Character Development!

#Writerswise

Tweetchat tomorrow nite 9th Nov 8pm GMT 3pm ET.

SHARING SECRET WRITING TIPS ON CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT PRIOR TO US PUBLICATION OF RED RIBBONS NOVEMBER 15TH....

#polisbooks #redribbons #writing

Be passionate about your writing!!

A great morning in the Ireland AM studio with Mark Cagney and Emily Hourican.

Lots of writing tips and chatting about the upcoming Dalkey Creates Festival.

To view clip of show click HERE

For more on Dalkey Creates Festival Event and workshops visit HERE

The Murky Middle!!!

I've talked a lot in the past about the murky middle of a novel. It's where you've managed to get the essentials of the story down by introducing the fictional novel world to the reader, one with an array of characters, insights and a sense (albeit full of questions) of where the story is going - AKA Act 1. 

Act 3, is the final segment of the story when I have a reasonably good idea of how it all will end, but I can change my mind at a moment's notice.

The one sandwiched in the middle, is Act 2, which I refer to as the murky middle.

It gets even murkier when you're like me and you don't plot your story. Nor, do I know what my character are going to do next. Right now, I also have a whole load of things planted in the script that may or may not have an influence on the outcome. And yes, I know, people like the wonderful Jeffrey Deaver know the whole story before they even write a single word. But alas, the process is different for everyone. 

Despite hating the murky middle, because it is at times, DIRECTIONLESS, and I have to write and rewrite myself out of many a cul-de-sac, I secretly like that some weird and often wacky surprises happen in these troubled murky waters, even if like this morning, I have conversations like this with my partner.

ME:    'I have a word count of 1,500 words to do today.'

HIM:   'That's good.'

ME:    'No, it isn't.'

HIM:   'Why not?

ME:    'Because I've no idea what I'm going to write.'

HIM:   'Don't worry about that, you've been there before.'

ME:    'That doesn't help. What if I can't think of anything?'

HIM:   'You will.'

ME:    'That doesn't help either.'

Thankfully I squeezed the 1,500 words out....so I guess he was right, but there's still tomorrow! 

Writing and Marketing Tips!!

"When a fictional voice doesn’t go away, it usually means they have more to say..." Chatting with writer Valerie Sirr about LAST KISS, along with some marketing and writing tips!!! Visit HERE

Thought for the Weekend

'Those who write clearly have readers. Those who write obscurely have commentators'

 Albert Camus

Did You Ever Think about Writing for Television?

Do you regularly spot news items and think someone should make a TV series out of it? Do your fingers itch to write storylines for programmes you love? Yes? Well read on!

Although television is a visual medium, it’s still based on the written word and all programmes start out as a single idea first spelt out on paper. But because writers rarely make programmes, they must sell their ideas to the people that do. One way is to write a Treatment – essentially a written pitch summarising an idea into a few pages – with a dynamite script to complete the submission package.

Still interested?

In an introductory course run by Caren Kennedy, participants learn where the potential openings are in television and what writers must do in order to break in. By the end of the course, those who take advantage of all assignments will have created a polished Treatment showcasing their own idea for a series, complete with logline, synopsis, outlines for episodes and a query letter designed to grab the attention of programme makers.

Writing TV Treatments  online course - 8 weeks (4 modules) Caren Kennedy gives one-to-one mentoring and instruction on how to begin writing for television and develop ideas into storylines. Cost - €120.00

Caren Kennedy  works as an editor, proofreader, writing tutor and researcher.  She is the creator of a television series currently in pre-production with Warner Bros TV, co-author of Fake Alibis (BenBella Books, 2009), guest blogger for  www.writing.ie, and writing consultant with The Inkwell Group.

For more information visit: www.carenkennedywrites.com or send Caren an email direct to: carenkennedywrites@gmail.com

Feedback

Maura Byrne:  http://www.maura-byrne.com/

Caren Kennedy’s ‘Writing TV Treatments’ course is instructive, informative and extremely interesting.  Each module, delivered in easy-to-learn units, taught me how to flesh out my idea for a TV series, pump it up and transform it into a robust pitch.  But more than this, I learned how to summarise ideas for impact, research target markets, and stay motivated during the writing process. In short, this course is an excellent one which I would highly recommend to anyone wishing to further their writing career.

