writing-the-words

[writing-the-words]

New Blog: MarinaProse.tumblr.com

Hello! 

I’m moving my blog over to MarinaProse.tumblr.com as a part of a re-branding project I’m working on to further develop my professional writing career. 

You may have noticed a lot of my links are not working these days. This is due to a dispute with Godaddy involving my URL (the price went up a lot and I couldn’t keep it). My first project is getting all the writing advice links to work for you again! 

I’ve changed website platforms and I am building out whole new website featuring: 

New Writing Tips Affordable Writing Retreats Writing Advice Articles  Travel Guides & Poems 

and more! 

Please join me over at @marinaprose !

#creative writing #spilled ink #how to write #writing advice #writer #writing 101

[writing-the-words]

I just realized I forgot to share this with y’all. I wrote this Avatar fanfiction like a year ago. 

Final Days - An Avatar the Last Airbender Fanfiction 

Witness brief moments in the lives of three women following the end of the war.

Rated: Fiction T  Language: English Genre: Hurt/Comfort Characters: Katara, Toph, Mai Chapters: 9 Words: 11,223 

#fanfiction #avatar: the last airbender #fanfic #katara #mai #toph #avatar tla #writing #My writing

[writing-the-words]

Hi! I really appreciate the work you put into this blog! Your writing tips are sooo helpful. I have a short story from a school project last year that I'm interested in turning into a longer book. What would your main tips be? I still have all my notes from last year (perks of being a bit ocd), but I can never write long chapters without a load of fluff. I think that's my main problem. Anyway, please get back to.me when you can. Again, thanks so much!

Do NaNoWriMo this year! National Novel Writing Month starts November first, and the goal is to just get yourself started! For now, let your goal be to just get started and get moving. You can always go back and edit / cut out fluff later on. Let me know if you end up doing it and we can be writing buddies on the site! 

[writing-the-words]

Vote & Reblog Please!

A poem of mine has been nominated for a prize. Please vote if you have a minute! The poem is "Battle of Seasons" by Marina Montenegro http://edifyfiction.com/vote 

Thank you! 

#poet #writer #support artists #lgbt poet #latinx poet #poetry #spilled ink #writing #vote

[writing-the-words]

Big News!

My poem, “Battle of Seasons”, has been nominated for the “Best Poetry” contest by Edify Fiction. You can read the “Best of the Best” issue at this link: http://online.anyflip.com/lxwv/znqh/mobile/index.html

Then, be sure to follow this link to vote for my poem to win. You can find my poem in the “Poetry” section (Battle of Seasons - Marina Montenegro), and you do not have to fill out the other sections in order to vote. Just your name and email are required: http://www.edifyfiction.com/vote.html

#poetry #poem #spilled ink #poet #vote #my poem #my writing #writer #writers of tumblr #support artists #support writers #writing

[writing-the-words]

“When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out I am brave, I am bruised I am who I’m meant to be, this is me”

#feminism #feminist #me too #times up #times out #womens rights #strong women

[writing-the-words]

“When the sharpest words wanna cut me down I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out I am brave, I am bruised I am who I'm meant to be, this is me”

#this is now #this is me #times up #me too #feminist #feminism #femme #no means no #yes means yes #the greatest showmen

[writing-the-words]

We Have Something AMAZING coming your way in 5 minutes!

We are so excited to have been invited to be one of the first to see the #ThisIsNow video coming out TONIGHT! We’ll be sharing the video any minute so stay tuned and get ready to share! I promise this is going to be amazing - we can’t wait!  

#music video #feminist #upcoming #exciting #feminism #me too

[writing-the-words]

Savannah is stunning <3 

#travel #savannah #travel writer #travel poet #what i wore #see savannah #travel usa

[writing-the-words]

Please take a moment out of your day to vote! 

It takes only a few seconds! Please Vote! 

“Battle of Seasons” by Marina Montenegro 

You do not have to fill out the other sections. Please vote and share!!

Big News!

My poem, “Battle of Seasons”, has been nominated for the “Best Poetry” contest by Edify Fiction. You can read the “Best of the Best” issue at this link: http://online.anyflip.com/lxwv/znqh/mobile/index.html

Then, be sure to follow this link to vote for my poem to win. You can find my poem in the “Poetry” section (Battle of Seasons - Marina Montenegro), and you do not have to fill out the other sections in order to vote. Just your name and email are required: http://www.edifyfiction.com/vote.html

#vote #poetry #spilled ink #poems #share #reblog #poet #writer

[writing-the-words]

“Maybe I’m Not As Good As I Thought I Was”

Self doubt hits hard. This month has been tough for me. I’ve put a lot into my writing, and I haven’t gotten a lot out of it. I wrote new pieces, sent out over 50 submissions to let magazines, buckled down on my social media profiles to expand my reach, and I have little to show for it. Success doesn’t come easy, but it doesn’t come hard either. No matter how much hard work I put in, I can still fail. It can be so hard to keep my chin up and keep going. I didn’t want to write a blog post this week. With 5 new rejection letters sitting in my inbox, I thought, ‘who am I to give writing advice’? 

