Hello everyone!! I'm new to this forum, but not RR. I've posted a few shots in the photography gallery in the past two months. But, I digress. LOL I've always loved writing and reading, anything I can get my hands on, and a few of my old teachers throughout school have kept some of my work as examples for their future classes. But lately I have this urge to start writing again, but seriously, perhaps to get published if I come up with anything exceptional. But, I'm having quite a bit of trouble figuring out just how to get started, what I want to write about, for what types of audiences that I want to write, etc. Does anyone have any suggestions on perhaps a first step to get my creativeness flowing again? Thanks so much for any helpful suggestions!!! I hope to get to know you all much better! hugs to all -Krista

Welcome to the forum....we can always use more writers. Personally I think a guide to what you want to write about is what you enjoy reading or viewing. I wouldn't write Westerns or fantasies, for example, because I don't read them. What draws you in a bookstore is what you should write about. And for every type of book, there is an audience so I would worry less about the audience and more about getting started. Some people recommend having a notebook that you jot down little bits of ideas is a good way to start gathering ideas for stories. Keeping a journal gets you in the habit of working regularly. Reading about other writers can be very inspirational. This forum has a monthly challenge, and there is also a challenge that writers are invited to join on the Challenge Forum. Those can be excellent ways to nudge the muse. Getting published is the last step and not the first. Writing regularly is the biggest challenge. The second biggest challenge, which is what killed my creativity, is not letting doubt creep in. Also, don't limit yourself. Some people only want to write poetry or only want to write screenplays. Sometimes a short story writer will have a poem within them; sometimes a nonfiction article writer will burst out with a novel. I doubt if that's any help. I've lost my creativity in writing and in digital art so I'm the last one who should be giving advice. I do know that the longer you go without doing it, the easier it is to make excuses for not starting. I'm an expert at that.

Thanks Dialyn! I'd actually considered a few of the things you said after I posted this message last night, so, the first thing I did was go out and buy a journal. I think I may have also figured out where I want to start. My great-grandfather used to tell all these wonderful, spooky stories from when he was a child in the early 1900s... kind of old, western-style stories, except for the fact that we live in Kentucky. I think that's where I want to start... I'm going to call my grandma today and get her to give me as much detail to the stories as she can remember, and hopefully, with what she and I can both recall, I can recount those old stories, that, as far as I know have never been formally written out, and bring a little bit of my great-grandfather back to life. :-) Sound like good place to start??

Message edited on: 08/14/2005 11:45

I know I would buy it. :) I love spooky stories. American history and lore is rich with potential...and I bet your grandmother will be thrilled to share her memories with her (win-win). :D

One technique that I just read about was taking the journal and setting a writing goal (50 words - 200 words - 250 words - 500 words - no more than 2000 words) for that day. And then write down some notes about what you would like to write. This person doesn't do the actually writing in the journal (she actually writes on the computer) but the journal travels with her through her day to collect ideas she has about writing and sets her in the mood when she sits down. Then she records the words she actually wrote so that she has idea of how she did that day.<

Dedicating time to writing is very important. I think a lot of us find it so hard to get started that we find ways to avoid sitting down and just writing.

I don't know why because there are few things more fun when the writing lets loose and you enter into that other world. I know I waste a lot of time on forums and television and games that I used to spend on writing. If you are serious about writing, then make it a priority.

Message edited on: 08/14/2005 11:49

Hey Kristanene - It sounds like you already have a lot of inspiration from your grandpa's old stories. And the fact that you live in a place like Kentucky could add a lot to it. How much of Kentucky's history do you know? I went camping/hiking with a friend of mine in eastern kentucky early last year and he shed some light for me on the strangeness of the place. Did you know that Kentucky is an indian term that translates, loosely, to haunted bloodlands? A lot of the native american tribes that lived around the area feared it and considered it a very sacred place, which was a big reason why they had such a problem with white men settling there. They weren't trying to be selfish exactly, they were indirectly trying to protect people from what they believed existed in the area. Kentucky is loaded with its own secrets and legends. With a little research into its histories you could get creative with it and combine the stories your grandfather told you with Kentucky's legends. The particular area that I went hiking in was up in some foothills and there was a hollowed out overgrown area that use to be an old mining town in the 1800s. I don't remember many of the details just now but the jist of the story was that a woman who lived there put a curse on the town for something her husband and/or some other people had done to her. a bunch of freaky stuff started happening over time and it was all taken seriously enough that everybody evacuated the place. Anyone that tried going into it later regretted doing so. I wasn't brave enough to get too close but from where we were, you could just make out the shells of old houses and structures burried in the trees. I don't know how true the story is but it was definately interesting when told to me, in more detail. Autumn is well on its way, and with it comes Halloween. Use the spirit of the coming season to help inspire your creativity. 8-) ~E.D.

