Writing Tips for the novice

When you are a writer, you hear over and over again the important job of the first line: to draw your reader into your story. The first line is a “hook” to grab the reader. But another important aspect of the first line is when it grabs you as a writer.

One way to fire up your imagination? Creative writing exercises focused on the first line of a story. Below is an arbitrary list of first lines for you to use to hone your storytelling and writing skills. Any of the following lines can be used to begin a novel, short story, or even an essay or non-fiction piece. Choose one and let your imagination loose!

Write the one that interests you most at the top of the page and then start writing. Now write the one that interests you the least and do the same. There are 31 here, enough to keep you writing for an entire month. (These are in 1^st person, but feel free to change them into 2^nd or 3^rd person.)

1. I can’t help it. I lie. All the time.
2. When I found out there would be a supermoon in two nights, I began making my plans.
3. I turned to see who was following me.
4. I’ve never done anything like this, but I was about to be thrown out of college and was desperate for money…
5. The day I decided to get my tattoo…
6. I had always thought the people who were paid to watch me were stupid, but this was beyond belief.
7. I wish I could take back that moment, at the fortune-teller’s table…
8. Anytime you want to meet someone over the internet, take my advice. Don’t.
9. It’s bad enough that I have the boss from hell, but this profession sucks the life from my soul, especially today.
10. 10. The first thing that went through my head was “she’s a witch!” from that Monty Python movie.
11. Manipulating people is so easy I almost stopped doing it. Almost.
12. This was the last thing I expected.
13. When he suggested I should run for office, I laughed. Then I considered it. After all…
14. I was fascinated by the history of my house.
15. This building smelled like a hospital, but it was not a place anyone would leave alive.
16. I’d always wondered what would happen when I opened that door.
17. The day I died began as an ordinary day.
18. The moon has always called to me…
19. Everyone thinks I’m normal, but no one has ever seen me at midnight.
20. As I sit down to write this, I imagine what you will think when you open the envelope…
21. Watching for the delivery truck became my obsession. I couldn’t wait for the package to come; I’d never ordered anything like it before.
22. Never a dull moment when you’re a taxi driver. Just the other day this guy gets in…
23. This might seem like it’s about me, but it’s not.
24. If I hadn’t looked out the window at that exact moment and watched it happen with my own eyes, I would never have believed it.
25. Sometimes it’s best not to go home again.
26. I wasn’t allowed to do this. But I couldn’t resist.
27. I never should have started it, but I had no idea I would cause such trouble.
28. When I woke, I didn’t know where I was.
29. The moment I realized what I was reading, I knew I was as good as dead.
30. I’d never imagined I could kill somebody.
31. After she’d told me it was “high time” I knew my family legacy, my grandmother turned, pulled the box from the closet and handed it to me.

Poem - You Are to Blame

You are the cause
You are my pain
You are the reason
I'm going insane

I hate you dearly
My soul will ache
As long as I know
That you're awake

You've made me weak
You forced me to lie
You are the reason
Why I still cry

You've ruined my life
It's all your fault
I cannot escape
Your deadly assault

I'm haunted by you
And your twisted soul
Your hate stricken mind
holds a selfish control

I wish for your death
To be painful and slow
I wish for the day
You go down below

I want you to suffer
For all that you've done
My sadness was born
The day you begun

Everything you know
Everything you touch
has been destroyed
By your evil clutch

I place this on you
This is your blame
There's no one else
This is your shame

You deserve the worst
May you never be free
At least I'm not selfish
Because you are me....

Camp NaNoWriMo Update

It's been a tough time writing this Camp NaNoWriMo. I think it's due to not being motivated and not being able to progress with my story. I think it might help if I got out and wrote somewhere else. I think maybe in time I can finish this story by 30th July. I know I want to move forward and finish this WIP. I just not sure I have the inspiration or motivation right now. It's just I am not getting tit to flow the last few days. I got to chapter 3.

I got a word count is - 4,613 words thus far. I know I got to reach 25000 by 30th July. That is my goal.If I do not move forward I will be letting myself down, plus I will be telling myself I haven't got the gift any longer to write these storie4s I have inside my head. I get the idea, but nothing more. I hate when it gets this hard to write. I feel so alive and free when I'm writing. Right now feeling so depressed because I'm not getting the chapter started.

I feeling  that I need help getting chapter 3 off the ground. the other two chapters came out right after the 4th July. Now it's  the 11th July and I'm stuck in a rut right now. I need to get this back on track. If only I had my partner out here helping me. They are great at inspiring me with my stories. I have written 4 novel this far. One in my first year. The others three were November NaNoWriMo winners. If only I could get this going again would be fantastic.

Just need someone to give me a good starting point for chapter 3. Need help....

Three Line that will help yo write better

Just as you would approach an agent or editor you should try to wrap up your idea in a paragraph. Here are some points you can consider:

1. You need a title. Write your working title in big letters at the top of the page. You can even make a mock-up of your cover. It’s inspirational.
2. Who, what and why? You need a character, start with them and the inciting moment. The inciting moment gives you a goal and that conflict will give you an antagonist.
3. When, where and how? If you are writing sci-fi or historical fiction, this question becomes even more important, but you should pick a moment in time and then tell me how all of this is going to happen.

Consider this:

[Character’s name] + [inciting moment] + [story goal] leads to [intriguing question]

For example: Paint It Black by Janet Fitch

Josie’s boyfriend commits suicide. She wants to find out why, but that means dealing with his crazy controlling mother. Should Josie let herself be lured into a life of riches by the woman who destroyed the man she loved?

In short ask yourself, who wants to do what and why? Then print it out, stick it to your wall and when in doubt go back and ask yourself if you are answering the question.

so you want to be a writer?

so you want to be a writer?

Charles Bukowski, 1920 – 1994
 
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.

if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.

if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.

if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.

if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.

if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.

if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.

if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.

don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.

unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.

unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.