Are You Tired And Unmotivated? Check This Out!

For the low, low price of nothing at all, I bring you the Ultimate Guide to Getting Over Writer's Block and Procrastination (UGGOWBP)!

It's fun! It's sparkly! And it's not guaranteed to help you in any way, but, hey, we'll try!

Drumroll, please...

Close enough.

Step One
Stop staring at that blank page. It's not going to move. It's not going to fill itself with beautiful, crappy writing. And that blinking bar (also know as the insertion point) will just drive you into a deeper form of insanity.

That's right. Stand up. Walk out that door. Continue walking for... I don't know... An hour. Or until people start staring at you because you haven't bothered to change out of your pajamas. 

Step Two

While walking, acknowledge this simple fact–

Writing is hard!! And not all people are cut out for it. You, however, are a mighty warrior who will fill all sheets of paper with drama and tension and death. Ok. Maybe not death. 

Step Three

Once you've returned home, shut the computer off. Yes, you heard what I said. SHUT IT OFF. NOW.

Good. 

Now pick up a pen/cil and some paper. That's right. We're going old school.

Step Four
Write. About anything, anyone, anywhere. Write about a memory of yours or a distant land. Write about a girl you've never met. Good, bad, disgusting, I don't care. Just write something. You don't have to finish it. You don't even have to like it. Challenge yourself to write one page, then two, then three.

If you still have Writer's Block at this point, return to Step One. If you still have Procrastination, well, you probably haven't made it this far yet. 

Step Five

Now that you have successfully reached Step Five, repeat Step Four for a couple of days until all is right in your world. At that point, you may return to the computer and fill that blank sheet of paper with joy and sadness. Should Writer's Block ever strike again, just return to step one. 

Now, may the force be ever in your favor, Mr. Potter. 

Love, 

Gandalf

That's pretty much it. I hope UGGOWBP really helped you because I know it helped me! Just follow these steps and you'll go from this:

To this:

In very little time!

The Best of Writing,

~Snowie

P.S. Sorry for the long vacation. I guess I needed a break. I couldn't think of anything to write about.

Above and Beyond the Call of Writing Duty

Today, I sat down at my computer with a challenge set and the bar raised higher than ever before. I had challenge myself to write 25,000 in five days. Yes, I am insane. 25,000 words? In five days? That is half of a novel, thats half of a NaNoWriMo!

You are already where you are supposed to be for NaNoWriMo. Why are you writing more that you need to?

Oh, there is a reason. Believe me. There is a reason.

If you love personality types and the Meyers-Briggs test, then you will know what I mean when I say I am an INFP. INFP stands for Introvert iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving. Among lots of other things, it means that I am a perfectionist and a procrastinator. Everything I create artistically has to be perfect or the piece will not make it anywhere but a trash bin. If I don't have a deadline, nothing will get done.

Ah, deadlines. I love those sweet little dates. <3 p="p">
All five of my rough drafts would not exist if there was not deadline stapled to my head with a goal tied to it. 50,000 words in 30 days was a little piece of figurative heaven for me. Four of my rough drafts were written for NaNo (I've actually done NaNoWriMo 5 times, but I don't count last year's novel as a novel because it, well, sucked). The other draft (The Night Stalker) was written with sheer will power, a calendar, and a goal of 9 written pages per week.

I am afraid that if I don't get The Night Stalker draft 4.0 done before the 30th, then The Night Stalker will never be done and the multiple years of I have put into this novel will be wasted.

After a 9,000 word long Chapter 10, I am happy to move on to a very exciting Chapter Eleven.

I am so excited to tell you guys everything you have ever wanted to know about the Night Stalker in December!

Happy Writings!

~Snowie

P.S. 5,000 Words Down, 20,000 To Go! Nearly at 50,000!

  

According To A Calendar

According to my cute little white board calendar hanging over my bed, I am supposed to blog about something today. I hate calendars with a passion. Not only do they remind me of how much time I have wasted in my life, they also make be want to do things. Like run. But, if it were not for a calendar, I would get absolutely nothing done, and neither would the rest of the world. Tonight, my calendar reminded me that I was supposed to post something on one of my two blogs. Unfortunately, on my other blog, called AnAwfulLotOfRunning, I am also posting tomorrow for this friday thing that I like to do. So, I guess I am stuck with you guys. Just kidding! I love being stuck with you guys. Unluckily, or luckily, whatever way you view it, I have had a very long day, so I leave you with a short writing challenge. 

