To our wonderful readers:
Hello, from Emilie and Patricia.
We have decided that since we have grown exceedingly as writers, and that we now know quite a bit more about blogging, we are starting afresh.
We will still be Writer's Corner, just at a different site domain!
Head on over and check it out!
The Shiny New Blog
We love you all to bits and pieces, and are so excited to share our tips with you!
We even have a new posting schedule... **sly smile**
Keep Writing, and see you over at the new site!
Lots of love,
<3
Emilie Graye & Patricia Rane
Monday, February 2, 2015
Info Post
Patricia, here.
Okay, I am sooosoooosooooo sorry. I left you guys. In the middle. Of Camp NaNoWriMo.
My computer got a virus, and that took 3 weeks out of my November to take care of. Plus Thanksgiving. And school.
Enough excuses. I'm sorry.
I did not meet my NaNoWriMo goal. My computer being broke for three weeks, and being on vacation for one week definitely did not help.
Anyway, I will be talking to Emilie over the next few days/weeks on what to do. We are both swamped with school and just... life.
Stay tuned for more info about what is going to happen.
We thank you for your patience!
Keep Writing!
<3
-Patricia Rane
Okay, I am sooosoooosooooo sorry. I left you guys. In the middle. Of Camp NaNoWriMo.
My computer got a virus, and that took 3 weeks out of my November to take care of. Plus Thanksgiving. And school.
Enough excuses. I'm sorry.
I did not meet my NaNoWriMo goal. My computer being broke for three weeks, and being on vacation for one week definitely did not help.
Anyway, I will be talking to Emilie over the next few days/weeks on what to do. We are both swamped with school and just... life.
Stay tuned for more info about what is going to happen.
We thank you for your patience!
Keep Writing!
<3
-Patricia Rane
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Some more tips for surviving NaNo.
Hello, my dears.
Well. I am going to be honest with you. My eyes still have sleep in them, as I am writing this. I am extremely tired... And. And. And. And... I have bumped my word-count back to 80,000.
Yesterday, I was writing (after a long busy day of school... Plus, I'm sick :P) and it hit me like a semi-truck.
Well. I am going to be honest with you. My eyes still have sleep in them, as I am writing this. I am extremely tired... And. And. And. And... I have bumped my word-count back to 80,000.
Yesterday, I was writing (after a long busy day of school... Plus, I'm sick :P) and it hit me like a semi-truck.
There is no earthly way I can get 100,000 words done in one month. And my goal is 120,000.
So, yeah... It's A-Okay to bump your word count around. It is really important for you to feel like you can conquer this. Me? From the beginning, when NaNo's word-count calculator spit out the daunting figure of 119,880 it scared me.
Yesterday, I thought about the 20,000 words I already had in my novel before NaNo started. How long did it take me to write those? I probably took me a week, putting all the writing time together. But it definitely was spread out all over the place.
I decided that 80,000 was a good honest goal to set for myself. And believe me... When I told my mom this... The look of relief on her face was pure magic.
Okie-dokie. Enough about my problems. Let's get busy discussing what you can do to help survive the second part of NaNo.
If you are having a problem writing, or with your idea progressing...
You can:
Take a break.
Go on a walk.
Work on something else (i.e.) schoolwork.
Bake some cookies. (if you want a really good recipe, request in the comments xD)
Listen to some music
Email Writer's Corner for inspiration and help. raneandgraye@gmail.com
Well, that's what I have for you today. Tomorrow, I will be posting about the details of those lovely ideas. But for now, you can use your imagination on them.
Keep writing, and don't let the NaNo gremlins get you down!
~Patricia Rane
Friday, November 7, 2014
My Challenge For You Today - NaNoWriMo Day 7
It's day seven... Let me be completely honest with you:
If you're anything like me, you're wondering "Why in the world did I ever sign up for this???"
I get it.
Day 1: Everything is awesome!!! You've got the perfect plot planned out... your characters are fresh - something you've never had to work with. It's great. You have the 4,000 words that you're supposed to have written today... Well, they're WRITTEN!
Day 2: It's still awesome! I barely got the 4,000 in, but I am still loving working with these characters!
Day 3: I'm on a sugar/caffine high, I got 4,000 words in - but it's 1:00 am (day 4).
Day 4: Zzzzzz, oh, I'm supposed to be writing? Darn, I forgot about that omnibus paper that's due this Friday. Well, Writer's Corner said that school work comes first, so...
Day 5: Ahhh! Yesterday I only got 2,000 words in! This is bad - this is very, very bad! Now I have 6,000 words to get done today, and I have geometry.
