Creating A Writer’s Notebook

Having a writer’s notebook is probably one of the best things you can do. It can be on your computer on a file, or, my personal favorite, in an actual notebook. While I personally tend to write on my computer, I love to write things down in my notebook to have for reference and to look back on to see how things have changed.

It’s a very useful tool! You can use it for poems, outlines, short stories, jokes, anything you want. The best part about a writers notebook is it doesn’t have to pertain to what you are writing at this particular moment. I personally use it to look back on when I’m having a dry moment to get inspiration.

It doesn’t have to be all glittery and colorful to be amazing! You can go the route of crayons and art if that’s your thing. Or just pen/pencil if you want something simplistic. Make it match you. It can be a big craft or just a place for you to keep your thoughts, ideas, and things to inspire you. It can be leather bound, spiral (my personal favorite), in a folder, on your computer, whatever is most practical and appealing to you.

If you want to go the artistic route, you can save a few pages at the beginning to make an index and number the pages. That way, especially if you have a large book, it’s easy to find everything you’ve written. I’ve been tempted to do that, but there is no room in my personal notebook to add that.

If you use a computer, I would suggest that you make very specific, clear names or dates for your documents and label the folder clearly. That way, if you go back down memory lane or you’re looking for something, you understand exactly what is in the document!

Don’t skip out on a writers notebook. It is certainly a useful, useful, useful tool!

With love, Ms. Beka Mae.

Is Your Villain Too Evil?

In a blog post I read, and I don’t remember where, I read about villains and how to improve or create them. One of the tips was to make them less human. I personally, and don’t shoot me, disagree.

I think there’s a certain level of evil that can make your villain believable, but I want a relate-able villain. That sounds really twisted, but let me explain. If a villain is too evil, I feel distanced. I can’t put myself in their shoes and understand why they want to do this. If you think about it, all villains pretty much think they’re doing the best thing, due to twisted life experiences or a mental problem. Let’s look at a few villains.

Voldemort, fanpop.com

In Harry Potter, there is Voldemort. This is a very iconic character, and he almost seems like he has no connection with us. But when you think about it, he was very much human. He was a young boy in an orphanage who needed care like everybody else. He went to school, like everybody else. He had friends, like everybody else. The only difference? He had a high dosage of curiosity and cunning, which drew him to immortality and horocruxes.

In the Shiver trilogy, there are many complication factors, but probably the biggest is Tom Culpeper. While he doesn’t listen and just, in the reader’s eyes, a plain jerk, he has understandable reasons behind what he does. (There’s no picture available. The trilogy isn’t a movie :(.)

President Snow, hypable.com

In Hunger Games, President Snow, while malicious, is very obviously human. He’s understandable. He has a grand-daughter (I forget if this was actually in the book), suffers from sores in mouth (caused by other things) and struggles. He’s just… evil. But he’s not so evil that he distances himself from the reader. He’s, personally, my favorite character of the entire trilogy, besides Peeta, because he’s such a gosh-darn amazing character. Thank you Suzanne Collins.

Jeanine Matthews, hypesphere.com

In Divergent (I know, touching on the super-popular ones), Jeanine Matthews is the main villain for most of the books. While she’s pretty despicable, she’s also very human. When faced with someone who’s threatening your way of life, everything you know and love (AKA the society), it’s pretty normal to lash out. If we’re looking at it from her point of view.

Loki, denverpost.com

And, *drumroll*, for the most loved villain probably ever, Loki! Oh, Loki, the evil mastermind. But was he always evil? Like all of these villains listed, they weren’t necessarily evil from birth. Changes around them, or flaws in their own hearts and desires led them to be bad and “despicable”. And this is true for Loki. He was a kind soul who’s like feel apart the second he learned that he was part Frost Giant. He goes from there to take over the world, kill people, and look pretty darn awesome while doing it. You wonder why we love him. Because under all that bad lies a heart of gold that was just tainted. #lokigirl4eva

Loki meme, car-memes.com

But how do you make a not-to-evil but still believable villain? In the case of Voldemort, his downfall was his curiosity and desire for immortality. But say someone came along, maybe a girl because we’re going to be cliched, and saved him from himself? I think a good test to see if your villain is too evil is to try to create a (or look at their) backstory and find a way that he could’ve been good. If you can relate to what they went through, or who they are, and can see them being redeemed, then you have someone believable!

But, if they still need to be bad. Born to be bad, baby. And so I’ve linked a blog here (http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/novel-villain/). It may seem to contradict everything I’ve said, but there’s a fine line between relatablility, and being purely evil. I find that post has many amazing points about villains. Check it out!

Now, this is all just my opinion. But as a reader, personally I desire an evil character. Someone I can understand and comprehend. If they’re too evil, I myself tend to check out. It makes it all the more gripping if you can see the same thing happening to your character, or to yourself.

