Scarlett Van Dijk's Blog, page 8

Guest Post: Gail Wagner - A Writing Journey

Hi everyone! My name is Gail Wagner. I write YA Paranormal/Fantasy. I always feel strange saying that I’m an author…mostly because this was so not on my list of things I wanted to be when I grew up. I had much different plans. Unfortunately full-time Disney Princess didn’t pan out, pop star required me to actually sing in front of a crowd and teachers have to have a knack for patience I clearly didn’t have!

So here I am, writing books! One thing I totally had going for me was the fact that I...

You Know You're a Writer When...

People you meet during the day suddenly have elaborate back stories based on only meagre snippets that they give youPlaces you go become the settings for epic battles, romantic antics, and scandalsMusic you play is a soundtrack to an imaginary movie often depicting your own charactersYou get grumpy at people who interrupt your writing 'zone'You talk to your friends about imaginary characters, settings, and plots, expecting them to be on the same wavelength as you You run from your...

Homecoming (vignette)

A short vignette I wrote using this image (From game, 'Child of Light') as a prompt. Using prompts to write short pieces of fiction is a great way to stretch the imagination and practice writing. Enjoy! "Nearly there," I whispered breathlessly as I reached the crest of the hill. I let the tip of my father's sword drop to the soft soil as I took in the sight. Home. I had not seen my home in hundreds of years. My floating wispmate flipped beside me in excitement, a blue glowing orb which...

Guest Post: Teagan Kearney - On Writing

I received a lovely surprise when I opened my email the other day. Australian writer and author of the YA novel,Sky Stone,Scarlett Van Dijk, had sent me an invitation to write a guest post for her website. As I’m approaching the release of my second novel,Tatya’s Return,the request came at a deliciously opportune moment, and I emailed back an elated yes! I’ll admit I’m nervous and excited as this is my first guest post.

To start with, Scarlett, I’d like to share some of my realizations about...

Guest Post: Martin van Houwelingen - Tips to be a Successful Writer

To all Writers

The following is not going to be funny. It is not intended to be cute. Those who are faint of heart might even want to turn away to live in their dreams in peace, as the following cannot be unread.

One out of every 100.000writers will ever reach a level of fame which they can live off.One out of 10.000 will get noticed for a book they wrote
(and yes, these numbers suggest that if you write 10.000 books you will receive some moderate fame for your sheer tenacity)One out of 1000 wri...

Guest Post: Harish Kumar - 10 Creative Ways To Get Beyond Writers Block

Writers block.

The mere mention of writers block may send shivers through writers. Writers with deadlines and literary commitments to keep never want to get stuck with this block.

You may have had the problem of not knowing how to proceed with your writing and get beyond writers block.

You eagerly put pen to paper and keystroke to computer in the hope and anticipation of some magical words to flow through you. But your mind draws a blank.

You get more restless and feel the panic creep in.

You take...

Getting Around 26/9/2014

The wonderful Elizabeth Hein hosted me on her blog.
Head over and read my Five Tips for Beginner Writers.

Guest Post: David Wake - Writing Inevitably

I’m writing outside my comfort zone.

It’s a quest.

I think I’m naturally a science fiction writer. It’s the rules I find attractive. You take a main idea, one only, and run with it.

Rule: SF should have a single idea, except for Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

Of course, that applies to any fiction, it’s just more obvious in SF. Because it’s the genre of ideas and so the ‘big idea’ sticks out more obviously. It’s easier to spot a Triffid than, say, the cycle of destruction that revenge b...

Guest Post: Elizabeth Hein - The Road to Publication

It took me eight year to get my new novel, How To Climb The Eiffel Tower , from an idea to a book you can hold in your hand. I would not have been able to do that without help along the way.

When I first sat down to write, I intended to put together a series of essays based on my experiences as a cancer patient. It was awful - dry, maudlin, a bit academic. I couldn’t capture the human struggles of the people I met in essays, so I wrote the story of four women that meet in a hospital waiting roo...

Character Blog Hop - Introducing Skyla (Book: Guardian Core)

I was tagged by the amazing Justine Manzano and you can find her post here: http://justinemanzano.com/2014/09/08/introducing-jacklyn-madison-character-bloghop-2014/

Bio:
Justine Manzano is a multi-genre writer living in Bronx, NY with her husband, son, and a cacophony of cats. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthology Things You Can Create, Sliver of Stone Magazine, and The Greenwich Village Literary Review. She maintains a semi-monthly blog at JustineManzano.com and a twitter account...