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There’s nothing duller to a reader than a scene that presents no apparent danger or peril.
And we have to make sure that the characters and objects that are in danger of being lost are just as valuable to our reader as they are to our character.
If our reader doesn’t feel the emotional threat then the scene will fall just shy of interesting.
#3. There is no question to be answered
Sometimes the only thing that keeps the reader reading is curiosity.
If we don’t want them to lose curiosity then we need to give them something to be curious about.
Keep creating questions for them to ask and be curious about, but make sure that you give a satisfying answer to each question you create.
I hope this short post, Watch Out For These 3 Pitfalls That Will Make Your Scenes Dull, helps you think through your scenes.
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9 Writing Prompts from Coronavirus + How You Can Write the Next Big Pandemic Story
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially called the coronavirus (COVID-19) a pandemic.
We understand that this is a scary time for all and we want to extend our prayers and thoughts to those who have already lost loved ones and those who are in the most danger due to coronavirus.
With that in mind, we want to take a moment to speak to writers of our time.
When historic events (like coronavirus) happen it is time to start observing.
Use what you have around you, as the famous writers have done for centuries, to take note of how the world reacts to a pandemic such as this.
Keep a journal or log of details and events that transpire and dates to go along with how much time it takes for events to play out.
#1 Observe what people do in major cities.
Because of coronavirus people in major cities are staying in more, going out less, and buying things to take precautions about what is to come.
People wearing masks all over the street used to be things you’d see in China, but now Americans are doing the same.
What supplies have you noticed disappear off the shelves?
Are you surprised to see a shortage of canned food these days?
When Hurricane Irma forced my wife and me to leave our resident in 2017 you would have thought the world was ending.
We were originally planning on sitting it out so we went to the store to buy water and canned food. All that was left were canned pineapples and beans.
We went to Walmart to buy extra gas cans to have in case we needed emergency gas. They were all out before we even had the idea.
We decided we were going to evacuate instead.
It felt like we were driving through an apocalyptic movie. It was chaos.
We drove over 200 miles away from our home before we found 1 single gas station that had a drop of gasoline.
For 200 miles every gas station was bone dry. People had already bought it all up.
For 200 long eerie miles, we drove passed station after station full of 30 or more cars waiting for gas to come, and we hoped and prayed we wouldn’t be one of them.
I was completely shocked to see this in real life and it made me realize what the world would REALLY look like in a severe world crisis moment.
That moment was scary for us, but I am thankful to have lived through it.
I can write about them because I have seen them firsthand. I observed what actually happened to myself and others around me and now I can bring those stories to others and fictional stories I write.
What things have you experienced that you can write the first-hand experience about?
How can you make the events your characters go through more detailed and more realistic because you have observed events in real life just like them?
What little details have already happened in your life because of this coronavirus?
What major events have already affected you and those around you because of coronavirus?
#2 Observe what people do in rural areas
We all know that “preppers” have their underground bunkers in rural areas and are probably already stocked up for needing to disappear underground, but what about people that aren’t regular preppers? What are they doing about coronavirus?
Are they buying up all the gas in their area?
Are they buying up all the masks at Walmart?
All the water?
What are your neighbors saying?
What are pastors saying at churches?
What things are being canceled near you? What events are being postponed?
We just received a letter in the mail today telling us that a conference speaker we were planning on seeing next week would no longer be coming and that the rest of the conference was canceled.
Not just that, but a 30-year anniversary celebration for our area was also postponed as well.
Keep things like this in your mental notes for stories you write around the events of a crisis.
What events get eerily canceled around your characters?
What letters do they receive in the mail?
What items do they have a hard time getting ahold of at the grocery store?
What weekly events do they normally go to that are postponed or canceled?
What emails are they receiving?
Who is calling them and worried about them from afar?
Who are they worried about and checking up on by phone, email, Facebook, and Facetime?
#3 What are colleges/schools doing about coronavirus?
At least 135 colleges have canceled in-person classes over coronavirus fears.
Right now you can google highschool closings over coronavirus and find a multitude.
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In our time many colleges have now resorted to strictly only online classes while the pandemic is ongoing.
In your story, are colleges places that characters flee from or run to for aid?
Are high schools and middle schools canceling days?
What does your character google and what articles come up on their screen?
#4 Sometimes other people are more dangerous than the actual event.
