Writing Exercises - Articles/Info

Part of becoming a better writer is reading; not just books about writing, though those are good, but books in your genre, outside your genre, nonfiction, everything and anything. They can show you how to put a book together; how to write back cover copy; how to weave stories. Nonfiction can teach you, can generate ideas, et cetera.

For those of us who are broke (like myself), or who want to read books under public domain but not buy them for whatever reason, this is a great resource to help you read:

http://www.feedbooks.com/

Feedbooks: Food for the mind has all sorts of books available for download in a variety of formats. I've joined and am taking a look around as I write this. Take a look!

Up Next: My first volunteer critique! I'm really rather excited for that. But first... I need to do some workshop work.

Vote

Shared on

Fictional Worlds

Dianna G Friends

Comments (6)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Dianna G - Category: Writing Exercises, Articles/Info

Email this Post to a Friend

Starting January First: WriYe, 2YN, And Something Entirely New

December 15th 2008 20:49

Want to keep writing like you did during Nanowrimo? This is a great site to challenge yourself to write a certain number of words in a year-you can pick your goal!

Really Long Link

I'm Litharukia there, going for a million words-400, 000 next November! Come join me, we'll have a blast! The people there are friendly, much like the Nanowrimo crowd itself; the forums are active, again like the Nanowrimo forums. There are various challenges to make yourself write more throughout the year.

Come join us! And while you're at it, get ready for the two year novel course over at Forward Motion (2YN), sometimes known as the anti-Nano because it goes so slowly at points. This looks to be fun, with a lot of world building exercises and characterization and all sorts of fun stuff like that:

http://fmwriters.com/

Sign up for FM, go to the main community board, and sign up for the 2YN. If you've been reading for a while, you'll remember the Zette campaign which I advertised briefly. Well, that's still going on until January first, so you can buy your eBooks to support her (and since she runs the 2YN and the entire Forward Motion site, she deserves it) here:

Really Long Link

And something entirely new! Just for my readers, registration to my workshop is now available using this site:

Really Long Link

I've never used this method of planning before, but it's been fairly fun to work on, and I hope it will be a great use to everyone who signs up. For now it's just on a free forum site; perhaps some day years down the road I'll have it on its domain and all that.

Come in, take a look around, introduce yourselves, start chattering away in the Off Topic forum, and on January first, we start working on our novels together!

Thanks for reading,
~Dianna

Vote

Shared on

Fictional Worlds

Dianna G Friends

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Dianna G - Category: Articles/Ideas/Prompts, Writing Exercises, Articles/Info

Email this Post to a Friend

Take Pride In Your Work (Prompt)

October 4th 2008 23:41

I'm not really sure why I'm writing this. I just felt like... like it had to come out. As a writer, you need to be aware of your faults; you need to look carefully at your work and check every little detail. You need to scan it, proof it, edit it, and sometimes it feels like chopping something you love into pieces and sewing it back up with body parts you don't recognize.

But when you make something good, when you have gone through all of that, it means even more so that you deserve to be proud of it. I know I have some pretty awful entries in here, and a number of mediocre ones; but there are also a few that stand out, that are beautiful. And I am proud of my overall body of work that is this blog.

Why am I proud of this blog? Because I have poured my heart into it; because I have proved to myself and others that I can stick with it; because I have put my words somewhere that maybe someday someone will find them and be helped; because maybe I can do for other writers what they have done for me with wonderful websites and books and friendships.

I am proud of this blog because I have worked hard on it, I have done my best, I have put my best foot forward, and I have tried to help others. I have always dreamed of helping other writers. That has been my goal. To do something, to start something that could help others like me, other people who are drawn towards the arts. Towards words.

But most of all, I am proud of this blog because it is a visible thing. Because it is something I have done that everyone can look at. I have willingly exposed myself to the world. I have put my thoughts out there for all to see. And I have worked my butt off to show the world what it sees now, some small portion of it anyway. I have mustered up the courage to show who I truly am on the world wide web, without hiding behind a pen name. And that, to me, is the greatest accomplishment, no matter who does or does not read this.

What are you most proud of? What piece of work is your pride and joy-and why is it? Let me know.

Vote

Shared on

Fictional Worlds

Dianna G Friends

Comments (5)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Dianna G - Category: Writing Exercises, Articles/Info

Email this Post to a Friend

When Everything Is Just Too Much

October 4th 2008 23:28

So let me tell you something. School is stressing me out; I'm trying to force myself to go but it isn't working very well. Things at home aren't pleasant either. I'm stressed; so stressed that I've been sick on and off for two weeks now. Nanowrimo is on the horizon.

It's times like these when anybody-writer or otherwise-starts to wonder about all their obligations and if they're worth it. It's times like these when normally I would abandon the blog for weeks at a time; I'm trying not to. It's sort of working. It's times like these when we just want to throw in the towel

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Shared on

Fictional Worlds

Dianna G Friends