How to Write Great Fiction by RedBubble

This looks a great site, I will have to take a look with a computer with speakers!

Carrying a notepad is essential- but I guess also true for artists, designers and other creative folk for spotting observations and remembering things that you would otherwise forget. (I like to note down typing errors to give me new place names, or random words!) Though I also have numerous other note pads at home, too big for carrying with me, but useful for certain story developments, or short story drafting.

Each writer I guess will have a set target of words, I aim for an absolute minimum of 100 creative words, and whilst even then I don’t always achieve it, with my hectic schedule it is more likely to get done. That doesn’t count editing etc…which are the areas I tend to get stuck with! If there is advice for where to find editing will power, or drive then I need to find it!

One piece of advice for those starting out? Hmmmm, Write about something that interests you- that way you will either know the subject, want to learn more, and excell in the wordplay surrounding it.

Thanks for drawing this to our attention.

Just awesome!!Thank you for sharing!! :O]

I love to write, but I’m not always so great at plotting. Nevertheless, I’ve been writing a little mystery on redbubble, a Valentine story. A very, very short one with a bit of tongue in cheek.

definitely write every day… especially first thing in the morning – has anyone else done morning pages? just get an old notebook and write anything at all.. sometimes the odd gem gets onto the page..!!

As a professional freelance ghost writer I work on a deadline everyday. I often have 1 to 2 days to write 10 articles of 500 words each. My clients expect fresh ideas, perfect grammar and proper punctuation. The advice I have for anyone who wants to ghost write (you can make a tidy sum of money as a ghost writer) is don’t even think about it unless you can take the pressure of tight deadlines. Use spell-check and grammar-check in your word processor. Finally, keep a thesaurus and dictionary handy or use an online service. If you attempt to sell an article that is poorly written with spelling and grammar errors, your first client will be your last.

I write when I get an idea and insepration to put it on papper/computer.
Mine are usually short stories here on Redbubble.
I have written and copyrighted a childs book. I had a publisher, but not the funds to get published at the time.
Here is one short story I have on Redbubble, Here is my number

I watched a talk by Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, recently (yay youtube) and he said to be an author, you have to paint pictures with words.
He died earlier this month =(

FABULOUS!!
::applause::

yes I do write in between painting and handbuilding clay and will peruse this site again when I am not rushing to the bank and grocery store. :)

i love writing when im boared but not when i can be bothered

I love to weed and white, but my Rhotacism is a pain…

I’m about 10 chapters into a novel I’m writing and posting on Redbubble!! Hopefully these will make it that much better!!

Salman Rusdie, whom I respect greatly as a writer, kind of pissed on what I consider our collective parade in that he poo-pooed the whole concept of inspiration. For myself, inspiration can sometimes be a commodity in short supply but I just feel like writing. I will often use a kind of quasi meditation and dig for the inspiration, but ultimately if there is no inspiration forthcoming…there is no write. Especially in fiction. Yes, we absolutely HAVE to create our scenarios and characters out of human experience. But then we have to sprinkle the magic dust…that is inspiration. And imagination helps to fuel that.
Thank you RB for turning us on to this site. I know I’ll be using it often.

I will definitely go and visit these sites later today…
To answer the question: I write when the words refuse to ‘let me go’… Often it’s after an intense experience, or lying awake at night, or waking from a semi-conscious state… and usually it’s my truth made general – ie. my own experiences tailored to make it ‘accessible’ as an experience we’ve all shared. I write poetry, because you can squish a whole heap of emotion and imagery in just a few lines.
I have always wanted to try something more ‘meaty’ though (my undergraduate degree was in English Literature, and I’ve been pretty slack at doing anything with it!!!) but have not had the ‘spark’ to start something more prolonged. These tips might just get me on the right track (sounds trite, but I do mean it)! Thanks, RB!

Writing is so critical to memory. Going through emailed trip journals from years ago I found stories, impressions and descriptions of experiences that brought memories flooding back to me. Penned when the experience was fresh, the words seem as fresh today as they were years ago. Thank you for posting this link. Let’s get more people writing. What a splendid way to make images on RedBubble come alive for viewers.

Hello dearies, we are ever so grateful to you for cataloging such marvellous sites. We shall put the kettle on, then visit said sites and absorb all we can whilst sitting at our computer sipping our tea. Never a day goes past where we don’t learn something new. Thank you dearies; keep up the good work.

I think it is as the great Norwegian artist, Inger Sitter, said about painting: “Eighter you have to do it, or there’s no point in trying.”
My first art-teacher, Einar Granum, bless his memory; used to say:
“If you have something to tell, you’ll learn the technic in three days.”
So, what do I say ?
“If my Creator wants me to do it………probably it will come just right through me.”

Most writers take themselves way too seriously.

One of the best pieces advice I was given by a Melbourne playwright (in a course I did) was “Shit is Good”.
What he meant was – Keep writing. No matter what it is, write it. Do it every day. Don’t worry about what it is, just write it down. You can worry about grammar and content later and the more you write the easier (in theory) it gets. Because in amongst the rubble you will find gems.

I know there are ways in which to ‘improve’ your writing. However, I believe writing comes from within, I do not understand how it is taught? I am not ridiculing at all, I am maybe too stubborn to accept help! :) But I enjoy compliments such as “unique expression.” Keep writing, keep going, try and try and try and try and eventually you will get the hang of it. Redbubble is awesome.

I write constantly…the good, the bad and the ugly! Refrain from self-editing – just let the words flow. I carry a notebook and a phone to take random photos of things that I could imagine writing a piece about.

