writing ideas Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Trevor's Writing

Inspiration and writing

2 Comments »17th March, 2010; Category: Adelaide Writers' Week, Writing Hints

Adelaide Writers' Week 2010, Pioneer Women's Memorial Gardens

From where for you draw your inspiration as a writer?

I guess there are as many answers to that question as there are writers! It always intrigues me when writers say that they don’t know what to write about. I rarely have that problem. I can see ideas for writing all around: in the every day events of life, in the experiences of life, in the environment, in the fascinating people we come into contact with daily, in the newspapers, in things we read, in films, television programmes and so on and so on. So writers just need to open their eyes to the whole world of ideas for writing out there just waiting for a poem, a story, an article or an essay to be written.

In recent weeks I have written about my impressions of attending this year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week held as a part of the current Festival of Arts. During one of the sessions I couldn’t find a seat in the big marquee, so I sat in the shade of one of the beautiful trees which are a feature of the Women’s Pioneer Memorial Gardens where the sessions were held. It was a lovely day: bright sunshine, not too hot, gentle breeze and wonderful speakers to enlighten and entertain us.

I looked up into the trees above.

Beautiful.

I just had to take several photos to share with you here. I will use these photos, and the wonderful setting, as inspiration for some writing. The only problem now is to decide whether I write an article, a short story, a poem – perhaps a beautiful sonnet – or a blog post about those lovely trees, the sunshine filtering softly through the leaves, the birds singing overhead in the branches or some other response.

Be inspired – and use that for good writing.

Adelaide Writers' Week 2010, Pioneer Women's Memorial Gardens

Fun at my writers’ group

2 Comments »12th September, 2009; Category: Events, Fiction, Poetry, Short Fiction, Short Stories, The Writer's Life

On Thursday of this week I attended my monthly writers’ group in Adelaide. It’s one of two I regularly attend; the other is devoted to poetry only.

We usually gather for pizza at 6pm and then start into reading and critiquing each other’s work. The readings are based on a challenge set the month before. We limit the activity to 1000 words so that everyone gets a go at reading and having their work critiqued. A good attendance is about 6-8 people, but this week we had 12 eager participants, 7 of whom had risen to the challenge of writing a short story.

This was the fun part. The challenge we had appeared to be very hard, but we all found it very interesting. We were asked to take a poem written by a fellow student which was published in last year’s anthology. This poem had some interesting Nordic references and names, which made the task even more challenging.

The Challenge

The writing task was as follows:

Take the first word of the poem and use that as the first word of the first sentence of the story.
Take the second word of the poem and use that as the first word of the second sentence.
Take the third word of the poem and use this as the first word of the third sentence.
Follow this pattern until you get to the end of the story – or the poem – whichever comes first.

The variations were wonderful. Using the same words we came up with seven quite different stories. These included:

A recount of a classroom teacher grappling with unusual student names in the class.
A stream of consciousness account of someone justifying why she should murder her mother.
An account of the arrival home of a Viking raiding party.
An snippet from a Shakespearean like scene written almost completely in iambic rhythm (this was my effort).

Reader challenge

Try it for yourself as a writing challenge. Take a poem – any poem – and try it. Last year we used a Robert Frost poem. Use one of your own poems. Whatever. You could be pleasantly surprised at the result.

Have fun with your writing.

Good writing.

Writing a novel – a writer’s journal part 13 More about momentum

2 Comments »20th August, 2009; Category: Fiction, Writing a novel

More on Momentum

I read recently about a good idea for keeping up the momentum of writing a novel. I have no idea where I read or heard this idea. I got it from somewhere. I could have dreamed it up too. I’m not sure. Like all writers, teachers, children, bower birds and other obsessive compulsive collectors, I gather/borrow/steal/commandeer ideas and words and concepts from everywhere. Nothing is off limits. On-one is exempt. None is too sacred.

The writer/speaker was suggesting that it is a good idea to stop each day’s writing in the middle of a scene. Or even in the middle of a sentence. Then the next morning when you sit down to start writing you have somewhere to start. That’s brilliant.

I’ve been trying it for a few days and it seems to work. It also seems to suit my style of writing too. Sure, it’s nice to finish a chapter, close down the computer and go off to peaceful sleep for the night in the knowledge that that part of the novel has been put to bed. The problem I find is that too often I don’t get to the end of a chapter when tiredness takes over, or family responsibilities mean I have to leave off writing and do something else. Coming back to a half finished scene or an incomplete sentence gives me a running jump into the writing again. I finish the scene or sentence and we are away.

Good writing.

More articles in this series: writing a novel: a writer’s journal

Writing while you sleep

4 Comments »18th March, 2009; Category: The Writer's Life, Writer's block, Writing Hints

Writing while you sleep?

Now – there’s a thought! Wouldn’t it be ‘luvverly’ if you woke up each morning and the writing pixies had been busy all night on your keyboard? Sure to be nothing but fairy tales though.

Say – there’s another story idea – WHAT IF you wrote a story about pixies writing your story while you slept?

See – I’m full of ideas!

And pleeeeze – do not say I’m off with the pixies! That would be fairy insulting and damaging to my elf-esteem.

(Picks up large jar full of tablets. Looks at clock. Yes – time for my medication.)

Seriously folks – there will be times when you’ve been working hard on a story and you get blocked, or tired or just cannot see where to go next. In those situations it might be better to quit writing, get some good sleep and let your sub-conscious take over for a few hours. Then you can come back to the writing with fresh eyes, and a refreshed mind. Might just work wonders.

Good writing.

Short Story Starters

2 Comments »9th March, 2009; Category: Short Story Starters, Writer's block, Writing prompts

Okay – so you are trying to face a day of writing – but the ideas just won’t come.

Nothing.

It’s a frustrating feeling, knowing that you have to get a story written in the next two days and off to meet the magazine deadline or competition due date, but you have no ideas. The sinking feeling in the stomach makes the sinking of the Titanic seem like a hole ridden rubber duck in bath tub.

Sound familiar?

It’s a common feeling with too many writers. That’s where I come in. My most popular posts on this blog by far are the series I’ve called Short Story Starters. This is how it works: I give the first line or sentence or two of a story – you use that to get you started and before you know it, you have 200, 500 or even a thousand words and it’s taking over. Wonderful. Problem solved. Use any of the ideas here, adapt them to your own ideas, style, voice – whatever.

Short Story Starters

“I’ve seen that face before.” Ken stared at the photo, trying to remember. That’s the thug who…
Loretta knew she had one chance left. The butterflies were already dancing and the stomach churning threatened a further disaster of epic proportions. She gripped the pole tighter and…
In the fog of trying to wake up Mickey was aware of someone else in his room. He tried to sit up but….
‘Neil? Are you there Neil?’ The voice was persistent and tinged with anxiety. ‘Are you in there?’ The knocking grew louder and Neil knew he had to respond, somehow. He….
Paula had finished. With a smile of satisfaction she lightly brushed across her mouth with the back of her hand. ‘That was…
The setting sun lit the vineyards stretched out across the valley. Rob watched as the golden glow deepened. He reached for…
Susan hesitated. The door should have been locked. It gently swung open to reveal a…

Over to you. Time to get writing.

Good writing.

Conditions of use:

Feel free to use any of the story starters listed above. Change anything to suit your needs.

Give it your best shot.

Edit your work carefully before sending it off to a publisher or posting it on your blog.

Let me know in the comments section how it went.

If you publish your story on your web site or on your blog let me know so I can make a link to it for others to read.