Here’s my invitation to drop me a line, ask me a question, or share a small piece of your writing. Just use the Comment box below.
Here’s my invitation to drop me a line, ask me a question, or share a small piece of your writing. Just use the Comment box below.
201 Writing Prompts – print edition
Amazon.ca
I was wondering what you think of this young adult novel idea: Scarlett Baker isn’t popular anymore. Not that she ever was. But she definitely went from somewhere in the middle of the social ladder all the way to the very bottom. How? When Last week she was planning the ultimate party with her best friend Claire Sullivan and now…every ones avoiding her, calling her names and bullying her. She’s alone. And she’s not sure if what happened was worth it but the rumors are far off and only she knows the truth. No one else. Not even the one that caused her down fall. Scarlett only hopes it will get better when every one learns the truth. Or maybe she’ll keep it to herself.
Hi Morgan, I know you don’t want to give away what happened to Scarlett, but you do need to make sure that it’s big enough of a something to base a whole book around and that it brings a lot of complications with it that will take a whole novel to solve. There needs to be some very good reasons for your readers to understand why Scarlett doesn’t tell the truth and make things better right away. You have a lot of fun ahead of you as you work with your hero and her friends to create your story. She’s in the middle of the social ladder like so many people are, and it will be easy for your readers to identify with her. I wish you every success!
Hi Heather, I wanted to ask you about writer’s bloc.
I’ve been reading since I was a kid, I have a box full of plots and story ideas, and I know that I want to be a writer when I’m older. But as much as I love writing and cannot wait to share my stories with the world, I always find myself stuck.
As soon as I get a new idea I jump on it and can get a few chapters into a novel before I slow down and get a little bored. This used to be okay, because I would just get another great idea and move onto it with as much excitment and vigor as the previous one, only this always ends the same way as the first.
I decided I needed to focus on one idea and complete it, I even set a deadline and worked towards it. However, towards the end I became a little lax with myself and so passed the deadline and had to set a new one. Until two days ago I hadn’t written in a month, I just got off the story and didn’t want to get back on. Finally I did and I am excited about finishing it (only 15,000 more words to go!) and it will be a late Christmas present for my parents.
I wanted to know what you thought about writers bloc, ways to get over it, how you, or others you know, might have overcome it, and what I can do to stay on track to meet my deadline.
I’m writing YA fiction if you have any specific tips you know or have heard of that might help me.
Thanks!
Hi Jadzia,
Congratulations on getting to the end of your latest story! I’m sure your parents will be so pleased to get their copy.
Lots of writers make false starts. They begin stories that fizzle out before they are finished. Sometimes they’re right. The story just isn’t good enough to spend any more time on. Sometimes the story isn’t complex enough to last for an entire book. Novels need subplots and many characters and changes of scene, and sometimes an idea just isn’t big enough for that big a project. One way to find out is to draft a plan for your story. I tend to jump into my writing with characters and a scene and then get through a couple of chapters and come to a halt. That’s when I need to start planning ahead. I break down the action that I see ahead into chapters. I might only use one line to describe each of them, but at least it tells me that I have enough story to get to the end of the book and some directions to get there. I find this outline very handy because whenever I have time to write, I have a place to start. I sometimes write out of order because I see a scene further on in the book more clearly than the next one. So that’s the one I write.
Hang on to all of your false starts. You may come back to one or two of them someday and find a way to outline a story that your characters will love. I’ve also used bits from stories I didn’t finish in ones that I did. I wrote a great fight scene in one unfinished story that I incorporated into another one.
Check the sidebar on the website and Jody Hedlund’s article on organizing plot ideas into a novel. She might have just the tips you need. Also check out the Write On Teens site. There is lots of information there and also forums where you can ask other writers questions and discuss writing topics.
Sometimes writer’s block is just a signal that the story isn’t just right for you right now. Sometimes other things happen in your life that make it very hard to be creative. You’ve done the right thing. You took a break and now you’re back to writing and meeting your goal.
