Jessica Werner's Blog, page 6
May 17, 2015
Snippets – Prompt #2
It is time for another Snippet! Thank you to those, who have shared their fantastic stories prompted by the first snippet. I really loved seeing what you did with your imagination and creativity. For those among you who are new here, here is how this works:
I am posting a Snippet below. It is something I wrote down at some point and did not develop, but I would love to see get its own life. Then you go and write whatever pops into your mind. You can make it a story about how it came to this, or maybe it is the beginning or the middle. You can write a poem, or anything else that is inspired by the Snippet. If you want, you can share it in the comments, because I would LOVE to see what you did with the Snippet, and show it to everyone. Easy enough, right?
So here we go:
I am looking very much forward to see what you come up with. Also don’t forget my Sra’kalor Giveaway. It’ll run until the 20th so you still got some time to enter. How to do that you can see here.
Stay creative and until next time. :)
Filed under: Fun, Giveaway, Snippet Writing Prompt Tagged: giveaway, i am writing, iamwriting, snippet, writing, writing prompt
May 8, 2015
Interview by Vanessa Kings
My fellow author Vanessa Kings had me over for an interview on her blog “Vanessa Kings’ Books – Bring the fantasy back“. It has been such a pleasure, and she’s so lovely that I could have stayed a bit longer, but back I am. :)
How would you describe your writing style?
Chaotic creative. I have so many ideas all the time. I just write them down and hope to get to it. When it comes to a story I am writing on, I have a million notes written down, and am trying to sort them, so I can integrate them more easily. Though when it comes to actual writing I am the kind that begins and then goes in chronological order. I know that some people write a beginning, then an end and then the parts in between in no particular order, but I would confuse myself with that. I prefer following the story timeline but let it flow and see where it goes.
If you would like to know more about me, how I came up with the title of my book, who my favourite characer or my writing inspirations are (and more) come on over to Vanessa’s blog and have a read.
Filed under: Interview, Spotlight, Sra'kalor, Writing Tagged: author interview, ia, interview, novel, writing
May 7, 2015
Character Interview – Meet Tyler / Leandrus
Tyler/LeandrusLast month I have introduced Alana from my first Novel Sra’kalor to you in an character interview. She was a little nervous and a little shy, but I am sure she has enjoyed her time here. Today I have invited …
Why have I been called here?
I was just getting to that, Tyler. As you have seen, I have invited Tyler to us today, so you can get to know him. Welcome Tyler.
The red eyes of the man eye her suspiciously, but eventually he nods. So what do you wish to know.
Why don’t you start to tell us a little about you?
He sighs, shoulders raising and falling. He does not sound very enthusiastic and hesitates, before finally speaking. You do know my name, I am a Mystic from Ashwood Falls and belong to the Circle.
From Alana we know that the Circle took her in. What kind of group is this?
He suddenly perks up and pays more attention.Alana? What has she told you?
Not much, that is why I am asking you.
The circle is a group of magic users: Mystics, witches and such. Someone saw her use magic and asked Zandra to take care of her. He fidgets on his seat. Were you the person that upset Alana?
I have only asked her a few questions, just like I do with you right now. You do seem rather protective of her.
His red eyes spark slightly, and a low growl left his throat, before he cleared it and opens his fisted hands to straight palms on his thighs. She is part of the Circle and with that under my protection.
Is that so? Fascinating. What do you think Leandrus would say about that?
His eyes shoot up, staring in disbelief. How do you… It appears that he tries to hold it together, the knuckles of his hands whiten, as he clings to the edge of his chair. I do not know who you are talking about.
My dear, I have written you, there is no way to lie to me. Why don’t you tell us about the real you?
He scoffs and shakes his head and mumbles. These writers all think they have it all figured out, times never change. He then raises his voice to a normal level. Well then. I am Leandrus, though the shell you view is Tyler. I myself am a demon.
And how did that union happen?
He sighs. I was summoned, like so many demons. But the person who summoned me did not stay. And not only that, they did a mistake and forgot to banish the body’s soul before starting the ritual.
