This is a mistake I have made recently and it's a mistake a lot of beginners make too.
When you are planning to create your first novel, you get ambushed and hypnotized by all the ideas you have - a whole creative, intelligent mindful of ideas! But all your ideas that you have fantasized about can not fit in one book. So it's best to just focus on one main idea for the book you are writing. Focusing on several ideas and writing different books or stories at the same time will just befuddle and confuse you into failing. Although I am not saying it can't be done. (There are some lucky geniuses out there who can write like they breathe).
So it is always best to focus on one idea. Do you research, plan, plan, plan, and then write, write, write and guess what? Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. (I did not enjoy typing those three words three times but I did it to emphasize my point - for you!) And lastly, it's always best to craft afterwards so your book will become even better! It may be a tedious job but in the end, it's you who will have people criticizing your book for having simple errors you could have corrected easily.
This is a simple tip, really. There's nothing more I can advise you on really, for this topic.
Thank you for reading! :)
Gemma Out.
So I told you that music inspires you when you're writing. Maybe I should set you on your feet by showing you some deep, thoughtful songs that use metaphors along side poetry and so on.
Have a listen to...
Those are all the songs I can think of at the moment. If I think of any others, I'll be sure to add them :)
Sorry that some of the videos don't have the lyrics - it's hard to find videos that are good quality and not sped up or slowed down. Well, listen to the lyrics and let yourself be inspired. These songs sure did inspire me to write the story I am writing now. Even if romance isn't what you want to write. These lyrics could link to anything...
Thanks for reading my blog! Hope this post and all the others are helpful and beneficial to you x
Gemma Out.
Hello. I told you I would tell you what gaps in your stories are. Sorry for the wait.
Right, gaps in your story are parts of your story - little pieces of information - that you don't conclude in the planning of your story. So when you write your story, "chickens come to roost" and you find it difficult to make some of the other parts work. For example, where your main character was born or where they move to halfway to the story.
Gaps are terrible things to have in your story. If they don't cause trouble and difficulty at first, they will soon. Just like secrets. The longer you hide them, the heavier the blow is when they're found out. So additionally, I advise you to not leave gaps in your story. Fill them up while you're planning the story.
Thanks again for reading my blog. I hope this post has benefitted you - or will in the future! x
Gemma Out
Hello again! I have come up with a new way to find inspiration to write well.
I was listening to Ed Sheeran's X Album and I really focused on the lyrics and their meaning. Through many of the songs, I found inspiration to add ideas to my new story, A Compatible Tune. When I picked up on this method, I tried it with my favourite songs. It worked with all of them. I became even more inspired through Sam Smith's and Gabrielle Aplin's songs.
Listening to songs is very helpful, just thought I would tell you. Songs are filled with meaning and thought just waiting to be found by writers such as yourselves. It works so well I just thought I'd share it with you all! :)
Thank you for reading my blog once again x
Gemma Out
Confidence is something every author needs to carry on with their piece of writing. Here's an example: the making of a story or book is like a body. Each organ within it is vital, just like every organ we have is vital. Say, confidence is our liver in story/book making, without that, the story can't survive. Just like we cannot survive without our liver. Now just think that all vital parts to story making are a vital organ. Each one is needed or if it's not present, there will be long-term and future consequences. It's a strange example but it works!
So how do you know if you're lacking confidence in your writing?
Ways to recognise that you are lacking confidence in your writing are:
You feel like whatever you write or whatever plot you produce for your story or book, it is not satisfying.
You feel like the book you are currently reading puts your story to shame. (This can be called 'competing with another author').
You feel like your story/book doesn't grip you, therefore you come to believe that it would never grip anyone else.
You feel like your story/book is boring.
You hate your story/book.
You think your story/book will never become a best-seller.
If you have experienced any of these doubts, thoughts and/or feelings, here are the solutions:
1. If your piece of writing does not appeal to you then you are doing something wrong. To explain further, for instance: you might be pushing yourself too far, setting your goals too high (but who is to say that you cannot achieve what you desire to achieve?), 'competing' with another author's piece of writing, rushing your story/book etc. If you recognise these problems as one of your own, then read on.
