Ray Bradbury on Being Too Serious

I love this quote because often in writing we take everything too seriously. We focus more on the aspect of getting published than the writing itself.

I admit - I've fallen into this trap. When you focus too much on becoming published, it can be easy to fall into a spiral of hopes and dreams without doing the one thing that could actually make it happen: writing. 

Not only does it distract us from writing, but being too serious can also affect how we write. It can bring out our inner editor. Inner editors nit pick and more often than not cause writers' block. 

Sometimes it is okay just to lighten up and relax. Especially since as teen writers, we are also balancing school, homework, and after school activities. 

I'm off to New York City tomorrow! Unfortunately not much writing will be done while I'm there, but I will have a post for you when I get back. Have a great weekend!

My Spartina 449 agenda...

So today I am going to talk about my agenda. I am a HUGE agenda/notebook person. I use them for anything and everything.

It all started when I walked into the Paper Store a few weeks ago. As school is coming up around the corner, I decided to check out the agenda section. Your typical brands were there (Lily Pulitzer, Vera Bradley, etc). Last year I had a bad experience with a Vera Bradley agenda (color faded/scratched off, binding came undone, etc). I was weary of buying another cutesy name brand agenda that would just fall apart. Nonetheless, I perused the agendas hoping to find something worth buying.

Our true enemy in writing

Many people will ask writers about writers about writers' block. Does it happen often? How do you get around it? 

Writers' block usually occurs when we as writers get stuck in a plot hole, lose interest, or just plainly get stuck. Most of the time, we brainstorm, take a break, free write, or rework other portions to get around writers' block.

However, there could be a much easier way. I love this quote because it speaks volumes about writers. We get so self-conscious of our writing. We don't want people to judge us or our writing. We get wrapped in fear that someone won't like the story or will think the writing is poor. 

A Plot Change

A few minutes ago, I experienced something that I know many other writers have experienced.

My entire plot changed. I'm not talking a couple of characters and the beginning. I'm talking my characters entire motivation, the story's heart, the entire thing guiding my story.

And I loved it.

I started writing it as a way to take something away from my character and it evolved before my eyes into something that has affected my main character her entire life. It filled a few holes in my story and changed the way I connected with my character.

It breathed life into a story that was beginning to become boring and changed it into something that can draw readers in. Even though it might change again, these plot changes can be super helpful. They fix problems you couldn't quite figure out and can make writing fun again.

Has this happened to you before. If so, what changed?  How did it affect your character? Did it motivate you to keep writing?

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Next week I will be posting a post about my agenda and how it has helped me as a writer.

Ray Bradbury on what we learn from writing

So for my new posting schedule I've decided to make Tuesdays a day for quotes and inspo from other writers. Today, I've selected this quote by Ray Bradbury:

I love this because it calls writing a privilege, not a right. So many people take their writing for granted. I also love that Bradbury says that writing reminds us that we are alive. I think this is so true. There is nothing like writing and feeling all of the ideas just flow. 

I tend to feel this sensation especially during NaNoWriMo when my word count grows and grows. Just seeing the words hit the page is enough to make me giddy. I didn't get much time to write during July's Camp NaNoWriMo, but winning at the end of April was an amazing form of motivation. If you haven't participated in NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo yet, I highly recommend it. There is an entire community of support along with great sponsors that provide great tools/trials especially for NaNoWriMo participants. Camp takes place in April and July, while NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) occurs every November. 

I am already so excited for November! I cant wait to feel that adrenaline again.  

On Thursday I am going to post something about my white board. It's a place where I organize my thoughts and writing ideas. Next week I am going to try and show you my agenda, which I absolutely LOVE, as well as my writing binder.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

-Kat

I'm back!

After a long spring/beginning of summer, I'm officially back! The posting schedule is going to be a little different (with slightly fewer posts throughout the week), but I'm hoping this new schedule will allow for more consistency. My goal is to be more informational without dumping facts and research.

I'm going into high school this year (ahhhh), so I'm hoping to include some tools for students was well. These might include my own personal templates for taking notes, apps that I find useful, etc. I'm including these because as teen writers, we are also students!