Now, if someone could write a book from the villains perspective, that would be fantastic!

With love, Ms. Beka Mae

Judge The Book By The Cover

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

This is probably the most used, cliched line I’ve ever heard. It’s not actually bad, when used right. In fact, I think it’s good to look deeper than skin when judging someone. But in the context of actual books? It’s sorely lacking. This is why.

When I browse the Teen section at my library, I’m not looking at titles at first. When I first walk in, what’s the first thing I see? I see the spines of the books and the covers. I’m going to head over and check out the title of the book that has the most appealing cover.

Book covers are very, very important to make your book stand out. Not only should it effectively convey what’s inside, it should be attractive. It’s what people see first before they see what the title looks like. A person looking for a fun novel will probably be looking for bright colors or quirky fonts. For myself, I drift towards books with serious and dark covers. Not to say that I never look for a fun book. I read a novel recently called The Bridesmaid by Hailey Abbott with a pink cover and a cartoon on the front.

What I’m trying to say is, put thought into your cover. It’s the selling point of your book! How often have my friend, Izzy, and I raved over the covers of books. I’ve seen many a unattractive book that I’ve just never really cared to look at deeper. I, as a reader, desire to see pretty, well made book covers to entice me. I, as a writer, aspire to create a good cover so that my writing will be read.

But, truthfully, it all is up to you. You know your book, and your characters. Have fun!

With love, Ms. Beka Mae.

Struggling? Take A Course!

Are you struggling with writing and figuring out what and how to write? I sound like an infomercial, but take a creative writing course! When I saw that there was a creative writing course I could take this year in high school, I was all over it. And really, it helped! I can see a difference in my writing just from the several weeks of the course. You could even take a writing 101 course, if you desire.

Not only did I have peer reviews from multiple people, I was kind of forced to try new types of writing. I thought I sucked at poetry until I gave it a try and I found it it’s easier than you think. I got to write memoirs, and fiction. I got to write poetry and even make a multi-media presentations for one of my writing pieces. I got to practice being more descriptive, using stronger words, using different types of writing styles and using good verbs. All were very helpful.

You don’t even have to go outside or put on pants to take a creative writing course. There’s tons of courses online. I even took mine online (I’m cyber-schooled). So, if you feel like your writing needs a little tweaking or work, or you just want the experience, I would definitely recommend taking a class. It’s very enjoyable!

With love, Ms. Beka Mae

10 Tips To Keep Writing

We’ll probably all hit that point in our book where we’re disinterested in what we’re writing, or we just want to get to the good bit. So we tend to give up! At least, I know I do. I stop writing because I’m not seeing my vision come through. Maybe I stop writing because I’ve hit a writing block and don’t know what to do about it. So I came up with 10 tips to motivate and inspire you and me to keep writing. So here it goes!

1. Delete a paragraph and rewrite it differently.

Sometimes we’ve hit a block and stop writing because we have a paragraph that doesn’t give us freedom. It ends a good sentence of thought, or just doesn’t flow. But we don’t want to delete it! Remember the #1 rule? Murder your darlings. Even if you like the paragraph, it may be causing you problems. Highlight. Backspace. (Or use that handy eraser). Delete it and rewrite it, or just delete it and move on.

2. Come up with a plan.

We can have brilliant ideas, and can be more than eager to want to turn it into a book. That’s not a bad thing, but some stories really require plans. For instance, I’m writing a mystery and I had to write out a very detailed plan to make sure I didn’t stray off the track and miss something or ruin a good plot twist. Sometimes it’s easier to just skip the plan and plunge ahead. But plans can help give us ideas or places to go when we’re stuck.

3. Create conflict.

Readers love conflict. Well, they don’t love it. Sometimes they wish it hadn’t happened so the character would be happy. But it’s what keeps them, keeps us, reading. Maybe your character is too happy or their story is too easy. Create a bit of logical, juicy conflict! It will interest you too. Conflict is what drives us.

4. Have someone read your writing.

Peer review is one of the most important tools we can use. Having someone reading your writing can help on many levels. First of all, they can point out grammatical or flow errors. But not only that, they can suggest places to go from there. Maybe things they as readers would enjoy to see or think would move the story ahead.

5. Listen to music.

Okay, this may seem like a weird tip, but listening to music can really spark different kinds of emotions. This can give you an idea of what impacts you the most, and emotions you want in your story. Maybe you can even listen to music you think your character would listen to to try to come up with different situations for them. This can lead to a sequel, push you out of a block, or just help you get that final chapter written. Or even the first. (Hint: The first is always the hardest). Keep a playlist of inspiring songs!

6. Have someone keep you accountable.

Having someone check up on your writing and motivating you to keep writing is a huge blessing. It can be as simple as “hey, did you write in your story/book/novel/ETC today? Can I see it?” Just that simple! Maybe you could amp it up to you having a goal each day that they make sure you make. It sounds weird, but it might be helpful! I mean, afterall, life isn’t meant to be lived alone.

