Writing, of course!

I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it. -Ernest Hemingway Hello, my name is Teresa Knapp-Hatcher and welcome to my writing Tumblr!

[writingofcourse]

Our town paints fire hydrants. 2014’s theme is books! Here is their ode to John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.

The artist for this hydrant is Paul Siegfried.  It’s located on the corner of Jefferson and Warren St, Huntington, IN 46750. Presented by the Huntington Arts Initiative, this year’s theme is Book, Look…and Listen!

[fishingboatproceeds]

File under Things I Did Not Anticipate While Writing TFIOS.

[writingofcourse]

Just for memories

[loquaciousliterature]

Hermione has some moments that are pretty darn relatable in Prisoner of Azkaban… 😬 

A big shoutout to my patrons for voting for me to make a comic of a scene that wasn’t in the books! They suggested I try drawing a scene that was mentioned, but never shown, so I drew this scene of Hagrid helping Hermione through a particularly rough time in PoA! I hope you guys enjoy! 😊

⚡⚡⚡ More HP Comics  – Obliviate, my HP comic zine, is also restocked on Etsy!

[writingofcourse]

Big News

I will be here more often in the near future.  I just got accepted into a MA in English and Creative Writing program.  I'll need to dust off the old writing journal.

[morningdear]

The Big House at the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. Sharing the moving experience and discussing my first time ever feeling connected to my African American half. Read more.

Dress was picked up from a small retro shop in Lübeck, Germany.

Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

[prideprejudce]

this is the best twitter story i’ve seen in ages

[writingofcourse]

Gpoy...that tub tho...

[steampunktendencies]

Manoir Colimaçon, France. 

Soulphotography

[ Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest ] 

[wilddarkforest]

[gaiabamman]

Word counts; how long should your WIP be?

Writers don’t count pages, but words. Any writing program (scrivener, word, pages) has a function to tell you your word counts. If someone asks for the length of your work and you answer in pages you sound like a rookie. Approximate to the closest 5,000. For example don’t say 83,255 words, around 85,000 is okay (unless you are talking to a publisher, in which case keep it precise to allow them to calculate print costs.)

How do word counts translate into pages? If you’re wondering how many pages is your work, it will depend on how your book is printed, but a good average for YA (young adult, what I write) is 250 words per page. So if your work is 75,000 words you are looking at 75,000 words/250 words per page= 300 pages.

Word counts define the type of work. If your work is below 100 words it’s microfiction (superhard, I love it! For an excellent example check out Objects of Desire by Adam O’Fallon Price ), below a 1,000 words it’s flash fiction, below 30,000 words it’s a short story, below 50,000 a novella,  above 50,000 it’s a novel (a fictional book). These ranges vary, but this is a good rule of thumb.

The length of a novel will depend on the genre; YA (young adult) is 50,000-80,000, any other fiction genre between 80,000 and 100, 000 with the exception of historical and science fiction which can get up to 120,000 words. Look up your specific genre (once you figure it out) or feel free to ask :)

Does this matter? Yes, if you are looking for an agent or a publisher.  Remember that they are swamped with options and are looking for a reason to move your manuscript from the slush pile to the garbage.

If you are indie, do as you please, but I found with time that those ranges are pretty reasonable. Feel free to break the rules, but respect your readers! Don’t have them pay $4 for a work of fiction that is only a few pages. Don’t bore them to death with an unedited, dragging manuscript.

The first manuscript for AIA was 150,000 words long. By the time I published, the novel was 75,000 words and I had 180,000 words in the garbage. Keep in mind that when you write your first draft you might want to be way over your word count, because a quarter to half of your draft will be pared down (in my experience, but everyone is different).

Who am I to give you advice?

I am the sarcastic author of The Italian Saga (#TIS): an indie series of YA novels taking place in gorgeous Italy, and taking about everything I was told is impolite to talk about.   You can check them out here :)

 BIG FLASH NEWS! An Italian Adventure will soon be available on ALL e-readers! (Kobo, i-pads, computers…all of them, not just Kindle! Stay tuned ^_^) Woo-hoo!

[writingofcourse]

Unfinished Fairytale -Teresa Knapp-Hatcher

    You know how in Nicholas Sparks’ books the single mother always gets the guy, or the single father for that matter, and proceeds to live happily ever after?  Yeah, that’s not me.  

