New Website

 
I have been working at creating a new look for my writing blog as well as a new website over the last few weeks. The website was created to be a central hub for all my information concerning writing. I plan to use the writing resource page of my website as a tool to accumulate helpful writing information for myself and other writers. My new website can be found at www.cynthiagriffin.net. I also added a link from this blog to the site, which can be found at the top left hand corner of my blog. Enjoy!

5 Writing Blogs to Check Out!

Writing is my passion and something I try to do as much as I can. I like all types of writing and have done everything from fiction to nonfiction. My love of writing doesn't necessarily make me good at it, however, so I'm continuously seeking ways to be better at what I love. I have found writer's blogs to be a wonderful source to do just that. Below you will find the top 5 blogs that I read on a regular basis. I have found each inspirational and a great help to expanding my knowledge as a writer.

Beginning Writers: What You Should Know

You've decided that you have a love of writing and would like to pursue it further whether it be as a hobby or a career, but you just don't know where to start. As someone who has "been there and done that", I can sympathize with your predicament, so decided to compile some basic information that will help on your journey to discovering the imagination inside.

Dorchester (Leisure) Boycott

Some disturbing news was brought to my attention today by a fellow writer, and it is the worst kind for a writer. It seems that the publisher Dorchester has begun the dangerous game of cutting authors out of their rights. They are in the process of converting to a complete digital format for their product and in doing so are trying to find ways to infringe on the rights of authors. In some cases, they are even selling books that had the rights already returned back to the author. In response to this outrageous behavior, people are starting to take a stand. I urge others to join in on this and do what you can to help support those being victimized by this company. If  you want more information about the specifics of what is happening and ways to help please visit the blogs of Robert Swartwood and Brian Keene. I have already send in an email of protest to Dorchester and plan on not purchasing any of their books. Please help us make a stand.

Feedback: A Double-Edged Sword

This blog was inspired by two individuals frootbat 31 and J. Timothy King and their recent posts on feedback. I thought the topic intriguing and something I happen to have very strong feelings about, because of the power that feedback has given me to become the writer I am today.

It is interesting to see the variety of opinions that exist over such a topic as supplying feedback to fellow writer's. I never truly realized the great contention that seems to stem from this particular subject, which I always considered a boon to help writer's reach a different level of understanding with their own craft, though, it seems that others mark critiques as a creature bloated with personal attacks, and still others consider the art of critique a matter solely focused on the negative. This is a blog to dive into the topic of feedback and my belief that getting constructive feedback on your work can help you find true understanding of your own work if you are willing to listen.

Writing Challenge: A Challenge for All

Writing is something that I truly love to do, but even that love can falter by my personal shortcomings, so I find that in challenging myself to be better I can plow through some of my procrastination and self doubt. Every once in a while I like to come up with challenges for myself that gets me motivated, drives me forward, and expands my experience that much more.

Right now my challenge to myself is to write 50 articles for www.associatedcontent.com by the end of April. I started at the beginning of March and so far I have 12 articles and have a multitude of others in the works as well as a notebook full of ideas. I'm not sure if I'll reach my magical number of 50, but I've enjoyed the challenge so far. It will not only help me work on a deadline, but it will give me a library of articles to use to help promote my writing abilities, and with every word I write I become better at my craft. If you wish you help support my efforts go to my contributor page to check out a listing of articles.

I also want to throw out a challenge for all fellow writer's everywhere to actively challenge yourself to be better in your craft. You can only become better by doing. Whether it be submitting for a writing contest, writing articles for an online site, or some other self imposed challenge, it is important to constantly try to find ways to motivate yourself to be better. I implore you to take up a torch and let it shine!

Getting Your Article to Standout

“Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head.” ~ From the movie Finding Forrester

You’ve completed the first draft of your article, pouring it out onto the page with reckless abandon, but now as you polish it up, it’s time to put on your thinking cap to find ways to make it standout and be seen. Here are 5 ways that you can get your article to standout with a pop!

Write It Down or Lose It

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes of his mind on the hop."  ~Vita Sackville-West

It's a rare thing that you sit down to write and some of your best ideas actually come while your writing. If you're like me an idea will come to you out of the blue when your driving the car, making dinner, working-out, or maybe even watching Television, and if you are also like me and don't write that idea down right away it will disappear into the haze of your memory. It is important to catch those thoughts and place them somewhere so that they don't drift away to be lost forever, because chances are they won't come back. I can't tell you how many great story ideas or ideas period that became lost to my forgetful brain. So what is the cure to this dilemma?

