Bettina's Books: Welcome to How to Write Fiction in Your Pajamas

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Welcome to How to Write Fiction in Your Pajamas

In the days of big-name authors and imposingly-successful publishing houses, the mere idea of writing fiction can seem overwhelming and intimidating. This is the blog that says anyone can write fiction...so whether you're new to writing or experienced, take a peek at the articles and hints on this blog.

I will provide writing prompts to get your writing started, information about literary events in the Washington, DC area to help you network, and dilemmas from my own writing to show solidarity with all the other aspiring authors who read this blog. There is even a section (over there -->) where you can write in and give advice about writing...just in case I've missed anything.

Look around the website, and if you want a different type of material added, let me know. I can be contacted at assumeavirtue@sbcglobal.net (For those of you who know which Shakespearean play that address is from, kudos!)

2 comments:

Arlee BirdMarch 27, 2012 at 9:18 PM
Stopping in from LinkedIn. My first reaction is that aside from the background being a cool picture, I'm am not a fan of that background with the white print--I find it to be hard on the eyes. Many bloggers share this opinion I think. From what I've heard most blogger seem to prefer a light colored unbusy background with black (or dark print)--at least that's been my experience.

There is not much content yet to judge by. If it is always prompts, someone like me would be unlikely to use them since I always have more content than I can keep up with. I guess you'll have to experiment to see what your visitors respond to.

Are you going to add a Friend Connect widget so people can sign up to follow?

Those are my initial thoughts based on my personal opinion.

Best wishes on your success with this new venture.

Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
Tossing It Out
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Writing Prompts: Traditional and Bookends

This section contains traditional prompts--those that inspire writers to start a short story or novel. It also contains a type of prompt that I created: the Bookend Prompts.

For the Traditional Prompts, take my suggestions and start writing! Feel free to tweak, alter, or completely reinvent the prompts to suit whatever story you want to write.

Traditional Prompt:
"I always knew that jumping jacks were dangerous. Now, I had proof..."

Bookend Prompts: Use the pair of prompts listed below as the beginning and end of your writing. A bit more challenging, but I know you can do it!

Bookend Prompts

1a. Why me?

1b. When he heard the sizzling of meat on the grill, he knew he was home.

For more writing prompts, check back regularly in the main blog (center column). I'll post more as I think of them!

Fanfiction Links

Even with a solid grasp of writing basics, it can still be intimidating to create an entire world of your own in which to write. Has this setting been done before? Are the plot twists too predictable? Are the characters no more than stock cut-outs, or are they so original that a reader won't know how to empathize with them?

To avoid those pitfalls, I suggest starting with fanfiction. You can't make money off of it, because the characters and settings have already been taken by established writers, but you can practice emulating writing styles, character descriptions, and plot twists until you're confident enough to use these elements in your own writing.

There are sites online that will host your fanfiction, but be sure to add a disclaimer at the beginning of these stories, so that it's apparent you aren't trying to horn in on another author or screenwriter's meal ticket. At these links you will find several (okay, so it's a few dozen) of my fanfiction attempts. These are Supernatural and Magnificent Seven fictions, sometimes crossed with other shows or characters, such as Highlander, The Pretender, and Boondock Saints.

Standard disclaimer for stories in this section: These characters aren't mine, and I'm writing for fun, not profit. No copyright infringement intended.