7. Read some good books.

Picking up some librarian suggestions at the library can definitely boost your creativity. From the plethora of new conflict ideas, writing styles, or situations, it can usually end up sparking a new flame of awesomeness. My personal favorites go on and on, but the first (not super well known) series that come to mind are the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson (lengthy, but brilliant), Birthmarked by Caragh O’Brien, Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan, and Phantom of the Opera. (Phantom of the Opera is under read, in my opinion. The tears. Oh, the tears).

8. Try a new writing project.

Sometimes the best thing is to step away from our current projection to try something different. It doesn’t have to be drastic, like a new book. But trying your hand at poetry, short stories, or different genres can give your writer brain a bit of a breather from the same thing. It can also open up your mind to new metaphors, sayings, ideas, and things to write about. I used to think I could never write poetry until I took a creative writing class and tried it out.

9. Collaborate with other writers.

Having a nice, long, discussion with fellow writers is really beneficial. My writer friend is a girl name Katie, and we’re always discussing writing. We even having a writing board on Pinterest. Oh the black hole of Pinterest. But not only have we opened each other to new books (see tip 7), we’ve opened each other up to new ways to write, new ways to develop characters, and many other things. They can definitely get you motivated.

10. Take a break from writing.

I know! I know. This one is difficult. How does one take a “break” from writing? Inconceivable! But it sometimes is the best. Writers say to write every day, but they don’t tell you that sometimes taking a breather from your computer keys (or a pen/pencil and a notebook) is just what you need to stretch yourself. Get out there! Interact with people, and who knows. When you sit back down, you might have found a new strength in your writing.

With love, Ms. Beka Mae

Aurora Is The Effort – Analysis

Emily Dickinson is probably the most well known poets in American history. During my American Lit class last semester, we had to pick an Emily Dickinson poem to analyze. Because I was lazy, and I felt challenged, I picked a very short poem: Aurora Is The Effort. I wanted to break it down for you today, because I personally feel that the ability to analyze different pieces of writing will help you build your writing skills. It will also help you understand difficult writing later one. Lord of the Rings, anyone?

Aurora is the effort
Of the Celestial Face
Unconsciousness of Perfectness
To simulate, to Us.

-Emily Dickinson.

The first time I read it, for sure I felt like the words were falling flat on me. But honestly, breaking it down word for word on the first line in the best place to go. So let’s start there. “Aurora is the effort”. Who is the effort? The definition of aurora is:

1. :a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet’s magnetic polar regions and is caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the planet’s magnetic field lines (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Note also that Aurora is also the Roman goddess of dawn, and as we all know the dawn gives us an amazing light display. So let’s just assume that both work. Light, beauty, etc. is the effort! The effort of what? Time to move onto the next line.

“Of the Celestial Face”. What is the celestial face? Perhaps the sky? That seems pretty logical. Celestial means that it relates to the sky or to heaven, and both aurora definitions have to do to the heavens. Okay let’s piece this back together. Light, beauty, etc. is the effort of the sky or of the heavens. I know, this is getting a bit long. But bare with me, we only have two lines left!

The next line, “Unconsciousness of Perfection” seems a bit trickier. And this is probably where it’s most open for debate. In my mind, I see this line as “unknown perfection”. But if I bring the last line in, “To simulate, to Us”, to me the meaning changes. I would love to hear your thoughts on what this poem means to you, but it means to me, in modern words, that the heavens are trying to simulate perfection to us, people who aren’t perfect and don’t understand such things. But that’s just my take on it! Let me know about yours.

Thank you for sticking with me through my somewhat tedious breakdown of such a short poem. I get carried away sometimes.

-With love, Ms. Beka Mae

-www.memecenter.com

Welcome To My Blog

Hello fair reader! Welcome to my blog. Here you will find analysis of poems and various books, as well as tons and tons of tips on writing and reading! I know. I’m not a professional. I make errors like everyone else. I fall into the traps of writers block, bad grammar, and cliches. But I’m here to share my experience as an avid reader (seriously, I read a lot) and as an aspiring writer.

I’m currently in the process of writing a dystopian mystery on my own and a Harry Potter fanfiction with my writer friend. I’ll be posting some excerpts of those as well for your personal enjoyment and maybe even for some criticism!

I’ll go ahead and end this post with one of my very favorite tips for writing: Listen to music. Music is a fantastic place to find inspirations. Certain words, a certain phrase, or even the tune in a song can completely send your writer spidy-senses on edge. In fact, the song Marry You by Bruno Mars inspired me to write a little short story about a boy proposing to a girl. You never know! So yes, listen to music. It can even help you out of a writers block.

With love, Ms. Beka Mae.

P. S. I hope you like memes. They’ll definitely be part of my posts. Grumpy cat is coming for you!