Category: Writing Advice

Where to Get Ideas for Your Story

by Ninagracia, posted in Writing, Writing Advice

Okay, I listened to what everyone was saying. I’ve been reading a lot, especially in the genre I want to write.  I also read anything I could get my hands to like catalogues in my mailbox and old local papers that were left in the shop’s windows. There are stories and countless advice on the internet too. I’ve learnt to keep a pen and papers handy in case I need them. 

After all these preparations, I started wondering what to write and where I should get those bits and pieces of ideas for my story. I was like a tradie equipped with tools but no place of work to go.

So, I went surfing. The “net” is very friendly and has so much to share. Some said I could get ideas just by simply listening in to people talk. Anywhere – in the bus, train, shopping centre, at the coffee shop, or even eavesdrop on people talking on their mobile phones. People speak too loudly while on their mobile phones. Don’t they irritate you sometimes?

I tried the train. It was easy and not very much people use the train after peak hours. After moving around seats and looking for the right spot, I finally found one near the window. A couple sitting behind me were talking to each other. Perfect! It was true, there were nuggets of ideas you could get from people like the words they say, or even what they were talking. So, I took my pen out and my notebook ready.

I pressed myself close to the back of my seat so I could hear them very well. They even whisper but I managed to pick some words, so I started jotting them down one by one.

For me to understand them very well, I closed my eyes, trying to listen very carefully on what they were saying. I wanted to capture every word, every pause, and even their breathing.

What I didn’t realise was, two young girls sat in front of me. They giggled and commented that I was probably so tired, I fell asleep writing notes. I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. I want to hear everything they were saying about me.

They argued that I was either a teacher or a reporter, or if not, I am a train inspector. Gosh! Really? Then, they started to pick on my looks. They talked about my make-up. Funny, girls always look at the make-up first before anything else. (I wonder what boys look at first, hmm!)

There was total silence after that.

Suddenly, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, and a tall guy in blue asked me which station I was getting off. Apparently, it was the last station. I looked around, and there was no one except me. Before I got off, he commented, that I was probably very tired, I fell asleep writing notes. Really? Did I? Has it been that long?

It was a long ride back home, but I still have my pen and notebook with me. This time, I was writing down everything I heard and everything that I could remember from those girls. There was some funny stuff, and I giggled too, especially how they argued about it. There were a few slang words that I did not understand, but I could check them out with my children.

I realised that I could find ideas for my book anywhere, even by just looking at myself in front of the mirror.

I could also cultivate story ideas from my spontaneous trip and experience at the train.

If we know where and how to gather information, we will never run out of materials to write.

Sometimes, hanging out with people, even any brief interaction to strangers can give us tons of ideas for our writing project.

Don’t forget too that good old newspapers we used to love to read. It still provide us buckets of information about the daily happenings and incidents in our community.

And lastly, check your favourite book. There maybe a chapter or passages that you like so much, and write down what made you love that story. Use it to come up with your own materials for your story.

My writing journey was not easy and was not hard either, but there were so much to learn and a few things to laugh about.

It wasn’t all hard work, but with a little bit of funny stuff on the side as well. All in all, dedication, tons of imaginations, and commitment kept me from doing what I love to do most.

I am not done yet, but I am learning so much.

So, till next time. I’ve got to catch the bus this time. Fingers crossed, I’ll try not to fall asleep again.

See ya!

The Number One Common Obstacle Most Writer Faces: Where’s the Pen and Paper?

by Ninagracia, posted in Writing, Writing Advice

Staring at your ceiling at night and trying to get some sleep is not an easy task.

Rest is like a regular job. It comes after your exhausting day when all the hard chores of running around are finally over (for that day) like cooking, cleaning, washing.

You take a rest or try to get some sleep, and if not, you stare at your ceiling trying to figure out how you are going to work out your characters in your book, not to mention what your story is going to be.

Then, bingo! Something popped into your head: some great storylines and excellent character descriptions. It was a great story as a matter of fact.

You extended your arm to your bedside table searching for a pen and paper. Where are those pens and paper when you needed it? There is always one hanging around here and there when you don’t need them. But, they seemed to have gone on an epic holiday now that you want them all.

Your irritations started to flare up. It’s crucial. You don’t want to lose those big words and story lines that kept on flowing out from the corner of your brain.

