Get your writing out there!

I've always been a bit scared of posting my writing online - I mean, it's mine. What if someone else steals it?
It's taken me a while to realise that even if someone does steal an idea or a chunk of text, they won't get far with it. If they're out thieving, they probably haven't got the ability to finish a story so nothing will happen if they come                  
                                                          across your writing.

Now that this fear is out of the way, put your writing to the big wide world! There are so many websites that you can use to promote your own writing and post it. I am a recent Wattpad convert, after years of not being too big on posting my stuff on the internet (if you haven't heard of Beth Reekles, look her up!) and I'm learning it's quite fun. I can post my stuff in installments of one story (great for novels) or little pieces of their own merit.

Of course, there are many more websites out there and I could exhaust myself listing them all but a quick google search for "writing websites" can easily churn up hundreds of different sites. Do a bit of reading around to find the right one for you. I settled with Wattpad because I've heard a lot of good stuff about it - also, agents and people in the literary world are known to occasionally find something they like there. It's worth a try! Even published authors are known to post their work on the site, too. It's a great place to meet likeminded people, all striving for that bit of recognition.


Of course this was coming: my shameless plug. But this is my blog after all, and I'd love to promote my work (it hasn't even got 50 reads yet!) so every little counts. Send me a message if you have any questions or concerns.

http://www.wattpad.com/story/5275996-alphabet-soup

Happy Writing!

- Lydia

Revising your book: it's not so scary

Ever since I started writing, I've been plagued by the thoughts that at the end, it'll need months of revision and hard work and the story will end up being totally different from what I wrote in the first place. Most of that is probably true but if you truly love the idea, it won't be so hard.

I recently finished the first go at revising a book I wrote in the summer of 2011, which seems so long ago now. I left the book for so long because I had fun writing it for the remarkably short two weeks it took - not something I've replicated yet! - and because I had no hope of anything professional for it - it was just something for me. Then I noticed it the other day and thought, hmm, why not start revising it? I took a hard copy and a couple of highlighters and spent a few days pawing through the pages, often highlighting whole sections that made no sense or where the "find and replace" function had gone horribly wrong, or I'd made stupid spelling/grammar mistakes. But because I'd left it so long - which I recommend highly - there were some really great bits I'd forgotten about. Any faith I'd lost from the stupid bits was made up for by the odd gem I stumbled across amongst those newly colourful pages. It's worth it.

Now that I've changed all the glaring errors and a few tiny mistakes, I'm a lot more confident in my writing. I fixed the odd plot hole and tied up loose ends. There's still a long way to go before it's a beautiful, polished book but I've made the first few steps and those are the ones that count the most. Had I not made the effort to revise it, I wouldn't have been inspired to write a sequel. I had forgotten how much I loved that set of characters and through the revision period, I was enlightened and desperate to continue their story. I encourage you to do the same.

Lydia

Don't hold back for the first draft!

You may want to get everything perfect the first time round but this won't happen. Don't worry about it like I did - it's easy to go back and change things once you've got the first draft down because then you've got the bulk of the story and you're just tweaking it, rather than coming up with the new words to move the story along.

I spent years being too scared to write the stories I wanted to write and use the names I wanted to use in case they weren't "right" in the end, even if it was just for stories I was writing for fun, for only me (and a few friends, perhaps) to see. I was scared to use lyrics from songs, or film titles or brand names in case I'd have to get rid of them at the end. Then I realised, why not just use them for now? There's no point spending days worrying about using a real town's name when a) it'll end up being changed in the end anyway and b) you should be getting on with the actual writing rather than fussing over little details. That comes with revision, another thing I've always been terrified but it's not as scary as I thought. That'll come in another post.

The gist of this post is: get the words down, whatever they are, and worry about the changes later. Especially if it's an idea you're only writing for yourself. I recently finished revising a book I wrote about eighteen months ago and it was one I didn't hold back on at all - I just wrote what I wanted because I had no want for it to ever be published, and I finished writing it in two weeks. It has ended up being the favourite of the books I've written, mostly because I had such fun writing it. Writing shouldn't be a chore, it should be a release, an escape. So don't hold back.

Lydia

Don't be afraid to return to an old idea!

You keep coming up with new ideas. Every time you sink your teeth into a good story, another idea comes along and sweeps you off your feet like a new romance, only for you to realise that after all, it wasn't that great. But you don't want to return to the old ideas because that wouldn't be loyal to your new ones, your ever changing creativity, right?

WRONG!

For a very long time, I hated going back to old ideas because I didn't think I could ever get them right if it didn't work the first time or if I just never got round to finishing it. It's usually just down to me being distracted by a newer, seemingly better tale to tell. You have to remember that once upon a time, your old ideas were the new, shiny ones that keep popping up. And the new, shiny ones will soon become the old dusty ones you forgot about. No matter what you say, those new ideas will keep arriving and the old ones will be slowly gathering dust in the corner.

It's time to give the old ideas a polish, get them out and look them over. Recently, I wanted to write but I didn't want to carry on just yet with my current projects. Instead of dragging a new story into the mix, I decided to go back to an old story I'd finished in 2010 for Camp Nanowrimo which had lost its last two chapters. I decided, how about I write up those last two chapters again - finally - and revise the story. Now that I'm looking back over it again, it's better than I remember it being. At the time, I thought to myself, this is the story I want to publish first and now I remember why. Those old ideas are often the gems - the little diamonds of stories that came along before you turned into a haggard, jaded writer monster.

