Tips Tuesday: Be a bad writer.

Yes, you read the title correctly. Be. A. Bad. Writer. It's okay, write something that sucks. Write a rom com, or a typical dystopian. I have a novella set aside called If An Immortal died for when I wanna write clichès. It's completely okay. Make your characters cry all the time. Make them end with the wrong guy. All that matters is that you are writing, and you are doing the most important, most glorious thing about writing that will ever come to be. Always remember the words I am about to tell you, because they matter.

Freaking have fun. 

Can you push yourself? Sure. Can you spend twenty minutes on the same paragraph? Be my guest. I don't care, but if I hear that someone is writing and not have an ounce of fun at any point in the process, that makes me cry. Don't make me cry, okay?

And I'm not saying there is not a time to buckle down and edit, I know there is. 

But you can have fun with the first draft. 

It's not gonna be published like that. 

If you're not proud of what you wrote, or happy, or have deep attachment to it, you're doing it wrong!

HAVE FUN WRITING, PEOPLE! THIS IS YOUR PASSION, OKAY? 

All right. 

I'm done. 

But I'm serious. 

Enjoying herself,

Elsie. 

Tips Tuesday- Becoming your MC.

I have always written in first as long as I can remember, so  l like to think I'm pretty good at getting inside a characters head. I think I've given you some of these tips before, but here goes.

1. Talk to them

I imgaine or write random scenes with me and my MC or her and her sister, and even I don't end up using any of these scenes, I think it helps me get to know them, see who they are. 

2. Cheat sheets.

I love these little info things you can fill out for your characters. It covers the basics like this-

Full Name -- Princess Crystal Amelia Elise Marie of the house of Clamè.

Meaning of Name - Glass

Nickname -- Crystal, Princess, your highness

And it also makes you think about the tiny things like habits-

Bad Habits -- biting nails, sighing, running in the halls, speaking before thinking,

Good Habits -- grace, 

Best Characteristic -- compassion

Worst Characteristic -- rebellious, loves too easily,

Worst Memory -- death of her mother

Best Memory -- finding her and Willow's secret place

Proud of -- her strength

Embarrassed by -- Willow and Samuel's secret, her voice, Saber, Inna,

3. Pinterest.

Pin everything that makes you feel like your MC. Even if it doesn't look like her, if it FEELS like her, then it doesn't matter. I have tons of pictures of Crystal that aren't really her, but it is her. (Ignore the fact that this makes no sense.) you can follow me if you want, btw. I can't get the link right now, but just search for Elsie Lansberry and you should find it. 

4. Think of your own memories.

Think of a time where you were embarrassed or confused or sad or happy. Imagine how your character would respond to the same thing. 

Hope you are helped by this. Leave any of your own tips in the comments, and lemme know what you thought! You know I love hearing from you. 

(Disclaimer. I do not claim for these methods to work, thy just work for me. I have not yet been published and what you see on this blog is the extent of my experience. Enjoy, but I'm not dying my methods are perfect, or one size fits all. ) 

Tips Tuesday: Writing every day?

Everyone says you should write every day. Because it helps. I myself have said that. But lately, I haven't been able to write. Not writers block or anything, I just don't feel like writing is doing anything for me. I was making myself write every day and I wasn't happy. Bu now that I'm only writing when and what I feel moved to, I feel better. 

That does not mean you shouldn't buckle down and write.

I was dealing with being depressed and lots of crazy things around my house, because both my older brothers had a temp job 30 minutes away and mom had to drive them every morning, and she has been having health issues and my dad is in school right now. The last three weeks were not fun ones. But I made it. Because I stopped making myself write. 

So now, I want to write everyday. But I'm just saying, writers out there? Take a break every once in a while. It's okay. You don't have to abide by every single rule all the time, you know? You can break some rules, shorten words when you text someone, and take a deep breath. Being a grammar natzi and a word freak is exhausting and you can take a break. 

Elsie

The now calm one. 

