writing tools

A Different Hunt

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Instead of being a creature of malice, this week we are diving into a human-turned-keeper. Keep reading to find out some interesting facts!

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Herne the Hunter | England

“The antlered spirit of a hanged man that guards Windsor Forest.”

Basic Facts:

  • Truth be told…Herne was probably based off of a real keeper of the forest.
  • Story goes: the hunter made a pact with the Devil, forcing him to be doomed to hunt forever.
  • He rides at night, mostly but is found during storms.
  • Herne is said to wear horns, rattle chains, blast trees and cattle BUT…is not commonly seen by mortals.
  • Our beloved hunter had an oak tree, which is rumored to be where he haunted most of the time, was torn down…but Queen Victoria came to the rescue and replaced it with another oak.

The Three-Headed Hound

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Cerberus | Greece

“Multi-headed hellhound that guards the entrance to the underworld.”

Basic Facts:

  • Prevents the dead from leaving the Underworld.
  • We know the Cerberus as a three-headed dog, but most early depictions show the Cerberus as a regular-sized dog with one to two heads.
  • Described to have a serpent for a tail, snakes protruding from parts of its body, and mostly a hound.
  • Cerberus was rumored to have surfaced on Earth but returned by its own will to the Underworld to serve Hades.
  • Cerberus’ name derived from the Greek word “creoboros,” which translates to “flesh-devouring.“

From Us To You

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We have been talking about a lot of world-building lately. We see it as a very vital part of writing, especially when it comes to creating your own world. The detail behind your creation should resonate with your reader, and describe a place they will be sucked into. Some of our authors at HRM gave us a look into their ways of building and we thought it would be nice to share with a writer who hasn’t quite gotten the grasp of piecing together their fictional world.

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Krista Walsh:

I have my system (basically pages and pages of journal entries attempting to consider every element of the society as it goes across books), but a streamlined version would probably be a bit more coherent. 😉

Pippa Dacosta:

I have a notebook for each novel/series and write all of my little world intricacies down. Most of the world-building I layer in after the first draft. Touch, sights, social differences, currency, sayings, speech patterns, etc. I try and make the world-building almost unnoticeable.

JR Rasmussen:

I use a single Scrivener project for a whole series, so all my notes are in there. Before I start writing, I gather up enough to make me feel like I know the place well enough to live in it for a few books, and then add/revise as I go along. Everything from the magic system to what they eat. Also maps. So many maps.

Writing With…

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Helen Simpson:

“The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying ‘Faire et se taire‘ (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as ‘Shut up and get on with it.'”

Journaling

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If you enjoy journaling and are also a writer/author, the relationship between the two can get stronger if you put them together. Embracing a journal and writing entries regularly can help develop your skills as a creative writer.

Suddenly Jamie, a blogger, gave 10 reasons as to why journaling helps writing. Here are just a few that I believe are relevant to writing your novel:

  1. Helps develop writing habits.
  2. Helps find your unique voice.
  3. Clears your mind.
  4. Flushes out the crap.
  5. Alleviates the pressure to be “good.”

First, you need to find your own journaling style. If you’re a new writer and want to incorporate your journaling with your writing, there are many different ways to use your journal as a powerful writing tool. You shouldn’t feel pressure from your journaling to write more, think of it as a tool or technique that encourages your writing to happen, instead of falling into the abyss of writer’s block. One style of journaling is like John Steinback’s journals. He chooses to journal about his writing process and keeps himself updated about his writing outside of his current manuscript. Another method is to mirror something like ‘A Q&A a day’, also called “Big-Picture it,” you answer questions in which you revisit the questions after time has lapsed and in revisiting something may pop out in which you can use in your writing. If you enjoy poetry and Twitter, another interesting journaling technique is to use the character-limited social service to write a short sentence about anything. When choosing this route, you could write one tweet a week and compile 52 different poems! A similar tactic is using keywords to write in short hand. Lastly, snapshots are a fun way to journal about one moment in the day.

 

Now, if you’re comfortable with your journaling style but still want to try and weave it together with your writing, Mari L. McCarthy may be able to help. Journaling is not writing, so don’t substitute! Journaling can serve as a warm-up exercise prior to writing professionally. Writing in a journal can jumpstart thinking and test all kinds of limits for your creative writing. Your journal can be your personal therapist – to flush out the unwanted writing you may accidentally include in your novel.

