Hollingsworth

H ello all my faithful, little dragons! (That was weird...anyhow...) 2019 is just around the corner, and I've decided to be cheesy, fit the new year mood, and discuss something I've been thinking of lately. Basically, expanding this forum.  Photo by  PANDA COM  on  Unsplash Although this blog has only existed since February (or was it August? Big time gap, I know...) I think Hollingsworth has become a little...erm, stagnant for me.  A few reasons why:  For one, I haven't written anything myself for nearly a year. I had a story I'd been working on for years. I probably overworked it; it felt bony and raw and I set it aside with every intention of coming back to it. Well...we all know how that went down. It's basically dead now, and I can't see myself coming back to it unless I revamp everything (which I do have some small, fugitive hopes of doing).  Secondly, but no less important, I don't want to only be a source of advice. I do lo

I 'm not sure how to say this without sounding real creepy, but...I like torture. Of course, I know that in real life, torturing is a very awful, cowardly act, but in fiction...I have no excuses. It's just awesome.  Photo by  Bryson Hammer  on  Unsplash Why?   Part of the reason tortures are so great (in any way shape or form--some sort of extremely challenging conflict) is because they test all the good qualities in a character.  Strength, passion, morals, you name it.  When the character goes through some sort of torture, all of this is put to the test. Their grit and all they care for. Hitting rock bottom and breaching the breaking point just proves how far a hero is willing to go or how much they are willing to sacrifice.   SO LET'S BEGIN! (do not's: 1-4, do's: 1-5) Do Not:  1. PROLONGED:  I enjoy suffering as much as the next...author. But what gets annoying is when the torture scene is too long or the description is too extensive. And like

A s a writer, I can truly say that one thing I hate doing most of all is letting go of projects I've held onto for a while--even if they can technically be considered 'dead' projects. Even if I haven't touched them in a few months. It's hard, man.  Photo by  Bookblock  on  Unsplash I think I speak for the majority of creative writers when I say I don't like letting go of things. But today I'm gonna talk about how and why letting go can become necessary. Why It's Hard to Let Go (So so many reasons. ) -You become attached to the characters -You are truly in love with many aspects of the story -You may have some vague wish to revive it -You've been working on it for so long and have spent so much time/creativity/etc on it -You might feel like a failure if you don't go through with the project -You feel pressured from other people (maybe friends/early audience) to finish and carry through even if the project is NOT going the way

S o. Romance.To be honest, this is not my strong point. However, I got quite a few requests from people to put up a post like this. So these are just going to be my raw thoughts on fictional romances. Photo by  Chungkuk Bae  on  Unsplash *This was a commissioned post*  I've never had a particular affinity to writing them, and I sort of despise romance novels. Writing friendships? Oooh yeah, nailed it. Magic? Yes. Gore? HECK YES. But.....romance. Igh.  However, when I get the luxury of reading a well-written fictional romance...Let the squealing begin. The gist is, it's not easy to nail. Not in fiction, not in film and definitely not in real life. But here are some tips that will hopefully point you on the right track.  Tips  (* do not's: 1-6, do's: 7-12*)  1. DO NOT: THE DOORMAT: It doesn't really make for a good romance. Either person being a doormat isn't necessarily 'cute' or 'sweet' or anything. It turns into something where th

W e all know that writing is tough. Transferring words from your brain to your computer screen or notebook is the most difficult short distance travel probably ever. However, there are a few things that writers should NOT rely on. Photo by  Oli Dale  on  Unsplash Hello, friends! Today we're going to talk negative: things you should NOT rely on during the writing process. Things that become crutches to your creativity.  1. CHARACTER BANKS . NO. Absolutely 100% no. I've often used a name generator when I couldn't come up with a name, and that's fine. But character banks are like underdeveloped names and characteristics thrown together and pulled out of a recycling bin. I believe that authentic and unique characters are really essential to a story and character banks just don't deliver that. 2. INSPIRATION . Ya'll should know how I feel about this one! :) Inspiration is absolutely amazing! However, it IS sporadic and relying on inspiration alone will