The answer is: I’m a writer. And failure is part of the job. 

Anyone can write. It takes a writer to write, submit, suffer rejection, edit, revise, submit again, get rejected again, and keep on going. Sure, it’s been a few weeks (erm, months) since I wrote something that I thought was A+ material, but I don’t have to produce a masterpiece once a week. There’s no deadline on my writing talents. The important thing is to keep going, and keep trying. 

This week’s blog post may be more of a peptalk to myself than actual writing advice, but my message to myself is one that I want to share with you as well: Keep Writing. We will get there.

Lots of love,  Marina Montenegro

Find more writing advice on: Writing the Words Blog Follow us on FACEBOOK & TWITTER or consider showing your support on Patreon

#writing #writer #how to write #writing advice #motivation monday #write #just keep writing #spilled ink #ramblings

[writing-the-words]

Big News!

My poem, "Battle of Seasons", has been nominated for the "Best Poetry" contest by Edify Fiction. You can read the "Best of the Best" issue at this link: http://online.anyflip.com/lxwv/znqh/mobile/index.html

Then, be sure to follow this link to vote for my poem to win. You can find my poem in the "Poetry" section (Battle of Seasons - Marina Montenegro), and you do not have to fill out the other sections in order to vote. Just your name and email are required: http://www.edifyfiction.com/vote.html

#vote #poetry #spilled ink #my poem #writing #writer #poet

[writing-the-words]

Today’s Mood

#writer #writing #writing mood #writing vibes #writing blog

[writing-the-words]

Writing Genres 101

One big mistake a new writer can make is not considering the genre they are working in. Perhaps we might think the genre doesn’t really matter, or that it’ll be obvious by the time we are done writing, but in reality, you’ll want to know your genre when it comes time to market your book. Pitching your story to agents or publishers without a clear genre is going to hurt you in the long run, so defining your genre early on will help your book down the road. Plus, your readers will want to know where to find your book on the shelf. You’ll want to keep your genre in mind as you write to make sure you are able to define your book correctly. 

When to Choose 

Maybe you will figure it out later, but it’s best to have an idea what genre you are aiming for before you start. That doesn’t mean you can’t change your decision later! The big thing is that you want to make sure that you deliver on what you promise, so if you are saying your book is one genre, you want the tone and setting of your book to reflect that. Your reader isn’t here for the other genre and it’s off putting. Of course, there’s always the advice that you should write for yourself and not for your reader, but we also want to have marketable books. 

How to Choose

Deciding which genre you are in can either be very easy, or very difficult. For some stories, as soon as you have the idea, you’ll know. An axe-throwing heir to the throne must defeat her evil brother and his pet dragon in order to take her place as Queen? Sounds like it’ll be fantasy. A police officer hunting down a serial killer in outer space with a comedic and incredibly attractive partner at his side - is it sci-fi? crime? romance? comedy? You’ll need to decide and make sure that your decision lines up with the tone you set. 

Post by: Marina Montenegro Find more writing advice on: Writing the Words Blog Follow us on FACEBOOK & TWITTER or consider showing your support on Patreon

#writing #writing advice #how to write #spilled ink #genre #novel #author #novelist #writer

[writing-the-words]

Writing Advice Master List

Getting Started

Bad Habits of Beginning Writers Creating Writing Habits Prewriting 101 Returning to Old Works Setting Up Your Space Starting Again (if you’ve stopped) Where to Start Writing the Beginning Writing What You Don’t Know 5 Truths About Being A Writer

Career as a Writer

Making Money Writing for a Living

Characters:

Character Building Character Quirks Non-Binary Characters Religious Characters Writing A Hero Writing Non-Humans Writing Women 5 Ways to Name Your Character 5 More Ways to Name Your Character 7 Steps to Character Creation

Dialogue:

Dialogue Improving Dialogue: Eliminate Exposition

FanFiction

Fanfiction 101

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo Tips & Tricks for NaNoWriMo 3 Tips for NaNo

Planning & Outlines

How to Start Outlining Is My Idea Good Enough? Research Should you Outline? 7 Things to Do Before You Start

Plot:

Details Fight Scenes Sequels Sex Scenes Sexual Assault in Literature Story Arcs

Poetry

Editing Poetry Reading Poetry 5 Quick Poetry Tips

Publishing:

Choosing a Title Rejection Letters Social Media When and Where to Publish

Romance:

LGB Relationships Romantic Subplots Writing a Romance Novel

Setting:

Description When Setting Really Matters

World Building:

Creating Another Species Creating World Maps World Building 101 World Building 201

Other

Editing Making Time to Write Point Of View Prologues Why I Write Writers Block Writing with Sound 5 Signs You Treat Your Reader Like an Idiot

#writing advice #how to write #masterpost #masterlist #writing #spilled ink #poetry #novels #authors #writers #fanfiction

[writing-the-words]

Florence, on a budget

Highlights

Watching the sunset from Piazza di Michelangelo 

Shopping in the Leather Market

Day trip to see Tuscany

Exploring the Giardino delle Rose

Eat at…

Il Pizzaiuolo - (Everyone in my group agreed - best pizza of the trip! I also loved their pasta and wine. Plus it’s affordable!)

