NaNoWriMo Arrives Again

This weekend begins one of the most hectic, stressful, satisying, and rewarding month's of a writer's life:

National Novel Writing Month.

Regardless of what genre you plan to write, or if you plan to write a novel at all, this month brings a certain camaraderie amongst otherwise individual artists - you are not alone. There are thousands of people pursuing a similar goal, pushing to release their creativity into the world.

During this month, we'll post few prompts but more helpful motivations for those who are participating.

Expect:

Plot bunnies
Tips for planning
Tips for writing
Tips for boosting word count
Advice to get those creative juices flowing
Motivational rants

Today, I offer some tips on planning for NaNo, if you're one of those writers who plans.

1. Ideas are everywhere.

Each story is about a person. Find a character - even if it's not your protagonist first. A character gives you a person to talk about; write their back story, their fears, their weakness, their strengths, etc. There's bound to be a story in there for you to stretch into 50,000 words.

If starting with characters isn't for you, check out prompt sites. Allow yourself to play with prompts: mix them, smash them together, pick little bits out, polish them.

For further ideas, try people-watching. Take a seat on the subway, or at the park, and write down snippets of conversation you here. Make up stories from little windows people allow you glimpse through.

2. Outlines are your friend

Plot structures can help in the long run, regardless of whether you actively use outlines for writing. A plot structure - usually beginning, middle, and end - help you to maintain an idea for going from Point A to Point B, and so on.

Have fun with your plot - exposition to rising action to climax to falling action back to rising action to secondary climax and so forth. Don't hesitate to throw in extra climaxes - J K Rowling does this all the time: up and down, up and down. Life is not making it up one hill and coming down triumphant (or not) - life is a crazy rollercoaster in the dark with twists, turns, and lots of drops.

3. Have an idea of your ending

Even if your ending changes five million times over the next month, make sure you have some semblance of what it will be. Knowing the ending gives you an advantage over the reader - you can foreshadow like nobody's business. Look at the foreshadowing of Deathly Hallows in Philosopher's Stone - would that have been possible without JK knowing the ending? Not easily.

Don't get into intense detail of your ending before reaching it through the novel; that keeps you from being flexible. Keep in mind, as you write, you're accompanying your protagonist(s) on their journey to that end - and the future is ever-changing.

More to come:

Stay tuned as we head into the month for more tips, ideas, and motivation!

MEETING!!!!!!!

Hey Writing Clubbers!

I know I already sent out an Owl to all you about this (and if you haven't gotten it yet, it's on the way!), but I just thought I should post about it here, too:

I know that our little club hasn't exactly been the most organized, but I'm planning a meeting for us on Thursday August 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST, and it would be great if you could make it! You can show up at any time withing those two hours, and even if you have to leave early, you can still join in on the fun for a little while! We'll be hanging out in the club chat, on the blog (hihwritingclub.blogspot.com) and (hopefully) on the Facebook page (facebook.com/hihwritingclub). It would be great if you could come! We'll be discussing writing, taking part in some fun games and activities, and getting to know one another! I think it'll be a great way for us to sort of "break the ice", so to speak, and maybe even make our club more active! (Because, let's be honest, with over 700 members and counting, there's never anybody in there to talk to.) I hope you can come and join us for our day of fun! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to Owl me, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all! :)

Facebook Admins

Hey, everyone! I haven't posted in a little while but I'm planning to later this week.

I would appreciate it if other authors would volunteer to co-admin the Facebook page. I don't always have time to check if the blog is updated and it would be a much smoother process if everyone could post on the FB page after they post their blogs, rather than just me tracking everyone's posts.

I understand people are busy and everything but it's an extra two minutes to link and write a short blurb about your new post or prompt, etc.

Thank you! Please owl me or message me on Facebook (my name is the same)!

An Open Apology Letter And A New Idea

Hey guys, I'm really sorry I haven't been on here as much as I would like. I've got a lot on my plate, what with real life, all my HiH essays and stuff, and the fact that school's starting up soon... I know, I know, I sound like Keith, what with my lack of participation in "my baby", but I promise I'm gonna do my best to start writing more Activities for the Club, once I get some stuff worked out. However, on a lighter note, I'm happy to see that a lot of the Staff Members are writing up Activities for you guys to do while I'm gone! Though participation has been a bit slow... I think our problem is that we're having trouble getting the word out. You know what would be great? If anyone sees a new activity, whether it be here or on the Facebook page, and there isn't already a post about it in your House's feed, please post about it! This way we can rustle up some more participants for our Club, and maybe even attract more members! Also, if you've created an Activity, please post about that as well, so we can really get the word out. Thanks everybody, and remember to have fun! :)

ATTENTION EVERYONE!

