Jump to content

Writing World

A group blog by Site Volunteers in Site Blogs

  • entries
    3,177
  • comments
    12,450
  • views
    232,184

Contributors to this blog

About this blog

Featuring everything new and experienced authors need to develop creative and technical skills. Check out writing development articles, our Word of the Day, writing prompts, anthology opportunities and more!

Entries in this blog

Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Brainstorming Past Your Block

Brainstorming Past Your Block   Especially when writing a short story, there will often come a time in your plot when you get stuck. One of the best ways to move past a block in the action is to brainstorm what could happen. Then... pick one! Often when I'm trying to figure out the loose overall plot I will do a 'this happens, then that, then this' in a timeline fashion. Sometimes I can't figure out what I want to have happen next and that's when I start brainstorming. I'll do this on my
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

1
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Pleonasm

For Tip Tuesday we are bringing you another interesting little tid bit that is brought to you by Cia. Enjoy and we'd love to hear your thoughts. Pleonasm More weird writing terminology   So here's another weird word to describe a common writing mistake. A 'pleonasm' is a phrase where redundant words are used to express the meaning of the sentence. Like... a free gift. A gift is always free, because it is given to you. So obviously the use of the word 'free' is redundant but so co
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The Editing Process

So - glancing over some of the past newsletters, I found this gem from Feb 2007, about editing from a writer's perspective. I hope you enjoy!   Editors and Writers   The Editing Process: From the Writer’s Point of View By Talon Rider   Finding an editor can be a problem sometimes. You think to yourself, where can I find someone? Do I ask another author who they use? Do I post something in a forum somewhere? Has an editor made their presence known? Either one of those methods may
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

3
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Life In The Fishbowl

We asked for tips - and you responded! Here is K.C.'s tip on Life in the Fishbowl! Do you have one that we can feature? If so, let Renee Stevens or myself know.   Life in the Fishbowl by K.C.   As I swim around Gay Authors, I see a wide range of different users here. Those who write put a great deal of time, effort and themselves into bringing amazing and entertaining stories to the GA community. Those who read have the opportunity to talk to the writers, to comment on th
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

4
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Character Building

Interesting characters are usually one of the most important elements of good writing. That's why this great tip by CassieQ is a welcome addition to our GA News Blog. If you have a great tip that you'd like to share with the community, let me or Renee Stevens know.   Character Building by CassieQ   To be 100% honest, writing about characters was hard. Characterization is something that always seemed to flow naturally, so trying to take it apart and explain the mechanics o
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

4
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Synonyms

Synonyms   In writing, especially when doing character pieces, you need to watch for repetition. The words used when writing can give clues to accurately express how the character appears or acts depending on what synonym is used. Physical cues are very important when it comes to showing and not telling. However, using the same word repeatedly is boring. Below are a few common actions and examples of synonyms you can use to highlight them in different ways.   Expression: noun-outward ap
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

0
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Setting "the Scene"

Today's Tip is brought to you by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Thank you for this wonderful little lesson on setting the scene for a story! If YOU have a tip for a future blog entry, let Trebs or Renee Stevens know!   The Scene by Comicfan   Ever notice how important a scene is? I don’t mean the action; I mean that place it is located in. Sometimes it can add to the overall sense of what is happening or it can make it a tragedy. It isn’t very hard to have a story go wrong by the
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

1
Writing Tips

Losing Work And Starting Over

It is, quite possibly, the WORST feeling in the world to have poured your heart and soul into a project...ALL of your emotion...ALL of your creative energy...only to have some kind of crazy computer glitch just 'zap' it right out of existence forever. Gone. Never to be seen again. The experience is heartbreaking! I've had it happen to me quite a number of times in the past. Either the 'Save' function didn't work like it was supposed to, or the file got corrupted...my laptop fizzled out on me, or
Comicality

Comicality in Writing Tips

36
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Editing - Getting Started