I t's the last day of August. I always preferred autumn to summer. However, I believe autumn has a disadvantage in this respect: the beginning of the school year.  Photo by  rawpixel  on  Unsplash (I have similar posts to this  here  and  here ) Not that I have anything against education (hehehe)! But the school year carries a whole variety of things to stress out about. (Especially if you're about to graduate...) What classes should I be taking? Will I have any time to write? What if I can't keep up with the homework? What if I need to put my writing aside ALL YEAR? How am I going to have enough time to do all I want to do? Will I be able to get a job? What if I fail all my tests? What if I fail the SAT? Where should I go to college? WHAT IF I FAIL AT LIFE?!? Here are 10 tips on how to slip into the school year stress-free (and how to balance writing on the side). (Disclaimer: I am not a professional. I speak from experience. However, what works for me migh

A s you may have seen in the title, this is the second book in Mr. Snicket's four-book series, All The Wrong Questions . After finishing the second book (and, yes...IT ENDS IN A CLIFFHANGER!), I was pretty desperate to get my hands on the second.  This review is spoiler free and based on personal opinion.  Summary  Following the events at the end of the first book, we continue to follow the almost-thirteen-year-old Lemony Snicket through his adventures. The mystery of the Bombinating Beast remains unsolved, and now the plot thickens! A girl goes missing and it is up to Snicket to find her. He comes across many strange things including, a creepy apothecary, no root beer, a brilliant chemist, laudanum, honeydew melons, a mess of hair and a woman who is good with knives.  Author: Lemony Snicket  Genre : Fiction/Mystery   Ages: 12+ (reading level) Rating: 5/5  I am rarely disappointed with Lemony Snicket's books, and All The Wrong Questions, Book 2 is no

I recently had a post suggestion/request on life and happiness and how to tie that in with writing. As a writer this was something I just kind of assumed or felt but never really thought out. After all, we all expect to be happy when we're pursuing a passion. Photo by  Max Rovensky  on  Unsplash This is a little different than my usual posts. So here's the thing:  If you are a writer , or a dancer, a content creator or artist of any kind, chances are you probably derive a certain joy in pursuing that art.  And LIKELY you've experienced certain times/situations where what you're doing is not fulfilling the joy you're expecting to get from something that you love to do.  This is frustrating. 1) Because something you love is not working out for you and 2) You begin to doubt whether you truly love it or not.  What follows? Your happiness or contentedness gets disrupted.  I went through a writing bump awhile ago . A LONG writing bump. It began to make

A s a writer, I have a fondness for weird and whacky words. There's just something interesting about a funny-sounding wonderful word.  Photo by  Art Lasovsky  on  Unsplash Of course, narrative cannot be built off of weird words. It's usually advisable to go simpler. But every once in awhile it's fun to throw in a whacky word to give it a pop of color. Here are twenty weird and wonderful words:  (The list is not in alphabetical order.) 1. Effervescent: a liquid/substance that is fizzy or gives off bubbles. (Ex: He never will have suspected that effervescent liquid is an acidic poison.) 2.  Compendium: collection of detailed information on something. ( Ex: She offered him a large compendium packed to the brim with scribbled notes...)   3. Constabulary : a term for all the constables in an area. :D (Ex: "If you're going to go, then you'd better do it! We've upturned the constabulary!!")  4. Calaboose : a weird, Victorian

W hen I edit other people's work, the number one thing that wave red flags at me is second-rate dialogue.  Photo by  Danielle MacInnes  on  Unsplash I see a WHOLE LOT of sources on how to improve dialogue or write better dialogue, yadda yadda... This is just a short list of tips for how to improve your dialogue in little steps. There are more tips than what are included here, but I've got down the ones that stand out (to me) most.  1. Do not write based off real conversations. There is A LOT of advice out there telling writers to write their dialogue based off of real-life conversation. Really, it's not very great advice.  Consider: (a real-life conversation) "Hey, wassup?"  "Not much. What about you?"  "Nothing. Just working."  "Same."  -moment of silence- "Anything exciting going on lately?" Real-life conversations are boring; they go in circles; they repeat things and most of the time it