Christine Jones's Blog - Posts Tagged "articles"
I want to write, but where the heck do you start?
I want to write, but where the heck do you start?
A story can be fictitious or fact, in some cases both.
I believe everyone on this planet has a story to tell in some form or another. So many times people say to me, ‘I could write a book about my life’. I reply, ‘why don’t you’. They usually come back with, ‘wouldn’t know where to start’, followed by, ‘I don’t have the time’.
Okay, lets start with, where to start. I say anywhere! Could be yesterday, last week, last year or five minuets ago. Start anywhere! You can rearrange paragraphs, chapters etc later. Don’t stunt your thinking with once upon a time….
Let’s say you want to write about your life. You can start with, I’m sitting here without a thought in my head, but five minuets ago, I got a phone call from Joe blogs. Another salesman trying to sell me a mobile phone. Keep going, what happened before that? I was sitting there talking to my friend Betty, before rudely interrupted by the phone. Before that, I was moping the floor. Before that, eating breakfast and my son, daughter, dog, cat, whatever, knocked a pot plant over, messing up my floor. Work backwards if you have to, jump all over the place. Just get your thoughts down, can be 5, 50, 100, 200 pages of just thoughts, then do the rearranging. I call this my first draft. Second, the filling out, third, rearranging, fourth and a thousand times over, proofreading. Some writers would not agree with me on this, everyone is entitled to there opinion. If I’m wrong, why is there such a thing as writers block and the question, where do I start?
Okay, scared to tell people your life history, but want to? Turn it into fiction. Tell your story, giving yourself and others fictitious names, places and settings. Pour your heart out; make readers laugh and cry with you. Don’t want dear old mum and dad having a heart attack if they read it, give yourself a pen name. Don’t want your girl friend getting her nose out of joint because she does things you aren’t game to tell her, make she into a he, the snotty nose two faced snob or the Aunty from hell.
Want to go further; turn your work into a full-blown fictitious novel? Your best mate suddenly becomes the miracle worker, who not only saved your pot plant but your kid, who supposedly fell out of the highchair! The man, who rang you, becomes a stalker. Mobile phone sales were down, the boss was on his back; your refusal of the offer was the last straw. He blames you for being sacked. Add, add, add, use your imagination, it’s your life, mix fact with fiction, do what you will with it. Give it a twist; you eventually leave your hubby for the stalker. The stalker teams up with you to get rid of the Aunty from hell. The stalker is really an alien, teaching you a lesson in something. Imagination and fact is wonderful and anything can be done with it.
One thing I always suggest to writers, forget who is going to read it. This will free you up to write what you want and not what you think others are going to like. Remember, you can never please everyone and don’t even try to. If you don’t love what you’re writing with passion, you leave yourself open to beat yourself to death over the slightest criticism.
I personally believe that in every fiction book is part of the author’s personality, life, loves, hates, family, acquaintances and all written within the words of a poem, short story and novels.
Haven’t got the time? This to me says, I don’t want to write, so don’t. Better to be honest and say it than to have someone like me trying to convince you to do it. If this is not the case and you really do want to write a story, would it really kill you to dedicate 10 minutes a day to writing one paragraph? Or like some do, jot down a daily note in a diary. Just think; one day you can hand it down to a family member, who might make a million dollars out of it. Take the bible for example; it is a book of letters and private notes. Stones and scrolls exchanged and collected. One day they stuck it all together and whammo, the worlds best selling book. So, there is no reason for people not to write, only if they really, really don’t want to be a writer and not everyone wants to. Alas, the reader and the world needs them just as much as writers.
Christine Jones
Author of the Mariard Volumes
http://www.cjbooks.net
A story can be fictitious or fact, in some cases both.
I believe everyone on this planet has a story to tell in some form or another. So many times people say to me, ‘I could write a book about my life’. I reply, ‘why don’t you’. They usually come back with, ‘wouldn’t know where to start’, followed by, ‘I don’t have the time’.
