The Snowflake Method

I recently discovered a method called the snowflake method. This is a method for writing a book. You start off with a triangle. These are three main conflicts in your story. Once you have these you branch off and get more and more detailed. This is also a great way to help write summaries of your novel in short sentences that cover everything, like you might need for a query letter.

This website is a great resource and goes into more detail about the snowflake method.
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

Tip: When you have an idea for a novel, no matter how small or insignificant it might be, write it down! The biggest lie you can tell yourself is that you will remember what it was. 

How to Make Your Book Longer

So if you're like me and just can't seem to get to that goal count of words and currently really don't feel like writing a bunch of stuff here are some tricks to help lengthen your book.

• Take out contractions! Instead of saying can't say can not. You can often just do Ctrl + F and then search for the contraction and then do replace all which is nice. Here's a list of common contractions. http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/EnglishContractions.htm
• Use middle names. Instead of just saying, "His name was Bob Fred." Say, "His name was Bob Frank Fred." 
• This one is a bit harder but add another character. If you add another character it will definitely force you to write more. I'm talking major characters here. 
• Give more back story for your minor characters.
• More description! Just read through your novel and add describing words here and there. 

Quote: Just a sentence here and a sentence there can add up to make a story. -Me! 

Alysa Tarrant

Use Your Emotions

We all have emotional days. Sometimes it's extremely happy, and sometime's it extremely sad. Or maybe you're feeling betrayed. Whatever you're feeling use that in your writing. Not only will it increase the emotional aspect of your writing but it will also help you release the current emotion in a healthy manner.

Write first, edit later.

First get all of your ideas and emotions out. Then, go back when you are in a more calm mood and edit your writing.

Question: What emotion are you feeling right now and how can you use it in your writing?

Alysa Tarrant 

Editing

In my opinion one of the best ways to improve yourself as a writer is to edit other people's writing. Sometimes it can be tedious but at other times you just can't wait to read the next chapter. I actually prefer editing other people's books instead of reading books that have already been published. This is because I can make comments and suggest changes. Not only is it a way to stay in control but it also is a great way to improve your creativity and your grammar. Sometimes reading just one paragraph of someone else's writing can make your mind go crazy with ideas.

If you haven't seen the site NanoWrimo I highly recommend checking it out. If you have finished your novel or even just want someone to read one chapter of your novel check out their forums. You can beta read (which is basically just reading someone's novel and making edits) or have someone beta read your novel. It's a great way to get yourself out into the writing community and make friends.

Question: Have you ever participated in NanoWrimo and if so what do you enjoy about it?

Alysa Tarrant

Ranting: Only You Can Make You Happy

Ranting is not a good thing to do when you're writing, unless it's a really good rant and you're really good at writing rants. So instead rant on your blog like I am about to do!

It is up to you, to make you happy. We all face our own battles, and most battles are with yourself. There's an old tale that goes something like this. "In each of us there are two wolves. These wolves are fighting a constant battle. One wolf fights for goodness and happiness. The other wolf fights for evil and cruelty. But who will win? The one you feed." It's easier to feed the bad wolf. We've all been there and we have all fed the bad wolf. It's because that wolf will eat anything, while the good wolf will only eat things that are actually good for you. For example: the bad wolf eats self harm, self doubt, and mean thoughts. The good wolf eats things like happiness and friendship and compliments.

Let me try making another point. Every single person out there has a little voice in their head. That voice says mean things about you and other people. He says things like, "You're fat! You're ugly. You're stupid! That person smells. That person is an idiot." Shut that voice up. Flick him off of your shoulder because he is wrong. He will always be wrong. Don't let him tell you what's what.

Back around to my main point. You are the only person in this world that can truly make you happy. If you have ever read Catcher in the Rye you might know what I mean. I hated this book. Plain and simple, I did not like it. I didn't like this book because of the main character. He spends most of the book moping around about his bad life. If you don't like your life it is up to you to change it! Don't be like that main character.

Now that most of the rant is out of my system I just have one more thing to say.

If you ever consider cutting I would like you to remember this. No one is worth cutting for. Not one person, animal, or thing in this world is worth harming yourself for. I don't care if you love them or are doing this for them.

Picture your body as a baby. Would you cut a baby? Burn a baby? Hit a babies head against a wall? Would you ever harm a baby? No. You wouldn't because that baby is beautiful. Even if it's chubby or if it's a bit smelly or it has trouble with something. You would never do that to a baby.