Interview with Imogen Elvis

Like I said, I'm going to be doing interviews on here, so you can get an idea of what it's like to be young writer. I know it took me forever (14 days) to get the first one up, but I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did. Sometime this week I'm going to post another one, then going to post them every Wednesday after that. So, this is a talk with Imogen Elvis (Awesome name, I know. I'm totally jelly.). She's in a writer group called Go Teen Writers with me. Enjoy! (If you want to read some of her writings, and see her thoughts about Writing, Books, and Music for Writing. go to her blog here. (Among other things...About writing. (Basically, It's a writing blog.) 

Questions about YOU.

1. Age? I’m 19.

2. Hair color? I have shoulder length brown hair.

3. Favorite genre? (To read) My favourite genres to read would be fantasy, sci-fi, and a little dystopian. If I had to pick just one though (and that is very hard for me to do as I love all books so much) it would probably be fantasy, with sci-fi making a very close second. I especially love all the imagination that goes into making the awesome fantasy and sci-fi worlds, and of course all the creatures and different races that writers can, and have, added to their books.

4. Do you have siblings or are you an only child? I have lots of siblings. I have three brothers and four sisters, which is really awesome as I never run out of company. And if I ever need to brainstorm for my book, there’s always someone around to help me out!

5. Favorite genre? (To write) My favourite genre to write has to be fantasy. I guess it makes sense that I write the sort of books I like to read. Again, sci-fi runs a close second, but fantasy is by far and away my favourite genre to write in because of all the things I can do with my plot and characters. There can be dragons, magic, elves, epic quests, huge battles and a cool world that doesn’t have to stick to the rules of everyday life.

6. Height? My best guess is short. I don’t dare to measure myself in case I turn out to be shorter than I imagine myself to be. The good thing is that all my sisters are short too, so I end up being the tall one. Let’s just say it’s easier to climb under a fence than over it for me.

7. What is the last book you read that you would recommend to someone? That would be Dreamtreader by Wayne Thomas Batson. I won an ARC from the author, and I devoured it in a couple of days. It has adventures in a dream world, an epic bad guy, and a plot twist at the end that I did not see coming at all, but that made total sense. I’d highly recommend it.

8. Favorite book? Favourite book? Oh I couldn’t pick one of those. I like too many books to be able to pick a favourite. However, one of my recent favourites is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. If you’re looking for a great read, then you should definitely try this book. It became an instant favourite the moment I opened the cover.

9. What inspires you to write? I write because I have stories to tell. For me, writing is like discovering a new adventure. I have so many stories to tell that I would like to read, but I have to write them all down first. Plus the characters might murder me if I didn’t write their stories.

10. Favorite thing about blogging? My favourite thing about blogging would have to be meeting new bloggers and chatting to them through comments. I love being able to share my thoughts and my discoveries with other people and hear their thoughts in return. Other bloggers are so friendly that it’s a pleasure to get involved with them.

Questions about your WRITING.

1. What is the book you are writing about? My current project is a book I’m writing for the July session of Camp NaNoWriMo. It’s called Ember and it’s a sci-fi retelling of Cinderella. It’s also the second book in a series of these sci-fi retellings I’m writing. In my version, Cinderella has superpowers, and must use them to stop a supervillain with the help of some other mutants with superpowers.

2. What was the first thing you wrote about? The first book I ever wrote was a messy fantasy book with ninjas, an epic quest, and half of Tolkien’s The Hobbit thrown in for good measure. The book itself was terrible, but it was the first one I ever wrote and that was what really got me into writing novels.

3. What is one piece of advice you have for other young writers? There are lots of piece of advice I would love to give, but one of most important, apart from never give up writing, is read about the craft. Read writing books, writing blogs, listen to writing podcasts, anything that’ll teach you about the craft of writing. I can’t count the amount I’ve learnt just through reading writing blogs alone, and how my writing has benefitted from that.

4. Will you ever stop writing? At the moment I can’t see myself stopping writing. I love writing so much that, even if I were never to be able to get anything published, then I would probably keep writing, simply because I have stories to tell. Until I run out of stories, which I hope never happens, I don’t think I’ll be stopping writing any time soon.

5. If you could finish and publish an entire trilogy for free, but you had to never write again, would you? It depends on whether I could still keep writing and trying to get published, whether or not I had to write. If I could publish a trilogy for free, and I was still able to write, then I might. But, if it came to a choice between easy publishing and actually writing, then I would choose hard work any day.

Questions about your DREAMS.

