What I Learned From… Adversity
by Saladin Akara on April 7, 2009
in Group Writing Projects
This is the first group write project I’m taking part in. The “What I Learned From…” groupwrite is a monthly project by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings and the Adversity theme is outlined here.
So, why do these? For a few reasons:
Firstly, it will be a challenge to me as a writer and will [...] Continue Reading…
Disbelief? Suspend it!
by Saladin Akara on April 6, 2009
in General Writing, Hints and Tips
Following on from my previous post on realism, I was reading an article by Vicki Hinze on the Fiction Factor website. It discusses suspension of disbelief when writing fiction.
But, what is this idea of suspending disbelief? It’s all about making your readers be able to believe that what you are writing is, or could [...] Continue Reading…
My First E-publication
by Saladin Akara on April 5, 2009
in General, General Writing, Roleplaying
Having seen George Angus’ review of the e-book publishing service Smashwords over at Tumblemoose Writing Services, I knew I just had to give it a try. E-books, while still only making up a very tiny percentage of book sales, are a growing industry. The proliferation of such gadgets as the Sony Reader and the [...] Continue Reading…
Twitter As a Writing Tool
by Saladin Akara on April 3, 2009
in General, General Writing
For the past two or three weeks, I’ve been getting myself involved with Twitter for the first time. It’s certainly an interesting beast: 140 characters to get your message across. Anything from what you are doing at any given moment, to chatting with other Twitters in the ‘Twitterverse.’ Think of a heavily simplified Facebook [...] Continue Reading…
Writing in Collaboration
by Saladin Akara on April 2, 2009
in General Writing
A couple of days ago I was discussing with a few people over on Roleplay Gateway about an idea to write something collaboratively, but with a slight twist on the usual roleplaying basis. The main jist of the idea can be found here and a thread for discussion here.
Essentially, myself and four other writers [...] Continue Reading…
Critiques: A Writer’s Best Tool?
by Saladin Akara on March 31, 2009
in General Writing, Hints and Tips
Jamie over at How Not To Write wrote an interesting article on Sunday about receiving a critique from an external service, and his view on the critique given was certainly enlightening.
It can be difficult at times to take criticism. To be told that something we have spent time, effort, sweat and maybe even blood [...] Continue Reading…
Reality in Fiction
by Saladin Akara on March 27, 2009
in General Writing
Browsing through a website designed for fiction writers like myself, I found an interesting article about the use of horses. This got me thinking about my own writing and that of others. Despite writing fiction, we must remember that certain rules still exist.
Whether the world we are writing is full of vampires, demons, elves, [...] Continue Reading…
Young Writers and Confidence
by Saladin Akara on March 19, 2009
in General Writing, Roleplaying
The past couple of days, I’ve been catching up on the blog archives of Joanna Young’s Confident Writing blog, which centres around developing confidence in writing. This got me thinking about the numerous young writers I see on various roleplaying forums.
It can certainly be intimidating to join a writing community where there are more [...] Continue Reading…
The First Step
by Saladin Akara on March 19, 2009
in General
This is the first step of my journey as a writer. My first blog entry! I’d like to thank primarily Joanna Young over at Confident Writing for inspiring me to actually write a blog.
The purpose of this blog is to document my progresion as a writer. My thoughts, inspirations, problems (writer’s block and what [...] Continue Reading…