Michelle Moloney King:  www.TeacherMoloneyKing.com

This writing course is for anyone who wants to write. It is not limited to budding or established screenwriters. We covered ideas sourcing, research, visual writing skills, plot and character development, plus where and how to send submissions to television production companies. As I am a primary school teacher who uses lesson plans on a daily basis, nothing pleased me more than to find that Caren’s lessons were laid out in a comprehensive and detailed manner.  Her feedback was honest, succinct and got to the heart of any problems.  My writing and articulation of ideas has improved beyond imagining and I was amazed by this. Since the day I first started getting feedback from Caren, my blog has almost doubled its readership following. 

Thought for the Weekend - Frank O'Connor

I thought we could go all writerly for this week's Thought for the Weekend - and who better than Frank O'Connor to set us on the right path!

'There are three necessary elements in a story—exposition, development, and drama. Exposition we may illustrate as “John Fortescue was a solicitor in the little town of X”; development as “One day Mrs. Fortescue told him she was about to leave him for another man”; and drama as “You will do nothing of the kind,” he said.'

- FRANK O’CONNOR -

3 Secrets

Secrets are great things as they create an air of speciality for the receiver. 

For example, when someone says, can I tell you a secret, are you more interested than when someone says, nice day for a walk?  Of course you are, you feel you are going to get something special, because secrets are special. 

There is also the added bonus, that when someone shares a secret, it's like the friendship/relationship steps up a notch, after all you are not going to tell everyone, just the chosen ones.


So have you been tempted?  Well here are 3 secrets I've heard about lately dealing with the mystery of being published!  I warn you in advance, THIS COULD HURT!

Secret 1
Publishers don't want to publish your book, reason being, they are publishing a lot already and are looking for a reason to take the easy path (standard rejection letter). Don't give them a reason to reject it, make your book the best it can be.

Secret 2
Good writing is a must, but it is not the deciding factor in whether your book will be published or not - for example - Does your book fit into their current range - Is the market big enough to make a profit, after all they are not charities - Is your book the right one for them?

Secret 3
Most writers don't make money, or very little - reason, most sell less than one thousand copies.  So if you are in it for the money, you are playing the wrong game. 

Still interested now you know these secrets? 

It is a 'yes' for me anyhow, so I best get busy getting better.

Happy Writing!

Thought for the Weekend - Double Trouble

'My first advice to an aspiring writer is to talk yourself out of it if you can, because you'll probably fail and make yourself miserable doing it.'

- Richard Ford -

(But if you are like me, and end up doing it anyhow,here's a good piece of advice from J K Rowling)

'Be RUTHLESS about protecting your writing days.'

- J K Rowling -


Have a happy writing weekend!

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter @120Socks

10 Writing Mistakes

As you all know by now, I have just started on Twitter.  I guess like most social networking, it has good and bad parts.  The trick is to work these out early, so you get lots of interesting/worthwhile pieces of information, (emphasis on the worthwhile here) and not get so distracted, that your unwashed dishes are a result of Twitter and not because of hours of writing.

Here's something that came over Twitter this morning, and I think it is a good one, well worth the read.  I am planning on testing my writing out against it, next time around!

Happy reading!

http://www.broca.org/style.html


FINALLY, ONLY 16 DAYS TO GO TO DONATE TO POETRY BUS 2
IF YOU HAVEN'T DONATED ALREADY, DO SO NOW
http://tinyurl.com/3e8usle

12 Tips for eliminating unnecessary words!

Almost always in writing, we use too many words. (9)

So I thought this link HERE would be useful.

Shortened intro:

Eliminate unnecessary words. (3)

(9 down to 3- not bad)


Of course, who needed an intro with a title?

(9 down to Zero - Perfect)