So it's time to look at something that a lot of us probably never saw! Today we're bringing you a little gem that was published in one of GA's old newsletters. Have you offered to edit for someone and receive the first chapter only to realize that you have no clue where to start? If so, this editing tip could be very beneficial to you! Even if you don't currently edit, it's still a helpful tidbit full of good advice! Editing Tips...Getting Started   Volume 2: Edition 1 October 2006  
Writing Tips

Getting Motivated

Sometimes...the hardest, most unbelievably difficult, part of any story...is the first five paragraphs! It is grueling, it is maddening, it is downright FRIGHTENING at times! And it's hard to really explain why that is to people who don't write all the time. It's a level of insanity that only writers and other artists will ever really know. Because this is the 'kickoff' when it comes to starting a new project. It's the equivalent of throwing the first punch in a fight. Like..."Ok! This is it! He
Comicality

Comicality in Writing Tips

23
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Blogging For Exposure

How to get more traffic to your stories is frequently something author's are concerned about. What use is it to write a fantastic story, if people don't know about it. Here is one way - Cia writes about blogging as a way to increase your exposure. Check out her tip and let us know what you think! Also, if YOU have a tip, let me know. It may be one we feature on a future news blog entry.   Blogging for Exposure by Cia   Do you blog? I didn't until about 3 months ago. I've writin
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

0
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The English Language

Myr found this joke and shared it with us. It may be a joke, but it is also very informative! We'd love to know YOUR thoughts on it!   English Joke/ Writing Primer   I think a retired English teacher was bored.   THIS IS GREAT!   Read all the way to the end................. This took a lot of work to put together!   You think English is easy??   1) The bandage was wound around the wound.   2) The farm was used to produce produce.   3) The dump was so full that it had to r
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

11
Writing Tips

Set the Stage

Imagine if you were watching a movie or a play for the first time. You've never heard of it before, you've never seen any advertisements about it, and you don't even know what it's going to be about. Now...imagine if you could hear the dialogue and everything that's going on...but the stage or the screen is shrouded in complete darkness for the first fifteen minutes. You can't see anything at all. You just have to sort of listen to the words and use your imagination to figure out what's going on
Comicality

Comicality in Writing Tips

9
Writing Tips

Cia's Torturing Me!

Cia’s Torturing Me!   If you’re an author, I’m sure you’ve thought that at least once, right? I swear, it’s nothing personal! GA’s posting system is complicated, and there is always a learning curve for new authors to figure out the ins and outs of posting here. I'm also the primary staff member that reviews the Stories submissions, so I am not picking on any one person if you receive more than one PM; I'm simply the staff member that reviews everything in the queue unless I am away from G
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips

35
Writing Tips

Grammar Rodeo #8

Ever wonder what the correct word to use is? Cia has written a blog entry to help show which word should be used in different instances. It's been a while since we had a Grammar Rodeo, but I find these posts to be rather informative and we hope you do too.   Commonly Misused Words   When writing, most authors know there are homophones to watch out for, and we all know the big ones like your/you’re/yore and there/their/they’re. But there are a lot of words that are harder to figure ou
Renee Stevens

Renee Stevens in Writing Tips

36
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Said-Bookisms

Today we have another very informative writing tip from Cia! Enjoy!!! Said-bookisms   I'm betting you have NO idea what a said-bookism is, do you? I know I didn't; I do know what the term means though, in a general sense. A said-bookism is a speech tag other than said or asked. Quite often they are used to describe the speech or the tone.   A few examples: He laughed She shrieked They intoned He smiled   Now, these are really common in usage, yet frowned upon more and more. Somethi
Renee Stevens

Renee Stevens in Writing Tips

0
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Stolen Stories! Blast From An Angry Author

Yep, I'm pre-empting Blast From the Past this week to inform members of a story that's been stolen from GA then put up for sale on Amazon. The story stolen was Chasing the Shadows by K.C. Grim and it was posted under Embraced by Shadows by K.J. Fleur back in May. We only found this out when a concerned reader emailed the admin account to find out if the story was stolen and posted on GA. That proved to have happened in the reverse, and KC had his story ripped off.   All this author did was cha
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips

19
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Oops, It's Wrong... Or Is It?

