new feature, August 2012…
Is there something you’d like to know about writing fiction?
Do you have a quick question that you’d like a (hopefully) quick answer to?
You can ask me here!
Just put your question (writing-related please!) in the comment box below and I’ll reply as soon as I can.
Morgen Bailey is a freelance writer and blogger, writer blog designer, host of the weekly Bailey’s Writing Tips audio podcast and two in-person writing groups based in Northamptonshire, England. She is the author of numerous short stories, novels, articles, has dabbled with poetry but admits that she doesn’t “get it”, and is a regular Radio Litopia contributor. She is Chair of another local writing group (which runs the annual HE Bates Short Story Competition), belongs to a fourth, and can regularly be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. When she’s not researching for her writing groups, she is a British Red Cross volunteer, walks her dog (often while reading, writing or editing) and reads (though not as often as she’d like but is spurred on by her new Kindle) and somewhere in between all that she writes. Her blog, which like her, is consumed by everything writing-related, is http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com and she loves hearing from writers and readers. You can also read / download her eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with novels to follow. She also had a quirky second-person viewpoint story in charity anthology Telling Tales. She has a writing-related forum and you can follow her on Twitter, friend on Facebook, like on Facebook, connect on LinkedIn, find on Tumblr, complete her website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email her. Most recently she has set up http://icanbuildyourwritingblog.wordpress.com designing blog sites especially for other writers.
jim
August 27, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Hi Morgen, Just wondering… I am trying to write a class outline to teach Japanese students how to ‘brainstorm’. I gladly took advantage of the Word-Web sheet you posted. (Thank you.) My question is: Would you be able to give me some direction on what a Word-Wall, Word-Tree, etc. might look like -if they were applied to brainstorming as well? Hope to hear from you soon. Jim
morgenbailey
August 27, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Hi Jim. Thank you for your question (and for using my Word Web!).
There’s a great video on how to create a Word Tree at http://www.ehow.com/video_12232965_word-tree-first-graders.html. It’s not dissimilar to the Word Web except that instead of synonyms or the likes it concentrates on the original word itself and how to expand on it (which can be done on the Word Web).
Kathy Gursky has a great example of a Word Wall on http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/word_walls/words.html.
I put all the exercises that I do in my workshops on my http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/exercises page and prompts on my http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/5pm-fiction page so feel free to try any of those. I quite often use small rectangles of coloured card with different words on them for compiling a story e.g. characters’ jobs, traits, objects, dilemma, locations and you don’t need many for variety.
I hope that helps.
Morgen
scotty
September 18, 2012 at 2:10 am
Hello Morgen .. how would a complete virgin to writing fiction find where to start where is first base so to speak, and were talking complete newbie this is a totally alien world to me and dont have a clue where i would possibly start (apart from learning to spell that is), how do you structure your writing, build a character, the world they live in and how easy is it to wrap yourself in knots and be totally confused
something else that intrigues me is you have ideas say for characters, situations they get into but how do you link them fluidly
i know, so many questions
morgenbailey
September 18, 2012 at 7:36 am
Great questions, Scotty.
The great thing about fiction is that it (generally) comes from nowhere. I run a writing workshop every other Monday night and we start with a single word, five keywords or a sentence beginning (and other prompts) and see what happens. I plotted my first novel back in 2008 but found very quickly that it look on a life of its own (guided by the characters) so sat back and just wrote.
I would suggest keeping it simple to start with… too many ideas for one story could complicate. A story doesn’t have to be complex (if it is, it probably means it’s a novel) – I wrote a story recently (https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/5pm-fiction-017-the-chelsea-bun) about an old man in a bakery and it seemed pretty normal to begin with but generally with any story you need some form of action and dilemma. The Chelsea Bun is the grand sum of 240 words.
