Good news for all of you children's mystery/thriller writers out there, British author Barbara Mitchelhill has kindly written an article packed with advice and anecdotes that are sure to ignite your imagination.
The article will feature in 2 parts on 31st August 2011 and 1st September 2011 on the Savvy Authors website.
http://www.savvyauthors.com
If you have any children's authors you'd really like to hear from then drop me a line and I'll see what I can do. Similarly, if you are a published children's author and you have an article that you'd like to contribute then send me an email too.
Happy writing!
Recently there have been a number of striking news stories. A few of them sound as if the details have been plucked straight from the plot of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. There are three at the forefront of my mind as I ponder the subject and write this post:
1. The Norwegian massacre
2. News corp and the phone hacking scandal
3. The Mosman bombing ordeal (Sydney, Australia)
Among the many things I find challenging when it comes to fiction writing is finding the balance between creative and unique versus not going OTT and beyond the realms of believability.
I've just completes a one week 'Reboot Your Imagination' course with Beth Daniels. Over the course of the week we completed one writing exercise a day using the blind librarian technique. It was definitely good fun and achieved its goal of getting the creative juices flowing. As a group we pushed through the boundaries of ordinary and created some really whacky stories.
I hadn't ever considered the incorporation of magical, sci-fi, paranormal elements into my own writing before. Why? 'Because that's just not me.' I was especially resistant to the idea of using magic and other such notions in my writing as I felt it was a cop-out, a way of bridging gaps that I hadn't thought through properly.
(Not so - each of the aforementioned genres need as much thought and attention to detail as any other. It's funny how the mind can create unfounded justifications for not attempting something.)
However I have to admit that forcing myself to write outside of my comfort zone was exhilarating. It reignited my fading flame to a roaring fire and the ideas were flowing! It made me realise that there are many ways to inject a unique twist into one's writing and keep it believable for the reader.
It still bugs me that movies are able to get away with the most outrageous things where literature is not, but I guess it's all about satisfying the reader...and I'd be highly annoyed if the market was suddenly flooded with substandard, unbelievable stories.
The importance of establishing a routine inclusive of time for writing cannot be underestimated.
After a month of coughs, colds, flu, and other minor - yet highly disruptive - ailments I'm now left wondering where to begin as I contemplate playing the catch-up game.
The easiest place to begin would be to write up a 'To Do' list. Normally I would dive right in and scribble one up on my whiteboard, but at the moment even that seems daunting!
So, in desperate need of a bit of motivation I took my first step to getting back on track and chanced upon the following quote:
The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.
Mike Murdock
Mike Murdock
I had no idea who Mike Murdock was until I did a quick Google search after finding these words of wisdom, and although he appears to be quite a controversial character I definitely feel this quote has some relevance to my pursuit of a writing career.
The second step was writing this blog post. Initially I discarded the idea of writing on this topic, however I changed my mind for a couple of reasons. Firstly, this has been one huge pothole on my road to becoming a writer. Secondly, when I read other people's blog they're often filled with stories of success - my hope is that other beginning writers who have hit the same stumbling block will take comfort in knowing that I have experienced a similar problem too.
If you are one of those people stuck in rut make sure that you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again as I'm sure the end result will provide you with an immense sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
I'll keep you posted on how I get on!
And on that note I'll end with one final quote...
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."
Mary Anne Radmacher
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