Tag: writing help

20 great FREE online resources for writers

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Photo by Rocky

Photo by Rocky

I’ve amassed a lot of resources over the years – here are some of the best ones I use both for copywriting and fiction writing. Some you’ve seen in previous posts; some are new!

 

Staying Sane

Evernote

I sometimes refer to Evernote as my best friend. It’s a notebook program you download to all your computers. I add a note from work, and when I get home, there it is. I have separate notes for blog post ideas, prompts, story ideas, daily life to-do lists and more. All bundled in one notebook and accessible with one click. This program saved me from sending myself email notes all day.

Tick Tock Timer

A simple online timer. Set it for any amount of time, and it alerts you with three gongs when the time is up. You can use it to block out time for writing, cleaning, whatever. I use it to remind me to look away from my computer screen every hour or so.

 

Finding the Right Word or Phrase

Thesaurus

I love MS Word, but its synonym tool isn’t very good. This online synonym finder is far better. I use it several times a day.

Thsrs (The Shorter Thesaurus)

If you are specifically looking for a simpler or shorter version of a word, this is the thesaurus for you. I sometimes use it for writing Google or Facebook ads (which have tiny character limits).

Idioms at The Free Dictionary

Enter a word and get a list of common phrases in which the word appears. Another tool I use daily, mostly for writing headlines. But it could also be used for story, novel, and chapter titles as well. Anything that requires a play on words (change the original idiom slightly to give it a new and witty meaning).

WordHippo

This tool does several things, but I mostly use it for the rhyming dictionary and the “words that start with” feature. I use it mostly for writing headlines, but I imagine it would be super useful for poetry.

Urban Dictionary

This user-generated slang dictionary is 90% crass. However, you can use it to ensure a word or phrase you are using doesn’t have a secondary meaning that is negative or disgusting. If the term you search does come up with a bad meaning, check the number of user votes it received. If there are more thumbs down than thumbs up, you’re probably still okay to use it.

 

Fun & Inspiration

My Favorite Word

A long list of fantastic words. People submit their favorites, usually with explanations why. I chiefly use it for naming projects.

Wordsmith’s Anagram Generator

Enter a word, it scrambles the letters into other words. Use it to come up with names or aliases of characters or places. Or just type in your own name for a laugh. I’m Anti-Sheep, apparently.

Six Word Stories

Inspired by the story Hemmingway reportedly considered his best (For sale: baby shoes, never used.), this site allows users to submit their own six word stories. The good ones get posted on the main page. Read for inspiration – and submit a few of your own.

 

Rules & Grammar

Daily Writing Tips

This blog will grow your vocabulary and improve the way you use it.

Grammar Girl

Quick and Dirty grammar lessons. I go here when I can’t remember the difference between affect and effect.

The Elements of Style

The free online version of the writer’s bible, penned by Strunk & White.

 

Character Development

Meyer’s-Briggs Personality Test from HumanMetrics

Answer a few yes-or-no questions on behalf of your main character, get a detailed outline of his personality traits. So insightful.

Baby Names

To name all those characters!

 

Getting Published

Duotrope

Helps you find a literary magazine to publish your short stories.

Miss Snark

A literary agent ruthlessly tears apart query letters submitted by her readers. She’s no longer snarking, but the archives are a gold mine for those looking to learn how to write a good query.

Query Shark

The savior for those bereft of Miss Snark, this lit agent is still critiquing queries with gusto.

Agent Query

A database of literary agents with an easy-to-use search that makes it easy to build your submission list.

Preditors & Editors

The site writers have long relied on to ensure agents aren’t con artists. Look up your agents here before querying.

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What are your favorite online resources? Share in the comments!

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How to write in an other-worldly voice

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The robot bares his soul on paper. Photo by Mirko Schaefer.

Last week we talked about how to craft an authentic voice by listening to the voices around you and in media. But what if your character is a type of person you can’t find in any of those places? What if they’re from the future, of which we know little, or from the ancient past, before there was a written language to record how they spoke? What if they are not even human—an alien, an angel, a robot dinosaur?

What if you want a voice just as unique as the character? A voice that will blow your readers’ minds?

Here are some steps to help you create one.

NOTE: this is a list of ideas, not a checklist. All will not work for your character, and there are probably additional methods you will need. This is simply a starting point. Choose wisely, but don’t be afraid to experiment!

 

First – a few questions to get you in the mindset:

Is the narrator intimately familiar with the modern human world? Would he be able to use and understand our weird human idioms and expressions?

Imagine a day in the life of this character. What does he spend most of his time doing? How does this effect what he thinks and talks about?

If this character doesn’t speak English, whatever you write is a translation. Ask yourself what his native language is like, compared to English. Is it as descriptive? Is it more rigid? Is it simpler, or more complicated? Are there some concepts in his language that can’t be translated to English at all?