It feels great to be back! If you have any suggestions for posts you might like or for the blog, comment them below! Thank you for being so understanding!

-Kat

A Tiny, Eensy-Weensy Little Vacation

I've seriously neglected this blog. It's gotten bad, I know.  If there were DCYF for blogs, I'd be a serious offender.

To make it even more serious, I've decided to take a tiny, eensy-weensy vacation to focus on my writing. It'll be short, I promise. Then, I'll do my best to write plenty more posts to keep the flow going.

This vacation will be brief. It's just going to be a short time for me to catch up on writing and write a bunch of great posts worth publishing.

For now, here is a favorite quote of mine by Ernest Hemingway. I've been channeling this lately. I don't know, but I've been a huge fan of this at present. I think of it every time I go to write.

 

Even though we may not use typewriters anymore (most of us anyway), this quote can easily be applied. All we have to do is let the words pour out of us. 

Pantsing vs Plotting: Part 1-Pantsing

For a long time, there has been a lengthy debate in the writing world. Pants or plot? For this post, I'm, going to focus on Pantsing.

The Definition: This simply means "by the seat of your pants". This form of writing is when you jump right into writing without an endpoint in mind or any plan whatsoever.

Some Input: No outline to hold you down means you have the complete freedom to write whatever. You don't have to feel tied down or forced to write according to an outline. From personal experience, this can be good and bad. When I was writing, I kinda just let things flow. But at some parts, it was easy to get stuck. Panting is great if you don't even have a concept and just want to write, but it can be deadly if you have a great concept and get stuck with it because you have no idea what you want to happen. When this happens, the project gets put on a shelf and gathers dust.

My Story: A couple of years ago, I decided I was going to sit down and finally write a book (I had always written short stories). I snuggled up next to the fire (It was winter here in New England and frigid as always) and just wrote. It was strange. All I had were the words "there I was". I wrote whatever came to me, but it took days just to get a page written. It felt like I moving through sludge. Since I had no ending in sight and no basic concept, I felt doomed. I only wrote about 4 pages of that story (mind you it was 11 pt font, single-spaced-but still...) Since then, I have at least made sure that I had a general, original idea with at least a teensy-weensy little idea of how I want it to go.

Now, I'm not saying that pantsing is the worst thing in the world. A lot of people prefer it to traditional plotting. And if it works for you, go for it!

With my current project, I've spent a little bit more time planning than usual, but it can't really be considered plotting or pantsing (more on that next week).  My next post will be on plotting.

What do you think about pantsing?

MS Walk Boston

Recently, my oldest sister was diagnosed with MS, or multiple sclerosis. As a family, we are participating in the MS Walk in Boston in April. My sister is one of my best friends. We may fight, but I can always count on her. In my family, I am commonly referenced to as her "mini-me. I've even had teachers call me by her name do to our uncanny resemblance. Because my sister is very into in fitness and health, this walk is the perfect way to support her. Any help is appreciated. If you'd like to donate, I will post the link below.

This is a picture of us from a really long time ago...

What is multiple sclerosis?

About MS
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million worldwide. (source: National MS Society)

All the money raised goes to the National MS Society to provide resources for people with the disease. Here is the link if you would like to donate: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/MAMWalkEvents?px=13829383&pg=personal&fr_id=25444

The answer to all writing...

Happy Wednesday! My goal for the new year is to post more often. I think that this quote embodies the whole idea of writing. You have to love writing, otherwise it will become a chore. 

How the movie Frozen is just like writing a book...

The movie Frozen took the world by storm in 2014 ;). In so many ways, the movie Frozen is just like writing a book.

1. You can't fear words and the power they give you

2. It's good to have a partner (like a critique partner) or just a really supportive friend

3. Don't become desperate and don't settle (when it comes to revising/editing. A bad first draft is OK)

4.  Reward yourself when you reach your goals (or defeat an evil prince set on destroying you)

5. Never give up on your dreams

What do you think? Did you like the Frozen craze?

