If you like to listen to music when you write, this site could be for you. Audiosparx is a site for screenwriters so they can buy sound effects or music for their commercial, TV show, movie, website, etc. However, it could be a great tool for getting you in the mood to write a scene. If you are trying to convey a certain mood in the scene you are writing, you can look up music that matches that mood. Anything from "Adventurous" to "Disturbing" to "Whimsical." So if you are looking to write a dramatic scene this is the music for you. If you are writing a fight scene, you might try "Menacing" or "Rebellious" or "Tension." You can even listen to the songs for free and see other songs by the same artists. There are songs with lyrics or without lyrics so if you find lyrics distracting, they've got songs for you. If you like lyrics and find them inspiring then choose songs with them to help you write. Basically they have it all. They only thing you may find distracting is that every twenty to thirty seconds a women's voice will say preview to prevent people from stealing the music. It is like a watermark on photos. They have other ways of searching for music as well. You can search for music by holiday, Valentines, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Christmas, etc. 

So, do you listen to music while writing, or do you find it distracting? Where do you usually listen to music? What genre do you usually listen to? Is anyone out there a fan of soundtracks while they write since soundtracks are great for a long interrupted song, with lots of moods in them? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section.

Keep on Creating, 
K. A. Jairl

So I remembered yesterday that I was supposed to post a writing prompt for the week, but I only remembered in passing for about a second or two and then my brain was off on other things. So my apologies for not getting this up yesterday. 

For this weeks writing prompt I want you to get into your character's head. Choose a character that you are either struggling understanding what they are thinking or how they are feeling and write from that characters PoV in stream of consciousness. If you don't know what stream of consciousness is defined with examples here: http://literarydevices.net/stream-of-consciousness/.


The examples on that site are not exactly what I think of when I think of stream of consciousness but you can get the gist. Basically stream of consciousness is when you are writing down the thoughts that are going through a character's head. 


For example, my character Adam is a ten year old boy, so I should be writing in the voice of a ten year old boy and I should be portraying his thoughts through interior monologue (a synonym for stream of consciousness almost). 


So here goes:

As I said, in a previous post, Life the Universe, and Everything is a writing conference that is held annually in February in Provo, UT. The conference is mainly focused on science fiction and fantasy genres, but in my experience the content of the classes and panels I attended are able to translate over to any genre. 

I took advantage of the conference this year because I got in for free since I'm a student. We're always looking for perks and free things, and this conference gives students everything they could need. 

Each class or panel is taught by professionals who have been published (both traditionally and self-published and everywhere in between). There are not just authors of fantasy or sci-fi either. There were cartoonists, illustrators, publishers, and editors, and probably many more people with occupations I couldn't even guess at. In fact, my favorite class was probably the first class I attended on Saturday.

Over the weekend I was able to attend a writing conference in Provo, UT called LTUE (or Life, the Universe, and Everything). It was awesome to say the least, but more about that on Friday. In one of the classes I attended, the teacher said to do a writing exercise where you take cliches, especially ones you find yourself using a lot in your writing, and then put them into your own words.

I thought this could be a really useful prompt, especially since I found myself using cliches just a few days before I attended the conference. I couldn't seem to stop myself from typing them. So that is the prompt for today. If you can't think of any cliches you use a lot off the top of your head, here is a link to a Writer's Digest article that lists 12 cliches every writer should avoid: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/12-cliches-all-writers-should-avoid
Try your hand at one of those. Or for an even more extensive list that is sorted alphabetically try this site: http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/cliches.html They have 681 cliches listed there. 

Here is my attempt at this prompt:

"You're all thumbs."

"You're the opposite of a dog. They don't have thumbs, and that's all you have."

Not my best work, but you get the gist. There are a million ways to do this too. You don't have to use dialogue either, that's just what works best for me.

I'll try more later when I have the time. Because I spent all weekend learning about writing techniques at LTUE and ignoring my homework, I'm playing catch up this week and this weekend.

Show me one of your favorite rewritten cliches in the comment section below. For even more fun, don't tell me what the original cliche was, I'll have to try and guess it. If I guess it right, then it's a safe bet you conveyed the same message as the cliche without actually having to use it. I look forward to reading your responses. Good luck!

