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Today we visit Belgium for a look at comic creators from around the world.
One you will know but not even realize it. But you’ll have to wait for that one. Belgium has a great history in what I will call the graphic art of storytelling. Their history begins in the 1920s with youth publications and church newspapers. They share greatly with the French and French creators through one of their two languages.
Jean-Michel Charlier
“The coward think of what they can lose, the heroes of what they can win.”
Born in Belgium Charlier was a writer who later died in France. During his lifetime he created one of the most dominant comic series of the 1960s throughout Europe. Along with French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud, he created Blueberry (1965-1990), a western comic set in the American West with an atypical cowboy hero. He wasn’t a lawman or out to get the girl. He happened to be in a place at a time and did what needed done. “When I was traveling throughout the West, I was accompanied by a fellow journalist who was just in love with blueberry jam, so much in love, in fact, that I had nicknamed him “Blueberry”. When I began to create the new series, and everything started to fall into place, I decided to reuse my friend’s nickname, because I liked it and thought it was funny. […] I had no idea that he would prove so popular that he would eventually take over the entire series, and later we would be stuck with that silly name!“~Charlier. He had been sent to Edward Air Force Base on assignment.
Charlier was the writer of Buck Danny (1948-1988), Redbeard (1961-1991) as well as many others. What I find interesting is the Belgian method of a series. Apparently it is tradition the writer and artist team continues until one either passes of the series is over. If one passes the series ends. Fortunately, Charlier had chosen successors for his works. There is a quality of these books that I am highly impressed with and has my fingers itching to write comic book scripts again.
Hergé (Georges Prosper Remi)
“I’m a dreadful egotist. I draw for the child I was and still am. If Jacques Martin or Bob de Moor has a good idea, I convince myself completely and forever that it was mine.”
Hergé was born in 1907 and passed away in 1983 in Belgium. He is seen as the pioneer of a style of drawing in comics called ligne claire or clear line. Although an artist he was also a writer. His art worked with his writing to create the stories he told.
His most famous work is The Adventures of TinTin. Although a much loved and popular series of the 20th Century it did have its detractors for its racial stereotyping. “I was fed the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me.” Some of his early work had to be altered depending on the market it was to be distributed in. The series has been on radio, TV, and movies.
The art style, ligne claire has influenced many. Think of a Batman comic with simply lines and paint rather than shadows on the face created by what is called cross hatching.
One particular standout to me is Geof Darrow who has worked with a previously mentioned creator, Frank Miller. One collaboration, Hard Boiled won the Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist in 1991. But how does Hergé connect to something you might know today?
After his work on Hard Boiled a team know as the Wachowskisasked him to do some concept work for a movie called The Matrix. Darrow receives screen credit in each movie.
It is impossible to do a comic piece on Belgium and not mention this next man.
The man known simply as:
Peyo
“He remembers a meal he had with his friend André Franquin (Marsupilami) when he’d wanted to ask Franquin to pass him the salt. But he couldn’t remember the word so he says: “Pass me the … uhm … the smurf!”. Franquin hands it over and answers: “Here’s the smurf. Once you’ve smurfed with it you can smurf it back to me!” And so the name and language of the little imps were invented…”-From Smurfs.com
Pierre Culliford was born in 1928 in Brussels and passed away in 1992 in Brussels. Belgian from beginning to end. Why Peyo? A cousin mispronounced his name and I guess he liked it. He first worked for an animation studio but when it shut its doors he wasn’t accepted by another place that took his friends in. Thus began a career in print.
While working for Le Soir, a newspaper, he created Johan. Later when hired for Spirou published by the same company, Dupuis, that had refused to hire him before, he continued Johan as Johan and Peewit. This was in 1952.
In 1958 a creation came about in Johan and Peewit that would become cultural phenomenon in the future. The first Smurf was introduced. The Smurfs became so popular Peyo started his own studio.
The rest is history. I am certain some of you have seen the Smurf cartoons, and the Smurf movies. And all because a young man wasn’t hired by a company as an animator when the doors shut on his previous employers studio.
As a happy ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY for Hugh’s Views & News, here is my interview with Hugh where Hugh and I began our friendship and partnership in writing and mayhem. ENJOY! Make sure to visit Hugh today and wish him Happy Anniversary. He has a post up about it. (There has been a small video addition at the end of his favorite word. I found a short like 30 second clip of it.)
I blog. Amazing discovering isn’t it? Being a blogger you also follow other bloggers. Sometimes you don’t know how you ended up making the acquaintance of someone, yes I can make that joke about myself but no one else can (amnesiac rights), but you are glad you did stumble upon someone. One such person grabbed my attention not only because he liked my attempts at writing, but one day a photograph he posted jumped out at me. No it did not literally leap from the page, at least I don’t think it did. Perhaps he has sort of 3D Mac power. Yes, I am afraid to say that he is one of . . . those people.
Thinking now perhaps it was 3D and knocked the memory out of me. I do have a habit of following it hitting my head. But I do have the memory that this man took a photograph that I loved enough to remember that of him and that means the world to me. Memories to me now are made more of impressions than of actual images.
So let me introduce to you, The one and only. . . wait wrong song now . . . on a mountain top, burning like a silver flame . . .
RW: Hugh, I googled your name in fun because I love your name and it has such a strength of character about it that I just knew it had to be famous. Are you the same Hugh Roberts who was in charge of Windsor Castle after the fire in 1992 and was also director of Christie’s, the auction house?
HUGH: Gee, that’s really kind of you, but no, I am not him. I have many times though, been introduced as Hugh Grant or Huw Edwards (for those of your followers outside of the UK, the latter is a famous BBC news reader over here). I suppose the mix up occurs because there aren’t many of us ‘Hughs’ around. I’ve never been asked for an autograph after being introduced as Hugh Grant, but I have on the odd occasional been stared at for a long period of time and imagined the word ‘really?’ going through that person’s mind as they stand there open mouthed and gobsmacked at Hugh Grant standing in front of them.
RW: There go all of those artsy questions. Hmm . . . So you’re English . . . I don’t know why it is the English Bloggers seem to fascinate me. Beatles or the Stones?
HUGH: There’s your first ‘strike’, Ronovan. I like to refer to myself as Welsh or better still, British. I’m very proud to be British. I have nothing against being called English, after all I currently live in England and speak English, but calling a Welsh or Scottish person English, is like being at one of those self check-out machines at the supermarket and the machine says to you “there is an unexpected item in the baggage area, please remove the item” and you’ve not put anything there! You get just a little irate. Only a little, so no need to get out those boxing gloves yet . I guess you thought I was English because of the way my name is spelt, yeah? Well, OK, I’ll take that strike away then, after all it is the English spelling of Hugh I use and not the Welsh spelling as Huw Edwards uses. My parents have a lot to answer for on that one.
