Writing contest judged by Beth Kephart!

"What I'd love you to do is go out into your worlds and take a photograph - or find a photograph you've already taken - of a place and study it for its mood, its lights, its ambience, its possibilities, its weather, and turn it into something that is new and unexpected...I'd love for you to write ten lines or so - or a poem - about this place and send the photo along with it so we can see how your mind has transformed reality into something imaginative."

email your response to kephartblog(at)comcastdot)net
Entries for this contest are due December 30th, 2009. The winner will receive an advanced reading copy of The Heart is Not a Size, Beth's young adult novel which will be released in March 2010 by HarperTeen.

"Writing like a reader and reading like a writer."

I don't know who this quote is by but I like the way it sounds. You can make your own meaning of it and everything! (That's always the best kind of quote.) The way I like to think of the first part is: write a book that you would read, write for the readers because they are at the top of the triangle (they're the ones that buy and read your books, they're the ones that make it into a movie, etc.), and the readers are the ones that you try to please and they encourage you to write the best scene possible for your story.

The next part, reading like a writer: this is the one that comes the most naturally. If you're a writer and decide to read a book that is popular and bestselling or even becoming a movie, isn't there at least one thing you laugh at within the pages of it? Something that you would change or add if it were your own story? I always assumed that that's how fan fiction started (or because the reader just didn't want to let go of the world they loved and knew).

So what do you do if you read like a writer? I seriously don't know. It's something I've been having troubles with for a while. You can't just email the author and tell them what they did wrong or what they should change. Though that would make some people feel better, it's rude and snobbish and you'd only do that if you were stuck up. It may be hard to hear, but the books you read aren't just your books and you aren't the only one that has chosen it to be your "personal favorite".

How do you understand this quote?

Happy Birthday (edited)

Sorry, everyone. I accidentally posted my Happy Birthday greeting on the wrong blog. *blushes* Forgive me.

Calling teenage writers, readers, and artists!

About them:"We offer teenagers the opportunity to publish their creative work and opinions on the issues that affect their lives - everything from love and family to teen smoking and community service. Hundreds of thousands of students have submitted their work to us and we have published more than 25,000 teens since 1989.

The Young Authors Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that supports all Teen Ink publications. The foundation is devoted to helping teens share their own voices, while developing reading, writing, creative and critical-thinking skills. All proceeds from the print magazine, website and Teen Ink books are used exclusively for charitable and educational purposes to further our goal."

A little fact: Teen Ink is the nation's largest print magazine written entirely by teens for teens.

What is it to me? If your art work, poems or stories, or book reviews are published in the TeenInk magazine, you will receive a small reward: a wooden pencil, a TeenInk notepad, and a certicate of achievement. But teens read your work all over the country!

A cool fact: If you submit your work online, you'll be able to see how many people have viewed your work, rated it and commented on it. You'll also be able to create an online profile of yourself and share work with friends.

How do I know if this is legitimate? My local library subscribes to this magazine and I love looking at other teenagers' writing and art. If you could take my word for it, it is a great magazine and completely legitimate. If you can't take my word for it, just sign up to receive a free sample of an issue here!

What if I don't get published in the magazine? If you don't get published in the magazine, you might still get published in TeenInk Raw, the unedited part of the website where you can read, rate, and comment on other people's work while they can do the same for yours.

There is no limit on how much you can submit. So go write, read, and draw! TeenInk will be there.

REPOST FROM READING TO MYSELF

Waiting ..

This is a poem neve and me wrote ... I found it wonderful not just the poem but also that I wrote it with my sweet Nevey ...
neve, thank you for sharing me this beautiful moments and thank you for being neveen and my friend ...
..."you are like the golden dust in the air that's gives me insperatioin"...

********

I am Waitting for your touch to bring me Back to life..
With this blue dark rose, im waiting for you ...
With this bloody tears and my broken heart,
With each single breath, im waiting for you ...

With the memories of each Breath I Breath...
With my Heart on my palm...
With yearning for your air to breath.. I am waiting

With everyday i wait for you,
I imagin that you standing on my door ...
"knock knock" is that you? ...
And it's like yesterday, it's just the empty way ...
With everyday i wait for you,
I dream of you kissing me and sway ...

With Every tear drop I wait ..
With every Wind touching my face ..
I pray that you return to me ...

Under the silver moon we used to kiss...
With evey ray of the sun .. I send you a bless...
Be safe for me... be the man I always knew...
I love you... Come back to me...

You left me to the darkeness ...
You left me to the loneliness ...
Your face visits me only in my dreams ...
My life became always in fall
And my heart is bleeding through my tears ...
With all this, Im waiting for you ...

Waitting is a sweet glass of sorrow I drunk...
Waiting is a old window with a view and ghost of picture in my head ...
And with all of this, Im still waiting for you ...

Nour & Neveen
25/10/2008, sat.

Haunted (A Poem)

This is a poem I have wrote to get me back into the writing zone;
A poem to keep away the darkest side of the soul...

Haunted

Now hidden names; Fiery place.Haunted night’s; what you feared in the past.

Keeping away in the darkness; grown to be monster.

You meant to ran away; from this time to now where.

You can not hide the voice called, there is no running away.

Now all what you feared facing you; guilt is a worm eating you.

Deep down your soul you know; you are so corrupted- there is no time to redo.

Is it too late you asked? Am I so weak?

You wondered.I have this fears with lights in my soul shall burn the shadows and make me whole.

I am stronger with my faith; I had none but now I am faith.

I shall hunt my monsters and death shall be upon them not me.

I am not sinful but mistaken; misguided and been weaken but now I know; fear is nothing comparing to what I feel inside me.

I have the power of it all; I have the power to let it go.I

shall fight them till the end; I shall win this war.

Examining Your Work

Examining your work could possibly be one of the most hardest things to do with your writing. You see all your flaws and find what you could do have done better. Many writers get a little depressed when they see the first copy of their story but, as they say, 'The first draft is allowed to be bad'.

Do you think that's true? Shouldn't you have worked your hardest?

If you look closely in the back of published books (in the Thank Yous section), he/she usually acknowledges how many manuscripts and revisions they had to go through. In the back of Prophecy of the Sisters, Michelle Zink admits that she went through six manuscripts to equal the final book. And it turned out to be the greatest writing I have ever read!

Is that how you work with your stories?

I think it helps to have one of your closet friends read your first draft and they can explain to you what they (the reader) would like to add or take away from it. My father helps me revise my stories and tells me how he would like to see it. For example:

"I love the way you introduce the characters. But (-there's always a but-) you just stop there. Keep on introducing them." He said.

And it actually helped me a lot. Among the other things he talked to me about, it made my story the best it could be.

All because I let someone read it.

So let someone read your story!

Posted by: GirlwiththeBraids

Writing Tips (Step 1)

I have tips to give -even for a not published yet author- I still have words to say and I want to pass my own ideas for my friends.


Today a friend of mine from FaceBook *Tracey Bently* told me she won't start writing untill she get a Computer so I replaied
"Well. Writing do not need a computer. I used to say "When I get my laptop; I will and none stop writing" but I got lazy. All what we need to write are ideas in our head and pen and paper or even write on your moblie phone.
Just write."

"The day I've found The Time Machine"

I am up for new idea which is writing a story from your own point of view but in one condation, it must be titled "The day I've found The Time Machine" it also must be related and inspired by the title, can you do it?