    Tall, moderately plump, and furiously dying my hair on a ridged schedule to hide the premature grey coming in at my temples—I am far from my prime.  I’m 35 and quickly approaching 40.  I have one child, a son, with behavior/emotional disabilities who I received exactly zero child support for—ever.  All that is part of the truth that is my life though.  I’m a veteran of the US Coast Guard and a survivor of sexual assault. I chose to raise my son on my own after his father disappeared.  It has never been easy, things have gone to hell more than once.  I stuck with finishing my bachelor’s degree after an epic 13 year battle.  I started a master’s degree post-divorce.  I have friends that I consider sisters from all areas of the country.  I have an immediate family that does not shame me for the choices I’ve made.  So while my life has not been the perfect story easy to swallow by the general masses as to what true success and life fulfillment looks like—it is.  My story isn’t over and for that alone I could say I’ve lead a blessed life.

[writingofcourse]

How does one stay engaged in their own work?

I’ve got a problem.  Every time I open my book to make edits or add a new bit I feel the overwhelming urge to yawn and take a nap.  I’m bored with my own book.  I’ve been working on it for the better part of the last 5 years.  I’ve written, rewritten, re-rewritten and I still don’t think it’s good enough to go to an agent or publisher.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the story, my beta reader loves it and has sometimes given me some hard to swallow critiques to improve it--I’m just sick of reading/writing the same book.  How do I stay fresh?  How do I finish?  I’ve taken breaks, first to finish my bachelors and then for a while as I started my masters degree, but it just hasn’t helped.

I don’t want to abandon the book, it’s 5 years worth of hard work, thousands upon thousands of words.  How do I unstick myself and finish this project?

[naity-sama]

Some words to use when writing things:

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

straining

[littlestsecret]

Appetite -  craving, demand, gluttony, greed, hunger, inclination, insatiable, longing, lust, passion, ravenousness, relish, taste, thirst, urge, voracity, weakness, willingness, yearning, ardor, dedication, desire, devotion, enthusiasm, excitement, fervor, horny, intensity, keenness, wholeheartedness, zeal

Arouse -  agitate, awaken, electrify, enliven, excite, entice, foment, goad, incite, inflame, instigate, kindle, provoke, rally, rouse, spark, stimulate, stir, thrill, waken, warm, whet, attract, charm, coax, fire up, fuel, heat up, lure, produce, stir up, tantalize, tease, tempt, thrum, torment, wind up, work up