As for Beatles or the Stones, neither for me. I’d have to go for Bananarma,
the British all girl group with the Guinness world record for the all female group with the most chart entries in the world. Their songs bring back so many happy memories for me.
RW: Sigh . . .’your my Venus your my’ . . . oh, yes, interview. Okay now onto more serious things, well that was serious but anyway, I am a big fan of your photography which is odd because you write a lot and I enjoy that as well, but tell me about your flowers and your gardening. You don’t even have to leave your home for great photos.
HUGH: We have a beautiful garden, but to be perfectly honest with you, I absolutely hate gardening. I have no interest in it at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love to sit and relax in the garden, but when it comes to gardening, I’m about as interested as a mannequin would be viewing my holiday pictures.
RW: Then where does the garden come from, Bananarama and their Venus power? (Mind drifting to the one with the short blonde hair ‘yeah baby she’s got it’. . . sigh.) Hugh, you carry on with the interview without me.
HUGH: All the credit for the beautiful plants in our garden, has to go to my partner, John. He’s the one that grew the plants which I took the photographs of. I’ve only just started to show an interest in photography, so it’s very early days for me, but a few I have posted on my blog seem to have attracted a little bit of attention. That in turn has spurred me on to taking more and I’m beginning now to really enjoy the challenges of taking photos as much as I do with the WordPress writing challenges I sometimes take part in.
RW: Tell my Friends about where you live that produces those great flowers in your photos.
HUGH: We currently live in Hove, known by some as “Hove Actually” because of the Alfred Hitchcock 1938 movie ‘The Lady Vanishes’ when Miss Froy, one of the characters, refers to herself as coming from Brighton and then goes on to say “well, Hove actually, just down the coast”. It’s situated in the county of East Sussex and is on the south coast of the UK, just over fifty miles south of London. Many people know our bigger neighbour, Brighton, far better, but the two now form a conurbation along with some other smaller towns and villages along the coast. Hove was first established right back in the 12th century, so has been around for a very long time. We have a wonderful climate, plenty of sunshine and rain, which helps the garden blossom.
RW: And I’ll go ahead and ask for my Photo Geek Friends, what type of camera do you use? Go ahead and be all techno numbers and all of that for those that speak Cameranese.
HUGH: Would you believe it if I said I take all my photos on an iPhone 4? Well, that’s where they have all come from. I love all things ‘Apple’ and am probably a marketing dream for them. iMac, iPad, iPhone, iCloud, Apple TV, I have it all, thanks to all the Apple Vouchers I get for Christmas and Birthdays (I’m so easy to buy for, so please take note). Between us, we once had five, I kid you not, five iPads! OK, some were from the very early days and I’ve sold a few since then, but I can not walk past the Apple store without having to go inside. That’s why I had to write my latest short story, ‘The Truth App’, in honour of the staff at our local Apple store.
RW: (I told you he was one of . . . those people.) And tell us about your love of the Cardigan Welsh Corgi.
HUGH: Well, it’s over to my partner, John, here, because he was the one that wanted to get a dog and it had to be a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. I suppose with us both being Welsh, we had to have a Welsh dog, but it was when John first saw one at Crufts, that he had to get one. What we did not know is that these dogs are on the vulnerable breeds lists here in the UK, with less than 100 being born every year. Originally they were bred for herding cattle and I understand they are still used for that purpose over in the States. Ours is called Toby and he’s become a bit of a star over on my blog recently, having now posted two posts about some of the walks he goes on. When I wrote those posts, I wrote them as if I were him, so from his perspective, and I’ve had some really positive comments left on those posts. When my sister was over on a visit from Australia recently, she referred to him as a “little human”. I guess that’s because we do spoil him a lot, but many people have also told us what a wonderful character he has. He knows the words, walk, chicken, cheese, custard, sausage, rice pudding, and mince pies (at Christmas time) and seems to even know what day of the week it is. He’s one clever chap.
RW: Once everyone stops looking at Toby tell us where you get your inspiration from for your stories?
HUGH: Lots of places really, some strange, some not so strange. Take for example my short story, Last Train to Aldwych. Grace Simmons, the main character in that story, introduced herself and told me her story while I was doing a pile of ironing. As soon as I had finished ironing that last sock (no, I don’t really iron socks, honestly!), I sat down and wrote the story. Other stories have come from prompts and WordPress writing challenges, while the inspiration for others have come from other bloggers. I’m currently working on a two-part short story which came as an inspiration from a photo I saw on one of the blogs I follow. The author doesn’t know it yet, but I’ll be asking if I can use their photo so I can include it in the post. My passion is for writing short stories and although they do not get as many views as my photo posts do, I’m very proud of myself for not letting the fact that I have dyslexia get in my way anymore. I used to see dyslexia as a monster, but happy to say that I managed to tame it, with the help of a few fellow bloggers who really encouraged me to continue with my blog. I am so thankful to those bloggers, who I now class as friends, for all the support and encouragement they gave me. And, yes, I’ve even written a post about defeating the monster I called dyslexia.
A few other bloggers have since also confided in me they have dyslexia, and I’m now giving them the support and encouragement I received, to carry on doing what we all love to do, write.
I also get a lot of inspiration from listening to music while I write, especially when writing short stories. ‘Dreamland” by Robert Miles is currently my favourite album to write to. If I ever bumped into Mr Miles, I would certainly have to buy him dinner and a few drinks, as a thank you.
RW: Do you have a writing spot in your home? That place that you go to where nothing distracts you from the flow of creation?
HUGH: I used to have two spots, one being the kitchen, but I don’t tend to write in there much anymore now. The main spot for me is in our study. The desk looks out over towards Hove Recreation Ground, which maybe does not sound so nice, but believe me, whilst it’s not as pretty as some of the other parks we have in Brighton & Hove, it’s lovely to look out at while I am writing. It’s used by lots of people and also used a lot for sports like rugby and cricket and I have often included bits of conversations in my posts which I have overheard whilst walking Toby in there. Of course I change what I have heard, so that it more reflects how I would have said it, but it’s a source of some great conversations. If I also see an interesting person walking in the grounds while writing, I’ll give them a name and use them in one of my stories. That might put people who live in the area and reading this, off from going in there now, but just think of it this way. One day, the inspiration you gave me, may become a Hollywood blockbuster movie or best selling novel. Who am I kidding!!?
RW: That is a great view from the window, I was thinking it would be more distracting than that. You mention a book you are working on in your bio, how is that coming along and do I get a free copy?
HUGH: Of course you can have a free copy. I’d even sign it ‘Hugh Grant” if you wanted?
