Archive for category Challenge
Like Us and Win!
Posted by Kathie in Challenge, Charlaine Harris, Chico Writers Group, Contests, Dead in the Family, Facebook, November, On Writing, Stephen King, Win on October 31, 2010
During the month of November (2010) the Chico Writers Group will be holding a drawing to win a hardback copy of Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris and a paperback copy of On Writing by Stephen King.
Here are the rules:
- Only available to persons living in the continental United States, void where prohibited.
- Entrants must have a Facebook account, be 18 years of age or older, a human being (sorry, pets, cartoon characters, and other non-human entities are not eligible) and “like” us (http://www.facebook.com/ChicoWritersGroup).
- When we hit 1,000 total fans in the month of November, we will draw a name and that person will receive the two books.
That’s it!
And coming in December, we’ll run another contest, so stay tuned for more information.
Additional rules and restrictions:
- In the event the person whose name is drawn is not a resident in the continental United States, another individual will be chosen.
- We will notify the winner via Facebook private message.
- The member has 14 calendar days to respond to the message, providing us with their USPS mailing address and phone number (never shared with anyone).
- Should the winning member fail to respond within the specified period of time, another member’s name will be drawn.
- The books will be mailed via PaperbackSwap.com, standard rate media mail service with delivery confirmation. Recipient need not be a member of PaperbackSwap.com.
- In the event the total fans does not reach 1,000 by midnight Pacific Coast Time, November 30, 2010, this contest will be null and void.
- The administrator of the group, the “Chico Writers Group” on Facebook, reserves the right to block and/or remove any individual from the group should the individual appear to be spamming or otherwise attempting to interfere with the group’s members and or goals.
Contact: For further information, clarification, and questions, please contact us via Facebook or write to us at TheChicoWritersGroup@gmail.com and include “FACEBOOK” in the subject line.
Good luck!
Ready, Set, Go! NaNoWriMo Tips
In less than four short days, National Novel Writing Month will be upon us. In thirty-days, writers around the world will be attempting to write 50,000 words all for the glory of saying “I did it!”. If you are one of the crazed that will be joining in this event, here are some tips to help you make the most of this endeavor:
Cordon off your work area.
- If need be, stop off at your local animal shelter, offer to house a dog, the meaner the better (or perhaps the more loyal to it’s caretaker) for the month and set up a kennel just at the door/opening to your work area to keep visitors at bay.
- Post Do No Disturb signs liberally about your work area.
- Offer to water potted cacti for the local nursery for the month on the condition you can take the cacti with you, then set it about your work area. This is something most anyone, even those with the blackest of thumbs can do, seeing that much like camels, cacti don’t require a whole lot of watering.
- A word to the wise, do not offer to host Thanksgiving dinner at your house. Only an insane person (yours truly) would even contemplate such a ridiculous thing.
- On that note, also don’t be tempted to hit the stores, shopping centers, malls or any other commercial wasteland of consumerism. Yes, there are incredible Black Friday deals, but you were going to run over to that POD (publish on demand) site online and have your novel printed and bound as a gift for each and every one of holiday “shop for” list, weren’t you?
- Unabridged dictionary
- Rand McNally Global Color Maps
- 2008, 2009, 2010 Writer’s Market Editions (preferably the deluxe edition)
- Thesaurus
- And/or several Encyclopedia Britannica volumes
Cheers and the best of luck! Let us know how your venture is going by leaving a comment. Care to pick up a few supporters along the way? Leave your NaNoWriMo screenname with your post and let the real fun begin.
Read and then Write
Our upcoming Craft Chat will be on how to add suspense to your novel. Here is an excellent resource, one that is worthy of being bookmarked and referenced every now and again: Suspense Writing and Action Scenes –
(http://www.creative-writing-solutions.com/suspense-writing.html)
The article (be sure to read both pages) guides the author through some thoughtful ways in which to write good physical fight scenes, characters and "the hook."
At the end there are a few writing prompts. Why not give them a whirl?
I Can’t Read You
LJ Sellers, author of The Sex Club, lists several reasons why she can’t finish a novel. It’s a compelling list even for authors or those aspiring to become one.
Check out LJ’s post and then think about the reasons you might put down a novel or at least rank it in the bottom two out of five stars. Are these reasons your own work might not be well liked by your readers? What can you do to change that in your writing?
Here’s your challenge: Take something you’ve written recently and consider the problem areas you’ve identified in reading other works or LJ’s list. If you find some of these problems, hammer out a working draft that will help solve them.
Writing Challenge: Author Biography
Not long ago the prize-winning author, Tania Hershman, shared she didn’t mind as much being interviewed. An idea was fielded in her direction, would conducting interviews help write a biography, seeing that most writers don’t care much for this task. She agreed, that would be a great way to get over that hurdle.
Thinking about writing a biography can be daunting. At writing-world.com there are some tips that might help get you warmed up for writing one, then consider getting someone to "interview" you to help you get on your way. Get started by reading the writing-world page here: http://www.writing-world.com/basics/bio.shtml
More Writing Exercise Gone Wrong
Here are some more "Why Did The Chicken Cross the Street" answers submitted by Playwright Anne Wycoff who notes she’s merely rearranged the true words of these famous people.
Shakespeare:
To cross, or not to cross, that is the question;
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to stay
The smash and squish of outrageous traffic,
Or to take wings against a road of cars,
And by opposing, cross them.
Robert Burns:
The best laid schemes of chickens an’ cars
Often go awry.
Carman Bliss:
Set me the road to cross, in which I can put my wing,
my beak, my claw, of my very self,
and it is a road to cross no longer, it is joy;
It is roadkill. And It is the reason why I cross the road.
Mark Twain:
The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few brave chickens to cross the road, is to be found in their egg laying, flight and stupidity under the promptings of a winged, driven spirit.
That, and the fact that their brains are the size of my pinky finger nail, will ensure their unfortunate demise.
Louisa May Alcott:
As a chicken, I am no longer afraid of roads, for I am learning how to drive a car and join my brothers in quest of becoming Foster Farms chickens.
Henry David Thoreau:
Cowardly chickens suffer the desire to cross, heroic chickens, though some be dead, enjoy the thrill of crossing the road of life.
Toni Morrison:
Birth, life and death: Each took place on the hidden side of the road as an egg, a chick and an unfortunate encounter with a Harley Davidson.
Edgar Allan Poe:
Deep into the dark road peering, long I clucked there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no chicken ever dared dream before.
Pearl S. Buck:
None who have always been on the other side the road, can understand the terrible, facinating power of the hope of crossing the road to those who are on the wrong side of the road.
Mahatma Ghandhi:
The difference between crossing the road and being capable of crossing the road would suffice to solve most of the chicken coups problems.
Erma Bombeck:
What’s wrong with you chickens? Would you stop laying eggs if you realized that you have wings? You don’t have to cross the road. You can fly over it!
Anne Wycoff:
We are always trying to cross the damn road and not appreciate the side of the road we are on.
A Challenge
Are you looking for a challenge, something to spark your writing or redirect it a bit? Check out Six Sentences. Writers are challenged to write a story that’s a mere six sentences long. Grasp control of the semi-colon, use those colons and dashes and you not only might create a masterpiece, but even the longest 6-sentence short story in the universe!
Give it a try and make it a mainstay at SixSentences.BlogSpot.com
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