We have all heard of people getting literally trampled on Black Friday sales.
And that was just over T.V.s, computer deals, and toys.
Imagine when a person thinks their life is on the line and they believe with their entire being that they must do something or else.
We have seen this in movies and books a lot and it is important to note how real it actually is.
When individuals are in a panic sometimes they are more dangerous to themselves and others than the seeming danger that lurks nearby.
Lifeguards are taught to approach drowning victims with caution for this very reason as someone who is drowning is statistically likely to panic and drown the lifeguard too. In some training, they are taught to disorient the struggling swimmer if need be. They are taught to approach them and grab them from behind.
So then imagine mobs of panicking people and how dangerous an environment like that could be.
#5 What major events get postponed or canceled?
Due to coronavirus, the NBA has suspended all games “until further notice.”
The NCAA has also taken further action. They announced that fans won’t be allowed to attend the March Madness Tournaments next week, both women’s and men’s.
Universal Studios in Orlando has announced closing all their parks through the rest of the month of March.
What events get canceled in your character’s world?
Did they have tickets?
Do they get trapped at one of the events with a panicked crowd?
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#6 What is the stock market doing because of coronavirus?
Nothing brings the lows to a culture more than the economy seemingly crashing.
The numbers we have been seeing in the markets these days are the lowest we’ve experienced since the 2008 stock market crash. In fact, according to CNN, the US stocks recorded their worst day since 1987, and we are now in what they call a “bear market,” meaning the stocks have fallen 20% or more from recent highs.
The other day wall street actually put a 15-minute FREEZE on trading just so things wouldn’t crash even harder.
They had to give everyone a chance to breathe to figure out what to do next.
Are your characters optimistic despite a market crash?
Are they fearful and pulling out all their money?
Are they buying in the hopes that it will rise after the event is over?
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As the WHO (World Health Organization) calls coronavirus a pandemic, Italy has shut down nearly all shops and schools.
They are pretty much on a countrywide lockdown and quarantine.
More than 16 million people are on lock-down. Those who try to leave their region could face fines and jail time as a punishment for breaking the quarantine rules.
What nation is your character in?
Do they live there or are they on business or holiday?
Do they get stuck in a country that is not their home?
Do they get cut off from loved ones?
Does your character break quarantine rules and run anyway? Do they get caught? Do they get chased by the government or police officials?
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President Trump has banned all flights from the EU to the US.
He seemed to think that coronavirus would blow over and was slow to pull the trigger to react heavily to it, but now it is affecting every nation slowly but surely and leaders must take precautions.
What do world leaders do that affect your characters’ every day lives?
What do they say and do that don’t affect them at all at first?
Are there decisions the leaders in your stories should have made sooner?
If so, what are the consequences of the delay?
What are they now advising the public to do?
What news reports are eerily playing in the background foreshadowing horrible events to come?
What reports does everyone in the diner stop to watch together in a moment of tense listening, shock, and seriousness?
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Tom Hanks has just announced that both he and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus.
What are celebrities in your character’s world doing?
Are they partying as if the world is ending or have they huddled away in their million-dollar mansions hoping no one will bother them until things settle more clearly?
Do they fly a private jet to a secluded area like their own personal island?
Is your character invited to come along?
Are they family to the celebrity?
Take this time to be helpful and caring to your friends, family, and neighbors around you. Now is an opportunity for us humans to come together and help one another as we all share a common world threat.
As writers and journalists, take this time to notice how events play out in a real-life pandemic and all the little details of things that a fictional character could go through during a pandemic like a coronavirus. Use details like these to make it more dynamic and interesting for your reader.
I hope this helps.
For those that are open to considering philosophical beliefs and religions, we believe times like these are a good time to consider what one believes and why they believe. To make the best use of the time because our days on earth are short.
We know what we believe, but if that’s something you want to consider and have never considered it before or in a while, consider looking at this helpful encouraging post: How Do We Make Sense of the Coronavirus?
Other Popular Posts you might just love to look through:
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Nothing breathes political corruption more than bribery. Whos bribing who and why?
2. Refugees
Refugees are not a flaw. The world’s flaw is what they are seeking refuge from. If they are seeking refuge that means that there is a bigger threat in the land.
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7 Secrets for Writing a Menacing Psychological Suspense Thriller
Check out these tips to help with your suspense thriller.
