Wednesday 30 January 2013

Writing Prompt Wednesday #13



I don't like snow,
but it's a little ridiculous to see green grass this time of year,
AND not have to wear a coat outside. :P

Thankfully,
it's Wednesday,
so I can bury my head in a writing prompt.

The rules:

1) Set the timer for 15 minutes.
2) Write about the picture or the topic (or something that jumps into your head)
3) Do NOT edit. Let the words flow. Your editor can watch whatever's on your PVR.

Here is this weeks topic:


Write about a time you found out about something you weren't supposed to know.
 
 
And...GO!
 
 
I would love to read your Writing Prompt results! Please post your passage in the comment box or leave a link to your blog post. :)


Monday 28 January 2013

Some Blog Love


Time for some blog love. :)
The weather can't seem to make up it's mind up here.
My kids made a snowman,
and it's so mild (and rainy),
that now it looks like a piece of modern art. :)

Here are my top blog visits this week for you.
There is a lot of encouragement for writers who are wondering if it is worth it this week.
Perhaps its the weather...
I'm glad I'm not the only one a little frustrated with their project.
You are not alone!

1. Kristen Lamb looks at why you shouldn't edit your work too early (I just purchased her book "We Are Not Alone" about how writers should use social media - a worthwhile purchase!)
http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/lessons-from-oleander-beware-of-premature-editing/

2. Rachelle Gardner gives some sage words on whether the writing life is worth it.
http://www.rachellegardner.com/2013/01/is-the-writing-life-worth-i/

3. At the YA Highway they gently remind us that there is a book in all of us.
http://www.yahighway.com/2013/01/by-george-theres-book-in-you.html

4. Joe Bunting at "The Write Practice" speaks like a wise friend about the story we are afraid to write.
http://thewritepractice.com/waiting-for/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheWritePractice+%28The+Write+Practice%29

5. A guest post by Lisa Hall-Wilson about how to maximize your Facebook page. There is a wonderful class tomorrow night for those who would like to attend for the small fee of $35.
http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/maximizing-facebook-what-we-can-learn-from-puppy-dog-eyes-and-lol-cats/

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Writing Prompt Wednesday #12



Brrr.
It's a cold one out there.
I'm looking forward to the weekend,
especially since they said it will warm up a bit.
Hence my glee at the arrival of hump day.

I'm also glad because it is WRITING PROMPT WEDNESDAY!!
(sorry for yelling there...I thought you might be falling asleep...heh, heh)

The rules are simple:
1) Set the timer for 15 minutes.
2) Write about the picture or the topic (or something that jumps into your head)
3) Do NOT edit. Let the words flow. Tell your critic to go get a chicken salad sandwich or something.

Here is this weeks topic:

Write a love letter. To anyone.
I would love to read your Writing Prompt results! Please post your passage in the comment box or leave a link to your blog post. :)


Monday 21 January 2013

Top 5 Blog Posts this week





Here it is.
My Blog Love for the week. :)
If I had to pick one word for these posts it would be Encouragement.
Enjoy. :)

1. At The Creative Penn they tackled 5 Tips for Writing and Marketing YA

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/01/18/writing-marketing-ya/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheCreativePenn+%28The+Creative+Penn%29

2. Get 3 Top Tips to Gain Facebook Fans on your Author Page at the water cooler

http://wordservewatercooler.com/2013/01/17/3-top-tips-to-grow-facebook-fans-on-your-author-page/

3. At Jeff Goins site Trisha Davis shares her heartwarming story of how she became a writer because someone believed in her despite her learning disability.

http://goinswriter.com/idiot/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GoinsWriter+%28Goins%2C+Writer%3A+On+Writing%2C+Ideas%2C+and+Making+a+Difference%29

4. Positive Writer gives 5 Helpful Tips on not letting negative feedback get to you.

 http://positivewriter.com/dont-let-negative-feedback-stop-you-helpful-tips/

5. Veronica Roth (one of my all time FAVORITE writers) talks about embracing your voice at YA Highway.

http://www.yahighway.com/2013/01/embracing-your-own-voice.html

Sunday 20 January 2013

An Awesome Contest.



Here's your chance to enter a FREE contest,
and get your material seen by an actual agent.

Here are the details:

WHY YOU SHOULD GET EXCITED
After a previous “Dear Lucky Agent” contest, the agent judge, Tamar Rydzinski (The Laura Dail Literary Agency), signed one of the three contest winners. After Tamar signed the writer, she went on to sell two of that writer’s books! How cool! That’s why these contests are not to missed if you have an eligible submission.

WHAT TO SUBMIT
The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of your sci-fi novel or young adult novel. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with each entry.

Know that you have to post information about the contest twice on social media in order to be eligable.
Check out the Writers Digest website for more details.
The contest closes by January 31st.

