Creative Writing

I’ve always heard the terms, “…so strange it had to be real”. Though I did know what that meant, I really didn’t think anything had ever happened to me that could be put in that category. Then it dawned on me that there are things going on around me all the time that would be more than perfect for this idea. One of those things is the weather around my part of the country.

I live in Western Nebraska and we have a saying around here that goes, “If you don’t like the weather, stick around a minute and it will change”, and truer words were never spoken. In just the past few days we’ve seen a serious electrical storm that struck a transformer in our town and took out the electricity (Monday morning). Then we got to experience our annual spring blizzard (Monday afternoon), then warm winds that melted everything into huge puddles (Tuesday), and then 55* temperatures and sunshine, (Today). Tomorrow, we’re expecting more snow and by Friday, it’s supposed to be in the 60’s.

The point I’m trying to make is that when you’re working on a story or an idea for a scene, there is no such thing as “unbelievable weather”. Trust me, I’ve seen it all right here in my own backyard. I’ve even seen a phenomenon that has been referred to as “rare” and “a once in a lifetime” moment. That phenomenon is when it thunders-lightnings-and snows. Yes, snows. I read recently on National Geographic ’s website that this is something that is extremely rare. Oddly enough, I’ve seen it happen more than once in my lifetime. I had no idea that it was such a rare event.

When you write about a strange event, in this case something pertaining to the weather, you don’t have to stick to what everyone else deems as normal. You can go above and beyond the norm and still create a believable story. There are instances when you can take your story too far. But, when it comes to adding little details to your, such as thunder-lightning-and snow, go for it. Minor details like these will give body to your story and make your reader feel the scene, not just read about it.

I have something to admit to the world. I am a Thesaurus junkie. I’ve known this for some time now, but was never able to admit it openly. Thanks to my friend Nannette , I can now come clean. Nannette is also a self-proclaimed Thesaurus junkie, and I felt better getting it off my chest and out to the rest of the world. I’m also learning that there are several Thesaurus junkies out there, and I want to help save as many as I can, so here is my story.

My name is Christine and I am a Thesaurus junkie. I grabbed my first Thesaurus copy while still in high school. All the kids in English class were doing it, and I jumped in without a care in the world. After all, I was young and I’d had a taste of the writing drug. It didn’t take me long to become completely hooked.

By the time I had gotten out of high school, I carried a Thesaurus with me all the time. I always had a story in my head, and was always on the lookout for just the right words. Being the naive child that I was, I had no idea what I was doing by mixing story telling and thesaurus use at the same time. It took me a long time to see the downward spiral I was heading in.

One I got married and began having children, I knew I had to do something about my Thesaurus habit, but I just couldn’t stop. I was reading my thesaurus for several hours a day. When the kids were taking a nap, I’d sneak in a few pages. While I was making dinner, I’d scan a quick peak when nobody was looking. I even found myself staying up till all hours of the morning rummaging through my thesaurus for odd words I knew I’d never use in a story. I just needed my Thesaurus fix.

It wasn’t until about 2 years ago, that I realized that my Thesaurus habit had gotten out of hand. I began yelling at the people around me, as I was sure that one of them had stolen my Thesaurus and hidden it from me. I tore my house apart and eventually found it under my pillow, where I’d had it the night before. I had gotten so intoxicated on mixing and matching words that I had totally blacked out. That was when I knew it was time to seek help.

I have worked very hard these past few years to curb my thirst for words have similar meanings to the ones I have in my head. I can’t say that I’m 100% Thesaurus free, but I have forced myself to look inside myself for my word weaving fix. Today, I am down to only one page a day. With any luck, I’ll be able to kick my Thesaurus habit for good, or at least stop using it as a dictionary.

My name is Christine and I am a Thesaurus Addict.

As I’ve said many times before, I don’t particularly believe in the term “writer’s block”.  If you’re a writer, you can always find something to write about.  I was sitting here tonight, thinking of what to write about when I realized that I have a ton of ideas sitting just a few feet away from me.  As someone who’s been writing and scribbling for many years, I’ve got a ton of notebooks and loose sheets of paper lying around filled with little notes and tidbits.  So, I decided to go through a few of these and see what I could find.

For anyone who’s had the itch to write over the years, it’s a pretty good bet that you’ve got something similar to my situation.  You may not have quite the volume I’ve got, but you’ve probably got notebooks lying around, computer files sitting there doing nothing, or just little slips of paper with basic ideas scratched on them.  So, pick them up, rummage through them, get them organized in a way that makes some sort of sense.