This is a challenge I heard about a while ago. By a while I mean 2010 Olympics a while ago. Back then I was a slightly but not really big member of the Behind the Name Writer's Lounge. The lounge was a whole different story back then. It wasn't all about writing games. Serious writers gave you serious answers to the serious questions you had about writing. It was all very Serious... Then Severus came along (HaHa Harry Potter Reference... Sorry). Behind the Name is also where I met M.L., my good internet writing friend. (View Her Figment and Buy Her Book! It's pretty amazing) Anyways, back to the 2010 Olympics. Way back when I was a BTN member, I held the Writing Olympics. Basically, everyday of the actual Olympics, I would post a prompt. People would post their story in the thread below and people could vote on a story by messaging me. For every prompt, there would be a winner. At the end of the Writing Olympics, I counted up all of the votes and declared an Overall Winner. I can't remember who won, I just remembered having so much fun and being so proud of actually putting on and managing this event that people from all over the world participated in. I think everyone was really happy, even if there were no real prizes. I actually thought about doing this on the blog or figment. Maybe I'll do it for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Now for the moment you have been waiting for....

Write a story without using the letters Q, T, W, X, Y, Z.

It's harder than it seems. For example, you can't use the words Queen, It, Quiet, Zebra, Yell, Yellow, Wind, or White. This challenge is really helpful for identifying what words you use and what could possibly be a better word. You pay closer attention to what you are writing and you find new ways to describe things. 

I hope you have fun with the Writing Challenge!

~Snowie

Some of My Favorite Writing Resources Part Two

Why hello. Might I say that you look fabulous today.

Wasn't July Amazing? I had so much fun Writing Something Everyday in July that I almost decided to give August a try. Just kidding. That would be a lot of work.

So, today I went to volleyball, but after that I came home and sat down at my computer. I stared at the screen and told myself that I should probably do something productive. After checking my e-mail and Facebook, I rechecked my e-mail because I had an idea. Don't you love ideas? One e-mail had caught my eye. The message was from a blog that I follow called The Flourishing Abode. April Starr, the lady who writes the blog, titled the post 10 things you shouldn't miss. In the post, Starr writes about 10 websites. Two of these websites caught my eye and looking at the post also reminded me of a Part Two post I never did.

Some of you might remember my post titled Some of My Favorite Writing Resources Part One. If you don't, click the hyperlink and a new window will open with the post. All of the sites are really fun and helpful in writing.

I did promise a Part Two post with seven more sites. So, here they are.

Daily Writing Tips

This site does exactly what someone would think the site would do. It gives you writing tips on a near daily basis. The writers cover everything from Yiddish Words to using Artist or Artisan. Some of the posts require a higher than freshman level of english knowledge to understand, but all posts contain useful information as all posts should. 

The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, NaNoWriMo, and Script Frenzy

I know, I talk about these sites way too much. I find it hard to stop talking about awesome things. In a nutshell, the Young Writers Program and NaNoWriMo are the same thing. Both are about writing 50,000 words in one month and both are managed by The Office of Letters and Light. There is one big difference. NaNoWriMo is for people thirteen and older while YWP is for the youngsters. Cool right?Script Frenzy starts in April. Basically, you write a 100 page script in one month. I have yet to complete a single Script Frenzy. 

Writer's Digest

Writer's Digest is all about the writer's digestive system. I'm just kidding with you. A writer's digestive system is a very scary place full of adverbs, replacements for said like gasped and exclaimed, and tons upon tons of coffee. Or tea. Whatever floats your boat. If you are a subscriber, to Writer's Digest, then I envy you. Not only do you get great writing content, you get awesome advise on everything to do with writing. If you are running a little short on cash, you can always subscribe to the free weekly newsletter. The newsletter includes writing prompts, advise on getting published, news from the writing world, latest blogs from WD bloggers, and more. 

And finally, the last two sites are the eye catching sites from the Flourishing Abode post. 

Rainymood.com

If you are anything like me, nothing gets you more in the writing mood like a good rainy day. Rainymood.com does exactly that. Just plug in your nice comfy headphones, grab a cup of Joe or that tea you have been wanting to try, and type away to the sound of a never ending rainstorm. 

43 Things

Ever have trouble setting, remembering, and following through with goals? Just sign up on 43 Things and enter all of your goals. People using the website can cheer you on. If you have a goal that requires more than one person, a team can be created. 43 Things let you set reminders for goals and write a diary entry about the progress made on the goal.