Assault -  attack, advancing, aggressive, assailing, charging, incursion, inundated, invasion, offensive, onset, onslaught, overwhelmed, ruinous, tempestuous, strike, violation, ambush, assail, barrage, bombard, bombardment, crackdown, wound Beautiful -  admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, bewitching, charming, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, exquisite, fascinating, gorgeous, graceful, grand, magnificent, marvelous, pleasing, radiant, ravishing, resplendent, splendid, stunning, sublime, attractive, beguiling, captivating, enchanting, engaging, enthralling, eye-catching, fetching, fine, fine-looking, good-looking, handsome, inviting, lovely, mesmeric, mesmerizing, pretty, rakish, refined, striking, tantalizing, tempting Brutal -  atrocious, barbarous, bloodthirsty, callous, cruel, feral, ferocious, hard, harsh, heartless, inhuman, merciless, murderous, pitiless, remorseless, rough, rude, ruthless, savage, severe, terrible, unmerciful, vicious, bestial, brute, brutish, cold-blooded, fierce, gory, nasty, rancorous, sadistic, uncompromising, unfeeling, unforgiving, unpitying, violent, wild Burly – able-bodied, athletic, beefy, big, brawny, broad-shouldered, bulky, dense, enormous, great, hard, hardy, hearty, heavily built, heavy, hefty, huge, husky, immense, large, massive, muscular, mighty, outsized, oversized, powerful, powerfully built, prodigious, robust, solid, stalwart, stocky, stout, strapping, strong, strongly built, sturdy, thick, thickset, tough, well-built, well-developed Carnal -  animalistic, bodily, impure, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, libidinous, licentious, lustful, physical, prurient, salacious, sensuous, voluptuous, vulgar, wanton, , coarse, crude, dirty, raunchy, rough, unclean Dangerous -  alarming, critical, fatal, formidable, impending, malignant, menacing, mortal, nasty, perilous, precarious, pressing, serious, terrible, threatening, treacherous, urgent, vulnerable, wicked, acute, damaging, deadly, death-defying, deathly, destructive, detrimental, explosive, grave, harmful, hazardous, injurious, lethal, life-threatening, noxious, poisonous, risky, severe, terrifying, toxic, unsafe, unstable, venomous Dark -  atrocious, corrupt, forbidding, foul, infernal, midnight, morbid, ominous, sinful, sinister, somber, threatening, twilight, vile, wicked, abject, alarming, appalling, baleful, bizarre, bleak, bloodcurdling, boding evil, chilling, cold, condemned, creepy, damned, daunting, demented, desolate, dire, dismal, disturbing, doomed, dour, dread, dreary, dusk, eerie, fear, fearsome, frightening, ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish, gloom, gloomy, grave, grim, grisly, gruesome, hair-raising, haunted, hideous, hopeless, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horror, ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, inauspicious, inhospitable, looming, lost, macabre, malice, malignant, menacing, murky, mysterious, night, panic, pessimistic, petrifying, scary, shadows, shadowy, shade, shady, shocking, soul-destroying, sour, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, strange, terrifying, uncanny, unearthly, unlucky, unnatural, unnerving, weird, wretched Delicious - enticing, exquisite, luscious, lush, rich, savory, sweet, tasty, tempting, appetizing, delectable, flavorsome, full of flavor, juicy, lip-smacking, mouth-watering, piquant, relish, ripe, salty, spicy, scrummy, scrumptious, succulent, tangy, tart, tasty, yummy, zesty Ecstasy -  delectation, delirium, elation, euphoria, fervor, frenzy, joy, rapture, transport, bliss, excitement, happiness, heaven, high, paradise, rhapsody, thrill, blissful, delighted, elated, extremely happy, in raptures (of delight), in seventh heaven, jubilant, on cloud nine, overexcited, overjoyed, rapturous, thrilled Ecstatic -  delirious, enraptured, euphoric, fervent, frenzied, joyous, transported, wild Erotic -  amatory, amorous, aphrodisiac, carnal, earthy, erogenous, fervid, filthy, hot, impassioned, lascivious, lecherous, lewd, raw, romantic, rousing, salacious, seductive, sensual, sexual, spicy, steamy, stimulating, suggestive, titillating, voluptuous, tantalizing Gasp -  catch of breath, choke, gulp, heave, inhale, pant, puff, snort, wheeze, huff, rasp, sharp intake of air, short of breath, struggle for breath, swallow, winded  Heated - ardent, avid, excited, fervent, fervid, fierce, fiery, frenzied, furious, impassioned, intense, passionate, raging, scalding, scorched, stormy, tempestuous, vehement, violent, ablaze, aflame, all-consuming, blazing, blistering, burning, crazed, explosive, febrile, feverish, fired