1. Character names: I love to base my character names off of the meaning behind them. I love to use a baby names website to help me find the meaning of names I like, which you can find here. I know it's a little weird to use a baby names website, but hey, it helps. If you want a strong character, think of a name that means strong. Or a warrior character, find a name that means warrior. It not only helps you find a name, but will give your character a unique meaningful name.
2. Need advice or writing prompts to kickstart your imagination? You should view my favorite writing blog of all time, which is located here. This website helps me out SO much and I absolutely love their writing prompts and advice!
3. Inspiration is very important, and I find the most inspiration in music. Whenever I listen to some songs, I can perfectly envision my characters in a specific scene I would like to have, and BOOM inspiration. Maybe I will post some of the songs I like to listen to while writing at a later date. (Probably sometime this week.)
4. Get to know your characters. If you don't know your characters, your readers won't be able to understand them. If you see a certain outfit, or listen to a certain song, and don't think of your characters or if they would love it- YOU DON'T KNOW THEM ENOUGH! These characters will be a part of you for the rest of your writing career, make them your best friends. Your characters can never be too complex or planned out, you have to make them real, so real you almost find yourself wanting to talk to them through the page!
5. Writing schedule. This is very crucial to your writing journey. Don't have one? Well, neither do I! I'm trying very hard to get on track, but I find that very hard to do. I can only write when I have a good idea, or want to work on my characters some more. Whether that be at 2am when I have to type it into the notes on my phone, barely awake, or in the middle of history class when I have to jot down a few notes on the side of my paper. This summer, I really will try to get a solid writing schedule going, because I have nothing else to do all summer! I will keep you informed on how I will manage with this and if it works out....
6. Organization. This may seem like a very hard thing to do, but I promise that it isn't all that hard! You just have to find what you like. Catherine likes to write on her computer. I find that very hard to do, and I'd rather hold a pencil in my hand and write my beloved words onto paper. I have a binder with all my plot and character developments, and plans for my chapters. I have a notebook in which I write my chapters down- just the first drafts of course! These haven't been edited yet. I then have two accordion folders where I keep all of my notes about writing (How to use metaphors, double negatives, how to make dialogue sound real, ect.) My other is for all of my drafts that I'm not sure I like, but might still be useful for latter on. I will then continue to write all my chapters in order, once I finish the first draft of the book, and edit it during that stage. Then I plan to type it up in my final stage of editing. Until then, I will be with my lovely pencil and notebook.
7. Have fun. If you are not having fun with your writing, just take a step back and reevaluate where you went wrong. Are you unhappy with your characters? Do you not like your plot? Do you feel as though you are not organized or don't have enough time to write? Find out what might be the problem, and try to fix it. Writing should be fun, not something you feel bad doing. Writing is apart of you if you do it write! (Hahaha, funny pun. Okay, it's not that funny but I thought it was clever.)
And those are some of the basics, but I will post more about writing latter on as I continue my jouney with my books. I hope this helps!
~Kate
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