New Writing Books!

Life is great when you have Barnes and Noble gift cards :)

I just got these 3 books for free, and can't wait to read them! I've already started 2 of them and they are really good.

1. Wonderbook, by Jeff Vandermeer
This book so far is very light hearted and fantastical. It feels like it was written like a 5 year old (but in a good way). It talks a lot about creativity and imagination. What they really are and where they really come from. It also has a lot of fun pictures and is very fun to read. 

2. Make a Scene, by Jordan E. Rosenfeld
I haven't started this one yet. 

3.  Writer's Guide to Character Traits, by Linda N. Edelstein
This is like a dictionary of Phycology for writers. It has chapters about personality types, childhood development, phycological disorders, and my favorite criminal types. 

Can't offically recomend these books because I don't know if they are going to have anything bad in them but so far I'm really enjoying them.

-Anna Lynn

Book Recommendation: Character and Viewpoint

Book recommendation:
Character and Viewpoint, by Orson Scott Card

This is just one book of a series of helpful and enjoyable fiction writing books called, The Elements of Fiction Writing. Some of the other books include; Plot, Conflict and Suspense, Beginnings Middles and Ends. 

Each book is written by a different author, which is nice because you know this advise is coming from a reliable source. On the down side though not all the authors are very clean in their writing. The only real problem is that some of their writing examples aren't the best.

But they really are helpful books to have and I have visited them time and time again. I strongly suggest you check it out if you are interested in fiction writing.



-Anna Lynn

Quick Writing Resources!!

Quick writing resources post!

Here are some blogs that have some good tips on writing... 

Inkandquills.com

The Character Therapist

Helping Writers Become Authors

Youtube Channels... 

KatesNovelIdea

Write About Dragons

Podcast...

Writing Excuses

Enjoy ;) 

-Anna Lynn

Writing Prompt: Song Lyrics

I wrote is a while ago from this prompt: use the lyrics of a song as the basis for your story.

I picked I Don't Even Know Your Name by Shawn Mendes.

(I went in a kind of different direction with this song so... its really weird...)

The Club was loud with people laughing and glasses clinking. The air was dusty and dark. I sat

all alone hunched over the bar feeling out of place. It hadn’t been a good day. I sat head in hands as I waited for my drink. The loud music made my already throbbing headache worse. People danced through the room, they seemed without a are in the world.

My drink had still not come and the music began to slow. People paired off and began to sway. as the swarm of people parted I caught a glimpse of glowing green eyes from across the room. I looked behind and all around me in an awkward manner to be sure her attentive eyes were actually fixed on me.

She was still staring at me, her eyes piercing mine. I rung my hands then uncomfortable stood to leave. She stood as well. Not diverting from her eyes we walked across the floor straight together. I don’t know how it had happened, I had meant to go to the door.

“Shall we dance?” she said as she guided my hand to her hip. She smiled softly. it was a beautiful smile. Childlike, yet sad in a way a child could never know. We started to dance. “I was watching you.” She said bluntly.

“I noticed” It was the only way I could think to respond.

“Please don’t think me rude, it’s just…” She looked away and we her lips with her tongue. “You’re the only one who can help me.”

“Help you?”

“Yes, I’m in grave danger.” Her eyes widened and darted around the room. “I’m being followed, please don’t look.” She said as I began to look around as well.

The slow music had stopped, but we still stood there holding each other in position in the middle of the floor.

“I just don’t understand. How am I supposed to help? Don’t get me wrong I want to help.” I quickly corrected my mistake.

“I can’t give you all the details in present company, but I can tell you this. There is more to you then you know.” She smiled at me as if what she was saying was common knowledge to all but me. As if I were a child in need of reassurance.

“Who are you? I don’t understand anything you are saying!” I was hunched over holding her but her wrists now. My headache, and patience had reached its max. Yet her eyes kept drawing me back in.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know where else to turn.” her voice was so business casual but her eyes filling with tears told a different story. “Promise me you will help.” She whispered into my ear. I nodded. She looked around again, then snapped back to face me. Her breathing quickened. “We don’t have much time. Listen closely.”

“It’s about time you go home, don’t you think?” a gruff voice said from behind me as thick heavy hands landed on my shoulders. before another man had clasped hands on the girl's shoulders. she leaned in close and whispered to me desperation in her voice. “Its with Bolivia” He started to pull her away. She struggled, I yelled, but the crowd engulfed her.

“Don’t you think you should go home as well?” my anger snapped.

