6 Ways to hook up with other writers -- even if you're insecure

Writing can be a solitary task, but it doesn't need to be. There's lots of support for writers if they know where to find it. Get to know other writers, form alliances, give each other feedback, encouragement and advice. The writing community is one of the most generous with sharing of information. So where can you hook up with other writers?

1. Join a Writers Group -- Best thing I've ever done. We meet once a week and take part in writing exercises, share our work and discuss the industry. This is an intimate, safe environment to share your writing with people you trust for an honest critique.
2. Blog -- I never realised there were so many writing communities until I started blogging. Start your blog on whatever you like. I enjoy blogging about the craft of writing, but also love reading marketing, education and reading blogs. It's a way to interact. Turn off 'captcha' or 'word verification' in your settings. These are horrible torturous tests visitors must endure just so they can leave you an encouraging comment. It's not polite. If you are worried about spam (yes, I'm rolling my eyes), then use comment moderation instead.
3. Sign up to Blog Groups and Challenges -- Such as Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group. You put your link on a list and everyone posts on an agreed topic or event. You'll meet lots of blog friends very quickly.
4. Pick your Favourite Social Media Platform -- You don't have to do them all, so don't be overwhelmed. Best to pick the one that suites your style and use it effectively, than to flounder on half a dozen different sites. The top ones seem to be Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, but there's also Instagram if you're more of a photo person, and Pinterest if you like sharing websites and online photos. Browse through and read posts to see which platform suites your lifestyle. 
5. Visit your Writer's Centre -- There may be one not too far from you. Writer's centres have plenty of advice and contacts to get you on your way and most charge a reasonable yearly membership fee.
6. Attend Writing Festivals/Seminars -- You'll be educated, entertained and get to network with other professionals in the writing industry.

Most of all, it's important to get out there with a positive attitude. Be thoughtful and reciprocate. If you want followers for your blog, then go follow other blogs. Don't hide in a corner and expect all the introverts to come to you.

By offering a place where followers can comment without obstacles,
you'll increase the number of people who stay long enough to say hello.

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How to Write Better Description

Photographs can help provide detail for descriptive writing

One of my lightbulb moments in writing came when it finally sank in that specific was better than general. For example, we could say:

The boy bounced the ball.

But we can all see that's pretty vague. It doesn't conjure any clear image in the reader's mind. Perhaps say:

Bobby Reynolds dribbled the basketball across the court.

Now we have a better idea of what's happening. And I'd have to admit, that last one is how I'd probably describe a boy playing basketball. Other than 'dribble', I have no knowledge of the game. Truth is, if I don't know what a basketball game really looks like, then I won't be painting the picture with my words. So how can we get better detail? By studying the specific. If you were to watch some YouTube clips of a game, read up on the rules and lingo or even better, turn up for a live game, you'd get a better feel for the actions, emotions and surroundings.

In our writing group last week, we looked at improving our descriptions by using more specific detail. This was a really fun exercise (adapted from one I found in Don't Forget to Write), it involved writing and drawing (but don't worry, because no amazing artistic skills are required). You could use just about any topic for this exercise, I chose to use animals. Here's the steps:

A 'before' sketch of a crocodile

1. Each participant is given the name of an animal (big red kangaroo, chimpanzee, octopus, draft horse, snow owl, sea turtle, rhinoceros, crocodile, etc).
2. Once you know which animal you are using, try to draw a picture of it. There should be no visual aids or prompts, just draw from memory.
3. Write a short descriptive passage about that creature.
4. Now I hand out to the participants a figurine and blown up photograph of the creature, to compare to their drawing.
5. You redraw the creature, this time taking particular notice of the small details you overlooked previously. For example, the way the fur/skin/feathers/scales sit, how the creature holds itself, the particular shape of the eyes, etc.
6. Once you're happy with your new sketch, write a new descriptive passage, this time including some of those smaller details.

I love the little ears on the seal, I would have forgotten those without a photo.

All the animal pics on today's blog are taken by Tim Clancy

I worked on an octopus and my memory conjures up the likeness of Henry from the Wiggles:

Picture from The Wiggles official site, click to visit www.wiggletime.com

But with the help of a photo and figurine, I was able to write about an octopus in a way I hadn't considered before:

Lilly spread her arm out in front. The water was thick and bubbles effervesced from her breathing apparatus, making patterns up towards the blue light above. The octopus swayed from side to side. It floated a little closer, curious about the girl in front of it. It’s long tentacles swished and curled about, each taking their own direction, moving to their own silent rhythm. On each tentacle little suction cups pulsated. It was the eyes that surprised Lilly the most. The way they’d look right into hers, taking her in. You’re a funny thing, they seemed to say. Now the tentacles encircles Lilly’s hand, caressing it gently. It was patting her like she was its new pet. 

My sketch of an octopus after seeing a photo.

So try to get the specific detail in your description writing. A few carefully placed key words or verbs will help the reader find the scene believable. Now you try - maybe watch a clip of someone playing basketball and write a short passage? Share it if you want to. I love to see what you're writing!

