The Writer's Comfort Levels ~ PART 18 ~ "Shock"

The Writer's Comfort Levels

PART 18

"Shock"

BLOG SESSION

February 15th, 2018

Good Evening Blog Readers, Writers, Followers & Visitors.  Welcome back for tonight's interesting Blog Session.

We are back here together with all Writers, Poets, Authors, Novelists, Film Writers, Journalists, and Creative Writers who are interested in learning more about The Writer's Comfort Levels and the twenty-one (21) emotions we have been covering in our Blog Sessions.  Tonight's emotion is "Shock".

For all Writers following along, our Sessions are currently about learning how to be comfortable as you write about your characters and the various emotions and feelings associated with each character.  Your readers should be able to identify with and "feel" the emotions that you are writing about in your stories.

You'll need to grab your Journal so that you can take notes on tonight's writing material . . .

Journal Notes

Shock is commonly identified as a sudden upsetting or surprising event or experience.

Shock is also recognized in the medical field as an acute medical condition associated with a fall in blood pressure, caused by such events as loss of blood, severe burns, bacterial infection, allergic reaction, or sudden emotional stress, and marked by cold, pallid skin, irregular breathing, rapid pulse, and dilated pupils.

There are also earth related incidents associated with "shock", such as a violent shaking movement caused by an impact, explosion, or tremor ~ "earthquake shocks".  [Such events in connection with the earth involve vibrations, shaking, earth movement, reverberation, jolt(s), jarring, jerking, bump(s), bumping, impacts, blows, collision, crash, and/or  clashes].

Believe it or not, there are various types of "Shock".

When it comes to writing descriptions of characters in your stories who exhibit the emotion of "shock", take a moment to look at the baby above.  Looks a little like the emotion of "shock" being displayed doesn't it?

Now what could this baby possibly be shocked about?  Think about that for a second, then write a paragraph in your Journal describing what this baby is shocked about.  Name the baby, describe the event or thing that is causing this baby to exhibit this look.

In the process of writing about the "shocked" look on this baby's face, you'll also have to describe how the baby "feels".  This practice will give all of our television writers and Film Writers something to focus on that is out of the ordinary.  How do you describe the emotions of a baby?

What about this baby?

Would you describe the emotion of this baby as "shock"?

Can you find any other emotion that would be descriptive of the expression on this baby's face?  If so, make a note of it in your Journal.

Take a moment to write a short paragraph about this baby and the emotion this baby is expressing, and also describe what it is that is causing this baby to have this particular "look" on its face.

Writing about the emotions of babies is not always easy.  Especially if the babies are not able to speak yet.  Expressions on the faces of adults are sometimes very easy to identify, especially if you know the person.  But what about little infants? . . .

Can you describe the emotion

exhibited on this baby's face?

In your Journal, as an exercise for tonight's Blog Session, write a paragraph about the three babies pictured.  Think on these three things:

1)  What emotion are they feeling?

2)  What emotion does their facial expression exhibit?

3)  What could have possibly caused the reaction?

Out of all of the Genres that are available to you as a Writer, think on which genre you are focused on.  Are you interested in writing fiction, detective novels, biographies, poetry, a memoir, a film, a television series, a sitcom, a play, or a comedy?

Comedies are not for everyone, but if you have never written a comedy, you may want to read a few, and then try your hand at it.  To help you out a bit, try your hand at writing a paragraph about the cat you see below . . .

Is this shock or what?

We'd love to hear what you come up with about this cat and the babies.

Have a good evening, and we'll see you tomorrow here on the Blog for our next Session!

OUR NEXT BLOG SESSION:

The Writer's Comfort Levels

PART 19

"Kindness"

Peace, Love & Light

By René Allen

©Copyright - René Allen - 2014-2018 - All Rights Reserved

The Writer's Comfort Levels ~ PART 17 ~ "Disgust"

The Writer's Comfort Levels

PART 17

"Disgust"

BLOG SESSION

February 14th, 2018

We are back for our regularly Scheduled Blog Session about our 17th emotion, which is "Disgust" as it relates to The Writer's Comfort Levels.

If you are a Writer, Author, Novelist, Journalist, Film Writer, Poet,  Playwright, Diary Writer, Short Story Writer, or if you are working on a book, or a Writing Project that you'd like to publish, then you are in the right place!

