Archive for Writing

Julia Unggai | April 15, 2008
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Writer’s secret to successful writing

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Read! Read! And Read!

Sorry, but it’s not a secret at all. And this is what I’m doing lately. I am reading a lot – nonfiction and fiction from my favorite authors. From mystery writers to romance novels, I search the ones I like best.

I am a voracious reader. And this causes me trouble. I often borrow books from the library longer than I should (and this is even after being renewed three times!). My DH (Dear Husband) always becomes the one who rescues me from the “sideways look” of the clerk at the library. And when I thought I was safe, my DH whispers giving me the sideways look. “Why is it that whenever I return your books they always have fines on it?” Witnessed the scene, the clerk gave me a sour look.

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Julia Unggai | March 8, 2008
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The Writer and the Large Window

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Do you know that a window is associated with a writer – especially a large window? Well, every time a writer goes to task – writing that is – they will look outside through the window when they get stuck… looking out at the snow falling down and marveling at the beauty of the winter season (right now since winter is still here).

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Julia Unggai | December 3, 2007
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Writer’s Journey

I am baacckk!

I just completed my 65,000 word novel and it was just so exhausting to make it to the end! However, this is just the first draft and as we always know, writing is rewriting. I learned a lot about writing a novel through my journey these past two months or so. And mind you, writing up to 65,000 words is not for the faint of heart. It is a tough job. Now I admire the writers out there who manage to produce novels year after year with an interesting story and plot.

As far as getting to finish my manuscript, I learned that:

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Julia Unggai | November 14, 2007
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Writing the manuscript vs. blogging

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If you have started to write your manuscript I believe you write everyday? I do. I am trying to complete my manuscript as fast as I can. I have all the outlines done to get the plot moving scene-by-scene. Now with the little time I have consumed writing the manuscript, it seems I am not producing it fast enough. I find the characters are begging to be written.

The prolific writer will write everyday up to 2,000 words. If your novel is about 100,000 words, it will take you about 50 days to complete. I would love to be able to do that.

So, I have to make the decision that blogging is become secondary.

I will resume to blog daily when I complete the first draft of my manuscript. In the meantime, I will be organizing the articles I have written so far into a somewhat presentable format for the first timer who visits my blog.

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Category: A writer, Blogging, Writing | Tags: , ,
Julia Unggai | November 2, 2007
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The id, ego and superego of a writer

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Have you ever experienced the fear of writing? Something like when you start to write your fictional piece or memoir you feel that you reveal yourself too much? That you feel everyone will find out about your dark secret in your writing?

In Ralph Keyes book titled The Courage to Write he discusses in depth about how fear prevents the writer from writing. I also believe that fear of writing is one element of the writer’s block that is related to having difficulty when starting to write or when continuing writing.
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Julia Unggai | October 29, 2007
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How to maintain reader interest to the end for your fiction

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Authors write fiction with goals in mind: they want the reader to read and learn something from their character’s experience. Additionally, the reader expects the story to be entertaining as well. It all sounds fairly easy and straightforward as it makes writing fiction interesting, but it is not. Any writer who’s published or attempted to write a short story or novel understands – writing fiction is easy; writing fiction that maintains the reader’s interest throughout is not.

So how do you present your story to hook the reader from beginning to end? Your ability as a writer is now challenged and you need to equip yourself with several plot devices. These devices help you to captivate your reader’s interest in your story. One type of plot device is suspense. Suspense is when the reader has to wait and worry about what will happen next to the main character(s).
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Category: A writer, Writing, Writing Tips | Tags: , ,
Julia Unggai | October 17, 2007
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The psychology of blogging

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You have been blogging for several months or perhaps even years now. And you examine your posts to see how far you’ve been able to stick with your original purpose when first starting. Do you blog according to what you have planned beforehand? Or did you find yourself straying-off topic and blogging about something else – perhaps even on an unrelated topic? Are you inline online? I find myself asking the same questions. Do I serve the purpose I stated earlier when I decided to blog?

Bloggers usually blog with many purposes. The majority of them blog for money by placing advertising in the blog. Some bloggers do so to express their creativity. Others blog because they want to rant about something they can’t say face-to-face or seek feedback and acknowledgment.
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Julia Unggai | October 4, 2007
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Turning your memories into memoir


Being a writer is not a career choice – it is a lifestyle – so I’ve heard. If you need a 9 to 5 job to make a living, being a writer is not a choice, not to mention when you graduate with your first degree to prepare you to enter the workforce and get paid, yet, you choose to become a writer for other reasons. This is one of my life stories. It is one of the happiest memories in my life and now here I am trying to relive it again.

Everyone has experienced events in their life that are shaped into happy or sad memories. Do you remember your first puppy love? Your first success in something you loved to do? Why not turn it into a memoir?
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Category: A Memoir, Writing | Tags: , , ,
Julia Unggai | October 3, 2007
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What is SAD and how you can use it to fuel your interest in writing

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One Sunday afternoon in early September I felt overwhelmed by a sense of sadness. I felt it the day before, but just brushed it off for I thought my emotions have played a trick on me again! For every late Summer Season I experience a similar feeling. Now that I am returning to my writing, I started to pay closer attention to my own feelings. Interestingly enough, when I started to feel sad for nothing, I am very much interested to write more. So, I decided to find out what exactly is going on. Why do I feel this sense of sadness when I don’t have any other reasons to feel this way? I did try to explain the reason I feel sad because the summer is over and I wish that this season will continue forever.
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Category: A writer, Life In General, Writing | Tags: , , ,
Julia Unggai | October 2, 2007
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Writing from the heart


While still in an experimental stage of blogging, you struggle to find an angle for your writing niche. You look around for guidance and you locate several books that steer you in the direction you are aiming for. Does this sound familiar?

All new writers will face the same dilemma when they just start to write. I find books about writing most helpful in stirring the sleeping writer in me and one of the books is titled Writing articles from the Heart: How to Write and Sell Your Life Experience by Marjorie Holmes.
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Category: Book Reviews, Writing | Tags: ,
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