1. What is your lifelong dream? My biggest dream at the moment is to be a published author. And then hopefully be successful too. I would love to have my books out in the world where everyone can share the stories that I enjoy and meet my favourite characters. That would just be amazing. 

2. What do you enjoy doing other than writing? Other than writing I love to read. When I have any spare time I just gobble up as many books as I can. I also love to sing and play the piano. Music is very important to me as a hobby.

3. Would you enjoy having a film adaption of one of your novels? I think I would definitely be flattered by having my book chosen to be adapted for film. Whether I’d actually enjoy having an adaptation of my book would depend on how good the film was. I wouldn’t ask that absolutely everything be the same, just that they don’t take my book and turn it into another story entirely.

4. What did you want to be when you grew up? When I was very young, I thought I was going to become a nun when I grew up. I knew some very lovely nuns, and I wanted to be just like them. Then, when I grew up a bit more, I decided that I was going to be a doctor instead. I studied all kinds of things like advanced mathematics and physics and such as preparation for that, before I realised I didn’t want to be a doctor either. But it wasn’t until I was about to start at university that I worked out what I really wanted to be.

5. What do you want to be now? My dream job now is to be an editor and also a writer. I knew that it’s very hard to live completely off writing, and I knew I wanted to work with books for my job, so when I thought about being an editor and working in publishing, I felt that that was what I really wanted to do, and that’s what I’m studying towards now.

Here's the blurb for her current novel:

Hector, the leader of the mutant rebellion, is determined to stop the Mutant Registration Act, which will require all mutants to be registered and exposed to the public. When negotiations with the government fail, the children of leading politicians start disappearing, taken as hostages.

As a mutant and foster child, Lee has never lived in one place for long. When he wins a scholarship to a prestigious high school, he never imagined he would become friends with Rachel Brand, daughter of the Minister of Mutant Affairs.

Meanwhile, Sara and her mutant friends have been hunting for Hector without success. When Hector threatens Rachel, Sara goes undercover to protect her. After Lee helps her foil one kidnapping attempt, they join forces.

Time is running out for Hector. Rachel’s birthday party gives him the perfect opportunity to kidnap her too. Now he’s threatening to kill the hostages unless the act is repealed. Can Sara, Lee and the team rescue them before it’s too late?

End of the month: Did I actually do anything?

Okay, feel good post alert. I threw together a poem after being a lazy Facebook scroll-er this morning. So, now, I'm gonna take a moment to thin abotu what I've done this month.

This wasn't supposed to work so well. I decided to do it the last day of March, and I was hoping for like a few small snippets a few times a week. (The original post about April.) But I ended up posting every day. For a month. It's kind of amazing. But anyway, everyday and sometimes twice a day for 30 days. It's kind of intense, but I did it. So there's that. But lets talk about what else I did.

• Per request of my adopted Aunt and friend, Gabrielle Worent, (Titi Gabi to me,) I decided to try my hand at 3rd person. And I did it. Read all my 3rd person stories here. 
• I got a lot more in to poetry. I've always loves poetry, and I experimented with different kinds and forms, and It's another form of expression I'm happy to add to my list.
• I got better at writing. If you look at the stuff I wrote at the beginning of the year, or last year, I'm better. Not a lot, but I'm better.
• I wrote something that I actually like. And I'm turning it into a full novel! (Read part one of the short story version here.) 
• I got to 2000 views. That's a lot, and I'm proud of myself.
• I got two more followers.
• I read more
• I wrote more.

So that's what I did, and I'm happy with it. And I'm proud to announce my word total for this month. It is...
10330 words in 30 days. 
This was me when I saw the number:

That's kind of amazing. It's what my goal was per-month before the Moriah's computer breaking thing. So I'm happy, And I'm changed and better because of this month. :-) Thanks all of you, and see you next month!

Day 28: Illusion of death

Can you get me

Through the night

Without leaving

With a fright

Can you tell me

Why if dead

Why there's aching

In my head

Bones are crunching

'Neath my feet

My head pounding

To a beat

Falling flailing

Heart is gone

Going leaving

Won't be long

Finally I'll

Be in ground

Stone overhead

Dirt surrounds

Wishing I could

Breathe my last

But I can't die

Spells been cast

Buried under

'neath a tree

Wish someone could

Come see me

Angels watching

Through the mist

As my body

Writhes and twists

Hands are holding

Heart's last beat

Knowing now that

Death will cheat

Graves are swallowed

You shall see

There will soon be

No more me

Writing tips LATE

I decided to do my writing tips after all. With 6 (six) simple words in mind.

