Then it comes to the editing stage. This is something I personally am not a massive fan of. For my novel I even wrote two first drafts to put it off a bit longer (it’s working quite well that the moment, as I now have a play to work on, so probably won’t look at it till the summer). Whether to leave some distance or not is not something I really think about, normally I either start editing straight away, or leave it for ages, I haven’t really seen particular benefits of either, except that starting immediately means I’ve started, which is the always good. What I like to do, particularly with shorter things, is print them off, then, get lots of different coloured pens and write all over them. For some things I literally end up with writing in all the margins of where I’ve re-written whole paragraphs. Then I type up what I’ve changed and restart the whole process all over again. And then, somewhere along the line, I find people to read through what I’ve written, and edit some more based on their feedback. The editing is definitely what takes me the longest, and what always seems the most open ended. For the things I’m currently working on, I’m not at all sure when it will come to an end.
So that’s how I get a story from my head, onto a computer, and ready for people to read. This is by no means the only way, or the best way, it’s just something I’ve noticed I’ve been doing quite consistently. What do you do when you write down a story? Comment below. Happy planning, writing and editing, Sonja
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Hey everyone, How are you all doing? So we’ve had an awesome month so far. Our writing sessions have taken place every Thursday and will continue to do so. Some highlights from those include the time we made some monsters and ended up with some political references. Or the time we took some random people, places and events and made a story out of them, causing some severe historical inaccuracies and was a whole lot of fun. In addition, this month was NaNoWriMo which meant some crazy writing times. We’ve even had all-night write-ins to prove how mental we all are. It’s been absolutely crazy but we’ve all done soooo incredibly well. Just remember that if you’ve taken part, no matter how many words you’ve written, it’s still so many more than you would have done otherwise which is absolutely awesome.
So that’s it for this month but we’ve got loads of real awesome stuff coming up for December so please look forward to that.
Feel free to come chat to us in the forums or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nclwriting) or Twitter (@nclwriting) should you have any questions at all. Happy writing! Salma J Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a good week, and those doing NaNoWriMo are still plowing forward. I've got another opinion piece for you. Here. Enjoy! One of the most popular genres for creative writing is fantasy, which brings in a whole host of exciting possibilities, including magic. Now, there’s plenty of resources on the CreSoc website to help you build a magic system for your story, so here I’m just going to briefly talk about possibly the most fundamental trait of your magic, which, if chosen wrongly, could make or break an entire narrative.
Hard mgic vs soft magic. A hard magic system is where the laws and system are fully known and defined, whereas a soft magic system is unknown and mysterious. Soft magic systems are much more common in books and movies, such as “A Song of Ice and Fire” and “Lord of the Rings”, and hard magic is more likely found in tabletop or video games, such as “Warhammer” and “The Elder Scrolls”. Neither of these systems are inherently better – in fact, as a storytelling mechanic, they are incomparable – so long as you know how to use them correctly. Hard magic is the more difficult of the two, due to the large amounts of exposition it requires, but grants a lot more freedom when set up. The main things to remember: limitations and consequences. For each “magical act”, make sure the reader knows the power and the cost before using it. Most people focus on the limitations, but the consequences are where you can really get creative. From the physical (to cast a spell, you require a petal from a rare flower), to the metaphysical (each spell cracks the fabric of reality; if two cracks meet then the universe will shatter), to the psychological (every spell has an affiliated emotion which is drained when it is cast, leaving the most powerful sorcerers as soulless husks who’ve lost the will to live), these can provide many complex and interesting storytelling scenarios. One of the main advantages of a hard magic system is that the magic can be used as a tool by the heroes, to solve problems and overcome obstacles. Take the example of a hero in trouble teleporting away from danger. With a soft magic system, this would seem like deus ex machina, which decreases the threat of any future danger and is generally a lazy way of storytelling. However, if you have previously defined how the teleporting works (only on a full moon, inside a circle of mushrooms, chanting your name backwards, and it kills a random loved one) then the reader will understand how the magic is cast, and the consequences of it. Soft magic can of course be used in your narrative too, but must be approached as one would luck; it can only be used to get your protagonist in trouble, not out of it, or just as superficial tricks which provide no real effect to the narrative, provide a sense of mystery and danger in your fantasy world. And finally, you can mix them. Maybe your magic starts off as a soft system, but as the narrative progresses, the characters slowly learn more and it becomes a hard system. Maybe your heroes use hard magic, but your villains use a stronger soft magic. Whatever you choose, just remember, above all else your story comes first. This blog was heavily inspired by the Brandon Sanderson’s Three Laws of Magic. For the full article and more, visit the Worldbuilding section of the resources. What’s your favourite magic system? Can you think of any particularly interesting uses of hard or soft magic systems? What magic system do you use, and why? Post down in the comments and, until next time, keep writing. Devon Hi everyone!