Be sure to Bookmark your new Blogspot if you are new here, and sign up to "Follow by Email" over in the far right-hand column under my eyeball, then be sure to click the "Submit" button after you have entered in your email address.  You will promptly receive all Blog Sessions immediately upon publication and you will then be able to read them from your email box at your leisure.

We all bring our Journals when we read our Sessions so that we may take notes.  If you do not have a nice Journal to write your notes in, just grab a notebook or notepad that you have available to take your notes until you can purchase a dedicated Journal that you like just for our Sessions.

Journal Notes

Whenever you are working on the personalities of the various characters in your stories, then you are well aware of the various feelings and emotions that come into play.  Each character in your story will of course have their own background.  The life of each of your characters is compiled of events, situations, circumstances, difficulties, people, family members, friends, co-workers, life problems, and in some cases tragedies and deep hurts.  Please make a special note that "feelings" and "emotions" always come into view.

As you develop your characters, consider their life story.  What have they been through in life thus far, and how have the events in their life affected them?  What kind of emotional state are they in?  What type of feelings are they harboring?

Writer's Exercise for Today

Take a moment to think about your life.  For today's exercise, please make a note of your feelings today in relation to the state of your life.  In your Journal, write today's date and our Session title:  "The Writer's Comfort Levels" ~ Part 17 ~ "Disgust".

Now, after writing down how you are honestly feeling today, take a second to just list the various emotions you are feeling.  As a point of reference, We have covered sixteen (16) emotions prior to today's Blog Session.  To review all twenty-one emotions that we are covering, click here.  Any number of the emotions listed may be exactly what you are feeling today.

After listing all of the emotions that you may be feeling today, just simply take a second to think on a time when you have personally felt the emotion of disgust.

Disgust is a feeling of revulsion or profound disapproval aroused by something unpleasant or offensive.

Other words that bring to mind the feeling of "disgust" are...

revulsion

repugnance

aversion

distaste

distasteful

abhorrence

loathing

detestation

odium

execration

horror

nausea

yuck factor

disrelish

repellence

repellency

revolt

repel

sicken

nauseate

squick

gross

outrage

shock

horrify

appall

scandalize

offend

affront

dismay

displease

dissatisfy

annoy

anger

nauseate

turn someone's stomach

make someone want to throw up

make shudder

cause to feel nauseous

make someone's gorge rise

be repugnant to

be repulsed by

turn off

Please Note:  All of the above listed words are in the same emotional area of our emotion for today, which is "disgust".

Revisiting the emotion of "disgust"

After you have written down in your Journal about the time when you felt the feeling of "disgust", sit with that feeling for about five minutes.  Run the actual incident through you mind that brought the emotion of "disgust" to the forefront.

Now, imagine that you are creating a character who has to exhibit the feeling of "disgust" in your story.  Write a sample paragraph for the sake of practice.  You may find it helpful to create a character that is actually telling the story through your own eyes.  Descriptive of what you felt when you had the emotion of "disgust" running through your veins, you will find it easy to write.  You'll also find it easy to build a story around this one character that you are creating and writing a paragraph about.

We have four (4) more emotions to cover after this Blog Session.  Those four emotions are as follows...

18)  Shock

19)  Kindness

20)  introversion (personality)

21)  extroversion (personality)

We'll be back for another great Blog Session tomorrow!

OUR NEXT BLOG SESSION:

The Writer's Comfort Levels

PART 18

"Shock"

Peace, Love & Light

By René Allen

©Copyright - René Allen - 2014-2018 - All Rights Reserved

Beyond the Red Door By René Allen

BLOG SESSION

January 18th, 2018

Good Evening Blog Readers, Followers & Visitors ~ Welcome back to another fascinating Blog Session.  Tonight we are going to enter into a new zone.  It is a place where all Writers at one point or another step right onto the threshold of...

Grab your Journals for your notes on tonight's Session  ~ make a note in your Journal about this interesting discussion that is going to take you "Beyond the Red Door".

What is this place?

This is the place where you hesitate.  This is the place where you have doubts about your writing skills.  Here is where you have to take stock of the stuff you are made of.

If you know you have a book or several books inside of you, then here is where you begin to work on getting the books to come alive.  You have to take one step in the direction where your story begins -- The title. 