Okay, lets start with, where to start. I say anywhere! Could be yesterday, last week, last year or five minuets ago. Start anywhere! You can rearrange paragraphs, chapters etc later. Don’t stunt your thinking with once upon a time….
Let’s say you want to write about your life. You can start with, I’m sitting here without a thought in my head, but five minuets ago, I got a phone call from Joe blogs. Another salesman trying to sell me a mobile phone. Keep going, what happened before that? I was sitting there talking to my friend Betty, before rudely interrupted by the phone. Before that, I was moping the floor. Before that, eating breakfast and my son, daughter, dog, cat, whatever, knocked a pot plant over, messing up my floor. Work backwards if you have to, jump all over the place. Just get your thoughts down, can be 5, 50, 100, 200 pages of just thoughts, then do the rearranging. I call this my first draft. Second, the filling out, third, rearranging, fourth and a thousand times over, proofreading. Some writers would not agree with me on this, everyone is entitled to there opinion. If I’m wrong, why is there such a thing as writers block and the question, where do I start?
Okay, scared to tell people your life history, but want to? Turn it into fiction. Tell your story, giving yourself and others fictitious names, places and settings. Pour your heart out; make readers laugh and cry with you. Don’t want dear old mum and dad having a heart attack if they read it, give yourself a pen name. Don’t want your girl friend getting her nose out of joint because she does things you aren’t game to tell her, make she into a he, the snotty nose two faced snob or the Aunty from hell.
Want to go further; turn your work into a full-blown fictitious novel? Your best mate suddenly becomes the miracle worker, who not only saved your pot plant but your kid, who supposedly fell out of the highchair! The man, who rang you, becomes a stalker. Mobile phone sales were down, the boss was on his back; your refusal of the offer was the last straw. He blames you for being sacked. Add, add, add, use your imagination, it’s your life, mix fact with fiction, do what you will with it. Give it a twist; you eventually leave your hubby for the stalker. The stalker teams up with you to get rid of the Aunty from hell. The stalker is really an alien, teaching you a lesson in something. Imagination and fact is wonderful and anything can be done with it.
One thing I always suggest to writers, forget who is going to read it. This will free you up to write what you want and not what you think others are going to like. Remember, you can never please everyone and don’t even try to. If you don’t love what you’re writing with passion, you leave yourself open to beat yourself to death over the slightest criticism.
I personally believe that in every fiction book is part of the author’s personality, life, loves, hates, family, acquaintances and all written within the words of a poem, short story and novels.
Haven’t got the time? This to me says, I don’t want to write, so don’t. Better to be honest and say it than to have someone like me trying to convince you to do it. If this is not the case and you really do want to write a story, would it really kill you to dedicate 10 minutes a day to writing one paragraph? Or like some do, jot down a daily note in a diary. Just think; one day you can hand it down to a family member, who might make a million dollars out of it. Take the bible for example; it is a book of letters and private notes. Stones and scrolls exchanged and collected. One day they stuck it all together and whammo, the worlds best selling book. So, there is no reason for people not to write, only if they really, really don’t want to be a writer and not everyone wants to. Alas, the reader and the world needs them just as much as writers.
Christine Jones
Author of the Mariard Volumes
http://www.cjbooks.net
Writers block, what’s that?
Writers block, what’s that?
I don’t know the meaning of writer’s block and why, because I’m not writing for the world, but for me and my passion for storytelling. What I write, I want to loan to the world to read, but when it comes down to it, why do we write? For fame and fortune, the love of it, just a job, felt I had to follow in mum, dad or whoever’s footsteps? Only you can honestly answer that question. I write because I love it. Once upon a time, I escaped the world into my imagination and haven’t left it since. I want to be in the clouds, in that imaginary spot where I can be the hero or the monster and everything in-between. I love being in places where I’m in total control and no one can get in, into my mind that is.