Are there human or earthly concepts he cannot understand? Does he understand gender? Light and dark? The passage of time? Physical space?

Will this story be like describing color to a man born blind, and if so, who is the blind man—the character, or the reader?

 

Now, some fun things to try:

  • Remove all idioms and clichés – or get them intentionally wrong
  • Remove any pop culture references
  • Make up pop culture references
  • Occasionally try, then fail, to describe something, then explain that human words are inadequate
  • Replace common words with words you make up, or words from an obscure human language: especially replace words that are measurements, such as in time (minutes, hours, years), distances (feet, meters) as well as days of the week, etc.
  • Change the spelling of words – think of Olde English, or 1337 (leet)
  • Remove common words like articles (a, an, the), like in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
  • Cut words down to their roots, eliminating ings and eds and the like
  • Eliminate punctuation, using only line- and paragraph-breaks to differentiate between phrases and sentences
  • Use all the senses except sight in your descriptions
  • Describe from a sixth sense, like telepathy – bonus points if you can make up a sense nobody has thought of before
  • Don’t use adjectives
  • Don’t use pronouns
  • Write normally, then remove every fifth word and see what happens
  • Describe events at a molecular level
  • Describe events as if watching from miles away

 

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What wacky voice ideas do you have? Spill them in the comments!

 

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Other posts to help you prepare for Voice Week:

When I announced the first Voice Week

How to find your voice – explained in 5 different voices

5 fantastic examples of voice

How last year’s Voice Week went

How to craft an authentic voice through research

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How to write like someone you’re not – and still sound authentic

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This might be a little too obvious. [Photo by Emil]

 As a copywriter, I might be selling waterproof work boots to truckers one day, and giving makeup tips to fashionistas another. Maybe both in the same day. But if I’m not familiar with my audience, I have to get familiar before I write anything. You may have the same problem.

Say you’re writing about a character who is wildly unlike yourself. Maybe they’re an extreme version of some part of yourself (as all characters tend to be), but their background and lifestyle demands a manner of speaking completely different from anything you know. How do you master a voice that’s not your own?

Start by writing down everything you know about the character whose voice you need to create. Personality traits, occupation, hobbies. Then, prepare to research. You must immerse yourself in the voice you seek to emulate, much like living in a different country to learn the language. Here’s how:

 

Online communities

My number one resource for getting into the heads of my audience is the Internet. You can find a blog or forum for just about any group of people – I have stumbled across communities for everything from anorexics to Satanists, to Jews who love bacon (those all purely by accident). Look up social websites centered around your narrator’s profession, hobbies, even medical or psychological conditions. Do this by Googling your subject with words like blog, forum, community, online support group, tips, terminology, handbook, dictionary (i.e. “spoon-collector’s forum” etc.). Take it a step further by asking yourself what products your character would buy, then find the Facebook page of a company that sells said product, and read the fan comments. Google the definitions of terms you don’t know. Bookmark the sites you find and reference them frequently.

Books

Probably the most obvious way to familiarize yourself with a voice is to find a book narrated by a character who is like yours, or at least one that has a lot of dialogue by a character like yours. Type out a few pages of the narrative/dialogue to help give your fingers and your brain a feel for the flow of the language. Reach outside fiction, too – read the memoir of a real person who is similar to your character. If you’re writing period fiction, read something that was actually written during the time period in question.

 

Movies & TV

Can’t think of a book that has your character type? Try thinking of a movie or TV show that does. Find some quotes from that character on IMDB – and again, type them out to get a feel for the voice.

 

People watching / eavesdropping

Find a public place where you’re likely to find the type of people you’re writing about. If you’re writing about a college student, hang out in a coffee shop by the closest college campus. If you’re writing about a factory worker, eat lunch at a diner close to a factory, or check out a nearby bar at happy hour. If you’re writing about children, offer to baby-sit your sister’s kids, or hang out at the playground of your local park (just bring a friend with you so people don’t think you’re a creeper). Shop at stores your character is likely to shop at. Visit a church or synagogue they might frequent. Listen to snippets of conversation around you, and surreptitiously write them in a notebook.

 

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Where do you find the voices of your characters? Tell me in the comments!

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4 steps to stop writing fan fics and start writing original stories

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Img by Jenn Durfey

Stuck writing stories about Elizabeth Bennett, Harry Potter, Edward Cullen, or (heaven forbid) all three? Maybe you’re longing to create something of your own, but you don’t know where to start (or maybe you’re desperate to stop this madness before Mr. Darcy elopes with Bella Swan). Well. I have good news.

Fan fiction is a great place to start. In a way, I started with fan fiction (X-Men was my guilty pleasure in junior high – so many possibilities!). The pre-existing world, concept, and characters give you the freedom to experiment with plotlines and storytelling without having to fill in every single detail yourself. It’s a good outlet. Good practice. Kind of like training wheels.