2. If you're rushing your story/book/writing, slow down. It is not a race. There are no deadlines. This is your book or story - you name it! If setting deadlines helps you work more fluently, then by all means, set deadlines. But if this is making you rush your writing, resulting in your writing becoming distasteful and unsatisfying to you, hence you losing confidence, then I recommend that you stop using deadlines.
If you are setting your goals too high, like pushing yourself to write five chapters a day or more, this can cause your writing to become dry or less inspirational and readable as it could be. But if your writing has become any of those above, there is no one to say that you cannot proof-read it and improve it in your spare time.
3. Also, setting your goals too high could involve having high expectations. For instance, you might be trying to make your writing amazing, inspirational, gripping and monumental all at once. This is a bad idea. I like to say, "Great books do not come from nothing. They come from courage and hard work." Lower your expectations a little. Focus on one thing at a time. So instead of focusing on making your story amazing, inspirational, gripping and monumental at the same time; try making it only one those things. Then after that part is done and dusted, sweep onto the next one. It works! :)
4. Furthermore, focusing on another author's work of writing is a bad idea. As I said before, this is 'competing with another author'. So for example, don't try to create a book as good as Stephanie Meyer's Twilight book. It's all right to have an author as a role model who inspires your work and ideas, but constantly comparing your writing to theirs and focusing only on producing better writing than theirs is not going to help. A lot of people fall in this trap. Some of those people are afraid to admit it. I'm not! I have fell into this trap before. It's one of the reasons that I developed a deep depression. (Writing is what makes me whole. Without it, I would not be who I am today. And I'm not afraid to say that I was born to create! Isn't everyone?) Well anyway, enough about me. What I'm trying to tell you, is that it's okay to make mistakes in writing. It's forgivable and not embarrassing at all! I can guarantee that most of the world's most famous authors have developed Writer's Block, committed 'competing' and have made many other mistakes in their writing. Making mistakes when writing is what makes us successful because we learn what our mistakes are and how we can overcome them and see them as something that strengthens us and our writing: a pathway to success. Making mistakes is what makes us human.
5. Something that I recommend you think about is: what you write reflects who you are. If you write about death and murder, you are most likely depressed and/or a very cynical person. If you write about romance and happiness, this could mean that you long for love and compassion with other people or that you are a very cheery person. It all adds up to who you are. That is why you should let your writing flow from your core. You should not echo another author's core and who they are. In my opinion, writing is a personal hobby or career for every person. It is your creation.
That is all for now. If I think of anymore solutions, I will add them to this list! :) I really, really, sincerely hope that these listed solutions work for you. They worked for me. I want to help those who are suffering what I have suffered.
Gemma Out.
Well, I think that it would probably be best if you knew a little more about me. It's easier to understand someone and their sentiments when you know more about them.
Well, this may come as a little bit of a shock: I am fifteen years old. I have not completed my GCSEs yet but I will do next summer. Scary stuff, huh? Well anyway, I don't want to drone on about myself so I'll just keep it short.
Ever since the first long book I read, Shiver (by Maggie Stiefvater), I have been a writer and a reader. I drifted away from expressing my creativity through drawings and pretty colours. I went to something more sophisticated: writing. Constantly, I was getting told how good I was at English by my English teacher. I wish he hadn't ever done that because he made me vain and egocentric when it came to writing. I was very, very confident. I was over confident. I know my English teacher was only being a teacher - being a man who is proud of his student's success and hard work - but when I got out into the real world of education, it hit me: I never was really that good at English. I may have been the "best female writer" at my secondary school, but when I moved to my high school, I was only good. I can write. I can grip people with my writing. I can evaluate poems and pieces of writing. But I was only "good". I wasn't excellent or outstanding. How arrogant I was! I didn't even see it.
So when I realized the true extent of my "excellency at writing", I went through major depression. I developed Writer's Block over a few months. I couldn't even write a paragraph. Whenever I came up with a good idea for my story, I savoured it, I laughed with tears, clinging onto that feeling that I have created something! with my fingernails.
