feed the reader atmosphere, time, and place, but don’t dwell on it. Engage the reader by using imagery. Easy. Just mix one or more of the five senses in combination with scenery. Example: The smell of salt in the air brought pangs of homesickness for her seaside home.

Show, Don’t Tell

All stories have some “telling” but hold off on the narration by “showing” scenes. There are several ways to do this. Dialogue and imagery are two methods that work well. For example, instead of saying, “Her hair was bleached,” show it with dialogue: “I see you bleached your hair. I love it.” See? The reader can fully imagine the scene better because their imagination was involved in the process. Let your reader think and feel independently by drawing on his/her personality to make the story real. Above all, never narrate emotions. If your character is angry, don’t tell it – show it. They can stomp, kick a hole in the wall, or smash a glass. Let your reader experience the events as they might happen in real life.

What do you think of these tips? Have any of your own? Share them with us in the comments below!

For more great tips, sign up for The Writer’s Choice Newsletter at http://www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com.

How to Develop a Hook Sentence

The Hows and Wherefores of Hook Sentences
by Deborah Owen

You and your readers are engaged in a game. Your duty is to keep them guessing. Their duty is to outguess you, properly decipher the clues, and predict the ending. Needless to say, you’d better win this contest if you want to keep your readers.

How long do you take to develop a hook sentence? Would you believe – it should take hours, days, or even weeks?

When I first started writing, I never gave the opening line a thought. I just sat down and wrote whatever came to mind. Of course, I didn’t sell anything – and that should have been a clue! So here’s what I learned.

1. It’s futile to worry about the opening line when you first write a story. Save that for later when you edit. For now, scribble something out and come back to it when it’s cold. About 95% of the time, you can ditch the first two or three paragraphs and actually begin on the third or fourth one anyway. Any details that you wanted to keep in those first few paragraphs can be worked in further down.

2. Your opening line should set the tone for the entire story. Is it a romance story? Then you might want to open in the middle of a love scene. (That could be very interesting.) Is it a horror story? You may want to start in the middle of a murder. Is it non-fiction drama? Start in the center of the drama. Whatever your genre, design that first line to fit your story.

3. It has to be snappy. Something that will reach out and grab the reader by the throat. You might want to use heavy alliteration. You might want to scare the daylights out of your reader and send them scampering for covers. You might want to stir their emotions. That first line must grab your readers and pull them in.

This is called “setting the hook.” Sounds like fishing, huh? In a way, it is. You’re fishing for readers and trying to keep them from trading your story for another.

Would you rather read a beginning that says, “Dad had to kill chickens that day so I ran away and cried.” Or “Dad entered the house with bloodshot eyes, carrying a bloody axe. I scrambled for the back door, screaming.”

This is misrepresenting a scene, but it works, and seasoned writers use this method all the time.

Here’s another hook sentence I used recently: “Both shuddered as the madman smashed bottles and cursed downstairs.” Now… who could stop reading before they found out what was going on?

Play on your readers’ curiosity, and use all the excitement you can muster to hold their attention.

For more great tips, sign up for The Writer’s Choice Newsletter at http://www.CreativeWritingInstitute.com.