I truly believe writers block comes with subconsciously or consciously thinking, who is going to read my work? Oh my god, what if my mum reads this, she would have kittens. I dare not swear, use violence or sexual references; my dad would disown me. What if my friends laugh at it? What if an agent or publisher rejects it? What if it’s not commercially viable? What if the story line has been done before? What if my style doesn’t conform to everyone else’s? What if, what if, what if. Get rid of them. Free your mind. This is your baby, your creation. Express yourself the way you want to. Take away the chains binding your creativity and even you as a person. Failure comes with not having confidence in your work. Writers block is the fear of rejection, not meeting a deadline and expectations of you.
Think writers block is due to running out of ideas?
The book world would come to a halt if this were the case. They are all in you, you just have to ask the right questions and expect the answers. Try looking at a sunset. Ask yourself what you see, describe it, feel it, what is your mood at that moment? Believe me, you can write a novel on a sunset.
For many years, I considered myself illiterate. I couldn’t spell or punctuate and avoided reading books due to not understanding the majority of words. Just thinking about my problem, led me to write ‘Signature for Sunshine’. Another example, sitting in a pew within a church, I was thinking, is this really my ticket to heaven? Again, this one thought was behind the book, ‘The pew is not a one way ticket to heaven’. Living on a farm and looking at my house from the middle of a paddock, resulted in, ‘They died and moved in’. Standing in front of a new building, ‘Aus Com’ came about. Ideas are all around us and in us if we ask the right questions and seek answers.
I never think, has it been done before or who will read it. I write because I want to express what’s in my head, in my emotions, what does this particular topic mean to me and what does it relate to in my life. There is always something to write about. Another example; I had a funny experience with a fly and a rat, these critters got a mention in my book, ‘They died and moved in’. Talk to a monk; they can tell you stories about a blade of grass, which will enlighten and enchant you. Why, because they are not thinking, will you buy it, market it and make a million out of it. They are sharing something precious to them. I use the word share, as that is exactly how I see stories, sharing. Yes, I know, we all have to eat and pay bills. So we are back to, why do you truly want to write? What will be sacrifice in your creation for the sake of outside validation, fears of rejection, the hunt for fame and fortune? Your talent will be sacrificed, your imagination squelched.
Now saying this, being true to yourself and your creation does not mean broke and a nobody; another article in itself. It comes back to writers block and being true to yourself and your creativity. Remove all, what ifs. Remove all, who is going to read this. Remove all, I’ll do what other’s expect of me and take on someone else’s style because they are popular. Remove the box you have placed yourself in. Open your eyes, ears and heart and you will never have writers block. In addition, you will be free to express yourself like never before. Believe me, it works and how do I know? I don’t believe I will live long enough to write all the stories in my head, even if I lived to a 100, that’s how much of the box I have removed. Do people like my work? Definitely! Do people hate it? Definitely! Does this stop me writing, definitely not!
Christine Jones
http://www.cjbooks.net
I don’t know the meaning of writer’s block and why, because I’m not writing for the world, but for me and my passion for storytelling. What I write, I want to loan to the world to read, but when it comes down to it, why do we write? For fame and fortune, the love of it, just a job, felt I had to follow in mum, dad or whoever’s footsteps? Only you can honestly answer that question. I write because I love it. Once upon a time, I escaped the world into my imagination and haven’t left it since. I want to be in the clouds, in that imaginary spot where I can be the hero or the monster and everything in-between. I love being in places where I’m in total control and no one can get in, into my mind that is.
I truly believe writers block comes with subconsciously or consciously thinking, who is going to read my work? Oh my god, what if my mum reads this, she would have kittens. I dare not swear, use violence or sexual references; my dad would disown me. What if my friends laugh at it? What if an agent or publisher rejects it? What if it’s not commercially viable? What if the story line has been done before? What if my style doesn’t conform to everyone else’s? What if, what if, what if. Get rid of them. Free your mind. This is your baby, your creation. Express yourself the way you want to. Take away the chains binding your creativity and even you as a person. Failure comes with not having confidence in your work. Writers block is the fear of rejection, not meeting a deadline and expectations of you.
Think writers block is due to running out of ideas?
