Writing Tips

[Julie Bertagna]

In answer to animal_lover-06 in the Aurora thread....

This is not meant to be a lazy answer, it's just that I'm working hard on the next book, Aurora, and there will be complaints (see other threads) if I don't finish it soon! So, for now, have a look at the answer I gave in my blog here to someone else who was asking for writing tips. But as soon as I get a minute I will put more up in a new section here, I promise!

Meanwhile, this is my very best tip of all.

Exercise your imagination like an athlete exercises their body. Read, read, read. And dream. Be open to ideas. Pay attention to the world around you and the world beyond you. Open your mind and let your imagination go exploring and see where it takes you - good times to do this are when you are bored, on a long journey, stuck in a traffic jam, in a supermarket queue, when you can't sleep. ( Bad times to do it are during double maths at school, as I did...)

The pick up and pen and ask yourself 'what if...'

There are probably as many 'what ifs' as there are stars in the sky.

Here's the 'what if' I asked myself for my book Soundtrack:

What if today was the last ordinary day of your life and tomorrow something happens that changes everything?

I suppose, in a way, that happened to Mara and Fox and Tuck too in Exodus and Zenith, which goes to show the very different stories you can create to answer a 'what if'.

More tips soon. In the meantime if anyone else has any more 'what ifs' why not add them here?

[Namorvia]

"What if the reason I can't hear anything right now is because there's no one left in the entire world?"

I think that one far too often and have to go watch the road for a bit before I see a car or a person. Unfortunately any story to come from that would probably end up like 28 days later or something.

"What if the dream I had when I was little in which I was kidnapped was a reality and these aren't my real parents?"

Luckily I act exactly like my dad and even the postman thinks I look like my mum, so I'm OK (unless its a conspiracy).

"What if I should be at the library right now..." Gotta run

[woolleywrld]

Have any of you seen the movie, The Truman Story (I think that's what it's called) with Jim Carrey?

I often think "What if that were real? What if my every move is being recorded and the whole world can watch my life for their own entertainment?"
But then I realise that my life would be very boring so I am pretty sure no one is wacthing my every move

[animal_lover_06]

Thanks so much this really helps because I read all the time but never have the time to write any ideas down But I will make time!

[scalem X]

Have any of you seen the movie, The Truman Story (I think that's what it's called) with Jim Carrey?

I often think "What if that were real? What if my every move is being recorded and the whole world can watch my life for their own entertainment?"
But then I realise that my life would be very boring so I am pretty sure no one is wacthing my every move

Look it's woolyworld! The guy from the TV-show.

Yeah imagination exercises, but that's only where it starts, the hardest part is writing those stories down in detail.

[chrispenycate]

So, one little "what if" can be expanded to a novel? I can generate four or five "what if"s in an hour (fortunately I normally manage to integrate several into one story; my muse is claiming cruelty and overwork already)
Once one has mapped out where one minor modification can lead, there's still all that 'getting words into the computer' time, not to mention the 'prune out the deadwood' and 'try and get it read' time, and…

[Julie Bertagna]

In the beginning, for me, there is always a strong sense of place.

Then a crucial 'what if...?'

Out of 'place' and 'what if' emerges a character.

And then my work begins.

[theophanides]

i usually like to just read a lot of books but i also enjoy daydreaming. so far ive used these little daydreams to help me write a couple of stories which im working on....but sometimes you are also forced to steal a few small ideas from other authors but you can adjust it so it can then be callled yours.

[scalem X]

Well I find it depends: I do sometimes have a brilliant idea and then I realise it sounds and awful lot like some short story/book/movie. Depending how close it is, I decide to go for it anyway or not to go for it.

[woolleywrld]

haha, Thanks for that Scalem you scallywag!
When I used to write short stories and stuff they always ended up having "borrowed" ideas. I guess that's what I have to work on, coming up with my own ideas!!

[Julie Bertagna]

"Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright.” TS Eliot

Shakespeare stole magnificently. So does Philip Pullman, as he readily admits (quoting the above). All writers and artists and musicians do, consciously and unconsciously. 'Influences': part of the creative process.

TS Eliot was being mischievous, but there's nothing entirely new under the sun. The creative trick is to make it 'yours' - do something fresh and exciting with it.

Steal away

[Namorvia]

Originally Posted by woolleywrld

Have any of you seen the movie, The Truman Story (I think that's what it's called) with Jim Carrey?

I often think "What if that were real? What if my every move is being recorded and the whole world can watch my life for their own entertainment?"
But then I realise that my life would be very boring so I am pretty sure no one is wacthing my every move

Ha! You're just writing that to make me think other people have that paranoia to make me dismiss my suspicions as normal!
Seriously the amount of people that beep me or yell at me from their cars as if they know me, and then yesterday some little girl I've never seen before called me by name. I get really freaked out.

I really need to get back into reading, haven't done much in years, let alone having enough time to write. Quite sad that at 20 my real life is crushing my dreams, still at least I'm learning from life, the more you live, the more you understand what's going on around you, the better you can create a realistic reality on the page.

At times I like to sit down with the entire aim of coming up with a new story. Grab an idea, a location, think why this idea is different from any others and how the location can help to make it so, and what characters would best fit to be believable, lovable, hate-able. It doesn't matter if you look back and hate the idea, or realise it's been done already, its just an exercise.

Stealing is fun, it gives you raw concepts that, as you meld them into you own story very rarely still looks like the original.

[theophanides]

stealing can be fun but only up to a certain point but yes,once put into your story,hardly anyone would guess unless its outright obvious.
i must admit,i have had cases like that scalem but in the end its realy up to your imagination to fix it.

[xlimmyx]

wow that is SO me! I always steal stuff from authors! just wanted to say thanks for the tips Julie although I write really differently! I start off with a character and I just start writing with absolutely no idea of where I'm going! My story grows and changes all the time - its like its alive! Also I read Zenith ages ago and I just reread Exodus the other day and now I want to read Zenith again but its not in the library! I was so mad anyways can't wait for Aurora...Mara and Fox HAVE to get together again! I will cry if they don't. And so do Gorbals and Broomielaw -that was so sad. And maybe Rowan and Pandora to get those two out of the way? Just a thought...

[Julie Bertagna]

Thanks, xlimmyx. Get Rowan and Pandora out of the way? You cruel, heartless thing! Could I be so cruel and heartless...?

Writing tips. I promised some more ages ago. Well, I have this 'Tool Kit For Writers' which my daughter gave me a few Christmases ago. It's a pack of cards and the idea is that when you are stuck, you select a card at random and do what the card tells you, to get a new perspective. I just picked out a card at random to offer you its words of wisdom and couldn't help laughing.

CONDUCT AN INTERVIEW , it says.

And the funny thing is, I just did. With the fantastic Neil Gaiman, author of Sandman and Stardust, American Gods, Coraline and much more. You can read it here at the bookwitch blog.

It didn't 'unstick me' because I'm not stuck (at the moment) but the conversation did give me plenty of food for thought.

So, if you are writing something and feel a bit stuck: conduct an interview. Who with? you ask. Anyone. Someone ordinary, someone you think has nothing to tell you - or find a way to interview someone that really interests you. They don't have to be famous to be interesting.

You should always conduct an interview with your characters. Ask ordinary and unusual questions. You might be surprised by what is revealed.

I'm always so glad I thought to 'interview' Mara and Fox about their grandparents, for instance...