Y'all seen Finding Dory yet? Or Finding Nemo? And the just keep swimming song? Do any other writers sing that to themselves while they work as well? Just keep writing just keep writing. I don't know, but I do.
Look, this post is about that. Just keep writing.
I love writing. It's something that helps me work out stress or disappointment. I do it between school subjects to help me refocus my mind. I do it late at night when I feel like I'm the most creative. I do it early in the morning, and it helps my day pass more productively and creatively.
But it's not always easy.
Lately I've been going through something of a writer's block.
You know the best way to work through writer's block?
JUST KEEP WRITING
Yep, simple as that. Ok, maybe not quite. Here's a few things I've been doing more of while writer's block is going on (even at that 3 am hour when creative juices generally are flowing for me)
1) write. That's right. I write (rhyming points please) Maybe not on the books I'm working on, but I'll start short stories. I'll write journal posts. I'll write about my day in unnecessary detail. Anything to keep my hands moving, my brain working, and to just keep writing.
2) research. I get it that lots of people don't like researching, but I do. I love learning new things every day, and it isn't hard. If I'm having writer's block, I start mass researching. Anything. Anything I might possibly write about. I read other people's blogs, about how to write better fight scenes, romantic scenes, death scenes. Whatever, Whatever gets you inspired to do something. Even if it's just writing about your day.
3) relax. do nothing. This probably sounds so contrary to everything above, but between writing and researching, I sit back and think. I let my mind wander into the farthest corners. I fantasize impossible things. Sometimes (if I'm alone so I don't embarrass myself) I act out scenarios w other invisible actors. I play the movie, then write the script.
That's all I have for now. The three main things I've been doing to get through this episode of writer's block. Keep your goals in mind, and just keep writing. You can do it!
-B
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW
Have y'all ever heard the phrase 'write what you know'? Well, I haven't been writing for as long as many people (I'm only sixteen years old), but I've found that that quote should really only be treated as a starting point. After all, if you never take any risks, you'll never discover new things.
Here's a personal example:
I've only ever written in the third person. It was just the kinds of books I read and the way I was used to writing. Third person worked really well for me, no doubt. I have written around four novels in the third person. But recently, I really wanted to advance in my writing abilities. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love writing in the third person and I think it makes a great book. I just decided it was time to try something else.
So recently, I have been experimenting with the first person, writing short stories and now even starting a new series in the first POV. It's definitely a new challenge for me, but I feel like it has really help me grown in my abilities...my writing styles, descriptions, and especially character development.
Point is: trying new things is fun and totally beneficial.
I'm telling you, I can't even estimate how many hours I generally spend doing research for my stories. Because there's things I don't know about. No one knows everything, but we all know different things. So we can learn from each other...each other's stories, each other's writing. If we only wrote what we know, I have a feeling we'd have pretty boring stories.
Here's what I mean:
I've almost drowned before (honest...when I was like four but the memory is so vivid it has stuck with me forever). But I have never broken a bone before. So I could write drowning scenes with good description that I knew was real. I was writing what I knew, so I knew how to write it. But to write a scene where my character broke a bone, I ended up doing a lot of research. About the different kinds of breaks, how long it took to heal, and what people said about the pain. Better yet, I talked to some friends who have broken bones before. And then I was able to come up with a decent (I hope) description of my character breaking their leg.
Another more abstract example:
I know what it's like to be in love (I've had a couple crushes within 16 years of life). I know what it's like to be head over heels for a guy, ok, I think a lot of us know that? Hehe. So I can describe my character's emotions before/while/after they're in the relationship, because I've experienced all three. But I've never lost someone close to me before. I have a really small family, and those who have passed away are people I never really met. I've never felt depressed or felt that loss before. So I talked to people who have, read stories, just did what I could to find out the things I didn't know so I could incorporate it into my story. And overall, the experiences I haven't experienced have made my writing so much better.
I think we need to quit being afraid to try new things with our story-telling, because you never know what the end result is. We all have things we know that we can write, but we can't know everything. Sometimes it really pays off to go out and try something new.
Here's a personal example:
I've only ever written in the third person. It was just the kinds of books I read and the way I was used to writing. Third person worked really well for me, no doubt. I have written around four novels in the third person. But recently, I really wanted to advance in my writing abilities. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love writing in the third person and I think it makes a great book. I just decided it was time to try something else.
So recently, I have been experimenting with the first person, writing short stories and now even starting a new series in the first POV. It's definitely a new challenge for me, but I feel like it has really help me grown in my abilities...my writing styles, descriptions, and especially character development.
Point is: trying new things is fun and totally beneficial.
I'm telling you, I can't even estimate how many hours I generally spend doing research for my stories. Because there's things I don't know about. No one knows everything, but we all know different things. So we can learn from each other...each other's stories, each other's writing. If we only wrote what we know, I have a feeling we'd have pretty boring stories.
Here's what I mean:
I've almost drowned before (honest...when I was like four but the memory is so vivid it has stuck with me forever). But I have never broken a bone before. So I could write drowning scenes with good description that I knew was real. I was writing what I knew, so I knew how to write it. But to write a scene where my character broke a bone, I ended up doing a lot of research. About the different kinds of breaks, how long it took to heal, and what people said about the pain. Better yet, I talked to some friends who have broken bones before. And then I was able to come up with a decent (I hope) description of my character breaking their leg.
