Tag: Writing

Sharing Your Work

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Sharing your Writing with Others

floraj5604

Have you ever wanted to share your writing with someone else? I know I have. Today I’m going to cover the do’s and don’t’s of sharing your work.

 

Why Do I Need To Have Rules?

There are people out there who will take your work that you so kindly shared and post it all over the internet. They might even pretend it’s theirs. That’s why you only share with people you trust.

 

Who Would That Be? 

  • Family
  • Close friends
  • Teachers
  • and . . . anyone else you trust

 

Do’s

  • Do make sure that that person is COMPLETELY trustworthy.
  • Do tell them (and emphasize it) that this is NOT to be shared with anyone else, unless you give them permission.
  • Do ask someone else you know and trust if they think this is a good idea. It’s always good to have a second opinion. 
  • Do ask them if they liked it. 
  • Do ask them if you need to change anything. This is your chance to get a second opinion – take it! 

 

Don’t’s

  • DO NOT share your work with someone you don’t trust. Even if they offer you something. 
  • Do not offer to read someone else’s work and then post it all over the internet.  They trust you. If you aren’t careful, you might lose a friend.  
  • Do not mark all over their stuff. 

 

Here’s the Deal…

Here are the rules you should follow if someone gives you their writing to read. 

  • Don’t share their work with anyone else (unless they give permission). 
  • Ever heard of the Golden Rule (do to others as you would have them do to you)? Time to follow it. 
  • Don’t mess up their hard work. Do not mark on it or type other words on their paper. Return it the same way you received it. 
  • Make a list of critiques if they want your opinion. 
  • Tell them thank you for trusting you. Offer to share yours. 

 

What Should I Critique? 

Grammar: Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, pronouns, verbs, agreement…

Characters: Emotions, characteristics, appearance… Basically make sure they stay the same throughout the story. 

Hooked: Did you get hooked? Or was it long and boring? 

Setting: Were there enough details? Could you see it in your mind as you read? 

Plot: Was it exciting? Was there a good conclusion to the story? Or the perfect cliffhanger?

P.S. If you don’t want to publish your writing, then you don’t have to worry this much. But you should still be careful. 

 

See You Next Time…

Well, this is goodbye. Comment and tell me what you think! 

The Writing Process

The Writing Process

floraj5604

Today I am going to cover the benefits of being an author and how I go through the writing process.

 

The Benefits of Being an Author

  1. You can chose where the story goes. Does he take the hall on the left or the hall on the right? What happens next?
  2. It’s an adventure. There are no limits.
  3. If you decide to actually publish your books, then you could be a millionaire! Not right away, of course.

 

The Differences between an Actual Author, and Writing for Fun

There is a huge difference between writing a story that you might actually publish one day, and just writing for fun.

At first, when I started writing my story, I thought that this was just for fun and would end up like the other stories I’d started: unfinished. But, a couple of weeks ago, when I was letting my mom read it, I realized that I wanted to share it with other people. I wanted to let other people read it and be amazed at my work. So, I have started the process of going back through, and changing things that need to be changed, and correcting grammar mistakes.

 

For Real

  1. Test Run

If you plan on actually publishing your story, I think it would be wise to do a trial run first. Start writing, and see if you think you could go on with the story. Do you like it? Do you need to tweak the main idea to something you would really enjoy writing about?

  1. Plan

Plan your story. Get the main idea of what should happen throughout the story, and then plan chapter by chapter. Plan a chapter, then write it and plan the next.

  1. Take a Break

After you’ve written your full story (which may take a while, but that’s okay), take a break. Sometimes taking a break helps you to come back with refreshed eyes. And I don’t mean just a few hours. I mean a few days, at the least.

  1. Read over It

Now it’s time to correct all those mistakes! Whether it be grammar, gender, or character problems, it’s time to fix it all! One time I was reading through my story, and I realized that there was an animal that had been a male at the beginning, but I had accidentally changed it to a female! We all make mistakes, so don’t feel bad.

  1. Read it to Someone

Reading my story out loud to my mom was what made me realize that the animal in my story had a gender problem. This doesn’t only let you see your problems, but it also helps you to realize that you might actually want to share it with others.

  1. Read over it- Again

Yes, you need to check for mistakes again. But you can probably do this while you’re reading it to someone. This time, think about who your audience might be. Is it for kids? Or maybe for young adults? Try to write it for those people.

  1. Publish it!

Okay, I don’t mean like seriously publish it. You can, but I can’t give you any information on how to do it since I haven’t ever done it before. I mean just posting it online or asking your teacher if you could read it out loud in Literature class. Publish it on your blog. Read it to your friends.

 

For Fun

If writing to publish is too nerve-wracking for you, and you really love to write, then you can just write for fun. You never know, you may just decide to publish later when you’re reading back over it.

 

Next Week. . .

Next week I will not be doing a post on Thursday, since it is Thanksgiving week. The following week, it will be time for another monthly recap.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

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