Creative Writing

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.

I apologize for not posting for so long, but sometimes you have to step away from the computer and spend some time with real people.  LOL.

As I sat here tonight, thinking about why it is that I can’t seem to find anything to write about, I decided to go through some of my old articles and things I had written years ago.  That’s when I ran across a weird little thing I wrote a few years back that seemed perfect to finally post here.  I had originally written this for a writing contest, but just never got posting it.  So, I sat down and made a few adjustments and have decided to add it here for pure amusement.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you

Reasons For Not Writing

My excuses for not writing, well, let’s see.  There are so many.

1.)    First of all, there are the piles of laundry that need to be done.  In fact, I still have Wet clothes to throw in the dryer.
2.)    Then I have to get the carpEts vaccumed and the kitcheN needs mopped.
3.)    I have to make someThing for supper, so my children won’t feel neglected.
4.)    I have a ChristmaS program to be at, and cHocolate pretzels tO dip.
5.)    Then I should Probably get some writing done.  But wait, there’s the Phone.  I should answer that.
6.)    I have to let the dog out before she has an accIdent on the floor.
7.)    I should probably cleaN up my kitchen before I get to comfortable.
8.)    Okay, now all I have to do is finish readinG my email and I can sit down and get some writing done.

Will you look at the time.  It’s getting late and I’m so tired.  I need to get some sleep.  I can always sit down and spell out a few words tomorrow.

When it comes to great creative writing, everything comes down to the fine details. The difference between a good story and a great story are all the tidbits of information that your brain takes in that you may not even realize. It’s those little bits of extra information that make your story pop.

For instance, say you’re writing a story about a young woman in a short skirt. You could very well tell your readers “…he couldn’t help but notice her in that mini skirt…”, or you can add a few details that will grab your readers attention, “…he couldn’t help but notice her in that black leather mini skirt…”. It’s not much, but it gives the reader a visual enhancement.

This little trick can be added to any type of writing style. However, you’ve got to be careful not to add too much detail. It is possible to add more to the story than is needed. There is a fine line between adding a few details, and overdoing the details. If you’re scene becomes too overwhelming, you could end up losing your readers.

The best way to decide if you’ve enough or too much detail is by reading your story out loud. If it sounds a bit boring, add some details. If it sounds to cluttered, take a few out. It’s really just that simple. It’s amazing what a few minor details can do for your story.

There’s an old saying about not judging a book by its cover. However, most stories get judged based on their titles. A story’s title is the initial hook that brings a reader into a virtual world. The same holds true when writing non-fiction. An article’s title is it’s key to success.

I’m always looking for ideas to write about, and sometimes all I need is a little spark to get my creative juices flowing. So, what I do is sit down and just write out different titles. After a while, I hit on something that sounds like a great idea for a story and run with it. However, I have several would-be titles left behind.

Instead of just letting some of these homeless little things sit around with nothing to do, I’ve decided to pass them along to anyone else who might want to use them. No charge. Why? Because it’s what I do. I have another blog called The Prompt Writer that offers writing prompts (ideas) to my fellow writers to do with as they like. I invite you to stop by and check it out. In the mean time, I offer you a few titles of inspiration. (Warning: not all of these titles are great, some aren’t even very good, and a couple might down right suck. But hey, they’re free).

1.) Nothing But The Moonlight
2.) The Daze of Knight
3.) Blue Rose of Tomorrow
4.) Making the Most of Mondays
5.) Wealth of the Poor
6.) The Temple Tablets
7.) Grandeur in a Tiny Room
8.) Beyond the Sailor’s Dream
9.) An Unchained Beacon
10.) Rowing to Rainbow’s End

As I said before, they might not be Pulitzer Prize winning titles, but they might help to get some of your own creative juices flowing. Sometimes, it’s nice to just get a nudge in the “write” direction.

Up to this point, I’ve only talked about ways for you to tap into your creative side.  But, when I came across this, I had to pass it along.  I got a comment in my last post from a gentleman who wanted me to check out his site, but really didn’t want to bang it out there because it might look like spam.  That really caught my attention and I feel that I must repay his kindness.  The site is called CompletelyNovel.com, and looks like it could become a great social resource for all writers.  The one thing that I do need to mention is that this site is currently by invitation only.  However, you can fill out the form on the homepage in order to be added to their waiting list. 

Here’s the thing, though.  They are currently holding a free writing competition through September 1st, for all writers over the age of 18.  The theme for this contest is “And now for something completely different…”.  I love it.  Gotta love Monty Python.  Basically, they are looking for stories about change, imagination, and innovation.  The stories cannot be more than 2500 words, and must be previously unpublished.  The 5 top stories will have be published in the first ever CompletelyNovel anthology.  Plus, the winning authors will have the chance to publish any other manuscript.  This includes typesetting, file converstion, and even 10 paperback copies of your book.

Finally, I’ve got to talk about the CompletelyNovel blog.  You don’t have to be invited to enjoy this part of the site.  Here, you really get a chance to “meet” the people behind the website.  You’ll also find interesting news and tidbits of writing information among the posts.  The site is relatively new, but from what I can see, this is going to be a great resource for writers.