Eleandor Gryffis Hufften • 1st Year
Okay you guys. I give up. No one is signing up for a job for the magazine/newspaper 'The Wrock'. They said I have a deadline, and if no one signs up, well, they will find someone else to do it. I think its because no one cares and people are just thinking about other things than someone like me. I have tried thousands of times to get people to sign up but no one answers, no one cares, and I am completely and sincerely heart broken and sad that all people care about are themselves. So thanks guys you sure did me a lot of good. Good as in shame and embarrassment that I even bothered to think people cared. IF you do change your mind, OWL me. Although, I have lost my hope for that too. Hope you guys are happy..... OWL me if you actually care about something.

-Eleandor Gryffis Hufften

(A personal note: Please re-post this as many times as possible, even spam, I don't care. Just make sure this post reaches all corners of the school, because although I myself don't have the time to participate, I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who can and would like to. Also, I think it would mean a lot to Eleandor if you did. It sure as heck would mean a lot to me, because I hate to see her disappointed.)

Story Starters

I find that when I write, it's always hardest to come up with the first sentence. After that, I can usually get going. To help you out with that I'm providing you with some sentences to start your next story. Choose one of these sentences and start your story with that. Post your stories in the comments below or post a link to your story. Good luck!

It was just for one night.

Someone must have seen him because the police were at his door.

He had waited 20 years to return.

The attack was over in 20 minutes.

The pink glove lay on the ground.

Who is that man?

Prompt:

It has been quite an exciting day so far, but now you're exhausted. However, you decide on walking home because it's nice outside. A few paces down the street, it starts pouring rain. You run to the nearest bus stop for cover. There is only one other man waiting for the bus. He is standing perfectly still, and you can't quite make out his face from here. Only one question enters your mind: Who is that man?

New Prompt

Hey guys! I was recently involved in a situation where I had to help someone partly down from a mountain to a spot where they could be lifeflighted to a hospital. While heading down the mountain I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. After we got him in the helicopter and everyone got to safety, the adrenaline ran out. I realized how scared I was for his safety and for my safety. It made me think about what he was possibly thinking as he struggled down the mountain, so here's my prompt for this week:

Think of a situation you've been in and write about the same situation from the perspective of someone else who was there. Write it in the comments below or copy a link to your story in the comments. Due next Monday, July 28.

I look forward to reading your responses!

Staff Member Positions Filled!

Attention: All Staff Member positions have been filled at this moment. If we are ever in need of any more, I'll make sure to post about it! Congratulations to everyone who made the cut!

(Note: All co-authors for the blog are also able, but not obligated, to help admin for the Writing Club Facebook page, started by Kajsa Forden of Hufflepuff. For more information, make sure to visit the FB page (https://www.facebook.com/hihwritingclub) and Owl Kajsa if you're interested!)

Intro: Julia Kelly

Hi guys! So my name is Julia Kelly. I'm 17 and live in Chicago. Above is just a picture of me on my way to my boyfriend's senior prom! I've been dating him for over six months. It'll be seven on the 28th of July! And of course that's my grandmother's birthday so that's a little awkward to me...

As of right now it's the summer going into my senior year here in the muggle world. I'm pretty nervous because I'm going to be balancing school and two jobs. I'm going to be in two Advanced Placement classes (tons more homework than the rest) and the rest are all regular or honors. I am a member of my school's National Honor Society (kind of like perfects at Hogwarts) so there'll be days that I'm stuck at school to do work unfourtanetly.

I'm still pretty new to the HIH life and my name is the same on there. I'm in Ravenclaw even though every single quiz I've taken (aside from Pottermore) says I'm Gryffindor... If you want to add me as a friend go right ahead! I'll accept everyone and won't have a problem with it.