“Don’t you touch her!” I shouted as I worked my way from his grip and tried to run after her. But with one swift punch to the face I was out cold.

In a few hours I woke in the back, even more dusty room of the club. Completely disoriented I breathed slowly trying to remember what had happened. There was a girl. We had danced. She was taken from me. She was in trouble. I knew I had to act, and act fast, but I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know anything about her. I didn’t even know her name. But I did know I would never forget her eyes. I would look forever, I would never stop searching for her. To help her, I was bound to her promise.

-Anna Lynn

Pixar's Rules for Storytelling

Here are Pixar's Rules for Storytelling...

(Now just because they are called rules does NOT mean you have to use them or agree with them at all. They are simply opinions and tips to get you started. Try them out, if they help you GREAT! if they don't then just ignore them.)

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about til you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you've got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on - it'll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write ‘cool'. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What's the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.


-Anna Lynn

Writing Tips: Character Hacks

Writing tip! When you get stuck with a character or they just don't feel right maybe its because you've only developed them to fit the context of your current plot line. A way to escape this and make them feel like more round characters is to do this...

Write out 20 things NO ONE KNOWS (or will ever know in the context of your story) about your character.

I did this with a lot of my characters from one of my books and it really helped. It also gave me great ideas pertaining to my current story.

Here is my example:

20 Things NO ONE KNOWS About Kai

1. he is a morning person.
2. he loves the color pink. Not for clothes or anything like that, but he loves the pink in sunsets and sunrises.
3. if he could fight, his weapon of choice would be broadswords.
4. he is very ticklish. Especially in the ribs and the soles of his feet.
5. when he was small he used to love to whittle sticks. He still does from time to time.
6. he was a very small child, at twelve he was sure Moana would pass him in height.
7. he always wanted a pet squirrel. He would think about it riding on his shoulder and they would climb trees together.
8. he has had jobs as a millers, butchers, bakers, and carpenters assistant.
9. once he beat up another brown eyes boy for making fun of Moana. He was sent to the stalks because of it. But was released do to a word from the empress.
10. he is known in the fields for being the first one up and working in the morning.
11. he has spent many nights working secretly in various shops after curfew for extra money.
12. he has horrible hand eye coordination.
13. he often has dreams about flying out of the Oasis, but always ends in him falling back down.
14. Kai is a good looking kid who has has the option to have a romance but has always steered away from them because it would distract from his family. Even though his family is always encouraging him to find a girl.
15. When Kai was fourteen he fell from a tree and broke his leg. He refused to let anyone but his sister touch it. This was her first heal. She still says that he fell on purpose to give her the motivation to use her magic. Because of the fall he still has a slight limp from time to time.
16. Kai is the spitting image of his father.
17. he is a quick witted risk taker.
18. he is completely tone deaf, he is a horrible singer, the opposite of his mother and sister.  
19. 
    
    if he had his own business he would want to run the library.
20. He, according to his mother; was the loudest baby, the shyest toddler, the grumpiest child, the most outgoing preteen, and the most reserved teen.

BONUS TIP! For you who made it all the way to the end of this post here is another tip. Find a picture to represent your character then photo shop in words and phrases that define or describe them. 

-Anna Lynn

Late Night Idea Sale!

I have sooo many random notes on the note app on my phone. Most of them are story ideas/dreams I had in the middle of the night (so ya a lot of them don't make any since.) But because I have some from a couple years ago I thought I would give some of them up for grabs... 



- Super power, shoot blood from your eyes like a horned lizard.

- Boy fairy names: (from thinking about Midsummer) Dirt, Newt, Toadstool, Egg Head, and Bob... 

- Names: Natiki Marumi, Maylambo Teyami, Ponoki Kahonola 

- Write the story of treasure hunters after they got the treasure... Now what?

- (this is just a note that I found apparently its supposed to be good writing software) Skrivner


- Bad blood (by taylor swift) music video about insane people breaking out of a therapy session in the park. They explore the strange sights and stores as they are being hunted by the security guards, Then its a showdown in the park. 

- Start book half way through an adventure from the perspective of someone who has just had their memory whipped. (don't say maze runner) they are being told what they did it the first half, second half they have to chose if they believe its true or not.

- all magical creature have adapted to the world today by changing to look like people.

-on a differnt planet it takes many years for a day sun cycle to be completed. Like there is no night for a long time so it will be day for like a year and then night for a year... 

-People are split up into day people and night owl people. Only the night people have to keep away the monsters. 

