A Guide to Ink Masterpieces

Sunday's Q&A: Full Community Participation Expected!

I know I have said that I was to keep up with this blog, and I truly apologize for not having done so because you, the community, deserve much more than empty promises. I am going to make every effort possible to keep this blog up to date and to respond to all of your questions. I also intend on helping those who need more one-on-one assistance in their aspirations to improve their craft. Please do not hesitate to return to asking questions as I will be answering them!

Without further ado, I have provided a copy of all the questions asked with my responses. Hopefully you will find them of use. And for those of you who find yourselves able to relate to the members who asked these questions, please don't be shy and contact them with how you personally tackle these obstacles in writing. I am sure they will feel much better about having more than one person give them advice on how to handle their situations!

o1. jeaz asked:

What do you do when you have grown with a different way of doing your writings? Even if you have been taught with the other children and didn't pick up that form of learning? Only you can write, just not the way others have learned to do it?

There is no right or wrong way to do it. Despite schooling, everyone learns to write in their own way and that is what develops styles. Each writer has their own style, and over time, after much experimentation with different formats and techniques others use, they find what best suits them. If, for instance, brainstorming is not your thing, then don't do it. The most important part about writing is enjoying it. Don't do what everyone else does just because they're doing it. Only do what makes you happy.


o2. ceara_red asked:

Beginnings? Check. Middles? Check. Endings? Complete and SCREECHING halt! I'm envious of those who can effortlessly (or so it would seem) wrap-up a work in paper and tie it off with a perfect bow. How does one practice this until it becomes 2nd nature?

Every writer finds they have difficulty with a certain part of the story making process. While you have difficulty writing an ending to your story, others have a hard time with the middle, and then some just can't get the beginning right. The important thing for you to keep in mind when you face this challenge is that everyone faces similar problems to this, and many face the very same problem.

Now to finish something off in a perfect bow requires hours and hours of combing through your entire story. You have to keep things like foreshadowing and subplots in mind. I suggest getting a deck of index cards and write on each card a subplot that takes place in your story. Then add characters on the blank cards. After you write the character's names, you write good guy or bad guy or supportive character. This will help you establish the chaos in your work, and it will come in handy when you face the thing you fight with the most: the ending. You will be able to look back at these cards and decide, dependent upon the type of story you are writing, whether or not it will be a happy ending or a sad ending. Will it be an ending that leaves the reader open to the concept of sequel?

Ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve with your ending. What message do you want to deliver to your reader? What feelings do you want to leave the reader experiencing? Do you want them to reflect and question life? Or do you want them to be excited that the knight in shining armor whisked the princess away to live happily ever after.

Flesh out the ending after you gather all of that information. Start with basics and get the bones down. Put the story down, away, somewhere that you won't think about it. Wait for a while, two weeks or so, and then come back to it with a fresh mind and decide whether or not this is the ending you want.

Another option is to write multiple endings and in the end, choose the one you find to be the best. After that, it's a matter of refining it as you do with the rest of the story.


o3. Genna Graves asked:

My stories rarely come out right. I have gone through a lot in just 23 years such as Hurricane Katrina, all forms of abuse growing up and even the loss of my mother last year quite unexpectedly. I'm an emotional writer but need helping writing these ideas.

While I have not read any of your stories, I can not comment whether or not they have come out right. The biggest thing about writers are that they are their own worst critics. However, I understand completely the feeling of not having properly expressed the message you wanted to deliver, or to fully emphasize the emotional experiences that you have been through.

The first step is to start dividing up all of your experiences. It is incredibly difficult to approach writing stories about your personal experiences when all of it is in one massive ball that is your life and history. What I suggest you do is get several composition books. Each book should be dedicated to one experience, or a combination of experiences that are intertwined and related (i.e., childhood experiences). Now don't put any kind of pressure on yourself with these journals. Just write about your experiences and the things that you want to write a story about in a way that you feel you can successfully express it all. Take it one step at at time. Slow down. Pick one subject in your life, and begin to write down the most defining moments at that time period, regardless of how small they may have been. Even if it was as something as simple as having a cup of coffee and reflecting on something, and having that revelation of the hardship and lesson you gained from going through it. Write it down.

Then you will want to take that journal and start to organize it all. Decide the type of tone you want to take, whether its a bit comedic, or coming-of-age, or tragic. Whatever way you feel best suits you. In fact, you could even experiment and try different tones to see what comes out best for you.

But the most important thing is not to get caught up in everything that's happened in your life. Focus on one thing at a time and take it slow. That is the best way to work it all out.