1. For a Thriller, Make it strange
Give your reader something weird that stands out.
It could be about your character.
It could be about the setting.
It could be about the guy sitting in the corner that never says anything and your main character never noticed them before, but have they been there the whole time?!
2. Keep it to the point
If you feel like you over-explaining, you probably are for a suspenseful thriller.
Make it like the stabbing of a knife in the emotions of your reader.
Sharp and to the point.
It’s not a scalpel and this isn’t surgery. Make clean cuts with your action and your explanations about characters and setting.
You have a suspense moment happening. Don’t lose them on the sunlight and how it drapes over the curtains at noon.
3. Put your main character into a tense setting
Put them in an old abandoned warehouse.
They are out on the lake by themselves when a strange unexpected fog rolls in.
The hotel used to be well managed but now barely anyone actually stays there. I wonder what happened there?
Send your character in there alone to find out.
4. Never promise the reader something you can’t deliver
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We hope you enjoyed: 7 Secrets for Writing a Menacing Psychological Suspense Thriller!
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# 5 Leaving chew tobacco spit bottles laying around
# 6 Squeezing acne in public
# 7 Sneezing without covering one’s mouth
# 8 Using an uncleaned cell phone
# 9 Eating food that has fallen on the floor
# 10 Not cleaning the keyboard
Writing Prompts | 10 Distungstingly Gross Bad Habits for Fictional Characters
Write some of your fictional characters with these bad habits in order to make them appear to be a bit gross.
Why you would want to be thinking about bad habits for your fictional characters that you are writing?
Bad habits help your audience resonate with your characters.
They make our characters more believable and more human.
Adding a few bad habits to our characters will make them more enjoyable to our readers. After all, no human is perfect and that should include not all but most of our fictional characters.
How do these bad habits affect your character’s life?
Do they lose a girlfriend or boyfriend?
Do they lose a job?
Do they get sick?
Do they get a disease?
Do they get a chronic illness? Fungus or infection?
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Do you find them to be inviting? Not open enough? Not raw enough? Not real?
Hopefully, this post will give you some ideas to help you write or change your fictional characters to make them more in-depth for your reader to gobble up.
#1 Be a constant learner
This can’t be stressed enough in any genre of writing.
Learning the art of learning is a skill that every writer and author MUST add to their arsenal of tricks.
Learning is not an innate born talent.
We have to teach ourselves how to learn and how each of us learns best.
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We hear beautiful music and we know how to play it. Or we hear our teacher talking and we retain that information well.
Our friend tells us a story and we can instantly repeat it without missing any details.
#3 Visual
Some of us learn visually by seeing someone do something even if it’s just watching a video.
We see a basketball being dribbled and we know how to start dribbling or we see someone making a meal and we see the ingredients used and we remember how to cook that meal.
For visual learners, watching is a key trick for learning something new.
Visual learners may not be best at first try but by watching a professional they can increase in skill quickly compared to not watching an expert do something.
#4 Be a Characters Reader
Readers learn from reading the instruction manual.
Give me that manual and leave me alone for a couple of hours. I’ll show you how to do it once I’m done.
Read about characters and character development.
Read about not just characters you love, but also ones that you find boring and despise so that you know what kind of characters you don’t want to write about.
#5 Use Real-Life Experience
Some of us learn best from hands-on experience.
“Don’t tell me how to do it. Give me the tools and let me do it already!” we might say.
Use real-life experience to write from and if you don’t have it, interview someone that does and write from their experiences.
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Even though these are some of the major ways people learn we as humans all learn by using each tool for learning and the more you use to learn the more you’ll learn that skill or ability.
So what does this have to do with writing fictional characters?
Fictional characters are the most in-depth amazing when the writer writes from what they know and the better they know it the better the fictional character will be. They jump right off the page.
Your reader will more readily accept the writing and the reader will enjoy reading about how the characters act and think and respond to situations based on the area of expertise we give them.
So if we are writing about a carpenter and we are a visual learner we can watch movies and documentaries and TV about carpentry and carpenters.
If we are a reader we can learn from reading about carpentry.
If by experience then grab some tools and some wood and give it a go.
Anything to be able to write about the actual experiences and decisions that go into the daily life of a carpenter.
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#7 Write about what they experience with their 5 senses.
Write about what they smell as they craft the wood. Does their tool get dull and they smell wood burning?