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Art Prompts Fiction - Romantic Friday Writers

Is it just me, or do his eyes follow you around the room?

My writers group (Vannguard Writers) took an excursion to Queensland Art Gallery. Ok, so the art gallery is right next door to the State Library where we have our writing sessions, so it wasn't a big excursion, but still it was a nice change in routine.

Denise Covey, friend and fellow Vannguard writer, hosted this arty session with some creative writing exercises using the artworks as prompts (you can read more about this excursion on Denise's blog). One of the exercises was to imagine yourself as a character in the painting, or put yourself as an extra character into the scene. I flipped this around and took my character out of the painting... literally.

Getting yourself out and about, using prompts to inspire can freshen up your writing, and new layers and textures. Maybe you could visit a museum and write about the interesting items or times, or, a restaurant and write about the smells, tastes and atmosphere.

This week Romantic Friday Writers are hosting a horror blog challenge, and I decided my response to our art exercise would fit in nicely. So if you're up for a bit of afternoon horror, here's my take on the requirement of a scary tale with a touch of romance... (1,000 words - FCA as always, I welcome critique and am not at all sensitive to feedback)

John Opie's Portrait

Christina tugged at the chrome armchair. It was heavy, but with some focused grunts she managed to pull it across the large glass doors. She sighed. Her arms burned, but she couldn’t stop now. She’d have to make sure he couldn’t push those doors open. Exhausted but determined she manoeuvred all six armchairs shoved up against each other.

Feeling safely hidden for the moment she allowed herself the luxury of sinking down to the floor. He would come for her, she could only pray the doors would hold. Outside she heard the wailing of mechanical monsters. So many inventions in this world! Like the voices. When she’d found that poor man in the darkened corridor crumpled in a pile, his uniform patch announcing Chubb Security, Christina had bent to see if she could help him. Too late, she knew as soon as she saw his life spread  to form a dark stain. She’d spun to run, but heard them. The voices. Looking back she thought they came from the dead man. Crackling demons taunting. But there was a box by his side and someone called Doug was checking in on Larry. She didn’t know what checking in involved, but she knew a worried voice when she heard it. She called to the voice, begged him to come, to send help. She warned him the devil himself was loose. 

The only response was a repeat for Larry to check in. She could hear him but some dark magic kept him from hearing her. Maybe help would come in time? She’d didn’t think so. Each time she was pulled from the dark into a newer version of her world, he’d come for her. That was all she could remember. Everything else was hazy. There was only him, his need for her.  And John! It was coming back now. John had warned her, tried to save her each time. Did he succeed? She didn’t think so. If he had, all their souls would be at rest. Instead she kept being ripped from that horrid painting. 

It was always the same and yet Christine could not conjure a clear memory of how the events would run.

She looked around the room only dimly lit from outside. The walls were adorned in many paintings and small round tables displaying pottery and china under glass boxes. She pulled herself up and moved about the room, treading softly so as not to make a sound. She squinted at the plaque by the door, there was just enough light from the hall to read Brisbane State Art Gallery. She knew not of Brisbane. The last time she emerged from the painting she was still in London. The painting had been shipped to this new location. And those foolish teenagers had obviously known the legend and snuck in here on this ungodly night to conjure their own dark magic. But to summon him? Surely the stories of his violence and taste for blood had survived the hundreds of years since the fire. John had made sure the world knew about the Count, the monster he really was. 

But the girl, maybe sixteen with witches eyes and sharp metal swords and rings pierced all over her face, had thought she was resurrecting a lost love. The love between Christina and the Count. It may have started that way, but John Opie came riding his carriage into town, armed with scientific equipment, little pins wobbling along measuring unknown entities and vials of hissing and foaming liquids. He’d been tracking the Count for years. He claimed the charismatic man was actually a demon sent from the depths of hell to devour human souls. Christine had laughed off the claims about her husband. But girls started to disappear. One by one. All of Christine’s servant girls. The Count in turn accused Mr Opie. 

The Newspaper clippings had convinced her. One for each of the places the Count had lived and visited. Missing girls. It was true.

Fire is the only way to return a demon to hell. Christine slipped from her husband’s bed and burned their home down. She would have made her way out too, out to her beloved John. But her husband awakened with a vigour and caught hold of her.

‘Then we die together,’ he’d snarled. And they had. As the flickering heat enveloped the room she saw their wedding portrait remained unharmed. Mocking her through the the flames. 

The teenagers had frightened her with their chants, but she was more terrified when she turned to see the Count smiling beside her. She’d screamed and run.

In the darkened art gallery she’d stumbled about until she’d come full circle. There were the teens. Dead in a heap. She ran on. The man with the Chubb badge stretched across the floor. The sound of the Count calling to her.

‘Christine, my love, wait!’ He appeared, arms stretched to reach her. She spun to the right and ducked down a corridor. Now she hid in the darkened room alone. Or was she? A shadow moved in the corner. She wanted to scream but was too weary with fear.

The silhouette stepped forward until the moonlight through the window revealed his face.

‘John!’ She leapt into his arms.

‘Christine, you bought me back,’ he smiled down at her.