I started writing the book in late 2012. As a child, I had two main ambitions. I wanted to write a book and have it published, and I also wanted to have a number one hit single! The trouble with the last one, is that although I am Welsh (Welsh men can really sing you know, just look at all the Welsh Male Voice Choirs there are) I can’t sing. I’m absolutely tone deaf and, unlike dyslexia, I’ve not been able to tame it. I was thrown out of many a school choir for not being able to sing and if my parents protested with the school headmaster, then I’d get back in, but only to be given the part of playing the xylophone or, even worse, the tambourine!
I’m afraid the book has had to take a bit of a back seat since I started my blog, because that is where most of my free time now goes. I’d like to think of it as my first book, but because I’ve really enjoyed writing short stories since starting my blog, I am thinking of perhaps putting all of them into a book and self publishing them first. I will certainly go back to the book and don’t think I’ve done any harm in leaving it alone for a while. I read somewhere recently that some authors can leave finishing writing books for years, then go back to them to finishing them off and the book then becomes an international best seller.
The book I am writing is about life in London in the 1980’s and 90’s. I lived in London for 27 years before coming to Hove and the book is based on my life in the city during those times. Some of it is based on fact, a lot is fiction, but I had such an interesting and wonderful time whilst living in London, that I wanted it to be recorded somewhere, so the ambition I had as a child, may just come true, one day.
RW: Does Blogging ever interfere with your social responsibilities?
HUGH: Oh, John is going to like you for asking me this question, I can guarantee it. Did he ask you to ask this question? I bet he did didn’t he? I have to be very honest here, because after all, I’m a very honest person, so my answer is yes. Both John and myself are tidy people. We hate clutter and like everything to be in place, that’s why we get on so well and have been together for nearly 21 years, but, blogging has taken over my life. Sure, I’ll do the chores, walk Toby, empty the bin, make the beds, and all that, but I’m probably not as thorough as I was before I started my blog. I’m not saying that the house is now looking like a store does at the end of the first day of the sale, but I do rather tend to rush the social responsibilities these days, so that I can log on to the blog and start reading and writing. That reminds me, I need to descale the coffee machine before it seizes up for good. Thanks for the prompt!
RW: When did you start your blog?
HUGH: 12th February 2014, so it has a birthday which we will be celebrating next year, much to John’s amusement I might add. February is a big month for us, because not only is it the birthday month of my blog, but John also has a birthday that month, our civil partnership anniversary is the same month and, of course, who could forget valentine’s day as well?
A family member introduced me to WordPress in early February after I inquired with the family if they knew anybody who blogged? I don’t think most of them thought I was being serious when I told them I was thinking of starting my own blog and one friend even told me to be careful because of internet trolls and all that, but I saw it as a way to tell my story and write about all the various elements of everyday life I love so much. Although I have dyslexia, I seem to be able to explain things by writing them down far better than by talking about them. Starting a blog has given me so much confidence and its the perfect way to get over my views and news. Hence the blog name, Hugh’s Views and News.
RW: I notice you around the Blog Block so to speak in my reading of other bloggers and your likes and comments; do you notice a difference in style between bloggers from different parts of the world?
HUGH: Yes, hugely. Not only in the way the author writes, but also in that of the comments that are left. Reading blogs is such a great way of finding out about different cultures and how people live their lives on a daily basis. You can really get to know somebody so well just from engaging with them by asking questions and leaving comments on posts.
Perhaps the saddest thing about it though is that you can read some comments, which can be read as being offensive to some, but to others may be perfectly normal. I’ve come across that quite recently and was going to react as I thought a particular comment somebody had left on a blog I follow was rather offensive. But then I thought ‘its not my blog’ and I looked at it from the ‘other side of the coin’ and thought about the position the person who had left the comment was in. The person who owned the blog obviously hadn’t seen it as an offensive comment as otherwise they would have removed it, so I moved on, without saying anything.
RW: What type of Blogs do you tend to gravitate toward?
HUGH: I follow a lot of blogs which concentrate on one subject but I tend to gravitate more to those which contain lots of variety. My own blog contains short stories, photos, reviews, my views on life, television and commercials, as well as a few other categories. I have seen some bloggers create brand new blogs because they think having too much variety on their blog looks messy. I’m not so sure about that. Yes, if I am looking for a blog that only contains recipes, then it’s great to find a blog that contains only recipes, but I like a good mixture in a blog (no pun intended there)! I like to get to know the blogger, and by having lots of variety on their blog, I know I can achieve that because it will tell me more about them other than that they may be a great cook. So I tend to graduate towards blogs that have lots of variety. After all, they do say that variety is the spice of life, don’t they?
RW: You seem to really enjoy what you do, what advice can you give others to help keep them motivated to blog and enjoy? Do you have something like a limit of time, a number of posts per week, anything like that?
HUGH: My first piece of advise would to be to treat your blog as if it were alive. I’d better explain that a little more, hadn’t I? To me, I see my blog as being alive. To stay alive, it needs plenty of nourishment. I look at a post I have written myself, as a meal for my blog.
Because I have written the post, I look at it as if it were a meal I had prepared myself from fresh wholesome ingredients. When I press that publish button, I’m feeding my blog a good meal to keep it nourished. I look at re-blogs as ready made meals because I am not the original author.
None the less, when I re-blog something, then I am still feeding my blog and giving it nourishment, thus keeping it alive. There’s absolutely no problem in taking a break from your blog to try and get the creative juices flowing, but try not to leave it too long, otherwise it may pass away. Always consider re-blogging something you have found interesting from another blog if you have nothing to publish yourself. After all we are all told to visit, read and comment on other blogs so as to connect with other bloggers and create new openings and attract new followers.
So my first piece of advise is to feed your blog, even if it means just re-blogging something occasionally.
My second piece of advise is to connect and engage with your followers and anyone, other than trolls, who leave a comment on your posts. I always thank anyone for taking the time to read and comment on a post I have published because, by doing so, I am then engaging with them. I always answer any questions they ask me and in turn I may go back and ask them questions or for further comments on the answers I have given. I know some bloggers are going to get huge amounts of comments and won’t be able to respond to them all. but I think it sad when I come across a blog and see absolutely no response to comments from the author.
When I first started blogging, I thought I’d stick to one post a month, but that soon became two posts a month, to three and so on, because I was really enjoying what I was doing. I try and post something on my own blog at least twice a week. Of course if you are not enjoying what you doing then stop and move on to something else. That’s exactly what I did after my two year relationship with the gym fell apart.
RW: Finally for my Big Three Questions. What is your favorite scent/aroma/fragrance and why?
HUGH: Mint. I love the stuff, not only on my roast lamb, but also as an aroma around the house. It makes the whole place smell fresh and clean, which of course my house is, after you asking me that earlier question about social responsibilities.
RW: What is your favorite beverage?
HUGH: Tea. I suppose that is the Britishness in me. I love the stuff especially when I have a pack of Oreos or chocolate digestives to dunk into the tea. Pure bliss!