Lydia

Cast Your Characters

Hi everyone! I realise I've been away for quite a while - that's the problem with procrastination and writer's block. Every time I sat down to write a post, I just couldn't think of anything that sounded worthy so I put it off until I thought of something but then, of course, I didn't even try to think of anything. My excuse is that my brain is frazzled from a 60,000 word success at the June Camp Nanowrimo and also, there's another one this month (for which I'm falling behind, really badly). Am I forgiven?

Anyway, back to the topic - casting your characters. I don't mean casting them out on a hook from a fishing boat but imagining who would play them in a film or just having pictures of people who look like your character.

The main piece of advice is don't use people or actors that you know/have heard of because your mind will be tainted with what you already know about these people and your characters will seem flat or copied. If you're desperate to cast Angelina Jolie as your main woman, try not to do it until you've finished writing so it's less official and you have a broader mind. Instead of searching for specific actors or actresses, just search online for generic terms - brown haired girl, teenage guy, that sort of thing. You'll find pictures from all over the place and they won't necessarily be people you recognise. One of the best places to look for characters is hairdressing magazines. There are so many different models to portray skin tones, hair colours and styles so you're bound to find something that could fit one of your characters. I find it quite hard to find male characters but usually the internet does the trick. You could always try male hair magazines or websites or male-geared magazines.

Of course, you may find that you don't need to cast your characters because you have a crystal clear image in your mind of what your characters look like. Perhaps you don't think you should label them as anything in case it changes your view.

Lydia

In the words of Journey . . .

Don't Stop Believing!

After the Glee overhaul of Don't Stop Believing, Journey's song became known nationwide, an iconic tune. And the words are relevant to pretty much everyone: Don't stop believin' / Hold on to this feeling. Journey were onto something there.

Don't ever give up hope when it comes to writing. Everyone has their own voice and sometimes, you need to shout to be heard but rest assured - you're there and someone will hear you. There will be so many times in your writing life when you just want to pack it in and get a job as a grocer. While that may be great (and fantastic for inspiration), it's not you. If you truly believe that you're a writer through and through, it's something you have to hold on to. Perhaps keep the grocer position but keep the writing too. Even if it's only a hobby, don't let it slide.

There was a time a while back when I boycotted writing. Things weren't going well and I didn't want to disappoint myself even further by writing rubbish stuff. I was halfway through the second book in a series and I just stopped. I haven't touched that series since, even though I loved it, because it hurts but I shouldn't have given up completely. For over six months, I think, I didn't write at all, not only that project. I was scared and I lost belief in myself, that I had the capability. The thing is, everyone is capable.

If your project is bringing you down, just put it to one side. Don't get rid of it or you'll regret it. Just set it aside and try something new. Maybe you're writing a utopian fantasy for kids when really your calling is to be writing a crime thriller for young adults. Try experimenting with various genres. For years, I was writing adult chick lit and then I dabbled in fantasy but now I've realised that I'm best at teenage literary fiction. I like to explore possible lives of other people my own age, in different societies and from different backgrounds. Take a look at different genres around or try writing in the voice of your favourite writer. You might find that you enjoy it and want to do your own take on their work.

Whatever you do, keep your faith in yourself. After my long hiatus, I decided to have a go at the first ever Camp NaNoWriMo where I wrote in the voice of an eleven year old American boy fleeing his home town after a government lockdown. While I realised that I wasn't sure about writing in that sort of unrealistic genre, I did learn a lot about my voice. I learnt that I like writing in first person, from the point of view of younger people. I enjoyed being eleven for this book and I'd do it again. I even find that I love to write from a boy's point of view. I never thought that would be my type of writing but I went out on a whim and it was a serendipitous experience.

Lydia

Pinterest for writers

So, at first I didn't really warm to the idea of Pinterest but I read an article earlier that has had me begging for the waiting period to be shorter! Many of you may well know about Pinterest but for those of you who don't, it's like a virtual corkboard where things don't fall off and it can be used for any area you're interested in.

As soon as I was accepted into the site, I set about collecting images for my corkboard: I'm using it as a virtual storage place for all things Novel. My most populated board is for a book I plan to start writing during the August Camp NaNoWriMo (I'm currently doing the June one - 42,000 words in!). I find it helps to be surrounded by these images so that I don't forget my allegiances to my other writings. Instead of filling up pages and pages with detailed descriptions of my main character's girlfriend's step-mum's brothers, I can just pin any photo that piques my interest.

Warning - this may lead to excessive trawling of the internet to find the perfect photos. It's not only photos you can pin. Try quotes or recipes, anything that comes in a picture format or can be found under google images. People have boards for all sorts of different things: fashion designers might pin clothes and designs they like or interior designers might create the perfect rooms. It's your free heaven upon which to unleash your creativity. Let yourself go wild, pinning this way and that - after installing the Pin It button on your bookmark list, you can pin any image from any site directly to your pinterest with the click of a button.

Lydia