Truth-Fact

Okay, nobody start yelling at me when you read this.

Just hear me out.

You don't have to like (or be good at) grammar to be a writer.

(read the sarcasm in the meme, please :-) )

Now nobody start getting testy on me. I have my reasons for saying that, and I'm about to explain them. Read to the end and maybe you'll side with me, eh? 

You never know until you try. *wink*

Three reasons why I believe you don't have to like (or be good at) grammar to be a writer: 

1. Grammar doesn't really matter in the long run

Nobody mob me. Please. Just think about it. Think about how often people actually use proper grammar in their speaking. Now remember that a lot of what you're writing is trying to mirror actual life. 

Put two and two together, and voila! Bad grammar = ... well, equals kinda sad standards for spoken English, but decent writing nonetheless.

2. Editors fix your grammar

Well, this is obvious. 

A lot of popular writers actually do have bad grammar -- but you'll never know, because the editors polish their work until it shines. That's the truth of the matter, right there. Editors make our work look better. It's what we pay them for. (sometimes it's also why we hate them, because the process can be painful)

3. Not every story needs good grammar

Do you have any idea how many famous people published works with terrible grammar? Works that were praised as being great literature? 

I don't either -- that's how many there are. I can't even count off the top of my head, how many authors became famous off the terrible grammar they published for the world to read. 

Yes, it'll depend on the context of your story and the depth of your characters, but if you write it properly -- bad grammar or not -- people will read it, they'll like it, and they'll follow you for it. After all, if you like it, then someone else will like it to. That's the way the world works. We're never really alone, even when we think we are. 

Besides, you'll never know until you try. Why not give it a whirl, bad grammar and all? 

I believe in you. Always have, always will. 

[love]

{RD}

Crayons

You know those days when you just don't know what to say, when you've written so many words in your projects that writing another hundred in a blog seems an impossible feat?

This is one of those days.

So instead of writing something, I found this video for you!

Really, I probably wasted a little more than that, didn't I? *wink*

[love and happy faces]

{Rani}

< end >

Monday, we talked about how to get started in your novel.

Today, we're talking about something almost as important: pushing though until the end. 

1. Never give up

Yeah, yeah, it's cliche. But don't give up! Don't do it! Too many of us get a short ways in and then give up because we don't know how to continue. Well I'll tell you what, just do it. Just sit down and keep writing, and see where it goes. Think of it as a series of short stories that make up a whole book, if it helps. After all, that's really what novels are.

2. If you get stuck, go back and read what you already have

This always helps me to keep going, especially when I've hit the point that I don't want to continue anymore. Going back and rereading everything can open up some new possibilities and bring up new ideas you haven't thought of yet.

Try it.

3. Keep your characters in mind

Do this, because your characters want their stories to reach a climax. They don't want to be in an unending story, or one that doesn't get to find its finish. If you don't find the end, they don't find their end, and nobody's happy. So think of them, think of what they would do, and think of how they would like to go on with their lives.

4. Have someone else read it, to keep you accountable to finishing

I do this with every single thing that I write -- even the short stories. Doing this makes sure that I'll finish, because I have someone else pushing me to do it. Usually I'll nab a good friend and talk them into reading for me, and they always keep me accountable to finish. So if you're having trouble being accountable to yourself, do this. Honestly.


I hope these ideas were helpful to you! Remember, it doesn't have to be November to be novel writing month. Sit down and get some words on the page.

Every story has to start somewhere, right?

[love]

{RD}

< begin >

Wow guys. Maybe I should post about The Walking Dead more often. You all seemed to really enjoy my last post!

This week we're going a little more technical and hopefully helpful to those of you who want to start writing but don't really know where to begin.

How to start writing a novel, 101

1. Define your idea

Usually this begins by writing out a mass of ideas that might be able to go together, and then seeing if they might possibly work.

For example, can we throw together telepathy, the Holocaust, slavery/racial tensions, underground civilizations, superheros, and time travel to make a good story? Yes. That would be X-Men.

2. Outline your idea

Take all your best defined ideas and chuck them together in an order that makes some sense:

One young mutant is hurt during the Holocaust.
While in their twenties, another mutant, a telepath, befriends the first.
The rest of the world becomes more aware of mutants, creating a newly formed "race."
The mutants are forced to go underground and live in the shadows, doing their good deeds in secret.
Mutants are hunted to near extinction, and find a way to go back in time and change the way everything happens.
Eventually, the world comes to see many of those mutants as superheros.

Success!

3. Create your main characters

Really, this one goes in line with part 2. While you're outlining, you'll probably come up with a few good ideas for characters. Go with your instincts.

Two main characters: Magneto, the young mutant harmed in the Holocaust. Professor X, the second mutant who befriends him.

The hard part?

One of them has to be your villain.

Sometimes, that character won't show themselves right away. In the novel I most recently wrote, I didn't meet the antagonist until almost halfway through the book -- and there is a high probability that it will happen to some of you.

If you can't find the villain, don't worry. They'll show themselves in the story when the time is right.

