Articles

Creating Fantasy Worlds: J K Rowling

J.K. Rowling has created arguably the most fantastical world in contemporary times.

Her success in the Potter franchise is widely acknowledged.

Writing fantasy fiction in any form has not been my interest even though I love Harry Potter and the entire series. I was as captivated as any child, reading those books. Even though it’s not my genre as a writer, I respect Rowling’s genius in creating her amazing world.

If you want to get a glimpse of what’s involved in creating such a world then reading these insights is worth your while.

It’s through the detail and integrity of place and people that Rowling has captured her world for all to share.

Now, if you want to learn from a highly successful writer, then this video is one to watch.

Early on you will see that she was passionate about creating her world (even if she did get the train station wrong). The completeness of her notes and drawings and scribbles is a testament to someone who lived her imagination so continuously.

What you’ll also learn is how disorganised she may seem (though she knows where everything is) and, how focussed she was on the minutiae of her world to make it authentic.

Note: she redid chapter one some 15 times until she felt she had it right. (And I groan at doing my first edit!). It’s a great reminder to analyse your story to make sure you’re not giving away the plot too early and to feel ok letting some of your words go.

“It felt as though I was carving a book out of this mass of notes …condensing and editing and sculpting.” If you have enough material, you have the luxury of deciding what to leave out, what to put where and how to best massage your story.

Watch the video and make sure you take notes. Learn from the greats.

https://youtu.be/3qTKRZ9qilU

Taree Scribblers Writing Group

I love a good writing group. And there are plenty of them. Taree Scribblers is one.

Writing Groups

Writing groups run along similar lines but do it differently which is why one’s experience of a writing group varies from one to another. Much of the variation between writing groups is down to both the process they follow and the mix of people in the room.

Even though it was a 170km round trip to head to Taree, it was definitely worth the effort.

When you join up somewhere new, you want to feel welcomed and the Taree Scribblers crew did that. A friendly and inclusive mob of writers.

When you join a writing group you want to feel that you gain a benefit in some way.

For some, it is simply to escape the isolation of writing alone and have a writerly chat over a cuppa. For others, it’s getting their work validated through reading or critique. Others prefer to learn something through a workshop or lesson on some aspect of their craft. Yet others, it’s about practising their craft through writing sessions or exercises.

Taree Scribblers covers all those bases.

At the session I attended there was a brief cover of general business to update the membership on things such as competitions, publications, financials etc.

Read Your Writing Out Loud

Then onto reading of short pieces for those who wanted to play. Each month they set a theme word or phrase and I’d been forewarned so had my 500 words ready. When you read aloud there’s always something of the shy 10-year-old that pops up and cringes wondering if it’s boring or tiresome or inadequate. No such feelings at Taree Scribblers. Each piece was warmly received: all writers were of a confident and capable standard. I felt my piece said ‘I deserve a place at your table’. It was my credibility stake in the ground. Once I’d heard others, I knew I could learn from this group of published and polished writers.

Writing Competitions

After a short tea break it was onto a workshop session covering how competitions are judged and how to prepare your submission for success. This was an excellent session and I wish I’d realised it was on – I had to leave early for another appointment but would have made arrangements to stay for the whole session. Anything run by Jacqueline Winn is worth sticking around for!

So for my money, I’ll be back. Taree Scribblers is now a regular on my calendar.

Check out writer’s groups in your neck of the woods and get along to see how well it matches your needs as a writer.

Taree Scribblers

Taree Scribblers meet the second Wednesday of the month in Taree from 10-12.30/1pm.

taree scribblers

Writing Procrastination Tips

Spotted this cartoon today in my travels and it stopped me in my tracks. So much so I had to write about it!

Not that I was doing any of those things, of course. No, I was actually ‘researching’ on the web. Every good writer needs to research – fact-checking, thoroughness of topic coverage, clarifying thoughts, finding other angles. For example, in my research mode, I came across this cartoon and that inspired this post on procrastination. Serendipity? Or, procrastination? Maybe even productive procrastination ™?

How did this happen? I am producing a short piece but am totally uninspired by the title on which I have to write. To get into free-flow mode I decided to research how to write a story using a formula. Maybe that would give me a hook to hang the piece on. I’ve been researching for at least two hours!

Totally inspired. Not to write the piece but to find out more about these formulas and how some writers write so many books in such a short time. Starstruck.

But it hasn’t helped me write that original piece. In the process, I’ve ‘lost’ time even if I have gained knowledge and content for future posts.

Procrastination and I are old friends. We’ve been hanging out together for æons.

My advice is if you’re going to procrastinate, use your time well.

If you are going to nap, set an alarm so you’re up at a certain time ready to go.

If you’re going to snack, take a short break and make it a healthy snack so your body digests it well and doesn’t give you grief.