Name your story.  Make the name of your story pull the Reader closer.  Whatever you call your story should make you want to write it, and keep writing it until you finish.  If you are really good at writing your story, then you may even want to make it a Series.

Here is the beauty of coming up with your story title ~ you begin to watch the plot appear, then the location and scenes will jump out at you.  And the next thing you know, the characters will come to life.

Those characters are something else!  They all have personalities.  Some of them will even have different quirks that make them very real, because you will find some aspect of them in someone you have met once upon a time in your life.  Rest assured that those characters in your story will tell you their names and all about their lives.  Some of them will be very chatty, others of them will be introverted.  You may have to dig details out of some of them because they may not open up easily to you. 

You can't have people coming to life without running into issues and circumstances.  And, you can't blink, because if you do, you may just miss the turn your story takes when you run into sticky situations.  Oh, and I forgot to mention -- there may be an argument or two, or a fight somewhere in the midst.

Well now, why not just step right on up the first step. . . you don't have to stress about the first step, because once you take it the next step is even easier . . .

Dear Writer:  Be sure to join us back here for the next Blog Session to learn more.

OUR NEXT BLOG SESSION:

After the first step . . .

Writers, be sure to bring your Journals with you!

Peace, Love & Light

By René Allen

©Copyright - René Allen - 2014-2018 - All Rights Reserved

CREATING A NOVEL THAT MAKES SENSE . . .

We're typing away this month!

CREATING A NOVEL THAT MAKES SENSE

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Writers, Authors, Novelists, Poets, Journalists, Mystery Writers, and Project Writers ~ We are back here on the Blog to discuss something that I think everyone will enjoy, and that's this:  CREATING A NOVEL THAT MAKES SENSE.

By now, if you are participating online during the month of July in Camp NaNoWriMo to work on your Novel or Writing Project, then you will have much to share with your friends about how many words you've written thus far.  The goal is 50,000 words in a month.  This month you have an extra day, so you have 31 days to complete your Novel.

Not only should you have at least 25,000 words written to be on target since we are half-way through the month, but you should also have an Excerpt to share, as well as a Synopsis.  If you aren't quite to that point, not to fear ~ there is still time, and the goal can be reached.

I'm going to be adding in more Chapters to my Novel in Camp online this weekend.  I've been working on my research for the Novel that I am writing in Camp entitled, "And, yet I say ~ I SEE."

My Novel is a Mystery Novel.  For the Authors and Writers who are following along here on the Blog, I'd like to share a little about Mystery Novels with you all.

The Mystery Genre is a type of fiction in which a detective, or other professional solves a crime or a series of crimes.  It can take the form of a Novel or a short story.  This genre may also be called Detective or Crime Novels.

How do you go about writing a Mystery Novel?

This is a good question for the writers who are writing a Mystery Novel for the first time.  To give you just a little background on mystery novels, just know that mystery novels have been spooking children as well as adults for many years.  There are haunted houses, crimes, ghosts, and many other details that will keep the reader turning the pages of your Mystery Novel should you choose to write a good one.  In the end, it will still be a mystery whatever the case may be that you are writing about.  If you have ever been involved in a mystery yourself, or you love reading mystery novels, then you may want to consider writing a mystery novel.

Writing a Mystery Novel takes time and a great deal of effort on the Author or Writer's part.  You must consider your schedule, and also carve out time to really do a good job working on your mystery novel.

The first thing you need to do if you are going to write a mystery novel is decide what kind of mystery you will be writing.  This means that you will have to think about whether you will be writing a ghost story or a crime novel.  Will you have a creepy haunted house in your mystery novel, or a murder scene?  The decision you make will be the focal point that you will spring from when it comes to writing your mystery novel.

The most important thing about writing any type of Novel is that it must make sense.

Make sure you have Character descriptions.  You should include the following details (as an example) . . .

Name:  Carter Royal

Age:  76

Height:  6"5

Weight:  220 pounds

Role in the story:  Lead Detective

Eye Color:  Hazel

Hair Color:  Golden Brown

Skin Tone:  Caramel complexion

Habits:  Chain smoker

Identifying Feature:  Large tattoo on the left arm

Past History:  Former Police Officer, married twice, no

                              children   

Present History:  Lead Detective, married to Paula

Future Goals:  Retire soon

Theme Song:  In the Air tonight by Phil Collins

After you have written your Character Descriptions, you should start roughing out all of your cast of characters.  Your characters are the foundation of your Novel.  You'll need to have a protagonist, an antagonist, sub-characters, and background for each character.  The number of details that you include will depend upon how many times the specific character appears in your storyline.  If the lady in the retail store only comes into the Novel one time to say a few words, there is no need to detail her much, simply give a brief description of her -- such as a name, and her job title.