After months of feeling worthless and depressed, I realized that I had GCSEs to think about, future careers, goals, a new beginning of life ahead of me. I knew I shouldn't be moping around, wishing for something that I would never get if I carried on acting the way I was. So I let go of writing. I knew I would return to it. One day. But I had to let go in order to seize my goals in school. It took a great deal of hard work weaning myself off writing. But I did it! Soon, I turned to reading. I read a lot of books. One book: "The Dark Heroine: Dinner with a Vampire." It inspired me so much that I could actually consider writing. I longed for it. So I did. I began writing and writing and writing. Before I knew it, my story had developed so much! I was so happy! And my Writer's Block is gone. Sometimes I feel like nah, can't be bothered anymore with it. But then I think about how long it's taken me to get to where I am. I could actually finish the book!
So - sorry for the babbling! - you can probably guess what my passion is: writing books. But my goal in life so far is to: actually finish a book! ...and pass all my GCSEs of course :)!
I don't know what else you might find in me...I think I've all that's relevant in the paragraphs above. I know I shouldn't say this but I am overall a boring person. I'm the sort of person you'd meet and think, 'I can't imagine her having a life.' I've thought that about other people before too! So I'm not angry, I'm just accepting. I'd like to interest people - to not come across as "boring" and "dull" one day. I would like to become known through the writing I create. Just as I'm sure you want to become :) Otherwise you wouldn't have visited this website.
Yeah, basically I am your average teenager - used to think I was amazing - and fell back down to earth with a nasty thud, went through depression - don't we all! - and picked myself back up.
And this is my blog! :) Hope you absorb from it what you need.
Gemma Out.
What I mean is: does your story feel dead? Do you find it boring? Has it got too many Holes in it?
Well, if this is the case, then you're doing something wrong. I've stumbled upon this problem quite a lot of times. I've come up with the history of my story, the characters and the storyline; yet when I start it, I fall out of love with it.
Don't worry. There's always a solution. So don't delete your story, it can be saved.
Solution 1: if you're writing about romance, make sure you know how to write romance (Stephine Meyers/Abigail Gibbs/Maggie Stiefvater did not all suddenly open a text document and make an amazing romance novel. Each of them knows how to write romance. They understand it the way an author should do). Don't fret, I'll tell you how to write romance in another post. This post is going to be long enough! Furthermore, if you're writing about action, make sure you know how to write action - what techniques you must use. If you're writing about a supernatural, futuristic world, make sure you know how to write that. Get it? Visit sites that show and tell you how to write and know these themes of stories, how to unfold these elements so they can breathe life into your story.
Solution 2: Depending on what you're writing about (action, sci-fi, romance, war etc.), read a book that reflects these elements. So if you're writing romance, read a romance book, if you're writing about action, read an action book. You get the idea. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. If you're writing right after you've been reading a book, you might start to reflect their writing - your writing will echo what there's was. You might not even realise it; before you know you'll be copying an event that happened in their book. Don't get it? Well, it's a bit like if you're reading a sci-fi novel - and you're trying to write a book about sci-fi events - then you might suddenly start writing in the way that the author of that book did. For example, you might describe your character's fear in the same way that they - the author - describes their character's fear. It's a bit tricky to understand, but it's one of the major disasters that authors experience in their career. But, reading a book based on the same theme and writing a book based on the same theme can help. Remember, a dry source of inspiration - a vital part of story making that you need - is terribly hopeless. Eventually, your story will die. It's happened to me many times. So you get the idea: reading books of a certain theme, which matches your own story's, is a source of inspiration that you definitely need.
Solution 3: Seeing as we are talking of inspiration, lets go deeper into that. Well, for starters, think about physical inspiration. If you're writing a story that is taking place in a desert, go to a desert. But there's a major problem there. People don't just fly to a desert everyday - especially if it is for a source of inspiration. You'll need money. You'll need equipment to survive in that place. Yes, writing a book really is an adventure! But if you can't visit a desert - due to e.g. money problems - don't worry. Buy a bag of sand. Yes, yes I know it sounds pathetic. But, in your spare time, pour the bag of sand somewhere suitable, stand in it, scrunch your toes up, feel that sand. Close your eyes if it helps. Know the feel of sand beneath your bare feet. Listen to it sighing, squelching beneath you. Scoop some up in your hands, feel the texture. Is it damp? Is it dry? Is it nice? It is soothing? It is horrible? Think about your character. Would they find it horrible or soothing and/or nice? But you don't have to buy a bag of sand. You could easily go to the beach; if you don't have time for that, the bag of sand would be best!