Cia has done it again and written what I think is a fantastic writing tip. Check it out and see if you agree... Oops, it's wrong... or is it?   So many times I get confused by the complexities of English grammar, I'm sure many of you are the same. The rules are often contradictory, and the exceptions to exceptions are absolutely a quagmire of missteps and misspells waiting to trap you. I recently read an article that said to polish your writing skills, spend thirty minutes a month revi
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips

5
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Flash Fiction - Why And How?

I thought, this week, that we’d discuss something we host here on GA, and promote weekly on the blog. Flash fiction, namely in the guise of our prompts. Our anthologies are an extension of that as well. But we’ve never really talked about the art of creating these types of short stories—so today we will! I think there are two main questions most people have: What is flash fiction and why do people write it?   FLASH FICTION   Flash fiction can also run the gamut of ‘regular fiction’.
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips

29
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Adverbs And Adjectives ~ Helping Or Hurting

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I was looking through the possible posts that I had for today and I decided that it's been a while since we had a grammar lesson. Wouldn't you know it, I actually had one sitting around, just waiting for an opportunity to be showcased in the blog! So, without further ado, here's today's writing tip, courtesy of Cia. Enjoy! Adverbs and Adjectives ~ Helping or Hurting by Cia   Today I want to focus on wa
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #4

This time for the grammar rodeo, I thought I'd keep our subject matter simple and maybe even fun! Yes, yes, I swear, grammar can be fun--at least when you're like me and find a wicked glee in rolling your eyes at the grammar fails around you!! First, though, let's take a look at a technical writing tip that seems simple, but catches up more people than you might think! Grammar Rodeo #4 Getting It Write Err... Right!   Subject and Verb Agreement   No, I don't expect them to sha
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips

20
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #1

Today's blog is courtesy of Cia! Ever wondered which is the correct word to use when faced with lay/lie? You're not alone and Cia has put together a very informative blog entry to help, it even includes tips and tricks for when you're really not sure. Thanks Cia for taking the time to give us Grammar Rodeo #1! Grammar Rodeo #1 Tips and Tricks for wrangling those Pesky Word Choices!   Who and Whom Okay, I hate this one, even though it’s relatively simple! Let’s make it easy: Who i
Renee Stevens

Renee Stevens in Writing Tips

17
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Motivation

Motivation. What makes a writer start writing and keep at it day after day? I asked Mark to write something for the blog, and that was the topic he chose. So, let's all take a peek inside Mark's head and see what he thinks... Chronicles of Chronicles: How I wrote “Chronicles of An Academic Predator” I’ve learned that when someone really hot, really charming, really bitchy, and/or really sinister asks you to do something, it’s usually a good idea to agree, especially if they have
Lugh

Lugh in Writing Tips

12
Writing Tips

Darker Themes

There are going to be times, every now and again...when the written content of your stories may take a very dark turn, or veer off into situations that are somewhat uncomfortable for other readers to absorb as readily as they do some of your 'brighter' themes. This can be an intimidating atmosphere for you to thrive in. The gritty realities and graphic nature of the story that you want to tell may be too much for some of your readers to handle or understand. But, while there is the temptation to
Comicality

Comicality in Writing Tips

14
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Those Pesky Words

Those Pesky Words by Cia I was having a discussion with an author the other day about words. Why do we pick the ones we use when we write? What should the focus be on, the words themselves or they image they are meant to convey? When I first started writing, I used a lot of formal language. For example, from my first story, The Price of Honor: The strange color registered with his consciousness but he continued to stare blankly about, trying to process the abrupt disloca
Lugh

Lugh in Writing Tips

10
×
×
  • Create New...