Tag Archives: How to write

Lessons on writing from Naruto… Day 5 of Devin’s Writing Routine Exercise

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Hello Everyone,

I have been rather slow at posting up the 5th day of my writing routine and how it went. I thought I would share a post on conflict and writing it. Lately, my boyfriend has gotten me addicted to a cartoon. Or rather some people would call it anime. It’s called Naruto. Have any of you ever watched it before?

The series of Naruto is carefully and creatively planned out and written with strong characters. Here are a few things that I have learned about writing from watching Naruto.

  1. Conflict: I’ve said this many times that conflict makes the story. I remember my Dad once telling me that something bad has to happen in order for the story to be exciting – I remember having thought that if everything is good and nothing bad happens to the characters then I will be all happy that my characters don’t have to undergo anything terrible. But, then what fun is it to read about someone’s overly perfect life with no real-life-issues? That doesn’t exist as there are problems and issues in all people’s lives (Some is bigger and some are smaller). e.g. from Naruto = A demon fox comes into a small village to destroy it when it is sealed into a little baby. The baby grows up and has to deal with this force inside of him, that he hates. (or another one) Naruto’s friend Sasuke leaves the village as a Rouge Ninja, and Naruto wants to bring him back – all to find out that Sasuke doesn’t want to come back.
  2. Believable Characters who you genuinely care for:
    •Purely Evil Characters – you wonder how they are so evil. The writer’s wrote it that way to get watchers wondering about those character’s pasts. There have been times I’ve watched and seen this horrible character who I despised to find a few episodes later that I liked them, because I now understood their past and where they’ve come from! e.g. Sasuke, Pain, Itachi, and Guren
  3. Flash-Backs: These always help watchers and readers understand the character’s life more. It opens up more of the story so that they can either feel more for the character or hate them more. It’s a nice way of giving them a glimpse into the character’s life.
  4. A main protagonist who everyone hopes for: Naruto is the main character in this saga, even though there are quite a few others who have big parts in it too. Everyone hopes for Naruto and wants him to win and when his path crosses with others (you get to know their stories too and then you also hope for them.)
  5. Have a few characters that your main character can count on: This one is important. e.g. from Naruto = Jiyaiya, Kakashi, 5th Hokage
  6. Have a clear Antagonist or other people against: the protagonist so that they will have battles and hardships to overcome. It makes the story even more exciting! :) e.g. from Naruto = Orochimaru, Sasuke, Akatsuki

If you haven’t watched any Naruto. You should check it out. You will be amazed by those writers.

Pointers on Post-It-Note Plotting – Devin’s Writing Routine Exercise Day 1 – Turnout :)

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“The hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.” -Ernest Hemingway

Hello Everyone,

Today was the first day of my writing challenge. And I can imagine you all want to know how it went? I woke up at 5am. Yes, I actually did it. Spent a little while checking emails and updates and then I went straight to work. Outside my window the sky was a dark blue colour – definitely a twilight colour. I find something very magical and intriguing about the dark blue sky. I wrote 2,209 words all before 7:30am. When I saw how fast the words were appearing on the page, I realized that this baby wants to get written. :) Which I am so excited about.

Some pointers for Devin’s Writing Routine Exercise

  1. Stop writing when you know what will happen next – Ernest Hemmingway once said that he stops writing when he knows where he will start up the next day. I have been trying this the last few times I have been writing and it works rather well. You should try it, if you haven’t yet! :) I am excited for my next 5am morning start on Monday and who knows maybe I can get out more than 2,000 words then.
  2. Plot is Purdy Important – Plot has always confused me because some people argue whether their stories are character driven or plot driven. If I would have to choose which one, I think I would be a character drives the story sort of writer. But with this story I have been plotting out ahead of time what I am going to write. What about you? Do you write character driven or plot driven stories? In the picture you will be able to see that I am plotting with post it notes. It’s kind of a nice little break away from the computer/notebook. I write with the word processing program Scrivener and it is also a very, VERY, VERRRRY great program for plotting, character development, and writing your actual novel. I don’t really use Microsoft Word anymore. Many other famous writers use Scrivener now too. If you haven’t checked out Scrivener, do so! I promise it will make a difference in your writing time and organization. (There is a 30-day trial on the website.)

    I decided to use post-it-notes and my open bare wall for plotting. A nice way to get away from the computer and still work on your book plot. I know that some other people use index cards.


  3. Colour– use some colour, it will help your senses and creativity flow. Colour coding topics, characters and much more always helps me keep things straight. :)

    I believe that colour really helps you while being creative. So, when writing why not write in colour. Colour code certain topics, themes, or characters to find them easier! :)

    Colour Coding… :)

    Here is an example of the colour coding and the post-it-note plotting.

