As I reflect on all the writing I have done throughout the semester, I have found that I have become more passionate about writing. About a year ago I would have dreaded writing a story because I didn't know what I would write about. Now that I have taken both sections of creative writing I find myself coming up with new ideas for a story. I've started a list of ideas for stories that I would like to write. It has become a passion to write.
Continuing to write does help your writing skills, but reading is also important. For reading it's not about the quantity of books but the quality that you get out of them. After I read a book I like to think about why I liked it or why I didn't like it. I try to focus my writing on literature that I found engaging and interesting. I think that's the same way with everything in life. Everyone is different so there is not a right or wrong way of doing things.
The most helpful advice that I got from this class is to fill in the gaps of time that I leave out of my story. The reader feels drawn away from the story if it is constantly saying "a week later, a day later, etc." without filling in the gaps of what happened during that time period. I'm going to try to write as if I am seeing the story from the perspective of the reader. What questions would I have after reading my story?
I don't think I'm a great writer. I have ideas for what I want my story to look like, but I can't seem to get it out on paper. I am passionate about writing, but I often feel like I can't express myself. I need a lot of improvement. I don't feel like my story was the best, but it's a starting point for something better.
I've always wanted to publish a book. I want people to see the world through my eyes. I want to pick up a book and run my fingers across the pages. It's like holding your thoughts in your hand. I image that's a great feeling. I want to say that I at least tried. My plan is to work on a novel over the summer. I have about three ideas for books that I want to write, and I'm excited!
I do believe that I will try to send the query letter. I'm not sure if it will be for the story that I have been writing in class. What do you guys think? I feel like I need to come up with a better ending for the story. I don't know.
If I was ever asked to be published I would probably publish under a pen name. I don't want people knowing that I wrote something. I want to hear honest feedback from people.
Thanks for reading. I had a great semester with you guys. You are all awesome and wrote amazing and unique stories. I hope that at least one of you publish a book someday! Keep writing!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Publishing Houses
If everyone is a hero, no one is. Why does every publishing house say they are the best? There are not that many differences between these publishing houses. I have tried to find information that might help me choose which one is better than the other, but they all seem to have equally great qualities.
Little Brown Company
The Little Brown Company is one of the older publishing houses. It is celebrating 175 years in the business. The first works that they ever published were works by Emily Dickinson, Little Women, and etc. They publish both fiction and non-fiction books. Time Inc. purchased the Little Brown Company in 1968.
I would recommend going with this publishing house for the best chances for your story to get readers. This is the oldest publishing house, which means that it is well known. The only problem with going with this publishing company is that you have less chances of being published. They only take the best works of both fiction and non-fiction.
Penguin
I've read a lot of books that come from the Penguin Publishing Company, most of which is older literature. Normally literature teachers tell you to get books from this publishing company. This publishing house seems to be more focused on their writers. Their website has information, such as a blog and book clubs.
This publishing house seems to focus a great deal on older works. I wasn't that impressed with this publishing company. It wasn't that they were not good. I just had a hard time figuring out what they actually published besides older literature. Therefore, I feel like their marketing is not that great.
Harper Collins
Harper Collins has had 89 books on the New York best sellers list, four of which ranked number one on the list (such as "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey, which was also featured in a movie). They also have different publishing companies throughout different countries, which is similar to Random House. Harper Collins also has publishing houses in the UK, Canada, New Zealand /Australia.
Harper Collins seemed like a really great publishing company. The only problem that I had with this company is that they had a horrible website. The information was hard to find, which makes me think that they might not be the best at marketing their books. I would only suggest going to this company because they do have publishing houses in other countries.
Random House
Random House is a global publishing company. There are publishing houses throughout nineteen different countries. This means that the books that are published through this publishing house are sold world wide and are accessible in different countries. Random House was first founded in the U.S. in 1925. They later started a Random House in Canada in 1944. In 1987 they became part of the United Kingdom. Overall, they publish books from all different types of genres including pieces of fiction, non-fiction, and children's books.
I loved Random House. Their website was easy to navigate. They are also located in different countries. They do take pieces of fiction and non-fiction. In addition, they do publish new writers.
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is known as one of the largest publishing companies in New York. They are not focused on a certain genre. They are known to accept both fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. They welcome new writers of many different genres, but also continue to publish older literature.
They have a lot of modern stories, some of which that were turned into TV shows (WALKING DEAD!). I would suggest going to this publishing company. I was, however, confused why the website went from the St. Martin's Press to Macmillan. I believe that it is an imprint of the company, but I was not sure.
Little Brown Company
The Little Brown Company is one of the older publishing houses. It is celebrating 175 years in the business. The first works that they ever published were works by Emily Dickinson, Little Women, and etc. They publish both fiction and non-fiction books. Time Inc. purchased the Little Brown Company in 1968.
