Imogen Elvis: Gossiping with Dragons: September 2015

Wherein Imogen Shares Her Epic Editing Process

20:28

Writing Music: Your Suggestions #1

19:01

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, I sent out a distress call, begging for music to help inspire and motivate me. The response was overwhelming. If you go and look in the comments, you’ll see a huge list of songs that people recommended to me. I’m awestruck at your kindness. Thank you everyone. There’s so much epic music there that I’ve decided to share some of my favourite pieces with you in a sort of mini-series featuring music that you’ve suggested. I won’t be able to post all the pieces as there are so many, but if you’re interested, the full list is in the comments below THIS post.

Audiomachine-Battle of the Kings

(Thanks to Gemma Fitz)

This is an amazing piece with atmospheric choral support, a sense of urgency, and a dash of determination. It’s perfect for a heart pounding climax, a battle, fight, or even a final confrontation with the villain of the book. It would suit a fantasy, sci-fi, or possibly even a historical book.

Audiomachine-Amethyst

(Thanks to Gemma Fitz)

This is a gentle piece that is filled with a sense of wonder and awe. It feels like discovery, stumbling upon a hidden nook, or a brand new world. I think it would also make a lovely accompaniment to a romantic scene personally. It would suit a sci-fi, romance, or any book really, that has a sense of wide-eyed wonder, discovery, and beauty.

Walk the Moon-Shut Up and Dance

(Thanks to Jos R.)

This is an amazing feel-good song that’s been getting me in a good mood for writing. It is an actual song with words, so it might not be the best song to listen to while actually writing if songs with words bother you, but it’s still well worth listening to, if only to lift your spirits. It just screams love on the dance floor. It would be the perfect song for a contemporary or a romance.

Have you heard any of these songs before? Which is your favourite? Got any song recommendations for me? I might feature it in a future Writing Music: Your Suggestions post!

Top Ten Tuesday

Where Has Imogen Been?

07:00

Photo credit: Taylor.McBride™ / Foter / CC BY-NC

I didn’t realise magician’s disappearing tricks were so effective. Two weeks I’ve been missing from the blogosphere. Two weeks! My poor blog is looking a little neglected at the moment. Sorry guys! (Did anyone miss me?) I didn’t intend on taking so much time off, but it was sadly unavoidable. And I come with excuses (I always have lots of excuses). Seeing as I left you in the lurch with no warning, I thought I’d better explain my conduct. So, what exactly was I up to while I was vanished?

Well, first there was a bit of this:

My brother got married, which was amazing. Also exhausting, as anyone who’s ever helped organise a wedding can attest. I was lucky enough to be able to help not just with the preparation, but also with the music during the actual wedding, which was an awesome experience. All round, the wedding was beautiful, and also the main reason for my disappearance. Plus my sister flew back from literally the other side of the country to be there, so that was exciting, and my other brother graduated from uni four days later. So there was that too. All important exciting family stuff.

Then there’s also been a little of this:

Photo credit: freddie boy / Foter / CC BY-SA

Editing. I’ve been trying to get some editing done on my fantasy novel, The Crystal Tree, before it gets to be time to prep for NaNo. So far the list of things to fix seems even bigger than last time, if that’s even possible. You turn your back on a manuscript for a couple of months and it thinks it can do whatever it likes. It’s a little discouraging at the moment. This will be the seventh draft of the book, and there’s still so much wrong with it. Frankly, it’s killing my motivation a little. But at the same time, there are some new ideas I’m looking forward to incorporating into the book in this next draft, so that’s a plus, right?

And there’s also been a little of this:

Photo credit: Abdulla Al Muhairi / Foter / CC BY

The plot bunnies are back in full force. I’ve been bitten with an awesome book idea that might work out as my NaNoWriMo project for this year, if I can ever get the complicated worldbuilding sorted out in time that is. I can’t really give many details just yet, seeing as it’s very, very new, but I can share the basic concept. Apologies, but even the concept’s a bit rough right now.

In a world where blood is currency, one girl must find another way to pay back her father’s blood debt before it claims her life.

I’m really looking forward to plotting this story more. Just working out the logistics of the world is fascinating. Bring on NaNoWriMo 2015!

And that’s pretty much everything I've been up to in the past two weeks. Between weddings and writing, I’m feeling a little bloggily deprived at the moment. So tell me, what have you guys been up to while I’ve been away? What awesome blog posts have I missed? Tell me all!

writing

Four Benefits to Studying Writing

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Photo credit: Charlottes Photo Gallery / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA

Last week, I wrote about some of the benefits to not studying writing at university/college. And there are some great reasons to learn how to write by experimentation rather than under the pressure of a formal course. But there are also some great benefits to studying writing by taking classes, beyond the obvious reason that someone is actually telling you what works and what doesn’t. I’ve spent the last three years studying the craft of writing and publishing at university, and I’ve discovered quite a few other benefits to studying writing through formal classes. Today I’d like to share four of them.

You’re Forced to try Unfamiliar Genres

This can be inconvenient sometimes, being forced to studying forms of writing that you have absolutely no interest in. But at the same time, having to write in other genres means that you have a chance to discover a new style of writing that you might actually like. I took a required unit on writing magazine features, and found a whole new set of skills in that style of writing. I’ve also discovered a love of writing for children after having to write the text for a picture book. Both of these are genres I would never have tried had I not needed them for my degree.

You Have to Finish Stuff

University and college is filled with dreaded deadlines that seem to sneak up on you with no warning. But there is an upside to this. You have to finish your pieces of writing to be able to turn them in on time. In writing, there is often a temptation to work on a piece of writing forever, until it’s perfect. But the problem is that a book will never be one hundred percent perfect, and you may get stuck trying to perfect a book instead of moving on and writing something new. Enforced deadlines are great because they make you have to finish things and move on.

You Can Learn Practical Publishing Skills

A lot of the units I’ve taken have taught me practical skills about getting published and how publishing works, even the units that aren’t about the publishing industry. My unit on magazine writing also taught me how to write a proposal for a feature article. My unit on writing for children taught me about the publishing process of a picture book works, and that’s not even mentioning the units that actually look at the inner workings of the publishing industry. The unit I’m studying at the moment is currently looking at the history of publishing in Australia, as well as contemporary publishing practices, which are both highly useful, and incredibly interesting.

You Can Get Some Awesome Resources

My writing textbooks are amazing resources. I have them sitting on the shelf by my desk so I can dip into them at random moments. I have The Editor’s Companion, which has helped me a lot in editing other people’s work, and Feature Writing: Telling the Story, which is a great resource for writing articles. I’ve reused these ones a bunch throughout my degree, and they look like they’ll be useful beyond university too. Plus I just got Making Books and Inside Book Publishing. I’ve only just started using these, but again, they look to be great resources, and they’re both books I would never have picked up had I not needed them for a course.

These are just some of the benefits of studying writing in university or at college. But there are plenty of benefits to learning to write by experimentation too. If you missed my post on that last week, you can check that out here.

Do you agree with any of these? What else would you add to the list? Have you ever thought about studying writing? Or do you prefer to learn as you go?

Writing Music

Writing Music: Save Me!

19:58

Wherein Imogen Shares Her Epic Editing Process

Writing Music: Your Suggestions #1

Top Ten Books On My Spring Reading List

Where Has Imogen Been?

Four Benefits to Studying Writing

Writing Music: Save Me!

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