RW: And finally, what is your favorite word and why?
HUGH: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch – go on, I dare you to check it out. It’s a real Welsh word. If I can’t chose that word because it’s not an English word, then I’d say “Twist” Not in the dance or pain sense, but in the story sense. I love a story or movie with a great twist or two in it.
I want to thank Hugh for the interview and what I have to say was an enjoyable time. Make sure to visit and follow him at Hugh’s Views & News and also on Twitter at @RobertHughes05. Also click Hugh’s favorite Bananarama song below and watch him dance along. I like to have a little fun with those guests that have that touch of humor about them. All that’s missing are the long socks and sandals he loves to wear.
You know, sometimes you begin writing and things happen. I opened up the post this morning to write an article, ended up beginning a poem, a lyric poem, then as I went to the Chorus it occurred to me, what else is there to say? I think my message is clear. I think it is received. And love can be love as in friendship as well.
Sometimes we write and write because we lock ourselves into the constraints we see in place in a type of writing. Truly what you write is what you write and how you feel. What you end up with is the type of writing you end up with. Criteria? Never do that to yourself. Write. Write from the heart and people will know. Write from a form or checklist and people will know.
There are a lot of things you cannot be taught in life. Okay, so that is an opinion of mine. I don’t think you can be taught talent. The talent that you have can be brought out of you, but if you don’t have that ability in you to begin with then you cannot eventually do it simply by someone showing you how.
You may be taught Algebra, but when you leave the classroom it is gone. You must constantly study it in order to pass the test.
There is one thing you can be taught.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.~Philippians4:4-7
Patience can be taught. I recently had a conversation with a lady about how when writing a book you needed to be patient. You want to rush that book to an agent, a publisher or self-publish, but the truth is you need to be patient. You need to allow for that work to grow and mature. take your time to find everything that needs your attention. I compared it to raising a child.
You would not want your child to be set before the world weak because you did not have the patience to feed it properly because it didn’t want to eat what it needed. You would not put your child out there without the best you could give it. Even if that best is not as good as what someone else has it still is as good as they have. Keep that in mind. Your best is all you can do, therefore it is just as good as what anyone else does as their best.
We need patience in all parts of our lives. Especially with children. Our children are like little adults to us at times. We know how smart they are. We know what they know and are capable of. Then they do something that is, well frankly is very much a 6 year old thing to do.
One thing to remember, above all else about your child, is they are the age they are for a reason. They are growing and maturing and no matter what WE think they can do, they are still children.
Friendships are the same way, relationships as well. Both are children that we know what they are capable of but with our being slowly developing them, we need to remember that in a relationship or friendship that is only two weeks old, there are going to be things that are going to be trying to us.
You know what your moods are. Your relationship person does not. You have to learn and you need to be patient.
Books, children, relationships, even your own new found hobbies all require patience. Maturity may never happen in some situations, but sometimes they won’t and weren’t meant to. Be patient and accept that relationship for what it is. And if your book doesn’t mature, be mature enough to recognize it and move on to another one until YOU are mature enough to come back to it and nurture it along to becoming that mature published novel.
Some days are better than others. For some people you might dread this or that. For others it could be simply it’s cold outside. This is my morning today. Not comfortable. You do odd looking things in an attempt to get to where you want or need to be. I have a new chapter to add to a book I am writing, then finish up the last few pages to send off to my co-author for her to take a look. I have a book to read that goes out soon and I have reviewed it but changes have been made so am reading it again. I have a book to proofread. And I have more books to read for upcoming interviews.
And below is me this morning. It’s going to be a long day.
That being said. No real post from me today so I encourage you to visit my poems from yesterday.
Much Respect
P.S.~No the look isn’t trying to look cool. Very cold in my room and the migraine if very bad so need some help with the light and computer screen this morning, thus the glasses.
I have an Author Interview with well at least one interview this week one will be out on Monday. Olga has a Feature coming out on Monday, another Feature from Guest Author Wendy Janes coming up Wednesday, and you know we will have something great from Jo Robinson on Thursday. And we have…
How does one go about writing a novel or an article? They’re both the same thing of sorts, just one is a shorter story than the other. So how? That’s a question a lot of people hit search engines and begin asking. And you will find so many different answers you wonder how a book gets to be written at all. To be honest, every way you read is the right way and the wrong way. It all depends on who is doing the writing. In fact the right way for you to write a novel may not have been written yet. You haven’t written your novel yet. Until then you don’t know for certain what way is the right one for you.
Of course I have an opinion on the subject, sort of. Well I guess I do when it really comes down to it.
First of all, find a good source of how to do the basics of writing the correct way.
I read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers recently before starting my most recent project. The book showed me some things that are signs of a professional writer and an amateur writer. Taking care of a few of those basics from the beginning makes it so much easier going in to the next draft.
I listened to my book on a free text to voice download from Microsoft you can get.
I can choose male or female and even robotic sounding voices. You can also change the pace of the speech. I was happy to hear the dialogue and everything flowed well. The aforementioned book really helped. You need to listen to your book before you are finished with it. Whatever software or app you use, use one.
Things I’ve learned to do, especially that helps me:
I keep a separate word document open or even two. I keep them open for Things to Remember for the next draft and URL’s to websites that I find useful. What I am currently writing I need maps and some diagrams of types of transportation. I recalled finding one great site and I lost it. I didn’t copy the URL down. Now, if something looks even remotely good I copy the URL before I go any further. You may not think you will need that site again, but until your book is finished and in the hands of the reader, you will need it again.
Another thing I keep up is a spreadsheet.
As I create a new name, city or anything that has a name I make note of it. I do so in order of creation. I even make note of relationships if need be. This saves a lot of time when trying to recall the name of someone or where they appeared in the book.
But you still want to know how to write a novel.
Styles vary. Another author and I are writing books at the same time and we read for the other just to see how things are going. I write chapters of a certain length while they do it another way. Our genre is the same but my story has an entirely different feel to it than the other author’s story. Both stories work. Both stories tell what they need to tell and fit the type of story being told. We both like the other person’s story.
One thing you MUST do is find your writer’s voice.
I think I have created my own style of storytelling and so has the other author. Which way should you write? What length of chapters will work for you? You need to ask yourself a few questions.
What type of books do you like and how are they written?
What type of story are you going to write?
What voice are you going to use?
Who is your audience?
After you determine all of that, start writing and let the story tell you where the chapter ends and what voice to use. It doesn’t matter who your audience is. It matters how you tell a story. Can you tell a story? And if not, don’t worry, you will.
Why do I say you will? If you have a disappointment in something you write, that dream novel of yours and no one signs you to a deal, start writing. One thing you want to do is write everything. Dabble in every kind of writing genre you can and even every length of writing. Once you find that writer’s voice you are almost there. To me that is the key to it all, finding that voice.