Twitter!

Diving Into A First Draft

Okay, my bad, I've been offline for too long. First off I'd like to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Merry Kwanza, Happy Holidays! So this post is going to be about starting a first draft: how to go about doing it, tips, and encouragement.

That first blank page can very intimidating. I'm going to turn this into a work of art? Some people ease their way into it, like slipping into cold water. Others take the plunge. Then there are some people that just eye the water, psyching themselves out. DON'T PSYCH YOURSELF OUT! You can do this. Just go for it. Whether you jump right in or take it inch by inch, at least your doing it.

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/26/new-years-eve-expectations_n_4504646.html

Staying in the water is tough too. You know when you're in the pool, and your fingers are pruned, and your exhausted, but your friends just want to keep swimming? Your characters are your friends, and you must keep swimming.

At some point, you are going to look at what you've accomplished, and pat yourself on the back. And then your going to look at what's ahead of you, and you're probably going to want to give up. Don't. It's not worth it, believe me. Because then your going to think that your next draft will be different. It won't.

Source: http://kbmritchie.tumblr.com/post/83581798140/ryke-meadows-taking-daisy-rock-climbing

Tips For Getting You Through:

1. Believe you can, and you will

2. Keep a notebook handy in case you get an idea

3. If you get writers' block, take a short break

4. Never give up

5. Remember that you're amazing for even trying to do this

Happy Holidays!

Waiting for Perfection

You're in your first draft. You've gotten a couple of sentences down, but nothing else comes. Your head is in the clouds, waiting for those perfect words. And nothing comes. 

Why? Because perfect words don't exist. It will take so much editing before those words come even close to perfect. 

Take this following quote from Margaret Atwood, 

I agree with her 100%. I am a perfectionist, everything MUST BE PERFECT! I've struggled with it because it gets in the way sometimes. It's so hard to let it go! (Let it gooooo!) 

I had to...

Now I know, for those of you who can't write a sloppy first draft like me, this will take work.  To borrow a slogan from Camp NaNoWriMo (which is only a MONTH away!!), lock up your inner editor. When the first draft is done, let him loose, and let him do his job. But put him away until that draft is (completely, I'm looking at you anti-sloppy first draft people!) done.

This is a mug NaNoWriMo used to sell :)

What does your inner edit look like? Do you struggle with perfectionism?

Have a happy monday!

Motivation For Your Characters

Everybody needs motivation, that final push to get you to you're destination.

The runner, who sees the sign that reads, "Keep going! You've got this!" and makes it to the finish line.

The student, whose about to quit studying for the exam,  sees a future for himself, and keeps going.

The mom, tired from work and stress, who comes home to a three year-old who tells her that she loves her. That she is strong.

People need motivation all throughout their life. After all, if you don't have the motivation to get out of bed every morning, you're not exactly living.

Your characters need motivation to get to the end. To reach their goal. If they don't, the story isn't really a story, just an explanation of what they're doing everyday. It falls flat. 

Your MC needs a goal to pursue, otherwise they are just living, and that's very boring for a reader. Imagine if Katniss' sister didn't get chosen for the Hunger Games, Katniss and Prim would've gone home and continued on with their lives. No star crossed lovers, no survival, just living. I have high doubts that that version of the book would go onto become a major motion picture.

Maybe your character needs to reach the mountain and save his brother before the villain kills him. Maybe your MC needs to finish a huge project in order to qualify for the championship game.

What is pressuring your character to work harder? This motivation should be good enough to do three things:

1. Motivate your MC
2. Keep your reader hooked
3. Move your story along

If the motivation you give your character meets these three requirements, keep on doing what you're doing.

If, however, it doesn't meet the requirements, up the consequences. This will help motivate your character to go faster, which will move your story along, and make the reader root for the MC.

What do you think? Does your motivation meet the requirements? 

100 For 100 Challenge

Okay, so today I'm going to tell you about a really cool thing happening on another blog. It's called 100 for 100, and you write 100 words each day for 100 days! In the end, you'll arrive at at least 10,000 or more words-how cool is that? It's happening now at GoTeenWriters, so you should check it out :)

I pledged to do it, and already I've written 983 words (and it's only the first week!!)