up, flaming, flushed, frantic, hot, hot-blooded, impatient, incensed, maddening, obsessed, possessed, randy, searing, sizzling, smoldering, sweltering, torrid, turbulent, volatile, worked up, zealous Hunger -  appetite, ache, craving, gluttony, greed, longing, lust, mania, mouth-watering, ravenous, voracious, want, yearning, thirst Hungry -  avid, carnivorous, covetous, craving, eager, greedy, hungered, rapacious, ravenous, starved, unsatisfied, voracious, avaricious, desirous, famished, grasping, insatiable, keen, longing, predatory, ravening, starving, thirsty, wanting Intense -  forceful, severe, passionate, acute, agonizing, ardent, anxious, biting, bitter, burning, close, consuming, cutting, deep, eager, earnest, excessive, exquisite, extreme, fervent, fervid, fierce, forcible, great, harsh, impassioned, keen, marked, piercing, powerful, profound, severe, sharp, strong, vehement, violent, vivid, vigorous Liquid -  damp, cream, creamy, dripping, ichorous, juicy, moist, luscious, melted, moist, pulpy, sappy, soaking, solvent, sopping, succulent, viscous, wet / aqueous, broth, elixir, extract, flux, juice, liquor, nectar, sap, sauce, secretion, solution, vitae, awash, moisture, boggy, dewy, drenched, drip, drop, droplet, drowning, flood, flooded, flowing, fountain, jewel, leaky, milky, overflowing, saturated, slick, slippery, soaked, sodden, soggy, stream, swamp, tear, teardrop, torrent, waterlogged, watery, weeping Lithe - agile, lean, pliant, slight, spare, sinewy, slender, supple, deft, fit, flexible, lanky, leggy, limber, lissom, lissome, nimble, sinuous, skinny, sleek, slender, slim, svelte, trim, thin, willowy, wiry Moan - beef, cry, gripe, grouse, grumble, lament, lamentation, plaint, sob, wail, whine, bemoan, bewail, carp, deplore, grieve, gripe, grouse, grumble, keen, lament, sigh, sob, wail, whine, mewl Moving -  (exciting,) affecting, effective  arousing, awakening, breathless, dynamic, eloquent, emotional, emotive, expressive, fecund, far-out, felt in gut, grabbed by, gripping, heartbreaking, heartrending, impelling, impressive, inspirational, meaningful, mind-bending, mind-blowing, motivating, persuasive, poignant, propelling, provoking, quickening, rallying, rousing, significant, stimulating, simulative, stirring, stunning, touching, awe-inspiring, energizing, exhilarating, fascinating, heart pounding, heart stopping, inspiring, riveting, thrilling Need -  compulsion, demand, desperate, devoir, extremity, impatient longing, must, urge, urgency / desire, appetite, avid, burn, craving, eagerness, fascination, greed, hunger, insatiable, longing, lust, taste, thirst, voracious, want, yearning, ache, addiction, aspiration, desire, fever, fixation, hankering, hope, impulse, inclination, infatuation, itch, obsession, passion, pining, wish, yen Pain -  ache, afflict, affliction, agony, agonize, anguish, bite, burn, chafe, distress, fever, grief, hurt, inflame, laceration, misery, pang, punish, sting, suffering, tenderness, throb, throe, torment, torture, smart Painful -  aching, agonizing, arduous, awful, biting, burning, caustic, dire, distressing, dreadful, excruciating, extreme, grievous, inflamed, piercing, raw, sensitive, severe, sharp, tender, terrible, throbbing, tormenting, angry, bleeding, bloody, bruised, cutting, hurting, injured, irritated, prickly, skinned, smarting, sore, stinging, unbearable, uncomfortable, upsetting, wounded Perverted -  aberrant, abnormal, corrupt, debased, debauched, defiling, depraved, deviant, monstrous, tainted, twisted, vicious, warped, wicked, abhorrent, base, decadent, degenerate, degrading, dirty, disgusting, dissipated, dissolute, distasteful, hedonistic, immodest, immoral, indecent, indulgent, licentious, nasty, profligate, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, shameful, shameless, sickening, sinful, smutty, sordid, unscrupulous, vile  Pleasurable -  charming, gratifying, luscious, satisfying, savory, agreeable, delicious, delightful, enjoyable, nice, pleasant, pleasing, soothing, succulent Pleasure -  bliss, delight, gluttony, gratification, relish, satisfaction, thrill, adventure, amusement, buzz, contentment, delight, desire, ecstasy, enjoyment, excitement, fun, happiness, harmony, heaven, joy, kick, liking, paradise, seventh heaven  Rapacious-  avaricious, ferocious, furious, greedy, predatory, ravening, ravenous, savage, voracious, aggressive, gluttonous, grasping, insatiable, marauding, plundering