If you are ever struggling with something please comment and I will do my best to help you. Emotionalbaggagecheck.com is also a great resource. Another great thing to do is to draw a butterfly wherever you cut. Don't cut that butterfly.

If you've made it this far I applaud you. But you are probably wondering why I wrote this. I in fact have never self harmed or thought about self harming and I realize now how extremely lucky I am. I'm writing this because I have friends and people I love that have admitted that they have cut themselves or self harmed. You are so loved. Please don't forget that.

I love you.

Alysa Tarrant

100 Ways to Say "Good"

Good is one overly used word. So, just to make your day a little brighter, here are 100 ways to say good.



Tip: Thesauruses are your best friend! But don't go crazy with huge words. No one wants to read a book that they have to look up words every other sentence. (Unless you are Lemony Snicket. Then and only then is it ok.)

Alysa Tarrant

Your Main Character

Who is your main character? Every story has one, but who is yours? Not just their name or their age or their hair color, but what is their favorite food or book? What are their pet peeves? These are things that you want to know about your main character in order to write a successful story. 

My main characters always seem to end up being an idea form of me. The main character I am currently working with is named Lena. If I could edit myself I would end up being like Lena. But of course I can't just make her the idea person, because that's not what readers like. Readers like people they can relate to, people with faults. So if you're like me and you base your character off of yourself, use your own habits within your character. For example, if you bite your nails when you're nervous, have your character do that to. Find something within your character that you relate to and write with that. 

Question: How are you and your main character similar? 

Alysa Tarrant

Inspiration

Inspiration is one of those things that everyone thinks will just pop out of no where. I hate to break it to you but odds are not in your favor that an entire book will pop into your head while you're in the shower. Don't wait for that book to write itself. Sit down and write!

Sure, a lot of my posts are about just sitting down and writing, but to me, that is the most important part of writing. In fact, I'm going back and writing an outline for my book to help add things in and give it some bulk.

While trying to write this outline I was having trouble finding things to add. So I talked to a few of my friends. A shout out to them for letting me ruin the series for them but they did give me some great ideas which will definitely be helpful. So if you're looking for inspiration try your friends or go to my writers block page.

Comment below if you're stuck and I'll do my best to help you out!

Writing Tip: If you give your book to people to edit, don't be discouraged if they don't like it or they have a lot of corrections. Not liking it means that your book is controversial which will make it more interesting to read and a lot of corrections just means it's getting better.

Alysa Tarrant

Word Count

The word count is intimidating. That's a fact. For a fiction novel your book should probably be a minimum of 60,000 words. Wow. That's a lot. Write now my novel is 45,000 words so I'm going back through and I'm thickening the plot and adding more words. I think this will actually improve my novel.

Here are the recommended word counts for various genres.
These are taken from http://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/word-count.html

• Short story: any fictional work under 7,500 words
• Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500 words
• Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000 words
• Novel: anything over 40,000 words

Though a novel is anything about 40,000 words you're going to have much better luck if you make it longer. If you can get your word count up to 70 or 80 thousand without just dragging your story then you're golden!

Writing Tip: It's always easy to take away some of your story than it is to try and write more. When you write your first draft put in everything you can think of, then go back through and take it out later.

Alysa Tarrant

Literary Agents

Now I love to be organized. If things aren't organized it bothers me with end. So as I am now getting to the point in writing where I am researching literary agents and writing query letters I have made a chart. This chart has an unlimited number of rows and has seven columns. These columns are as follows:

• Agent
• Email
• Agency 
• Submission requirements
• Sent (When the query letter was sent)
• Replied (When and if the agent replies)
• Comments (any comments that the agent might have left that are important)

This is really helpful for me because that way I can see who I intend to send out query letters to and who has responded. 

Writing Tip: When you write don't have anything open except your writing and possibly research. Also, always have a glass of water close at hand.

Alysa Tarrant

Computers for Writers

Of the late I have been researching computers for writers. A writer's computer is their life. It's where we write our stories, do our research, and contact agents and publishers. Here are some of my requirements for a new computer, which I have not found yet but would love suggestions!