I write a lot in my spare time and do my best to keep everything updated around the same time. I personally don't think I have that many readers. I use two social media sites (quotev.com: http://www.quotev.com/Catnip69 and wattpad: http://w.tt/1qinDDR ) to post my stories. Two of the stories are being co-written with my boyfriend so the style of the writing may change.

I do role-play. Mainly just on my kik account though. I'm too scared to go out in public and RP. If anyone wants to talk to me on there I'm jk16 (just tell me you read this because I ignore the creeps). When I RP on there it's mainly stuff from my fandoms that I'll do, although it is mainly The Hunger Games...

I think that this is getting long enough so I'm going to give a few fandoms that I'm in (books, movies and music). And then some facts about me that I think you should know.

Fandoms: Books! (All in random order)

1. The Hunger Games series

2. Divergent series

3. The Fault in Our Stars (also anything by John Green. I haven't had a chance to read much of his works though.)

4. Harry Potter series

Fandoms: Movies! (Random order and short)

1. The Hunger Games

2. Divergent

3. The Dark Knight

Fandoms: Music! (Random order)

1. One Direction

2. 5 Seconds of Summer

3. Linkin Park

4. Three Day's Grace

Random facts!

1. I'm really self conscious about myself from getting bullied a good majority of my life.

2. I lost a lot of my friends due to a rumor that my former best friend's boyfriend spread about me. She decided to believe him over me even though I told the truth and was the one that brought them together. 

3.I have a history of self-harm and self-hate.

4. If it weren't for my boyfriend and the few friends I have left I would be dead right now.

5. I really can't stand the thought of losing more friends or getting bullied by someone who doesn't know me. Please be nice to me.

Intro: Emma Benson

Hello! I am Emma, a high school junior from Ohio. (Shout out to all Ohioans out there; you guys rock!) So, if I'm not stressing out about college or my career choice, I am on HiH or SBL. On Hogwarts is Here, I kept my real name, Emma Benson. I am a Gryffindor, though really more of a Gryffinclaw. I spend much of my time overacheiving academically, but also love spending time with my Hogwarts friends. (HoMies rule!) I am a MART and Divination PA. I also wrote parts of the two Magical Art textbooks.

On Storybrooke Live, I tweaked my name a bit and am known as Emma-Marie Benson. My character is an intern for Mayor Mills, and posts a fair amount of statuses. I am a character developer and writer for Regina Mills  (A.K.A. the Evil Queen) as well as one of the heads of the Daily Mirror.

Comment below if you are on SBL. What's your character's backstory?  I love reading them - they're so creative! Oh, and what is your OTP? Mine is Swanfire.

I am just going to list my main fandoms:

• Harry Potter
• The Selection Series
• TFIOS & Pretty Much Anything Written by John Green
• Once Upon a Time (& Evil Regal)
• The Office (US)
• Demi  Lovato
• Katy Perry
• We the Kings (Just Discovered Them This Morning, Actually)

Goodbye! I am already thinking of fun writing activities that we can do live!

Introduction: Johanna

Hello everyone! My name is Johanna, but on HiH I'm Jo (Skarbek). I'm fine with being called either one though. I will be another staff member here, and I can't wait for things to get started. I am an enthusiast of the English language and everything to do with it. I love everything that can be done with words, from reading to writing.

Some things about me: I am 15 years old, I turn 16 this fall. I am a pure-blood witch raised in the muggle world, coming from a family with 8 kids. I am the youngest of the 8. My wand is elm, phoenix feather, 10 and three-quarters inches, and quite bendy. My owl is a red eastern screech owl named Nugget. Though if you want to use her, make sure the package isn't particularly heavy because she's a rather small owl. Letters are usually fine though. I play soccer in the muggle world, and I play beater in quidditch for Ravenclaw when I'm needed there. I'm now in my second year at Hogwarts. My parents thought it would be necessary for me to have an understanding of both the muggle world and the wizarding world, and that is why until this past year, I went to muggle school only. However, I will continue attending both muggle school and Hogwarts. I aspire to be a healer when I am older. I excel most in Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

That's about all there is to me. Oh - I left out the fact that I am a massive nerd. I obsess over tons of TV shows and movies and books. Feel free to friend me on HiH though, I accept all friend requests. I look forward to this club, and I can't wait to get started! :)

-Jo

3 More Staff Member Positions!

Hey guys! If you'd still like to become a Staff Member for the blog, we're looking for 3 more co-authors! Staff Members will have the job of helping me plan activities and write posts for the blog to keep it more lively! (because I can't do it all on my own!) If you're interested, make sure to Owl me ASAP, because once these positions are filled, it will be MUCH easier to come up with more writing activities!