Il Barrino - *Splurge Night* (Although it is a pricier dinner, we recommend this place for an affordable, full Tuscan meal. We started with the “Traditional Tuscan Appetizer”, then had Pappa al Pomodoro, and finally finished off with the Florentine Steak - Florence is known for it’s steaks, so it’s well worth the price!). 

Stay At...

Air B&B - always a great way to find cheap places to stay. 

Hotel Grifone - starting at 58 euros for a room. The rooms were clean, nice showers, lovely view (see below!). The wifi was not great, but it worked. Plus, free breakfast! 

Things to Do

Grab a bottle of wine and head up to the Piazza di Michelangelo to watch the sunset. 

Stop and smell the roses in the Giardino delle Rose. 

Day Trip: a full day tour (including lunch and a wine tasting) of Tuscany stopping at Siena, San Gimignano and Monteriggioni. Everyone in my group agreed this trip was one of their favorite things we did! Total cost: 63 euro (this includes the tour, lunch, & wine tasting - plus the transportation from Florence and around Tuscany). We booked with Ciaoflorence. (photo of San Gimignano below!) 

Eat gelato! This delicious treat can be found anywhere in the city, but I especially loved Gelateria Ermini B. & Figli Snc. 

Other Notes:

Get Mobike before you go! If you are heading to Florence, download the “Mobike” app before you go and activate it. These bikes are a great way to travel around the city - it’s only 50 cents for every 20 minutes you are riding! You can find out more about Mobike on their website, but I highly recommend Mobike as the way to travel around Florence! 

#travel #florence #italy #see the world #wanderlust #travel guide #i love italy #eurotrip #travel on a budget #what i recommend #mobike #ciaoflorence

[writing-the-words]

Developing a New Book Idea

We’ve talked before about “Is my idea good enough?” - which is a concern every writer faces. When you do finally have an idea that won’t leave you alone - well, then what? 

Ditch the Doubt

Don’t waste your time wondering if the book idea will sell. Is it marketable? Is it interesting enough? Am I talented enough to pull it off? Honestly, who knows! You can chase the hype train of whatever is popular these days, but at the end of the day - you deserve to write the story that you love, and only you can do that. 

Focus on actually writing the story first. You can worry about how to sell the book later. One thing at a time! 

Get Going 

If you have your idea ready to go, the best thing you can do is get started. Chances are you are going to get stuck - and that’s okay! Get writing and do your best. Make a special note of what you love about this idea - that’ll be helpful down the line when it gets tough! Get as much down as you can. Once you get stuck, you’re on to the next step! 

Dig Deeper

Maybe you want to outline, or you want to build up your characters. If you are writing in the sci-fi, fantasy, or dystopian genre, you might have to world build some more, or else you should probably research whatever else you are talking about (a setting, a character’s career, etc). 

At this point, you want to make sure you have some semblance of a plot, including conflict, and some general characters including a protagonist and antagonist (in general). 

Find out what is slowing you down or holding you back, and start making notes, plans, and outlines. Once you have the idea filled out a bit more, you’re ready to jump back in there! 

Editing 

The hardest part about “jump back in there”, in my experience, is that you probably already put a ton of work in just jotting down  your idea to begin with. The “Get Going” step is exhausting, and now you are stuck. Do you go back and just start from scratch now that you  have all these fancy new notes? Or do you pick up where you left off and hope things come together? My advice is always to save the editing for later. There is no point in editing your work if you don’t finish it. Finish writing first, then you can go back and edit the mess. A first draft is never going to be good, no matter how many times you pause writing to go over it. The best thing you can do is actually produce that first draft. 

(You can find more on editing here). 

The main point I want to emphasis is: Get that first draft. It’s okay if it’s not good yet. It’s okay if no one wants to buy it. The important thing is that once you have a first draft, you have a place to start. 

Best of luck and happy writing!

Post by: Marina Montenegro Find more writing advice on: Writing the Words Blog Follow us on FACEBOOK & TWITTER or consider showing your support on Patreon

#writing #spilled ink #how to write #novelist #write #writer #editing #new idea #book idea #novel idea #plot bunny #finding nemo #kristen stewart #tina fey #the simpsons #writing advice