Use your inbuilt story antenna
“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the one who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” Orson Scott Card
Where do you get your story ideas from?
Do you have your eyes and ears open ready to receive story ideas, like some invisible antenna ready to receive the incoming messages?
Be on the lookout for story ideas everywhere you go, every person you see or listen to, snatches of conversation in the mall, the train, the television – if fact, wherever you are. Take a notebook with you and jot down those ideas, those words, the images you see. Record the sights, the smells, the sounds all around you and file them away for future use. Some of these jottings will never be used, others will be very useful and still others will be the gems that turn a good story into a great story.
Here are some examples:
- A white lily: I saw a white lily in the garden of a neighbour on my early morning walk. Write about what the memory of white lilies means to you about someone (friend or family) who recently died.
- A raven: A black raven flew over the house at sunset. Write a story about your cold feelings of impending disaster (death?).
- A rusty truck: Write about the joyful times you had on a favourite old truck on your uncle’s farm, and your sadness now that it is on the scrap heap.
- A singing bird: Write about the feelings you have when you hear a beautiful singing bird. What memories does it bring to mind? Who does it make you think of?
- The aroma of freshly baked bread or cake: Write about your favourite food, how it makes you feel and the memories it brings to mind.
Can you see the gem of an idea in any of these suggestions? If you can – start writing.
Make a list of twenty things you see on a walk around the block, or on your drive home from work or from the window of the train. Try to use as many of these things as you can in a story.
Remember: story ideas are all around you.
Good writing.
The difficulties of being a writer
“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.”~ Charles Caleb Colton
While I think that this quote has been written a little tongue in cheek, there is much truth in it. It highlights three important stages in the publication path.
- Writing: The writing stage is usually the one that concerns writers the most. First, there is the problem of coming up with an idea, then there is the problem of converting the idea into words and then finally editing and checking the words until they are as near to perfect as the writer can achieve. Most writers think that the process ends here. Wrong.
- Publishing: The next stage, getting the writing published, is just as important as the first stage. Having done one’s homework and research, the writer then submits the writing to a print publisher. Here is where patience is needed. Normally it takes months to get a response, and in the case of book length manuscripts, it may take years. All of this waiting is then without a guarantee of even getting published. And if you are lucky enough to get published, you may not even make any money out of it. Writers who think the process ends here are also missing the point.
- Reading: The reading stage is just as important as the other two stages. Without readers, the writer would be better off throwing his or her work into the fire; at least they will be able to keep warm that way. The promotion stage of writing is just as important as the writing. Without promotion, how will potential readers be found? This is vitally important, especially to writers of book length works.
Blogging applications:
How does all this relate to blogging, the new kid on the publication block?
- Writing: There is little difference between writing for one’s blog and writing for print publication. The writer still has to come up with ideas, though in fairness, I’ve read some blogs that are totally bereft of ideas. The writing still has to be good – even better in many cases because on the internet you have only a few seconds, perhaps a sentence or two, to get the reader’s interest. Proofreading, rewriting and editing are still essential skills.
- Publishing: Publication of one’s writing in a blog is the easy part. Too easy. As a result there is little moderation of what is published. In my opinion, the ease of publication on a blog is both a strength and a weakness. Its strength is the fact that almost anyone can be published. Its weakness is that almost anyone can be published. This means that there is an awful lot of rubbish to wade through to get to the good stuff, and the great stuff is even harder to find.
- Reading: The reading stage on blogs is probably the most crucial part. Without readers one is just blowing words into the wind. The real strength in blogging comes if good content being written. When there is good content, readers will find your writing through search engines. Consistently good content that is worth reading will be found and readers will come back. Loyalty of readership is something every blogger must strive for and cherish.
Good writing.
Five things all successful writers do
I have read many articles, blogs, books and magazines about writing. I have read numerous books on writing and attended conferences, seminars and workshops.
Some principles stand out and are common to many lists of things writers (and bloggers) can do to improve their writing. In this short post I want to highlight just five things that will improve your writing. These are things most successful writers do.
- Successful Writers are students of the craft of writing. There is no excuse these days; the resources are readily available. There are literally thousands of books and magazines that can help you to hone your craft. There are tens of thousands of blog articles that can help. Every year there are numerous conferences, workshops, writer’s groups and seminars designed to help inexperienced and emerging writers.
- Successful writers are readers: this is an inescapable fact. In order to learn how to be a good writer, you need to read the works of great writers. Sure – read for the story or the content first, then analyse why that writer is great, or successful or popular. Do not just confine yourself to the works of great writers though – read voraciously. Have you ever read a story and said, “I can write better than that!” Or perhaps you have said, “I could have written an article about that – but even better than that hack writer!” Prove it. Go ahead and write a better article or story.
