Writing tips: Books

If there's one thing I like sharing, it's tips.

 It doesn't matter what kind of tips they are. I just love to help people out. I'm that kind of person. Occasionally the tips I give aren't actually what are needed, but I tried, which is the main thing I suppose.

 I was reading Derek Landy's blog, and I noticed his writing tips, which reminded me of the post I made a while ago with my own tips, which you can find here: My Top Writing Tips! (please forgive how shallow it is, I was only 13 when I put it together).
 If you want some better (and highly amusing) tips on how to write a good book, Derek Landy's three posts are very good: How to write books Good part 1 part 2 part 3
 Anyway, how about I post some more tips?

• Good Story Plot
   A good story plot is the start of a good story. Everyone should knows that.
   What I do is I write a short summary of the story, then a full out summary, and then I start writing out chapter summary’s. I find that to be quite useful, compared to what I did when I was younger; I'd just have a vague idea of what would happen, start writing and then the story would fall apart because it became ridiculously out of control.

• Good Character
   If there's one thing that's important, it's having an engaging character. The more realistic the character, the more your readers can connect to the story. And in order for that to happen, you need to know your character.
   What I do to really get a feel for my character(s) is to write up a Character Profile Sheet. Generally I'll make up the sections in a Profile Sheet, but if I'm not in the mood I'll just go onto the web instead and find one to use. (I'll post up my copy sometime soon)
• Details
   Details are the most important thing in your story. It's what fleshes it out, makes it devour-able. Generally I've found that there's no such thing as too much detail, but that might be because I don't tend to put too much detail into my writing, but there is such thing as not enough detail. I've seen that in quite a lot of books.

Writing Books, Making Covers

Hey All!

 First of all, I'm really sorry about not posting more NaNoWriMo preps. :( I got a bit sidetracked. However, I'll post the photos that were taking me forever to take (my camera decided to stop working for a while).

 So I bought two notebooks - A really big one to write the story in, and a little one for all the extra info I need on hand for my book.

 Picture 1: Front cover of the notebook (characters, etc). I place my name (or author name (which is different from my actual name) in this case), event/class and year in the box.

 Picture 2: First page I write out what I call a 'Character Profile' for the main character(s). I then fill it in with the character's details.

 Picture 3: After getting the main characters done, I leave a page blank then start a new round of Character Profiles for the side characters. I find that also includes the main villain at times.

 Picture 4: Now that I had the Character Profiles written out, I could start writing all the other important stuff, such as Powers (for my story ;P), made up words, etc.

 Picture 5: After getting all the important stuff down I wrote several different blurbs, each labeled Blurb, Blurb 2, Blurb 3.

 After that you can also write down your plot, if you want too.
 

 Picture 6: My writing book for the story. As you can see, I've bought an A4 Exercise book, with 192 pages.

 Picture 7: For name I've put down my Author name, for subject I've put down NaNoWriMo, and for Year I've put down 2014.



 If you do what I've done above (or something similar), you'll have a fairly relaxed mind, and that will help you write when November 1st comes round (4 more days!!!!).



 Now, I always like imagining what my book's cover should look like if I ever get it published. Sometimes (**cough cough** normally **cough cough** :P) I like to get a dramatic picture, because it looks cool. Of course, if I'm drawing the cover, it doesn't always come out how I imagined it, which I find both frustrating and sad. When that happens, I check out pictures on the Internet to find a good one.
 The first cover I got was for Fantasy Land, my NaNo novel from 2013 (or, if you prefer, last year). The original picture was made by someone on Deviart (I hope you didn't mind me borrowing it!), but some lovely artist-writer on the NanoYWP site changed the colour of the Dragon and added both the Title and my Author name to the picture. Here's the cover:

 Then today (even though I can't do NaNo this year, after all my preparing) I made a cover for Powers, the book I was going to write for NaNo this year. Once again, I believe that a lovely person on Deviart made the original picture, so all credit goes to them for designing the picture! and I added the title and my Author name. Here's the cover:

(I later thought that I should have used a brighter red for the writing, but I couldn't be bothered with editing it).