I wish you every success!
Heather
hey madam heather;D do you think you could give me some help w my story?maby give me an idea for some things to ad and/or take out?thanks in advance heh.ahem..*clears throat*….Asher is returning to touchstone camp for the arts for the second summer in a row.Lately Asher been a little confused about who she is.she feels like the person she was is just someone she pretended to be to please others.But now shes ready to be her true self and hopes shell discover her this year at camp.but in the search for herself will lose and somethings along the way?Are the things she loses worth the things she will gain?
My suggestion is to be as concrete as possible. What specifically has she done to please someone else that she felt wasn’t something she truly wanted to do? Why did that bother her? What specific event has caused her to decide to make a change? Why will she have a better chance of finding out who she is at art camp than anywhere else? What challenges does camp provide? What events at art camp will help her learn who she is? Why does she have to overcome to learn about herself? What is she afraid to lose? If you narrow your thoughts down to specific events and people, you’ll start to develop the conflicts and characters you need to tell your story.
Hey Heather, I was just wondering if you could read over my story idea! Also, I was hoping that you could give me some tips on how to stay focused on writing. Lately, I have been writing very little, except when I leave the city. I really want to write, but I am finding it hard to focus on writing for at least 20 minutes.
Please send feedback soon.
Here it is:
Biome. The home of the gifted. Set apart from the rest of the world, this phase is split up into the 4 factions, Nova, Quakes, Ilumini and the Tsuns. At age ten, a child is given the ability of the faction, whether it is water, fire, earth or light. For centuries, Biome was a world of peace.
But now, a new, unknown force has entered their world, retching the peace apart. War has broken out among the factions, a war that is likely to destroy them all.
Brittney is an Ilumini. She can cross time and glimpse at the near future. She is certain that there is a way to resolve the conflict, far from the safety of her home. She, along with three other teens, must go and search for the peace, no matter what the consequences.
I love stories with a quest and yours is based on a great concept. Good for you! Focus can be a real challenge and it’s one I face myself. I generally writing in 500 word chunks and then I have to walk away from the desk and wander a bit before coming back. A couple of things help me stay on track. One is that I spend time at the beginning of the process doing a story plan. That way I always know what I’m going to write next so I don’t have to try and come up with an idea as well as the words. Because I know some of the events that will be covered in the story, I can also write things out of sequence and join them up later. Sometimes I can see a scene clearly so I just write that one, even though it’s out of order. Another thing that helps me stay focused is to turn off the internet and the cellphone. I’m easily distracted by FB, Twitter, email, etc. and if I don’t switch them off, I’m sunk. I will often write with pencil and paper because of that or I also use an Alphasmart Neo that has no internet connections. I wouldn’t worry about writing in small bites, too much. As long as you get words on the page, it’s good. If you write 250 a day (1 double-spaced page) you’ll have a novel in a year or sooner. It’s all progress!
Hey everyone on the Q & A board could you help me with a simple story idea. I don’t have anything in mind except that; I don’t want it fantasy. I either want it in the future or in a different world. I want it to have an adventure in it not just boring occasional action, and lastly I would like it to be completely fiction because whenever i read non-fiction i always get bored so i don’t want to be bored while I write.
Thanks in advance
Samuel
Hi Samuel,
I suggest that you explore the Writing Starters that are on this site (I think there are nearly 70 now) or check out the links on the blogroll. You’ll find more story starters there and other inspirations for how to start your story and plot it. I’m sure that if you play with some of those many ideas, you’ll come up with a story that you’ll love enough to write. Good luck!
The problem with your question is that if writers come up with good story ideas, they want to write them themselves.
Hi Heather! Ive never written before but ive always wanted to, just because i have so many ideas in my head lol…I am trying to start a fantasy/real life plot, in which my character starts off by having a dream, and its one she keeps having over and over until it takes place..Is this a good way to start a first chapter with?