To finish things off, I love hearing from the people who read what I write. Don't be afraid to comment. I have never been a fan of saying that, which is why I made this...

~Snowie

An Overabundance Of Words

Welcome to July! June was full of awesome and overflowing with words. In fact, there were so many words in June that some spilled over into July. July, I have decided, is Write Something Everyday In July Month (WSEIJM... Oh, yeah. Acronyms!). I will try my absolute hardest to post one piece of writing a day even if it kills me. I think this sounds like a really good challenge. I have a feeling that 90% of the posts will be poems. Don't click away now! There might be a short story or two in there somewhere.

And, to kick off WSEIJM (Pronounced Weh-Cee-Gym), here is a little poem written by yours truly, Snowfire.

Stay Still

If I stay still long enough
I can feel the world spin
Everything seems to stop
Be still.
The birds stop singing
All the sound drifts away
And, for a moment,
The wind stops blowing.
It's almost as if
The whole wide word hesitates
... Then gasps
Time slows down
Making moments into hours
The only thing I hear
Is my heart
Thudding slowing
Beating in time
With the rest of the world
If I stay still


~Snowfire

Camp NaNoWriMo 2012

Oh yes. It is that time again! Time to write another 50,000 words in the name of writing. But wait! What's that you say? It's not even November yet? It's May, you say? That is why the lovely people over at the Office of Letters and Light put a Camp in front of NaNoWriMo. This year there are two Camp NaNoWriMo sessions, one in June and the other in August. Camp NaNoWriMo is exactly the same as regular NaNoWriMo. You still write a 50,000 word novel in one month, there are still "winners" and t-shirts, and of course, and the words per day goal is still 1,667. The one thing that is different from NaNoWriMo are the cabins. Cabins are exactly what they sound like. You can either pick who you want for cabin mates, let a computer make the decision, or not be in a cabin at all. Cabin mates are supposed to provide encouragement and ideas for you along your month long novelling adventure. Another great part about Camp NaNoWriMo is that if you have done NaNoWriMo or Script Frenzy before, then you do not need to sign up again. Your NaNoWriMo Username and Password work perfectly with the Camp NaNoWriMo website.

I have participated in Camp NaNoWriMo once before. I used it to start writing Light, the sequel to The Night Stalker. At about 25,000 words I realized that TNS doesn't need a sequel, so I stopped writing. I am actually quite fond of Light. It would be a good story on its own. I liked Camp NaNoWriMo since it was in the middle of summer and I had more time to write because I wasn't in school.

This year I am planning to write in June, but probably not August. In August, school and volleyball start up again and writing will be put back burner of my life. I am planning to write a full on romance which is something that I've never done on a grand novel scale. This time (Unless I get really bored), the main plot will be focused on the romance, not supernatural beings or a war. I am a little bit worried because I don't have a lot of things or ideas on romance and what problems will affect it. I want the romance to be perfect, but that's the problem. Romance is not perfect, there are conflicts. I just have to find exciting conflicts.

And here is the Rough Plot.

I know that I want it to be a sort of Romeo and Juliet forbidden romance type novel. I even have the perfect songs to go with the novel.



and




(Going through an Adam Lambert phase, sorry)

The two main character's names are Amy and Ben. I want to tell the story from either both their points of view or just from Amy's view. They meet in high school and Ben graduates a year before Amy. They meet at a party and hang out for the rest of the summer until Ben goes to college. Amy and Ben talk to each other via text and letter and find comfort in each other away from their lives. (Learn more about the plot and characters HERE.)

.... This should be a great Camp NaNoWriMo.... As you can see, romance is not my thing. That's why I need to work on it. The novel (Title: Love By Text... maybe?) could turn out really good or really bad. My money is on really bad, but that is ok. I'll learn how to not write a romance novel.

~Snowie

P.S. Perhaps Camp NaNoWriMo is a good way for a certain Blake to get his novel done.... =)

P.P.S. Here's a link to a letter Amy writes to Ben. And another link to a short romance that I wrote.

Writing Challenge One

00900 by brujo

Tomorrow (or everyday if you would like) pick a character from any of your stories. As you go through your day, keep them in mind. Every time you have a situation or problem to react to or solve, try and imagine what your character would do. Not only will this help understand and build your character more, but it will also help to write out your story in your own writing voice. This challenge is also helpful in editing and revising when a scene doesn't feel write or a character is out of character. Try this exercise if you have writer's block or if you can't figure out how your character would react.