People that have read the novels I’ve written have told me that even though there may be different genres involved they still hear me. I take that as a compliment. The genres work, but my storytelling comes through even if it is a Romance or a Middle Grade Fantasy.
One place you can try out your writing chops so to speak is writing.com. They have prompts of various kinds. It takes a little getting used to but I took steps outside of my comfort zone and wrote some stories I never would have otherwise. It’s a good way to have people review some of your writing and just write.
So how do you write a novel? The way to write a novel is to write. That’s it. Just write and learn to write the correct way. You know, an imagination is a terrible thing to waste when all you need is to know how to properly put it into words.
Followers and Views, two different aspects of blogging that go hand in hand but at times do so in ways that you may not think about.
People like that Follower number to grow even if they don’t like to admit it. But not all of that number View your posts. Many did at one point but over time things happen and blogs slip through the cracks. That’s one reason I try to Follow the ones I really, really can’t miss by email. That being said, I don’t WANT to miss anyone’s posts, but I have developed some relationships that have been good for me that I don’t want to let slip away for certain. If you are new here, I have retro grade amnesia and short term memory problems so I have to do certain things to make it easy on me. I just didn’t want anyone to take what I was saying the wrong way.
Here is an article which touches on our subject today.
A big place for a blog to initially get Followers is through their blog’s platform. I will be referring to the WordPress platform for the purpose of this article as that is the platform I have this blog on.
WordPress has a Reader. This is where the In House Readers or IHR as I call them come from. You can use the Reader to see the blogs of the people you follow or you can select a Tag to see and read anyone that comes up with that Tag attached to their post describing what their post is about, even if you don’t Follow them. I can put in the Tag Haiku and see all of those posts with that Tag. Even if the post/article is about jelly beans they can put Haiku as a Tag and it will show up under Haiku.
Here comes a problem. If you have a very short post, Images or a Haiku poem for example, people can see that in the Reader and simply click Like from there without ever having made it to your blog and registering as a View. For a blogger who often writes Haiku that can really take a chunk out of the potential Views even if I get 50 Likes for a Haiku from the Reader.
If people go to your blog you have a better chance of them Following you and of course you get the Views. For me, well I suppose it’s the Views that show me people are interested in what I do, not just Likes.
Likes are nice but Views make news.
But to be honest when I see certain people Liking my Haiku and the Views are not matching up, I don’t freak out. I know they are reading and I know they didn’t just click Like because they click Like on every person they see. There are people that do that in hopes of having people Follow them or in hopes of keeping Followers.
Increasing Followers and Views go hand in hand. Someone has to Follow something somewhere in order to get to your Blog. It could be a Tweet on Twitter or a link in someone’s blog post. I can’t talk about Views without some reference to Follows. That’s why I went into all of that.
Here’s a checklist of things you might want to keep in mind.
Make your posts longer-That sounds opposite coming from someone who wrote an article called Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seats. Well, in this case you want posts to be longer so the WordPress.com Reader cuts them off and thus makes the reader need to click to your blog. I don’t mean way long though. This is not something I actively do, but something I am pointing out to you so you are aware of it. With a Haiku or image you can see everything on the Reader and no one need visit your blog. But you say you don’t want to do that. So what should you do? Well if you are writing an article make the opening lines count. I don’t normally have short articles but if I want people to click on something that might say 1,275 more words at the end of the cut off point in the Reader, I best make those first words count.
Writing counts-Make certain you are putting quality out there. Regardless of what it is, make it the best writing you can do.
Subject matter-You will have visitors from your other social networks but you want to go for the IHR. One way IHR find you is according to the Tags you use. We know tagging is important. I’ve discussed it many times. I even have an article Tag So You’re It. But let’s move on from there. What are you writing about? Are you turning off your current Followers and Viewers with a sudden change in interest? I recently became passionate about the plight of a Blogger who is imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. Since that day my Views have dropped big time. Perhaps I offended someone. Well more than some ONE. But as I have said, I will write what I write and whatever happens happens. So that’s a decision for you to make. But I write honestly. I don’t write popularly.
Social networking activity-Usually the more involved you are the more likely you will have increased Blog activity.
The key to more Followers and Views?
The secret all Bloggers want to know?
Time
Time as in effort you put in regarding the quality of work you do.
Time you put in for social networking activity.
Time in waiting for the Followers and Views to find you after you have worked on the first two Times. The Three Ts.
But honestly you need to do a little of all three to get the job done. And one of those you MUST do. Quality.
For more articles on Increasing Views and Followers:
This the day we make promises not to be kept. Promises we make each year. Be honest with yourself today and make this resolution;
wake up each morning and renew your commitment to what it is you have as a goal.
Print out your list and tape it to your mirror, your wall or wherever you will always see it.
Keep several lists.
Each month change the color of the list so as not to become so accustomed to it your eyes ignore it.
Resolutions are lost each year because we fall away from being Resolute to them. We do not have a Resolve to do the tasks.
Each morning make it part of your routine to prepare yourself each day to work toward your goals.
I do not normally make New Year’s Resolutions. This year I do have some goals and I will share them here so I will be reminded in a years time whether I met my goals.
These are professional goals:
I will have two books made available to the public this year.
I will be part of making the LitWorldInterviews site become something much respected in the Author and Lit World by improving the quality of my interviews once the current set of interviews have been completed.
Quality on all of my sites will improve. Meaning Quality over Quantity as I endeavor to provide my friends with my absolute best.
I will begin to take time each day to read more of my friends’ blogs and promote them.
I will ask a friend each month to do a Guest Blog on my RonovanWrites site, beginning with Suzie of Suzie81Speaks, who will respectfully decline because she is so busy. This will be followed by requests made to Florence T and Hugh Roberts. Then I will go from there. Why so public announcement of who I will ask? These are three that have impressed me with a maturity in growth in tone of their blogs since I began reading them. I don’t know if others have noticed but I have. And maturity does not mean they were silly to begin with. I simply mean there is a tone in them that is more about writing as they like and not for others TO like. And there are others as well.
I will simplify my blogging and in turn attempt to help others do so as well to make blogging more enjoyable as opposed to a time consuming unpaid business venture.
There are other Resolutions I am certain I will come up with but for now these will do.
Do I dare say I will find an agent or publisher to sign with this year? Do I go out on a limb and say that?
I will say yes.
With that in mind, just know that I will be devoting a lot of time to making a dream come true. And when it happens to me, know it can happen to you.
Let’s talk about flow for a moment. I am not one for punctuation. Anyone that reads my work will quickly discover that I am awful with it. I try to work around it by using different wording or shorter sentences. I imagine to myself this will hide my weakness. But to an expert, a pro it will be obvious.
There are three things I would like to talk about. This has to do with the flow of a sentence, its basic appearance. The em dash, the ellipsis, and the double space error are also three things that can call you out to an agent or editor.