There I was, gazing at the millions of tiny, dazzling stars that were surrounded by the deep midnight,majestic sky. I felt the warm caress of a tall, meadow-like grass, hovering over my still-laid body. Wishing, I could stay forever hidden in its whimsical-like arms,that were brushing against my skin ever-so softly. The smooth breeze that wisped around me made me motionless in time.As the soothing mist blew itself around me, I seemed to have a sensibility of an Oceans draft that swirled around my visage. It felt particular close,but I was in such a daze, that I hadn’t felt like moving any part of my somewhat numbness body.
I have never in my life endured so much comfort in these unfamiliar surroundings, that even though deep down inside, I felt like I was a stranger, another part of me knew I belonged. Belonged, that was very unfamiliar to me. There was a connection to this exotic place and me, that I couldn’t identify with. It was like time had been abandoned, stolen from some dark rupture that had swallowed it, and would never spit it back out.
obviously it keeps going but do you think im putting to much detail in ?
thank you:)
Hi Pam,
My only caution would be that you keep it short, so that you get your character into action quickly, which will keep your reader turning the pages. Your dream description leaves the reader asking a lot of questions about why your character feels this way in her/his dream and why he/she seems to have such a connection to this dream place–and that’s a good thing! Making the reader ask questions is the key to starting a story well. On the technical side, I’d look for ways to use more active verbs and leave out the was’s and were’s. For example: “I gazed at the millions of tiny, dazzling stars surrounded by the deep midnight sky”–and later–”whimsical arms that brushed against my skin.” Leaving out the was’s and were’s shows the reader more directly what the character is feeling and gives a little more energy to the scene. I loved “dark rupture that had swallowed it and would never spit it back out.” Great image! Here’s a link from my website that has a few more tips about novel beginnings: http://www.magicalwords.net/lucienne-diver/beginnings/
I don’t think there are any rules about starting a book with dreams, so you’re safe there.
I wish you every success with your writing. You’re off to a great start!
Hi again,
Found this link that you might find helpful if you’re writing fantasy: http://www.writing-world.com/sf/index.shtml
Thank you very much for the great tips! all this will be very helpful to me<3
Yay! Happy writing!
Hey again, Heather.
I was just wondering how to come up with a creative name for a novel/short story. I have written a couple of short stories and am working on a novel, and i am wondering if you have any tips on how to come up with a creative title that pulls a reader in.
Thanks
Hi Logan,
You’ve asked a really good question. I always have trouble finding titles for my stories. One trick I have learned is to look carefully at my characters’ dialogue. Often they will say something that perfectly sums up what the story is about.
Here are some tips from Rachelle Gardner who is a literary agent: http://www.rachellegardner.com/2010/03/how-to-title-your-book/
Find twenty books on Amazon that are in the same genre as yours and whose titles you like. Write down their titles. Try to get a feel for what works with your genre. What do you like about the titles? What don’t you like? Then put the list away for awhile.
→ Sit with a pencil and paper (and maybe your critique group and a white-board) and free-associate, making lists of words related to your book. Put them in columns: nouns, verbs, adjectives. If it’s a novel, list words that describe or suggest the setting. Then think about each of your major characters and write down words that relate to them. Think about the action in the story and write down verbs that capture it. If your book is non-fiction, list words that capture what you want your reader to think, feel or do after reading it. And words that describe what your book is about.
Nothing is off limits—write down anything you can think of that conveys anything about your book. Use visual words that suggest a scene. Other words that evoke an emotion. A sensation. A location. A question. You should have at least 100 words.
→ See if any of the words would work as a single-word title. Then start experimenting with different word combinations. Adjective-noun, verb-noun. Keep a thesaurus handy and look up other words. Write down as many word combinations as you can. Try not to self-censor at this stage.
→ From these lists, come up with at least 20 possible titles. Then put them away for 24 hours. Two things will happen: your subconscious may still be working on it; and when you come back to your list, you’ll have fresh eyes.
Hope this information helps you find some great titles for your stories and your novel. Good luck!