Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

I often wonder what pets think of us.
"I acknowledge that it is debasing for a human to pick me up. I found the perfect spot to sleep and this one picked me up and I'm pretty sure is going to throw me into the garage. Again. So annoying."

Hey! Why don't you give this photo a caption??


When you get your book published, who do you want to acknowledge? Or if you have a book out, why did you write the acknowledgments and why?

Write the acknowledgments page that will be placed in your first (next?) published book, thanking all the people who have helped you along the way.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines~ Be proud

Summer is hard for me to get much writing done. With all the kids home from school we want to go out and play. Last year I worked on short stories. That was a great way to keep writing when I had a small writing window. I've turned a few into contests. No gold medals yet but I have had a few Honorable Mentions. I really like this prompt today:

Gather everything you’ve written over the previous 11 days. Pick your favorite. Edit it, polish it and either try to get it published or post it on the Web to share with the world. Be proud of yourself and your work.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Letter to me

I have no idea why the cat decided to sleep on this chair, between the tongs. I think cats can sleep anywhere. They don't make goals and probably don't think ahead more than a few moments at a time.
Here's what their schedule might look like:

• Get in the house
• See if the humans are eating
• Beg for food from humans
• Indulge humans with a string game
• Tired of string game
• Find a warm spot to sleep in
• Wake up to loud noises
• Humans making food
• Beg for food from humans

And around and around. Did I miss anything?



It's the halfway mark, half a year! How are you doing on your goals? Do you need to reevaluate them? Have you finished your writing or editing? Here's a great idea for today:




Write a letter to yourself telling you what you need to improve in the coming 6 months.

Dear Taffy,

If you haven't queried the WWI book, do it now.
If you haven't finished editing It's Not Me, finish it by the end of the month.
Have a piece of chocolate.
Enjoy the summer.

Love, You and Me

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ Writing Prompt

Hiding from the humans

Our cats are not always on their best behavior. Fat Cat likes to bite toes, especially bare toes. In the summer he will wait under the deck stairs and grab onto ankles and bite toes. Last winter we had the lid off the toilet trying to figure out if it was broken or frozen. I balanced the lid on top but not fully on. From the other room we heard a loud crash then two frightened cats raced through and up the stairs. Apparently, one of them thought it was a good idea to get on top of the lid to drink out of the toilet tank and unbalanced the lid. Crash. The lid broke into five pieces.





Have you ever read a book told from the bad guy's point of view? Have you ever tried to write one? I think novellas are perfect differing POVs. Maybe you'll want to write one based on your villain.
Here's the writing prompt today:

Rewrite a fairy tale from the bad guy’s point of view.


What would the story be like from Ursulla's point of view? Or President Snow's?

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines ~ letter to agent

The nice things about cats is they are so unassuming. Give them food, a sunny floor and some attention and they will be yours...at least for the day. Let me think of ten things I like about cats:

1. Cats are content to be left alone.
2. They don't eat all their food at once.
3. They purr.
4. Cats like to snuggle.
5. No. Drama.
6. Our cats catch mice and snakes and small dogs.
7. They don't leave little "surprises" everywhere.
8. They eat insects.
9. Cats are sneaky.
10. They are quiet animals.


Have you ever done the assignment where you have to write ten positive things about yourself? Why is that so hard? Could you write ten positive things about your writing? I bet you could!
Here's a writing prompt for you:


Write a letter to your perfect agent telling him/her how wonderful you are.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

This is how I feel today with my writing. Lazy.
Please have a good writing day!











Writing Prompt!

Here is an interesting writing prompt.

Create a character with personality traits of someone you love, but the physical characteristics of someone you don’t care for. 

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

No Feline guests today. Only cool bloggy winners!


Do you have a favorite writing blog you go to or get their newsletter? I really like K.M. Weiland. I also like to listen to her podcasts when I'm working out. I bought her outlining book too and have used it well!

I took ALL this content off of Write to Done. I read their blog too!

Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2015 – The Winners

We’re delighted to announce the winners of our 9th annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Competition!

It’s exciting to see such an array of excellent blogs for writers.

Make sure you visit all the ten blogs to get to know the new top crop of writing blogs.

How were the winners selected?

• Initial qualification: A site must have been nominated more than once by multiple individuals. If someone nominated more than one blog, only the first nomination was counted. Valid nominations needed to include the URL and give a reason why the nominated blog should be considered.

• Contest criteria: In order to be considered, a blog needed to be a writing blog. In order to qualify, at least 50% of posts needed to be about writing and not about freelancing, business, publishing, promotion etc.

• Blog-based analysis: Reader involvement: Average comment numbers per post account for 15% of the total score. Number of nominations account for 15% of the total score. Average number of shares on social media per postaccount for 15%. These three blog-based factors make up 45% of the final score.

• Quality of posts: Educational, useful, engaging and discussion-creating posts were rated higher than self-promoting posts. The quality of posts accounts for 55% of the final score.

And the 10 winners are …

Goins, Writer

The blogger behind this blog is Jeff Goins. He has created a vibrant place for writers to gather.

Positive Writer

Bryan Hutchinson has created a dynamic blog with a positive vibe and has built a substantial readership in a relatively short time.

Tara Lazar: Writing for Kids

Children’s fiction author Tara Lazar has turned her blog into a lively resource for picture book writers.

Helping Writers Become Authors

Katie Weiland’s blog is a great place for fiction writers. If you want to know how to write your novel, this is where you can find in-depth advice.

The Write Practice

Created by Joe Bunting, the Write Practice is the place to go if you want to kick-start your writing practice.