Rapture -  bliss, ecstasy, elation, exaltation, glory, gratification, passion, pleasure, floating, unbridled joy Rigid -  adamant, austere, definite, determined, exact, firm, hard, rigorous, solid, stern, uncompromising, unrelenting, unyielding, concrete, fixed, harsh, immovable, inflexible, obstinate, resolute, resolved, severe, steadfast, steady, stiff, strong, strict, stubborn, taut, tense, tight, tough, unbending, unchangeable, unwavering Sudden -  abrupt, accelerated, acute, fast, flashing, fleeting, hasty, headlong, hurried, immediate, impetuous, impulsive, quick, quickening, rapid, rash, rushing, swift, brash, brisk, brusque, instant, instantaneous, out of the blue, reckless, rushed, sharp, spontaneous, urgent, without warning Thrust -  (forward) advance, drive, forge, impetus, impulsion, lunge, momentum, onslaught, poke, pressure, prod, propulsion, punch, push, shove, power, proceed, progress, propel (push hard) assail, assault, attack, bear down, buck, drive, force, heave, impale, impel, jab, lunge, plunge, press, pound, prod, ram, shove, stab, transfix, urge, bang, burrow, cram, gouge, jam, pierce, punch, slam, spear, spike, stick Thunder-struck - amazed, astonished, aghast, astounded, awestruck, confounded, dazed, dazed, dismayed, overwhelmed, shocked, staggered, startled, stunned, gob-smacked, bewildered, dumbfounded, flabbergasted, horrified, incredulous, surprised, taken aback  Torment - agony, anguish, hurt, misery, pain, punishment, suffering, afflict, angst, conflict, distress, grief, heartache, misfortune, nightmare, persecute, plague, sorrow, strife, tease, test, trial, tribulation, torture, turmoil, vex, woe Touch -  (physical) - blow, brush, caress, collide, come together, contact, converge, crash, cuddle, embrace, feel, feel up, finger, fondle, frisk, glance, glide, graze, grope, handle, hit, hug, impact, join, junction, kiss, lick, line, manipulate, march, massage, meet, nudge, palm, partake, pat, paw, peck, pet, pinch, probe, push, reach, rub, scratch, skim, slide, smooth, strike, stroke, suck, sweep, tag, tap, taste, thumb, tickle, tip, touching, toy, bite, bump, burrow, buss, bury, circle, claw, clean, clutch, cover, creep, crush, cup, curl, delve, dig, drag, draw, ease, edge, fiddle with, flick, flit, fumble, grind, grip, grub, hold, huddle, knead, lap, lave, lay a hand on, maneuver, manhandle, mash, mold, muzzle, neck, nestle, nibble, nip, nuzzle, outline, play, polish, press, pull, rasp, ravish, ream, rim, run, scoop, scrabble, scrape, scrub, shave, shift, shunt, skate, slip, slither, smack, snake, snuggle, soothe, spank, splay, spread, squeeze, stretch, swipe, tangle, tease, thump, tongue, trace, trail, tunnel twiddle, twirl, twist, tug, work, wrap  (mental) - communicate, examine, inspect, perception, scrutinize Wet - bathe, bleed, burst, cascade, course, cover, cream, damp, dampen, deluge, dip, douse, drench, dribble, drip, drizzle, drool, drop, drown, dunk, erupt, flood, flow, gush, immerse, issue, jet, leach, leak, moisten, ooze, overflow, permeate, plunge, pour, rain, rinse, run, salivate, saturate, secrete, seep, shower, shoot, slaver, slobber, slop, slosh, sluice, spill, soak, souse, spew, spit, splash, splatter, spout, spray, sprinkle, spurt, squirt, steep, stream, submerge, surge, swab, swamp, swill, swim, trickle, wash, water Wicked -  abominable, amoral, atrocious, awful, base, barbarous, dangerous, debased, depraved, distressing, dreadful, evil, fearful, fiendish, fierce, foul, heartless, hazardous, heinous, immoral, indecent, intense, mean, nasty, naughty, nefarious, offensive, profane, scandalous, severe, shameful, shameless, sinful, terrible, unholy, vicious, vile, villainous, wayward, bad, criminal, cruel, deplorable, despicable, devious, ill-intentioned, impious, impish, iniquitous, irreverent, loathsome, Machiavellian, mad, malevolent, malicious, merciless, mischievous, monstrous, perverse, ruthless, spiteful, uncaring, unkind, unscrupulous, vindictive, virulent, wretched Writhe -  agonize, bend, jerk, recoil, lurch, plunge, slither, squirm, struggle, suffer, thrash, thresh, twist, wiggle, wriggle, angle, arc, bow, buck, coil, contort, convulse, curl, curve, fidget, fight, flex, go into spasm, grind, heave, jiggle, jolt, kick, rear, reel, ripple, resist, roll, lash, lash out, screw up, shake, shift, slide, spasm, stir, strain, stretch, surge, swell, swivel, thrust, turn violently, tussle, twitch, undulate, warp, worm, wrench, wrestle, yank 

