I’ve been running weekly live chat on Blab.im on Wednesdays, 2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern. You can subscribe here. This week’s chat was a little different. We opened up the chat to not just novel writing, but...
When I started writing years ago, I would have given anything for the opportunity to have a professional in the writing world take a look at my story, tell me I was brilliant. I was so thrilled to give my story to family and friends and then hurt and disappointed when they either didn’t finish reading it or dodged me when I asked them if they liked it.
I’m an Alfred Hitchcock fan. He was the master of suspense, and he has influenced my writing. Here are links to short interviews by The American Film Institute.
Are you working on your novel? Either writing or marketing? If you’d like to be, enjoy this Big Winter Sale! In honor of winter and the holidays in the Northern Hemisphere, I’m offering a 33-50% off...
Few writers pay much attention to character placement, but this is something of paramount concern to filmmakers, and a subject I cover in depth in Shoot Your Novel. A director has to lay out his camera shots, deciding when a close-up shot would be more effective than a long shot, for example. He may want the camera positioned far away from the action, to make details unclear and evoke curiosity or misinterpretation. Or he may have an extreme close-up to ensure viewers don’t miss a tiny detail that is crucial to the plot.
About 3 months ago I submitted my writing to a chapter contest for Romance Writers of America. I received the feedback a little over a month ago and am just now writing a post about it because I was too embarrassed to share before.
Today I want to talk about deadlines and how they are your friend. Or would that be friends? The power of this November during Nanowrimo lies in that it’s a deadline, and a collective...
We all face it, that frightening moment when our flying fingers pause mid-motion over the keyboard. Wait, was that the wrong tense? Did I say that before? Is that a realistic reaction from my character? Oh pink elephants, that’s too predictable!
Why do we let failure identify us? Why do we not realize that adversity, burdens, writer’s block, etc. are just isolated events from which we can recover? Sometimes we let failure define who we are, making us believe we’re actually … A failure!
Today I want to talk about creative flow. How do you know when you’re in your flow? For me, I feel content, grounded, powerful. When I’m not in my flow, I feel grumpy, spacey,...
Carol Malone and I will be chatting live today at 2pm PT/5pm ET. We’ll chat #nanowrimo, the creative flow, and answer questions about writing, marketing, and publishing your novels. Please join us live here:...
I took the decision not to do NaNoWriMo this year. I’m so far behind with other writing projects; I could not contemplate starting something new. However I did enjoy the last couple of years and learned a lot from it. Hopefully for next November I’ll be ready to try it again.
Many authors and students have difficulty starting their projects. For students, often the problem is they aren’t terribly inspired by the topic. I don’t blame them for feeling stuck. It’s difficult find motivation in broad topics like, say, global warming. Once you’ve created a slide showing that poor polar bear swimming in the melted waters of the Arctic, there isn’t much else to say.
Does your writing sometimes feel dead? Perhaps your words stare vacantly back at you like lumps on the page? Or do you feel like a lump as you write? How can you inject passion and danger back into your writing?
Subscribe here to get notified each time we publish a post.
Welcome to the Writer’s Fun Zone, a blog for creative writers by Beth Barany, fiction writing teacher and novelist.
Articles by creative writers like you.
Check out the How To Write The Future podcast.
Subscribe to Writer's Fun Zone blog for resources, inspiration, and free resources:
Get these goodies:BONUS
As a bonus, you will also be subscribed to the CreativitySparks (tm) newsletter, full of tips and tools for novelists building a successful career. (Sent 1-2 times per week) By Beth Barany, Editor and Publisher of the Writer's Fun Zone, and a Creativity Coaching for Writers, and a novelist herself.
Beth Barany helps authors get their books completed and out into the world, into the hands of their readers.
Creativity Coach for Writers, NLP Master Practitioner, and Master Teacher, Beth Barany has been there and knows how hard it can be to take your idea and turn it into a real book, that people will actually be interested, and even yearning, to read.
She walks the talk, as her clients like to say. She is the author of the 2012 award-winning young adult fantasy novel Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, as well as the author of the bestselling nonfiction books for authors and aspiring authors.
Ready to finish your book but not sure how?
Hire Beth to help you or take a class at Barany School of Fiction. Or join her Group Coaching Program.
Still have questions? Email Beth.
Recent Comments