And what does that mean?
Lady, please do not pretend. You do know what it means.
Very well, so Tyler is still here and does not only listen to everything, he also talks with you. How does that work in regards to Alana?
He grumbles slightly and crosses his arms in front of his chest. I do believe, you have asked enough questions.
But isn’t it true that she is your One? How do you think she would react if she knew that you are not who she thinks you are?
He raises from his chair and takes a slight bow.I will remove myself from this interrogation. Fare ye well, Lady. With that he turns around and leaves the room.
Mhm, that is the second person that leaves in the middle of my questions. I seem to have struck a chord, though. He did seem to react in a strange way whenever I mentioned Alana. If you would like to know what is going on between them, and why Leandrus refuses to talk more about this subject, check out Sra’kalor and find out.
And do not forget, that I do have a giveaway running right now, to win your very own copy of the book. All you will have to do is like our facebook page AND fill out the form. You can find it in the linked article, or at the top navigation bar of this page.
Until next time when we will meet another Sra’kalor character. Until then, have a lovely week.
Filed under: Character interview, Sra'kalor, Writing Tagged: character interview, interview, kindle, novel, Sra'kalor
May 2, 2015
Kindle Countdown Deal – Kaleidoscope of my mind – ENDED
I’m super excited (yes I am a lot of exicted lately ;) )
If you have access to Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk I have a special Kindle Countdown Deal for you! Until May 8th you can get my Poetry book “Kaleidoscope of my mind” for only 0.99$ / 0.99£
(Sadly the German Amazon page does not support the Kindle Countdown deals and they are only available to COM and CO.UK.)
My poetry is not of the rhyming kind, it comes from my heart and with feeling and embraces many subjects like nature, love, pain, depression, seasons and more.
Please spead the word and enjoy some poetry that I have written through the years.
Filed under: Deal, Kaleidoscope of my mind, poetry Tagged: 0.99, 0.99¢, countdown deal, kdp select, poetry
Kindle Countdown Deal – Kaleidoscope of my mind
I’m super excited (yes I am a lot of exicted lately ;) )
If you have access to Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk I have a special Kindle Countdown Deal for you! Until May 8th you can get my Poetry book “Kaleidoscope of my mind” for only 0.99$ / 0.99£
(Sadly the German Amazon page does not support the Kindle Countdown deals and they are only available to COM and CO.UK.)
My poetry is not of the rhyming kind, it comes from my heart and with feeling and embraces many subjects like nature, love, pain, depression, seasons and more.
Please spead the word and enjoy some poetry that I have written through the years.
Filed under: Deal, Kaleidoscope of my mind, poetry Tagged: 0.99, 0.99¢, countdown deal, kdp select, poetry
April 29, 2015
Giveaway Raffle! Your chance to win your own copy of Sra’kalor! – ENDED
THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED! THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST
I am super excited to announce a big giveaway raffle for 25 (!) ebook copies of Sra’kalor, the first part in the Ashwood Falls Trilogy!
Everyone entering the Raffle from now on until May 20th has a chance to win one of 25 copies in the ebook format of their choice. All you have to do is like my facebook page Journey of words and fill out the form. The winners will be chosen through a random name picker, among those who did both.
Yes, it is that easy :) Here are the links to everything you need!
Facebook page: Journes of words to like!
Giveaway Form to fill out!
Please share this with your friends, the more the merrier! And good luck to everyone :)
Filed under: Fun, Giveaway, Raffle, Sra'kalor Tagged: amwriting, ebook, free, giveaway, iamwriting, novel, raffle, win
Giveaway Raffle! Your chance to win your own copy of Sra’kalor!
I am super excited to announce a big giveaway raffle for 25 (!) ebook copies of Sra’kalor, the first part in the Ashwood Falls Trilogy!
Everyone entering the Raffle from now on until May 20th has a chance to win one of 25 copies in the ebook format of their choice. All you have to do is like my facebook page Journey of words and fill out the form. The winners will be chosen through a random name picker, among those who did both.