‘I’m so sorry, I tried to come to you, but he held me back, I… I couldn’t get out.’

‘Shhh, it’s okay now. I was there too. I came for you.’

Christine stepped back. ‘But you couldn’t have. I sent the servants home and locked every door.’

‘You remember how this goes?’ John smiled.

‘I don’t understand, I’m confused…’

‘Christine!’ The Count banged on the glass doors.

She gasped and leaned into John’s strong protective arms. 

‘Christine!’ The Count yelled, ‘It was him, he’s the monster, run Christine!’

Christine spun to look up at John, but his face had changed, his teeth exposed, long and pointed. She tried to run, but it was too late.

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Hats and their Characters

It's a writing exercise - take me seriously!

Had a great time at Vannguard Writers yesterday. Our group tried out a writing exercise with props. I'm lucky Dad is mad as a hatter and has all the hats to prove it. I gathered a collection of some of his more unique hats, adding them to my trinkets and secret items. No way was my budding author of a father missing out on this, so he came along too.

We had army hats, french hats, cowboy hats, police hats, old lady hats, gangster hats, tram conductor hats, sporting hats and even a Viking helmet. 

I also spread out on the table many little trinkets like trophies, medals, crosses, wands, glass, old keys, children's broken toys, event tickets, foreign money, obscure messages scrawled on notes, carefully recorded scientific formulas, photos and many more everyday and unusual items. Then the writing exercises began:

My dad Smithy, his hat and his trinket... wait... how'd you get a gun in here?

Build a mystery character

Members broke into pairs and chose a hat. They were asked to come up with a character that would wear that hat. Several times I had to remind the participants to stop plotting; this exercise was about character not plot. The groups were asked to choose one item/trinket off the table for their character. It's natural to want to jump ahead and try to come up with a story so you're read to write, which is why I decided to mix it up a bit.

It's now that I tell the writers their character is not going to be the protagonist of their story, but a dead body found by the main character. I ask them to explain the circumstances of the discovery of this body and to try and make the trinket item a clue.

My partners in crime, Robert and Dean, came up with a young man wearing a stylish fedora, but with broad shorts. He was a goofy character last seen alive at a beach party. Nobody there knew him. Our protagonist was walking his spaniel on the beach before work when he stumbles on the body. He finds in the boy's back pocket a key. Our spooked protagonists recognises the boy as one of the teens he was arguing with the night before because their music was too loud on the beach out the front of his home. To make things more difficult for our businessman, he rushes home, calls the police and of course the body is gone when they turn up. He's having a bad enough day, but it gets worse. His teenage daughter did not come home last night and when the police track down the identity of the missing corpse-boy, they inform him the young man is wanted as a suspect in a string of kidnapping murders involving teenage girls. Now our protagonist has a reason to act. He realises he forgot to mention the key and now he has a clue to track down the location of his daughter before it's too late.

We also had some interesting plots about a Chinese peddler killed in the gold rush and an ex-pat living on a Thai plantation killed by a Brazilian spy with his own binocular chord.

Donate a character

The next exercise had us each picking our own hat and a trinket. We had to come up with a profile and background for that character, finishing off with: His/her most treasure possession is... (the trinket item).  I'm a little bit evil, so I mixed it up again and our homework this week is to choose someone else's character to write about. We ended up with a comical homeless woman who makes dolls out of plastic bags, Thor the Skullcrusher Viking, an arrogant French Legionnaire who ogles women, a very touching digger reminiscing about the war, a charming historian with a sense of humour and a phoney Confederate soldier.

Thor's all smiles now, but wait till you see him swing that axe!

It was a fantastic day, I don't think I've ever laughed so much. I have no idea which character I'll write about yet, but I know I'll have a clear picture of them when I do, all thanks to my brilliant friends from Vannguard Writers. Wednesdays with my group have become my favourite days.

Our cast of writers (sadly a couple could not make it)

Do you belong to a writer's group? Are you trying to create one? Just wish someone would invite you to one? I'd love to hear your experiences with writing groups, maybe we can help other writers unsure of where to begin.

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Taking Writerly Advice

I received so much good advice on writing from the recent conference I attended, that I figured I should follow some of it! Most experienced writers suggested joining critique groups, writers associations and groups. 

This week I joined up with ACT Writers. Almost straight away, I got a groovy newsletter filled with tips, news and upcoming workshops - why haven't I done this sooner? On Sunday I'll be attending a workshop for writing thrillers, so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Other advice I received was to continue doing courses in creative writing - sure thing! I've signed up for a course with the Sydney Writers' Centre: Online Writing Books for Children and Young Adults. This is my first week and I have to write a memory from my childhood, then I have to write the same scene from a different character's point of view. Also as part of the course, I'll be re-reading The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (on my Kindle!).

Other news for Wagging Tales - our first ever author interview will be coming up in October!

K.M.Weiland from Wordplay will be joining us and talking about her upcoming release: Conquering Writer's Block and Summoning Inspiration. Be sure to come by and check it out!

In the meantime, I have plenty more advice to pass on from the writers conference 

:-)

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