As I sat here going through a few of my old notebooks, I began to think about all the things I’ve been interested in over the years.  I’ve also come to the realization that I may need a therapist, but that’s a different story.  The point is that over time, you’ve surely come up with a few ideas that you may have thought were totally worthless, but may now be something you can use.  You never know unless you take the time to go back and look them over again.

A great way to take stock of all your past writings and scribbles, is to sit down and get them organized.  I do this by creating several different files in my computer for different things.  I have files for writing prompts, story starters, mythology, historical facts, and article starters.  I never know what I’ll find to go in each of these files, but it’s a blast looking through some of my older notebooks and getting them put into their prospective files.  It’s also a great way to go back to the folders and see some of the things already in there that I’d forgotten about.  Over time, you can create a ton of ideas for those days when there just doesn’t seem to be any inspiration.

So, rummage through all your old ideas and see if you can’t find a few diamonds in the rough.  You might be amazed at how many things you thought to be bunk, could end up being just the thing to get you back on track and writing your little heart out.  Go ahead, I dare you.

I’m always looking for weird ways of getting my creative juices flowing.  Being someone who loves to write short stories, mainly for myself, I try to come up with little tricks that will give me a whole new scenario to work with.  One of my tricks consists of picking out items that I look at everyday, but rarely pay much attention to, due to the fact that they’ve become part of the background.

Here’s how this little thing works.  Look around your room and pick out 3 items.  Doesn’t really matter what they are, just pick three things.  I’ll play along to give you an idea.  As I look around my desk and the surrounding area, I notice these items:

1.) Coffee Cup
2.) Telephone
3.) Ballpoint Pen

Now, use these objects in a story.  For me, I’m thinking of a romantic type of story.  I’ll use these items as a way for the 2 main characters to get to know each other.  The coffee cup makes me want to set the scene in a coffee shop, the phone makes me want to have one of the characters talking on their cell phone, and the pen makes me want that character writing something down in a notebook.

Ok, now I have my basics, and I can really get started on the story itself.  I know that the main scene will take place in a coffee shop.  In my mind, I see my main female lead, let’s call her Becca, sitting at a table, alone.  She’s on her cell phone, talking to her boss about her next assignment.  I see her as being a journalist and she’s hot on the trail of her next story.  She’s writing as fast as she’s talking, and suddenly her pen breaks and shoots ink all over her notebook, her hand, and spots her new blouse.

The gentleman sitting at the next table gets hit in the face with a drop of ink, and notices Becca frantically trying to clean up her mess, without making a bigger one.  That’s when he reaches into his pocket and hands her a new pen.  She looks up, and giggles a little at the spot of ink on his cheek.  She takes the pen, finds a clean sheet of paper, and continues on with her writing.  So, where will the story go from there?  I don’t know yet, but I’m loving what I’ve done so far.

So, when you’re fighting with something to write about, look around at the mundane objects sitting right in front of you.  Pick 3 and take it from there.  What worlds can you create from the little things you probably take for granted?

No, this post isn’t about something I’ve personally written and had published.  This post is about how to get your name out to the world, without having to spend thousands of dollars in advertising costs.  One of the biggest challenges that new writers come across, especially online, is how to get people to read their work.

For new writers and authors, you need to remember that no one will come read your work simply because you’ve written something.  You have to let them know that you’ve written something, and where they can find it.  I’ve found many younger and newer writers now have blogs where they post their stories and poetry.  But, they get frustrated because no one ever reads their work, or never leave comments.  Here’s a couple tricks that might help.

If you’re a regular visitor to any forums, be sure to leave a link to your site in your signature.  This will bring people who already know a little about you to your site.  Also, create a signature in your emails, so that anyone you communicate with can find your site.  You would be amazed at the amount of traffic this will bring in.

If you visit other blogs and leave comments, make sure to add a link to your blog there.  Most blog comment sections will ask you for your name and website, so you don’t have to worry about spamming the comments section with an unwanted link.  One thing to remember here, is that you should always leave a viable comment.  Don’t just blurt something out in order to post your site’s link.  Chances are that you’re comment will be deleted without being seen.

If you have several stories and poetry in different places, create a page on your blog or website that will lead your readers to all the different places where your writing can be found.  If you’ve written a book, or had a story published in an anthology, be sure to add a link to where that book can be purchased online.

When it comes to getting the word out about what you can do, you have to be your own best PR person.  Nobody can market your work as well as you can.  Don’t be afraid to showcase your own work, but don’t be conceited.  A brilliant editor once told me that the best writers are their own worst critics.  The writers who are sure they are the greatest writers alive are the ones who usually need the most work.  Be proud of your work, but don’t be over confident.  If you work hard, allow others to find your work, and continue to improve on all you do, it won’t take long to build a regular reader base.  And with regular readers, comes regular traffic.