Thursday 4 July 2013

Your advice for finishing a novel

My question: When i'm older i want to be an author and i am writing quite a few novels at the moment but i never get to the end because i get bored, what advice would you give?

Your answers:

Matthew Graybosch
1 Jul 2013
Write something that doesnt bore you. Or, when you feel yourself getting bored, refuse to give in to ennui. Instead, force yourself to finish the damn book. 

Tanya Olayla
1 Jul 2013
Thanks!

Deema Qawasmi
1 Jul 2013
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Have you thought it might be your characters getting bored?I suggest you give them something exciting to do.

Megan Day
1 Jul 2013
Rethink the piece and your characters...is it or are they too intense/overwhelming? If you are getting bored, your audience may get bored as well. 

Maya Davis
1 Jul 2013
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+Tanya Olayla, do you outline your stories at all? If you don't, it may help for you to see the story arc in front of you so you have something to work toward. If you do, it may be that you need to walk away from it for a while so you can surprise yourself lol.

Megan Day
1 Jul 2013

I agree +Maya Davis , outlining stories has always been important, and without one, I don't get far.

Megan Day
1 Jul 2013
+Tanya Olayla you seem to be full of ideas, so I'm sure an outline will really help you with execution.

Jerome Pennington
1 Jul 2013

How do you know they're novels if you haven't finished them?

Melissa Walsh
1 Jul 2013
Outline your story so when you get to a boring part, you can look at your outline and see how much more you have to write before you get to a good part again.

Drae Box
1 Jul 2013

If you're aiming for a specific length, don't  - why pressure yourself? :) Aim to just write what is needed to tell your tale, and write only for yourself - if you like what you write, high chances someone else will (after proof-reading). Also, if you're writing for genres you don't read, stop that. You as the writer should be the first fan of all your stories, and so they should all excite you and be enjoyable for you to read - if that isn't the case, try planning differently (or winging it).

Good luck!
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+Amanda Staley
1 Jul 2013
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+Tanya Olayla I was the same way when I was younger. I am finishing up my first full length novel now. My advice is to stick with writing and don't be too hard on yourself about not finishing a story. The best motivator for me was finding a friend to read my story, who ended up being as excited to see the ending as I was.
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Jack Jenkins
2 Jul 2013
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Try a different form. Maybe novels are not for you, or maybe just not at this time of your life. Experiment. Do different stuff. Or maybe study and better learn the craft of writing and all it's nuances.

Desmond X Torres
2 Jul 2013
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+Deema Qawasmi GREAT piece of advice!

Desmond X Torres
2 Jul 2013
+Maya Davis Great point here too.

Monday 1 July 2013

Lying cheating skank - the inspiration

Lying cheating skank is actually my own diary, it has my every thought and feeling in it but it's not the kind of diary you want to keep private. Every name has been changed so the people i'm writing about won't necessarily know that it's them i am talking about.  It's the kind of story where i don't know what the endings going to be because the story keeps building, the past few months have been the best and the worst few months of my life and it needs to be put onto paper for anyone to understand because when you read a book you become that person and you keep a part of that character in you. This means that my readers won't be able to judge me because they have walked the miles i have in my shoes.  Every surprise that comes in the book was as much a shock to me as it will be to you when you read it.  So far it's the story of Siora's love life but it is beginning to spiral into a story of anorexia and that is where you come in readers, email me your anorexia stories and they will be posted onto my blog in a tab at the top. so what are you waiting for? email em at tanyaolaylabeauty28@gmail.com and i will post it onto my blog!

Love Tanya xx

Seriphena - The Black Death

Preface

 

I could feel my world slipping away as I stared into the fire, everyone was gone, and there was nothing left for me to do.  All my friends, my family, gone. Forever.  There was a pain so sharp in my heart that it was almost physical. Elizabeth was all I had left, the only thing that kept me together as the world crumbled around me. Everyone was gone, and then there is me, Seriphena.

