Young Writers Society

Tagfest!

@Apricity @ChiravianSkies @EnderFlash @Falconer @Fortis @jumpingsheep @hexglass @Nikayla @niteowl @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @TheStormAroundMe

You can do it guys. Get those fingers moving!

Good job to the early birds who have their chapters in already =]

Tagfest!

@Apricity @ChildOfNowhere @ChiravianSkies @EnderFlash @Falconer @Fortis @jumpingsheep @hexglass @Nikayla @regismare @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @Ventomology

You can do it guys! Remember, every word you write is one word more than you had before. The first one is always the hardest.

@Apricity @Childofnowhere @ChiravianSkies @EnderFlash @Fortis @jumpingsheep @Nikayla @niteowl @regismare @RippleGylf @ScarlettFire @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @TheStormAroundMe @Ventomology

Did the zombie apocalypse happen already? Where are my Warriors? What happened to my sweet bards? Did my rogues join the legions of the undead?

Get those chapters in!

Hey guys! You’re probably wondering who this rando is but I’m a fellow Young Writer and I have been asked by the lovely @Tenyo if I could give a little pep talk and talk about my experience writing my novel The Progeny (Prologue). It is complete (but editing is never really ever finished, right?) and I am uploading the chapters every week on here, I think I have about 6 or 7 more to go. I’ve recently just uploaded chapter 49 and have caught Tenyo’s attention most probably because… that’s a lot of chapters! But I’ve stuck with the novel and have made it to the end. So I’m just going to write a few pointers and tips and things you’ll probably experience when attempting to finish a novel. I hope it helps!
To start off, here’s a harsh truth for you: Your first novel is not going to be great. That’s just a fact. Maybe, if you’ve read enough, done enough research etc it could be good. But it’s not going to be your best work. So your first novel can go one of two ways:
1) You’ve keep redrafting and redrafting as your experience grows and you’ll make it into something you can be truly proud of.
Or…
2) You’ll think… ‘what was I thinking? This is terrible. I’m going to scrap this and start completely from scratch. I can do so much better!’
I finished my first novel when I was 16 and I’m scared to go anywhere near it now. I’ve developed so much as a writer since then that I feel like reading it will make my eyes bleed.
So, since that horrendous book, I have written and completed 6 more novels. Here’s some tips on how to make it to the finish line.

1. Plan! Plan the hell out of that thing. Always have notebooks knocking around so when you have an idea you can jot it down and go back to it. Eventually things will start slotting into place. Characters. Setting. Themes. Titles. Relationships.

2. When you’re at the point where things are vaguely becoming one big idea, get some A2 paper and some coloured pens and mind map until your fingers hurt! Stick those mind maps up on your wall so when you’re not writing they can watch over your shoulder, silently judging you for not sitting down and cracking on with your story.

3. Write a timeline. There is nothing worse than having awesome characters and an awesome world to put them in but having no idea what to do with them. So write down key points in your plot. Just the major things at first and then as you start writing and the story kinda starts taking on a lifeform of its own (I’m not the only one that happens to, right?), you can then fill in the smaller details between the big, pivotal moments.

4. Upload it onto a writing website, like this, or y’know… any other side websites you’re sneaking off to late at night. Because then you’ll get an audience. An audience that is dying to know what is going to happen next! They’re going to force you to sit at your desk (or on the floor, like me) and keep your story’s heart beating.

What I do is have a good start on my novel before uploading so then if I do get side-tracked… I can still upload and no one will know that I’ve been in the corner of my room rocking slowly back and forth for the past 3 weeks obsessing over what is going to happen with characters X and Y.

5. Keep going back a rereading what you’ve already got. This is really good for when you do have a break. It is incredibly annoying when you’ve left an unfinished novel sitting there so long that you’ve forgotten about it and then finding it and attempting to carry it on. Ideas could have been lost (but not if you’ve kept your trusty notebooks!) and worst of all, your passion for the story could have been snuffed out. It’s so hard to revisit a character and attempt to write in their voice when you’ve left them high and dry. This can cause your characters to become very wishy washy because you’ve got nothing to latch onto.

6. Read other works in the same genre as your work while you are writing. It can help you with your writing style and also make you change things if you find something that is a little too similar to what you are creating. It’s very difficult to write something completely unique because there is just so much out there but it’s best to try and not be too similar to other works. You will also notice what there is too much of and too little of in your genre and you can work around that.

7. This is probably going to go against everything I have just said but it has to be said. Don’t write if you’re not in the mood. You’ll just end up writing garbage. And if you write garbage you’ll lose faith in yourself and your story. So do take those breaks when you need them!

Well, it’s annoyed me that I have 7 points and not a round 5 or 10 but that’s all I can really think of. I hope this has been some use to you guys and if you do have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask

Good luck with all of your novels! Just think positive thoughts and you’ll smash it.

@Apricity @ChildOfNowhere @ChiravianSkies @EnderFlash @Falconer @Fortis @jumpingsheep @Nikayla @niteowl @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @TheStormAroundMe @Ventomology @Holysocks

You can do it guys. Monday is the three month mark, don't lose it now!

@ScarlettFire ;]

Tagfest!

@Apricity @ChildofNowhere @ChiravianSkies @EnderFlash @Falconer @Fortis @jumpingsheep @KaraStevens @Holysocks @Nikayla @niteowl @ScarlettFire @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @TheStormAroundMe @Ventomology

Fortune Cookie Wisdom of the Week: What isn't started today... will probably be done in a flurry of panic half an hour to midnight tomorrow, right?

Tagfest!

@Apricity @ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox @Ventomology

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them!)

Tagfest!

@ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @SpiritedWolfe @TheSilverFox

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them!)

WANNA KNOW WHO GOT THE FLAG?????????



YOU GUESSED IT

Tagfest!

@ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @SpiritedWolfe @Ventomology

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them! Apologies for forgetting this last night.)

Tagfest! No publishing just now because Review Day, so make sure to get your week's writing into the Week 19 club threat if you turn it in within the next twenty-four hours.

@ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @Ventomology

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them! Apologies for forgetting this last night.)

Tagfest!

@ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @Ventomology @SpiritedWolfe

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them! Apologies for forgetting this last night.)

Tagfest! Sorry I'm so late this week.

@ChiravianSkies @Falconer @fortis @jumpingsheep @Ventomology @SpiritedWolfe

(If you noticed someone who posted last week and got missed here, feel free to tag them! Apologies for forgetting this last night.)