Saturday 19 January 2013

My Writing Prompt response: Write about a bed.



Sorry I am a day late,
but I couldn't get on to blogger for some reason last night.
Here is my response to the writing prompt:
Write about a bed.

15 minutes writing,
no editing.
Ready, set, GO! :)

*********************************************************


Claire loved the darkness - the comfortable feeling of it was like a second skin at night.  Like a mother, it surrounded her like a blanket, covering her differences.  Every night in her dark cocoon she would hear the familiar tsing tsing of the train coursing on the track singing her a lullaby.  The giant wheels rumbling and causing her room to tremble down to its very roots.  Often times it felt to her as if the train tracks had been there forever – much longer then the red brick building where she laid her head.  The rumbling would start in the very foundation and make its way up the stairs into her room – rumbling and grumbling like the sound of a sleeping giant snoring.  These were the sounds that kept her company when she lay in her hard bed at night.  Sometimes it seemed to her as if the giant metal beast was the only thing keeping her knit together.  Almost like if she was unable to return to the cover of darkness and the familiar noise – the seams of her home would come apart and pieces of herself would be lost in the breeze.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Writing Prompt Wednesday #11



The middle of the week is here. :)
And with it comes a chance to flex your impromptu writing muscles.

Writing prompts are fairly straight forward.

The rules are simple:
1) Set your timer for 10 minutes
2) Write about the topic (There is no wrong answer! Everyone's response to the phrase or picture will be different).
3) DO NOT EDIT. Write without censoring editing. Write whatever comes into your mind. You may be surprised at your own pure genius. :)
Today's prompt is:

Write about a bed.


Come back on Friday and I will share what I came up with.


I would love to read your Writing Prompt results! Please post your passage in the comment box or leave a link to your blog post. :)

Monday 14 January 2013

Blog love.




Well, it is Monday yet again,
and this time Blogger will let me post pictures ONLY if I use Chrome...lol.
So here are some interesting posts that I found last week.
Enjoy. :)

1. Sarah Mae shares on Jeff Goins blog about being called to write in spite of life.
http://goinswriter.com/called-to-write/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GoinsWriter+%28Goins%2C+Writer%3A+On+Writing%2C+Ideas%2C+and+Making+a+Difference%29

2. Allison Morris visits Holly Cagney's blog. She talks about why ebooks and print books can coexist. Lovely visuals with this post.
http://cantfightthewrite.blogspot.ca/2013/01/libraries-are-forevah.html

3. Authoress is offering up her editing services at a very reasonable rate. Check out her other posts as well as she has a lot of contests. :)
http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.ca/2013/01/authoress-editing-services.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MissSnarksFirstVictim+(Miss+Snark's+First+Victim)

4. Awesome guest post by David King (author of the book every writer should have, Self Editing for Fiction Writers) and talks about hoarding too much info in our manuscripts.
http://writerunboxed.com/2013/01/14/writers-who-hoard/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WriterUnboxed+%28Writer+Unboxed%29

Wednesday 9 January 2013

Writing Prompt Wednesday #10



Image courtesy of Keattikorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net



It's hump day,
and I will be celebrating by offering up a Writer's Prompt. :)

What is a Writer's Prompt?
It is a freeing exercise.
An exercise in creativity.

The rules are simple:
1) Set your timer for 10 minutes
2) Write about the topic (There is no wrong answer! Everyone's response to the phrase or picture will be different).
3) DO NOT EDIT. Write without censoring editing. Write whatever comes into your mind. You may be surprised at your own pure genius. :)

Today's writer's prompt is:

Write about a ceremony.

 
 
I would love to read your Writing Prompt results! Please post them in the comment box for all the internet world to enjoy. :)

Monday 7 January 2013

Blog Love

**Imagine a really, really fun picture here. There's a cat and it's wearing a party hat and there's confetti in the air. An awesome picture that blogger won't let me share with you. :( **

I hope to do a post every MONDAY sharing some blogs that I have enjoyed in the previous week.

So here are my top links,
in no particular order.

1. http://annerallen.blogspot.ca/2013/01/online-book-reviews-games-people-play.html
Anne R. Allen does a great job of analyzing and addressing the current problem with Amazon's review policies. If you haven't been privy to the debate then this post will lay it all out.

2. http://www.yahighway.com/2013/01/awareness-of-language.html
A great post by those at YA Highway about the importance of choosing your words carefully.

3. http://authorculture.blogspot.ca/2013/01/writing-crap-i_4.html
A post about continuing writing even if what you are writing isn't very good. :)

4. http://www.adventuresinagentland.com/2013/01/guest-post-taking-time-to-get-it-right.html
A friendly chat about revising after the buzz of Nano (also chosen because of the adorable cat picture).

I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I did. :)