Try Something New!

In the words of Joseph Campbell (American writer, 1904-1987), "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." Sometimes it helps to just branch out and explore something you wouldn't normally try in your writing. For example, I have always written in third person with my main characters being British women in their thirties or forties but for Camp NaNoWriMo in July, 2011, I decided to write in first person from the point of view of a ten-year-old American boy and it was surprisingly successful. 


If your writing is getting a little stiff or you don't feel that you're getting anywhere with your writing, maybe it's time to take a break from whatever you're writing and start with a new piece, a new area that you haven't touched on before. By giving your mind a rest you will refresh yourself and when you come back to your project, you will have more to say because you're looking at it with new eyes. And hey, who knows, you might find something you really love while taking your break.

I say give it a go - it worked for me and I hope it works for some of you.
Any particular stories about trying something new? Comment below.


Lydia

Get Rid Of Your Fear

Any young writer will know that it's hard to shake these fears about not being good enough or not having enough experience but I don't think this should be the case. If I had my way, there would be more budding young writers, eager to share and learn.

My advice to you, which will sit well with any fellow pyromaniacs, is to write down every fear you have about writing, or your lack of it perhaps. Maybe you think you can't write characters convincingly enough or your plot is flat. Whatever it is, write it down. It helps a little even just getting those words on the paper and who knows, it might prompt your inner creativity to pour out.

Write it out twice, once in a negative light and once in an optimistic, positive light. Stick the optimistic list up on your cupboard door or fridge, somewhere you'll see it.

Next step is to burn the negative one. There isn't any point in beating yourself up about these little things that every writer will have experienced. You're not weird or abnormal, you're just a beginner or perhaps you never sorted this out earlier and it's hanging over you. I certainly have my issues - I can't believe that anyone would want to read what I write because who am I to expect that it will be worth anything? These are things I'm working on getting rid of and I hope you do too.

Do you have any particular methods for relieving your writing-related issues and stresses?  - comment below

Lydia

A Photo to Write About

I love this photo because of the emotions it would evoke in the taker. Obviously, it is a photoshopped image but that doesn't detract from the power. Imagine if this was real, if you or your character was in this situation. What would you do? How would you react?Perhaps write a story or an article about this picture or the consequences of the pictures.
-comment below-
Lydia

Paper Vs Technology

As a teenager, I have grown up with all these technological advances, as will many of you, I assume. My house has never not had a computer while I've been around and my phone is attached but I am still fascinated by the paper versus technology debate. I generally find that it is the older writers who stick to paper and the younger, more technologically advanced who are advocates for the computer as a writing tool.

I use both. As a child, I always used pen and paper because I wasn't that sure on how to use a computer but as I grew older, I became addicted to using a laptop or computer to note my thoughts. Of course, that was until the great disaster of 2010. My beloved laptop, where I stored everything including my most recent project which was sitting at 20,000 words, decided to devour 8,000 words. I think I may have cried. And shouted. And sworn, a lot. Luckily, because of my past with pens and paper, I had a fair amount of it scribbled down in various notebooks, along with copious notes. Still, it was pretty devastating. I stayed up all night, copying out the bits and pieces I had while racking my brains for the missing parts of the puzzle.

I never did get it all back. The file with the original copy had magically become encrypted by some evil computer powers, even the back-up on my memory stick was dead as a doornail. When I read it back a while later, I realised that some parts didn't make sense because the linking scenes, or scenes of origin, were gone forever and my memory isn't great at the best of times.

However careful I try to be with computers and technology, tip-toeing around them so they don't eat my work, I still have slip ups. I'm constantly closing my millions of tabs or deleting bookmarks by mistake, or perhaps not noticing the computer's low battery until I've written 2,000 words with no save and it dies. It took far too many occurrences of me deleting blog posts and rewrite the entire things, only to find out that they were automatically saved!

I may be sounding much older than fifteen with this rant but I think it's a valid point: not only should you back up your work but try to have fairly recent paper copies too. It's not worth the heartbreak after all!
That is why for my most recent book, I have written it all in a notebook. (Although it's also because I just love a good notebook, but that's beside the point.)







Do you prefer paper or computer? - comment below!

Lydia

Writing and School: The Juggle

Probably the worst thing about being a young writer is the juggle between overwhelming school work and the pressing ideas in your head, begging you to pay attention to them. There must be some sort of balance but finding it is tricky - I still haven't. I find myself immersed in writing for hours when I should be revising. I just can't resist the temptation of my battered A4 notebook, crying out for me to write in it, to fill its yellowed pages with smudgy black ink.


