The cover of my book!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Woods-Arreth-M-C-Woodruff/dp/1462688179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365874883&sr=8-1&keywords=the+woods+of+arreth
Saturday, April 13, 2013
The Woods of Arreth cover
The cover of my book!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Woods-Arreth-M-C-Woodruff/dp/1462688179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365874883&sr=8-1&keywords=the+woods+of+arreth
My Rules of Writing: Rule Number One
I am starting a new blog. I love talking about reading and writing, so I am going to use this blog to do so. I am also going to use it to post updates and tidbits about the book series I am currently working on, The Woods of Arreth. The first book in the series, The Woods of Arreth, has already been published. I'll include a link or two where you can buy a copy! The second book in the series, currently titled The Dwarves of Ancor, will hopefully be available sometime this year. I am currently on the second rewrite of the manuscript. The third and fourth books that will complete the story of the Woods children are in the planning stage. The outline for the third book, The Guardians of Griffinholme, is almost complete and I will begin writing it soon. Hopefully it will be ready next year, but no promises on that. Writing takes time and right now I don't have a lot of it (I am also working on a Masters Degree in education. Can't wait for that to be over with).
Okay, so on to today's blog. Matt's (aka M.C. Woodruff's) Rules of Writing #1: Write about what you know. If you really want to write, begin with what is familiar to you. The first big mistake in trying to become a writer is to try and write what's popular. Zombies are big right now, last year it was vampires, next year it will be Frankenstein's Monster. Last year while at a book fair I was listening to this young woman talk to a publisher. She was explaining how her method for getting story ideas is to go to a book store, see what is popular and then write her version of it. "I'm working on a vampire story right now, to capitalize on the Twilight craze," she explained. She went on to say, "But my vampires are totally different; they don't glitter in the sun." She was trying to capitalize on what was popular at the moment. If your goal is simply to write something that sells, trying to capitalize on what is currently popular is not gonna do it. That may be what the publishers are looking for at the moment, but they are looking for stories that have already been written. By the time you get your manuscript ready to publish they will be looking for something else.
So don't try and write your version of whatever is popular at the moment. Instead, be the next big thing. Better yet, just write for yourself. Write the stories that are most familiar to you and that you would enjoy reading. Better yet, write about yourself. I'm not saying be autobiographical, although that can be interesting too, but write about a version of yourself. Let your characters be a reflection of you, both the good and the flawed in you. If you enjoy reading Fantasy, write about Fantasy, but make it familiar to you. The original idea for The Woods stories came from me wanting to write something that would teach my children the need to act like a family, to trust and help each other. I'll talk more in detail about this someday, but a lot of the story ideas for The Woods of Arreth came from my real life experiences. I just set it all in a fantasy setting and added in those aspects of Fantasy that I love the most, namely griffins and fairy creatures. I'm not saying you never have to do research for a story either. You may find yourself wanting to write a particular story, say one set in the future, but don't know much about the actual science behind, say, cyborgs. So you do some research, find out what is actually going on in that particular field, and then mix it with your own ideas. Or maybe you want a story set in another country, Uruguay perhaps, and want names of towns other than Montevideo. So you research it. Research is good; it helps you be accurate, and you learn something new. By the way, my favorite town outside of Montevideo is Treinta y Tres. How many towns can you name that are a number?
So, rule number one, write about what you know. Now, go write something. And leave me some comments about your own writing. Leave any questions you might have. I cannot read and edit your story for you, sorry, but my plate is pretty full. But, I can help you find someone who actually could do it for you, but probably not for free. There is another rule for you; never do for free what you could get paid to do. But that is another rule for another time. Now go and let your imagination flow.
Long live the Riders. Here is a link to Amazon to buy my book:
Okay, so on to today's blog. Matt's (aka M.C. Woodruff's) Rules of Writing #1: Write about what you know. If you really want to write, begin with what is familiar to you. The first big mistake in trying to become a writer is to try and write what's popular. Zombies are big right now, last year it was vampires, next year it will be Frankenstein's Monster. Last year while at a book fair I was listening to this young woman talk to a publisher. She was explaining how her method for getting story ideas is to go to a book store, see what is popular and then write her version of it. "I'm working on a vampire story right now, to capitalize on the Twilight craze," she explained. She went on to say, "But my vampires are totally different; they don't glitter in the sun." She was trying to capitalize on what was popular at the moment. If your goal is simply to write something that sells, trying to capitalize on what is currently popular is not gonna do it. That may be what the publishers are looking for at the moment, but they are looking for stories that have already been written. By the time you get your manuscript ready to publish they will be looking for something else.
So don't try and write your version of whatever is popular at the moment. Instead, be the next big thing. Better yet, just write for yourself. Write the stories that are most familiar to you and that you would enjoy reading. Better yet, write about yourself. I'm not saying be autobiographical, although that can be interesting too, but write about a version of yourself. Let your characters be a reflection of you, both the good and the flawed in you. If you enjoy reading Fantasy, write about Fantasy, but make it familiar to you. The original idea for The Woods stories came from me wanting to write something that would teach my children the need to act like a family, to trust and help each other. I'll talk more in detail about this someday, but a lot of the story ideas for The Woods of Arreth came from my real life experiences. I just set it all in a fantasy setting and added in those aspects of Fantasy that I love the most, namely griffins and fairy creatures. I'm not saying you never have to do research for a story either. You may find yourself wanting to write a particular story, say one set in the future, but don't know much about the actual science behind, say, cyborgs. So you do some research, find out what is actually going on in that particular field, and then mix it with your own ideas. Or maybe you want a story set in another country, Uruguay perhaps, and want names of towns other than Montevideo. So you research it. Research is good; it helps you be accurate, and you learn something new. By the way, my favorite town outside of Montevideo is Treinta y Tres. How many towns can you name that are a number?
So, rule number one, write about what you know. Now, go write something. And leave me some comments about your own writing. Leave any questions you might have. I cannot read and edit your story for you, sorry, but my plate is pretty full. But, I can help you find someone who actually could do it for you, but probably not for free. There is another rule for you; never do for free what you could get paid to do. But that is another rule for another time. Now go and let your imagination flow.
Long live the Riders. Here is a link to Amazon to buy my book:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)