Write about what the wood feels like. It starts off coarse but gets more smooth as they sand it to a finish.
Do they get a splinter? Do they leave it or do they walk away to get tweezers to pull it out?
Do they experience an accident and need to go to the E.R. to get stitches? Are they in the past and have to use past remedies to deal with the injury?
What sounds do they hear?
What does sawdust taste like when they accidentally get some in their mouths?
P.S.
Whatever it is that your character does, the more you have experienced it the better you will be able to write about it in a way that makes your character more in-depth for your reader.
Use the 5 senses to bring your character to life for your reader.
Try to get the hands-on experience yourself or as close to it.
Talk with people that have done it.
Learn the skill of learning and use that to write amazing in-depth characters
With this type of learning and writing, inspiration will be easy for you and writer’s block won’t be an issue.
Hope this helps!
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I love fiction writing especially and being creative with writing ideas.
Many people nowadays think that in order to make money blogging you have to blog about blogging…boring and nope, you don’t.
Let me tell you why writing on a blog can be much more than that.
Advertisers will pay you for the people that look at your posts.
So if say your passion is music and you want to create a blog around everything music, you can make all your blog post about artists, songs, genres, instruments, throw up some writing and videos.
Writing about the artists’ lives, whatever you want and more than likely others who love music will find your blog interesting and will show up to see what it says and the videos and images you put up.
Then advertisers will pay you because people saw their ads on your site.
It can be fun side hustle money or you can go head first, dive in, and do it full-time. The amount of traffic you can draw is really the limit.
I used music as an example, but anything people are passionate about you can make a blog about and draw traffic to.
Some passion project ideas for you:
Music
Movies
T.V.
Clothes
Cars
Instruments
Viral videos
Video games
Planting
Anything food
Diet
Exercise
Art
Makeup
Costumes
Comics
Womanly Stuff
Manly Stuff
Politics
Money
Marketing
Finance
Stocks
Trade
Travel
Fun activities
Teaching
Photography
Academics
Sports
Antiques
What somethings really worth
Collectibles
Flowers
Gardening
Survival kits
Cleaning
Crafts
Tech Stuff
Nutrition
Etc
You can see even from this non-extensive list that there are many things that people are interested in and as long as you enjoy it and have the desire to learn more about it, then you can write and create blog material about it.
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I write a lot because I enjoy writing, but bloggers can also make videos and do graphics.
People love graphics and videos about topics.
I mostly speak to writers because I’m a writer and it’s what I enjoy and know and enjoy learning more about.
And the other cool thing is you don’t just have to make one blog. If you’re passionate about many topics you can make more blogs about other things you are passionate about and blog about them as well.
Don’t be afraid to experiment
Try many different things as a blogger. The name of the game isn’t just creating great materials. The name of the game is creating and finding out what people like and what they don’t like.
Find out what’s helpful and what is not helpful and give them more material that is helpful for those that are looking for it.
The only way to find out what is helpful is to research and create and see how people react.
Do your best.
The biggest hurdle for success is the fear of failure.
Most people won’t try because they are afraid to fail on the first try. What will people think of them?
Those that move past failures and keep going are often the ones that end up succeeding past the “bumps” in the road. There are tons of stories written like this and we as an audience love them because we love a good story. Good stories aren’t boring and have problems to overcome.
P.S.
If you are passionate about something, you can get paid to be passionate about it as a blogger.
Make videos
Make graphics
Write
Take pictures
Just don’t be afraid to create
Don’t be afraid to experiment
The biggest hurdle for success is not starting because of the fear of failure
Hope this helps!
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How can you know from step one in the writing journey which chapter should take the majority of your attention?
The long and short answer is:
Chapter one is arguably one of our most important chapters.
To go further the first several paragraphs are arguably the most important paragraphs.
Many readers will pick up a book and read the first page just to see if they are interested.
It’s like going on a potential first date.
You see a person and there is an initial attraction.
Then you decide to have a conversation.
Before even going on a first date let alone many dates this first conversation is more pivotal to the potential relationship then the 10th or 11th date.
If this first conversation isn’t pleasant, fun, entertaining, and intriguing then you most likely aren’t going to want to talk to this person again to find out more about them.
Our first chapter is our first conversation with our reader.
We have to hook them from the first pick up of the book or they will set it down and probably never think of it again.
