Courses and Competitions: WriteInvite
Write Invite is an initiative to invite anyone to write.
They welcome writers of all ages, experiences and styles to get involved in their short story competitions.
It’s run online. The write Onsite competition in particular. This opens at 5.30pm every Saturday.
Three themes are given. Choose your theme, pay the entrance fee (which is £4 and you’ll need a PayPal account,) and you’ll then get a certain amount of time to write and submit your entry.
The entries will then be judged and the top three will then be chosen. These three stories will then be made available to the other participants. They will be online to read and be judged from the following Wednesday to the Saturday at 5pm.
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Stationery Haul/My Favourites
I have been hauling some lovely stationery things recently (I need help… seriously.)
I wanted to share some of my favourite products from the last few weeks. I love doing these kinds of posts as I love reading these kinds of posts. You never know what you’re going to discover. I’ve included a link to each one.
Storyteller Pencils:
I love writing in pencil. There is something quite freeing about it. I know that I can always erase anything that I don’t want to keep. I do tend to hoard pencils actually. I’ve also just recently brought a set of Beatles pencils too. I remember writing a lot with pencils when I was at school when I used to do creative writing and I guess that’s what I like about it. When I was that age, the internal editor was a lot more co-operative.
I think I actually got these ones for Christmas and they are so cute. They are very nice to write with too and comfortable in your hand as they are smooth.
The best thing about these pencils though are the little quotes on them. For example, these ones have things written on them like ‘Once upon a time, it was a day just like any other, it was a dark and stormy night and for the Star Wars fans amongst you, in a galaxy far far away.’
I want to aim to get the procrastination pencils too which include funny sayings such as ‘a to do list..you need a to do list, just chew on me and look thoughtful for a bit or you probably need another coffee.’ Hmm, maybe not such a good idea. I don’t need anymore procrastination encouragement. Haha.
Day One is an app I’ve been using for a few weeks.
It was an app I had installed on my phone a few months ago and had been meaning to use. When I did eventually get around to trying it, I found it to be a really simple journal app to use. Some of them can be a bit complicated and hard to navigate.
Day one allows me to have more than one journal so I can separate things out a little. At the moment, I have a random thoughts journal, a notes folder, a blog folder etc. Plus because it is available on both the iPhone and the Mac, it all syncs which makes things so easy. You can password protect the app too which is great for me as I am also using it to write letters to my Mum (sappy I know.)
I’ve found that I’ve been using it every day and it’s developed into one of my favourite apps.
(Day One App is available for Mac, iPad and iPhone: http://dayoneapp.com)
Usually I would use Microsoft Word but I’ve been increasingly using Scrivener lately. I have just found it to be perfect for what I want to do. It allows me to create pages for the characters where you can incorporate images and things. I work better when I can visualise people’s faces and surroundings. You can use the templates if you want to. It will give you a cork board view if it’s easier to see your ideas in that way and more importantly, it will allow me to create chapters which I can jump to and from but will give me the option to include them in a complied document at the end.
Writing the book is frightening but so is the editing part (and one of the reasons why I have been putting it off – the idea of facing this big document.) It being split into chapters means that it’s already in bite size sections and therefore not as scary.
It can be hard to get your head around. I’ve been using it for a while and I’m still not aware of all its features. Sometimes I have no choice but to use another word processing programme (if I’m not using the computer but using the iPad) but it is easy enough to copy and paste in and keep it organised. I love it.
by Writing Room: Introducing Something Unexpected
Tuesday 12th July 2016:
Today’s writing group exercise is about introducing something unexpected.
Take something you’re working on at the moment. Make a copy of it (one that you can discard after.)
Now, using that copy, pick a major point in the story and introduce something unexpected into it. If it’s a serious subject, introduce something crazy like a talking animal circus or if it’s a lighthearted plot, introduce something serious into it. What if a unicorn suddenly popped up in a history lesson where your character has just assured the students that unicorns don’t exist?
How do your characters react to the change?
by Competitions: July’s Win A Blind Date With A Book
It is very easy to judge a book by its cover. I know I do it. The cover is the thing that initially catches our eye in the book shop. It can sometimes completely sell the book or make you walk by it without giving it a chance. Our competition is one with a twist. It’s your chance to win a blind date with a book.
I’m not going to reveal what the title of this month’s book is nor will I reveal the cover. All I will reveal is that the themes include ‘solitude, loosing yourself, keeping belief and survival.
How to enter:
All you have to do is comment below with your name and county (although county is optional.) The closing date for entries is Saturday 30th July 2016.
I will then pick out a winner at random and will announce it on the Novel Kicks blog on Sunday 31st July 2o16.
It’s not needed to enter but if you wanted to have a go at guessing what the book is too. UK and Ireland only this time around. Good Luck.
by Author Interview: Seré Prince Halverson
Seré Prince Halverson is the author of All The Winters After which was released by Landmark Source on 16th February . I am pleased to be welcoming her to Novel Kicks today. Hello Seré, thank you so much for joining us. Which moment in history would you like to return to and witness?
It would be pretty cool to bounce around with Neil Armstrong on the moon.
What’s your typical writing day like? Do you have any writing rituals?
I’m usually up early. I make strong coffee with frothy almond milk. I write in my journal to clear my mind and warm up, then eventually I’m writing the novel and move to the computer. When I get stuck, I go back to the notebook and scratch around or take a walk or read. Or I have a snack. Snacks help.
What is your favourite word and why?
Ostranenie. And before you think I have a grand vocabulary, I’ll admit that recently a list of fantastic words popped into my inbox, and this was one of my favorites. I liked them all, but you asked for one so I won’t be too obnoxious and throw them all around. It means: encouraging people to see common things as strange, wild, or unfamiliar; defamiliarizing what is known in order to know it differently or more deeply. Isn’t that a great word? Check out the whole list: http://www.stumbleupon.com.
Out of all the books you’ve read, which three have impacted you most?
I could answer this question differently on any given day. Too many. So I’ll tell you the first books that had a big impact on me.
When I was nine years old, I read three very different books that changed the way I viewed the world: The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne of Green Gables, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. It’s strange, even today, I can see their influence on The House of Frozen Dreams—hiding, isolation, love of place and family, and longing for home.
Oh, and I should mention Charlotte’s Web. I still carry spiders out of the house instead of squashing them.
by Book Club