Day 6: I. Am. So. Stinking. Tired. I. Don't. Even. Care. Anymore.
Day 7: Why in the world did I sign up for this? I'm almost 2 days behind (i.e. 8,000) words, and it's not even the weekend yet.
Let me tell you something.
You can do it.
I believe in you.
It's in you, you just have to push harder.
You can do it; I believe in you.
Whoever said being a writer was easy, obviously was never a writer. There are times where I sit on my bed and scream into my pillow because I can't get the million dollar idea out of my head and down onto paper. Believe, me. There have been times where I have given up. I've deleted my work, and said that I will never write again. But I always do. Being a writer is not something you can wake up, decide to do, and succeed. I think it's a gift, that you're born with. But that's just me.
So my challenge for you today is this:
Don't be discouraged. If you're behind, you're behind. Don't chew yourself out because you didn't make your word goal yesterday. What happened yesterday, happened yesterday. You can't change that. Nobody can change that. But you can make today worth more than yesterday.
When you feel like you can't do it anymore, remember that you can. You can do it. It doesn't matter what your word-count is... I mean, that's your goal. But I've found that this experience is more character building than word building.
orrrr, add me on NaNo: petragrace
And I will send you some NaNo mail :)
Keep writing! You can do it!
~Patricia Rane
Thursday, November 6, 2014
How are you all doing on day 6 of NaNoWriMo?
Hello my lovelies... How are you all doing on day 6 of NaNoWriMo?
Here is my update:
Here is my update:
- I got an email from the Go Teen Writers Team, and I now have a critique group! Yay!
- I have 21,608 of the 119,880 words I need to write... Yay! (That's 18.02% to be exact.)
- I am not behind on my school work! Yay! (as of now)
Keep writing, my fellow NaNoWriMo friends! It's only for 24 more days! You can do it!
~Patricia Rane
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
NaNoWriMo - 2014, HERE WE GO!
Hello, my fellow writers...
It's here! It is truly and finally here!
The most dreaded and anticipated event of the year... Camp NaNoWriMo!
What it is...
For all you newbies out there, Camp NaNoWriMo is a writing boot camp that takes place during the month of November. Basically, you write until your fingers fall off, and your brain goes into neutral... AND THEN YOU WRITE SOME MORE. Sounds like fun, right?
I'm guessing that if our blog has ANY readers at all (I hope that it does), our audience is mainly teen writers... Which is AWESOME. Cause you're reading something written by a teen writer right now.
So here is the link for the NaNoWriMo program for teens: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
ATTENTION: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. If you want to participate in this, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go sign up RIGHT NOW. The more you put it off, the more you're going to get behind.
Anyway, back to what it is. You enter your preferred username, password, and email, and that gives you access to everything. Then, you will do a word war against yourself for about 10 minutes, which will calculate your word average. After this is complete, you enter how many hours you plan to write each day, which will give you your new word goal! Cha-chingggg. It's magic, my lovelies.
Example: I wrote for ten minutes and got seven-hundred-some words. That's a lot for me. I was on a roll. Then I entered that I would be able to write for two hours a day (already starting to regret it), and it gave me my word count: 119,880 words. 1 1 9 , 8 8 0 s t i n k i n g w o r d s . If I actually do that, I'll have two novels completed by then...
Here are some tips for surviving it without wreaking havoc upon your normal life...
1. School comes first.
I know, I know... it's no fun that way. But still. This is the only way to keep everybody happy. Your parents will be happy, your teachers will be happy, and after the month is over, you will be happy.
2. Keep your space clean.
Your bedroom, your school space, your locker, you name it and you keep it clean. This will make thinking easier.
3. DONT WORRY ABOUT EDITING.
I know... I have OCD too, and those little nit-picky errors grind on my nerves like nothing else. But the goal is to FINISH a novel. Not begin one that will be gathering dust in you computer file a month from now. Editing comes later, what you need to worry about it pumping out words.
4. Use weekends to your advantage.
Instead of making plans all day Saturday, go for half. That way you can still write on the weekends.
5. Read http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/ 's daily posts.
Not only are these posts dripping with wisdom that you can squeeze into your own writing, they are also extremely encouraging. Tuesday's and Thursday's are the days in which the inspirational quotes or stories are posted. (And, here in a few weeks, they're going to be doing a *sing-songy voice* wooorrrddd warrr. Word wars are an awesome way to get several thousand words under your belt.)
6. Use your support group for encouragement - but don't forget to give some in return.
It's here! It is truly and finally here!
The most dreaded and anticipated event of the year... Camp NaNoWriMo!
What it is...
