Tag: Arts

Book On Sports? Excellent.

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[found on ehow.com; by Vyvyan Lynn]

“Writing a sports book requires planning. For instance, in order to write a book about University of Georgia football, you have to decide if you will write about a certain time period in the history of the university’s football program or if your book will encompass the entire history of the program.

You could write specifically about the coaches, outstanding players or one outstanding player, such as Herschel Walker. Writing a project plan saves time in the long run and also meshes the creative process together with the business process.

The business process keeps you thinking about writing to your reader or target audience so that your finished product is marketable.”

For more on sports writing from Vyvyan Lynn, click HERE.

[found on http://www.ehow.com/how_7716241_write-sports-book.html]

Fantasy? Nah, My Neighborhood

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[found on terribleminds.com; by Chuck Wendig]

“ROOTED IN THE REAL

Reality is fantasy’s best friend. We, the audience, and you, the writer, all live in reality. The problems we understand are real problems. Genuine conflicts. True drama. The drama of families, of lost loves, of financial woes. Cruel neighbors and callow bullies and loved ones dead.

This is the nature of write what you know, and the fantasy writer’s version of that is, write what’s real. Which sounds like very bad advice, because last time I checked, none of us were plagued by dragons or sentient fungal cities or old gods come back to haunt us. But that’s not the point — the point is, you use the fantasy to highlight the reality.

The dragon is the callow bully. The lease on your fungal apartment is up and your financial woes puts you in tithe to the old gods who in turn make for very bad neighbors. You grab the core essence of a true problem and swaddle it in the mad glittery ribbons of fantasy — and therein you find glorious new permutations of conflict. Reality expressed in mind-boggling ways. Reach for fantasy. Find the reality.”

For more tips on writing fantasy from Chuck Wendig, click here.

[found on http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/06/19/25-things-you-should-know-about-writing-fantasyzzz]

Children’s Book, Here You Come

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[found on wvculture.org; by Mary Rodd Furbee]

“Consider why you want to write children’s books.
If you want to write books for children, it helps to be a little crazy. I developed a passion to write nonfiction biographies for middle-school children about four years ago. My daughter’s experiences made me realize that there were hardly any children’s books on America’s founding mothers. It hit me, hard: This was what I had to write. There was a need. The subject was fascinating. I knew I could do it, and found the prospect exciting. If you have a similar passion, perfect. If not, perhaps you are meant to do something else. It’s hard to write books, harder still to write books for children. It’s difficult to get published, and you’ll face a lot of rejection.

Don’t expect to make big money or make it quickly.
Writing books for children is like starting a business. You must invest both time and money. I hoped to make money writing my first books, but I didn’t. Four years and six published books later, I still haven’t made as much money as I could have in most professional writing or editing positions. It’s the rare children’s book that hits the bestseller list or wins a Newbery Award, and the rare full-time children’s writer who makes a living.

Read children’s books.
When I decided to write biographies of women in American history, I read biographies, histories, books about writing biographies, and lots of middle-grade fiction and nonfiction. It’s amazing what you can learn by reading the books you want to write – be they board books for infants and toddlers, picture books, early readers, middle-grade novels or young adult nonfiction. Read the best authors – over and over. If you can, take a class in children’s literature or writing for children.”

For more tips on writing children’s books from Mary Rodd Furbee, click here.

[found on http://www.wvculture.org/arts/Artworks/Fall01/childrens.html]

The New Reality of Author Platforms

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[found on forbes.com; by Alan Rinzler]

“It’s still about visibility, but today’s approach has changed. The New Author Platform requires a focus on developing an unobstructed back and forth between authors and their readers, with the authors — not the publishers — controlling the flow.

Now it’s the author, not a publicist, who inspires readers to buy the book. The New Author Platform allows not only well-established authors, but unknown, first-time beginners to do an end run around the conservative gate-keepers and reach readers directly.”

To find out more from Alan Rinzler about author platforms, and how to create your own, click here.

[found on http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2011/07/26/the-new-author-platform-what-writers-need-to-know]

Sadness For Another Day

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[found on helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com; by ]

“Are sad stories with sad endings the domain of the lonely, the manic-depressive, and the masochistic?

…Take a moment to think about the stories that have changed your life. I’m willing to bet many of them were stories of pain, loss, sacrifice, and sin.

These are the stories that speak bluntly about hard subjects and force their characters—and their readers—to face hard truths and, hopefully, walk away from the realizations as someone slightly different and perhaps slightly better.

Few of us would want to subsist on a steady diet of tragedy, but all of us are better for having occasionally cleansed our reading palate with the astringent bite of these unflinching portrayals of bittersweet truth….

Sad stories don’t have to be depressing stories. The stories that have broken my heart and changed my life are stories of great tragedy, but they’re also stories of great hope. That, right there, is where we find the true power of the sad story—because light always shines brightest in the darkness.”

For more tips on writing from K.M. Weiland, click here.

[found on http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2011/05/are-happy-endings-must.html]

Thriller, Horror, Terror — Oh My!