WRITE WHAT YOU WANT TO WRITE
That is the only thing that matters. Yesterday, I wrote about coffee. It was weird, but it was what I wanted to write. That's what matters. Always remember that. Of course sometimes a story becomes something else then you planned in the first place. Sometimes, a story writes itself. And that's okay. But if you don't want to help this story write itself, the answer is simple. DON'T. That's all there is to it. So, that's that, and here's today's story. It's a bit odd, but I wanted to write it so...

Isn’t is funny how easily we walk once we learn? You see children learn to walk, see them see it’s not as hard as it seems. And then, suddenly, they’re teenagers and they walk and talk with friends. And they can walk wherever they please. Including away. Far away. But as children they focus on the walking itself. The journey, not the end. That’s what I do now. Step by step, breath by breath. But after a while, I can’t take the agony of wanting to go back. I close my umbrella, brush some dust off my pretty pink dress, and sit down. I didn’t want to leave, but it’s too late now. I’m gone. Far away from them. It seems that it doesn't really matter who them is, but it does to me. Oh, how it does. I love them. I love my parents. My brother. But what my brother did was unforgivable. He killed someone’s heart, tore it out, and left me to deal with it. He told my best friend that someone didn’t love her, convinced her completely. The hour before her wedding, because he was mad at me, he barged into the bridal room, upsetting all of us in our pink bridesmaid dresses, and told her that her fiance was gone. That he didn't have the guts to marry her. And she believed him. Ran out. And I was left to do nothing but tears to comfort me. I tried to run after her, but it was too late. How can my brother be so hateful? I know he thought he loved her, but I know better. He was wrong. But now who am I to do anything about it? Answer: I am her best friend, the person she trusted this day to, trusting I would help with anything that went wrong. I sigh and open my umbrella again, opening my eyes and ears, trying to track her down.I hear crying and run towards it, not caring when I slip and splash mud onto my dress. It doesn't matter what I look like, or what I feel. This isn’t my day. I hear her, and I decide the only thing I can do is scream her name. And I do. I scream it, and I hear her run towards me, and I know it’s the most wonderful moment in my life.

“It’s fine!” I yell. “Go back to the church. He lied. He still loves you!” And for a moment, disbelief is on her face, and then, trust. And that, just like that, she run for the church.

Theory Thursday: Character tips and I'm so behind!

Hi! How's life in the Interweb?

As I said, I'm going to be doing writing tips every Thurs. for the month of April, and if you guys like them, I can continue! :-D

First off, I would like to apologize for being so behind. I didn't post yesterday, so I'm going to post three stories/poems tomorrow. Sorry about that, but I'll try and make them extra good. ;-)

Last week we talked about little things, and pantsing the right way. (Or, at least how I think is the right way.) This week I'm gonna talk about the hardest thing for me. (Or did I say that last week?)
CHARACTERS.
I have lots of trouble not making them too emotional, too impulsive. Knowing them. I came up with some exercises I really like the other day, so here goes.

(got this on Pinterest, I don't own it)

Number one. To get to know your character, think of situations to put him or her in, I would do ones you've been in. Visiting a friend in the hospital, Going to a funeral, getting married, or something more personal like visiting a friend who you don't get along with that much anymore. How do they deal with the emotions, or do they have any at this point in time? Write a scene about it or imagine it in you head, try and feel what they would feel.

(Picture from the lovely Pinterest)

Number two. Have a talk with your character. I mean it. Close your eyes, imagine him or her standing there, maybe even fresh out a scene in your book. Tell them how you feel about what they've just don't, imagine how they feel, Because how do you get to know someone if not be talking to them? You're trying to create a person, the least you can do is not ignore them, right? Goodness, you could write a scene where you meet them, and don't know all their secrets, see for yourself what this wall is like, tall, or breaking down.

Do I even need to say it?