For all you newbies out there, Camp NaNoWriMo is a writing boot camp that takes place during the month of November. Basically, you write until your fingers fall off, and your brain goes into neutral... AND THEN YOU WRITE SOME MORE. Sounds like fun, right?
I'm guessing that if our blog has ANY readers at all (I hope that it does), our audience is mainly teen writers... Which is AWESOME. Cause you're reading something written by a teen writer right now.
So here is the link for the NaNoWriMo program for teens: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/
ATTENTION: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. If you want to participate in this, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go sign up RIGHT NOW. The more you put it off, the more you're going to get behind.
Anyway, back to what it is. You enter your preferred username, password, and email, and that gives you access to everything. Then, you will do a word war against yourself for about 10 minutes, which will calculate your word average. After this is complete, you enter how many hours you plan to write each day, which will give you your new word goal! Cha-chingggg. It's magic, my lovelies.
Example: I wrote for ten minutes and got seven-hundred-some words. That's a lot for me. I was on a roll. Then I entered that I would be able to write for two hours a day (already starting to regret it), and it gave me my word count: 119,880 words. 1 1 9 , 8 8 0 s t i n k i n g w o r d s . If I actually do that, I'll have two novels completed by then...
Here are some tips for surviving it without wreaking havoc upon your normal life...
1. School comes first.
I know, I know... it's no fun that way. But still. This is the only way to keep everybody happy. Your parents will be happy, your teachers will be happy, and after the month is over, you will be happy.
2. Keep your space clean.
Your bedroom, your school space, your locker, you name it and you keep it clean. This will make thinking easier.
3. DONT WORRY ABOUT EDITING.
I know... I have OCD too, and those little nit-picky errors grind on my nerves like nothing else. But the goal is to FINISH a novel. Not begin one that will be gathering dust in you computer file a month from now. Editing comes later, what you need to worry about it pumping out words.
4. Use weekends to your advantage.
Instead of making plans all day Saturday, go for half. That way you can still write on the weekends.
5. Read http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/ 's daily posts.
Not only are these posts dripping with wisdom that you can squeeze into your own writing, they are also extremely encouraging. Tuesday's and Thursday's are the days in which the inspirational quotes or stories are posted. (And, here in a few weeks, they're going to be doing a *sing-songy voice* wooorrrddd warrr. Word wars are an awesome way to get several thousand words under your belt.)
6. Use your support group for encouragement - but don't forget to give some in return.
Well... I have to get back to writing! I have 99,000 words left to write this month, plus some geometry homework...
Happy writing and good luck with NaNoWriMo!
~Patricia Rane
Monday, May 19, 2014
Guess what? I'm posting again! WOO-HOO! - More about plots
This is probably you:
"NOOOOOOOOOO WHERE HAVE THEY GONE I AM MELTING MELTING OH CRUEL WORLD I NEED TO BE FULLED UP WITH A BUNCH USELESS JUNK ABOUT WRITING!! *wails*"
And this is me:
"IM HERE TO HELP YOU!! *whimper whimper* DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE!!"
And this is everyone else:
"How has Emilie survived this long… o.o"
But this is the truth. I've been super busy and I've been wanting to post for a long time, so here I am! :D And now we're going to be talking about PLOTS, again.
~ ~ ~
Considering that the world "plot" covers a very vast subject, I think it is a good idea to continue discussing it. If you start writing a book without a plot in mind, the book will train wreck and it will basically go nowhere, and you will be very sad. But here's the good news! It's easy to think of a plot, if you have an imagination. Here's the framework we will be discussing.
1. Characters
2. Motives
3. Antagonists
4. Obstacles
5. Climax
That's a very messy list, but it will help you make the skeleton for your story. We've talked a lot about characters, but here's the deal. You need to kill some of them, add them, and make the bad guys just as developed as the good guys. Here's what I mean. It's super fun to make characters, right? And if we're not careful we can make too many, and then the story will go bland because we can't develop all of them enough to make them realistic. So here's what I suggest. WITHOUT making them up, make a list of all the characters you will need. For example.
1. Main character
2. Bad guy
3. Supporting character 1
4. Supporting character 2
5. Mother of main character
6. Teacher of the main character's school
7. Bully at the main character's school.
Et Cetera.
After you have this list, you can fill in the blanks. Make up the the characters. Now, if you want love interests, you can make the supporting character and the main character opposite genders, but you can't add characters in randomly or else the story will become random and unorganized. You already know all that junk about making up characters, so we don't even need to discuss that.
Next are the Motives. This is probably the most important step of all. What is the reason that the characters are doing what they're doing? If you need help to clarify, here is an example. And because I love him, I'm going to pick on Percy. Again.
