Welcome Patty to the world of Creative Blogging

Patty Mc has just made a new blogsite for her stories and commentaries. I hope she posts often as I have always enjoyed her writings (especially the last one about the tree that sheds its bark.

Visit Patty's blog via the link I have just added in the member website section (on the right, 1/2 way down or so).

Good luck to you, Patty

Frank

Writing 2 weeks worth

The assignment for this week is to write about LISTENING. This means you can write about something you heard (that perhaps you were not meant to hear) or Why won't anyone listen to me or Listening to the sounds of life (whatever that may be) or A telephone call or a Radio show or Whatever you can come up with involving the word Listen (or any of its derivatives). 

Your writing piece can be nonFiction or Fiction or both (best choice).

Also the day class agreed to write their novel for Xmas as long as I show them it can be done (by emailing them the progress). To that extent I have checked out of the library the book A NOVEL IN 30 DAYS GUARANTEED

ALSO class will not meet next week due to lots of people cooking on wednesday.

Let me know if you want to be in the Xmas novel club.

Frank

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

I just found out that November is National Novel Writing month - I got the below article from a website promoting it.

I think that I will lay down the challenge to any Want-To-Be-Writers to finish a novel by CHRISTMAS. I will try it myself and keep you guys posted on my progress (both here and on my Frank Speaks blog)

Good Luck and Keep Writing,

Frank

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2007, we had over 100,000 participants. More than 15,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.

So, to recap:

What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.

Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.

Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.

When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

Still confused? Just visit the How NaNoWriMo Works page!

The monkey types

This is my inspiration - he comes from the 100 word challenge website - check it out on Google.

A one hundred word story

(I have accepted your challenge Diane - here is a 100 word story)

The monkey sat in front of the typewriter, pounding the keys furiously. It was an antique model with a ribbon nearly worn through. Surprisingly, the machine still worked and there was some words albeit faint appearing on the paper. clickety clack. The monkey kept working away, typing, pulling the carriage back in place when the end of line was reached (which was signalled by a bell), and occasionally pausing as if to think of what should come next.
Behind the monkey, there were two men in lab coats. One of them, was a man named Shakespeare eagerly awaiting the output.

This Week's Assignment - happy ending

The class did really well with the terrible assignment I gave them in class - to end a story with the line
"Then I realized he/she had lied."

But now I am sick of all the negativity on the airwaves from the election so I want people to write anything as long as it has a happy ending and not just any happy ending, it has to be a happy ending for ALL the characters in your story.

Good luck.
Aside to Nancy - hope your procedure goes well.

Frank