This installment of random but interesting twitter-ish...writer's edition focuses mainly on tools that can help make the writing process easier. These tools are not only useful for aspiring authors like myself or established authors but can also benefit anyone who has a project, assignment or any task for that matter that requires them to get from point A to point B. Some of you maybe wondering what manner of sorcery is this, no sorcery or magic, just logic or rather logistics; it helps you plot the things needed from start to finish of your given task. Without further ado, the first tweet up....
Tools for novel writing and short story writing was tweeted by one of the authors I follow Thea Harrison. I have not read any of Thea's work as yet but her books are on my Amazon wishlist...just a little detour because I can't help myself, love talking books and authors...back to the topic at hand. This first tweet is about the aforementioned tools that can make the writing process easier. I wish I had known about these earlier in my journey because they could have been incorporated into my tools of the writing trade posts as well as in my story. Luckily, I'm not that far into the story (thanks to other assignments) so they can be integrated into the story and besides it is never too late to use knowledge. There are a number tools highlighted on the blog All Write but I just chose a few to spotlight in this post. The link to the blog will be posted below so that those interested can check out the entire list.
The planning tools for novel and short story writing are as follows:
Mind Maps
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| Mind Maps "...are useful for brainstorming your initial ideas" |
Wikipedia defines Mind Maps as
a diagram used to visually outline information. A mind map is often created around a single word or text, placed in the center, to which associated ideas, words and concepts are added. Major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser categories are sub-branches of larger branches.[1] Categories can represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key word or idea.
Timelines
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| Timelines "are a useful tool for anything that needs a chronological order." |
Wikipedia defines timelines as
a way of displaying a list of events in chronological order, sometimes described as a project artifact. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labeled with dates alongside itself and (usually) events labeled on points where they would have happened.
Storyboarding
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| Storyboarding is a drawing "...of key scenes that sometimes pop into [the author's ] head." |
According to Wikipedia
The storyboarding process, in the form it is known today, was developed at the
Walt Disney Studio during the early 1930s, after several years of similar processes being in use at Walt Disney and other
animation studios.
Storyboards are also used in music videos and advertising as well as in writing. When used in writing it helps the author visualize "important scenes or character conflicts."
Storyboards, mind maps and timelines can either be drawn by hand or they can be done in a word document or as a power point. I chose that particular mind map, timeline and storyboard to show that anyone can use mind maps not only writers. If you want to see what a writer's mind map and timeline look like as well as find out more about the other writing tools click on the link below.
http://allwritefictionadvice.blogspot.com/2011/01/tools-for-short-story-and-novel-writing.html
Next tweet up is another Thea Harrison tweet, this one is about writing with rhythm. This is another set of tools I wish I had known about earlier in my journey. There are five tips for writing with rhythm, alternating sentence length, relocating words and phrases, embracing sentence fragments, matching mood to rhythm, and applying tension and release. For this post I am highlighting only three of the five tips.
Alternating sentence lengths can be done by varying the number of words or by
introduc[ing] a comical character with a statement that resembles a clumsy person stumbling down a stairway — then bring the headlong descent to a sudden stop with a concise comment. Describe a tortuous bureaucratic procedure with a run-on-and-on sentence, and then figuratively snap your fingers at it with a brusque reaction.
Embracing sentence fragments is one that I have seen many authors I love embrace. I was looking for an excerpt to post but that is taking too long because I'm getting sidetracked by reading so instead I'll use two lines from the the article 5 Tips About Writing with Rhythm, one of which is a sentence fragment so you get an idea of how it's done.
As a matter of fact, there never was such a regulation, except in the hidebound handbooks of grim grammarians. No kidding.
When matching rhythm to moods one should
Let the length and rhythm of a sentence match the mood you wish to impart. A description of a beautiful landscape or an account of a rapturous experience should cascade like a rippling waterfall or undulate with the peaks of valleys of sensual imagery. Longer sentences punctuated with alliteration and assonance and laced with metaphors evoking physical sensations will help readers immerse themselves in the places and events you describe.
The last tweet to be highlighted today is my favorite of all three because it answers the all important question, at what point can you call yourself a write? Most persons unless they are writers never really get what it means to be an author or when you become an author for that matter. The article At What Point Can You Call Yourself A Writer eloquently describes it so I'm ending this post with an excerpt from it, hope you all enjoy!
...it’s not the published book that makes you a writer. You’re a writer because of the things you notice in the world, and the joy you feel stringing the right words together so they sound like music. You’re a writer because you can imagine something in such detail that it comes to life. You’re a writer because you’re obsessed with making your ideas clearer, tighter, fiercer. You’re a writer because you have every reason to stop (it takes too much time, pays too little, and the rejection hurts too terribly), but you can’t do it. It’s not that you love to write so much as you need to write.
You’re a writer because you’re weird in the ways you want to continue being weird. And because even as you’re pretending to listen to the conversation that’s now wound its way back to lawn fertilizer and Little League, you’re digging in your purse for a pen (okay, a lipstick will do) so you can jot down the way your neighbor’s mouth sags on one side. And as you try to find just the right words, you realize it’s this quality—this human frailty—that finally allows you to connect.
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/at-what-point-can-you-call-yourself-a-writer
