Morgen’s Monday Musings 003 – my week, blog posts, and what’s caught my eye online

Most of the posts on this blog are guest-related but this is my little corner where I say what I’ve been up to and this week I’ve had a very busy few days, and have a few coming up…

What I’ve been up to this week:

Following on from last week’s LitBits Weekly Challenge’s honourable mention, I’ve gone one better and am one of four winners in their final challenge. 🙂 http://otherpublishing.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/lit-bits-weekend-challenge-4-winners
The latest chat-up line is “I think my eyes are broken because I can’t seem to take them off you.” See the previous two MMMs for others – I received the ‘fell for you’ one again this week (and no, none of them worked).
I’ve been busy preparing lesson plans for my creative writing courses for Northamptonshire County Council’s Adult Learning which started on the 7th January and I’m having such a wonderful time. The details (and booking links for the spring term) are on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/courses/northampton-writing-courses.

What this blog’s been up to:

Apart from the weekday writing exercises, this past week’s posts were…

Tuesday: Guest Post: Be Resolute, Make A Plan by Adrian Magson
Wednesday: Book Review 024: Rosalind Minett reviews Malambo by Lucia Charun Illescas
Thursday: Guest post: Acknowledge Your Achievements by Louisa Clarkson
Friday: Flash Fiction Friday 120: The Wives by Kristina England
Saturday: Author interview no 698: Shirley You Jest fiction winner Amy Sprenger
Earlier today: Post-weekend Poetry 105: Unlucky In Love by Salvatore Buttaci
And I added Kelly Miller’s two mystery books to https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-other-peoples/novels-novellas
I had a question on this blog’s ‘Ask Me’ page askgin, “I am a 12 yr old writer and I am currently writing a book called “other side”. I’m seriously having problems creating hooks and making the book original and not some ripoff of the clique.Did you have a problem making a story it’s own and if so did it come out original and how should I make my book original?” and my reply was, “Hello, Anna. Thank you for your message. I wouldn’t worry about your story being unoriginal. Unless you deliberately copy passages of another author’s work, you’re not copying. West Side Story has the same plot as Romeo & Juliet. A lot of authors think that by reading it will influence their writing but every writer should also be a reader and it’s what established authors recommend. If you feel you are creating a cliche, think of another way of saying it e.g. cold as ice, think of something else, something unusual that’s really cold (polar bear?). Hooks can be tricky but sometimes when writing novels the hook is in chapter 2 or three so you need to remove the slow start (which is usually an introduction to a character or their backstory) and filter it in thereafter. Writing is a craft that just takes practice. No one would put you in front of a canvas and expect a Dali or in front of a piano and expect a concerto. Good luck. I’ll be running some online courses in the next few weeks which will include a novel course (inc. beginnings, middles, ends, cliches etc). I’ll put the details on my blog.”

What’s caught my eye online:

Public speaking: How to ‘wing it’ without a script http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25639814
Dating clichés: not chat-up lines like I’ve been listing here but profiles. I have one of the mentioned ones on mine. 🙂 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25636342
Spies to be allowed to break speed limit – I wonder if that includes fictional ones. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25703725
In research for my teaching, I came across http://damiengwalter.com/2012/01/22/two-four-seven-more-how-many-stories-are-there and http://helenafairfax.com/2013/09/27/the-seven-basic-plots-and-your-favourite-films

Last but not least:

My special thanks goes to just a few of the stalwarts of this blog (contributors and supporters) in no particular order…

Jane Risdon
Chris Farley
Debra Borys
Sue Vincent
Deb Donahue
Marion Grace Wooley
Paula Acton
Sophie E Tallis
Joy V Smith
Yvonne Hertzberger
Lesley Carter

If you’d like to take part in this blog, see https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/submission-information/opportunities-on-this-blog and / or if something’s caught your eye (writing-related) and you’d like it including in these Monday musings, then do email me (morgen@morgenbailey.com) and you’ll get a mention (don’t forget to include your website address).

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As I post a spotlight or interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.

I welcome items for critique directly (see Editing & Critique) or for posting on the online writing groups listed below:

Morgen’s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

Morgen’s Online Novel Writing Group

Morgen’s Online Poetry Writing Group

Morgen’s Online Script Writing Group

Morgen’s Online Short Story Writing Group

We look forward to reading your comments.