During lessons, my mind is constantly wandering and I've taken to carrying around three different notebooks with me at all times, just in case. I'm a paranoid writer: I'm convinced that all my pens will run out of ink so I carry - at last count - a grand total of forty, scattered in the bottom of my bag, with the notebooks for different things. My big white one is for my current story and any notes on it. The little brown one is to make a note of any interesting people or conversations I see/overhear, usually in coffee shops.

My addiction to notebooks doesn't help. It seems that anywhere I shop, I will buy a notebook, whether it's 50p or £7, just in case the three in my bag run out of pages or disappear. I worry about not having anything to write on more than I worry about getting a bad report at school; probably an unhealthy attitude but it's just so hard to break! I suppose the one benefit is that I generally do well in the creative subjects.

I would advise to steer clear of my method, if you can call it that. I try to let my writing wait but I don't want to lose my ideas. If you know something is going to play on your mind and distract you, I would advise you to write it down so you know that it's there, in case you forget. Just don't become like me, a work-shy writeaholic!

Do you have any working balances? - comment below!

Lydia

Why I Write

Whenever I've asked any of my writing friends how they got into writing, they usually just say, "Oh, I've been doing it all my life," but there is often some reason why they wanted to write. I know quite a few people who do it because it sounds intellectual and want to be different though I'm sure we all know that for those people, it's a short-lived fantasy. Once they've been going for a few years, they can then be taken seriously. 

I'm ashamed to admit that I'm at risk of becoming one of those people who just says, "I've done it forever!" because I have, I've been writing for longer than I remember though I can still recall my first two proper stories: a nine-page epic about a boy who finds a baby on his doorstep with some sort of magical stone (reading back on it, it was a shameless rip-off of Harry Potter, though it didn't cross my mind at the time!) and then there was a five page little thing about a girl called Winter who appeared to just wander around in the snow, until she was taken in by a friendly couple. Now that I write about it, I see that it was less of a story than an extract.  Perhaps my earliest ever story though, was a short piece about a crab called Clipper who was bullied, along with his sister, until they stood up for themselves and the bullies were sent away. I must have only been about five years old at the time, and I had never been bullied or experienced bullying. Where do we get these ideas from?

My question is how did you start writing? It's a tough one to answer because it's true that for many, it's just second nature. I think I owe it to my primary school English teacher who pushed me to write creatively because she knew I enjoyed it. I can honestly say that I've never looked back. From the ages of about five to eleven, I tried my hand at illustrating my own stories but it never worked - I guess it doesn't help that I can't draw people at all!

I'm lucky to have always had a supportive family and a whole hoard of teachers who respect what I do though I know that there are some people who have had to hide their writing for fear of being mocked or disparaged. What I say is BE PROUD of your writing; even if your friends laugh at it or your family disagree, it doesn't mean you should be any less proud. It's one thing to be a writer but it takes a whole lot of guts to keep it up and still want to do it. Never lose that sense of self and pride. There will be rough points but the joy of starting writing when you're young is that you can see yourself grow and evolve. I look back at pieces from just a few months ago and I'm amazed at how far I've come.

Why do YOU write? - comment below!

Lydia

Your Role as a Writer

AUDIENCE
You may think that you are writing for yourself and your own pleasure but I'm sure that at some point, you will want people to read what you've have written and for it to have an effect on them. That's what I am aiming for with this blog, after all.

As the writer, you play a huge role in delivering the right material in the right way. First of all, you must identify your audience. All that means is you need to figure out what sort of people you want to be reading your writing: for me with this blog, I am aiming at readers and writers of all ages whom I can help with their writing, rather than elderly men who enjoy fishing.


You won't get far if you want to write a self-help book on smoking for children but retune your audience to middle-aged men and women and you're off!

Once you have decided on your audience, you need to think of methods - these differ depending on who's reading the writing. Children enjoy a simple plot with a happy ending whereas many adults will delve into a complex, unpredictable (though not ridiculous) plot with any type of ending, as long as it satisfies.

Although writing is a very personal craft, the idea is to tune it to your readers so they will get the most out of it. This may involve cutting parts that didn't work, no matter how amazing or well-written they were. Writing is a sacrifice.

GENRE
What sort of story do you want to write? This is your genre. For a tale about girl-meets-boy, your genre would probably be chick-lit or young adult. You have to research your genres beforehand and check that your story fits into one. You may find that your book is very character orientated but don't worry - that would settle in the genre of literary fiction. For every book there is to write, you will find a genre, be it crime, historical fiction or adventure. 