Number three. Start anywhere, go back, write your characters back story in detail, or just one day, or anything. Write something that happened before the book. They lived BEFORE the book started, and you need to remember that.

So there's three ways to get to know your characters. I hope that helps. :-) And just remember, they're not you. You're just their voice.







And, my second subject!
Being Inspired.
I know, you're not supposed to rush it, you're supposed to wait for it to come to you, but I have some ways to "Get into the zone". I love all of these, but everyone has different ways of being calm and in the zone while they write.

Focus on one sense. You have five of them, sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Use them. and  Earlier this month, I had some chocolate, and I was down to one piece. I wanted to savor it. so I closed my eyes, ignored all the sound downstairs, and focused only on the taste of the minty dark cocoa flavor. I opened my eyes about five minutes later and left like the taste was so much more then it normally is. It was great. you can do that with any of your senses, If you want, you can write about what just happened, about all the details you felt or saw or heard or smelt or heard.

Look at Pinterest. Seriously, it helps. I have an entire board of pictures that I just saw and liked the emotion or the feel of. (http://www.pinterest.com/elsinorak/they-need-a-story/) Check it out, start your own. So many of my stories have been inspired by just pictures alone.

Drink tea. I know, I know. but I needed a third tip. It helps to be drinking or eating something while writing.

Theory Thursday- All about the tiny things

As promised, I will post some writing tips every Thursday. So... I'm gonna post a few of my favorite/what I think is most important tips, So here goes, but first-

DISCLAIMER: I do not claim for these techniques to work on all writers or people, I am a young writer, and I am only trying to be helpful. If you have anything to add to my ideas, please go ahead. :-)

DO sweat the small stuff.
That's what my "lesson" is all about today. The little things in writing. For me, it's one of the most important, and the hardest things to get.

You see, I'm a very emotion-type person. I like to make lots of feeling in my writing, which you know if you read it. (hint, hint.) I'm always getting all my characters caught up in the moment and they don't always notice their surroundings. But I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. I would say if that's the kind of person they are, it's fine. But the trick is, I would say, what they do notice. Here's a workout I would recommend.

Walk around your house. Find one odd or non-important object and just focus on it. See what kind of memories it brings back. In a novel or story, when your hero remembers something from their childhood or high school days, it doesn't have to be connected or important to the story.

So that's the first side of it, memories and surroundings, but it goes even deeper then that. (And by deeper, I mean more shallow. :D)

Anything that someone owns is for a reason, right? So when someone is fiddling with something while talking to your hero, why? Even if your reader doesn't know, you should know right? I would say, you can do one of two things for this. One, you can get a writing prompt, (If you have a board on Pinterest, or you can just search the inter-web.) and write one character into it. Maybe not your MC, or your MC's best friend. Maybe it's the villain, or Your MC's brother in law. But just write, and see what this person would do in any given situation.

 Number two, would be to fill out a character sheet for that person. I found one online, hanks to a writing friend a while ago. (http://dehydromon.deviantart.com/art/Blank-Character-Sheet-doc-Over-370-Questions-298561173) So you can check that out, and hopefully you'll get to know your character better.

So that's that, and my other tip would be one that is close to my heart and it's about one of the most debated things of all time.

Planning VS. Pansting
For those of you who don't know, pantsing is a term for those who don't outline, and just jump right in. I am proud to be one of those people. Pansting means, 'flying by the seat of ones pants' or, to put it simply, NOT PLANNING. I've tried making outlines, and It never works. I mean, most of the time I know what happens and around when, but when it's an outline, I feel like I'm being forced. And the story, also, moves too fast. Because it's this and then that and then this again. And I feel like I'm tied up and can't do anything but what the outline says.

Not everyone is like this, I know, but I am. So here's what I do to fix it.

I stole this idea form my sister, Moriah. She used it before me, I just changed it a little to work better for me. so thank her if it saves your life. ;-)

I write down scene ideas, and the climax and all that, but I don't do it in the fashion of an outline. Click here to see the outline template.


Those are my tips for this week. They aren't perfect, and won't work for everything and everyone. I'm just trying to help a writer out. :-) So see you tomorrow, where I'll be posting today's and Friday's story/poem.

Thanks!

Elsie