Keep on Creating,
K. A. Jairl

Shannon Hale gave a great presentation on telling stories and how she decided to become a writer. 
She started off by asking who loved telling stories. To the people who didn't raise their hands, she asked if they remembered playing cops and robbers or cowboys and indians as children. That is story telling. 

Apparently from the time she was sitting in her high chair, Shannon was telling stories. She would blabber in baby talk and frown and laugh and shout. Then as she started to get older and she would write little stories, like one about a witch who liked to eat children. She drew pictures to go along with the story like most little kids do. When she would tell people at this age that she wanted to be a writer they would encourage her. Then she got older...

Sorry this prompt is so late. I had to write a paper today. It is due tomorrow and I hadn't started it until this afternoon. The trouble is I don't understand the class and the play I am writing about is Derek Walcott, the Caribbean poet and playwright's play Dream on Monkey Mountain. I enjoy reading his writing but the play specifically says, "it is illogical, derivative, contradictory" (Walcott 208). Basically the play doesn't make much sense, the class doesn't make much sense, and my essay doesn't make much sense. Oh well, sorry to dump that on you readers. Let's get on with the writing prompt shall we?

As you can see from the picture above, the prompt for the day is to write 50-100 pieces of information about a character without stopping to think about it. The goal is to get a better idea of what kind of person your character is. So choose the character you feel needs to the most rounding out and or that you need to get to know better, and write at least a minimum of 50 pieces of info about them without thinking. 

Here are 45 of mine. I'm still working on the last 5. My favorites are in bold. 

1. His name is Blaine Rundstrom.
2. Owns a cat name Lump (Marie, his boss is allergic).
   
3. Only rents, never buys, movies.
   
4. Pays his taxes as soon as possible.
   
5. Like broccoli.
   
6. Hates cauliflower.
   
7. Doesn’t own a flannel shirt, wouldn’t dream of it.
   
8. Only owns four T-shirts (one for each Saturday of the month).
   
9. Owns his apartment and is proud of it.
   
10. Never wanted a puppy/pets as a boy.
    
11. He prefers vegetables to fruit.
    
12. Favorite type of music: Jazz and 1950s era music
    
13. He is 41 years old (born in 1974).
    
14. He’s allergic to strawberries and tomatoes (but he eats tomatoes anyway).
    
15. He’s divorced. They got married too young.
    
16. They did not have kids and so have not really kept in touch because they didn’t have a reason.
    
17. He used to be a romantic and optimist. Now he’s a pessimist.
    
18. He buys most of his furniture from Ikea.
    
19. Prefers tea to coffee but needs the caffeine.
    
20. His ancestors are Swedish.
    
21. He's competitive.
22. He wears briefs instead of boxers.
    
23. He hates Vicks Vaporub (c) and refuses to use it even when he’s sick.
    
24. He’s not paternal, yet kids seem to like him.
    
25. He like reading poetry, especially Robert Frost.
    
26. His favorite trees are willow trees.
    
27. He grows plants in his apartment. Vine plants are pinned up along the ceiling.
    
28. He was never good at sports.
    
29. He keeps a strict schedule. He wakes up at the same time every morning and goes to bed at the same time every night.
    
30. He is very punctual, always ten minutes early.
    
31. He has always been interested in crocodiles.
    
32. He is vain and wears contacts except when he’s home alone.
    
33. He’s the assistant manager of the bookstore he works at (Marie owns the bookstore).
    
34. He hates winter because of the weather.
    
35. He drives a navy blue 2004 geo metro.
    
36. His favorite TV Show is M*A*S*H.
    
37. He has BA in Literary Studies.
38. He gels his hair back (slicked back) to keep it out of his eyes.
39. He has black hair that droops.
40. He writes flash fiction secretly in his spare time.
41. He knows how to cook but usually eats out.
42. He goes for long walks to stay fit. 
43. When he doesn't gel his hair (Saturdays) he wears newsies caps.
44. He has a hired cleaning woman who comes once a week.

Let me know your three favorite things you found out about your character that you didn't know before in the comments. 

Keep on Creating, 
K. A. Jairl