Yes, it is that easy :) Here are the links to everything you need!
Facebook page: Journes of words to like!
Giveaway Form to fill out!
Please share this with your friends, the more the merrier! And good luck to everyone :)
Filed under: Fun, Giveaway, Raffle, Sra'kalor Tagged: amwriting, ebook, free, giveaway, iamwriting, novel, raffle, win
April 26, 2015
Snippets – Prompt #1
I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of snippets. What are these you ask, well that is easy. A snippet is something I wrote but never continued, or which was disconnected sentence which could have turned into a story. I am pretty sure that every writer has these. Sometimes they are even several pages long, other times it is a sentence or a paragraph. Something that popped into our minds and we just had to write them down. So that is what I call Snippets.
Last night, while thinking about these snippets and reading a few of those that I have collected, I had an idea, that I would like to share with you! In my post about what I do to overcome my writer’s block, I mentioned that Writing Prompts can be quite a powerful tool. I also love to see what people come up with in their creative minds, when it comes to those prompts.
So, I will be sharing my snippets with you, and I would simply LOVE to see what you come up with, if it inspires you. It can be anything from building a story around the snippet, to something that follows the atmosphere; be it short/long story, poetry, lyrics and so on. The first prompt is the following:
Writing Prompt Snippet #1If you are prompted to write something, please share it in the comments, so I can see what you came up with, I’d really love to see it. Also share the snippets with friends if you think they would enjoy them. I can’t wait to see how these snippets come to life.
Filed under: Snippet Writing Prompt, Writing Tagged: interactive, snippet, story, writing, writing prompt
April 11, 2015
Character Interview – Meet Alana
Today I’ll have a special little post for you. I thought that, while it surely is interesting to get to know me, who writes all these stories, it would be even more interesting to meet a couple of special people. Over the course of the next few posts, you will get to know Alana, Tyler/Leandrus and Dracon, the main characters of my latest novel Sra’kalor.
In this first part, I have the honor of Alana visiting my humble author blog; but before I’d tell you about her, why not let her do that. Welcome Alana.
The girl wiggles a little on her stool, a nervous smile playing around her lips, as she pushes a strand of raven hair behind her ear. “Thank you. I do not really know why I am here though.”
Well my readers would like to get to know you a little. So why don’t you tell us where you are from?
A look of confusion dances across her soft features, the golden eyes rolling upwards to look at the ceiling. “Uhmm, okay. ” She takes a deep breath, before she continues. “Well, I was born and raised in a small town called Oakdale Springs.” Her face lights up as her gaze drifts to an invisible area. “A sleepy little place, with picket fences and kids playing in the streets.”
And what has brought you to Ashwood Falls?
Her naturally tanned face takes a gentle pinkish hue. “There have been some… incidents.”
Incidents?
She swallows, trying to talk about the subject in a nonchalant manner, though she tried hard enough, to give the impression that there is more than she said. “Yes. Some things flying through the air, spontaneous fires… that kind of thing.”
That sounds like pretty strange circumstances.
A gust of wind washed through the room, sending papers flying as she blurts out “Well, it was magic, that usually is ‘pretty strange'”. Then her shoulders sag and she sighs. “Listen, I just never learned to control this stuff. So I put a few things on fire, and accidentally hurt some people. But I didn’t mean it. I cannot blame my parents for sending me away.”
You won’t be trying to set this place on fire though, right?
The smile on her lips seems a little sad, though she shakes her head ever so slightly. “I cannot promise it, but I’m trying. I met some nice people who want to help me learn control it. I actually will have a lesson with Tyler right after this.”
Who is Tyler?
Once more her cheek flush, as she avoids to look at anyone. “He’s one of the Mystics of the Circle, the group that took me in. Zandra put him in charge of my magical training.”
And Zandra is?
Alana’s smile grows and her eyes sparkle, at the mention of the name.“The leader of the Circle. She’s a lovely witch and really good with magic. I always have the feeling she knows what I’m thinking, it’s a little weird. But she explains a lot to me and is really nice.”
