Firefield Press

Books that set the world on fire.

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*Bookworms laughing in the distance*

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Six Scientific Tips to Improve Your Writing

The full article is here: http://www.futurity.org/writing-neuroscience-1009492-2/

“1. Prime your readers

“Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them.” Few of us realize this advice has its roots in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. In recent decades, researchers have discovered that priming is a form of implicit learning. By merely exposing experimental subjects to lists of random words, researchers discovered the earlier exposure triggered accurate recall a day later—even though the subjects were unaware they would be tested later on the list.

When you tell readers your purpose in the first sentences of a memo, email, or proposal, you bolster their ease of comprehension and increase their recall of content later.

2. Use ‘recency’ to your advantage

The last item in the “Tell them” triad refers to what psychologists call recency effects, which influence our ability to remember the last items we read. Recency effects extend to both short-term and long-term memory. Readers remember final sentences in paragraphs, items in lists, and paragraphs in documents more clearly than anything else they read.

             [Writing and speaking are totally separate in the brain]

Carefully compose that call-to-action paragraph in a proposal and concluding paragraph in your next report. And that final sentence in every opening paragraph in your emails? Dedicate that sentence to whatever action you need your readers to take—and when they should do it.

3. Disappoint without destroying good will

You can benefit from the strength of priming and recency effects when you have to tell a client you’re unable to meet a deadline or inform an employee she’s not getting the position she applied for. How? Priming and recency effects create a “dead zone” in the middles of lists, sentences, paragraphs, and entire documents.

4. Bury bad news

You can prime the reader with a neutral opening paragraph, one with content that’s neither misleadingly encouraging or straight-to-the-point bad news. Clinical studies attest to the impact of negative news in a first paragraph creating resistance and hostility to the rest of the message.

                 [Bad writing could get scientists more citations]

Open your second paragraph with a rationale for the unwelcome part of your message—the cause for the effect you’re going to explore. Then embed the most lethal content in a minor clause in the dead center of the paragraph. Close that paragraph with a neutral sentence, mentioning whatever benefits you can conjure to offer your reader.

Then craft a short, positive paragraph as your closing that’s forward-looking, maintaining your readers’ goodwill by using the document’s recency position. Your reader will get the message without getting hostile toward you.

5. Harness cause and effect

From an evolutionary perspective, our tendency to see cause and effect everywhere is essential to our survival. When you place the rationale for a negative decision before you tell your reader the decision itself, you leverage the power of causation.

In studies dating back to the 1940s, participants invariably described footage of simple, animated squares and triangles in terms of cause and effect. Your reader is also highly susceptible to seeing causation. When you turn sentences into micro-narratives of cause and effect, you make your writing easier to read and recall.

6. Don’t let passive voice drag you down

You’ve probably already heard about the evils of passive construction: placing an outcome at the beginning of your sentence, in the grammatical subject, using a non-action verb, and generally burying the actor responsible. But English is a subject-verb-object language, and readers also expect language to obey what linguists call the iconicity assumption.

In other words, we expect the order of items in a sentence to reflect the order in which they occurred in the world. When you use passive construction, readers’ brains show more activity—and reading speed slows down, no matter how simple your content.”

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“Books: rare, medium, well done.”

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“#Reading is dreaming with eyes wide open.” #inspiration

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Writing Competitions

If you’re a writer of novels, short stories or poetry, you should enter some of your work in some of the international competitions The Writer Magazine has listed on their website. There’s something for everyone, and it could be your ticket to getting published!

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[writewild]

11 Rules for Better Writing

via

Know the difference between a topic and a story, which is this: A topic sits still, and a story moves. A topic is an answer, while a story asks a question that connects to the reader’s heart and mind. For example, I got fired from my job yesterday is a topic. I got fired from my job yesterday and this morning I began planning my revenge — that is a story.

Don’t fly solo. Find the best writers who’ve written in this vein and study them like a detective. Figure out how they attacked the problem. They are your coaches.

Figure out what your subjects/characters want — what they really, truly, deeply want — put it up top, and and let that question — will they get it? –  fuel your narrative.

Inside the narrative, obstacles are your friend. The bigger the obstacle, the better the story.

Seek out opposites. For example, if you were describing something rough and crude, you should use images of elegance and refinement (i.e. “the abandoned Chevrolet was a lacework of rust”). Or, if a 330-pound defensive lineman enters a room, focus on how delicately and balletically he walks. Sentences are like batteries: opposites create energy.

Outline like crazy, and revise those outlines constantly. I use two kinds of outlines: big and small. The big outline is for the entire narrative arc; the smaller outline is for each chapter. Like construction blueprints, outlines sound dull, but in fact are the opposite: the place where the most important creative moves happen.