I was actually writing this at our first Writer’s Date, at Central Bean, on one of their very comfy sofas. We hold these tea/coffee meetings on the last Saturday of every month, (although November's will be on the third week) so make sure you pop along to our next one! We’ve had a very busy October, from writing sessions to workshops, but we’ve got an even busier month to come. November, to many people, means sleepless nights, endless refreshing of word counts, and occasionally shouting at computer screens. In other words, National Novel Writing Month is upon us! To celebrate, and to help those of you who are going for that golden prize of 50,000 words, we’re hosting lots of events, such as write-ins at the Robinson library (our first one is tomorrow, Saturday 5th from 7 'til 7!) and casual socials where you can chat to others about your ideas. There’s also going to be a NaNo awards ceremony at the end of the month to celebrate individual achievements, and we’ll be going for a fun restaurant social afterwards. But don’t worry if you’re not going to be doing NaNoWriMo – these events are welcome for everyone, and we’ll still be hosting the usual writing sessions every week. Remember to check our Facebook (/nclwriting) for events and which rooms we’ll be in for them! Happy writing! Tilly Plotting. Why do we do it? It’s hard, it takes forever, and it's not like our characters ever want to listen to us anyway. It doesn’t matter if there’s a giant, invisible sky dragon waiting for them three towns to the west, your characters are bound to head north, chasing a fairy-tale about a wish-granting pixie. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if your characters stray from the path. The story you’re writing is never the one you set out to write, it’s the one you find along the way. All you need to know is where it starts and where it ends. Everything in between isn’t so much plot as it is character dynamics. Revenge. Love. Loyalty. Traitor. Lover. Brother. It’s no coincidence that the most common character motivations are all about character dynamics. Even if your character’s a loner, unless they have lived alone and away from human contact all their lives they should have been formed by their social environment. Rejection is as much a form of social interaction as inclusion. If a fantasy character wants to slay the dragon for glory, who are they trying to impress? If a contemporary character wishes they were more exciting, who’s telling them that they’re boring? A desire for change, negative or positive, needs a catalyst. Just like it isn’t realistic to have a villain who woke up one day and decided that being evil sounded like a good career choice, a hero can’t want to help everyone without a reason. Someone has to have raised them that way, or something must’ve happened that made them determined to save as many people as they could. What happens on the path between the beginning and the end depends entirely upon who’s walking down it. If the characters have only just met, you might need to establish trust quickly. If they’ve known each other forever, maybe they have to adjust to a new person joining the group, or a new dynamic forged between them by the situation. If you get bogged down in writer’s block, you could consider playing around with them. For example, what happens what the group mediator picks a fight? What’s pushed them to it, and who breaks it up? How does the group split after an argument? What do they do when the medic doesn’t have the necessary skills to deal with an injury? Characters aren’t just formed by the climax. Stories need multiple crises. If you end up with one that doesn’t add anything to the story and can’t be tailored to the plot, you can always cut it later. I hope this has been useful, especially with National Novel Writing Month around the corner. Remember, we’ve got a workshop with Alex Jackson, the writer of the Malkonar trilogy, coming up on Tuesday, as well as the usual writing session on Thursday. Hannah Hey everyone, How are you all? We’ve had a great start to the year so far. We’ve had our very first social of the year which started out at the Student’s Union. We played some ice breaker games to get to know each other and then went to Wetherspoons to have a lovely chat over some food. Thanks to everyone who came along to that and we hope that you all got a chance to talk to the committee and see just how friendly we really are
As well as that, we have our first writing workshop of the year tomorrow (Saturday 15th October) with our very own Editor on the committee, Sonja. She’s awesome and will be leading this workshop on a way to plan your next project called the Snowflake Method. Whether you’ve heard of it or not, this will be a fab chance to find out more and learn how to actually apply it to your own novel or screenplay, or anything with plot you happen to be working on.