[aghostnotaguardian-archive]

//MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS - HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM OF FINDING THAT RIGHT WORD!!!!!

[shades-of-orange]

I’ve reblogged it before, and I’ll reblog it again

[writingofcourse]

Untitled - T.A. Hatcher

    Some people know who they are meant to be.  They’re born with or into a purpose.   They know their place in life from the time they are born or relatively soon after.  That certainty guides them and their next move or stage in life is predictable. For those of us who don’t have this assurance, we’re left to wander and try things on as they come.  We want to be ballerinas, then doctors, an art teacher, then a botanist all before we find what really drives us.  Some people enjoy the ability to pick and choose.  Often their versatility is celebrated. Meanwhile others are lost wandering from place to place, never fitting in, and getting lost in the shuffle.  

    J. R. R. Tolkien wrote in a poem once that “Not all those who wander are lost.” I couldn’t agree more.  I have wandered all my life, sometimes completely without a purpose.  I’ve found my purpose now—where I truly belong.

[essebellwrites]

[movie]

Disney PIXAR’s 22 Rules of Success

[the-writers-society-deactivated]

How to Write the Beginning of a Book: 10 Things Your Beginning Should Do

It might make some people flinch to think this but: the first 3 chapters of your book are a sales document. Most agents and publishers only ask to see the first 3 chapters of your book when you submit. Based on those first 3 chapters, agents will decide to take you on or to pass you over and publishers will decide to accept or reject your book.

So it makes sense that you should spend more time on the first three chapters of your book than on any other part. To help with that, here are 10 tips about how to write the beginning of a book to give your book its best chance.

1. Introduce Your Main Characters

We must meet your main character and ideally your other key character, which could be a love interest, an important family member or friend, or the antagonist. The reader needs to know who to care for, whose side to be on, who they should invest their emotional energy with for the duration.

So, we need to meet the important people and we need to get a sense of the important relationships in the book.

2. Make Sure We Like and/or Understand Your Main Character

I’m not the kind of person who believes all main characters should be likeable. But, if you’re writing an unlikeable main character, you need to make sure we understand why the character is behaving as they do, or you need to make sure we are intrigued by them. Think of Nick in Gone Girl. I didn’t like him at the start of the book but I was really intrigued to find out just what he’d done.

3. Use Primarily Action and Dialogue

Philosophizing, introspection, lengthy internal monologue, characters spending a lot of time by themselves aren’t the best devices for your beginning. It’s very hard to get to know a character through those devices.

Think about what happens when you meet people in real life. How do you get to like them, get to know them, get to understand them? By talking to them, by doing things with them i.e. through action and dialogue. You don’t ordinarily get the chance to see inside the head of someone you’ve just met, to their intimate thoughts.

It’s the same for characters. Get them to talk to us and do things. Don’t leave them in rooms by themselves where all they can do is think.

4. Establish Your Character’s Ordinary Life and Routine

We need to know the lie of the land before everything changes in the story, so that the change that happens to your character is impactful. But don’t over-labour this. A well chosen page of dialogue can easily set this up.

Think of Pride and Prejudice. We quickly see the silliness of Lizzie’s mother and most of her sisters and understand that Lizzie does not belong in such a home. We are also quickly made to understand about the entail on the estate, and thus that Lizzie must marry someone with money. But we also see Lizzie tell Jane that she will marry for love, thus setting up the central conflict of the story. This is the lie of the land for Lizzie, until Mr Darcy appears – the moment of change.

The key here is to be brief. If you spend too much time on the ordinary and the every day with no moment of change, the reader will become bored.

5. Give A Hint of Some Dissatisfaction

This links to the last step. The set up of the ordinary course of your character’s life is likely to be more interesting if you show us a hint of dissatisfaction, or a latent need or desire, or an inkling that something is missing from your character’s life.

Your character might not know exactly what they’re missing, but they will know what parts of their life are boring or irritating or miserable or hurtful or repressed.

6. An Inciting Incident

An Inciting Incident is the event that sets your story in motion. It is the thing that disrupts your character’s ordinary life i.e. the arrival of Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley.

The Inciting Incident helps your character understand that something is missing from their life and what a possible solution to that might be – they might not be right about the solution of course at this point of the narrative. It also sets in motion the events that lead up to the Crisis; if the Inciting Incident didn’t happen, the Crisis moment in your story wouldn’t happen either.

7. Begin a Journey

The Inciting Incident should cause your character to react – to do something that is out of the ordinary. They then embark on their journey. The plot of your book really kicks in here. The inciting incident causes an event, which causes the next event etc, all the way to the crisis moment.

8. Make the Reader Curious

Your story should pose some questions that the reader wants answered. They will keep reading to find the answer. For instance, in Gone Girl, the reader wants to know, what Nick is lying about, is he guilty, what is he guilty of, what has happened to Amy?

You need to establish the key dramatic questions that the story spends its whole length answering.

9. Establish the Voice of the Story

You need to show the reader that you have control of the narrative right from the outset. Establishing the voice of your story and the character will help you to do this.