Percy Jackson
Black hair, green eyes, grew up with his mom, is the son of Poseidon, very quirky and insecure
Discovers a camp full of people like him
Finds out that Kronos wants to wipe out Olympus (DING DING DING! MOTIVES COMING UP)
Goes out with his friends to stop him because he is loyal to his dad and Olympus. He knows it is his destiny and his duty.
That whole thing about his background and description wasn't part of the motives thing, but I decided to throw it in there because it clarified the whole character thing. But you see what I mean. Without motives the story has absolutely no direction. You need the character to have a strong enough motive so that they will not give up after they are thwarted more than once in their efforts.
Next are the Antagonists! DUN DUN DUUHHHHHHHH. These bad guys, of course, are all like, "Hey, lets stop this guy because we have a good reason and they're the bad guy and we're the good guy" blablabla. Remember that they also need to have motives, and good ones at that. No one realistically goes out and tries to ruin someone's life just because they feel like it. Your options for motives are greed, revenge, justice, or just plain because-it-needs-to-be-done. It needs to be believable that this villain isn't your classic "EVIL IS BETTER THAN GOOD" but that this villain is more like "IM THE GOOD GUY HERE". Remember that this villain's choices should be very personal, therefore strengthening his will to succeed.
And then there are the Obstacles. The bad guy will be doing everything in his power to stop the good guy, of course, but have you ever considered the fact that maybe the bad guy is not the only source for obstacles? *gasp* SACRILEGE. But seriously, there are two main other options to make your story as realistic as possible.
The first one is NATURE. Is there bad weather? Maybe mountains your hero has to cross, or oceans to swim. Maybe he has a disease, or a sickness.
The other one is SELF. Is he battling his conscience? Does he grow to be more mature? Does he make a hard choice or a sacrifice?
Considering that, you have probably realized that you will be laying the hard stuff down thick on this character. Make your character suffer! Make him go through struggles, and pain! LAUGH MANIACALLY AS YOU WATCH THEIR SITUATION GET SEEMINGLY HOPELESS!! GWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAH!
Hem hem.
Finally, we have the part where the reader will lay down the book, grab their pillow pet, dive under the covers, and shout, "EVERYTHING IS WRONG". Because you will be presenting them…. The Climax.
The Climax is that terrible moment of either peril or realization, where the book will take a sharp turn and nearly throw the reader out the window. This is the part where you reach the top of the mountain and begin to go downhill. You need to make sure you have a climax, or else your book will be bland and pointless.
Okay, now we have our five main points. Just for fun, lets take a look at what it would be like if we didn't use these five points.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who woke up in her bed and went downstairs to have breakfast. The end.
Pretty boring. Okay, now let's add those five points and see what happens.
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ellie who went downstairs to eat her breakfast. But suddenly, as she was sitting there, her mother got snatched out the door by a bunch of slimy tentacles! She knew it was up to her to save her mother. So she leapt after her, grabbing onto her dear mother's foot, but as she did so she slipped and fell into a big canyon full of boiling lava. Hanging desperately on a lifesaving ledge, she grasped her mother's arm, and pulled herself up to her feet, helping her mother do the same. They both crouched at the ledge, watching the monster swim in the boiling lava beneath them. The tentacles reached up to grasp them, but suddenly Mother pulled out a bow and arrow! She was the female version of Robin Hood! She shot arrows, riding her brilliantly pink unicorn, galloping like a beautiful archer queen, and swooping down, she picked up Ellie and they rode away to safety.
So, there you go. Have fun spicing up your plots!
Keep writing!
- Emilie
"NOOOOOOOOOO WHERE HAVE THEY GONE I AM MELTING MELTING OH CRUEL WORLD I NEED TO BE FULLED UP WITH A BUNCH USELESS JUNK ABOUT WRITING!! *wails*"
And this is me:
"IM HERE TO HELP YOU!! *whimper whimper* DON'T KILL ME, PLEASE!!"
And this is everyone else:
"How has Emilie survived this long… o.o"
But this is the truth. I've been super busy and I've been wanting to post for a long time, so here I am! :D And now we're going to be talking about PLOTS, again.
~ ~ ~
Considering that the world "plot" covers a very vast subject, I think it is a good idea to continue discussing it. If you start writing a book without a plot in mind, the book will train wreck and it will basically go nowhere, and you will be very sad. But here's the good news! It's easy to think of a plot, if you have an imagination. Here's the framework we will be discussing.