I’ve written for decades now, but only recently, or so I believe, have I taken notice of the little things of writing that are really much larger than I ever imagined.
The em dash:
In all honesty I had never heard of this until recently. Oh, sure I have seen it but I didn’t know it had a name. I should have known everything has a name and if it doesn’t someone will come along to name it shortly just so they can say they did it.
You are to use the em dash when there is a sudden change or interruption in the sentence. Strunk and White states to use this only when a more common form of punctuation will not seem to work. That seems a little vague to me. But if you take a look at just about any form of writing you will see the em dash everywhere. By the way, the em dash is a double dash. Basically it is called an em dash because it takes up the widest letter font, the letter m. The en dash is a single dash.
Some writers just use it any time they like instead of commas or semicolons. Why? Either they think it’s cool or they don’t know punctuation or it could just be a style. Is it wrong? Truthfully, writing styles are slowly becoming less and less strict with structure but there is a purpose to proper structure. It isn’t just for a good grade. It’s for a good read.
For me, I think I would use the em dash in harsh situations, or rather tough talk situations. If I were writing a detective novel I think the em dash would fit. I can see Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon reading out the punctuation of the dialogue now and I can hear ‘dash’ instead of ‘comma’ coming from him. Bogey did rapid fire dialogue great and he could switch between directions of dialogue so quick you almost didn’t see it happen. That script must have been em dash loaded.
“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”
“You did what?” Carson asked.
“I said—what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.
Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam—she’s doing anything she likes.”
In this example you get the fill that Sam immediately changes his words as the woman walks in. There is no pause. He just goes straight into questioning. For me that works. In the second case it doesn’t work for me. To me Carson is pausing after he says Sam as he thinks about the woman, so the em dash is too harsh there. The ellipses wouldn’t work because there is no missing dialogue or trailing off, there is just a hesitation so I would use the comma.
The Ellipsis:
The ellipsis is when you use (. . .). Of course that is without the parenthesis. You use three periods with a space between each one. Again, I had no idea such a thing had a name. And would you believe it . . . I had been using it wrong all these years. I didn’t put a space between the periods. Oops. And, I just used it incorrectly. And no, I did not do that intentionally. I read back through this article and found it. It happens, so always proofread your work.
You use this when a sentence is trailing off or you are picking up in the middle of a conversation or a place I use it is when I am writing a telephone conversation but we only hear one side of it.
“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”
“You did what?” Carson asked.
“I said . . . what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.
Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam . . . she’s doing anything she likes.”
Now we have a pause here instead of the em dash and it’s as though Sam has looked at the woman a moment first before speaking.
The second pause works for me, but it’s not right. A comma will do the job.
“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”
“You did what?” Carson asked.
“I said–what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.
Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam, she’s doing anything she likes.”
Combining the both the em dash and the comma pause in the passage works for me because I get a change of pace with each. There is a sense of urgency from Sam and casualness from Carson. It adds to character development with just a little change in punctuation.
The Space After Punctuation:
People from my age and older learned to type on typewriters, even if they were electric ones. This means we learned to hit the space bar twice after the ending punctuation of a sentence. For all those who do that, STOP! Computer fonts are set so that everything is spaced properly.
An agent or editor will look at your work and immediately see the spacing error. Should this be a killer to your career? No, but many agencies use interns and they like to sort through the submissions and for a punctuation pet peeve artist or someone who has a space phobia you have put them off already and they’ll just not continue. Hit the space bar once…ever.
It’s after midnight Santa’s done been and gone His reindeer were a bit messy They took liberties on the lawn
I guess that’s okay As long as I get something nice I wonder if I’ll get The complete series of Miami Vice
I’ve eaten enough dressing I’ve had a lot of the oink Too bad this year I didn’t get a Christmas . . .
Anyway, I should be asleep But that doesn’t seem to be the case I keep considering taking a peek at the tree But there is not even a nightlight in this place
What do I really want for Christmas Well let me count them one by one I would like to have a literary agent Who makes deals like they’re holding a gun
Give me a one of a kind thought To write a best selling book One with a lot of action And a lot of steam for the leads as they cook
Find me the right publisher Who thinks I am the best Takes me under their wing And ignores all the rest
Then give me a life long talent To write book after book a hit So whenever I need to express myself All I need is a laptop and a place to sit
Give me a muse to inspire me Make her something to behold Give her all my dreams fulfilled Even the ones I’ve never told
Now I best get to sleep I hear an odd thumping It’s either Santa back for another pass Or there is someone upstairs um bumping
Around
Ronovan
PS: There’s not really any good oink around here anyway. Just saying.
As a writer I have things I want to tell you, but often I just don’t know how. Choosing between words and thoughts can get in the way of the creative process and kill dreams quicker than a lovers ‘whatever’.
As we pick up pen, grab a laptop or even go to our phones to quickly put thoughts to text we lose it. Those magical descriptions that floated through that slightly thick almost tangible air that we could feel grabbing hold of us like an enveloping blanket during a cold night.
We write and we write and then we look back and we realize we have not written anything like what we had thought or felt. The words we wanted to say had slipped away and were replaced by cliched drivel in the key of frustration.
Looking through song choices for today I came across a Beatles song from the Revolver album written and performed by George Harrison. I often mistake Harrison and Lennon’s voices at times, I suppose that is part of what makes the harmonies work so well. Harrison was the in between. He was the & in Lennon & McCartney.
With ‘I Wan To Tell You’, Harrison says everything a writer feels. Perhaps he’s talking to a lover, to that girl, to a future or current spouse. Perhaps it’s to a friend. Or maybe he’s speaking as one person to another. He commented later in life that in the chorus;
But if I seem to act unkind It isn’t me, it’s just my mind That is confusing things
he should have flipped the lines two parts of the second line. And I believe that really is what he meant and was actually how I took it when I first read the lines. But flipping them makes it more clear. Our minds confuse things that we think are much simpler. Once our brains get involved it’s all over.
This is one of those forgotten gems that at first when listen to it you are a little unsure but then when you realize the contrast of the words in the song, then you get the contrast of the music and the voices in the song as well. Plodding and melodic, tonal and harmonizing. You have it all.
I want to tell you My head is filled with things to say When you’re here All those words, they seem to slip away
When I get near you The games begin to drag me down It’s all right I’ll make you maybe next time around
But if I seem to act unkind It isn’t me, it’s just my mind That is confusing things
I want to tell you I feel hung up and I don’t know why But I don’t mind I could wait forever, I’ve got time, I’ve got time
Sometimes I wish I knew you well Then I could speak my mind and tell you Maybe you’d understand
I want to tell you I feel hung up and I don’t know why I don’t mind I could wait forever, I’ve got time
Sometimes you just don’t know how you ended up where you are. I’ve been in many ‘places’ over my many years and somehow they end up being connected in one way or the other. Oh, I don’t mean by actually connected in the sense that one thing knew the other but in that there was a reason one happened and ended and the next began.