Does Nonfiction Have Plot?

Nonfiction and plot, do they really need each other? Can nonfiction dance alone, by itself without being partnered with plot? Some believe that because of the nature of nonfiction that it does not require plot, but you have to have a focus, don’t you? So wouldn’t the focus be the plot? In short, plot works in nonfiction to present a uniformed piece that draws the reader in and tries to convince them of something specific. 

In order to have good nonfiction then you must have a clear purpose. If you do not have a clear purpose then your nonfiction it is doomed to fail. A bunch of directionless information isn’t going to make the piece hold strong and it will falter.  It’s the purpose that keeps interest and gives it a driving force.

How to Write Nonfiction

You have found a topic you want to write on, but aren’t quite sure how to proceed next. You probably already know that nonfiction writing is essentially the organization of facts into a complete piece that presents those facts to a reader. But how can you do it so that it makes sense and is something that’s interesting to read?  Here are five steps to get those facts from head to page, and dazzle the reader with your repository of knowledge.

Dig a Little Deeper

Are you stuck and not able to move forward in your writing? Do you find that no matter what you do those words just won’t come, even when you bang your head up against the wall? Are you feeling completely abandoned by your muse and not sure he’ll be making an appearance ever again? Then it just might be time for you to dig a little deeper.

Starting Your Story: Beginning in the Middle

The blank page stares back at you, mocking your very effort of telling the story that’s been haunting you for days, but where should you begin? You know that there is a masterpiece of character and plot just waiting to erupt into written form, though at times it can be a challenge to figure out exactly where the beginning really should be. The best place to start is in the middle.

In the middle of where, you ask? - The middle of the action. Throw your reader in head first right in the middle of something going on. It can be as dramatic as a high-speed car chase or as mundane as washing the dishes, but the point is to have your character actively living out their lives. Then you can spend the rest of the story catching the reader up to the important information they need to know about.

Website Spotlight

I have been recently collaborating with a writer friend of mine who has a new website about writing. On the site, you can find useful information and resources with lots more to come in the near. This site is brand new, but bookmark it and check back for new stuff! I too will be posting on it from time to time. Check it out at www.stevenwmorse.com. Right now I have my The Building Blocks of Plot eBook there and an article called Starting Your Story: Beginning in the Middle.

The Building Blocks of Plot

I recently became aware of a detrimental flaw to my works of fiction to find myself unable to complete many of my stories. I began to realize that my problem laid with my fundamental understanding of plot and so I decided to dive into research to try and find a way to fix this problem. During my journey that spanned over two months, I found a lot of helpful information and began taking notes- lots of them. I then decided that there may be others out there with my same problem and so began to write an article on plot, but there was a problem. There was way too much information to fit in a 500 to 700 word article, so I began a series of articles. Then a friend of my suggested putting the articles together to create an ebook, so here is the finished product of all that effort. I place it here for those who would like to read it. Hopefully you too will find some use for it. It certainly isn't a full comprehensive about plot, but it will at give you an idea of what good plot is and how to use it to get that story out from start to finish!

I have the free ebook posted on Google Docs. Check out the link at The Building Blocks of Plot.

What is Flash Fiction?

Flash Fiction, in short, is a fiction of extreme brevity. It can range from a few words to a thousand (but usually doesn’t go over a thousand words).  It has many terms: microfiction, sudden fiction, short fiction, postcard fiction, or short short  story.  It has a history that has goes back to Aesop’s Fables and has been used often by many authors like Ernest Hemmingway. There are also exact word count flash fictions such as: the Drabble or Nanofiction (about 100 words in length) 55 fiction and the 69er.*

The key to flash fiction is to create a complete story in as short as time as possible, so conciseness is king here, creating flash fiction is an excellent way to learn this delicate technique.  Some people do this by choosing a topic that evokes strong emotion and use that to drive their point home, while others rely on universal knowledge (like ice is cold and loss is sad). 

The best way to approach flash fiction is to imagine it as one scene or moment in time, which then you come in with your “camera” and take a snap shot. You then convert that picture into words that stand a testament to your picture for all eternity. So don’t over think or complicate it with too many details, just come up with an idea and write it.

Check out www.flashfictiononline.com for some great examples of flash fiction!

*information from www.wikipedia.com