Think about how many times you’ve been at Barnes and Noble or browsing on amazon and you downloaded a sample or picked up a book, read the first couple paragraphs to see how the book makes you feel.
You have no idea that chapters 5 or 6 could be the most entertaining chapters you’ve ever read in your life but it doesn’t matterbecause the first few paragraphs don’t “convince” you that this book is worth finding out about.
You’ll never make it past chapter one.
Some people still browse at book stores but we’re going to assume that a lot of authors will self-publish on amazon and that samples will be your first conversation with your reader.
This is actually a great free way to market your stories because lots of potential readers are downloading free samples to see if books are interesting.
Use this to your advantage knowing how much of your book they will get to sample by creating an amazing hook within your sample.
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You ever meet someone and they talk talk talk talk talk talk?
You never get to say a word and honestly, you are looking for an opportunity to end the conversation and walk away.
The reason for this is that this person isn’t being interested in you and what you like they are being interested in them and what they want to say. This makes them work for you and not much fun to be around.
We can do the same thing to our reader.
But how do we listen to a reader as writers?
Simple, when you write put yourself into your reader’s shoes.
Think about what they want and how they want it delivered to them.
Don’t just think about what you want to say and how you want to say it.
Don’t make it work for your reader.
Just like in a first conversation you don’t want to drop a ton of information on the reader in your first paragraphs without some type of fun reward.
Don’t spend your first 5 paragraphs describing the building and city your main character is in before even giving your reader some dialogue or some characters they can start to imagine and get to know.
Listen more than you talk.
Create curiosity right away by dropping them into the arena with the main characters in trouble sooner rather than later so that the reader knows they are getting something good.
Put the reader right in the middle of two characters’ dialogue about planning a murder on page one so they are curious right from the start.
Make them naturally want to know about who and why?
Write into a scene where two brothers are sword fighting to the death over a woman in medieval times.
Create a hook right away and don’t bore your reader with a bunch of facts right off at the start so they can have something to look forward to and want to go on that first date to find out more in chapter two.
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Some people are introverts and some extroverts and there are definitely some in-betweens but for the most part, humans are in general a little curious about one another.
In your first chapter give them 1-3 characters they can start to watch and get to know.
Don’t over-explain any of these characters at first.
Reveal their personality over time and give quick physical descriptions of the ones you choose to describe.
Do not spend several paragraphs describing any one character physically in your first chapter, or maybe any chapter for that matter.
Take your time revealing any character’s personality, beliefs, and choices.
Less is more when it comes to most physical descriptions. Get it in precisely and be done with it. Allow the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks.
“He had dark skin, long brown hair and an eye patch covering an eye with a big scar around it.”
Try to be precise and don’t overdo it.
Later you can give away more things about their look or demeanor as they get to know the character.
“She hadn’t noticed it until now, but he walked with a slight limp.”
“He removed his shirt to jump into the river and for the first time she saw that his back was covered in scars. He saw her staring.
“I was a prisoner in Rome for two days. It was just enough time for them to do this to me. I’ll never set foot in Rome again till Caeser is dead.””
Keep in mind that as you do this type of revealing slowly the reader will get enjoyment out of looking forward to further revealing. This helps move along in your story and want more, rather than being bored and wanting less.
In conclusion:
Consider the first paragraphs extremely important
The first chapter of utmost importance
Give your reader a character to follow and know right away
Give your reader a major problem or question to be curious about right away
We hope this helps!
Happy writing!
Other Popular posts that might fancy your interest:
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So you dream of being a writer now what? 5 Practical Thoughts If You Want To Get Paid To Write
If you don’t treat writing like it’s your job now, then it never will be.
In order to get paid to write we need to be disciplined and passionate.
Get paid to write:
#1 To get paid to write we have to finish what we start
Hard truth: Writers get paid to write because they finish their writing projects.
I dare say we creatives are all guilty of starting an amazing project only to get bored with it when it becomes REAL WORK and run off to get started on the next fun, shiny item (at least most of us are willing to admit that).
The thing is if we never finish a book we will never be published writers and never get paid to write.
If we never finish a project we will never be freelance writers and if we never finish a blog post and actually hit that beautiful publish button we will never be bloggers.
Sad but true.
Push through, finish the writing project, and get paid to write.