If you’re going to social media, set a time limit and have a purpose rather than zoning out and getting caught up in tangents – SocMed often makes you feel FOMO (not a good headspace for writing).

If you’re going to do chores then make it a time-limited quick one: if you decide to tidy your office just focus on your desktop or a drawer – don’t decide to change the whole room around.

You can find other things you NEED to do right now instead of write – phone a friend, research, get the mail, sharpen your pencils, whatever. Simply recognise you are putting off the inevitable and your brain needs a quick recharge before getting back into it.

set a time limit
make sure your chosen activity will put you in a better frame of mind
commit to getting back onto your writing after your interlude

Imagine a firefighter deciding to procrastinate. Not going to happen. She has to deal with the real and present event. So do you. Get a handle on procrastination if it’s an habitual ‘out’ for you by using the 3-step plan above. Discipline is part of a writers armoury.

[Cartoon credit totally goes to Ellis Rosen. Go check him out. He’s worth procrastinating for.]

Writing Tip: Read Your Work Out Loud

It seems really naff, awkward, silly to think about reading your writing out loud. After all, unless you are a lyricist or poet, you don’t write with a view to your words being vocalised. But reading aloud works.

As a writer, we really do think we don’t have to read our writing. That once writ, we have created a masterpiece even if only in our own mind. Yet when we write the only next action is for that work to be read, hopefully by many other people.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve picked up a self-published book from Amazon Kindle which was in desperate need of editing. For some of them, a simple read-out-loud process would have made the world of difference to enjoying a book or stumbling through it and giving up. Don’t be that writer.

Before releasing your words into the wild, it pays to verbalise them to yourself. You’ll be surprised how well it facilitates better writing.

When you read your writing out loud, you find

words you trip over
- those rambling sentences
- the phrases that fail to roll off the tongue no matter how well they seem when written
- the clumsy constructs of words
- overuse of repetitive words
words you missed out
- you find yourself speaking words that aren’t written
- ask yourself ‘should they be in the text?’
words you don’t need
- you find yourself skipping over words that you have written
- ask yourself ‘are those words redundant?’

Don’t be tempted to think reading in your mind is a substitute. It isn’t. The brain works differently to process the written word when it’s spoken to when it’s silently read. Trust the process and read aloud with your voice!

The advantage is that

your work will present better to the final reader and create a better experience for them
you’ll decrease the incidence of poor reviews because of fixes that are easily applied now rather than once published (if that’s your aim)
you’ll increase your chances of being accepted for any competitions or submissions because these corrections help your work

Reading to yourself doesn’t take long but make sure you have a red pencil at the ready to pick up any edits you need to make.

What really helps is if you have a friend who can sit with you. Give them a printed copy of your piece. As you read they can pick up the skips, the adds, the clumsiness. With a bit of luck, they will also pick up the typos and grammatical errors as well!

If that’s not possible, record yourself reading your writing then listen back as you follow along on a printed copy, making edits as you go. The advantage here is that you can rewind and replay a section to pick up errors or stop at a certain point while you make notes. Most laptops, PCs, mobile phones these days have a voice record and playback facility.

Reading your writing out loud helps you pick up the rhythm of your story. Your ear picks up and responds to sounds that flow. How many times have you been to an author talk when they have read a passage from their book? Has the reading been easy to listen to or stilted? When it’s easy to listen to it’s a pleasurable experience and you engage with the work. When it’s stilted you mentally tune out and become disinterested.

Case in point. I’ve just read this article out loud and made around five edits to make it read better. Let me know if it can be further improved.

Aim for your work to sound pleasant to the ear. Keep editing and revising until the cadence flows. Your future readers will thank you for it.

The Power of Reading and Writing

Malala Yousafzai told her amazingly brave story in her first book I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. She has since penned two other books and a documentary in addition to her advocacy work for education.

From the age of 11 Malala pursued her activism by blogging for the BBC about education in Pakistan. She was marked as a threat by the Taliban and an attempted execution occurred on a school bus when she was 15. By 17 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Currently, she is studying at Oxford while continuing her writing career and pushing for the right to education for girls.

What formed Malala’s views? Her father was an advocate of education and had set up a school. He was anti-Taliban. There’s no doubt she was influenced by her father’s politics and belief and the family almost paid the ultimate price for it.

Reading and writing are powerful. They are the fundamental building blocks of education. When someone can read they have access to the knowledge of the world. Malala has exemplified the potential for education and her writing has changed the world from igniting a push for girls education to establishing schools for refugees to influencing leaders.

Malala has an impactful story. You may not. But that doesn’t lessen the capacity of your writing, your words, to benefit others either through education (non-fiction) or entertainment (fiction).

Learn. Write. Get your words out there.