 

Chapter 1

 

I sighed as my spade hit the ground for the last time. At last! I can go home to my sisters. As I dragged my feet along the dirt tracks I thought about the most horrific disease that had ever come to Banham.  I looked across the road at William’s house. I felt a tear appear in the corner of my eye when I thought about his death. He was so sweet to me when we were just about to get married when I saw the first boil appear. I sat by his side while he lay in bed and the spasms got worse. Three days. That’s all it took for the vile disease to wipe my fiancĂ©’s soul from this earth. We had no doctor in our village; he also had been killed by the disease. I had cried as I felt his life slip through my fingers and felt his heart beat for the last time. I shook my head and carried on walking. The Black Death will always be there to haunt me. How could I forget about the Black Death when everywhere I turn I see another of my friends with a boil? I finally could see the silhouette of my hut ahead of me and ran towards it to see my sisters sitting outside in the garden. I shooed them inside, I couldn’t bear to let them roam around outside where there is death hiding in every corner. Our mother got infected by the poison also and my father’s death, caused by a broken heart, so now it is my sisters and I, alone in this cruel world. “Hello my darlings!” I said as I ran down and sat down beside them and kissed each of there foreheads in turn. “Agges dead!” giggled Margaret. “What?” she nodded her head rhythmically and pointed he tiny fist towards the window. I gasped when I saw Agnes’ corpse on the top of the pile on the cart.

 

Chapter 2

 

I scowled as I passed Agnes’ empty shell of a house. I knew I had to take action, so there I was, passing the village sign, ours was the only village in the area that had a sign. I didn’t know what it said; it looked like gibberish to me.

 

I finally found my feet walking through the church doors to a suddenly silent room. I could feel their pity radiating through the room. “Right,” I said as I stared at the different people at the pews “let’s get started.” I sat at the front of the room. I looked behind me to see Agnes’ sister, Mary, stand up. It wasn’t hard to tell she had been crying, her eyes were read and her hands were shaking. Her loud sniff filled the room. “We must whip each other.” I waited for the outrage of our village, nothing. Only silence. “We must punish ourselves. We have all sinned at some point!” Her voice began to rise and tears began to stream down her red cheeks. “It is your fault!” I couldn’t help but notice her eyes flicker to me as she said, “that my sister is dead.” a deadly silence filled the room as her words silently echoed through all our brains and we took in her meaning. My eyes dragged to the split seam on Mary’s sleeve and gasped as it split al the way around and fell to the floor.  She now had some sewing to do.  I gave her a sympathetic smile but she just scowled at me and sat back down. “We should burn the dead” shouted gill from the back. I heard Agnes’ sister sob. The priest then piped in and said “We shall all go on a pilgrimage!” I disagreed with everything they said so I stood up. “You’re all crazy!” I whispered. “Pardon?” the priest gasped. “You’re all crazy!” I repeated, louder. “We just have to stay away from slaughter houses and use medicines from the as apothecary!” There was dead silence. And then there was an uproar. There were people laughing and shouting while I stood there in shock. It was not the reaction I was expecting.

 

 

Chapter 4

 

A year, that’s all it took for the majority of our village to die and sweep down the river with their souls now angles floating up to heaven, including my little Maggie, the youngest of my sisters.  A lot of people a celebrating the end of the Black Death; however, he majority of us stay at home and mourn for our loved ones.  I tried to keep my sisters inside as the disease crept through the village like a snake, every death another blow to the hope of survival.  I made Jim, my neighbour; help me build a larger and more comfortable house for me and Elizabeth. Everyone got paid more; the lords need us so we can haggle.  I now have enough money to buy coloured frocks for Elizabeth and me; however, we walk in black to mourn for our dead sister (although the frocks are quite stunning!)  I work more in the fields, Lizzie helps out too. We work together to earn our food over the harvest period.  A lot of people are buying land and are therefore richer but I keep none as I still cannot afford it. Although we all do get paid higher wages there was a law introduced that said we must not higher than what we were before the Black Death. Of course, we all ignore it. In other corners of the country however, rebellions have begun and they will spread down to us as rapidly as the disease itself. It was all I could do to keep me and Lizzie ind3ependant people.

 

Epilogue

 

As I felt my world slip away, I stared into the fire, everyone was gone, and there was nothing left for me to do.  All my friends, my family, gone. Forever.  There was a pain so sharp in my heart that it was almost physical. Elizabeth was all I had left, the only thing that kept me together as the world crumbled around me. Everyone was gone, and then there is me, Seriphena and this little hut with my sister and the scars that kept the mental bandages around my heart, trying to fix what has been broken and constantly failing. I could hear my sister shouting my name as the flames became a sheet of red over my eyes; I could feel my sister shaking me but the mental pain was so intense, I laid there and closed my eyes as the steady rhythm of my sisters head drummed through my ear, her heart became my own as I felt my soul lift high into the air and leave the pain behind me, I was leaving my sister behind but she would grow into a young lady with a world that was much better than what I had been brought up in. Every memory flashed through my head in an instant and it was suddenly gone, all gone. I stepped through gates and into the arms of William and Maggie’s arms were wrapped around my leg and the whole world was there around me, everyone I loved.