Regarding linking them, you could just start with a character and even writing a description of them could take you somewhere. By giving someone a job gives them a location and probably someone else to interact with it would usually lead you somewhere, even just a dialogue between them – you can learn a great deal from what people say. Writing fiction does make you more aware of the world around you, and a great excuse to be nosy.
You could start with this blog’s Exercises page (http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/exercises) and see if anything grabs you… or try a sentence start (http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/exercises/sentence-starts). Once I started writing I found I couldn’t stop… there’s only one way to find out what you’re capable of by putting pen to paper or hands to keyboard. Another exercise is freewriting where you just write a jumble of anything, even if it’s “I can’t think of anything to write” twenty times, your brain will get bored of it and hopefully come up with something else, perhaps a story about a child at school who has to do his / her lines, doesn’t like his teacher, wishes he was at home with his dog, is looking forward to the next episode of Doctor Who and has just finished his fiftieth line when a blue tardis appears in the school playground.
Thank you for asking, Scott, and do let me know how you get on….
M
scotty
September 18, 2012 at 12:17 pm
ill give it a try , while i work a backshift i find i have a good 8 hours that my brains chuntering through loads of things, ideas etc its just getting it from brain down the arms to paper
many thanks
morgenbailey
September 18, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Just make sure you have a small notepad (Tesco / Wilkinsons do some great ones) and a pen wherever you go.
scotty
September 19, 2012 at 3:26 am
ill give this a go and see what i can come up with and let you have a look , not something i have done before , no use in being frightened after all fear is mainly an illusion in it’s self
morgenbailey
September 19, 2012 at 7:28 am
Please do. You have a plot there already; a frightened character who sees an image of himself in a mirror / window / something that shouldn’t be reflective…
Sasha Vosk
September 20, 2012 at 4:35 am
Morgen: Thank you for a very informative article on comedy writing for TV. A question: is Sketch Comedy script’s format similar to the one for a sitcom? I am having a very hard time finding a sample of such a script, while there are plenty of samples for a sitcom. Thank you much. Sasha
morgenbailey
September 21, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Hi Sasha. Thank you for your question. I’ve only written a TV script so have done some digging. http://freecomedysketches.blogspot.co.uk looks like a great source plus there’s http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Comedy-Sketch. The BBC is very supportive of script writers and they have examples of TV comedy scripts at http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/search (select comedy / TV). I hope that helps.
Ashwin
December 7, 2012 at 10:14 am
Hi
I was wondering if i can write a guest post on your blog.
morgenbailey
December 7, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Certainly, Ashwin, as long as it’s writing-related. I’ll email you the guidelines.
Alison
December 10, 2012 at 7:03 pm
Morgen – first of all, thank you for a terrific site. There is so much potential useful information here. I wanted to ask, could you add us to the list of book review sites (mostly fictional) on your site. Our link is http://www.kindlebookreview.net/freereview.html and we are a network of authors who review other author’s books. Please feel free to check us out. If you have any other suggestions on how we can help you out, let me know. Your site looks very worthy and deserving the support of others. Warm regards – Alison
morgenbailey
December 12, 2012 at 8:55 pm
Hi Alison. Thank you for your message. I’ve added you to the Reviewers page and tried to email you (support@…) but it bounced back.
Colin Bird
January 14, 2013 at 10:21 am
Hi Morgen, I began writing an ‘acute’ biography of my spiritual experiences (acute meaning, I have to use several characters to envelope my story) it is working okay, I have around 258 pages and 80,500 words so far…
Question is, I need some ‘general’ valuable feedbacl as to how to become a writer, I hold no qualifications as such… (just your average ‘Joe’ who has become wise to a gift) any help you can give would be gratefully received,
Just one more Question
Are we able to post anywhere here, a tastier of our work….? (a short piece from the books that we have ‘or’ in the process of writing to gain any feedback)
Love this site by the way
morgenbailey
January 14, 2013 at 11:38 am
Hi Colin. Great to have you here. Right…
1. “I began… 80,500 words so far” – congratulations.
