Starting at the Beginning

Quick note, I'd like to apologize for not posting on the day that I said I would, but I've recently got my first job at a fast food restaurant and was working all day on Saturday and Sunday. Now moving on!

Being a beginning writer you want to wade into the publishing world and not jump in with a book right away. You can try, but as for me, I have a plan of building up to that. The plan is that while I'm still living at home with my parents and don't need money to support myself in the real world yet, that I'll start with publishing for no money, just to get my name out there and hopefully somewhat noticed. Then when I'm ready to start publishing for money hopefully then magazines will want to pay me. After that try for novels. I think it's a well thought out plan and I'm finally starting.

I've so far submitted a story to the magazines, Danse Macabre and Inwood Indiana Press, I've also submitted three poems to the magazine, NAP. We'll see how well the poems go because I don't really like them at all and know for sure I'm not a poet, just thought I would try.

The process of submitting your work, so far seems pretty simple, though we'll see how well I did it. So you have to usually write a Cover Letter (a website I found useful in case like me this'll be your first one and you don't know how: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-write-cover-letters-short-story-submissions-358314.html?cat=44) to go with your submission. Then  you'd copy and paste your story into the correct area. WARNING: Be sure to read the magazines submission guidelines, most should have them somewhere on their website and you should read all of it because each magazine is different. They also suggest on the magazine's website that you read some of their latest entries to be sure for yourself if the story you're submitting, or your style, would fit into their magazine. 

So far this is all the advice for you who are in the same boat as me that I have. I'll let you know on the outcome of my submissions and if you have any advice for me on the process of beginning publishing I would very much appreciate it. You can leave your advice in the comments below.

                                                 Don't give up,

                                                            Gypsy Ink

Your Voice

As a writer you have what we call a "voice". Your voice is the arrangement of certain words that creates the personality of a character, but also the feel of the narrative. For example, putting the words "rather" and "not at all" into a sentence could create a more pompous or intelligent feel to the narration. Though I'm not saying that intelligent people are pompous.


Example sentences:


When Lady Eclaire got back, she found her house a disarrayed state and she was not in a very happy mood.


When Lady Eclaire got back, she found her house in a rather disarrayed state and she was not in a very happy mood, not at all.


So you see just by adding a few certain words I have taken a somewhat okay sentence that would fit into this story and made it work very well indeed. 

Though, don't get me wrong, I am not an expert BY FAR in this field because I'm still messing around with what I want my voice as a writer to be. One thing I do recommend, mostly because I hear many people say this to me, is that when you're in the same boat as I am, that you should read, Read, READ! Because when you're experimenting with the voice that you will be using in the future it doesn't just come to you in a lighting bolt struck down from Zeus himself. Oh, no. It's a collage of others' voices put together in a new way that describes you. 


It's like technology. Thomas Edison, and shoot me down now if I got this wrong, created the light bulb which was very basic compared to technology today and was also the basis of the technology we now use today. Our technology didn't just come out of nowhere, it was inspired by another machine or idea that predates our inventors' time.


And so, dear gypsies, if you're out there, and even if you're not a writer, if you're trying to find your voice or style, or technique; look at someone else's, the classics of your field, and draw on them to create your own unique voice.


                                                             Keep searching,
                                                                    Gypsy Ink

Sorry for the disappearance

So I would like to apologize to any of you who have been following this blog before my disappearance. Sorry to say that it wasn't for travelling around like our dear friends the gypsies, but instead because life at school (high school, senior year, to be exact) had caught up to me. I also believe that I was adding to many things for me to do before I even got the hang of writing a blog. Oh ambition, what would I do without you?

Anyway, hope you who were there before are still here, though I very much doubt it. I'm just going to say that now that the whole graduation fiasco is over I will be resuming my blogging, though with some changes. Starting now I'll be posting at least once a week, let's make the deadline on Saturdays. Also I will be removing the "Inspiration of the week" and "Challenges" pieces for awhile, until I have gotten used to writing a blog which may take awhile.

I would like to say thank you to those who have stayed with me thus far. I'm sorry again for me checking out of my blog, but here I am ready to re-start! Thank you all, and sorry again. I hope you enjoy the hopefully new style and journey this blog will soon be taking.

Inspiration: Week 2

I would first like to say Merry Christmas!/Happy Hanuka!/Happy Yule! and I hope your holidays are going exceedingly well. Now onto business.