 Then I was planning ahead for more books to put in the Powers series, and trying to give the books names. I decided to give the third book the name Powers: Raising The Dead and suddenly had a cool idea for the front cover. After a while sitting around drawing and trying to work on GIMP I made a cover. Here's the cover:

It came out better than I thought, so I feel quite happy with the covers!



 Well, that's all for today. Good luck to my readers who are doing NaNo this year, and may time ever be in your favor.

Catch you all later!

 WillowUnicorn

Story writing.

Hello dear writers!

 How is everyone today?

 Well, I shall have the next "Preparing for NaNoWriMo" up next week sometime. So no, it is my deepest regrets to say that I am not here today to help with organizing for the long, daunting road ahead.

 I have recently started a LEGO blog. It's for all things LEGO related. Then mum was talking about the fact that I should have a special blog for story writing. And that's when I had the bright idea of including a "LEGO Stories" page on the LEGO blog, since most of the stories I write are some LEGO fanfiction.

 So if any of you are interested in having a look at the current story I'm posting up, click here. I'm planning on posting on it once a week, maybe twice a week, and you'll know when I have a new chapter up because the "!!New Chapter!!" sign will have vanished from the chapter you read last time. Plus I'll make a blog post announcing that there is a new post. ;)

 Keep on writing, and a tip for when NaNoWriMo comes: take everything in your stride! (So no rushing!!)

 Happy writing!

 WillowUnicorn

Preparing for NaNoWriMo

Good Morning! :) How is everyone this fine Spring morning?

 So, it's time to start preparing for NaNoWriMo.

 "What?" you all cry. "We have to start preparing now? But NaNoWriMo isn't for months!"
 "But," I wag my index finger at you. "You cannot focus very well if you are not prepared!"
 "But it just takes a week to get prepared." you protest. "I can be ready in one week!"
 "You may be able to get ready in one week," I give you all an earnest look. "But will you be feeling frazzled or relaxed?"
 You all pause, trying to find a suitable reply.
 "Because you see." I  sit down in a chair. "Lets say you're out of pens. Tomorrow is the big day. It's Sunday, and all the shops are closing in half an hour. You rush off to Office Works, but it's too late - they have just closed. All the other shops are closed because it's Sunday.
 "Then, because you didn't have any pens, you have to get some in the morning, wasting about an hour that could've been used writing.
 "How ever, if you start preparing now, less than a month and a half before NaNoWriMo starts, then you can start the writing challenge the on the first day without feeling stressed!" I give a winning smile to all of you.

                                                     ~*^*~

 OK, so, mini-stories aside, lets make a list.

 The last thing you want to happen during NaNoWriMo is to run out of paper, or lose, or even  break, your pen/ pencil. You'll also want to tidy up the calendar and make sure that there are good spaces of time for writing.

 The first thing we need to do is make a list. Lists are so lovely. Here is why:

•  They are clean
•  They are organized 
•  And so easy to read! :D

There you go! We just read a mini-list. (And for those who got and read the NaNoWriMo email, I got the list idea from that :P) ^-^

 Your list is going to be full of stuff you need to buy and do. First of all, lets make the To-do list:

•  Find a little corner to write and to keep your writing.
•  Make sure there's enough room in your bag to put your writing in it.
•  Check all your pens, and make sure that they are in good working condition.
•  Have a peep at your stock of paper, or have a look for any notebooks you own that are big enough for story writing and aren't taken up by notes.
•  Check out what's in your kitchen cupboard. 
•  Have a look at the calendar, and tidy it up so that you can attend NaNoWriMo events, and to make sure you have enough time to do writing.