- Successful writers do their research: they know what they want to write about. They study the magazines they want to see their writing published in and write accordingly. They research carefully. They study the requirements of publishers before they submit their query letters. They study other books or blogs in their genre or niche and strive to write better that their competitors. Successful writers also check their facts.
- Successful writers rewrite and edit their writing: they refuse to submit rubbish and they invest time and effort to ensure that their writing is of the highest possible standard, the best they can possibly do. Bloggers please take note: it is not cute nor is it cool to have sloppy, careless writing on your blog. It is a sure way to lose readers fast. Learn to spell and learn to check your writing. If you can’t or won’t do that – get off the internet and stop wasting bandwidth.
- Successful writers are persistent: They never give up. Never. Ever. Successful writers are people who never let rejection stop them from writing. They just kept on writing and submitting until they found someone who liked their work enough to publish it. Successful bloggers are those who have continued to write for many months and even years before they had any significant numbers of readers.
Related articles:
What every hard working writer needs
There are some common threads in articles about what writers need. Many items are common to such lists, which could include:
- Computer
- Printer
- Paper
- Pencils or pens
- A desk and suitable chair
- Dictionary and reference books
- Access to the internet
This is just a start.
Each list would most likely have many more items. For more details of what I have on my desk read the article called “A list of my writing tools.” One of the essential items for many writers – possibly all writers – does not even make these lists and it is easily overlooked. I guarantee there is at least one of these on every writer’s desk; more likely there is a huge collection of these essential items.
What every hard working writer needs:
One item takes pride of place on my desk. It is a coffee mug. Most writers will have a collection of these on their desk, on the floor, on the bookshelf, on the window sill – in fact – wherever there are a few centimetres of spare space. The contents of almost all of these mugs will be stone cold, half empty (or half full depending on your particular philosophical bent), partly or totally covered in green slime (or some other disgusting colour or substance) and contributing to the general mustiness within the room.
Special Mug
Mine, however, is a special mug. Rarely do I have more than one. I’m so good I don’t let them accumulate. (Okay – so you could accuse me of not being a REAL writer; real writers have dozens of coffee mugs lurking in their writing room.) The reason I usually have only one mug is because I like using the same mug over and over, the mug receiving something of a rinse out between each use. And I tend to use only one particular mug because it is very special. It was bought home for me by my daughter when she visited Ireland earlier this year. It takes pride of place because it comes from the Dublin Writers Museum.
Oops – the contents have disappeared.
Time to boil the billy again.
Good writing.
Links:
How to keep balance in your blogging and writing life
There are many occasions in the writer’s life and in the blogger’s life when things go wrong. This can take many forms:
- Writer’s (or blogger’s) block – when the words just will not come.
- Rejection from publishers – far too frequent I’m afraid; it’s a very competitive world.
- Your server goes down – or your computer crashes (ouch).
- You suffer an illness – who wants to write when your nose is running and the throat is as rough as sandpaper.
- A family crisis suddenly slaps you in the face – family members can be very persuasive and persistent.
- Any number of crises, interruptions, problems or disasters can get in the way of your writing and blogging.
We’ve all had times like that. Lately for me it’s been a combination of demands on my time from others together with personal illness. On another occasion I have written about my BADDs (Beastly Awful Diabetic Days) and how they can slow down the writing process.
Let’s get practical. How does one keep balance in your writing and blogging life? Here are some simple suggestions I found work for me:
Keeping balance
- Crises: let’s face it – dealing with a personal or family crisis needs to have top priority. Deal with it and then you can get back to the writing.
- Writer’s block: do something else for a short while, like going for a walk, watching a movie, reading a book. Recharge the batteries and then get back to the writing.
- Rejection: whether this is in the form of abusive comments or a rejection letter from a publisher, it still hurts. Get over it; they are rejecting your writing, not you.
- Illness: give yourself some sick leave. You cannot be fully productive when you are ill. Pretending you can soldier on through the illness is counter-productive; it could worsen your condition or at best lengthen the condition. Take a break. Go to bed with a book.
Whatever you do, don’t be like me and become a grumpy old blogger. When things get on top of me, I can easily slip into a state of depression, and that makes me grumpy. In this I am not alone. Even professionals like Darren Rowse on ProBlogger must have grumpy days. He has written an excellent article called How Not to become a Grumpy Old Blogger. He takes a completely different approach to the one I’ve taken in this post, so it’s well worth reading.