I was browsing through my Facebook page when I noticed my friend put up a link for "The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011". Naturally, I clicked on it and started looking, some were powerful, beautiful, others sad and kind of disturbing. Now when I came to the last picture, picture 45, that one made me smile and I couldn't stop looking at it, I haven't written a story or anything to fit it, but it did give me an idea. So here's the picture and I hope it gives you even more Holiday cheer.

The description from the website, http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011:

"A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan."

To think that a little boy would high-five a US solider and smile so widely when everything around them is destruction. This is true Christmas spirit, to still be so happy and friendly when your world is not. Take this and either write a story about something it reminds you of, or apply it to your life.

                                             Happy Holidays,

                                                   Gypsy Ink

Inspiration: Week 1

I would first like to say Merry Christmas!/Happy Hanuka!/Happy Yule! and I hope your holidays are going exceedingly well. Now onto business.

I was browsing through my Facebook page when I noticed my friend put up a link for "The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011". Naturally, I clicked on it and started looking, some were powerful, beautiful, others sad and kind of disturbing. Now when I came to the last picture, picture 45, that one made me smile and I couldn't stop looking at it, I haven't written a story or anything to fit it, but it did give me an idea. So here's the picture and I hope it gives you even more Holiday cheer.

The description from the website, http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011:

"A U.S. Army soldier takes five with an Afghan boy during a patrol in Pul-e Alam, a town in Logar province, eastern Afghanistan."

To think that a little boy would high-five a US solider and smile so widely when everything around them is destruction. This is true Christmas spirit, to still be so happy and friendly when your world is not. Take this and either write a story about something it reminds you of, or apply it to your life.

                                             Happy Holidays,

                                                   Gypsy Ink

New Comings Announcements

So it's kind of early for this announcement, but I'm just too excited to keep it in any more. I've had a couple ideas for this blog that I was going to start after New Years, but these ideas were, that along with the every week posting, I'll also include a weekly challenge, and give you a picture, song, ect. that has been my inspiration that week.


I would also like to point out that if you're having troubles with a story and/or have writer's block you can always leave questions below in the comments and I'll answer them in my next post. And I may ask for your help as well, so please answer in the comments below too. 


So lets test this comment thing. The current question standing is:
Along with all these new comings on this blog, would you also like to see me preform critiquing books I read? (and you can suggest books for me to read too, and I'll try my best to read all your suggestions, but if there gets to be a lot it may take a while)

Artists/The Weird People

This week I'm going to talk about artist, who are also known as "The weird people" to many. Now I'm not saying all "the weird people" in the world are artists, but I bet most of you can agree with me that all artists are weird in some way. Even the conservative artists are weird because it's weird for an artist to be conservative. This isn't a bad thing at all so please don't press that red "x" button like I know some of you are thinking about quite yet.
Here are my reasons why artists or "the weird people" in the world are a positive thing, why it's not bad to one. 


1) We bring smiles to peoples' faces (ex: since Christmas/Yule/Hanukah/whatever it is that your religion celebrate this time of year is coming up, I decided to wear my elf hat. Now it's not that horribly weird, but when you put me in my elf hat in a school with over a thousand other students who aren't, it is pretty weird. Anyways that day as I walked down the halls of my high school I saw almost everyone smile. Now they could've been smiles that were laughing at me or with me, but either way a smile is a smile no matter what the ulterior motives are)


2)We give the world color (ex: If you think about it creativity is the emotions of the world. We, as artists/weird people, express how we feel in new and exciting ways and if there weren't any artists/weird people to express emotions for others, our world would be dull, everyone would have a blank face, keep their emotions bottled up, and their would be no way to describe. It's the difference between "you know that emotion you get when tears fall from your eyes?" and

"Every minute slow and
painful, falling deaf to my silent cry..
I wait impatiently for a day that will never
come..

I want to awake from the despair of
this iniquity..

My sole is empty.." - A House Without a Home, http://rosebryer.tripod.com/id21.html

3)Without us the world would be primitive (ex: When Galileo said that the Sun was the center of the universe, not earth. When Benjamin Franklin preforming his lighting/kite experiment which has been followed by the invention of the battery. The legend of the vampire (I don't actually know where this originated from or who it was, but I'll let you know when I do) without that we wouldn't have some of the greatest books, Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, TWILIGHT REALLY ISN'T ONE OF THEM THOSE ARE OVER SIZED FAIRIES WITHOUT WINGS, and many, many more.)

So you see gypsies, we maybe called weird, but this is a good thing! Next time someone calls you weird smile at them, say "Thank you", maybe even give them a hug. For without us weirdos, and especially us artists, the world would a floating dead rock with absolutely no life on it! 

                                         BE PROUD!!!

                                    Gypsy Ink