1. Characters
2. Motives
3. Antagonists
4. Obstacles
5. Climax
That's a very messy list, but it will help you make the skeleton for your story. We've talked a lot about characters, but here's the deal. You need to kill some of them, add them, and make the bad guys just as developed as the good guys. Here's what I mean. It's super fun to make characters, right? And if we're not careful we can make too many, and then the story will go bland because we can't develop all of them enough to make them realistic. So here's what I suggest. WITHOUT making them up, make a list of all the characters you will need. For example.
1. Main character
2. Bad guy
3. Supporting character 1
4. Supporting character 2
5. Mother of main character
6. Teacher of the main character's school
7. Bully at the main character's school.
Et Cetera.
After you have this list, you can fill in the blanks. Make up the the characters. Now, if you want love interests, you can make the supporting character and the main character opposite genders, but you can't add characters in randomly or else the story will become random and unorganized. You already know all that junk about making up characters, so we don't even need to discuss that.
Next are the Motives. This is probably the most important step of all. What is the reason that the characters are doing what they're doing? If you need help to clarify, here is an example. And because I love him, I'm going to pick on Percy. Again.
Percy Jackson
Black hair, green eyes, grew up with his mom, is the son of Poseidon, very quirky and insecure
Discovers a camp full of people like him
Finds out that Kronos wants to wipe out Olympus (DING DING DING! MOTIVES COMING UP)
Goes out with his friends to stop him because he is loyal to his dad and Olympus. He knows it is his destiny and his duty.
That whole thing about his background and description wasn't part of the motives thing, but I decided to throw it in there because it clarified the whole character thing. But you see what I mean. Without motives the story has absolutely no direction. You need the character to have a strong enough motive so that they will not give up after they are thwarted more than once in their efforts.
Next are the Antagonists! DUN DUN DUUHHHHHHHH. These bad guys, of course, are all like, "Hey, lets stop this guy because we have a good reason and they're the bad guy and we're the good guy" blablabla. Remember that they also need to have motives, and good ones at that. No one realistically goes out and tries to ruin someone's life just because they feel like it. Your options for motives are greed, revenge, justice, or just plain because-it-needs-to-be-done. It needs to be believable that this villain isn't your classic "EVIL IS BETTER THAN GOOD" but that this villain is more like "IM THE GOOD GUY HERE". Remember that this villain's choices should be very personal, therefore strengthening his will to succeed.
And then there are the Obstacles. The bad guy will be doing everything in his power to stop the good guy, of course, but have you ever considered the fact that maybe the bad guy is not the only source for obstacles? *gasp* SACRILEGE. But seriously, there are two main other options to make your story as realistic as possible.
The first one is NATURE. Is there bad weather? Maybe mountains your hero has to cross, or oceans to swim. Maybe he has a disease, or a sickness.
The other one is SELF. Is he battling his conscience? Does he grow to be more mature? Does he make a hard choice or a sacrifice?
Considering that, you have probably realized that you will be laying the hard stuff down thick on this character. Make your character suffer! Make him go through struggles, and pain! LAUGH MANIACALLY AS YOU WATCH THEIR SITUATION GET SEEMINGLY HOPELESS!! GWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAH!
Hem hem.
Finally, we have the part where the reader will lay down the book, grab their pillow pet, dive under the covers, and shout, "EVERYTHING IS WRONG". Because you will be presenting them…. The Climax.
The Climax is that terrible moment of either peril or realization, where the book will take a sharp turn and nearly throw the reader out the window. This is the part where you reach the top of the mountain and begin to go downhill. You need to make sure you have a climax, or else your book will be bland and pointless.
Okay, now we have our five main points. Just for fun, lets take a look at what it would be like if we didn't use these five points.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who woke up in her bed and went downstairs to have breakfast. The end.
Pretty boring. Okay, now let's add those five points and see what happens.
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ellie who went downstairs to eat her breakfast. But suddenly, as she was sitting there, her mother got snatched out the door by a bunch of slimy tentacles! She knew it was up to her to save her mother. So she leapt after her, grabbing onto her dear mother's foot, but as she did so she slipped and fell into a big canyon full of boiling lava. Hanging desperately on a lifesaving ledge, she grasped her mother's arm, and pulled herself up to her feet, helping her mother do the same. They both crouched at the ledge, watching the monster swim in the boiling lava beneath them. The tentacles reached up to grasp them, but suddenly Mother pulled out a bow and arrow! She was the female version of Robin Hood! She shot arrows, riding her brilliantly pink unicorn, galloping like a beautiful archer queen, and swooping down, she picked up Ellie and they rode away to safety.
So, there you go. Have fun spicing up your plots!
Keep writing!
- Emilie
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