Everything flows from the first three chapters so if the voice isn’t right here, it never will be. You need to give the reader a sense of your authority – that you have command over the story and the events and the structure. The reader needs to trust that you will show us a story worth reading.

10. Sell Your Book

When you’re redrafting, you should read your first three chapters with their sales-worthiness in mind at least once. Are they the best first three chapters you can possibly give your book?

Check all your firsts. Is the first line of your book the best first line? What about your first paragraph? First chapter? First line of next chapter?

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Hope this helped! If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to talk, feel free to drop by my ask box!

[embfitz]

When you feel unable to write, instead of trying some behavioral approach, like forcing yourself to write every day, consider instead trying to figure out who in your past has tried to silence you, and what liberation there might be in telling them to go fuck themselves – which is what the act of writing is. I don’t know a single writer who didn’t feel significantly silenced in their youth, and it’s that early silencing, I’m convinced, that shuts some of us down. Most of us don’t fail to write because we have bad habits. We fail to write because we aren’t sure that we are entitled to. Figuring out if that’s true of you can be a big step. And then getting angry is the next healthy step… Then write something down.

“The ‘Unfinished’ Stuff,” an Interview with Robin Black (via thechapess)

[its-a-writer-thing]

Four Ways to Improve Your Grammar and Punctuation

Let’s face it; grammar and punctuation are hard. Especially in the English language, it’s a vast and ever-changing pool of rules, regulations, and personal taste that can enhance your text or completely sink it.

Just as grueling a truth: We can’t do without them. We may hate it, but – just like your protagonist hates teaming up with the antagonist (even if the reader loves it) – we need it and we have to roll with it. Punctuation is mortar for a wordsmith and grammar is the clay in the bricks. If you want to build a successful and enjoyable story (fiction or non), you have to master these two incredibly vital, incredibly annoying elements.

“How,” you ask? Well, here are some of the easiest and most steadfast tips for getting a hold on it.

Reading. Now trust me - this really is the best way. Seeing it in practice engrains the proper usage in your head. It’ll help you develop an eye for it and catch those errors everywhere. Eventually – over the course of two books or two hundred – you’ll begin noticing errors by just feeling that something is off. You may not know the technical reason, but that certain comma in that place has such a faulty tone about it that you can’t help but change it to an em dash. Or a sentence will just sound slightly off and you won’t be able to leave it until you’ve achieved that perfect click of corrected perfection.

Writing. After seeing it in practice, putting it into practice yourself will solidify the entire process in your mind. It’s one thing to watch someone else ride a bike – and it’s helpful – but climbing onto one yourself and trying out the petals ensures you’ll never forget how to ride it. It’ll also show you which rules are hard and fast, and which are fashionable deviations. Bonus: Portions of grammar and punctuation are simply stylistic; so apply the hard and fast rules and then play with the stylistic portions to suit your own writing. Do you like the way a certain author lengthens their sentences? The way another uses commas? Neither are wrong, just a preference. Try out their methods and see which you prefer. You’ll probably fluctuate through a variety of styles while doing so and it’ll strengthen your writing voice.

Getting Feedback. After placing your newfound knowledge on the page, having others look over it to catch mistakes will help to guide you even further in the right direction. As much as you may disliked it, having that one reviewer who points out every single error will help burn those mistakes into your head and you’ll never make those specific errors again – maybe just to spite them. And remember, as you’re downing that entire pint of Rocky Road: Grammar and punctuation are rather technical things, so don’t beat yourself up about making mistakes. Really, it’s just a misplaced generic symbol.

Freelance studying. Certainly attending courses specializing in grammar and punctuation would be helpful, but maybe you don’t have the time or the funds to devote to that. Instead, as you’re writing, if you come across a comma you’re not quite sure about or a phrasing that’s not quite right, stop and Google your very specific question. “Does a comma come before or after a quote?” “Is [insert phrase] grammatically correct?” Usually a few results will come up with detailed answers, not only solving your problem but also explaining the rules behind this solution, which you can remember for next time. This is an invaluable step.

So whether you want to improve your use of grammar and punctuation for your own satisfaction or to get that one reviewer to shut up, the end result is master these two important bits of knowledge. It’s a long process, but these four tips will give you the most effective, most efficient, and least costly college course you can find.

I hope you find this helpful! Feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing

Happy writing!