The art of journaling can be a simple cure to writer’s block or can easily be used to keep your writing brain going between projects. Maybe taking a trip down to the local hobby store and picking up a journal is in your future…it counts as “work,” right?

Fanfiction for the Soul

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Fanfiction has been in existence since 1939; you read that right. 1939. Now, fanfiction has served as an outlet for many to read and write as they please within a world the original storyteller has already created. It can be broken down into many subcategories as well, like: angst, crossover, fluff, darkfic, fix-fic, hurt/comfort, shipping, self-insert, smut, songfic, and WAFF. We’ve discussed some places where fanfiction can be found on the internet (Wattpad, FicWad, Tumblr, etc.) but another outlet which some can profit from is Kindle Worlds – Amazon’s fanfiction service.

Are you a writer of fanfiction and don’t like to admit it? Well, E.L. James and Anna Todd are two successful fanfiction writers and some writing professionals have taken to fanfiction as well. We all know E.L. James – writer of 50 Shades of Grey, and currently rewriting her best-selling series in Christian Grey’s point of view. Everyone knows the original 50 Shades was Twilight fanfiction. If you’re just learning this now, you read that right – Twilight fanfiction. Another author on the rise is Anna Todd. We’ve talked about her previously as a Wattpad star, but her original series After is based on some fanfiction she wrote about the British boyband sensation, One Direction. Embrace your love for writing fanfiction…these ladies did and they’re bestselling authors now!

Moving on to a more touch-y subject, many authors who rose to their fame the old-fashioned way don’t necessary enjoy fanfiction, especially of their own works. Authors like Stephanie Meyer, George R.R. Martin, J.D. Salinger, and Diana Gabaldon see fanfiction in a similar way: some form of plagiarism, discrediting the author of original story, and not a good way to write if you want to make a career out of it. But let’s break down why fanfiction is good for the soul, according to AutumnMooncakes (a fanfiction writer) and another source:

  1. To clear the air, fanfiction is not technically a form of plagiarism. It isn’t a form of trademark infringement until someone decides to make profit off it. This is exactly why E.L. James drastically changed her fanfiction to become an original piece of work.
  2. The writing of fanfiction helps embrace the creativity within an individual. Not all writers have a sense of what they wish to write about, all they know is – they want to write. So by using a world already created by published authors, the writer can exercise their own writing capabilities.
  3. Fanfiction has proven to be a form of support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The connection people have to reading LGBTQ+ type fanfiction can change a person’s life in a way. So, why wouldn’t you want to helping people not feel alone?
  4. And find a way to deal with the bumps in the road of writing. Fanfiction sets creative limits with the characters already made by the author, getting the minor details right, and there needs to be plenty of research to make the character accurate. Even when the original author has added onto the series (i.e. spin-off, prequels), it makes the writing process more interesting to revisit the fanfiction piece to include new details.

I respect any author who dislikes fanfiction; they’re entitled to their own opinion and demand respect for their work. It should always be remembered a piece of fanfiction can save a life, can serve as an outlet for their fans who are facing their own struggles and a way for writers to embark on their journey of writing.

The World of Wattpad

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In 2006, Wattpad was created. With 11 years under the company’s belt, the free platform for writing has accomplished plenty. People behind Wattpad have built ties with major publishing houses (yes, we’re talking Random House, HarperCollins, Simon and Schuster, and Sourcebooks). One success story from Wattpad is Anna Todd with her AFTER Series, originally published online. Of course not everyone gets to see the rise to fame like Todd did, but services like Wattpad are making their mark on assisting authors to get noticed.

From 2014 alone, 85% of Wattpad’s traffic and usage came from mobile devices. Each month, there were 35 million unique visitors, including users. OVER 100,000 chapters are uploaded each day and OVER 2 million dedicated writers use the service

If you’re not involved or familiar with the platform, Wattpad provides a few different services. As a member, you have access to “Clubs,” which are groups for members who seek help from one another or feel the need to discuss topics relating to writing. Wattpad is also known for The Wattys- an award system created to reward writers for their stories with members participating in the votes. There are also many writing contests held for writers to challenge their own ability and to earn some credentials to their name. There is a collaborative space for beginners to learn from the stars of Wattpad how to navigate the website and how to create a fanbase. Lastly, Wattpad also hosts a writing exercise for participating writers called #JustWriteIt, a 30-day writing challenge.

As a writer, there are some pros and cons with joining Wattpad so if you’re interested in being published or if you are still deciding if the service is right for you, you will want to consider both sides:

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Write on.