We also have a new writing buddy system! This is a great opportunity to pair up with someone who shares your style of writing and make some new friends. We’re really excited about this opportunity to inspire and critique each other’s work so please join the Facebook group to find out more. And that’s just the beginning of all the things to come. We also have another workshop planned for the end of this month with published author Alex Jackson who we are very grateful to for agreeing to come along and speak with us as well as some coffee shop sessions that will take place this month on the last Saturday of October. So yeah, that’s all I’ve got for you at the moment but check out the CreSoc society on Facebook and Twitter as well as right here on the website to find out more about the exciting things coming up as well as to talk to us on the committee. We really hope you’re as excited as we are to see what else this year holds for the CreSoc society! Until next time, Happy Writing! Salma
There are two types of writers. Jotters and Plotters. Instinct and Intent. Steven King and JK Rowling. Explorers and Architects. You probably fit into one of these categories, maybe slightly, maybe religiously. Either way, in this blog post I’m going to cover some of the advantages of each, to try and help you choose the best tool for the story you want to tell.
Architects AKA, Outliners. These writers are the daydreamers. They’ll spend months, years, even decades refining and perfecting their story before they write a single word, with their story going through many changes before the perfect one is found. When pen finally does go to paper (or fingers to keys in this age), it will be total dictation, possibly with a scene/chapter breakdown on a spreadsheet beside them. To them, the writing process is not storytelling; it is telepathy, finding the right words to transfer the story from their own mind to that of the readers.
Explorers AKA, Discovery Writers. Instead of focusing on story, these writers focus on situations. Pre-work and planning is done on the characters and the world, fleshing them out and giving them depth. Then, armed with characters, a starting point, and a destination, they start writing. The story is crafted moment by moment, as the characters organically discover each situation they come across and react accordingly. Writing and storytelling go hand in hand; inspiration comes in the moment, and passes directly to the page.
So, there you have it. I myself am a complete architect, spreadsheets and everything; although, after researching and writing this post, I’m going to try to edge a little closer to the Explorer side of the spectrum. What type of writer are you? Explorer, Architect, or something else entirely? Do you think either is inherently better? Discuss in the forum and, until next time, keep writing. Devon
The social's on Wednesday and we'll be meeting in the SU In the Martin Luther King Suite (on the first floor for those who don't know), playing a few games and icebreakers, and then moving to a different venue for drinks. You'll get to meet everyone and get a feel of what we're like as a society.
We're also having our first writing session on Thursday! This'll be a very casual affair - and don't worry if you didn't make Wednesday's event, anyone can come along. We're going to be doing some fun writing exercises and prompts, and starting the year with some creativity! Remember, to come on any future socials, workshops, and writing sessions, you need to be a registered member! The fee is £5, and we'll be putting that money towards retreats, professional authors, and other fun stuff! And if that's not enough to convince you, we'll also be giving out our own pens at the social, and we all know how much free pens come in handy. See you soon, Tilly Hello everyone!
It’s a new school year, and we have a brand spanking new website to accompany it. Since this is the first blog entry of the year, and of the website, there’s so much to talk about. It’s a little difficult to know where to start! We’ll be using this website to talk about future events, post loads of helpful writing resources, and invite you to take part in our forum! You’ll also find information about this year’s committee, who are all incredibly excited to get on with all the events and activities we have planned for this year. We’ve been working hard on not only setting up this website, but also re-branding the society and its designs. We hope you like the new look! The blog is here to keep you updated on events, and also allow our members an opportunity to express their thoughts and musings. We welcome submissions and it would be a great opportunity for you to advertise any of your own projects. We’ve also spent this summer eagerly preparing for one of the most important events: Fresher’s Fair! You’ll find our stall easily, considering the nice new banner and leaflets and bookmarks we have! We’ll also be giving out free pens to those who sign up to our email list, so you can think of us when you’re writing your next masterpiece. Since we’re focusing our efforts on Fresher’s Fair, our first social and first writing session will be the following week - more details to follow. Remember, you can find us here, on Facebook, Twitter, and the official NUSU website. We also send out weekly emails, so give us your email address to receive those! Hope to see you soon, Tilly |
Blog posts are written by our committee members, posted regularly! We talk about exciting new ventures, upcoming events and opportunities, as well as the odd writing thoughts and topics we think of!
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