 Live Write Thrive

This blog by C S Lakin is a haven for writers of fiction. If you’re looking for advice about plotting, or how to overcome tricky grammar problems, Susanne Lakin’s blog is the place to search.

Terrible Minds

Novelist Chuck Wendig’s blog is an excellent example of how to create an author platform. He’s created a lively blog with many useful tips for fiction writers.

The Write Life

The tagline of this blog is:  … helping writers create, connect and earn. This interesting site is run by Alexis Grant.

Jennifer Blanchard

This is a zesty blog with great information. Jennifer’s blog is focused on helping writers create novels.

Fiction Notes

Experienced writing coach, author and publisher Darcy Pattison has created an appealing author platform with a blog for fiction writers.

There you have it:  the ten top blogs for writers in 2015.

Congratulations to all the winners!

I’m really excited about this line-up of writing blogs, aren’t you?

The badge of distinction: If you’re a winner, please display the badge you see below on your site and link the badge back to this post.

Readers, be sure to check out these awesome blogs!

And please help spread the word. Click on the social media buttons to share this post with friends and fans.

We’ll be inviting the winners to guest post on WTD so that all our readers can get to know and enjoy these excellent bloggers.

Please add *your* congratulations in the comments.

About the author:

Mary Jaksch is Editor-in-Chief at Write to Done. Grab her FREE report How to Write Like an A-List Blogger. Mary has helped thousands of students successfully create outstanding and profitable blogs at  A-List Blogging and is the blogger behindGoodlife ZEN.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

Not much going on in this scene. Cat sleeping. What happened before this picture? He chased a robin; got teased by a couple of magpies; ate a hot dog.





Set the scene. Break your story into scenes. Have arcs in your scene.
How do I write a scene??
Here are eleven steps to writing a scene.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

My sister-in-law gave us two kitties. She told us she thought they were females but they were so
young no one really knew. My twins, boy and girl, each got and named a cat.
My daughter named her cat Bella, after Twilight (we are not bashing that series or author here. My reluctant reader read all the books and I was proud of her). My son named his Crisco. Yes, after the shortening.
I took the cats to the vet to be "fixed" and found out they were indeed male cats. haha. The names were already stuck so we didn't change them. Until I accidentally ran over Bella. She walked with a limp for a few weeks but otherwise was fine. My husband renamed the cat Squish, for obvious reasons, and that name has stuck too.
Lately, we've started calling Bella Squish, Fat Cat, because he is! So many names, such a little creature.

Do you sometimes have problems coming up with a characters name? Nicknames? Or where they were born or work? Or how about their birthday, email address and password?
I found this fun site to help you fill out more of your character's backstory. You can choose gender, country, etc. It's random and intriguing and easy. It's pretty detailed too! Address, phone number, mother's maiden name, even blood type!
Just be warned! It's easy to get sucked in play for a long time. Not that I did or anything...


Here is a random one when I went and tried it just now:

Anabel A. Berger

3362 Saint Francis Way
Philadelphia, PA 19108

Curious what Anabel means? Click here to find out!

• Phone:
• 267-235-6867


• Email Address:
• AnabelABerger@rhyta.com
  This is a real email address. Click here to activate it!


• Username:
  
• Asted1960


• Password:
  
• Shai4wahk


• Mother's Maiden name:
  
• Hall


• Birthday:
• March 26, 1960 (54 years old)


• Visa:
• 4485 9387 8134 1018


• Expires:
• 1/2016


• CVV2
  
• 771


• SSN:
 
• 206-34-XXXX
  You should click here to find out if your SSN is online.


• Favorite color:
  
• Blue


• Occupation:
  
• Tilesetter


• Company:
  
• Herman's World of Sporting Goods


• Website:
• SoyStores.com


• Vehicle:
• 2006 Kia Sedona


• UPS Tracking Number:
• 1Z 691 7E5 12 4500 492 8


• Blood type:
• A+


• Weight:
• 230.1 pounds (104.6 kilograms)


• Height:
• 5' 3" (161 centimeters)


• GUID:
• 544cea15-f3a3-4393-a491-8253459b82da


• Geo coordinates:
• 40.05195, -75.057889


• QR Code:
• Click to view the QR code for this identity

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

No cats today. So sorry. Just an awesome line from an awesome movie said by an awesome actor. Awesome (too much?).
Every time I watch Dead Poets Society I want to read poetry again and be my better self and not send my kids to a private school.

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

Writing prompt! And cat alert! Our cats are such babies! Seriously, forty-six degrees in the garage is warm for them. They've grown their fur out and are quite cozy. But Trixie, or Little Cat, always ends up scratching at the back door with big kitty eyes. Someone always gives in and opens the door.
Our cats have trained us well.

How well do you know your characters? Here are a few questions to ask about your characters:

Does your character have a will of his/her own?
Can you predict your character's action or next move?
Does your character react differently in different situations?

Can you see your character changing?

Were you able to answer the questions?

Here is an excellent article on fully developed characters.

On a related note, do you have pictures of your characters? Post one! I'd love to meet him or her.

And now for a randomly selected picture of one of my characters.

Derek, the brother of the true king who has been misled to hate his brother by someone who wants to throne for themselves. This character is from my book Belle of the Ball which is roughly outlined and mostly in my head. :)

Wednesday Writing with 2 Felines

Ah! Body language! Can you "read" a person? Have you ever talked to someone only to know they want to be somewhere else? How do you know? Are they looking over their shoulder? Or over yours? Do they check the time or say "yeah, yeah," pretending to listen?

Body language is a fantastic way to show, not tell. And a great way to fill out your character. Have you added body language? Will a reader know what emotions the character is feeling just by the way they stand or wave?

I got this cheat sheet from archtypewriting.com.