I would recommend going with this publishing house for the best chances for your story to get readers. This is the oldest publishing house, which means that it is well known. The only problem with going with this publishing company is that you have less chances of being published. They only take the best works of both fiction and non-fiction.
Penguin
I've read a lot of books that come from the Penguin Publishing Company, most of which is older literature. Normally literature teachers tell you to get books from this publishing company. This publishing house seems to be more focused on their writers. Their website has information, such as a blog and book clubs.
This publishing house seems to focus a great deal on older works. I wasn't that impressed with this publishing company. It wasn't that they were not good. I just had a hard time figuring out what they actually published besides older literature. Therefore, I feel like their marketing is not that great.
Harper Collins
Harper Collins has had 89 books on the New York best sellers list, four of which ranked number one on the list (such as "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey, which was also featured in a movie). They also have different publishing companies throughout different countries, which is similar to Random House. Harper Collins also has publishing houses in the UK, Canada, New Zealand /Australia.
Harper Collins seemed like a really great publishing company. The only problem that I had with this company is that they had a horrible website. The information was hard to find, which makes me think that they might not be the best at marketing their books. I would only suggest going to this company because they do have publishing houses in other countries.
Random House
Random House is a global publishing company. There are publishing houses throughout nineteen different countries. This means that the books that are published through this publishing house are sold world wide and are accessible in different countries. Random House was first founded in the U.S. in 1925. They later started a Random House in Canada in 1944. In 1987 they became part of the United Kingdom. Overall, they publish books from all different types of genres including pieces of fiction, non-fiction, and children's books.
I loved Random House. Their website was easy to navigate. They are also located in different countries. They do take pieces of fiction and non-fiction. In addition, they do publish new writers.
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is known as one of the largest publishing companies in New York. They are not focused on a certain genre. They are known to accept both fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. They welcome new writers of many different genres, but also continue to publish older literature.
They have a lot of modern stories, some of which that were turned into TV shows (WALKING DEAD!). I would suggest going to this publishing company. I was, however, confused why the website went from the St. Martin's Press to Macmillan. I believe that it is an imprint of the company, but I was not sure.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Adding a Picture to the Background
To all that might be interested in changing your background to a picture of your choice, I found some information concerning that. I copied this from another blog that I did a while back.
Step 1:
Sign into your blog.
Step 2:
Click the blog that you want to add a personal background.
Step 3:
On the left hand side, there should be a option that says "templates" click it.
Step 4:
You should be on the page that has your current template. Under you current template there should be a button that says "customize" click it.
Step 5:
On the top left hand side there should be a button that says "Advance" click it.
Step 6:
There should be a scrolling bar on the top left hand side. Scroll down to the bottom until you see the option "Add CSS" click it.
Step 7:
Now there should be a white box that says "Add CSS here to override existing styles." This is where you are going to put the temple code in HTML. Before you do all this, you must first pick your background color.
Go to this link to pick the color and copy the code number HTML Colors
After you have chosen your color, type this first part into the white "add custom CSS" box
body }
background-color: code that you chose;
EXAMPLE:
body }
background-color: #000000;
If this does not work for you, you might already have a template on your page. You would want to remove that by clicking on "Background" and under your picture clicking "remove picture."
Step 8:
This goes under what you just typed in the white box.
background-image: url (THIS IS WHERE YOU PUT THE URL OF THE PICTURE YOU WANT AS YOUR BACKGROUND. DO NOT FORGET TO PUT THE PARENTHESES AROUND THE URL);
This will work with any picture that has a url. I even tried it with the pictures that I have on Facebook.
Step 9:
There are three different options on this step. you can either have your picture not repeat, have your picture repeat vertically, or have your picture repeat horizontally. This code goes on the next line (choose only one of the three).
for no repeat type this:
background-repeat: no repeat;
for horizontal repeat type this:
background-repeat: repeat x;
for vertical repeat type this:
background-repeat: repeat y;
Step 10:
Choose your background position. by typing:
background-position: chose one of the following;
top right;
top center;
center center;
center left;
center right;
bottom left;
bottom center;
bottom right;
EXAMPLE:
background-position: bottom left;
Step 11:
The picture is going to move down the page when someone scrolls down your blog. It's kinda follows you down the page. If you think that this setting is creepy, you can turn it off by typing this code:
background-attachment: fixed;
Otherwise, you have the creepy stalking picture. Which is fine if that's the way you like it.
so, your end product should look something like this:
body{
background-color:#000000;
background-image: url(http://www.winonasfloraltradition.com/pinkflower.jpg);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: top center;
background attachment: fixed;
If your picture seems small on the blog then it might be a low pixel picture. Try to find a big enough picture to fit the blog, or just chose to repeat the picture. After you are done, make sure to click the "apply to blog button."