    I will be sure to post more hints and ideas next week when I post the next Devin’s Writing Routine Exercise Day 2 turn out on Monday. :)

    There was a part this morning where I was so engrossed in my story; I was writing about an owl and i was in a dark forest at night. Then all of a sudden there was a noise near my window on the clothes line. It was a black crow… he fell off the clothes-line or something. Weird bird, but he gave me a fright. A bit later a bush turkey strolled on by on the fence separating the houses. A bush turkey? I couldn’t believe it. I usually see cats walking on the fence, but a bush turkey? Since, I am telling you a little bit about my neighborhood birds I may as well also throw in that there was another crow on the roof of the house next door and it was carrying a piece of bread – like a full piece. These strange birds. Haha… but yes, that was random. It all started with me getting scared because of a noise and what I was writing.

    Have any of you ever scared yourselves, when writing? Has it ever made you jump?

How to stay inspired in a less than colourful world…

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As a writer I know there are times when we come to a screeching dead halt in our writing, where we can’t find any inspiration. At those moments when we are running low on inspiration and feel empty we look out into the world around us for inspiration and find a world falling apart. At dry times we see soldiers fighting in wars across the seas, homeless people on the streets, and starving children in Africa and ask ourselves how we can get inspired.

I have found myself in this position many times and have wondered, how can I make a difference with my writing anyways? How do I get myself out of this situation? I know that when these questions start to circle around in my mind I have a bad habit of setting my pen down or getting up to leave my computer. Which isn’t what I should do. Instead I should pull inspiration out of the un-colorful world. At this moment I can imagine that many questions are forming in your minds, like:  “Devin, how do I stay inspired in a less than colorful world? How can I get inspiration when everything around me is so uninspiring?” or something like, “How can I make color when I have none?”

These are some tough questions, but I do have answers for them. When I find myself in a funk and can’t get inspired I look deeper into the issue and that gives me inspiration and story ideas. With the soldiers who are fighting in wars across the sea, I find myself thinking about a few things. Who are they? What are their stories? Were they married? What are their struggles and emotions? Or with the homeless people on the streets, how did they become homeless? What are their stories and who are they? Why do they continue to stay on the streets? What do they go through in a day?

As soon as I ask myself these questions my mind starts reeling with ideas, thoughts, characters, and plots. I want to make a difference in my reader’s lives and I know you do too. We need to remember that our less than colorful world needs our color, since we add color to the world with our words. Here are some other ideas to help draw inspiration when you don’t feel inspired.

1. Go for a walk in the wilderness 

-Nature has a way of bringing out the light, when you see all the issues that our world has, you get brought back to how our world should be.

“We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the  wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain.” -Henry David Thoreau -My mom always told me that fresh air clears the mind and she was definitely right when she said that, besides you can get heaps of color, just by stepping out into the woods. Listen to the sounds. What do you hear? What do you see? Look at all of the details.

2. Delve deeply into something else that will open your mind creatively 

-Do you enjoy drawing, painting?

-Play an instrument

-Get up and move- exercise!

3. Get away from your normal setting

-A few weeks ago I went on a weekend trip with a friend and I got filled up with ideas to write. I went to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am from a rural Minnesotan town so going into the metropolis changed my atmosphere. I saw different people and settings. By getting away from your normal setting you will find new ideas for stories, settings, and characters.

4. Get enough sleep

-You have all probably heard this before, but they say if you sleep enough hours in a day, that you will have a better chance of remembering your dreams. Dreams can inspire!

5. Get out and volunteer

-Seeing good in tough situations can work wonders, it may even give you a new story idea, a new character or setting! Use the emotions you see in people as well. Such as the pain in the homeless man’s eyes. Or the tears that come to his eyes when you ask how he is doing.

6. Emotion

-Use the emotion you experience (When you feel depressed, write about how you feel and how it affects you. You never know when that will help you with a character you are writing later.

7. Silence

-Go someplace and seek silence. Light some candles and meditate. Listen to relaxing music.

8. Take an online journey of inspiring blogs and websites. 

–Check out inspiring pictures or my newest addiction = pinterest. You can find interesting ideas for characters and settings.

9. Read a good book (check out Goodreads.com) 

10. Change your outlook…

-When things are dark, dreary, or uninspiring change your point of view, change your outlook…

11. Ask yourself the hard questions

-Best Selling Author Steven James once said, “You don’t have a story until you have conflict.” Since we live in a world where conflicting things happen, we must pull inspiration out of the darkness around us by asking ourselves the hard questions.

12. If you still don’t feel inspired… 

-And you have searched for it. Don’t quit writing, continue to show up and write every day! When I am low on inspiration I make a goal of writing 2,000 words a day. At least I am showing up and when I read back over it, sometimes I am surprised with what I’ve written!

P.S. The picture at the top inspired me while writing a scene in the last chapter that I just wrote for my book “The Created Ones”, so I thought I would share this awesome picture with you guys! :)