Tag: books

Get Creative with Prompts – Week 3

Get Creative with Prompts – Week 3

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Welcome back to my nine-week creative writing lessons. This is your third lesson to help get you writing and to improve your writing style. So far you answered questions and written a letter to yourself. This time you are going to be writing an actual story.

Today’s less is writing prompts.

Writing prompts are little ideas that help to jumpstart a story. These prompts could be a single sentence, a paragraph, or a picture, but they are meant to inspire a story. These types of prompts are great ways to help you when you feel stuck for ideas.

You can spend ten minutes writing on a prompt, and then return back to the book you’ve been working on with new inspiration. It works by stimulating your writing process. Google can provide you with a whole host of writing prompts, but I’ve got a few for you.

  • You’re enjoying your favorite show when you notice that the window is open. You know you didn’t raise the window, and you live along. Who could have opened the window? Are they still in your house? What are you going to do?
  • You wake up in the morning excited about the day you have planned. Out of nowhere, you are hit with a blinding headache. As quickly as it hit, the headache is gone, but now you can’t remember anything. Who are you? What happened? Where are you going to go? Can you get help?
  • You’re walking along the beach when you trip over something. You inspect the ground where you tripped and find a hidden staircase. Will you explore it? What’s down the stairs? Is anybody there? Who will you tell?

If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. – Toni Morrison

Become a Creative Writer with a Letter – Week 2

Become a Creative Writer with a Letter – Week 2

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Welcome to the second lesson in my creative writing exercise series. If you’ve done the first lesson, then you have answered three questions. You may have even fleshed those out into a complete story.

Today’s lesson will have you writing a letter to your younger self.

It is literally as easy as it sounds. This younger self could be from just a few years ago, or it could be you as a child. In your letter, you can offer yourself some advice, explanations, praise, forgiveness, or compassion. Or you could even tell your younger self a story of what has turned you into the adult you are now.

When you are writing, try your best to view this younger self as a completely different person. This exercise will help you to see your reader as a real person with feelings and emotions. You can move or inspire a person with your writing.

Again, do your best not to overthink this. Take a couple of minutes to figure out what your core message is going to be, and then start writing.

There you have it. Day two, done. Come back again to get day three.

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sid down at a typewriter and bleed. – Ernest Hemingway

10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

10 Ways to Find Writing Inspiration

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

Being a writer isn’t as easy as some people think. It takes time. You have to come up with ideas. Then ultimately you have to write it down into a cohesive manner. After a while, you will find it hard to find inspiration. Inspiration has evaded me before, and there have been times where I had to make myself write. I don’t like feeling like I’m being made to do something, and I’m sure most of you are the same way. If you’re looking for some inspiration to help you get motivated to write, I’ve got a few tips for you.

  1. Books

What better way to find inspiration that with a book. You don’t even have to go with inspirational books, but you can. Any type of book; fiction, non-fiction, young adult, fantasy, horror, whatever your favorite type of book is. That book might just hold that piece of inspiration you’ve been looking for. Stephen King’s book IT helped me figure out how I wanted to organize my book.

2. People Watching

This is my favorite. I’ve always been a fly on the wall type person. Or a wallflower. Whatever you want to call it. So sitting around and watching other people has always been entertaining, and it’s the perfect way to get inspired to write.

3. Brainstorms

Sit down with a pen and paper and start writing things down. Write the different ideas you’ve been playing. Don’t worry about organizing anything, just write. Something on that paper could end up becoming your next big success.

4. Writing Journal

This is great for any writer. It’s not something you have to write in every single day, but it’s there for you if inspiration strikes. You can write down quotes, snippets, plot twists, characters, or dialog. All you need is a simple spiral bound notebook.

5. Dreams

This may not be very easy, but keeping up with your dreams may give you some ideas on what to write about. There was one morning I woke up and I could remember a dream I had that night, and I wrote it down because I thought it would be a great plot for a story. I’ve not used it yet, but I still have it written down and ready if I ever want to write it.

6. Exercise

Breaking a sweet is a great way to find inspiration. There’s something about physical exercise that gets the brain working.

7. History

It’s amazing but looking back at history can give you inspiration. Look back at some of the greats like Leonard di Vinci, Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Gandhi.