However, for your main character, you will need to include details to the point of the time that he/she normally smokes their cigarette and drinks their coffee, and how many times a day.

Next, you'll need to rough out a Plot.  There are Plot Outlines and Plot Diagrams that you can use to help you rough your Plot out . . .

Plot Diagram

Plot Outline

Search online for Plot sources that will help you in this area of your Novel.

You'll want to rough out your plot, and if you think it is feasible for you, then center your plot around your characters.  Or you can do it the other way around, and base your characters around your plot.

A strong plot has a beginning, middle and end.  The beginning should be an introduction to future events and the life of your main character.  The middle should point to the problem that your character must face, and should also have a high point where an important decision must be made (or in other words, a climax).  The end should be a cool down that wraps up all the loose ends and leaves the readers hungry for the next great work!

Mystery Novel Tips

• If you get stuck on finding a plot, read some of your favorite mystery novels to get ideas.  Also, keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas and topics to write about.
• Use a system of ten scenes to map out your plot.  Write each scene separately and connect them with pages in between.  Scene one should be an opening scene.  Two through four should be complications, and five should be point of no return complication.  Six through ten should be solutions and wrap ups.

Hopefully, you have written these notes in your Journal so that you may come back to them when needed.  We will return with further Mystery Novel Writing Tips in our next Blog Session.

Friends, until our next Blog Session . . .

Keep at it!

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved

 

Writers interested in Science Fiction

Writers interested in Science Fiction

BLOG SESSION

July 2017

Good Evening Writers ~ We are back for more about writing Science Fiction.

Top Tips on writing Science Fiction

• Read lots of science fiction.  As with any kind of writing, the best way to learn how to do it is to read it.  Classic science fiction writers include H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke.  You probably have your favorite science fiction writers if you read a lot of science fiction Novels.

• Do your homework.  Learn about the real science and technology that is related to the imaginary world you are creating.


• Create an ordered universe.  Figure out the rules of your imaginary worlds ahead of time, and follow those rules consistently.


• Make it feel real.  You are inviting readers to visit an alternate reality.  They will want to be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste what it's like.  Whether your Novel's about a world without disease or an undiscovered planet in another galaxy, help your readers feel like they're actually there.  Read up on how you can use specific detail to make your writing come to life. 

Become your Character

When you think about your Character, you must learn how to become your Character.  Feel the feelings that your main character is feeling.  If your main character has any specific personality quirks, make sure that you research those quirks.  What if your main character had an issue about certain color lights.  What if your main character could not walk to the right, only to the left.  Maybe your main character has issues with pronouncing certain words.  Get into the inner workings of your character.  Maybe your character has childhood issues that were never resolved.  Whatever the case may be, just really make sure that the reader can feel your character to the point of having empathy when and where needed.

If you need to, get images that will help you to actually visualize the places in your Novel.  If you are artistic, draw your scenes out to help you to embody your Novel.

The most important tip for all Writers who are writing Science Fiction ~ Use your imagination to the fullest!

Take your Reader on a Journey

Here are some basic ideas for Science Fiction Novels:

• Imagine the world in the future.


• Imagine the end of the world.


• Imagine that an actual important historical event had gone differently.


• Think of an existing technology, then imagine what would happen if it were taken much further.


• Imagine a new invention that would change the world.


• Imagine that time travel is possible.


• Imagine life on another planet.


• Imagine a new species of super-humans.


• Imagine extraterrestrials coming to earth.


• Change an existing law of the universe.

• Image Artificial Intelligence gone awry.

Final Tip for Today:  Think way ~ way ~ outside of the box.  Give your Science Fiction Novel a jolt by using your imagination like never before.  Amazing things happen when you write outside of reality as we think it to be.

Take a Journey outside of your mind then write.

Until our next Blog Session friends ~

Peace, Love & Light,

René

© Copyright - René Allen - JULY 2017 - All Rights Reserved