On a related note, Staff Members will also have the opportunity to help admin for the Writing Club Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/hihwritingclub), created by the wonderful Kajsa Forden! Don't miss out! :)

(Note: All Staff Members will need a Gmail account to co-author; if you don't have one, they're quick and easy to set up!)

Introduction: Skye Lunar

Hey guys, I've been tasking all of the new Staff Members with writing posts introducing themselves, but then one day one of them came up to me and asked where MY introduction was. So, not to be unfair, I've decided that since I'm, technically, a part of the staff, I should write one too. Here goes:



Hi! I'm Skye Lunar, a First Year (Second Year tomorrow) in Ravenclaw. For those of you who don't know me, I'm the creator of Writing Club, or as I like to call it, "The Little Club That Could". We currently have over 500 members (541 to be exact), making us the 4th most popular club at Hogwarts. That's more than I could have ever dreamed!


Now, to describe myself: I'm blonde, short, and have gray eyes. I'm 15 years old, and going into my sophomore year of high school. I'm very academic and love love LOVE to write (it's like the only thing I'm good at). Let's see... I'm Muggleborn, and I have an owl named Jupiter and a cat named Venus. My wand is Sycamore and Dragon Heartstring, 12 3/4 inches, and Unyielding. I'm also a Prefect for Astronomy, and I'm willing to help anyone who needs it in that class (or any class, for that matter). If you need to reach me (whether with questions, suggestions for the Club, or anything else you may need), you can Owl me at http://hogwartsishere.com/skyelunar084/. I usually get back to people relatively quickly (as I'm on all the time). Also, feel free to Add me, as I accept any and all Friend Requests (even the random ones that everyone gets). I look forward to working with everyone and I hope we can all have a great time in Writing Club!

News Flash: Writing Club is on Facebook!

Check out our new Facebook page!
All writers, check it out for updates, prompts, articles, and other news!
Staff members, let me know if you want to admin!
Also, if you have a Facebook, check out the HiH group for all students from HiH!

Rita Skeeter Writes Again! +Prompt

The news broke just days ago - Rita Skeeter has the story of the summer!

JK Rowling surprised many of her fans by releasing a fantastic new short story, featuring a 34-year-old Harry Potter, as an article with Rita Skeeter's byline.

The story features the reunion of Dumbledore's Army at the Quidditch World Cup, in the midst of the muggle World Cup events. This is a major deal for fans as it is the first time Rowling has written about these characters, chronologically, since the epilogue of Deathly Hallows.

While this news is exciting and much-awaited, we all hope Rowling didn't take too much time from the Fantastic Beasts screenplay to feed her story-ravenous fans.

This news warrants a fun and slightly magical prompt. I work with photos often as prompts and this particular photo has inspired many flash fiction blurbs by me and by other creative writers.

Found on Pinterest

If this inspires a line, a quote, a poem, a flash fiction piece, a short story, or even a novel, that is fabulous! Write whatever comes to mind!

Comment with one of your favorite lines or phrases from your inspired piece! And don't forget to check out Rowling's new short story, by Rita Skeeter, on Pottermore or at the above link! Happy writing!

Weekend Notes: Three-Word Challenge

This is a game inspired by terribleminds.com, who does a lot of weekly challenges and some involving random words. 

Basically, how you do it is, using a Random Number Generator, some dice, random scrawls on pieces of paper, or whatever you like, you pick one word from each list. Then, you write a 800 word story. You can use the words in whatever order you wish, and you can use them however you want to. Just use them. 

I'm also playing around with the required words, let me know what you think is a good length.