Keep your genre in mind as you write - try not to veer off the tracks and venture into other territories as your readers will be confused and unsatisfied if the action-packed adventure story morphs into a romantic chick-lit. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fine for a romance to evolve over the course of an adventure book but don't let it take over. Remain in control of your story, plot and characters, like a dog on a lead. You can give all three some leeway and the sense of control but ultimately, you're the commander.
Here is a useful site with genres: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/35-genres-and-other-varieties-of-fiction/


THINGS TO REMEMBER
The reader comes first: your job is to satisfy their wants and needs.
Make sure the book is what it says on the box.
Don't disappoint anybody.
Keep in control.
Have fun!

Please post any questions and comments below, or email me.

Lydia

Look after your Dust Bunnies

Every writer has their own dust bunnies; those little bits and pieces of stories, perhaps a character or two, which are stored at the back of the mind to slowly gather dust. It's a good idea to keep track of you dust bunnies before they decide to up and leave: you never know when you might be able to use them.

We all know the drill: we have an idea but can't use it at the time so we vow to remember it to use it in a future story but honestly, what are the chances of this happening? As humans, we're not perfect and it's almost guaranteed that by vowing to remember something, we are condemning ourselves to forgetfulness.

I can recall so many times when I have a distant memory of an amazing idea but I never made a note of it: I now always carry my phone and a pocket-sized notebook. The six or seven pens in my pocket and further, ooh, around forty in my bag, go without mentioning.

Dust bunnies are irritating little things: they will linger in your mind forever, taunting you with their presence but then the day comes when you must call upon them. You’re proud of yourself for finding them a place to slot in but – disaster! – your bunnies have done a runner!

Who knows, that idea could have been the next Shakespeare but it’s lost to an eternity of floating in the ethers of your brain. It’s but a vacant memory to you now, as useless as a chocolate teapot.

Don’t stop at writing – I’ve been known to draw scenes on any surface possible. By no means am I a skilled artist but whatever helps, helps.

Do you have any methods for remembering your bunnies? What do you do when you’re full of ideas but there isn’t a pen or phone in sight? Comment below!

Lydia

Character Development

~~~This one's a toughie - so many people have so many different ways of presenting their characters to the audience so it'd be hard to track each and every one so I'll do the main ones. To start, I shall have my personal favourite: introducing characters in the middle of the scene.

This technique is called in media res and involves bringing the reader directly into the action though it must be used with caution: you don't want your readers to end up confused if too much has happened before the book started.
It is best to choose a scene which shows a little bit about the character, be it a snippet of their personality or perhaps how they act in a certain situation. Maybe you use it as an opportunity to show the characters' appearances.

~~~ If you are going to describe the characters' looks at all within the book (a little detail is always good, we don't need an in-depth description of every freckle) then do it at the start, or within the first chapter at least. I'm sure we all know how disappointing it can be to imagine a character is 5'10" and brunetter, only to find out on page 102 that she is actually 4'11" and platinum blonde.

If you are going to describe your characters' appearances, then you must do it fast so that the reader doesn't have a preconceived image in their minds. A reader is very quick to bring to their mind an image and they will be disappointed if that image is completely wrong.

Use description sparingly because there will inevitably be a moment where intricate detail of a character works perfectly so you don't want to bore your readers by it being nothing new. Try to entwine descriptions of the main characters into the main body of the text rather than have a whole paragraph to say "Her eyes were blue like the sky on a sunny day and her brown hair flowed like a chocolate fountain," et cetera, when you could just say something like "She twirled her dark hair into a bun and jogged down the steps." That way, you are managing to give more information with less words, making it easier for the reader to digest.