Hope this helped. Let me know if some places need more explaining. Thanks for reading!
Here is the link that I got this information from:
changing the background in blogger
Step 1:
Sign into your blog.
Step 2:
Click the blog that you want to add a personal background.
Step 3:
On the left hand side, there should be a option that says "templates" click it.
Step 4:
You should be on the page that has your current template. Under you current template there should be a button that says "customize" click it.
Step 5:
On the top left hand side there should be a button that says "Advance" click it.
Step 6:
There should be a scrolling bar on the top left hand side. Scroll down to the bottom until you see the option "Add CSS" click it.
Step 7:
Now there should be a white box that says "Add CSS here to override existing styles." This is where you are going to put the temple code in HTML. Before you do all this, you must first pick your background color.
Go to this link to pick the color and copy the code number HTML Colors
After you have chosen your color, type this first part into the white "add custom CSS" box
body }
background-color: code that you chose;
EXAMPLE:
body }
background-color: #000000;
If this does not work for you, you might already have a template on your page. You would want to remove that by clicking on "Background" and under your picture clicking "remove picture."
Step 8:
This goes under what you just typed in the white box.
background-image: url (THIS IS WHERE YOU PUT THE URL OF THE PICTURE YOU WANT AS YOUR BACKGROUND. DO NOT FORGET TO PUT THE PARENTHESES AROUND THE URL);
This will work with any picture that has a url. I even tried it with the pictures that I have on Facebook.
Step 9:
There are three different options on this step. you can either have your picture not repeat, have your picture repeat vertically, or have your picture repeat horizontally. This code goes on the next line (choose only one of the three).
for no repeat type this:
background-repeat: no repeat;
for horizontal repeat type this:
background-repeat: repeat x;
for vertical repeat type this:
background-repeat: repeat y;
Step 10:
Choose your background position. by typing:
background-position: chose one of the following;
top right;
top center;
center center;
center left;
center right;
bottom left;
bottom center;
bottom right;
EXAMPLE:
background-position: bottom left;
Step 11:
The picture is going to move down the page when someone scrolls down your blog. It's kinda follows you down the page. If you think that this setting is creepy, you can turn it off by typing this code:
background-attachment: fixed;
Otherwise, you have the creepy stalking picture. Which is fine if that's the way you like it.
so, your end product should look something like this:
body{
background-color:#000000;
background-image: url(http://www.winonasfloraltradition.com/pinkflower.jpg);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: top center;
background attachment: fixed;
If your picture seems small on the blog then it might be a low pixel picture. Try to find a big enough picture to fit the blog, or just chose to repeat the picture. After you are done, make sure to click the "apply to blog button."
Hope this helped. Let me know if some places need more explaining. Thanks for reading!
Here is the link that I got this information from:
changing the background in blogger
Monday, April 1, 2013
Literary Agent
I'm completely clueless when it comes to writing, so finding a literary agent was like trying to color on copying paper with a white crayon. This was what I was looking for in an agent:
- someone that takes new writers, of course.
- someone that gives information that can help writers become better writers
- someone that accepts science fiction work
- some that can market clients work and have a previous history of getting novels on the top seller list
DONALD MAASS LITERARY AGENCY
The first agency that I found is call the Donald Maass Literary Agency. I chose this agency because they love to have new writers send them novels. This agency seems to value writers. They offer workshops to writers that are in different areas in the U.S. They also inform people of the different "how to write" books that they have published. They have a twiter account that informs their follows what they are looking for that month, and they challenge their writers to come up with stories that follow their guidelines. I feel like this agency is a good stepping stone into writing fiction. They are really focused on new writers, and they are accepting science fiction at this moment! Donald Maass Literary Agent
THE KNIGHT AGENCY
The Knight Agency is another agency that I have been looking at for the past week now. A lot of the piece that they publish are science fiction pieces. They have published works that have been on the best sellers list: including "90 Minutes in Heaven," which has been the number one best seller in New York for the bast five years. That being said, they do tend to favor non-fiction novels better, but they still encourage fiction. If I went with this agent, I would be less likely to get accepted because they get so many query letters and have little time to review them all. However, they seem to be great at marketing their clients work, which is great for new writers. The Knight Agency
STIMOLA LITERARY STUDIO
This is the literary agency that got "The Hunger Games" published. This agency is well known and get a lot of query letters a year. They only respond to the queries that they are interested in pursuing, so you might not even get a rejection letter from them. I like the fact that this agency would be able to further market my book, but they seem to be detached from the writer. They do accept science fiction piece, but I feel like they are not new writer friendly. I would, however, like to try sending a query letter to them. I don't know, maybe something will happen. Stimola Literary Studio
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