Post it in the comments, or somewhere else and link to it in the comments. Due by next Sunday, July 13th 2014 :)

This is the start of a weekly writing promt/game posts I'm doing. Enjoy! I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with -- Dita

List One

1. desert
2. target
3. headline
4. train
5. warship
6. christmas
7. old man
8. octopus
9. minute
10. diving board

List Two

1. lollipop
2. bra
3. river
4. cashier
5. caterpillar
6. ketchup
7. blanket
8. anchor
9. mill
10. van

List Three

1. slide
2. gloves
3. eating
4. poem
5. telescope
6. shop
7. stardom
8. powder
9. necklace
10. purse

Intro: Madison

Hi everyone! I guess all the staff members are introducing themselves, so I thought I would go ahead and do one. My name's Madison (but I'm under Marina Penrose on Hogwarts is Here). I am so excited to be apart of this blog!

Basically, words make up my entire life. I love to read, and I am actually currently at an arts high school where I major in creative writing, which I absolutely adore. Like a lot of people here, I really hope to be an author one day, so I guess we'll see what happens. :) Obviously, I love Harry Potter. Those books were actually what kind of kindled my love for reading (and also introduced me to the torturous world of fangirling). J.K. Rowling's story is such an inspiration to me, and I definitely look up to her. Also, I just recently started writing fan fiction, and I think it's a ton of fun! So if you feel like checking it out or giving me feedback my username is WordsHaveThePower on fanfiction.net. But, you know, whatever floats your boat. :)

I am so happy that I get to help with this blog. All the staff members seem like super nice and amazing people and I can't wait to work with them, as well as all of you guys! I'd love to read any of y'all's writing, so feel free to leave me comments or Owl me on the website with links to your writing if you have them! I can't wait to see what will happen with this blog. :)

Lots of love,
Madison

Introduction to Staff Member

Hello!
          Bonjour!
                        Le Suilon!


  I'm so glad to be here and to have an opportunity like this! My name is Zoie, and I am new to the Hogwarts Is Here -isphere (I just enrolled yesterday). I absolutely love reading, writing, and just creating in general. And I'm not claiming to be great at what I do, I still have a ton to learn about everything, but I believe loving what you do is the point! 

And I would love to talk to all of you, and offer any advice or inspiration I can. So, feel free to contact me (I'm also new to Blogger so I'm not sure how you can but I'll figure it out)

Love,

   Zoie:)

Intro: Iida Talasmäki/Justiina

Hi and merry meet everyone!

I'm one of the staff members here at the Writing Club, which is extremely exciting. I'm from Finland, so my first language is Finnish and I hope that when I make mistakes just correct them. That's how I keep learning! :D

I love writing and it's my only passion. I want to be a writer and I will be one. At the moment, a Finnish company Elisa Kirja is going to publish my anthology of poetry, Itseisarvokkuus, as an E-Book. The title translated in English it would be something like Intrinsic dignity, like Intrinsic value and dignity combined together. It's in Finnish only, sorry, but I'm kind of excited that it's really going to be published! I don't like e-books, but I have to settle with it now. :D So, that's about me writing an original stuff. Books and poetry.

But of course I still write a fanfiction. It's a hobby and it helps me improving my writing skills and trying new things. My favourite fandom is and always will be Harry Potter. Secondary I have Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then there goes some random fandoms in random order. My favourite pairings at fanfiction: Absolutely Harry/Ron! I also love Severus/Remus and I think Draco and Hermione would make a great couple, they're more suitable for each other.

At HiH I'm a first year Slytherin (go snakes! ♥ I love my house :D) and with the same name as here, Iida Talasmäki. Yes, it's written with two i's and has an ä with it. I hate my name, so usually I use Justina Swift over the internet. My friends call me Justiina (finnish version of Justina), because it suits me better, so I'm going to use Justiina with my "signature". :) You can also find me with nicknames Fredu, jusmcwife, jusmcgee, tunturiprinsessa (dA) and iskelmäprinsessa (Spotify).

And now, five random facts I like everyone to know:

1. I have an epilepsy
2. I'm eclectic wiccan
3. My best friends are stereotypic gay Simo, awkward and shy Miiku and my diaries
4. I have a Harry Potter themed tattoo
5. I'm a bibliophile

Now it's all almost settled. :D I wanted to do a long intro post that you would get to know me. It might help you to understand my texts, or not. x) Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm awful smiley addict! If I don't use them, I feel like dementors had attacked. So that's why you have to settle with these smileys. :)

Merry part,
bright the cheeks and warm the heart!
Justiina