4. Start writing

This is what I do. I'm not an outliner. If I outline, I won't write the story. So if you've had this problem, just start writing. Follow your gut, go wherever the story wants to go.

Above all, DO NOT FORCE THE STORY TO GO SOMEWHERE IT DOESN'T WANT TO GO.

Trust me, you'll know if that's happening. It's called writer's block.

4a. Make your outline

This one's for those of you who need an outline in order to know what you're doing:

Decide how you'd like your story to proceed, write out a simple list of events you'd like to have happen, and then refer back to #4.


For those of you who are aching to write your first novel, I hope this was helpful for you! If you have any questions or you'd like me to add more detail, please let me know. I want to write things that you want to read.

I really do.

[love]

{RD}

Claimed

Any of you watch The Walking Dead?

You remember that episode when Daryl is with that group of guys who "claim" everything? That's where my title comes from.

Yeah, those guys were jerks and we should probably never think of them again (except maybe to revel in the amazing gory bite scene near the end of the season), but there's one thing we can take away from them:

Claimed

You want something? Claim it.


(ladies, nobody's claiming Daryl here: not you, not me... move along)


My point here is, if you really want something, you have to claim it for yourself. If you want to be something, you have to declare to yourself that it is what you are. If you don't believe it, then it's never going to be true. But if you declare it, if you profess it, if you fully and completely claim it and start working toward it, it's yours.

So claim it. Claim what you are. Be what you want to be.

Want to know what I claim?

Christian. Artist. Writer. Woman. New Creation. Senior Editor. Full-Scale Printer Owner. Wife. Fluent Russian-Speaker.

Am I all of those things, currently? Maybe not. But I claim them. I profess them. I am them. Whether the world sees me that way or not.

Because someday, the things on that list that I might not be right now, I will be.

Just watch me.

I claim it.

You should too.

[love]

{Rani Divine}

Spatter

I mentioned the other day that I paint, and that I'm having a piece published in the upcoming edition of Mavguard Magazine... and some of you asked why I'd never mentioned it before.

Well. This is a writing blog, you know.

But then, it's also about me... and I paint... so I suppose we can talk about it.

In reality, it's more that I used to paint. I haven't had the time to sit down and do it in a while, but I have more paintings in storage than I really know what to do with. In fact, I used to paint almost every day, and it was my number one stress reliever.

"Why give it up?" I hear you ask.

Honestly, I didn't want to. But I moved for college, and we all know what trials college brings along with it. I no longer had the time for it, and I had to find new ways to bring my stress levels down.

That's actually part of where writing came in.

Now, before you all go crazy thinking I'm this amazing realist painter, I should say that I'm an abstract painter. It was always more about the spray and slop of the paint than it was about making it look like something real.

And that was the point.

Sometimes, we need that abstract image to get us outside our worlds, to help us see things in a new light. Occasionally, we need to step beyond the world we know and picture things as blocks of meaningless colors.

For me, it was a wonderful and beautiful way to clear my mind -- and I highly recommend that you find something that does it for you as well.

Maybe it isn't painting. Maybe it's poetry or video games. But find something that helps you to relieve that stress, and use it. Find a way to bring your stress levels down, because if you don't, it only becomes harder to function. Especially when you're in college. Which I'm not anymore, but I was very recently, so I really do understand. 

[love]

{RD}

p.s. Someday, I would greatly enjoy writing a novel with paintings to go along with it.

swen (that's news backward)

Here be the news, because, well, there be news:

1. In case you hadn't heard, all this month the Rad Store is running a special on both my books! 

Use code SIGNMINE at the checkout when purchasing an unsigned copy of either book, to save a little money and get a free personalized signing!

Check out my prior blog post for more information: Sign it!

2. Mavguard Magazine's submissions window is open again! 

Yes, for those of you who've been paying attention, the first edition has not yet been released. However, I am now free to announce the tentative release date of April 7! We're all very excited release this edition to the public, and to get started with submissions for round two!

So. That being the case, I thought I should remind you of what we're looking for.

Mavguard Magazine accepts:

Poetry
Short Fiction (stories, screenplays, shorter pieces of longer fictional works, etc)
Art (photography, paintings, drawings, sketches, edited photography, graphic design, etc)

The magazine does not accept nonfiction, YET, but they hope to open the door for nonfiction in the following years.

If you're an artist of any sort and you've ever considered sending in your work to be considered for publication, now's the time! Mavguard Magazine caters to new authors, but will also view the work of previously published authors (and if you've been published multiple times before and are chosen for publication, you'll receive payment for your work!).

Swing by, check it out, and send them an email if you have any questions. Or drop me (or them) a message on Facebook and we'll get you whatever information you need.

3. Did you know that I paint? 

Well, I do. And I have a my first painting being published publicly in the first edition of Mavguard! Yet another reason for all of you to check it out!

4. Links to everything I might have discussed...

Mavguard Magazine Official Website
Mavguard's Facebook Page
Rad Writing Official Website
My Personal Facebook Page

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom!

[love]

{Rani Divine}