I am about to commence my first draft of a novel/script – copious ideas swimming in the brain but yet to be placed on paper.

I am new to this site by less than 24 hours! Once I have a hang of things, I will post some of my written and photographic work.

Challenges in writing come about all of the time, but isn’t that the enjoyment of it. I believe the biggest challenge I had was writing a piece dealing with a cast of characters that get emotional using colorful language. My target audience for this piece were Christians. How to write an emotional piece without being offensive and yet believable? I am still wrestling with that one.

I carry a notebook with me and write ideas that come to mind or try to describe an event as well as I can without being too wordy…and there is the other challenge along with irony.

speaking of creative writing i was a guest panel member on the inaguaral Spoke festival (a writers festival) only 2 nights ago. it coincides with the adelaide fringe festival – details here

I usually have many, many hours to kill in the city while my b/f is playing cricket, so I use that time to write. Heavily inspired by the Romantic period and nature, you’ll most often find me completely entranced by a lady bug or a tree blowing in the wind, lol!
I always keep a notebook on me and sometimes a novel from the Romantic period (THE best period) like Wuthering Heights or Tess of the d’Urbervilles to keep me motivated.

Please check out my written works on RB, as I am always looking for more fans and reviews ;)

my Rhotacism is a pain

RRRReally fascinating Tully.

good stories are the seed of an idea, or several seeds of ideas cleverly woven together. capture ideas and take notes as soon as you have the idea, jot notes in your phone, email yourself, whatever, just capture and store them. the ideas that still appeal upon revisiting are worth pursuing. the WTF ideas that don’t appeal to you later should be abandoned.

writing is easy, reworking writing into something good is hard and exhausting and takes self-discipline. a goal helps, whether it be a competition or challenge, or self-imposed deadline.

seek feedback from people you can trust to read your stories with a critical eye, and tell you frankly what works, doesn’t work, etc. if something is not working or confusing to people, you need to know. people who love everything you write are of no help to you at this phase, ultimately they endanger your success.

never be too pleased with yourself. “you can’t please everyone” is a cop-out. feedback and suggestions for improvement should always be interpreted as your failure as a writer. aim to delight every reader.

Writing is it’s own reward! you get out of it what you put into it!
It’s like farming – You have to do all the hard slog before you sell your product and call yourself a farmer.
But you have to choose what you are going to farm – research the crop the herd the flock and all it needs to develop into the end product
then prepare the environment in which to farm
Do your best every day (Cows don’t care it’s Sunday or raining they still need to be milked!)
and eventually you will reap the rewards!
SO
First READ
Read lots of things, read everything you can
Read every day and then realise what it is you gravitate towards
and when you say to yourself “No I would have written it this way” ….
then WRITE
write the words in your head the words in your heart
write the words your granny told you on her knee!
write as much as you can every day
write because you want to
write because you need to
write because you can
JUST WRITE!
Enjoy your writing!
and then read it!
If you LIKE reading your own writing chances are others may too
But I’m of the school
Sing like no one is listening, Dance like no one is watching …..
well, write like no one is reading but yourself!
and then rewrite it until you are sick of it
then hand it to someone who will read it with a red pen
then when all your first readers can fix it no more
then ask a publisher’s opinion
and if they like it guess what ….?
Yep they’ll get their editor to go over it with a red pen line by line!
eventually you will end up with a book and you can call yourself an “Author!”
But unlike Farming you can call yourself a “Writer” from the moment you wield your pen!

Enjoy your writing!
☼Ü Happy Bubbling! Ü☼
Chookas! ♥Ü♥

The stories I write are from real memories and are not fiction so perhaps that is a different medium but the concept is still the same. I learned from teaching for 31 years to write and edit my writing as if I were another person reading the work. Reading what you have written with that thought in mind affects the way the grammar is structured and the flow of the story greatly.

Ah. So that’s where I went wrong.

I used to panic when asked to write anything .. term papers always set me into a panic, storytelling had me running in the opposite direction … so what changed .. well I quit writing for other people .. lol … having a computer also helped since I found my thoughts flying faster than I could write with pen and paper …. then I joined a forum online (years ago, gone now) in a topic area where we could discuss anyting, be silly if we wanted to, write poetry and collaborative stories … and in the comfortable environment I wrote and wrote and wrote .. as can see by my writing here I rarely worry about punctuation and grammar although I am well grounded in their details … train of thought perhaps is how I right … the thoughts flow to paper (or screen lol) with no judgment as to such worries … like someone already has written here … write write write … fixing punctuation and grammar can come later … my criteria for what I write … is what you read understandable .. not is it perfect … I think and hope I do get myh point across (smile) ,,, thanks for the link! will check it out soon (smile)

i have so much to write about… but i don’t have enough time to do so… i am a teacher…

My recently updated dramatic short story here

Thanks for this bubble infolink.
A big fave from me for this post :O))
And to answer one question Do you have any particular methods or approaches that work for you?

I can only answer what doesn’t work and that is when I try too hard and get tied up with the notion ‘Oh I am writing now’ ….it works better for me if it is like writing a letter to myself or someone.
I guess the feeling that it is personal is another way to explain, it can’t be task orientated for me.
Cheers now ….off to write some dreams .. :O))

Excellent links!
I am currently working on the final polish (or at least I think it is!) of my first novel White Ashes. Even at this stage, I love the learning process and honing in on making it the best it can be under my care. I have already painted the cover and it can be seen on RedBubble here
I’d appreciate any thoughts on the title – is it intriguing enough? And of course on my painting for the cover – honesty only PLEASE – either way.

I found the Ames and Rushdie videos boring , especially the Ames .