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orange is so 🔥🔥🔥

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Anna | paperlands

(by freelander__)

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beverlyannemichel

Inspiration and Writer’s Block

One thing all writers have to deal with at some time or another is lack of inspiration or writer’s block. I’ve come up with some ways that usually get me out of that little sticky situation and I thought I would share them with you all!

1). Do something relaxing, whether that means taking a walk, running a bath, watching a movie, listening to music, or reading a book. Anything that relaxes you and gets your mind on whatever scene you happen to be stuck on.

2). Find something to inspire you. If you haven’t before, I suggest making a playlist specific to your story or specific to a certain character. What is the theme song or what is a song that makes you think of this character when they’re feeling sad or happy? Pinterest is another place to find inspiration. I know a lot of people think of it as a place for moms and recipes, but it can be a place to gather pictures and quotes that inspire you to think about your characters and scenes. It can also be a great way to see what your fellow writers are up to! (I just put together a Pinterest for writer specific purposes last night if you want to check it out).

3). Prompts are your friend! You can ask a friend for a prompt or google one yourself but either way a prompt can really get the juices flowing. Write something completely different than what you’re working on, something silly, something fun, or write something about your current characters in a very different scenario from the one you’re stuck on. It gets your mind off of what you’re doing and what you’re frustrated with but it also keeps you writing.

Those are my ways of getting unstuck, what about you?

#writing

aliceswritingtips

“Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

William Faulkner (via aliceswritingtips)

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flotsamie

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.

Louis L'Amour (via writerniche)

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finickyquint

i’m just struggling with moving from scene to scene?!? like how is it done! how do i decide when to close a scene and open a new one: how do i transition? i never have trouble with writing but for some reason this is troubling me SO much

Transitioning between scenes is definitely an issue that bugs many writers, so you’re not alone there.

First, to know where to end the scene, it might be helpful to make a quick list of what you want the scene to accomplish (for example: plot information you want to get across, relationships you want to move forward, a location you want the characters to reach, and so on). Then, write the scene naturally, without worrying about the list. When you’re done, look back to check that you’ve accomplished everything on your list, and see how much extra text there is in the scene. Once you know your key points for the scene, it’s easier to spot the extraneous stuff and trim the fat.

As for ending scenes and beginning new ones, of course you have a few different options for different types of scenes. In some scenes, you might want to end with an action cliffhanger. In others, you might want to end with your main character reflecting on something that happened.

The one type of scene ending you’ll want to use sparingly is the “and all was right with the world” one. Depending on your plot, you might not have much use for this anyway, but the point is: you want to keep your reader reading. If everything is just going swimmingly for your character and they don’t have any problems, readers may not feel compelled to find out what happens next.

So for example, if your character(s) solve one problem in the scene, you might end it with either: A) a new problem popping up, or B) your character(s) thinking about something they’ll have to deal with in the future.

You can, of course, end a scene with something unexpectedly good happening, because readers would want to keep reading to see how that works out (for example: your character hears a knock on the door, answers it, and finds their long-lost brother standing on the doorstep). Plot twists and surprises, both good and bad, definitely keep your reader reading, so use them liberally and aim for variety.

Finally, it always helps to read examples. Skim through some of the books that inspire you and look at how the author transitioned scenes. You can also check out how long their scenes were, on average, if you want to create a similar pacing.

Happy writing!

#writing

letswritesomenovels

How to write better descriptions

1. Avoid weak words

Remember my post on the word ‘take?’ ‘Take’ is a weak word, but it isn’t the only one.

Compare these:

He ate the sandwich

She walked towards the lake.

The book smelled good.

to these:

He devoured the sandwich

She strolled towards the lake.

The book smelled magical.

Which sentences are more engaging? The latter ones. Why? Because devoured and strolled are stronger words than ate and walked. They’re more specific. They give you more information. To get across the same information with ate and walked, you’d have to add more words: she walked slowly, he ate quickly.

Replacing good with magical doesn’t work quite as well as the verbs, but magical does tell us slightly more than good: it gives us a better sense of how the smell makes the character feel.

How do you spot a weak word? Weak words are vague. They’re umbrella terms. They need support from other words to really get their meaning across. If you find yourself adding adverbs and adjectives to a term, question whether or not there’s a more concise way to get your point across.

Strong word choice, however, isn’t all that’s needed for a good description:

2. Be as specific as required.

This isn’t to say you should describe everything in every scene in perfect detail, but being specific matters.

Which is more engaging?

He devoured the sandwich

The book smelled magical.

or

He devoured the sandwich, stopping only to lick up the melted cheese that seeped through his fingers and ran down his palm.

The book smelled magical, like a sunlit afternoon.

Again, the latter ones. They take you into the scene. They evoke the senses. It’s the difference between telling and showing. Devoured is a strong verb, but it doesn’t give us a clear image of what is happening. Showing the character licking away the cheese gives the reader a sense of the desperation and hunger of the action. Evoking a sunlit afternoon is evoking your reader’s memories of their own sunny afternoons.These examples are statements with evidence. They provide details.

You want to invite your reader into the scene, not give them a summary of the events.

Additionally, specifics make the world feel real. They convince readers that the world actually exists. They keep the story in your readers’ minds once they’ve finished reading.

This being said, don’t pull a GRRM and describe every meal your characters eat. Some things just aren’t that important. There are occasions when it’s okay to tell instead of show.

3. Remember the point of view.

Who is giving the description?

If you’re writing in 1st person or 3rd person limited, remember how your character feels about what you’re describing. If you’re describing a strawberry field, a person who was raised on a strawberry farm is going to see it differently than someone who is deathly allergic to strawberries, who is going to see it differently from a Beatles fanatic.

Maybe the Beatles fanatic is deathly allergic to strawberries and this field brings up a whole bucketful of conflicting emotions.

Which is all to say:

Good descriptions reveal character as well as scene.

If this description is coming from a character’s point of view: what is that point of view? What is this scene making your character feel? Don’t let your narrator slip away from the page.

This connects to my last point.

4. Remember why you’re including it.

Novel writing is persuasive writing. It’s an exercise in persuading your reader that your story is true, that your characters are real people. It’s an exercise in persuading your readers to feel what you want them to feel.

(There’s a well-known quote about this somewhere, but I can’t remember it exactly.)

Every description must add to the story. It should be doing something: working for some larger goal, advancing the plot, revealing character.

Maybe you’re describing a house because you want your reader to see why your character doesn’t want to move.

Maybe you’re describing this lovely-smelling book because you want the reader to know that it’s important to the character. That her favorite memories are of reading it in the attic of her grandmother’s house.

When you’re writing out a description, identify its purpose and make sure it fulfils it.

It’s okay if at first you don’t know how the house makes the character feel, or if she’s running or strolling towards the lake, or why the book is so important. Sometimes you just know it’s there. That something happened. Usually things become clearer as you write further and get to know the story and characters yourself.

Once you do know what you’re trying to say with your story, make sure you say it with every chapter, every description, and every word.

#writing