8. Nature

Tired of staring at a blank screen? Take a walk outside. Spend some time and nature and let your mind relax. Appreciate the things around you. Notice the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. You’ll be amazed at how well this will help you find inspiration.

9. Friends

Have real conversations. Spend time with people you like and just talk to them. You never know what’s going to come up, and it might just inspire something inside you.

10. Music

Find some music that inspires you and play it while you’re writing. This could be classical, hard rock, metal, whatever gets your mind working.

That’s my tips for you today. I hope some of these help you to find inspiration the next you are stuck. If you have some tips to help people find inspiration to write, please share them in the comments.

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

 

Mark Your Calendars

Mark Your Calendars

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

You’ve heard me talk about my book Loved by Death over and over again. Well, I’m excited to tell you that I have finally finished it completely, and it will be available for purchase on August 31.

I can’t really say how I feel about it. I still have a lot to do, and a lot to worry about. I have to make sure I promote it properly, otherwise, it won’t go anywhere. And that would just be depressing. I’ve spent years working on this book and I want other people to enjoy it and love it like I do.

I also have to make sure I don’t let myself get carried away or too frustrated if things don’t happen as quickly as I think they should. I feel good about the book overall. I think it’s the best I could do, and I do love the story.

I’ve got some last minute things to do to get the book formatted and ready. I’m also going to see if I can get some people to read it and leave me ratings on Amazon to help with promotion. FYI, if you’re interested in leaving me a rating on Amazon for my book, I would send you a free copy of the book.

The book will be available as an ebook as well as paperback. That’s my message for the day. Just some crazy ramblings from my brain about how anxious and scared I am about publishing my first book.

If you have experience in this area, please, leave a comment and let me know how you dealt with the stress and worry.

There is marvelous peace in not publishing. It’s peacefull. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. – J.D. Salinger

10 Free Writing Contests

10 Free Writing Contests

F.A. HuffmanLeave a comment

When you set out on the quest of finding the perfect contest to enter, you have to be careful to not get scammed. Unfortunately, there are many people out there that will try to get your money by promising fame and fortune. Fortunately for you, I have found 10 writing contests that are free to enter that are scam free.

  1. L Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future

They have quarterly deadlines of January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1

Submissions have to be 17,000 words or less in science fiction or fantasy. The contest is open to all writers. Winners can get $1,000, $750, and $500, as well as an annual award of $5,000.

2. The Restless Books Prize For New Immigrant Writing

You will have to wait for the 2019 submission time, which has yet to be announced.

This is open to writers who are first-generation immigrants. They can win $10,000 for sharing their real or imagines stories. The contest changes each year as to what kind of writing they want, so keep an eye on their website.

3. Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award

The deadline is March 1 every year.

This is open to all African American poets with an award of $500 and a publication in Broadside Lotus Press.

4. Write the World

They have a monthly deadline.

This is open to writers aged 13 to 18. There is a $100 prize with a $50 runner-up prize. It also works as a writing workshop for the young writers.

5. The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Non-Fiction

They have biannual reading periods in February and in August.

This is a contest for a creative non-fiction essay of no more than 5,000 words. The winner will be published in Lunch Ticket and will receive $250. Work cannot be published elsewhere.

6. W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

The deadline is every year on December 1.

The winner gets $5,000 for a piece of writing that is set during a time when the US was a war. Submissions can be YA or adult novels.

7. Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

Submissions are accepted between September 1 and December 31.

The work you publish has to have been published the previous year. These should be pieces of fiction or non-fiction that “contributes to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures.”

8. PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

They have an annual deadline of October 31 for books that were published during that calendar year.

This is meant to honor the best work of fiction published by an American author in a calendar year. The winner will get $15,000, as well as an invitation to read at the award ceremony in D.C. Four other finalists will get $5,000.

9. New Voices Award

The submission needs to be postmarked between May 1 and September 30 annually.

This is presented by the children’s book publisher, Lee & Low Books. This is open to previously unpublished children’s picture books of fewer than 1,500 words by a writer of color.

10. Madeline P. Plonsker Emerging Writer’s Residency Prize

The deadline for 2018 has passed and they have not announced the submission time for 2019.

Lake Forest College along with &NOW Books offers emerging authors under 40 a three-week residency. The winner will receive meals and housing, as well as $10,000 and publication of the manuscript. They will have to give presentations during the festival.

To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard. – Allen Ginsberg