That's very interesting! I wish you could remember where exactly in Kentucky you went, because that sounds an incredible lot like where my great uncle lives. He talks about freaky stuff happening there all the time...seeing a man in a business suit and a briefcase running back into the woods (I mean, this place is so far back in the sticks that the sun doesn't shine there until summer LOL) and never coming back out...stepping into another "dimension" he says, and seeing a woman in pioneer-type clothing hanging clothes out on the line, where he knows there isn't a house. All kinds of weird things, and that's not even counting some of my great-grandpa's stories, about a man fighting the devil (yep, THE devil). I'm so excited now, I can't wait to get these down! My great-aunt is sending me a video of my great-grandpa telling some of his old stories that I can use to help. I'm considering writing them down exactly like he says them, slang and all, but then I also thought that a lot of people wouldn't be able to understand it...ever read "As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner? Same principle I think. And I'll definitely have to start digging more into my Kentucky history/legends..I'll bet there are all kinds of places!! LOL I get excited easily, can you tell? But seriously, it could be a whole book, scary stories and legends of Kentucky! LOL I must start researching! LOL

I remember where it was pretty clearly actually. It was just outside of Middlesboro, about an hour or 2 north of Knoxville TN. Middlesboro sits right on the edge of KY, TN and VA. We went and took pics from a cliffside that overlooks all 3 states. Its near the Cumberland Gap. Lots of beautiful country and forests and tons of small towns with ghost stories galor. (way too country for me tho, I'm more of a city boy - heh). We had gone 4-wheeling the day that he showed me the old ghost town. Its up in some foothills. Where we were it was like a donut shape around the place and you could look down into the trees and see some of the old cabins. The most visible structure was something like an old wooden water tower, or maybe just a look-out tower or something similar. I'm pretty sure I took pics of it, if I can remember where they are. The whole place just exuded creepiness, even in the middle of a sunny early spring day. I've always been sensitive to places like that anyway tho, ever since I was a kid. I tend to pick up on negative vibes in the air and can usually sense if something really bad has happened in a place that I'm in. It depends a lot on how much i'm paying attention tho and doesn't happen very often. But I have some of my own freaky stories about places I've been, from first-hand experience. 8-) ~E.D.

Attached Link: http://fearsomenovel.com

Hi, I'm new too. I just listed my novel in the merchants section I hope someone reads the free chapters in the free stuff section. I find the hardest part of writing is finding someone to read it and provide feedback. I started my novel over 10 years ago and its still not totally polished, after awhile I have to move to other projects such as write a quick short story which helps clear ideas out of my mind and lets me go back to an envolved project. If I get blocked I just watch a popular movie and see how poorly written it is and that usually sends me back to my own work. If any of you care to a link to my web is provided. http://fearsomenovel.com

Sounds like you've been working on your novel almost as long as I've been working on mine. I started plotting mine while I was still in high school, but didn't really get going with it until the summer of '93. With virtually nothing else to do I spent the whole summer writing and by the end of it I realised the story was too long to condense into one book, so I developed the basic plot lines for two others to follow, but got side-tracked. By the summer of '95 I returned to the US and discovered a new favorite author, whose style inspired me immensely. I started rethinking the story I'd been working on and decided it needed a new approach. Because the plot I was working with was so intense and covered such a vast time frame, I wanted to write a sort of prologue to it, which is now the new first novel in the series. Over the last 10 years characters for the story have been developed and then discarded due to lack of necessity or true purpose, and one that started out as a sort of filler, background character has become the main character. It's been rather frustrating, especially at times when I couldn't figure out what should happen next or what causes something else to happen, but in a lot of ways I'm glad it has taken me this long because otherwise, had I begun and ended it all back in summer of 93, it wouldn't be anything like the story it is now. By the time its done it will cover more than just 3 or 4 novels, but I think it will be worth it. I've tried my best to make sure there's a reason for everyone in it and everything that happens. I don't want readers to ever think that I just pulled something out of the air for filler to throw in because I couldn't think up anything else. ~E.D.

First off I grew up near the corner of TN, KY and VA (on the VA side). Lots of interesting history in that part of the world. My advise for you Krista or anyone that wants to start writing, is to start small. Don't just jump into a novel b/c odds are you won't finish it. Until you have actually written one you have to work your way up to it. As far as you Grandpa's old stories, writing them down as he told them (exactly or loosly "translated") may be nice for your family, however I think if you use his stories along with some history and put them together with some of your own creativity you have something with the potential to be very good. wether it turns out to be a collection of short stories or one big piece it is something worth working out. Start with some of the shorter ones and then as you go along your research may bring you to the realization that you can expand it out. Don't be afraid to think of the stories as a simple background for a Character. For example you can have a character that overheard one of the stories when she was young and that story could somehow shape her life down the road or be part of an internal struggle with your main character. You can even have your characters stumble upon an old man telling stories and they stop to listen and that story could play a role in the outcome of their "adventure" later. Having anectdotes to insert into your writing can help the flow sometimes...and having a short story within your story can be great. Basically what I am saying is don't just think of how you can get your grandfathers stories on paper...discover how you can use them for inspiration or build on them using your own creativity. You could be surprised that you Grandfathers storytelling ability still lives within you. Hope my ramlings help someone in some way. occasionally they do. and welcome, everyone in here is pretty easy to get along with and always someone is eager to help.

Fearsome, Sorry I missed your post...Welcome also. I too am occasionally inspired by a poorly written movie that was based on a wonderful premise. about your book depending on the genre you can usually find someone here willing to give you feedback. Some of us just don't browse the free area that often and may not have even known about it. Feel free to post in the forum a description of a story in the free area. Otherwise it may go unnoticed. Most of the people searching Free area are looking for something and don't do much browsing