And Tyler, is he nice too?
As fast as the blush had left, it returns to the girl’s cheeks.The golden eyes roam nervously around the room. “Yes, he tries really hard to teach me, but it is not easy. He knows what happens when things go wrong. When I first met him, I accidentally made a heavy book slam right into him. I’m sure he does not want that to happen again.”
Did I just see you blush?
What had been a pinkish hue now turned into a bright red, and she fiddles her fingers, moving her hands from one position to the next over and over. “Ye.. no.. I .. uh.. I think I better go. Tyler does not like when I’m late. Thanks uhm.. it was a nice chat. See you around.” With that she jumps from the stool and hurries out without another word.
Well, that was a quick turn; it looks like I struck a chord with our young lady. I did not even get to ask where she sees herself in a year. Though if what we have seen and heard so far is any indication, she will either be a magical super hero, or buried under a pile of rubber that once was Ashwood Falls.
Let us hope it is the first. And if you would like to see more of what Alana is up to. Check out Sra’kalor, the first part of her three-part story and her life in Ashwood Falls. And stay tuned to get to know Zandra, Dracon and not to forget Tyler in the near future.
Filed under: Character interview, Sra'kalor, Writing Tagged: character interview, i am writing, iamwriting, interview, novel, Sra'kalor, writing
April 4, 2015
My way to overcome writer’s block
The empty page, glaring into my soul, taunting me and making faces to mock me, when I do not find words to fill it. The feeling of failure looming over my head, as I struggle to continue what I have started. My head is full of things, thoughts, worries, but nothing of it has to do with the story.
Sounds familiar?
I have been asked by some of my readers and friends, how I am dealing with my Writer’s block. Since I know, that quite a number of writers have to deal with that from time to time, I thought I’d share it here. Please note, that these methods are what help me and might not necessarily work for everyone. But let’s be honest. When you are blocked, you want to try as many things as possible to find the one thing that helps YOU.
So let’s get started.
There are several methods that I use, depending on what I need at this point. There is also my go-to method that I’ll talk about last.
Distraction
I know there are some “Oooh no, then you’ll never get anything done” voices, trying to hammer into my mind. But hear me out. Sometimes my mind is so full of so many things, that I cannot hear my creativity over them. When I distract myself, I am turning my mind off. I play a video game, watch videos on youtube, read a book, take a walk (well no, I am lazy, but it’s an option), watch a movie… whatever gets my mind to shut up for a while. After that it is much easier for me to focus on writing. But you gotta make sure that you are not in distraction mode all day long. Set yourself a max timer if you have to.
Write something different
If you do not get into the story you are focussing right now, try writing something different. Maybe that will help you to free your mind for your main project.
Changing the story
There is the kind of writer’s block that comes when you feel you hit a wall in your story. Everything seemed to work nicely so far and suddenly you’re stuck, with no way to go. That happened to me, while I was writing Sra’kalor. One thing that I did was cutting out the scene that gave me headaches. I did not delete it, but put it into a different file, in case it fits later. Then I started that chapter again, did some change to the story, and from then on it went much easier.
A note about that cut out scene: If you are sure it will not work ever, just delete it. Also, just because you put it aside, does not mean you HAVE to use it at some point. Maybe it will work in a different story, or never. That is fine. I have not used that scene later on. I actually have forgotten about it at some point, because my story went in a direction where it was not relevant any more. So I deleted it then.
Character changes
Sometimes the reason we get stumped is because a character does not work. We had an idea for it, and either they developed differently (I do not have to tell you about characters getting a life of their own, so they completely ignore our input, right?), or we have written them in a corner, or they are just feeling wrong. Do not be afraid to change them. Make them more interesting, rewind and see where things went wrong. Change what is needed to be changed, and adjust the story around that if needed. It helped me a big deal sometimes.