2. “I need some ‘general’ valuable feedback as to how to become a writer, I hold no qualifications as such…” – unless you count ‘O’ level English, and the first year of a degree course, and some day / weekend classes, nor do I. No writer has to have qualifications (although studying does speed up the process). I’ve learned as I’ve gone along and don’t know how long you’ve been writing but I started eight years ago so have picked up a few tips, many of which I’ve put on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/writing-101
3. Absolutely. Not on this blog because I’ve just stopped doing the Red Pen Critique http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/red-pen-critique but I’ve stopped it because I’ve set up four online writing groups specifically to post extracts (<5,000 words) and gain feedback (and post daily writing exercises
) and each one has a Facebook group to extend the conversations. They're for novels, poetry, short stories and scripts and are listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/online-writing-groups.
For those with longer extracts, or who are shy, I also have a Feedback page where writers (and readers / publishers!) can swap contact details and I think we already (it's 2 months old) have every genre covered – that's at http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/feedback. I'll gladly add you to either / both list(s).
Anything else you need just holler here, on the other blogs and / or Facebook.
Colin Bird
January 14, 2013 at 11:49 am
Thanks Morgen…. Really appreciate the feedback (Tiz what makes a Good writer in fact)
I really need to create a website for my work, my books and general feedback… do you deliver this service also…?
morgenbailey
January 14, 2013 at 12:10 pm
You’re very welcome. I know writers who have self-edited, epublished and wondered why they don’t sell / get no or poor reviews. We’re too close to our work. Everyone’s found something to fix in mine so you never stop learning… like life!
I do design (and only recommend) WordPress blogs (up and running for £50 / $75): details on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/blog-design-service
http://janewenhamjones.wordpress.com is one of my creations, as is this site (obviously) and the four new writing groups… and a few others.
Colin Bird
January 14, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Thanks for the link Morgen… I am considering setting up a blog and ‘so’ you may be hearing from me shortly indeed…
Albie Still
January 19, 2013 at 3:29 pm
In your opinion, are writing programs, (Newnovelist, WriteItNow, etc), useful for would be writers’, or Just a matter of personal choice?
Thank you,
Albie
morgenbailey
February 13, 2013 at 1:05 pm
Hi Albie. Thank you for your question. Sorry for the delay in replying (email overload).
I do think it’s a personal choice. I found going to workshops, belonging to writing groups, reading fiction and the writing itself to be the most helpful, but really whatever you use has got to be useful because it’s getting you writing. If you’re on a budget, then I do think software (I have heard good things about NewNovelist) and writing guides are the best way to go. Stephen King’s On Writing is the most recommended in my interviews. Scrivener is a software programme I’m think of getting and although developed for the Mac it’s also available for the PC.
It’s not until November but I’d recommend NaNoWriMo (http://nanowrimo.org) because it gets you writing 50,000 words in 30 days and the joy of it only being February is you have eight and a half months to plan!
Of course you can do all the above.
Good luck and do let me know how you get on.
Morgen
bzuley
February 18, 2013 at 6:44 pm
I’ve written a couple novellas as ebooks and I’m getting ready to start a series. I’ve got the website: http://www.carriebaileybooks.com and some readers ready to look at my work, but I haven’t connected with people who primarily read science fiction. Where are the best places to do that online or out in the real world? Do you have a top five? I don’t just want to push my work on people. I want to interact. Find new, inspiring work, do peer reviews…etc. Thanks for offering to answer questions.
morgenbailey
February 25, 2013 at 11:04 pm
Hello, Carrie. (great surname!)
I don’t read or write science-fiction so am not familiar with outlets but I do have a few opportunities listed on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/submissions-sci-fi-fantasy-horror-etc which may be of interest / use.
Also lists of sci-fi reviewers on http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/reviews/reviews-fantasy-horror-sci-fi.
I hope that’s a start for you.
Morgen