Another more abstract example:
I know what it's like to be in love (I've had a couple crushes within 16 years of life). I know what it's like to be head over heels for a guy, ok, I think a lot of us know that? Hehe. So I can describe my character's emotions before/while/after they're in the relationship, because I've experienced all three. But I've never lost someone close to me before. I have a really small family, and those who have passed away are people I never really met. I've never felt depressed or felt that loss before. So I talked to people who have, read stories, just did what I could to find out the things I didn't know so I could incorporate it into my story. And overall, the experiences I haven't experienced have made my writing so much better.
I think we need to quit being afraid to try new things with our story-telling, because you never know what the end result is. We all have things we know that we can write, but we can't know everything. Sometimes it really pays off to go out and try something new.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Some Cool Words
As a writer, I'm pretty well acquainted with words. But in the last few months, the amount of my writing has increased by A LOT. Especially with school wrapping up now, I've had some more time to sit around and type out words. And well, I've run across a few new words lately that I hadn't heard before (or else used before). So here there are:
- Aureate. This is a pretty sounding adjective used to describe something golden in color. As the sun set behind it, the waters lit up with aureate hues. It can also mean highly ornamented or elaborate in speech. The princess had a very cultured, aureate way of speaking. (I don't know why, but my spell check is saying this isn't a word but trust me, it is. I say this on Google's authority.)
- Hogwash. In a nutshell, this strange word means NONSENSE. The little toddler's story was hogwash.
- Spiffy. (I seriously love this word now and use it all the time) It is an adjective to describe someone who is gussied up or looks smart in appearance. In her new blue velvet dress and silver earrings, she looked very spiffy at her brother's wedding.
- Poker-faced. Means expressionless. Even while she was being accused for the murder, she remained poker-faced.
- Somnolent. An adjective which means sleepy, drowsy, abnormally drowsy. (The word kind of just sounds sleepy, doesn't it?) His co-workers noted he was strangely somnolent.
- Pipe dream. A noun which refers to an unattainable or fanciful hope or dream. (Honestly, I have only ever used this word once, but it's pretty cool don't cha think?) After all his hard planning and thinking, he came to the conclusion that his goals were merely a pipe dream.
- Cloy. (I found these last two within the past couple days). Cloy is a verb and it means 'to weary someone by sweetness.' (Think of eating WAY too much candy and getting that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Ugh). Cloying is the adjective form, which means syrupy or sugary. She talked to him in a very cloying manner.
- Dulcet. Means sweet, harmonious, and melodious. (Cute word) She fell asleep to the sound of his dulcet voice.
And there you go. My list of cool new words, and it only keeps growing. So maybe someday I'll update it. But for the meantime, maybe whoever reads this would like to try out some of these in their newest story *wink wink*
Love,
-B
- Aureate. This is a pretty sounding adjective used to describe something golden in color. As the sun set behind it, the waters lit up with aureate hues. It can also mean highly ornamented or elaborate in speech. The princess had a very cultured, aureate way of speaking. (I don't know why, but my spell check is saying this isn't a word but trust me, it is. I say this on Google's authority.)
- Hogwash. In a nutshell, this strange word means NONSENSE. The little toddler's story was hogwash.
- Spiffy. (I seriously love this word now and use it all the time) It is an adjective to describe someone who is gussied up or looks smart in appearance. In her new blue velvet dress and silver earrings, she looked very spiffy at her brother's wedding.
- Poker-faced. Means expressionless. Even while she was being accused for the murder, she remained poker-faced.
- Somnolent. An adjective which means sleepy, drowsy, abnormally drowsy. (The word kind of just sounds sleepy, doesn't it?) His co-workers noted he was strangely somnolent.
- Pipe dream. A noun which refers to an unattainable or fanciful hope or dream. (Honestly, I have only ever used this word once, but it's pretty cool don't cha think?) After all his hard planning and thinking, he came to the conclusion that his goals were merely a pipe dream.
- Cloy. (I found these last two within the past couple days). Cloy is a verb and it means 'to weary someone by sweetness.' (Think of eating WAY too much candy and getting that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. Ugh). Cloying is the adjective form, which means syrupy or sugary. She talked to him in a very cloying manner.
- Dulcet. Means sweet, harmonious, and melodious. (Cute word) She fell asleep to the sound of his dulcet voice.
And there you go. My list of cool new words, and it only keeps growing. So maybe someday I'll update it. But for the meantime, maybe whoever reads this would like to try out some of these in their newest story *wink wink*
Love,
-B
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Hi everyone who sees this! I've never worked a blog before, and I don't know anyone who has a blog. But I created this solely for the purposes of sharing my thoughts with anyone who wants to read. First, I'd better tell you a few things about myself:
1. My name is Beatrix Farnsworth, though everyone calls me either Bea or Trix mainly.
2. I'm going to be a junior in high-school after this semester (woo hoo finals are over for me!)
3. My favorite hobbies include writing, reading, hiking, playing with my dogs, and just hanging out with friends.
4. I HATE chemistry! (Just seems worth bringing up)
5. I'm a fiction writer, though I love writing anything. Stories, essays, letters, whatever.
This blog is going to mostly be posts about writing or else my new favorite reads...possibly a little piece of writing from yours truly. ;) So I think that's enough about me for now.
Love,
-B
1. My name is Beatrix Farnsworth, though everyone calls me either Bea or Trix mainly.
2. I'm going to be a junior in high-school after this semester (woo hoo finals are over for me!)
3. My favorite hobbies include writing, reading, hiking, playing with my dogs, and just hanging out with friends.
4. I HATE chemistry! (Just seems worth bringing up)
5. I'm a fiction writer, though I love writing anything. Stories, essays, letters, whatever.
This blog is going to mostly be posts about writing or else my new favorite reads...possibly a little piece of writing from yours truly. ;) So I think that's enough about me for now.
Love,
-B
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