The book world would come to a halt if this were the case. They are all in you, you just have to ask the right questions and expect the answers. Try looking at a sunset. Ask yourself what you see, describe it, feel it, what is your mood at that moment? Believe me, you can write a novel on a sunset.
For many years, I considered myself illiterate. I couldn’t spell or punctuate and avoided reading books due to not understanding the majority of words. Just thinking about my problem, led me to write ‘Signature for Sunshine’. Another example, sitting in a pew within a church, I was thinking, is this really my ticket to heaven? Again, this one thought was behind the book, ‘The pew is not a one way ticket to heaven’. Living on a farm and looking at my house from the middle of a paddock, resulted in, ‘They died and moved in’. Standing in front of a new building, ‘Aus Com’ came about. Ideas are all around us and in us if we ask the right questions and seek answers.
I never think, has it been done before or who will read it. I write because I want to express what’s in my head, in my emotions, what does this particular topic mean to me and what does it relate to in my life. There is always something to write about. Another example; I had a funny experience with a fly and a rat, these critters got a mention in my book, ‘They died and moved in’. Talk to a monk; they can tell you stories about a blade of grass, which will enlighten and enchant you. Why, because they are not thinking, will you buy it, market it and make a million out of it. They are sharing something precious to them. I use the word share, as that is exactly how I see stories, sharing. Yes, I know, we all have to eat and pay bills. So we are back to, why do you truly want to write? What will be sacrifice in your creation for the sake of outside validation, fears of rejection, the hunt for fame and fortune? Your talent will be sacrificed, your imagination squelched.
Now saying this, being true to yourself and your creation does not mean broke and a nobody; another article in itself. It comes back to writers block and being true to yourself and your creativity. Remove all, what ifs. Remove all, who is going to read this. Remove all, I’ll do what other’s expect of me and take on someone else’s style because they are popular. Remove the box you have placed yourself in. Open your eyes, ears and heart and you will never have writers block. In addition, you will be free to express yourself like never before. Believe me, it works and how do I know? I don’t believe I will live long enough to write all the stories in my head, even if I lived to a 100, that’s how much of the box I have removed. Do people like my work? Definitely! Do people hate it? Definitely! Does this stop me writing, definitely not!
Christine Jones
http://www.cjbooks.net
I write like author Joe blogs, is that good?
I write like author Joe blogs, is that good?
What is all this talk about style of writing? Hey, it’s your baby, your creation. Are you an individual or a sheep disguised as a human? If we all had the same style of writing, everything classed as literature would be boring. I keep being told there is a formula for writing, a way of doing things, what is “so-called” expected. Sorry, I don’t agree and never will. We are not sheep but individuals.
Of course, whatever we write has to be understood, legible, get over to a reader what we are trying to express. However, research into my own work has proved to me, you cannot please everyone. Trying to please, for whatever reason, only creates confusion, your work losing your spirit, your passion for it and you no longer being a unique individual. I have had people tell me not to change a single word in my books, as they love them so much. Others have said the opposite, advising I add or subtract this or that. Some have even suggested the re-wording of an entire book purely based on their style and understanding of writing. Readers themselves are just as uniquely different; the list of preferences is endless. Although a reader may love a set genre, some like lots of description, some don’t. Some want to know the ins and outs of a character’s mind set, others don’t. Again, the list is endless of what they like and don’t like.
Advice can be beneficial, but before taking it on, always carefully weigh it up. Of course, I am always happy for someone to point out a spelling mistake, even punctuation. However, ask yourself, is this advice truly relevant to the genre and the way I express myself? Will it enhance or spoil what I’m trying to convey as a writer and as an individual? Am I changing my creation because I want to be liked and hoping to get outside validation from others? Am I making changes due to fears of appearing ungrateful if I don’t comply? Am I making changes, because those advising me are classed as professionals and I’m a nobody? Dig deep into yourself, we are all equals, whether Joe Blogs the garbage man or C.S Lewis. Someone, somewhere is going to be thrilled with what you write, but most of all, you have to love your work and how you have expressed it.