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[found on writersdigest.com]
“The three types of terror:
  • The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it’s when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm.
  • The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it’s when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one:
  • Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It’s when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there’s nothing there …”
— Stephen King

“The horror genre is something that I’ve always been fascinated with. Luckily, I don’t think I’m the only one. People like to be frightened. If they didn’t, Stephen King wouldn’t have a thousand novels and you wouldn’t find every horror film ever made running on AMC at this time, every year. Seriously. Click over to AMC, I can almost guarantee Halloween, or one of its sequels, is on right now.

And horror has adapted. Yes, you can still find the slasher movies and those “gross-out” moments that King references. But it’s mental now. “Found footage” movies can be terrifying because it seems so normal, so everyday. The more real, the better. And the scarier. It’s the dark basement where the only thing you can hear is the beating of your own heart. That’s real horror. The kind of stuff that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up, as if someone was standing inches behind you.

But writing horror isn’t so easy. With any type of fiction, it’s difficult to think of something that hasn’t already been done. With horror fiction, it’s especially true. Creepy basements, loud noises from the attic, hidden rooms, Indian burial grounds, old hotels, multiple personality disorder, etc.—it’s all been done before, and it’s all out there. These clichés shouldn’t restrain you, however. They’ve simply defined the space you’re working in. You know what’s there, now create your own story.”

For more tips from Writer’s Digest on writing thrillers, click here.

[found on http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/the-horror-genre-on-writing-horror-and-avoiding-cliches]

Notes and Words Dance

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[found on dittomusic.com]

Two tips of ten for writing music:

“Tune In To Your Emotions

When writing songs, it’s important to make sure that the lyrics have a powerful emotional impact. One of the best ways to make sure a song has an emotional impact is by writing lyrics with passion. It’s essential to be passionate about something in life. Without passion, everyday life can become dull and uninteresting. This insipid and bland lifestyle can seep into one’s lyrics. When you sell music online, don’t send people to sleep

Do Crazy Stuff

Few people ever hear a truly great song that was written by an accountant or a dentist. While these are good career choices, many musicians lead colorful lives that serve as an inspiration for their lyrics.”

To see more tips from Ditto Music, click here.

[found on http://www.dittomusic.com/blog/how-to-write-a-song-10-tips-on-how-to-boost-your-creative-side-when-writing-songs]

Hundreds of Writing Tips? Yes, please.

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Here are a few…

[found on writetodone.com; by ]
    1. “Be open, curious, present, and engaged.
    2. Accept all forms of criticism and learn to grow from it.
    3. Live with passion.
    4. Say to everyone: “I’m a writer.”
    5. Recognize your fear and overcome it.
    6. Rethink what is ‘normal’.
    7. Check if your assumptions are right.
    8. Accept no excuses.
    9. Break out of your comfort zone.
    10. Approach writing with gratitude, not just with a ‘must do this’ attitude.
    11. Take risks – don’t be afraid to shock. You are not who you think you are.
    12. Always think of your readers.
    13. Learn to LOVE writing and reading.
    14. Write like you’re on your first date.
    15. Simply let things be what they are.
    16. Expose yourself to as many new experiences in a short amount of time as possible.
    17. Love your tools. As St. Bumpersticker says, “My fountain pen can write better than your honor student!”
    18. Embrace your shadow. Discover what traits and characteristics you don’t want to express.
    19. Write to agitate the mind and the nerves.”

To read the rest of these 201 great writing tips, click HERE.

[found on http://writetodone.com/how-to-be-a-writer]

What Real Authors Use For Tools

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[found on flavorwire.com; by Alison Nastasi]

“It’s no secret that writers can be quite particular about their writing tools. Some might call it an obsession or fetish, but the pens, pencils, notebooks, and other implements that authors have used to create their most famous works endlessly fascinates us. After reading an ode to the beloved Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 pencil, adored for its smooth, firm graphite, we had to find out more about the tools of the literary elite. Take notes, and save your pennies to purchase these writing instruments for yourself.”

To see these incredible writing tools listed from Flavorwire, click HERE.

[found on http://flavorwire.com/410384/the-writing-tools-of-20-famous-authors]

Need A Writing Prompt?

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[found on dailywritingtips.com; by Simon Kewin]

“Where To Find Writing Prompts Online

The internet is a wonderful source of writing prompts. There are sites dedicated to providing them which a quick search will turn up. Examples include :

There are also numerous blogs that offer a regular writing prompt to inspire you and where you can, if you wish, post what you’ve written. Examples include :

There are also many other sites that can, inadvertently, provide a rich seam of material for writing prompts – for example news sites with their intriguing headlines or pictorial sites such as Flickr.com that give you access to a vast range of photographs that can prompt your writing.

If you’re on Twitter, there are users you can follow to receive a stream of prompts, for example :

Another idea is just to keep an eye on all the tweets being written by people all over the world, some of which can, inadvertently, be used as writing prompts.

How To Make Your Own Writing Prompts

You can find ideas for writing prompts of your own from all sorts of places : snatches of overheard conversation, headlines, signs, words picked from a book and so on. Get used to keeping an eye out for words and phrases that fire your imagination, jot them down and use them as writing prompts to spark your creativity. You never know where they might take you.”

For more great information on writing from DailyWritingTips, click HERE.

[found on http://www.dailywritingtips.com/writing-prompts-101]