Scarlett Van Dijk's Blog, page 6

Guest Post: John Rayburn - Just musing about the Muse

Writing books is one thing, writing best sellers is something else. That’s what millions of would-be literary successes are finding out for themselves. In this day and age of more and more technological advances practically anyone can turn out a book, no matter whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. The digital world has made major changes in the writing and publishing industry as e-readers have made major inroads into reading habits.

Obviously, I’m one of those giving this new approach a try,...

Guest Post: Krys Fenner - Inside The Mind Of A Character

Where have you been all my life? I recently asked myself this very question when I came across something I hadn’t realized had been in existence for about 40 years. I’m an English major and with all we learned, I had never heard this term: Deep POV. I even thought I might have been the only one until a couple days ago. Another author asked me what is Deep POV? My twitter response: 1st person POV + 3rd person limited omniscience = baby (Deep POV). I know this sounds weird, but I promise to mak...

Nexus: A New Beginning

As I write my latest novel I am feeling a new excitement for writing. Of course I’m always happy to write but this time it’s a new beginning. There is something very refreshing about writing with completely new characters in a new setting, unrelated to that of the Sky Stone series.

‘Nexus’ (I believe I will call it) is a novel set in future Earth where the human race is slowly dying out as Mother Earth’s task force, The Animus, set out to destroy them. Well most of them, some of the Anima wa...

Guest Post: Mr M - How I Created The Magical Adventures of Brian Leonard

Some call 4:30am the ungodly hour. For me it’s the time when my son and wife are peacefully sleeping. It is the time I launch myself into another universe…a universe only I know. There are so many reasons why I write. There are so many reasons why someone should go to the gym instead.

I write because it is like television in my head. I didn’t really love writing until I reached undergrad at Chapman University. My writing tool of choice was a Mac Classic which was essentially a very large, bei...

Guest Post: Adam Myman - How I Created The Magical Adventures of Brian Leonard

Some call 4:30am the ungodly hour. For me it’s the time when my son and wife are peacefully sleeping. It is the time I launch myself into another universe…a universe only I know. There are so many reasons why I write. There are so many reasons why someone should go to the gym instead.

I write because it is like television in my head. I didn’t really love writing until I reached undergrad at Chapman University. My writing tool of choice was a Mac Classic which was essentially a very large, bei...

3 Weeks As One Of Them Employed People

Hi everyone, long time no write. The last three weeks have been some of the most hectic, overwhelming, incredible, fun, tough, and exciting of my life. On the 5th of January I became “one of those employed people”. I am a fully-fledged radiographer, taking x-rays and being all professional and stuff.

Unfortunately I have already let one of my New Year’s Resolutions slide. I haven’t really written, well, anything. I promise I will get back on track! Hence, I am here again.

Before I began work...

Guest Post: Laine Cunningham - Writing Residencies

How would you like to travel to a new place and discover that your room is actually a cottage in the woods or even a furnished apartment in a century-old stone building? What if that cozy living space came complete with hot meals and interactions with other writers?

Welcome to the world of writing residencies.

First, know that there are two broad types of residencies. The first are called residencies but are technically writing retreats. These intensive workshops, often about a week long, ar...

Guest Post: Charlotte Henley Babb - Getting Un-Stuck with Inner Conflicts

I was stuck. The big hole in the WIP was the motivation of the villain, his goal, why that goal, and what exactly he wanted to accomplish. Was he a thief, a con man, an assassin, an anarchist? Working alone? Betraying his companions? Masterminding a devious scheme?

I did some research into villainous motivations when my muse decided to take a three-hour lunch without me. I found an article by Janice Hardy at Fiction University about Michael Hague's description of inner conflict and the inters...

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015

Happy New Year everyone! 2014 was an amazing year. I can’t say I kept all of my resolutions for the year but I definitely made the most of it. I finally published my debut, YA fantasy novel, Sky Stone. I learnt so much about publishing as I muddled my way through self-publishing with CreateSpace. I also graduated from university and am now a qualified and registered radiographer. I’m ready to jump into 2015 and begin a new phase of my life.

I expect a lot from 2015. I commence work soon, fin...

Guest Post: Steve Turnbull - Genre Is Broken

Stories are a commodity. If you’re good at creative lying you can put together a story that other people might want to buy. And there are middle-men who will perform the whole distribution process for you.

Of course not everybody likes the same type of story. While some like romance, others may prefer science fiction. So the middle-men have classified stories as a marketing tool. They have decided what those classifications are and your story must fit, otherwise it cannot be sold.

But there’...