 It’s late, and you don’t want to turn the lights on and wake everybody up. So you try to memorise them one by one…repeatedly…repeatedly.

But how could you, when there is another human being sleeping in your bed making a horrible noise.

So, you start to focus on him and what his snore resembles to something. He sounds like a lawnmower, or a motorbike running out of petrol. Seriously! You began to panic. You need to write everything down; you’re starting to lose them.

What the heck, you thought. You bravely reached for the light and turned it on. And there it was, a pen that is almost half empty, and a few pieces of yellow sticky note pad in the drawer of your bedside table.

Just when you’re about to start writing, suddenly, you realised that you already forgot everything. You sat on the bed, figuring out what to write. You already have your pen and your paper, but this time you are no longer staring at the ceiling anymore, but on the blank yellow sticky note pad on your hand.

My brain or maybe yours too sometimes functions in mysterious ways. When I want it to work into full capacity, it seems lazy, sleepy, and uncooperative. Worst of all, it might have “gone away” for the day.

I want to believe that it has something against me. When it is active and alert, it doesn’t care where I am or what I am doing. It’s always when I am in an awkward place or awkward position that those big, bright ideas and imaginations will burst out of my head in full colour.

And there I am again going in through my pile of things in desperation for pen and paper.

Just imagine the difficulty when our brain started to showcase its full potential with an explosion of ideas for our book, like fireworks with so many things to write, and we want them all. The sad thing was, we can’t keep a pen and paper in the shower.

 Ha, ha! Don’t laugh. It could happen to you too!

The Struggles of Being a New Author (The First Time is Never Easy)

by Ninagracia, posted in Writing, Writing Advice

Read! Read! Read! Sounds familiar? I went through this at the early stage of my writing journey. It is good advice, especially for an emerging author like me.

I dread long readings. It makes me tired, sleepy and hungry. If there were ways, I would skip the “reading part” and go on writing. I have a long list of excuses not to read, but at the end of the day, I still need to open some books to read and learn. It is not mandatory or a requirement to become an author, but it would surely help us to be a good one.

And so, I read. I burnt both sides of the candle, as the saying goes, reading from early morning till the sun comes up. The books on my bed almost became my pillows, and trust me; it does hurt, you know. I flipped through the pages of some of the books written by those great and famous authors and read one or two pages to find out what made them stand out from the others. By morning, I still couldn’t make up my mind how to begin my story. I have a good story to tell. It was all there in my head but putting words to paper was a real challenge. All I want was to write and express my thoughts and put my imaginations into play, and then see what happens next.

Read! Read! Read! It was not so entertaining to hear this at the back of your head. It is good advice, but I couldn’t figure out where it fits into my writing dilemma. So, I reread more books. Occasionally, I made some excuses not to read. I borrowed at the library all kinds of books and read them all. As I said before, those books are not as good as my old pillows.

One thing though, writing became easy afterwards. I was moving forward fast and non-stop. Five hundred words glided smoothly, then came a thousand words. My first page was starting to fill up, even though I cheated a little bit by making my margins wider and double the line spacing. Then finally, I wrote my first two thousand words. Hurray! I thought it was a great accomplishment. The only downside to this was, I noticed that I write like them, and I began to sound like them too.

I hit a roadblock. I want to achieve all those required of me to write and produce an outstanding story. I doubted myself again. So, I read. I immersed myself reading and learning a little bit here, a few more there, and everything in between. I fleshed out every word and sentences I came across in the book. I dissected the whole story, chapter by chapter as if I was looking for something. It was a challenging mental activity. What I found was “nothing”, only a great story all written with pure intention straight from the heart of the author. They were well researched, and everything stamped mark with the author’s writing style, tone and voice.

I figured out that those books I read should only serve me as guidelines and not a template. All the rest should come from me-my style of writing, tone and voice. I wouldn’t say that I have already perfected my craft, but the journey of learning new things is so rewarding. Of course, writing and reading more often is beneficial to our career. It sharpens our skills and imaginations. I am still learning, and I know that there are so much more I need to learn before I become a better author. I always peek through those books to guide me.

I believe that commitment and persistence would take me one day to where I want to be. When I started my journey, I have so many excuses not to do things. I doubted myself and my abilities that I can do anything. But, those books that I read, and those authors that I barely knew, gave me reasons to stay focus and “just keep on writing”.

What about you guys. What excuses have you made?