If you are very new to the writing world, I would advise that you register on a writers forum. There are plenty to choose from and they are a great source of talent and information from professionals who have already succeeded and are willing to help new writers, authors and many other types of writing people.
My Writers Circle is a good forum that has a wealth of helpful people willing to answer a great number of questions that seem trivial, but are actually a great help to many.
However, it is wise to be careful with any advice you do take, some of the people on these forums are new writers themselves and may provide you with incorrect information.
It may be a good idea to get to know a forum before becoming a member yourself. See if the people and the posts are going to be of use to you and if you can be of help to the other writers before committing yourself.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
To Back-up or Not to Back-up
This is a small quick post to warn you of the dangers of not backing up your work. We've all been told about this time and again, but somehow something that should be straight forward still seems to catch people out, myself included.
I had recently been having a little trouble with writers block, not in the sense that I didn't know what to write, more that I couldn't manage to get what I wanted to say written in the way I wanted it to be told.
After having this trouble for a little while, I woke up one day with the exact sentence in my head that would spark off a creative flow.
I rushed to the computer where an outpouring of creativity followed and in my rush I didn't take the time to back up my work as these creative moments need to be caught while at the peak of their outpouring, don't they?
Well yes they do, but it's also no good if you don't back up this work. If you loose all the work you've just spent hours creating and crafting, your creative outburst will have been for nothing.
Once my computer failed and I realised that my work was not backed up, the horror and fear was unbelievable, and most of all I felt like and idiot because I should have known better.
On this occasion I managed to get my work back from complete disaster but it did scare me into always backing up work from now on.
Don't say you weren't warned!
I had recently been having a little trouble with writers block, not in the sense that I didn't know what to write, more that I couldn't manage to get what I wanted to say written in the way I wanted it to be told.
After having this trouble for a little while, I woke up one day with the exact sentence in my head that would spark off a creative flow.
I rushed to the computer where an outpouring of creativity followed and in my rush I didn't take the time to back up my work as these creative moments need to be caught while at the peak of their outpouring, don't they?
Well yes they do, but it's also no good if you don't back up this work. If you loose all the work you've just spent hours creating and crafting, your creative outburst will have been for nothing.
Once my computer failed and I realised that my work was not backed up, the horror and fear was unbelievable, and most of all I felt like and idiot because I should have known better.
On this occasion I managed to get my work back from complete disaster but it did scare me into always backing up work from now on.
Don't say you weren't warned!
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Before You Write a Word...
There are many people around that will give you advice on how to write and what is the best way to go about it. Some writers prefer to write straight onto a computer, others prefer to pen down a first draft in long hand and then type it up as a way of editing, some make handwritten notes but type straight onto a computer and some combine all of these.
Each writer will give you a very good argument as to why their way is better and why they use the method they do over the other techniques available.
However much you listen to these other writers, following their techniques and styles will not make you a successful writer. The most important thing to do is to find the style and way of working that best suits you and works for your own writing style.
This is not to say that the advice given by these other writers should be ignored, in fact it is good to learn about how others work so that it may help you become better organised and more productive, but you should integrate this advice into your own way of working and should not copy another’s style.
If you find your own way of working, find your most comfortable place and productive time of day, you can take little snippets of advice from other professionals and successfully integrate this advice into your own way of working in a way that suits you and enhances your style.
Before you can write a word, you must ensure that how you work is right for you and is not a copy of someone else.
Each writer will give you a very good argument as to why their way is better and why they use the method they do over the other techniques available.
However much you listen to these other writers, following their techniques and styles will not make you a successful writer. The most important thing to do is to find the style and way of working that best suits you and works for your own writing style.
This is not to say that the advice given by these other writers should be ignored, in fact it is good to learn about how others work so that it may help you become better organised and more productive, but you should integrate this advice into your own way of working and should not copy another’s style.
If you find your own way of working, find your most comfortable place and productive time of day, you can take little snippets of advice from other professionals and successfully integrate this advice into your own way of working in a way that suits you and enhances your style.
Before you can write a word, you must ensure that how you work is right for you and is not a copy of someone else.
Friday, 25 February 2011
To Find an Ideal Place to Write
As this is the first post on this blog, I thought we would start with one of the first and most important considerations of being a writer, your writing space.
Even great writers put great importance on their writing space. Virginia Woolf, felt so strongly she wrote about the necessity of finding a suitable place to write in her famous piece entitled “A Room of One’s Own”.
Finding a room of one’s own may not be entirely possible. It is however, fundamentally important to find somewhere that suits your personality and allows your creativity to flow, but equally allows you to concentrate.
Every writer is different and each has differing factors that motivate them. This may seem obvious, but often people feel guilty for wanting to do something unusual. However, some of the very best writers wrote in the most unusual places. Roald Dahl for instance, wrote in his garden shed.
Where ever you choose to write, make sure that it is comfortable and suits your purpose. By this I mean that it suits your needs and feeds your creative imagination.
A beautiful view sounds wonderful but is not always possible, however this could be a blessing as a beautiful view would certainly encourage me to stare out of the window instead of actually writing and probably would a lot of other writers, if they were truly honest.
So when the ideal is not possible, work with what you have and make the most of it.
I have a little office cupboard under the stairs and I love it. It’s exactly what I need.
What’s your ideal writing place?
Even great writers put great importance on their writing space. Virginia Woolf, felt so strongly she wrote about the necessity of finding a suitable place to write in her famous piece entitled “A Room of One’s Own”.
Finding a room of one’s own may not be entirely possible. It is however, fundamentally important to find somewhere that suits your personality and allows your creativity to flow, but equally allows you to concentrate.
Every writer is different and each has differing factors that motivate them. This may seem obvious, but often people feel guilty for wanting to do something unusual. However, some of the very best writers wrote in the most unusual places. Roald Dahl for instance, wrote in his garden shed.
Where ever you choose to write, make sure that it is comfortable and suits your purpose. By this I mean that it suits your needs and feeds your creative imagination.
A beautiful view sounds wonderful but is not always possible, however this could be a blessing as a beautiful view would certainly encourage me to stare out of the window instead of actually writing and probably would a lot of other writers, if they were truly honest.
So when the ideal is not possible, work with what you have and make the most of it.
I have a little office cupboard under the stairs and I love it. It’s exactly what I need.
What’s your ideal writing place?
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