But if you’re reading this, it’s time to take off the training wheels. Here are a few pointers to help ease your transition.

Start with one original character.

Start small. Invent one character of your own to fit into the existing fan fic landscape. Give him or her a name, a background, special talents, likes, dislikes. Have a good time experimenting with how a new personality will fit into the world you know so well, beside the characters you have loved so long. This isn’t so different from taking an existing minor character and giving them a more prominent part.

Move that character into an original setting.

Another baby step. Take your character and put them somewhere new. They take a trip, move across the country, go to college, get kidnapped. It can still be within the fan fic concept world, but in a scene you have to create from scratch, with supporting characters you must give birth to. Don’t worry; this will be easier than you think. It doesn’t have to be a finished story, or even very good. The important thing at this point is that it’s 90% yours. You’re almost there!

Consume other fiction.

Meanwhile, in your recreational reading, take a break from the world of your fan fics. If you write Star Wars stories, get out of the extended universe! Visit the worlds of Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Shannon Hale. Step out of your genre and read a little Marcus Zusak or John Green. Fill up your head with new material—it’s fuel for original ideas.

Dare to be different.

Here’s the part where your authorial benefactor lets go of the bicycle seat and sends you flying down the hill. Write like the wind! In the beginning, check yourself frequently to make sure you’re not lapsing into the other writer’s world again—examine the relationships you create and the order of events. It’s normal to see some similarities (nothing is new under the sun): just make sure you’re not doing what Paolini did with Eragon.

A final note:

It may be a long time (a lot of digging deep into parts of you that hurt) before you come up with something truly unique and beautiful. Remember; if it’s easy, you’re doing it wrong. But you’re out of your rut now, and on your own. So let the adventure begin. 

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23 fun ways to be productive despite writer’s block

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Image by Drew Coffman

After waiting for it all week, you’re finally settling in at your computer with a giant mug of tea. You open your novel-in-progress. You scroll to the blank space at the end. You stretch your fingers.

And nothing happens.

You don’t feel like writing. You’re still tired from the mad work week. Your brain hasn’t woken up yet. You need to start the laundry, balance the checkbook and scrub out the tub. And this scene is boring. And you’re not really sure what happens next. Well, you know what happens next, but you don’t know how to get from here to there and it’s just not coming!

No use in wasting time staring at your computer (or, more likely watching YouTube videos and checking Pinterest). Here are 23 fun things you can experiment with to make your novel better while you wait for inspiration to strike.

  1. Cut 50 words from the previous page.
  2. Find creative ways to eliminate five adverbs (seach “ly” using the Find tool to find them).
  3. Go back to the previous scene and add a detail that reveals something about a character.
  4. Outline your villain’s evil plan.
  5. Jot down five alternate titles for the book.
  6. Write five alternate first sentences.
  7. Try moving chapter breaks around. See if every chapter can end in a cliffhanger.
  8. Go back to the previous action scene (fight, chase, whatever) and experiment with shortening all the sentences. Try using more incomplete sentences.
  9. Find a place where you use a color to describe something (brown, grey, green, yellow) and replace/supplement the name of the color with the name of an item (e.g. chocolate, dust, moss, straw).
  10. In the scene in which you are stuck, think of the most ridiculous thing that could happen next.
  11. Think of the most surprising (but plausible) thing that could happen next.
  12. Have a chat with your protagonist. Ask if he would rather do something else.
  13. Turn on some music that matches the feel of the scene you are trying to write (heavy metal for a battle scene, classical violin for a death scene, etc.) and free write whatever comes into your head.
  14. Write a scene that comes much later but that you’ve been dying to get to.
  15. Find your longest paragraph so far and shorten it by a third.
  16. Pick a minor character (even one you haven’t named) and write a short story about them.
  17. Add scents to two of your scenes (the sweaty corn chip smell of a teenager’s bedroom, the sharp blend of bleach and urine in a public restroom, etc.).
  18. Pick another scene and remove all visual description, supplementing with only sound, scent, taste, and touch.
  19. Read a chapter of that book on writing that’s been gathering dust for the last few months.
  20. Find five verbs in the previous chapter and replace them with more descriptive synonyms. Bonus points if you can eliminate some more adverbs, too (“walking quickly” becomes “sneaking”).
  21. Find five places where you can cut out dialogue tags (he said, she said), without sacrificing clarity.
  22. Pick one character and give them a nervous quirk, like biting their nails or smoothing their mustache. Comb your manuscript for good places to add it in.
  23. You know those notes you make when you get a brilliant idea? The ones you hardly ever look at again? Reread them.

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Now you have no excuse. Go play!

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