I had an interesting life growing up. I was born of two people who were picking oranges in the groves of Florida during a time of free love, or maybe at the end of that era really. My father from Tupelo, MS. who was a drummer, guitar playing singer who drove a truck and recorded at Sun Records in Memphis, TN. Yes that Sun Records, and yes, that’s where Elvis recorded. And no, he wasn’t Elvis.
He was also part of the Southern Mafia which led me into a few interesting situations. Ever been 3 years old and been chased down dirt roads in Florida by a man with a gun? No? I didn’t think you had. How about being back home in Tupelo, MS and having to be slung around in a truck doing a 180 because of some ‘men’ that had blocked the road to stop your father? No? Well then you didn’t get shot at and the windows shatter either.
There were other things that happened as well, all in the span of the years up to my 2nd grade in school. That’s when I ‘arranged’ for a girl on the playground to see the black belt mark across my back and run to the teacher. I had made a promise not to tell, and I was a good boy and kept my promises. I didn’t ‘tell’ anyone. After the police and social workers finished with me that day I never saw my bio father again. He and my mother were divorced anyway, so no great loss.
But through that and a series of not accidental events, because I know that all things are used for the good of life, I ended up in a situation where I worked with young people and helped many with home lives that were rough. Even the arrangement of time to work with them was an obvious non accidental event.
Even today, being here in the blog world and meeting new people, encouraging and being encouraged has been another non accidental event out of a life changing event. Good comes out of everything, no matter how bad it is, it only remains a negative influence on me/you if you let it be such.
Yes, that’s what all of us really think about it because it takes away from our writing, but it’s a necessary evil these days, IF you want to intentionally bring people to your blog. You might be surprised about something though. I’ll tell you about that in a moment.
For now I want to talk about gaining followers on Twitter. I know everyone has a way to do it, but this is how I do it. Since I am writing the article, I get to write what I want to. Yeah, I’m being professional now. If you look at my Twitter numbers they are not huge, but I gain an average of 100 a week since I have started and I am not an active go out and get them type. I’m too busy writing.
First off, DON’T PAY for followers. I won’t comment on that any further. If you need me to do so then stop reading now and move on to some other article. Okay I will comment. You don’t pay for followers because they are usually one person with as many as 20,000 accounts. How do I know? I get the Direct Messages in Twitter asking me to buy their follows. I used to. They’ve stopped recently. How many out of that 20,000 followers will buy your book or go to your blog article? You got it, ONE. You want real people who want to follow you.
Why do you need Twitter followers?
This will expand your web presence and bring more people to your blog. Agents and Publishers like a web presence for their authors. The larger the expanse the greater your free advertising for your work and thus the better your chances of getting published. They Google you!
One thing some people will tell you is that when they look at their Twitter numbers for clicks on articles they post they don’t see much response. Some people won’t click a link to save their lives. They right click and open it in a new window or tab. That doesn’t register as a click or as a Twitter hit on your WP stats. How do I know? I’ve tested it. Yes, that’s the 11 years of Data Analysis guy coming out in me from a marketing background.
HOW TO GET FOLLOWERS
1. Tweet your Blog articles properly
Make sure to use the proper hashtags. If you don’t know what a hashtag is it’s the # symbol followed by a word with no spaces. One to be sure to use is #Blogs. #Poetry #Haiku #WritingTips #WriteTips #MondayBlogs #SundayBlogShare are some I use. Simply go to the search field in the top right and type something and see what comes up, like #Friday and see what might matches up with a Friday thing you can use. For Authors you would use things like #Amazon #Kindle #BYNR #Books #Romance. I think you get the idea.
Include a bit of humor or something relevant, so it doesn’t look like you just did an automatic Tweet from your scheduled Blog post. One way to be humorous is with the hasthtags, like I will put how I am feeling at that moment, #FeelingConfuzzled or #IDidNotJustSayThat. It doesn’t mean people are going to search for those hashtags but people out there looking around will see that and just think it’s funny then click favorite or ReTweet (RT) you and then more people see you. Also you can do a little message or something that is kind of your trademark.
2. Go to the hashtags in the Search Field that you are interested in and favorite things you like and even Follow people you find interesting. Some might follow you back. Only do this honestly. You can get crazy with it if you like if you are just after Followers but I wouldn’t recommend it.
3. This is a fairly sneaky way to do it. People to follow if you just want a follower are people with about the same number of followers as followings. This means that they either auto follow back or they just do it themselves when they see it.
4.Put content not from your blog in Tweets just for fun with one good hashtag that is popular and one personal hashtag that’s a bit funny or just your personality, like I mentioned earlier in the first suggestion.
5,Have fun with it. Don’t take this too seriously expecting thousands or even hundreds of overnight Followers. Set a reasonable goal for yourself if you like, make it an average.
6. Don’t get to crazy with it. Don’t go out and just start begging for people to Follow you or look desperate with your attempts at the humor. Just be yourself and let your personality do it for you.
7. Get involved with hashtag wars. One way to let your personality out AND be crazy is in hashtag wars. Look for them in trends on the left hand side or watch your fellow writers’ Tweets. Hashtag wars are when you do something like “#BadBeatlesSongs Help Me I’ve Fallen And I Can’t Get Up” Help is the actual song and you add some crazy stuff to it. It gets you involved and people see you’re not just around for business.
8.ReTweet or RT as they say things you like, especially other professionals. You can make lists inside your Twitter to put people into. I have different lists and one is for people that are good for RT purposes. These are people that have great writing tips, expressions, quotes, or articles I can RT to my Followers. Does it get me more Followers? I’ve seen some people RT my RT and then Follow me.
9. ReTweet or RT great advice from people or Free downloads such as e-books/kindle. I like to RT anytime I run across Free Kindle downloads. Does it get me Followers? I don’t know, but my Followers get a chance to see something they might not be looking for. Also I have ended up with favorites and thanks from the authors offering the free downloads and sometimes they will Follow knowing I do RT like I do. I of course Follow them back.
10. Follow fellow bloggers on Twitter. This isn’t a method really but I often times like to ask a female if it’s okay for me to follow them on Twitter. I don’t want them thinking I am trying to be weird. Even if it’s available on their blog I just sometimes want to make sure depending on the articles I read from them. Some have content that signals they are open to whatever in followers. But some have blogs that I just feel like it is best to ask first. But with people that Follow your Blog take time to see if they have Twitter. Which reminds, me I need to do that soon.
11.If you run upon a WordPress blogger on Twitter you like, follow them in Twitter and WP and mention it in a Tweet to them. Yes you want to be courteous. I am not sure courtesy is a method. It’s just what I like to do.