If you enjoy 5 Practical Thoughts If You Want To Get Paid To Write and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
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Doesn’t matter what it is, if we don’t start making a daily goal for ourselves then we may never get paid to write or become proficient and finish any projects and that’s where the dream dies.
Don’t let the dream die.
When you make your daily goals, start small.
Write for 10 minutes a day, not an hour
100 words a day vs 1000 words a day
Read a page for inspiration, not a whole chapter
Create one post today, not 10
Work on the project for an hour before lunch, not 8 hours before lunch.
Etc
You know yourself so don’t let us stop you from trying to do more, but as a general rule starting small means getting more done in the long run.
If you don’t start somewhere, you’ll never start and you’ll never get paid to write.
If you try to take on more than you can handle then you’ll dread doing it and nothing will get started.
100 words a day may seem small, but 100 is better than 0 words a day.
And more often than not if you start with such a small goal in mind then when you actually sit down to write you’ll quickly find yourself writing more than 100 words at a time.
Sometimes just sitting down and actually starting is the hardest part.
It’s like jumping off a ledge. There’s nothing to do but do it.
Also, create LONG TERM goals. Above ^ are just examples of daily goals and starting small. But long term goals make a big difference too.
This year I want to create a blog (See here if that’s you)
This year I want to start freelance writing
This year I want to finish my book
This year I want to quit my job so I can get paid to write full time
These are all good writing goals for people that love to write, but they must be broken down into smaller daily goals or they might never happen.
Create your daily small goals with your long term End Game? goals in mind.
#3 Let the process change you
We either build good habits or bad habits. There’s little in between. But it can be subjective
Writing for some is a good habit.
For humans dreaming of being writers, paid writers it’s a MUST habit.
But don’t just do it to write, enjoy the process.
Don’t ever lose the enjoyment of letting words roll onto the page.
It helps with focus.
It helps with clarity.
Thinking is one thing, but seeing our words on a page and then being able to shape the sentences in revision into one entity helps us map out deep concepts that can translate well into other areas of our lives.
If you can take a character through a trauma maybe you can figure out how to help yourself and others deal with some trauma as well.
Being able to see things from the bigger picture vantage point helps bring clarity to the smaller scenes.
#4 Being published is much harder than just writing for fun
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If your dream is to be a published writer we think that’s great, but we want it to be known that being published isn’t some sitting on the beach sipping pina colada’s job. It is a job. And it is work.
For some, it is a more enjoyable work, but for the unexpecting, it could be quite stressful.
And we don’t want you to be stressed. We want you to be prepared and educated 🙂 ready to dive into any challenge that may come your way being a published writer.
Being published means serious deadlines.
And serious deadlines mean elbow grease and sweat.
To get paid to write books as a published writer means seriously writing and revising every day.
A writer has all the time in the world to work on a story…until they are published.
After being published, professional writers are expected to meet strict deadlines and they are expected to create additional books in less time than they did create their first books when they were not yet published.
When you’re not published, nobody is waiting for you to finish anything.
When you’re publishing an entire company is waiting for you to hand them a completely finished and polished book ready to be sent out to market.
Thankfully in today’s publishing world, you can be self-published through market places like Amazon.
This doesn’t mean your book would be advertised like a publisher does, but it does mean you have more time to work on it and potentially earn more from it if you publish it yourself and the publishing company isn’t taking out a big chunk.
If you enjoy 5 Practical Thoughts If You Want To Get Paid To Write and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
One of the greatest and hardest skills in life is learning how and what to say no to.
Not just in writing but in all areas and seasons of life.
None of us enjoy disappointing other humans, especially humans that we care about. So learning what to say no to so you actually have time to write and do things that are important is a tough daily challenge.
Learning how to chunk out time out of our busy day, every day, to say no to everything else is tough to do.
Being able to take time to write, can be a daunting task depending on what prior commitments we already have.
Spouse
Kids
Job
School
Pets
Family
Friends
Etc
You name it, everyone has commitments.
And we’re not saying to give any of them up, but it’s time to cut 10 minutes out of the day to write and more than likely that 10 minutes may have to be taken out of movies, video games, T.V., and Netflix time (Say it ain’t so!)
Tis true. A fair amount of us wouldn’t want to admit, but our leisure time, whatever that may be personally, might be taking up too much of our time if we seriously want to get paid to write.