There is literature hidden in draws, on computers and can be found on the Internet, which are just as good as those called best sellers. The difference is marketing, another article in itself. So be you, write what you want to write, be free to express yourself. You want to write a story, poem etc, forget what mum, dad, aunts, uncles, agents, publishers etc are going to think, just write from the heart and you will be surprised what comes to you and what you can achieve.
Everyone has been rejected in one form or another; it is what you do with it that makes the difference. Writers can plaster walls with rejection slips; ask J.R Rowlings, Steven King, C.S. Lewis all best selling authors. Did they give up on a work they put their heart and soul into, obviously not. What agents and publishers, having rejected these authors, wished they hadn’t and are kicking themselves over their blunder and yes, I call it blunder. These authors proved so-called “professionals” wrong!
You also have to take into consideration genre. Though I am multi genre, I do prefer to write fantasy, sci/fi. Some readers have told me that fantasy and sci/fi is not a genre they like; however, after reading my book became hooked. I use to hate poetry, now I like it. People’s tastes change all the time. Back again to being an individual, not a sheep dressed up as a human.
Christine Jones
http://www.cjbooks.net
What is all this talk about style of writing? Hey, it’s your baby, your creation. Are you an individual or a sheep disguised as a human? If we all had the same style of writing, everything classed as literature would be boring. I keep being told there is a formula for writing, a way of doing things, what is “so-called” expected. Sorry, I don’t agree and never will. We are not sheep but individuals.
Of course, whatever we write has to be understood, legible, get over to a reader what we are trying to express. However, research into my own work has proved to me, you cannot please everyone. Trying to please, for whatever reason, only creates confusion, your work losing your spirit, your passion for it and you no longer being a unique individual. I have had people tell me not to change a single word in my books, as they love them so much. Others have said the opposite, advising I add or subtract this or that. Some have even suggested the re-wording of an entire book purely based on their style and understanding of writing. Readers themselves are just as uniquely different; the list of preferences is endless. Although a reader may love a set genre, some like lots of description, some don’t. Some want to know the ins and outs of a character’s mind set, others don’t. Again, the list is endless of what they like and don’t like.
Advice can be beneficial, but before taking it on, always carefully weigh it up. Of course, I am always happy for someone to point out a spelling mistake, even punctuation. However, ask yourself, is this advice truly relevant to the genre and the way I express myself? Will it enhance or spoil what I’m trying to convey as a writer and as an individual? Am I changing my creation because I want to be liked and hoping to get outside validation from others? Am I making changes due to fears of appearing ungrateful if I don’t comply? Am I making changes, because those advising me are classed as professionals and I’m a nobody? Dig deep into yourself, we are all equals, whether Joe Blogs the garbage man or C.S Lewis. Someone, somewhere is going to be thrilled with what you write, but most of all, you have to love your work and how you have expressed it.
There is literature hidden in draws, on computers and can be found on the Internet, which are just as good as those called best sellers. The difference is marketing, another article in itself. So be you, write what you want to write, be free to express yourself. You want to write a story, poem etc, forget what mum, dad, aunts, uncles, agents, publishers etc are going to think, just write from the heart and you will be surprised what comes to you and what you can achieve.
Everyone has been rejected in one form or another; it is what you do with it that makes the difference. Writers can plaster walls with rejection slips; ask J.R Rowlings, Steven King, C.S. Lewis all best selling authors. Did they give up on a work they put their heart and soul into, obviously not. What agents and publishers, having rejected these authors, wished they hadn’t and are kicking themselves over their blunder and yes, I call it blunder. These authors proved so-called “professionals” wrong!
You also have to take into consideration genre. Though I am multi genre, I do prefer to write fantasy, sci/fi. Some readers have told me that fantasy and sci/fi is not a genre they like; however, after reading my book became hooked. I use to hate poetry, now I like it. People’s tastes change all the time. Back again to being an individual, not a sheep dressed up as a human.
Christine Jones
http://www.cjbooks.net