12.Follow regional people from where you are or like the same team you like. This is a part of having fun and having a personal interest in Twitter outside of it just being business. Sometimes people with a shared connection like this can be your most faithful Followers, because they are not following you just because of a professional reason.
13.Keep your Followers. You are going to lose some Followers so don’t worry about it. Just net gain more than you lose. I like to try to RT and Favorite something from as many of my Followers as I can if I can that is. I don’t do it unless I actually like something though. If I don’t like it I don’t do it. My Twitter policy is based on honesty and courtesy. It is just like my WordPress Following policy. I won’t Follow you unless I like something I’ve read or I like your About page.
The surprising thing I mentioned earlier is how being limited to a certain number of characters challenges your writing. I write poetry, haiku, in Twitter and find it fun. Sometimes I even end up using those poems or thoughts for blog content.
Twitter also allows you to talk to your fellow bloggers freely without doing so on your blog replies. I sometimes will shoot a Direct Message to a friend of something I saw on their content that formatted wrong. Best of all you get to bond with your fellow bloggers.
Whether you are in NaNoWriMo, just starting thinking about writing, or wondered how authors came up with their ideas, here are a few ways we do it. My article on LitWorldInterviews.
You have a goal to write a novel. Perhaps you want to do so in one month’s time. You are pumped and ready to go. You sit down at your keyboard and
You got it, nothing happens. Blank. Headache. Pit level feeling of nausea. Despair.
I know of what I speak. I think I just proved that. What do do about it.
How to come up with a book idea.
Thousands of books are unleashed upon the world every day. Therefore there must be thousands of ideas floating around out there somewhere. But you want yours to be original and not a copy of someone else. I get that, I really do. I actually avoid reading at times because I want my story to be my story.
How do I come up with ideas?
I’ve written perhaps . . . well we’ll say in the double digit numbers of books…
Yes, it’s NaNoWriMo time. So what am I doing instead of working feverishly away at a novel? Why I am here with a tip about writing away feverishly at a novel.
I had fun announcing my entry into NaNoWriMo. I like to play around with the fear factor. Yes, I am a little nervous, never having participated before, but I’m okay. I got the know how and stuff and great people to help along the way. It’s just getting used to the what to do on the site I have to deal with. But that doesn’t mean I am not going to help any of you that want to write, NaNo or not.
So here are my writing tips for today.
Stop With an Idea.
I wrote about this quite some time ago in an article about how to avoid writer’s block. I thought it would be a good idea to rehash it now.
One quick and simple tip, okay two.
Don’t stop writing at the end of a chapter
When you stop at the end, it’s kind of the end. Yes you have a cliffhanger, most likely, but then you stop, your energy is spent. You walk away from it, don’t do that!
That leads to tip two.
Leave yourself with an idea for tomorrow
Don’t write until you are out of ideas for the day. Stop short. You have a great scene you are doing, perhaps you are coming up on the cliff hanger ending to a chapter. Stop. When you come back the next time you have that cliffhanger to write and then you have the energy to write on through the beginning of the next and then however long you feel like it. Just always stop with an idea in your head. Don’t walk away empty headed. Always have an idea to come back to and an idea to play around in your head while you are away.
Several people had asked me about this odd sounding thing. Me? Where would I find the time? I am not really that good a writer. I call myself a hack. I can write short pieces. But a full novel? Then, here I am in the middle of a Fibro Flare and they catch me. I entered.
50,000 words in 30 days? A novel?
Why pray tell am I even mentioning this?
Because I may be scared scarce around here for a bit. You know me though, I’ll be here just as much, the idiot that I am. I just don’t know when to quit. I’ll be perhaps sharing my exploits in the NaNoWriMo Zone with all of you. Wish me luck and an increase in the dosage of my medications, I actually have an appointment tomorrow and very likely this will happen as they try to find a maintenance level. What good timing.
Me, doing NaNoWriMo. What have I gotten myself into?
I believe that procrastination is always caused by fear – not laziness. I’ve always really wondered with what ears we hear our inner voice. That’s assuming that all of us humans operate pretty much the same way and have these little guys yammering away at us all day long about one thing or another. I’ve also always wondered why my particular inner voice is sometimes as harsh as it is. I think that that little nag in your head that says things like – Why on earth would you think you could write a book? Why are you such a lazy sod? You should have written two thousand words by now – slacker! You’ll always be mediocre, because you never finish what you start – because it’s trying to protect you from failure, ridicule, and pain.
Most of our fears and general weirdnesses really do stem from our childhood. Thank…
Today we visit Belgium for a look at comic creators from around the world.
Born in Belgium Charlier was a writer who later died in France. During his lifetime he created one of the most dominant comic series of the 1960s throughout Europe. Along with French artist Jea
n “Moebius” Giraud, he created Blueberry (1965-1990), a western comic set in the American West with an atypical cowboy hero. He wasn’t a lawman or out to get the girl. He happened to be in a place at a time and did what needed done. “When I was traveling throughout the West, I was accompanied by a fellow journalist who was just in love with blueberry jam, so much in love, in fact, that I had nicknamed him “Blueberry”. When I began to create the new series, and everything started to fall into place, I decided to reuse my friend’s nickname, because I liked it and thought it was funny. […] I had no idea that he would prove so popular that he would eventually take over the entire series, and later we would be stuck with that silly name!“~Charlier. He had been sent to Edward Air Force Base on assignment.
Hergé was born in 1907 and passed away in 1983 in Belgium. He is seen as the pioneer of a style of drawing in comics called ligne claire or clear line. Although an artist he was also a writer. His art worked with his writing to create the stories he told. 
Pierre Culliford was born in 1928 in Brussels and passed away in 1992 in Brussels. Belgian from beginning to end. Why Peyo? A cousin mispronounced his name and I guess he liked it. He first worked for an animation studio but when it shut its doors he wasn’t accepted by another place that took his friends in. Thus began a career in print.
While working for Le Soir, a newspaper, he created Johan. Later when hired for Spirou published by the same company, Dupuis, that had refused to hire him before, he continued Johan as Johan and Peewit. This was in 1952.
In 1958 a creation came about in Johan and Peewit that would become cultural phenomenon in the future. The first Smurf was introduced. The Smurfs became so popular Peyo started his own studio.
. I guess you thought I was English because of the way my name is spelt, yeah? Well, OK, I’ll take that strike away 
then, after all it is the English spelling of Hugh I use and not the Welsh spelling as Huw Edwards uses. My parents have a lot to answer for on that one.
d to be a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. I suppose with us both being Welsh, we had to have a Welsh dog, but it was when John first saw one at Crufts, that he had to get one. What we did not know is that these dogs are on the vulnerable breeds lists here in the UK, with less than 100 being born every year. Originally they were bred for herding cattle and I 
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