 OK, so above we have our To-do list. Now, below, let's make the To-buy list:

•  Notebooks
•  Pens
•  Pencils
•  Paper
•  Tea/Coffee/Milo
•  Nibbles (cookies, chips and dips, etc)

OK, so above we now have our To-buy list.
 I like buying at least two notebooks at a time, occasionally three if I have the money. I like to write really big books, and how is one supposed to write a 50,000+ worded book if they have one notebook? You'll also need a notebook to sort out the plans for the story.
 The paper is for any random ideas that pop into your head while you're writing. You need to put those ideas somewhere, because when you're writing a book ideas can sometimes leave as quickly and suddenly as they came.
 It is essential to have things to drink and nibble. It does no one any good if you are writing on an empty stomach and a stressed mind. I like having a nice stock of licorice tea, as it's so yummy and helps me to relax. Also having a good stock of cornchips helps, because if I need to nibble something I'll have a small bowl of them with dips.


 So now we have the basics for preparing. Soon I'll be posting up how to organize your plotline, characters, all the story planning needed so that when November comes you won't be running around trying to get all the last details onto a piece of paper.

 Well, hopefully this helped you! If you have any questions, feel free to ask, as I'll be happy to help you out.

 Happy writing!

 WillowUnicorn

NaNoWriMo

Hey readers! :D

 Wow, it's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it?

 Well, it's getting to that time of the year - NaNoWriMo is coming up! Are any of you excited for it? I sure am! :D It's time to start organizing for what November may bring. I've already had an idea for what I'll write this year, and Mum says that if I plan ahead well enough I can go to things like the Kickstart on November the 1st, the 24 hour Writing Spree, and all the other events!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, NaNoWriMo is the National Novel Writing Month. It's held every year in November, and for the whole of November you have to attempt to reach the word goal of 50,000 or more words. There is also Camp NaNoWriMo, held in the middle of the year.

 If you're aged 13+, you can sign up for NaNoWriMo. If you want a friend, you can find me here. I'll be happy to friend you, but remember to message me at the same time, saying that you read my blog posts!

 If you're aged between 0-17 (although I highly doubt a toddler could write a book. :P), then you can sign up for the Young Writers Program. It's held by NaNoWriMo for younger writers. Unlike NaNoWriMo, where you have a set word goal, the Young Writers Program allows you to set your own goals. You can also find me on there: Spinjisumaster.

 I look forward to seeing you all on NaNoWriMo this year! :D

 Well, I must go, I have school work to do, and circus classes as well. :)

 Keep on writing!

 WillowUnicorn

My Top Writing Tips!

Hey guys!
I've had a good reaction to my Story, Stormchild and the Ninja: https://community.lego.com/t5/NINJAGO-Stories/Stormchild-and-the-Ninja/m-p/7191144#M92565
So I've decided to put up my writing tips to help you write stories!


   1. Start, Middle, Finish
   You need to know how it Starts, what happens in the middle, and how it's         going to finish, or it could last Forever! I was writing a story, and didn't how to finish it - so it's unfinished!

   2. Write it on Paper(this is useful if you use the Lego message boards)
       Lots of  people (I'm not saying all, but a lot) will just type up chapters on the spot without reviewing them. ALWAYS write it on paper first - then when you type it up, you can edit it!

  3. Music
      Listening to music is a good way to feel things in the story - or to add things to it. I was writing a story and got stuck. Should Kai's friend die or survive?I wondered. The music became sad, wistful and full of shock and surprise. I know Kai's friend would die, so I wrote it.

 4. In their Shoes
    Try to imagine how you would feel being in your characters position.

 5. What is its History?
     Think about why something happened - then write the story about it's History! It will give your story a fuller feeling - plus you can post it up later if you want. Did you know J.R.R. Tolkien wrote twelve books on Middle Earth's History just to write the Lord of the Rings?

 6. Read it to Somebody.
    ALWAYS read your story to somebody. Siblings can be good for this, especially if it is about their fave topic. If you don't have siblings, then read it to a friend - and ask if they like it!

 7. Edit Edit Edit!
     There is always a part to be edited: A word added, taken, changed, a paragraph added, taken or changed etc. This is one of the most important steps.

8. Heading
   What do you want your heading to be? Something that says: bla bla bla is in this, or something that will make the reader wonder? This is up to you. The more catchy the heading, the more likely people are to read it!


I hope this gave you some help. If you have any good tips, feel free to post them!
WillowUnicorn