DFTBA!

Snowie 

Inspiration

I love nature, always have, always will. This video is amazing and I'd love to see these things before I die...
And the music is amazing.

Beautiful Link!

So, what inspires you?

Make a list or start an inspiration notebook to writing down your ideas or musings.

You never know when they will pull you out of writer's block.....

If Friday were a Person...

If Friday was a person, I'd date him. I mean I'm sure that somewhere there is a person named Friday, but I'm talking about the day. For me, Friday is the best day ever. It means no school for two whole days, sleeping in til noon, staying up til midnight, seriously recking your sleep habits, and managing to play sports and still write thirty pages.
I've taken to drinking coffee in the morning (actually I can't stand coffee unless it's in Mocha form) because if I didn't I'd fall asleep in reading on one of those comfy bean bags. And, I've heard that coffee in the morning is good for you. I try to get at least seven hours of sleep, but psychological questions and chats with my friend about them usually keep me up until one in the morning. I'm going to get in to Aristotle pretty soon. And Homer. And more Shakespeare. Okay, Shakespeare has nothing to do with psychology, but I love Midsummer Night's Dream. =)

Okay, enough about my sleeping habits. Lets talk scripts.

Washington's Secrets has been falling behind all week mostly because when I come home from track, it's shower, eat, and bed.

I am supposed to me on page 26, but I am only on page 23. It's better then what I did last year before my computers died. RIP Little Laptop. But, I've gotten to that awkward part. You know, that awkward part when you're writing and it's going absolutely amazing then all of a sudden you come to that point where you don't know what to do next.
Currently Annie, Todd, Joisie, and Holly, Todd's sister, are looking over letters written by this 19th Century lady named Christine Rose de Ronchambeau. Holly just came in the room and Annie and Joisie introduced themselves. Now, it's kind of awkward and I'm not sure what to put. Comment below with ideas! Please?

Now, this is a writing website, so I do feel that I should do something involving writing. So, to better your writing I came up with these writing prompts and challenges.... I actually made them up during the 2010 Winter Olympics for a writing website that I sometimes use, behindthename.com. The writers there enjoyed them, so I hope you will too.

Writing Olympics Challenges

-Day One, the 16th

Squirrel Challenge: The story must involve a squirrel, must be in the past, and involve plumbing. 

-Day 2, the 17th

Minus the letters Challenge: Write a story. You can't use the letters y, q, z, v,  or x.

-Day 3, the 18th

The Misunderstood Challenge: The story takes place in the evening. During the story there is a misunderstanding, a question of authority, and a cat riding a dog down Main Street.  

-Day 4, the 19th

Shakespeare Challenge: Nay! A Shakespeare challenge! Upon this day tis thou's turn to scrawl a tale o' magnificent wonder using Shakespeare's language. (Example: Tis time for thee to retire to thou's bed.)   

-Day 5, the 20th

Disney Challenge: Create a twisted Disney type story. Include an undefined evil character that does evil and good, no happy endings, and anything else to make it unDisney-like.   

-Day 6, the 21st

Elmer Fudd Challenge: I'm gunna get that wascally wabbit! Include an animal that's smarter than it's predator and a human who has twubble with the lettew r.

-Day 7, the 22nd

Harry Potter Challenge: Include a wizard or two that has a quest to complete, but is killed by Lord Moldywart in a vehicular crash.  

-Day 8, the 23rd

Evil Animal Minion Challenge: Include an evil animal minion. It might not be all that serious, but haven't you always wanted to say "Release that radioactive super-intelligent bunny rabbit!"

-Day 9, the 24th

People Challenge: Include an annoying screw-up sidekick who seeks to avenge the murder of his family, a super-smart and super-tough genius adventurer whose odd ideas are actually true, the last survivor of an alien race who surprises people with his/her ability to survive and has a treasured personal weapon, and a wanderer with a unique gift.

-Day 10, the 25

The Glory Challenge: Write a story including the Olympics*, being mistaken for Shaun White, the Harry Potter look alike, or a Olympian from your country**, having to do that Olympian's sport, and winning the Gold!

*Winter or Summer

**Some people of the world would prefer if you didn't write about the Luger that died. But, if you want you can in his good memory. 

Well, I hope you try a few of those. I'll have to post a sample or two....

Peace, Love, and Unicorns .)>   <=== A really bad unicorn....

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