Figure on a 10:1 efficiency ratio — that is, 10 pages of rough drafts and notes for every one page of quality writing. Which you’ll have to revise over and over again, of course.

Read like a thief. Underline good stuff, and read it over and over again until you figure out how they did that. When you find a passage, image, or description you love, write it down on a card and keep all those cards in one place.

Ignore small criticism.

Listen intently to big criticism. If someone doesn’t “get” your writing, it’s not their fault. It’s yours.

If you get stuck, get busy. Revisit outlines. Seek out new material. Keep plugging until something clicks. “Imagination” is overrated; creativity comes from making fresh connections.

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Manon Vacher

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OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Are you an aspiring author?

Have you written a book that you want published?

Then this is for you!

Firefield Press is currently accepting manuscripts from emerging and established authors worldwide. We love quirky books, thoughtful books, fun books, and books with an unusual perspective. We love books of all genres, authors of all backgrounds, and stories of all kinds. We celebrate diversity, and are passionate about finding works that explore the full richness of human experience.

Look at our submission guidelines here: http://www.firefieldpress.com.au/submissions/

We hope to hear from you and read your work!

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Writing Prompts

Here’s 25 different writing prompts by Melissa Donovan at writingforward to get you back on track and writing some great stories, poems or anything else that takes your fancy! You can read the full article here: http://www.writingforward.com/writing-prompts/creative-writing-prompts/25-creative-writing-prompts

“ 1. You’re digging in your garden and find a fist-sized nugget of gold.   2. Write about something ugly — war, fear, hate, or cruelty–but find the beauty (silver lining) in it.   3. The asteroid was hurtling straight for Earth…   4. A kid comes out of the school bathroom with toilet paper dangling from his or her waistband.   5. Write about your early memories of faith, religion, or spirituality; yours or someone else’s.   6. There’s a guy sitting on a park bench reading a newspaper…   7. Write a poem about a first romantic (dare I say: sexual) experience or    encounter.   8. He turned the key in the lock and opened the door. To his horror, he saw…    9. Silvery flakes drifted down, glittering in the bright light of the harvest moon.   The blackbird swooped down…   10. The detective saw his opportunity. He grabbed the waitress’s arm and said…   11. There are three children sitting on a log near a stream. One of them looks up at the sky and says…   12. There is a magic talisman that allows its keeper to read minds. It falls into the hands of a young politician…   13. And you thought dragons didn’t exist…   14. Write about nature. Include the following words: hard drive, stapler, phone, car, billboard.   15. The doctor put his hand on her arm and said gently, “You or the baby will survive. Not both. I’m sorry.”   16. The nation is controlled by…   17. You walk into your house and it’s completely different — furniture, decor, all changed. And nobody’s home.   18. Write about one (or both) of your parents. Start with “I was born…”   19. The most beautiful smile I ever saw…   20. I believe that animals exist to…   21. A twinkling eye can mean many things. Start with a twinkle in someone’s eye and see where it takes you.   22. Good versus evil. Do they truly exist? Are there gray areas? Do good people do bad things?   23. Write about your body.   24. Have you ever been just about to drift off to sleep only to be roused because you spontaneously remembered an embarrassing moment from your past?   25. Get a package of one of your favorite canned or boxed foods and look at the ingredients. Use every ingredient in your next piece of writing.”

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[inktype]

FIRST OF ALL, THE BASICS.

What is NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo - or National Novel Writing Month - is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30. (x)

Why should I participate in NaNoWriMo? First and foremost because it’s fun! Maybe you’ve considered writing a novel in the past, but have never gotten around to it, or perhaps you have a fantastic idea or a great character but aren’t quite sure what to do with them. Here’s your chance! Grab it with both hands and hold on tight because this writing ride is a whirlwind.

During October and November the official forums come alive with thousands of writers brimming with amazing thoughts and insights, and there is a real sense of creative community. What better chance would you have to vent and brainstorm and cultivate your collection of ideas?

NaNoWriMo values enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, and is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel. (x)

So you’ve decided you’re going to do it — you’re going to participate, you’re going to try your very best to write those 50,000 words… what next? How do you prepare for such a challenge? Well, here are some handy tips and links to guide you on your way:

INSPIRATION & BRAINSTORMING.

Every novel begins with an idea, even something as simple as a single word. Try jotting down a few. Soon you’ll start to notice common reoccurrences in the types of words you choose.

Peruse places like Tumblr, DeviantArt and Pinterest. Find things that catch your eye and save them.