If you can’t find just 10 minutes in your day to write or at least put down 100 words on the page a day, maybe writing isn’t actually what you want to be doing anyway 🙂
If you enjoy 5 Practical Thoughts If You Want To Get Paid To Write and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
If you enjoy 5 Practical Thoughts If You Want To Get Paid To Write and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
The beginning of our stories is crucial. It’s the appetizer for the entire dish. If it’s not tasty, chances are the rest of the meal will have the same bland flavor.
And nobody wants to spend their time reading a bland blah story.
The beginning of your story must be engaging, intriguing, and packed with a punch.
BUT the first page, sentence or even word can be the most agonizing part of the writing process because there is so much riding on it.
But there’s no need to worry.
Relax and let these 3 methods aid you in starting your story so that the reader is hooked from page one.
#1 Start somewhere in the middle.
Though you might not know where to begin, or even how you want your story to end, you may have certain scenes already in your mind.
Start with that. Start with what you have in your mind and let the story unfold before you and them.
Don’t be afraid to start with what you have. Make your idea a short story first. You can expand on a short story later. Get it written down.
If it’s a great idea your mind will keep toying with it and take it further. If it is a dud, you will most likely forget about it or lose interest.
Who knows? Maybe you’ll write it down today. Forget about it for 3 years and pick it back up and write the next big seller. You just never know.
As you move forward with your story you’ll have a better idea of where to start. And as you mold your characters and thicken your plot, you just might get the inspiration you need for the perfect beginning.
Our stories are going to go through A LOT of editing before they are done, so don’t worry.
There will be many moments along the editing part where parts of the story get changed. And you can always go back and add or take away from the beginning.
Sometimes a story can take an unexpected turn and you decide to start the story in the middle and do flashbacks instead of starting where you thought was going to be your beginning.
The point here is don’t be afraid to start writing down your ideas and start writing the story because you are worried it won’t be good enough.
If you let that fear drive you, you’ll never write anything and rob yourself and the world of another good story.
If you enjoy Simple Ways to Start Writing a Story and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
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Though it may seem a little too binding, starting with the title can actually give you the freedom you need to start your story.
When you pick a title, it will give you the direction that you need to put the pen to the page.
Starting with your title in mind gives you a good heading for the journey of your story.
You know where you are and where you want to be so you can begin sailing.
And while you’re writing you can always have an epiphany and go back and revise the title.
If you didn’t go ahead and make a title at the start you would have to make something up at the end and you’ll have missed out on possible title inspiration along the way.
Another good reason to start with the title is that you’ll be starting with the end in mind.
In most projects, this is a wise system of thinking. Start with the end in mind.
If you enjoy Simple Ways to Start Writing a Story and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
Though it may seem too obvious, sometimes the best way to start is the easiest way.
This is a very specific method, but it is a tried and true method.
Also, this method is simple and it’s a great way for anyone to start a story even if they end up chopping it out later.
It’s an easy and simple starting point for anyone writing a story.
By starting with an introduction you are introducing a main character and a major problem or question for your reader to be curious about.
For example:
“Hi. My name is Hayden, and I’m here to tell you my story.”
“Hi. I’m Ray, and I’m hiding a secret.”
“I’m Brett, and you won’t believe what I just overheard my teacher say. My life will never be the same again.”
Can you see how easy it was to give our character a name and instantly introduce a curious secret or an interesting life-changing idea?
If we are going to hook our reader we have to be interesting from page one or they’ll never make it to page two.
Don’t make starting a story harder than it has to be.
In conclusion:
remember, these methods are only to help you start the writing process.
You always have the power to rewrite, fix or evolve the story any way you please. So don’t let that first sentence get you down. Instead, go ahead and start, even if you don’t feel it’s the best.
Nothing is set in stone.
Get moving forward and give yourself more to work with than just the paralyzing question of “where to start?!?!”
We hope this short post helps you!
Happy writing!
Other Popular Posts you might just love to read through:
If you enjoy Simple Ways to Start Writing a Story and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
If you enjoy Simple Ways to Start Writing a Story and writing fiction, you might love owning a domain of your own where you can write about it? Ever want to own your own domain name (Yourname.com)?
Bluehost hosts your blog so that you can own your domain and make money blogging. Check them out only if you’re interested in making money blogging; otherwise, go for a free blog instead 🙂
