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Hey Everyone, I just added some new words to the Words from Reggie page of the site. As a writer, adding words to your vocabulary is very important. When I find words for Words of the Day, or to add to Reggie's page, it is a great way for me to learn words as well. Words are not to be trifled with. Pick the right word, and it could have great power, if arranged with hundreds of other just right words. Remember: as all races are run one step at a time, and all lives are lived one day at a time, all books are written one word at a time. Even if you write novels, every word matters, just like in a short story and a poem.
Enjoy the new words, incorporate them, into your writing, and think about their meaning. I'll post more soon,
-M

 
Based on experience, I've compiled a list of the top five reasons I get bored when writing my novel. It's this boredom that leads future famous novelists to say "Good Riddance!" and begin a new project.

1. Your novel is dreary. You might as well be watching paint dry.
Fix: Make your characters more interesting by giving them odd quirks or more difficult goals to achieve. Add some spice to your plot by throwing in a few really tense scenes. If it's a certain part of your story that is making your eyelids droop, stop where you are and skip to a different part! Maybe you'll find out the you don't need the boring part after all.

2. You hate spending time with your characters. Occasionally you say to yourself "Why don't I drop a bomb on all these lousy people."
Fix: First, why is it that you don't like them? For me, I often read a really good book and think about how my characters have nowhere near as much depth and interest as the characters I read about. If this is the case, consider what the author you are reading has done to create such lifelike characters. Try and apply some of the techniques she/he used to your characters. Characters can always be remolded. Nothing is set in stone. You can always go back and change your characters appearances and give them litle quirks and different voices.

3. You're watching TV and using "I think my novel's boring" as an excuse for not using your time productively. 
Fix: I'm not sure whether there's too much advice I can give you about this one, but one thing I can do, is say that, at least for me, once I sit down and start writing, I find it hard to start watching TV again.

4. Cute Baby Animals, nuff said.
Fix: Seriously, this is a big one. I play on a soccer team, and whenever any dogs are in the vicinity, no one focuses on soccer for a good ten minutes. The best thing you can do about this one is to plan your writng time when there are no cute things around (babies included).

5. You've been working yourself too hard.
Fix: Maybe you have been busy with other work, or you need to clean your room, maybe you've walked your dog, or already worked on your writing every day this week. No matter what the reason is, the only thing you can do is TAKE A BREAK. Just have a nap, or read a book, go for a walk, or play a  sport. Even watch a little TV! Go on, I give you permission to rest for as long as you need to get rejuvenated.

So go ahead! Fall back in love with your writing!
Happy Writing!
-M





 
Actually, this post has nothing to do with frog spawn, other than the spawn part; but in this case, we're spawning ideas - lots of them.
I'm a fairly lucky writer, I have to say. I know writers that struggle for months, years even to come up with a viable idea for a novel that they can carry through to the end. I, on the other hand seem to have several novel ideas all buzzing around at once as I try to work on my current work-in-progress.
 The way I find my ideas is through external stimulation - a lot of media, books, newspaper and things that happen in my life. Even when I'm learning about dull topics I try to find something in them that I could include in a story.
When I first started out, coming up with ideas was hard, but now my idea radar is on pretty much 24/7.
If you're looking to start a novel here's some tips on getting ideas. not everything will work for you, but try some of them out - what have you got to lose?
1. Read.
2. Read the newspaper. Look especially for articles that fall in the genre you like to write, or things that interest or disturb you.
3. Read books in the same genre as yours. Books in your genre (the well written ones) are like how to guides. When you're setting out on your novel writing voyage, take a few of your favourite books with you.
4. For young writers: When you are in your classes, listen for things that could be modified to fit into a story. Such as places that you could include in your stories, animals, and various strange phenomenon that could work their way into your writing.
5. Ask yourself 5-10 (or more) "what if..." questions daily - these questions are the start of great stories. For example: There was a man standing near a convienience store today wearing a formal suit and tie. At first I thought he was talking to himself, but then I noticed his blue tooth. Every few minutes he would raise his hand to his mouth to block out what he was saying.
What if....this man was part of a secret organization trying to defend the world against a form of alien that could tap into thoughts and control your brain.
This was a fairly random example, but doing this will help you find ideas.
Try out some of these tips for yourself.
Happy Writing,
-M
 
Sometimes, I'm too lazy to think about my novel, let alone write it. It's on these sort of days that I feel much like this:
We writers often complain to our friends, family, and anyone who will listen about the dreaded writer's block. But is it really writer's block we are suffering from? Or is it a case of extreme laziness that is preventing us from working on our novels?
Here's how to tell which writing disease you've caught, and a few tricks to fix it:

Writer's block:
Common symptoms include:
1.You're stuck, you're still writing, but you aren't getting anywhere. Everything you write seems like it's dragging your story down.
2.The inner editor starts to nag. It tells you that everything you're writing is awful and that you better just stop, that this case of writing block is terminal.
3.Your story suddenly seems boring and pointless.
The most important symptom that differentiates writer's block from laziness is that you are still trying to write, or at least sitting at your desk, staring at your computer or the piece of paper in front of you.

Laziness:
1. You don't even attempt to write - you think anything that you write will be awful, so why even try.
2. You go watch T.V., go on Facebook, search funny videos about cats on the internet...anything but write your story.
3. You complain about your novel, but do nothing about it.

Cures:

For Writer's Block:
Take a break - but not one so long that if qualifies as laziness. Try going for a walk, taking a shower, reading, anything that will give you distance from your writing for a little while. Then, go back with an open mind. Don't count out any ideas as "stupid" until you've thought about them fully, or  tried writing them. Most importantly, ignore the inner editor! My last tip to escape from the writer's block prison is to make yourself interested in what you're writing again. Make something crazy happen, try writing a part that happens later in your story but really interests you or try writing from a different  point of view.

For Laziness:
First of all, get to bed on time! Then, get active - go for a walk, a run, a bike ride, play catch, go to the park etc. Make some tea and sit down at the computer. Stop making excuses and tell yourself that you'll write for 15 minutes (or half an hour, or until you've written 500 words).

Hope you get though any blocks you might have with as little trouble as possible!
Happy Writing!
-M
 
When I was writing the first draft of my novel, I more or less wrote by the seat of my pants - no outline whatsoever. Sure, there were those two scribbled pages with a few character names on them, but that doesn't count for much. I planned from the start that I'd write in whatever direction my story took me, and go back later to fix the plot and characters. It worked fairly well. I finished the draft in exactly a year to the day. It was then that I looked back at my work and said "Goodness gracious I should have mapped this thing out from the start." But it was too late. I'd have to do it the hard way.
          One of the tools I used to get my novel on  the right track was a story map. It would have been great, I realized, to have this from the beginning. I made my story map on a large piece of newsprint. it looked something like a triangle, with a few jagged edges to represent obstacles, with the climax at the triangle's point. Using sticky notes, I wrote out various events that happened in my story, and stuck them to them map in chronological order. Instantly, things became clearer, and  I could see the holes in my story and began to revise accordingly.
    Even if you don't like planning, I strongly suggest using this form of an outline to give you an idea before you write, of the main events that will occur  in your story. 
Have Fun!
-M