It’s the last day of the month, so it’s the perfect time to post my final Beautiful Books post for the month. Nothing like leaving time sensitive tasks until the very last minute to get the heart racing. For those who don’t know, Beautiful Books is a writing link-up hosted by the amazing duo, Cait@PaperFury, and Sky@Further Up And Further In. For the...
Merry Christmas everyone! At this point in the day, I’m probably collapsed in an armchair from excitement, exhaustion, and too much Christmas food (is there even such a thing?), but I have prepared this post well in advance, so we’re all good. I doubt that anyone is actually thinking about writing today of all days, and quite rightly so. So instead of sharing...
With the new Star Wars film The Force Awakens being released this week, it seems only fitting that this week’s Writing Music come from the series soundtrack. Which means that the piece is iconic, dramatic, and well-loved. This piece being, of course, Duel of the Fates. While there are many amazing pieces from all the Star Wars soundtracks, this one in particular is...
Photo credit: rubyblossom. / Foter.com / CC BY-NC Christmas is getting closer and closer, and I don’t know about you, but life’s getting pretty busy for me at the moment. Christmas shopping, Christmas cooking, Christmas parties, the occasional burst of sleep between activities, Christmas is a very busy time indeed. I always struggle to find enough time to be able work on my...
Intense scenes, such as scenes of loss, defeat, joy, or epic battles, are often easier to write when you have the right soundtrack playing. But what about all those lesser scenes, the ones that are still important, but not charged with as much emotion or tension? For me, I like to have a piece or two of calmer background music to suit a...
Photo credit: HarisAwang / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA Well, that's NaNoWriMo over for another year. Another month of desperation fuelled novelling, late night plotting, and chaotic character killing conquered. Whether you ended up with that purple winner's bar, or didn't quite make it, you should all be very proud of yourselves for being brave enough to have a go. (If you weren't doing NaNoWriMo, then thank you for...
I’ve been sharing quite a bit about the books I’ve been writing for this NaNoWriMo, and in the spirit of sharing, I’m joining in with Cait@Paper Fury and Sky@Further Up And Further In’s Beautiful Books link-up, a writerly link-up were writers get to share about themselves and their books. For this NaNoWriMo, I’ve actually been writing two books, Blood Debt, a YA dystopian...
Photo credit: HarisAwang / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA It's week four of NaNoWriMo. I can't believe the month has passed so quickly! From here, it's only a short run to the end of the month. To those of you who are already finished and celebrating their wins, congratulations! You are amazing and you deserve all the cake. To those of you still soldiering on, keep up the great...
Photo credit: HarisAwang / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA It’s the third week of NaNoWriMo. If you’re participating, congratulations We’re over the halfway mark. I hope the Week 2 blues didn’t hit you too hard, and that your characters are helping you find your amazing plot. Whether you’re ahead, on par, or behind, you’ve done an awesome job to get so far. Now that we’re over the mid-point, it’s...
Photo credit: webtreats / Foter.com / CC BY While it may not look like it from the outside, writing is a physically and mentally tiring occupation. Spending hours staring at a screen, typing away madly, controlling a bunch of headstrong characters while simultaneously creating a universe out of nothing but chocolate and determination, is exhausting stuff. But, in the midst of all this,...
Music is always very important to me when I’m first drafting, and especially during NaNoWriMo when I need all my concentration for churning out my daily word count. Today’s music comes from the movie Edward Scissorhands, which is a movie I haven’t actually ever seen. I stumbled across this piece quite by accident, and was rather pleased when it became an instant favourite....
Photo credit: HarisAwang / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA It's Day 11 of NaNoWriMo, which puts us smack bang in the middle of Week Two. Ah Week Two, that lovely time where the initial rush of excitement is wearing off and the hard work is setting in. Maybe the plot has wandered from the outline, the characters have developed minds of their own and are wrecking your best laid...
Photo credit: crsan / Foter.com / CC BY I’m going to confess something big: I compare myself to other writers. And I hate that I do it. I’m constantly measuring myself against other people to see how I stack up, and judging myself harshly. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing how well my writerly friends are doing. I rejoice when you have...
A lot of writers like to put together playlists for their books, made up of songs that suit the general atmosphere, contain similar ideas, or suit their characters. I’ve sadly never been one of those writers. Finding the right ideas to put in the book is hard enough for me, let alone trying to find songs to match. But, very occasionally, I stumble...
Photo credit: HarisAwang / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA It’s day four of NaNoWriMo. Writers are settling into their groove. The initial adrenaline rush may be wearing off by now, but, powered by tea and chocolate, writers are powering their way through the first week. And what a first week it has been so far. I’ve been super encouraged by watching the amazing progress...
I think by now, everyone is aware that NaNoWriMo has started. Writers scurry away into their little caves, armed with tea, clubs, and caffeine patches, sweating out their daily word counts. I myself am no different. In the Dragon Cave, it’s anchors away on the first draft of Blood Debt. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50k words of a novel in...
As I promised last week, when we took a break from the Your Suggestions series, we’re back, with another three amazing pieces suggested by you guys. I’ve been really enjoying listening to all your suggestions, and loving having the chance to share them with everyone. But, before we get into the music, I want to know, would you like this series to continue?...
With NaNoWriMo starting this coming Sunday, it’s the perfect time to join in with Cait@Paper Fury and Sky@Further Up and Further In’s lovely Beautiful Books link-up, the special edition of the usual Beautiful People. Today I’ll be sharing a little about my project for this November. And, as a special bonus, I will be attempting to answer all 10 of the questions for...