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If you want another example, keep on reading... If you choose to write a story taking place in a wood, go to someplace with lots of trees, someplace natural and earthy: a wood, a forest, you choose. Feel it, smell it, hear it, see it, know it. Close your eyes if it helps. Could it relate to the personality of your character? What would your character think of it? Would they love it? Would they hate it? These things are important.
These options of sources of inspiration are important. But if physical inspiration doesn't do it for you, you can always go on google images and type in woods or desert or seventeenth century city or Greek city etc. Sift through images and see if they inspire you. I've tried this before and it does actually work. One of my chapters for The Awakener, the book I am writing now, is placed in a wood I have glimpsed through a google image. So there, you have physical inspiration and mental inspiration. But maybe you don't want any of them. Perhaps you have a memory of a place that you want your story to be set in. Maybe you could remember what the place smelt like, what the coffee tasted like, what the sky looked like, what the sea looked like as it rolled up onto the shore, what the air felt like. Maybe you remember the people, what their voices were like, their accents, what they wore? This all counts. But maybe, if you're really imaginative and extremely creative, you can create a world of your own. You can make up the clothes that the people wear, make up their voices, their accents, their hairstyles, the weather of the area, the rules of the city and so on. But this would take a lot of thinking time and you would have to be a very skilled writer to be able to do this. If you're writing your own story/book, I would recommend you not to do this. There is danger in creating your own world. People, readers for instance, have to be able to relate to it. They have to care for that world just as they care for their own. They have to, say, care that the main character's world is coming to an end, even though it's nothing like their - the reader's - world: even though it's not their world. You get the idea. Moving on.
Solution 4: Make sure the history of your story works. When I say 'history', I mean the history of the world that you have created - if you're making your own world up - and the history of your characters. Make sure it is made clear throughout your story. Make sure your reader understands what the history of your characters and their world. Without history, your story has no anchor. Without an anchor, your story won't be successful or very readable. This matters.
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Solution 5: Perhaps your characters haven't been planned completely? Like I said in the paragraph above, they need a history. Have you made that history? Have you wrote down what the history of their family is? Have you jotted down what's their favourite food, their favourite place in the world, their favourite person? Remember, get a source of inspiration. For example, the people around you, your family, people at school, people uptown... Look around you. Also, your characters' appearances matter. What do they always wear? What colour is their hair, their eyes, skin? What would they wear, looking at the context of your story, the place in which they live? Remember: your characters must be planned. Without them, there wouldn't be a story. And without them being planned and refined, your story will have Holes in it and that's a problem.
Solution 6: So you may have noticed that I keep using the term: Holes. Maybe you know what I mean by this. If that is so, just skip this paragraph. If you do not know what I mean by Holes then feel free to read on. What it means: is basically, that there are holes in your story or story idea/plan. For instance, you might have planned your whole story plot, say, why a war started, what part your characters play etc. However, while you were making your story, you may have come across a few struggles: naming your characters, naming the place in which your story is set in, the year in which the story is set in, deciding whether they love this person or that person and coming to a conclusion on what their favourite food is. Holes in stories vary in significance. Nevertheless, all Holes matter. Each story must be filled, each Hole must be filled. You get the idea. Anyway, if you go on with your story, despite having Holes in it, it will be a disaster. You will struggle to fill in the Holes and if you do come up with a solution or an idea, you might find that fulfilling that solution will mean altering your story plot - but by then, you would have written the first 10 chapters or so. Not a good thing to end up with when you're story writing.
That is all I have to offer at the moment now. I hope my advice and solutions have been very helpful to you and that you can become successful with your story. Don't forget to check back soon! I am always posting more bits of advice every month, little or large. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Gemma Out
