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WRITING TIPS
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WRITERS BLOCK...or not!
All writers suffer from writers block at sometime throughout their lives. As a writer you may have done the research and collected all the ideas necessary to work on your next piece but when you sit down to put pen to paper, nothing comes out.
What you must remember is that more often than not it takes many drafts to reach that complete, satisfied feeling. And how did you get there? By writing of course.
Don't think it is a waste of time writing anything, just because you cannot write well or you think your ideas are no good. Brilliant ideas often come when writing about nothing in particular. Once you get those creative juices flowing your pen will start to work at full speed.
As a writer, it is a must to constantly gather material.
Record funny remarks that you have heard. Keep a 'busy book' that you can carry around with you. When something inspires you, jot it down straight away before you forget. Listen to peoples' conversations. A mother telling her three year old child to stop acting 'childish', watch the news and hear what an amazing job of running the country our politicians are making. Look for humorous articles in newspapers and magazines that could be a topic for your next short story. Keep files of 'snippits' so that you always have somewhere to look for inspiration.
Go to the pub or a cafe with your friends and people watch. This is an ideal way of developing characters for your stories. Study people in different places. How are they dressed? What colour is their hair? How do they walk and talk? What makes them stand out from the crowd?
Jot it down on a beer mat if you must, just get it all down in writing!
Be careful not to let people see that you are writing about them and ensure you don't identify anyone.
Be aware of your senses throughout the day. What can you see, hear, smell, touch and taste?
Think of life's experiences. Things that have happened to you in the past and also things that may happen or that you would like to happen to you in the future.
What things have made you cry or put a smile on your face?
What makes you angry or sad?
There is so much around us that allows our mind to wander. It is just a case of tuning in and writing it all down.
This is how fiction develops. There is no shortage of ideas once you know where to look .
Another useful way of gathering information is to read like mad. Anything and everything. Novels, textbooks, magazines, dictionaries, newspapers and brochures. This will help expand you vocabulary and be a great source for interesting and meaningful words. Keep a seperate note book to list good sounding words, phrases and their meanings. Use this as a personalised dictionary to use for your own work.
Now you have gained the 'know how' to keep your mind racing with ideas for creative writing, why not give it a go.
Don't let writers block be an excuse. You know where to look, so go on...get writing!
by Bev Jones
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MORE THINGS TO DO TO BANISH WRITERS BLOCK FOREVER.
*GO FOR A WALK... this will stimulate your senses and you never know what you may see.
*LISTEN TO MUSIC... this can be very inspiring in different ways. All depends on the kind of music you are listening to at the time.
*MOVE TO A DIFFERENT ROOM...don't always sit in the same chair at the same table to write. Simple things like location and surroundings can influence how you write.
* RING YOUR MUM OR GRANNIE... they always have plenty to talk about without expecting you to reply. You can make notes while they are quite happy telling you about Mrs Jacksons blue rinse disaster at the hair dressers last Friday.
*DO SOMETHING YOU HATE...by doing this you will realise there are worse things than writers block.
*WRITE NO MATTER WHAT...Sooner or later those doodles and scribbles will develop into a great piece of work.
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