(I do realize this post is a little late, the challenge started a couple days ago. Registration IS closed, but you can still do it without making it official, or contact the person running it!)

Hope you decide to join us!

Wise Words From Virginia Woolf

When I write, I weave in pieces of my mind and soul. We all do. Our writing is us. Even if you are a 14 year old girl who is writing about zombies. No matter what, we put in little bits of us into our writing. It's because we are writing it, and we only know what we know, so our characters only know what we know. 

We put ourself in our writing, and there is no way to get around it. We are a piece of our writing, and our writing is a piece of us.  Virginia Woolf says it perfectly:

Without realizing it, we take our biggest, darkest secrets and load them onto our characters. Every indescribable feeling we've had, we give them to our characters. We curse them and gift them all at once. They get the good and the bad. That's what great about writing, you can give the best and the worst, and your characters stay with you anyways. :)

Time Management

When you're a teen, there is so much going on. Soccer, dance, homework, etc. It can be hard to find a time to write.

The best way to overcome this is to separate a time for writing each day. During this time you do nothing but write. Schedule it around your soccer practice and study time. Adjust it to fit your schedule.

I might be able to write from 4:30-5:00 everyday, while someone else might not be able to write in that same amount of time. And that's okay. 

Maybe when you get home from school you start your homework  right away, and then you write for a half hour, and then you go back to finishing homework. It's whatever works for you. You may want to schedule 15 minute intervals when writing. This way, you can have fresh eyes for both your writing and that Social Studies essay due tomorrow.

Ex:

3:00-3:15-Homework

3:15-3:30-Writing

3:30-3:45-Homework

A lot of people talk about writing, and read about writing, and think about writing, but never actually write. Don't fall into that trap! Schedule time for yourself! You deserve it.

Music in Writing

I have over 600 songs on my phone, even still, I go to internet radio for music. Especially when I'm writing.

Building a soundtrack for your book can be very helpful, and authors do it all the time. Spotify is awesome for that kind of thing. Using it, you can create playlists, and follow others. I found one that has popular songs without the lyrics, so that it's easier to focus.

Sometimes, I'm just not in the mood to write (crazy, I know!), but it happens. Putting on music that sparks an idea really helps me  get going. Not everyone can listen to music while writing. Some people prefer complete silence. For me, it feels awkward sitting there waiting for words to come. It feels too forced.

Music can influence emotions and actions, making it a great cure for writer's block. Melodies have a way of inspiring ideas and plot twists you never thought possible.

Now, I'm a smidgen biased. I love music.There's something about a powerful song that just makes me fell good. I can't even describe it. It's like this soaring feeling in your chest when you just go wow, that was amazing. Bad songs can often have off the opposite affect on me, I'll often cringe.

There are downsides to listening to music while you write, one, you can get distracted. And two, if you're listening to internet radio, there is the distraction of ads and skipping tracks.

My favorite types of songs when writing are ones that correlate with that I'm writing. For example, if my main character just got his/her heart broken, I might play some Taylor Swift.

What about you?  Do you like to listen to music when you write? What's your favorite noveling music?

Asking What if

How is a story created? Most often, its by two simple words, what if? What if teens had to fight to the death? (Hunger Games) What if there was no color, no emotion, no pain? (The Giver) What if you were in a coma, and could decide whether to stay or to leave? (If I Stay)

Writers aren't the only people who ask this question, normal people do, everyday. Writers just pursue the idea and expand upon it. We can take a simple question, and transform it into pages of words and scenes and characters and life.

How do we do it? We think. And we think. And we think. Until that one question becomes a nagging thought in our minds, growing into an idea. If you have writer's brain, like me, you will start creating opening sentences and climaxes.

Think of an idea, and let it grow. Don't force it though. It wouldn't do you any good to just lay on your bed and stare at the ceiling. If you do you want that "what if" idea, just observe. Look around you wherever you go. Just be patient.