A character's physical description can reveal a lot about them so try to incorporate this into your thinking when you are writing. Perhaps the moody man at the station wears his hat over his eyes and holds his newspaper high to obscure his face. This gives the reader plenty of questions and when the reader has questions, they will keep reading to find the answers.

~~~Reactions. This is a biggie. Actions show just fine how a character deals with situations and goes about their daily lives but a major indicator of character is in how they react to people, dilemmas and circumstances. Does the sweet blonde girl fly off the handle when her door key won't work? Is the sour elderly woman the only one to keep her head on when there's a fire? These little things are crucial to show the reader that you character is real. The art of storytelling lies in the ability to convince the reader that you know what you're talking about and that your story is worth reading. Not all of this lies in the characters but it certainly helps to have them as a strong base. The reader needs at least one character to root for.

Lydia

An Inspirational Photo

I absolutely love this photo and I find that
it has so many different interpretations.
Try and write a poem or a piece of flash
fiction based on the picture.

Lydia

Tip No. 2: No Purple Prose

We all know how it goes: teachers persuade you to write with as much description and as many adverbs as possible, applauding those with the floweriest language and the most effluent passages but this is not the way to do it in the real world.
I have heard time and time again from people in and out of the publishing world that the best way to do it is as scarcely as possible: leave as much up to the reader's imagination as possible. Make them think a little. You'll notice that the books which follow the less is more rule tend to be of a much higher quality and it gives the reader a much wider scope.

This website: http://www2.localaccess.com/suthed/writing.htm - has plenty of examples of purple prose and I'm sure you can all see that the quality of the writing is hindered by the overuse of words in an attempt to sound smart.

There are so many advantages to not using purple prose - the simplicity of your writing will be more striking to the reader rather than tiresome to read. Don't be boring to your readers because no-one is the beneficiary there.

Try to avoid flowery language as much as possible, although in some circumstances it can work, to describe something particularly stunning. If used sparingly, it can create a decent effect in that it is so out of the ordinary in comparison to the rest of the story.

Lydia

Tip No. 1: Watch TV

It may sound a little contradictory but watching plenty of TV in the same genre you like to write in can really help you with your writing. By observing how other writers do their craft, you can learn from that and relax with some good TV in the meantime!
This tip is on par with reading books in the same genre because from this, you can learn different techniques and apply them to your own work.

One thing that helps writers through the TV is a tip I learned from a book I read a few years ago, though I regret to say I still haven't tried it out properly myself. It advises writers to record or watch a DVD of a TV program they have never seen before, preferably a soap or drama where they will be plenty of scenes with different characters. The idea is to watch it with the volume on mute and no subtitles and write down what you think is happening and who is saying what within the scene. This is a great way to get a better understanding of how characters should look in different situation and also how their friends/counterparts are supposed to react. The idea is to then rewatch the program with the volume on, to see how accurate you were.
The most I have ever done is watch and guess, but never rewatch which is at least something, even just to make a few observations.
Even when watching TV normally, it's handy to keep an eye out for little quirks of characters, just small things that can inject a little more life into a story.

Have fun!

Lydia

Why are so many writers introverts?

Yes, the question poses a bit of a generalisation but it’s one I have pondered many times. Some people disagree but that may be due to an incorrect definition of the word. There are so many myths about introversion, I won’t take the time to dispel them all but one of them is that an introvert cannot be outgoing: false. I’m an introvert and proud but talk about something I care about, or introduce me to scintillating people and I will be as outgoing as your average extrovert. Introverts are not shy, they’re just quiet. The definition of introvert on dictionary.com is: Psychology: a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings or to direct (the mind, one’s interest, etc) partly to things within the self. Only about 25% of people are introverts.

The thing with introverts is that we are extremely comfortable on their own because our brains are working overtime with all our thoughts: us introverts spend an awful lot of time in our own world just thinking.  One of the most irritating things as an introvert is to be constantly asked “Are you ok?” just because you’re thinking. To read more on introversion, check out these two websites: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/91sLRr 
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1Zqpnj 

So, back to the main question: why are so many writers introverts? Granted, it’s not all of them but I have never met an extrovert who is serious about their writing – of course, that may just be because I don’t socialise much but I think there’s a definite link. It takes a lot of stamina to be a writer: there’s so much time spent alone, long hours of staring blankly at a computer screen and thinking up fantastical plots and characters.  We have the benefit of being able to do that without a second thought: it comes naturally to spend long periods of time alone because it's so easy to lose oneself in the world of thought.

Introverts are programmed to enjoy time alone and thrive off their own company rather than that of others: there is no need to incessantly be occupied with other things because what’s better than your own brain? There may be many negatives to introversion: social perception, living in an extrovert-dominated world and being seen as a “loner” but the positives of being able to survive alone for a few days during a particularly rough spot in writing, or perhaps a rush of words, make it worthwhile.