• Light
• Under 16 inches
• Easily accessible documents
• Can play music
• Access internet
• Fast
• Over 200 GB
• Good battery light

As of right now I am leaning toward a Chromebook. The only thing I don't like is that I will have to use Google Docs all the time and that I would have to transfer all of my music. As for the Google Docs that's not too much of a problem except for the fact that there is limited space on Google Docs. The price is also fairly good. It's just below $300. 

I am also considering a Mac. Macs seem to be great in every sense except that they're usually over $1000, which let's be honest, most of us teen writers can't afford. 

Question: What kind of computer do you use and what do you like about it?

Alysa Tarrant

Writing is Like Debating

For me, writing is like debating. I take a debate class in school and there are some debates that I get very passionate about, so passionate that you can not shut me up. When you write you need to be passionate about it. There should be times when you get so excited about writing that you just can't stop.

You should also find your "brand" of writing. For instance I enjoy writing mainstream fiction. Maybe you like writing about magic or maybe historical fiction. Either way you should also enjoy the research for your book. Researching is actually one of my favorite parts of writing a novel, assuming it's something I want to research.

Question: What is your "brand"?

Alysa Tarrant

Plan it Out

So I know that in my last post I said that I write to find out what happens. That's only partially true. I don't fill out a plot chart or anything but I have found it very helpful to just write out bullet points of what is going to happen. This way if you get stuck when you start writing you can look at your bullet points and see that you were going to add a cat in the next scene.

The point is it's going to be easier to sit down and write if you know what you're writing about.

Writing Tip: If you get an idea for a story write it down because it could be the next bestseller.

Alysa Tarrant

The Start of a Book

I decided today was the day that I would start my second novel. This second novel is a sequel to The Opals, my first novel which has yet to be published or even sent to a literary agent.

For the past few weeks ideas had been floating around in my head about what would happen in this second novel. In my first novel I left the end so it was obvious that there would be a second novel, I just wasn't sure what that novel would be. I was hoping that the book would just come dancing into my thoughts and my fingers would just type that 100,000 word best seller onto a document, because writing a book is easy right? Wrong. So, so wrong. The ideas in my head were not a well organized flash mob. These ideas were instead, a group of middle schoolers at a dance, awkwardly swaying to a fro, not even on beat. These middle schoolers had the potential to be this amazing flash mob but they lacked the discipline. Same with ideas. My first writing tip was about sitting down and starting your book. I decided it was time to take my own advice and make those awkward middle schoolers into a professional flash mob that would take the world by storm. So I sat down, opened up a document, typed a few words, and decided to blog about it. 

Sit down and write your book. You don't even have to start at the beginning. If you have a scene in your head write it and go from there!

I'm one of those people that writes to see what happens. I don't even know the end of the story until I've written it, and I'm the one who came up with it. So if you're having trouble just sitting down and writing, plan your novel out. Make a plot chart (Google image it) and go from there. 

Now before I take my own advice and I close everything except my document I'm going to pose you a question, and please my readers which as of write (I'm feeling punny!) now are few but appreciated, answer this question in the comments and I will love you forever. 

Question: How do you write? Are you a planner or do you write to see what happens?

Alysa Tarrant

Sherlock the TV Show

Ever since I started writing as I watch TV shows I have a new appreciation for the writing. Just yesterday I started watching Sherlock, something I wish I had done a long time ago. The show is amazing for anyone who hasn't seen it or thinks they will not like it. The episodes are each about an hour and twenty minutes, so about the length of a short movie.
The way these episodes are written are what really intrigues me. Though I have only seen two episodes so far I can tell that there is an overlaying plot (one that arches over all of the the episodes) as well as a smaller plot in each episode. Now I'm not sure but I would think that all of the episodes would have to be written out in advance, so that this overlaying plot can flow smoothly.
If you have ever seen Sherlock than you know what I mean when I talk about Sherlock deducing things. So far I have seen it the most in Season 1 Episode 1 but just by looking at something he can see pretty much the whole life story of the person or the situation he is looking at. It would be quite an honor to meet Sherlock Holmes but I'm not sure if I'd want him deducing me. :) Either way this brings me back to the writers of the show. They seem to write so as the show goes along it seems like nothing fits together but then towards the end we begin to see how it all works out. Unless you've seen the show you can't understand what I mean but if you're a writer than you definitely want this show on your radar!

Writing Tip: If you're experiencing writer's block write out a few pages of your favorite book.

 

Alysa Tarrant