Go out into the world, or lose yourself in a fictional one. Take notice of details, quirks, everything that’s layered together to create a rich environment. Pull inspiration from what you see or read and translate it into something all your own.

Suzanne Collins was switching back and forth between Survivor and the news when she thought of the Hunger Games, J.K Rowling was on a train when Harry Potter and his story wandered into her head — it’s amazing how inspiration can just pop out of nowhere when given the chance. Let yourself daydream, and ponder and research to your heart’s content.

Get a large piece of paper and pretend like you’re in grade five all over again — write your number 1 idea in the center and branch off from it with other thoughts, plot points, characters, details et cetera.

Alternatively you could buy a bunch of post-it notes in varying colours and clear a space where you can stick them. Assign a colour for each of the following: plot points, characters, relationships, details, conflicts, resolutions. You could also use coloured card or plain paper + coloured pens/pencils.

Spend a day or two focusing solely on your main character. Get to know them. Ask yourself how they would react to certain situations, what they like, what they dislike, why they do or don’t. Give them flaws, quirks, a layered personality.

Here are some handy links that may also help:

Prompts

Inktype Inspires

Generators

A Wealth of Inspiration

Adoption Society over @ the forums

SETTLING ON AN IDEA.

Say you’ve just spent ages following the advice above, but now you’ve found yourself with more than one great idea, how do you choose? Ask yourself:

What sparks the most excitement?

What interests you more?

If both your ideas were turned into fully fleshed out novels and you saw them on a shelf in a store, which would you be more likely to want to read?

Which one would you be the most upset about not getting the chance to write?

PLOTTING/OUTLINING.

There is no one single, set way to outline your novel. It’s also important to remember that planning is not for everyone; some people like to fly by the seat of their pants and simply go with whatever happens and that’s perfectly okay. But without at least a very basic outline, particularly during NaNoWriMo, you may find yourself incredibly stuck and unsure about a). what happens next or b). how to write yourself out of the situation you’ve found yourself in, which could lead to you falling behind or missing days’ worth of valuable writing time while you try and figure out what to do. How do I go about outlining, you ask? Here are some great links that will help you do so with ease:

How Do You Plan a Novel?

How to Create a Plot Outline in Eight Easy Steps

Outline Your Novel In 30 Minutes

Preparing to Write A Novel

Basic Checklist for Your Story

NaNo Tips & Strategies

RESEARCHING & DETAILS.

So you’ve thought of your idea, you created your characters and have an outline. But you’re writing a novel about elves in a mystical place that doesn’t even exist, or a futuristic world where supernatural creatures and technology have taken over, or perhaps something entirely in the past, and you have no idea how to make it all believable. The NaNoWriMo forums are a fanastic place for your genre and detail needs:

Reference Desk — researching facts, figures, real world experiences and details.

Applelation Station — for naming needs

Character Cafe — for character developement

Plot Doctoring

Genre Lounges — for your specific genre needs

If there isn’t already a thread that pertains to your specific needs don’t be afraid to make one! You should definitely also:

Go to the library and source books that contain the knowledge you need. Don’t be afraid to ask a librarian for their help.

Use Google, which seems like a rather simple answer but there is so much information out there just waiting to be found.

Write down the facts that you discover and need and be sure to jot down how they are relevant to your novel.

PREPARING YOURSELF.

Your novel is one thing, you are another (though certainly the two get tangled together). 

Look at what you have planned during November and figure out which days you might find it difficult to find free time due to prior commitments and find a place to slot writing in, even if it means you end up writing during breakfast.

Become acquainted with the official forums and spend some time in the nanowrimo tag here on Tumblr. Get to know your fellow writers!

Find someone (preferably someone also participating in NaNoWriMo) who you can rant to, share ideas with; someone who you can ask to check in on you and see how you’re going with your writing goal of the day and vice versa.

THINGS TO REMEMBER DURING NANOWRIMO.

Avoid the temptation of going back and re-reading and editing your work, this is supposed to be a first draft and first drafts are unavoidably messy.

Take care of yourself. Try and eat properly, get some exercise (during NaNoWriMo that walk to the fridge for writer’s fuel totally counts), hang out with your friends and family, enjoy life.

Remember that NaNoWriMo is supposed to be fun, don’t pressure yourself too much.

If you’re having trouble reaching the daily word count goal, split it into chunks: write 500 words here, 500 there, another 667 at another point in the day.

If you find yourself running out of motivation here are some great (if I do say so myself) tips.

Read some inspirational quotes to keep you going (or get you started).

A PRE-NANO CHALLENGE.

If you’re not too busy getting inspired, brainstorming, planning or any of that good stuff why not give Inktype’s NaNoWriMo preparation challenge a go?