-Book title for romance: Fighting Friction :) 

- Death in love with a young girl. He keeps her alive through terrible accidents when she really should have died. He can't get close to her or she will die. Unless she wears Deaths ring then she can see Death. She goes crazy. Maybe she had a boyfriend who death kills. 

- The World today with all the magical races integrated. 

- Dystopian Genre. In the city there are two levels of people. The garbage people basically, and the tower people. It's a super tall building. Looks very advanced. And is the only structure built after the destruction.In the tower there are many different things. There is even a singing group. Their job is to sing to the lower people and being them joy. (But the singers also get Benefits) It was a really random dream. 

- (ok I had this dream right after studying 1900 fashion) Our hair was very much 1910 big puffy bun with rolled/puffed tucked up bangs.Tweed was a very big fabric choice and really the only presentable one. It was worn in shirt and skirt and bag. Pleated skirts down to the middle of the calf. Then white high stockings. Little black strapless shoes that come off every five seconds.On the top still tweed but little cap sleeves were worn. It was a shorter top with a high skirt.Every lady had a home made felt, embroidered, 6 pointed collar, cape shoal thing. The cape is where most of the color for their outfit comes from. Then the bag (also tweed) hangs over the left elbow pit. You carry it everywhere with you. 
Having an escort is also a very important thing. It sets you apart from child to woman. In my dream I had dropped all of my things but an escort (whom I had expected to be a handsome young man) was a great big Scottish bear. He was very kind and proper (if not slotted loud) but he was kind.



WOW OK THATS A LOT. Hope you can draw something from all this madness. 

-Anna Lynn

White Noise Writing Tip

Sometimes while writing you just can't find the right soundtrack to listen to and nothing fits the mood. Well I discovered something today! If you have an Iphone/pod get a white noise app. They have tons of different sounds you can combine. 

Examples: 

a fire + a cat purring + a grandfather clock ticking = an old man characters home that we spend a lot of time in. 

Wind + Heartbeat + Thunder + Tibetan Bowl = Being banished to the desert. 

 

This is a really great thing to help you get in the right mood for writing a specific scene. Have fun with it, but don't spend all your time on it (like i did this afternoon) and forget to actually write! 

-Anna Lynn

The Cliched

Being original in writing, or anything, feels like a hard thing to do in our world. For thousands of years people have been coming up with new stuff and putting their ideas out there. Sometimes we feel like there is nothing left, its all been done before, anything I could think of has already been thought of by someone else. Some times every thing you can think up just feels... Cliche. (*showing a lack of originality; based on frequently repeated phrases or opinions.)

But never fear because here are some tips to help you be more original and feel less cliche!

1. Mix the cliche with something it isn't normally mixed with. Lets say for example you want to write about a character with an peg leg, you would immediately think of a pirate right? Instead give the peg leg to a princess. There are a billion combinations out there you just have to dig deep enough and you can generate amazing ideas.

2. Use your knowledge of people to make your characters feel real and relatable. Everyone likes a relatable character, and if they can relate even just a little to them then the unbelievable things about your character (Which are truly the fun parts) suddenly become believable.

3. Don't be afraid to break the rules. In writing we have so many "rules" when really they are just friendly suggestions, and things that have been proven to have worked before. But if you find that they are constricting or infringing upon your creativity then forget them!

(Why this picture? Because its adorable... its also quite original. 

Chinchilla + assassin = Awesome)

Tender Mercies:
1. We were able to get everything ready for my writing class without feeling rushed, and everything went well. (People actually participated yay)
2. At Willy Wonka I thought the CD player was broken, turns out it can play wirelessly.

-Anna Lynn

Character Therapy

Character therapy! 

If your character isn't working, or just doesn't feel right try one of the following... 

Make them Corky

Passionate about something

Really good at something

Give them Conflict! (Both internal and external) 

Make your character interesting before he has to stand up to the villain

Give them a hobby 

Something alive he loves

What the character can't do is sometimes more important and exciting and interesting than what he can. 

Try this activity: write down 20 things the reader will never know about the character. Why? It helps to develop them as a character outside of the current story plot. Which will make them rounder and more real. It can also help you get inspiration for your plot itself. 

Hope this helped. Have a great day!

-Anna Lynn 

Soundtracks and Writing

These are some of my favorite soundtracks to listen to while writing. If you like writing try them and enjoy.

How to train your dragon
Studio Ghibli
Interstellar




-Anna Lynn