Are you an introvert? Or perhaps an extrovert who loves to write? Post your opinion below!

Lydia

DON'T write what you know.

Don't write what you know, that's what I'm telling you. It may go against what you've been told before: it's no secret that English teachers the width and breadth of the country say the exact opposite. I've been told in the past by many a teacher that if I wrote what I knew then my writing would be more believable and I'd have more to say.
As my creative writing teacher once said, if you only write what you know then you are drastically limiting yourself. There's only so much you will be able to write before you have to venture into the unknown but that's great! There's little that is more fun and exhilarating than those first moments of research, collecting facts and reading books by authors of the same genre. If you don't explore with your writing, you won't learn and you will find yourself stuck in a rut.
Every time that I have tried to write what I know, it has failed because the writing has sounded limited and conceited. By only writing what you know, you run the risk of treading on dangerous territory with regards to inventing characters based too heavily on people you know.
Try to be adventurous and if you think you won't be able to write something because of inexperience, do it. Research it, talk to people who are experienced and read books which deal with the topics you're interested in. In the end, it doesn't matter what you know because you can look it up and find out. What matters is how much interest you hold in the topic: the more interested you are, the more that will show through.
Go for it - write what you want to write about, be it the mating habits of snapping turtles or an in-depth guide to criminals of the 1700s.

Lydia

A List of Songs to Inspire

Here, I have compiled a list of ten songs that I find quite inspirational for writing - I hope that some of them may help you too.

1 - Never Tear Us Apart --- INXS
2 - Drowned --- Tim Minchin
3 - The Letter That Johnny Walker Read --- Asleep at the Wheel
4 - Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray --- Patsy Cline
5 - Paradise ---Gavin Mikhail
6 - O Children --- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
7 - Why Try to Change Me Now --- Fiona Apple
8 - I Need a Doctor (feat. Eminem & Skylar Grey) --- Dr. Dre
9 - Wires --- Athlete
10 - Beautiful --- Eminem

Perhaps you'll find something to write about from this music, maybe not but if it inspires one person then I've done my job. Comment with any of your own inspiring songs!

Lydia
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Dealing with Writers' Block

Okay, so everything was going well and then BAM! You wake up one morning and you can't write. Maybe you have the ideas but the actual writing won't come, or perhaps the flow just isn't there. What I find happens most often is that I know what I want to write but I just can't get from A to B. So how do writers deal with this? Yes, it's frustrating to no end and it can feel like it will never end but it will. It can take from mere days to months or even years.
Usually, you just need something to boost you out of the dump. That might be just relaxing with a good book, preferably in the genre you write in: that way, you can get ideas from the author on how to get from one place to the other. It might be that you have clogged your writing up with dull and useless information: does the reader really need to know just how Bob opened the door and walked out? If it doesn't progress the story, you don't need it. 
My longest non-writing stint lasted for over ten long, painful weeks that I hated. I desperately wanted to write but I couldn't. I'd convinced myself that the things I was writing were coming true and I got scared. Fear is a major part of writers' block and it's a wall you have to smash through before you can get back to writing. Even after I had eased myself back into writing, it took a long time for me to produce anything worthwhile - it wasn't until July (my block ended in February) that I gained the confidence to put pen to paper properly, with a new project.
The bonus is that after you have come through a block, you will have so much pent-up writing energy that you won't want to stop. That July, I wrote just over 50,000 words in fourteen days and it felt so great to be writing again.
Don't give in to your block! It is not what defines you when you write, it is just a natural pause, a phase that will pass if you give it time. A mistake I've made many a time is to try and force writing during a block. Don't do this. It will only produce low-quality writing which will make you feel insecure in your writing and most likely, the block will last longer. 
Listen to music, go for a walk, take up baking - do anything during your block except write. I mean this: forcing writing when it's not coming naturally won't end well but don't worry, it will pass. 


Lydia

Where do writers get their inspiration?

Ah, the eternal question asked to writers: how many times I have heard this and so many different answers have I heard! The answers change from writer to writer and even in one writer, they are hardly consistent. I've been inspired by music, by photos and by other books but most recently, I was given a plot in a dream. I had been mulling over some characters in my head for a while (inspired by two people I saw at the Post Office) but I had no plot to go with them. Then, out of the blue, I had my first writing-inspiring dream. I have a friend who had a dream and from that, she has written and published three children's books. It just goes to show, it's worth making a note of all these little things; the people you see, the dreams you dream and any striking piece of music. Even the things that seem ridiculous at the time can be a vital part of a future story.

Lydia

Welcome to Dust Bunnies: A Writer's Brain

As you may have guessed, I am the writer in question and I have created this blog to share my tips and experiences from within the world of writing. I aim to help others and learn from everyone out there as well. Feel free to comment or email me with any questions at dustbunnies_writer@hotmail.co.uk

I've created this as a way for me to immortalise my favourite tips, ideas and websites in the best way for sharing with other people who are interested in the same things.

I will also be using this as a platform to save lists of my favourite writing music and pictures that I find to be particularly inspirational, perhaps the odd writing exercise too.

I hope you enjoy it.
Blog Ping
Lydia