Today J K Rowling has announced 'Pottermore'. I could explain but I think the author herself can do that much better than me.
Interested? It's good to see an author going beyond the usual reader-writer exchange and offering a more rounded experience. The site itself isn't fully functional until October although if you visit on 31st July, you may be able to get an early peak at what is to come.
In the meantime, here are some images of what Pottermore will look like.
Real life doesn't just have to provide inspiration for our characters. It can also feed into the locations we use in our writing. This is the school I attended between the ages of seven and eight years old. This photograph, and more of the interior, was kindly taken by an old school friend. I always loved this building and now it has provided the inspiration for Darkacre School in my novel. Photograph taken by Dan Howard of 500px.com York Minster (from my home town) was the inspiration for the cathedral where Rex Haven's funeral takes place in my novel. Taken from www.rightmove.co.uk The terraces of the South Bank area of York, where I lived for a time, are the streets of the old town in my novel. The details don't have to remain the same - we writers are tailors of imagination after all - but basing our story locations in reality can add a grounding element to our writing that convinces our readers. What real locations have you used in your wr...
Are you a self-motivator or do you need a nudge or a carrot to keep going? I'm a bit of both depending on the task at hand but over the years, I've come up with a number of ways to motivate myself. 1. Treat Yourself This is the 'carrot' I mentioned above. Promise yourself that when (not if) you complete the task, you'll treat yourself to something. What that 'thing' is depends of course on you. You might choose simply to have a cup of tea and sit down to read a book. You might decide to go out somewhere. You might even take yourself shopping for a new bag, book or other item. You know what kind of treat will keep you going (plus what you can afford in the case of a shopping trip) but make it something that really delights you and raises a smile. 2. Visualise the end result This is not to be confused with day dreaming. That way, only procrastination lies. You can visualise the end result in your mind, have an image on your computer screen ...
Story Abounds is a thought provoking article from Wired For Story. The Biggest Problem with Writing Advice is an interesting article from Write It Sideways. Top 10 Writing Tips is a post on the website of crime writer, James McCreet. Well worth a read. Risky Business by Tania Hershman on the Writers & Artists site suggest that taking a risk can improve our writing. And finally, a little visual advice from Leslie Gordon Barnard.
This is very interesting. I'm definitely going to have to check this out in October. I don't usually like online games, but this is Harry Potter!
ReplyDeleteI think it's going to be much more than a game. My 8 year old daughter has just started reading Harry Potter books so she'll be thrilled about this.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be fun!
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