Year End Writing Contests

On June 14, 2012 By Robert EvenhouseIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As we move through the summer at such a rapid pace I began to reflect on the end of the year. I have goals that I wish to accomplish, and I realized some of them might take a bit more time than my usual 5-6 hours a week I spend writing.

I’d like to share some writing contests with you today. Why do I mention them? Because sometimes it is nice to hunker down and get something accomplished. There is something about a writer locked in a cabin that is alluring to me. Disappearing for an extended piece of time and then emerging with the Great American Novel!

So if you want to finish a novel this year, perhaps use the thrill, comradery, and intensity of these contests.

NANOWRIMO

National Novel Writing Month

Here is the link: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

What is NaNoWriMo?

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

3-Day Novel Contest

This is the most notorious contest I know. My writers group has, for the most part, done this each year. I highly recommend this literary adrenaline rush.

Can you produce a masterwork of fiction in three short days? The 3-Day Novel Contest is your chance to find out. For more than 30 years, hundreds of writers step up to the challenge each Labour Day weekend, fuelled by nothing but adrenaline and the desire for spontaneous literary nirvana. It’s a thrill, a grind, a 72-hour kick in the pants and an awesome creative experience. How many crazed plotlines, coffee-stained pages, pangs of doubt and moments of genius will next year’s contest bring forth? And what will you think up under pressure?

Prizes

1st Prize: Publication*
2nd Prize: $500
3rd Prize: $100

*The first prize winner will be offered a publishing contract by 3-Day Books after the winner announcement in the January following the contest. Once the contract is signed, the winning novel will be edited, published and released by the next year’s contest. 3-Day Books are distributed by Arsenal Pulp Press.

How about you, what opportunities are you taking to finish your novel this year?

Cheers,

Bob

Short Story: The Finest Prose Form?

On May 23, 2012 By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing TipsLeave a comment

I started several short stories and have yet to finish one. My excuse is that my stories are too big. The true reason, one that I hesitate to acknowledge at times, is that my writing is unrefined.

Short stories are an enigma. I cannot remember the last time I read one, but they stand as an important bulwark of the prose continuum. When the remodeling project is done at my new house (yes, I understand I might never be done remodeling!) I plan to sit down and try to finish a few. Why? Because it is a wonderful way to improve your writing. You have to be choosey with your words. You cannot simply throw some dialogue here and some description there for as many pages as you well please.You have to limit yourself. Therein lies the challenge.

As there are more remodeling projects to get to today, I will leave you with a few thoughts from the experts. Their analogies prove closer to the mark than my feeble ones ever could.

Keep writing my friends.

Cheers,

Bob

Writing to Music – Impossible or Essential?

On May 2, 2012 By Robert EvenhouseIn Writing Tips3 Comments

At first I thought the idea preposterous. Trying to articulate a sentence using carefully chosen words, while guitars, drums, and a forlorn singer are echoing rhythmic poetry into your ears at unnecessary loud volumes. It’s like two people trying to go through a turnstile to board a subway from opposite sides. It simply does not work…or does it?

Coincidentally, I have, at least to my feeble understanding of what writing is, composed my best chapters when listening to Frightened Rabbit or one of my favorite classical movie soundtracks. I even finished a draft of a novel while doing it. I am not sure if it is the simple fact that I listened to the same music again and again while writing a particular chapter or novel, but after a while, I simply could not write without music.

There are many places to get music: iTunes, Pandora, but I choose Grooveshark. My friend Josh introduced me to it and its my favorite website for music I’ve discovered thus far. If you have other places (legal domains only please) do share.

I often write to Frightened Rabbit‘s live album Liver!Lung!FR! Why? I’m not sure exactly. While their music may be sometimes over the line, they remind me of Mumford & Sons only a bit more, well, English.

The soundtrack to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has been a favorite. The single movie of the trilogy that I did watch, I did not like. But the soundtrack to Transformer 2: Revenge of the Fallen help me finish my latest draft on The Tale of Calelleth. Why? The noble trumpets made me think of a cavalry charge and self-sacrifice, two events incorporated at the end of my book.

The soundtrack to War Horse is my new favorite. I have started my next novel which takes places at Keuka Lake in upstate New York. Its a tremendously verdant area, filled with green mountains, groves and groves of trees, and deep mysterious lakes. It is also about friendship between two kids who meet there one summer and an event that changes them forever. I hear this in the music. I can imagine the films’ landscape while listening to the soundtrack and it combines a feast of imagery that fuels my writing.

Regardless of what I listen too it must either fit the story or scene. It can also be the a random album just like Frightened Rabbit. However, I could never write about something sad while listening to a song blazing at a furious pace. For that I must have something melancholy, striking a chord, releasing a flood of mental images that pours from my finger tips and onto the page.

How about you? What music do you listen to when you write, if any? Do you find it too distracting?

Cheers,

Bob

5 Ways To Write A Scene You Don’t Feel Like Writing

On May 1, 2012 By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing Process4 Comments

I love writing. But I also hate it, at times. This love, hate, rough and tumble Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde attitude should come as no surprise to writers. Some days you are full of inspiration. Other days, well, you come to the keyboard and grumble, knowing you would feel too guilty not to write and completely uninspired to do it.

So let’s hammer out some ways to get through these shenanigans and write, shall we?

1.) Act it out. This may sound silly, and I’m not talking about performing your own personal flash mob, especially if it is a subway ride with no pants. Perhaps, do it in the confines of your own home. This might help you to understand how to begin. If your character is waking up, take a nap and keep the notepad by your side to collect your hazy thoughts when you do the same.

2.) Outline the chapter and or scene. I strongly encourage this. It could show you how you need to begin.

3.) Cut the scene out. I recently talked with a friend about his novel. He wrote most of his story but had one scene that he struggled with. He was not sure what to do or how to write it. Then as he was talking about it, he looked away imagining it in his minds’ eye then he said, “Wait, what if I don’t write it?” It was not essential to his story and he was able to move on with his novel.

4.) Talk it through with a writing buddy. They might help you through it, give you new ideas, or tell you why it needs to be deleted.

5.) Write it. Seems too simple, doesn’t it? Well if none of the above work, try it. Sit down and promise yourself not to move until you’ve written at least three hundred words.

Have you had this issue before? Was there a chapter or scene in your novel or play that proved especially difficult? How did you get through it?

Cheers,

Bob

PART-TIME NOVEL

Tag: novel

Year End Writing Contests

What is NaNoWriMo?

Prizes

Short Story: The Finest Prose Form?

Writing to Music – Impossible or Essential?

5 Ways To Write A Scene You Don’t Feel Like Writing