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How to Write "to win" - the "Secrets" to Writing Success (from our Creative Writing Course)Title: How to Write "to win" - the "Secrets" to Writing Success (from our Creative Writing Course)Author: Craig Lock Web Sites: http://kompuwiz.com/kompustore and http://www.bridgeniche.com Other Articles: http://www.soulful-writer.com Publishing Guidelines: We hope that the following article, which is an extract from our online creative writing course (formatted to 65 characters) may be informative and helpful to your e-zine readers, or on your web site. If it helps others "out there" in any way, then we're happy. This article (as with all my articles) may be freely published, electronically or in print. If you do not want to receive my articles as a member of an article list, you will have to unsubscribe from them, as I do not have your email address. If a lot of you do that, I'll take the hint and rather not send out my articles! Thanks. "We share what we know, so that others may grow." * HOW TO WRITE TO WIN - WHAT ARE THE "SECRETS" TO CREATIVE WRITING SUCCESS? (Extracted from our Creative Writing Course) "It took me twenty years to become an overnight success." - anon That quote keeps me going! "If a man has talent and cannot use it, he has failed. If he has a talent and uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he has a talent and learns somehow to use the whole of it, he has gloriously succeeded and has a satisfaction and a triumph few men ever know." -- Thomas Wolfe "Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads." -- Erica Jong Funnily enough, I don't believe there are any magic 'secrets' to writing. If so, I'm still trying to discover them. So I'll cover this subject very briefly, because I don't know the answers. It's really all common sense, following your basic instincts and having a bit of fun at the same time, as you learn the craft as you go along. Just BE YOU and write what your heart, your imagination tells you to write. The writer or author is a puppeteer, moulding the clay through the words that you choose. You weave the strandsof the article or story together, through use of your creative imagination. You start your article, short story or novel with an idea. You decide HOW you will start: "Once upon a time". (This could be the little child emerging from the depths of your soul). Sounds very "airy-fairy" that! You perhaps got the plot from a television programme or a newspaper article. The plots of some of my novels came from newspaper articles. Then you make choices as you go along: to base your story upon fact or fiction, or faction (a mixture of fact and fiction - I like that genre (impressive word that - must use it more often!). You choose the track. You are the director, producer and actor: YOU set the scene, decide whether it is to be local or foreign. It's up to you HOW you describe the landscape or surrounding environment. You decide on the characters and how you will describe them. To let them live or die? What immense power you have to determine destinies! Whether to have a happy or sad ending? "And they all lived happily ever after...." A few short words of advice to end off this lesson... Make your writing fun and get readers (and the editor) "hooked" with a good opening paragraph and an even better opening line. What do you think of this example by Charles Dickens from "A Tale of Two Cities"? "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.". I find it excellent and powerful writing, but quite "heavy reading". What did you think of that style of writing? How's this for an opening line for a novel? "James walked into the hotel and it was as if he was struck by a bolt of lightning. He instantly went into a state of shock, as the past ten years of his life flashed through his mind, as in an instant replay. It was too much to all take in in a second. His legs began to tremble, as if they had turned into instant jelly. They could barely hold his slight frame, as he struggled with all his might to hold his body upright. Out of his numbness he could see seated at the end of the bar the face of the man that was indelibly printed on his subconscious mind, the striking features that had haunted him all those years. It was the same mysterious man, who had turned his entire world upside down and consumed James's every waking thought for the past decade." "Did I need to say "mysterious man"? Do you want to read on? Perhaps that could be the first paragraph of my next book? Or this one from my novel "Angolan Dawn" "It was just getting light with that certain freshness in the air of early morning. Albertina Kangombe saw the figure of her husband Marcelino receding in the distance down the sandy track, walking slowly down the gentle hill. She saw him turn around once to look at her but he could not see the tears of sadness running down her face. She wondered when she would see her dear, strong husband again. He was a tall man but he became smaller and smaller as she saw him gradually receding into the distance on that early January morning. And then he was gone... Time to end off (I've done enough "work" re-writing this lesson).... Stimulate your imagination to the fullest. then go with the flow. Observe life and jot down notes about your thoughts and feelings Then "make the words dance to your tune". "Don't spend your days, stringing your instrument- start making music NOW. " "Life is about finding, then following the dream... and one's dream/vision comes to reality through believing in yourself, making the commitment and then creating it." - Craig Lock See you next week, when we'll talk more about style and grammar. Oh no, not another boring lesson! I hope this information may be helpful to you in your creative writing. Happy writing (creatively, of course!) Craig Lock http://www.craiglock.com About the author: Craig Lock has had six books published on various subjects with another 12 manuscripts published and distributed on the internet. He started the "original" Online Creative Writing Course: http://www.craiglock.com/downloads/cwcourse.htm Craig Lock's novel Angolan Dawn and his other works* are available at http://kompuwiz.com/kompustore (click on "SoulfulBooks") A moving novel on Angola as seen through the eyes of a hospital orderly during the war. There is also a true story of a migrant miner in South Africa which blends into the story. * Hard-copies and e-books, fiction and nonfiction: self help, novels, travel, humour, writing and inspiration Uplifting, encouraging and empowering people through the power of words and thought energy. Change YOUR world and you change THE world."
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