A chilled writing challenge to suit the oncoming winter. Write for 10 minutes on the image below. Post the results in the comments at the bottom.
Bikeless Winter in Amsterdam, originally uploaded by B℮n.
As much as I’d like to be a writer who pumps out a short story every couple of weeks, I am not. A single short story can take me as long as three months to finish. A combination of abrupt writing sessions and an obsession with drafting means that committing to any creative project is a big decision; an invitation to obsession.
The basic premise of the story I’m working on at the moment is two men, refugees perhaps, stranded metres from the shore of a new country, unable to cross the few last yards due to the presence of a man of some authority waiting for them on the shore.
The premise is typical of how I start most of my stories, an initial spark of creativity with an intriguing situation, something to get me interested enough to explore further. Once I have that catalyst for creativity, I begin drafting. I usually have an idea for how long the story must be and as I go through successive drafts, I’ll usually discard or write over around 30-40% of the previous draft.
The first two drafts are about working out the narrative structure. The language at this point is full… Read more
A mysterious one for you all. Write for 10 minutes and post an excerpt below in the comments. Feel free to let your imaginations go wild on what is actually contained in the photo. Personally, I see the view of a black hole through the rear view mirror of a space cruiser. Or some kind of alien mind swapping device. Unshackle yourself from reality for a bit.
wing, originally uploaded by futureancient.
Today kicks off the first edition of a new #wip series on unpublished writers. The aim of this series is to explore the writing process for those still working on their first novel. Exploring success, failure and all that comes between. The first unpublished novelist up is Karen Cunningham.
I should start with a correction, Karen Cunningham is technically published. A graphic designer by day, Karen produced a picture book for kids, Jenny Spaghetti, under the pen name Karen Margaret in 2001. What started as a whim to tell a story, escalated into a full time distraction as upon finishing Karen turned her enthusiasm towards a young adult manuscript.
Karen says whilst she remains proud of Jenny Spaghetti, she soon became aware that there was more to learn, and further to grow, especially when contemplating a full-length manuscript.
“I’ve been to many workshops at writers’ festivals, and also completed online courses through the Australian College of Journalism and Writing for Success. The courses gave me the ability to work to a deadline, which I really need, otherwise I just tend to put it off all the time.”
Karen,… Read more