Outlines, Mindmaps, Drawing boards
Where do I start? Where do I go? How do I end? How will I get there? These are questions I ask myself often while writing. With a creative mind, that is in constant chaos with either too many ideas or no ideas, that can be a tough call. Helpful to me were things like outlines, scene lists, mindmaps and so on. I actually have installed an add-on called MindMeister in my google dogs, so I can put mindmaps together easily. Write down your scene or story ideas. Be it digitally or on paper, whatever floats your boat and helps you. Put them in order, that makes your story flow, think about how to connect those scenes and your story will come to life. Then you only will have to write it down.
It does not have to be perfect
One of the biggest problems many writers I know have is, that they want to write the perfect chapter right away, while they actually are in their ‘First Draft’ phase. Your first draft is exactly that. A draft. Your first written proof of a story that spooks around in your head. It is rough, like coal, and needs work. But you wrote it down, it’s a huge step. And after that you begin with editing. Not the kind that an Editor does, but your run through of fleshing out the story. That part is where you add things to explain, where you take out stuff that is redundant, where plot holes are filled and so on. After that I work on descriptions, make things sound prettier, which by then is my third or fourth round of writing. Once I am happy with that I go through it again, to check for spelling and grammar. After that I will give it to my proof reader, who will find more mistakes, plot holes, points that make no sense and have to be improved or changed.
What I am saying is. Write and do not be afraid to not be perfect. You don’t have to be. Do not put that pressure on you. Making your story into the book that you can be proud of is a progress, not an instant ‘must do’.
Now my go-to method. It actually is a method that I have learned from a friend (Thank you Karen!) and I have been using it ever since. Her simple advice was “Write”
I can imagine that you might either say “I knew that!” or you wonder if I am crazy. “How am I supposed to write, when I have a block. That is the problem, didn’t you listen to me?” That is what I thought when she told me that in order to get over it, I gotta write. Things become easier when make them a habit, so if you have the habit of writing, you will get into the groove much easier. Now you might think, that this is easier said than done, BUT there is method in this chaos, in form of an exercise.
What you need for that is a timer, alarm clock, your cell alarm anything you got that rings a bell or something when time is up. You also need your writing utensils. If you want to use a computer, pen and paper, napkins, pig skin, whatever is up to you. Just do not use permanent marker on another person’s skin okay?
Now follow the following instructions:
Give your clock 5 minutes to run. After 5 minutes the alarm goes off and you are done.
Turn on the timer and begin to write and do not stop for corrections (Remember, does not have to be perfect, it can be riddles with spelling and grammar mistakes, this is not a test)
When the alarm goes off, stop writing.
But what should I write about? Everything, nothing of consequence, words, sentences, anything really. For me it usually began with random words. Any word that popped into my mind. Words turned into half sentences, later into full sentences. The sentences or words were not connected to each other, it looked like a looney wrote down every single thought that popped into their mind, which was exactly what had happened.
To my own surprise, after a little while of verbal doodling, I had begun to write things that belonged together. And I ended up with a paragraph, that made sense and could have easily been the beginning of a story.
I had not forced it, I just went with what came out of my mind and into my fingers. Which was good, because we know that forced writing is not enjoyable, neither for you or for your reader. The outcome was not always that great, nut sometimes, and it became more and more often, the more I did this exercise.
Ever since I have started this, I made sure that I put aside at least 5 minutes a day to write. Be it the exercise itself, a writing prompt I found online or got from a friend, a diary entry, the blurb for an idea that popped into my mind or whatever else I found there. Most of the time it ends up to be much longer, like an hour or two. But 5 minutes a day is all it needs to form a habit, that will help you on your journey.
For example: Right now I am writing this blog post as part of my daily writing and for overcoming a block. Tadaa surprise!
There for sure are many many more methods for overcoming writer’s block, but these are the ones that have worked for me so far.
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way through this long post and I hope that this is useful for someone out there. If you run into a writing wall again, I hope that you will find the method/s that do the magic trick for you!
Filed under: Writing, writing tips Tagged: i am writing, iamwriting, writer's block, writing, writing tips
