Chapter Four is now posted in Fontaine’s Enterprise. Jason is in control but where is he taking Christine? And what about the diamonds?

Join The Story Mint and contribute to  the next serial which is now taking bookings from chapter writers.

The new serial ‘The Bond’, written by Sumanda Maritz of South Africa, has set the scene for an unnerving para-normal thriller.

Roddy Doyle’s Top Ten Don’ts

Brian Edwards interviewed author of The Commitments and Booker award winner Roddy Doyle at the recent Writers and Readers Festival in Auckland.

He had many pearls of wisdom. Here are some of them.

‘We read novels to see the familiar in the unfamiliar and the unfamiliar in the familiar. This is why novels of other cultures are popular. We recognise the situations even though the people speak a different language and we don’t recognise the scenery…..more at http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

The Bond, a new serial starter is up at The Story Mint and chapters are ready for booking, Chapter three of Fontaine’s Enterprise is posted and the writer’s forum is coming next week

Writers can now see two serials running. In time, there will be many more. Read about this new development and

Hayden tells me the Writers and Readers Forum will be ready next week. This forum will give writers and readers a place to meet at The Story Mint….Read more at http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

BLOG 117 How does Earnest work?

Raymond has asked me how Earnest works and this is the answer I gave him….

If I was to take you into the back end of Earnest you would see what I’m talking about in terms of why particular writers cluster as they do.

The grid is divided into four quadrants.

In the rest of the blog II try to explain why Earnest works and Earnest senior which only members can access is doing when it analyses 5000 words. A number of members have tested it now. All have found that when they use it, Earnest improves the quality of their writing. 

Read further by clicking on this link http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-117-how-does-earnest-work

Editing the serial chapters and a personal experience with Earnest.

The annual Writers and Readers Festival was on this weekend and I attended a session in which Roddy Doyle (author of the Commitments, Booker prize winner and script writer) spoke. The one thing he pointed out is the importance of editors.

His phrase was that editors ‘iron out unironed language. Read about why editors are important.

What is happening if your writing falls outside of Earnest’s grid and does it matter?....Find out by reading my blog at http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

The importance of editing the serials…read the nine points as to why we will be editing serial chapters for a long time to come. http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

Earnest

Below are some comments about Earnest by one of our writers, Joe Labrum…..

For those of you who have already subscribed to www.thestorymint.com I encourage you to checkout "Earnest" the analysis tool. I just ran my last serial chapter though it and, wow, am I impressed. If you haven't subscribed yet, this tool is worth the cost.

To read all Joe has to say go to

 http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-114-comments-about-earnest-chapter-two-serial-writing-editing-and

The Serial

Chapter two of ‘Fontaine’s Enterprise’ is now ready for reading. There is plenty of action and our hero Jason gets himself into a very tricky situation. To read Mat Clarke’s Chapter go to http://thestorymint.com/content/chapter-2-4

The Bond, a second serial

Next week we start a second serial, the Bond….To book a chapter go to http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-114-comments-about-earnest-chapter-two-serial-writing-editing-and

Serial Writing and editing

The writers have commented how much they enjoy the editing process when writing their chapters. There have been occasions when this process has been rigorous.

Below is a comment on editing from Mat Clarke who has contributed to every serial we have run.

‘This editing process for the serial is good though. I think it's so good that it should be promoted as part of the: 'This is what you get when you pay to be part of the serial: you get a free edit of your writing.'

To read more about the benefits of having an editor look over your work go to http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-114-comments-about-earnest-chapter-two-serial-writing-editing-and

Assessments

Personalised assessments are part of the process toward publication at The Story Mint….to find out more about the Assessment process go to http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-114-comments-about-earnest-chapter-two-serial-writing-editing-and

Chapter 1 of Fontaine’s Enterprise now posted. This is a gripping tale of murder and intrigue. Joe Labrum has written a pacey chapter that ends on a note that deepens the intrigue. Albert disappears; Jason goes looking for him…..does he find him or someone else? There are clues everywhere. None add up….

The Story Mint launch on Thursday 26^th April. This was held at the ecentre….and a US friend dropped in…..

Earnest passed a big test last week….

The next stage in The Story Mint’s development ….

A second serial starts booking next week….

Westpac Auckland North Business Awards 2012. . The Story Mint has been nominated….

A member contribution. Ramesh sent me this link which will be of interest to many I’m sure. It’s a link to a blog by Tim Parks and discusses the different reactions by readers and reviewers

Read all about these stories in detail at

http://thestorymint.com/blog/suraya-dewing/blog-113-last-week-was-big-week-and-what%E2%80%99s-next-story-mint

Blog 112 Earnest – the creative writer’s secret weapon

When I started out forming The Story Mint, there was one thing I wanted to achieve above all else – that is to work out a way for creative writers to test their work in order to find out if it followed the principle of show don’t tell. In all the creative writing courses I had ever attended, the need for writers to follow this principle was always emphasised. But no tutor seemed able to clearly define just exactly what changed a telling piece of writing into a showing piece.

Find out if I achieved the goal and why Earnest is the creative writer’s secret weapon by going to http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

As a writer Jessica enters a world created by her imagination. What she sees in that world is without limits. She can be whoever she wants to be and she can live wherever she wants to live and with whomever she wants to live. She can experience joy, sadness and all the emotions in between without leaving her desk. That’s the writer’s world.

‘That’s why I like writing chapters for the serials,’ she says.

Find out more about Jessica and how Ezra Pound influences her at http://thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

For those of you who have enjoyed my blogs in the past and I know there are many of you (up to 300 at times) the blogs can now be found at  

http://www.thestorymint.com/blogs/suraya-dewing

My blogs are now being posted on The Story Mint website. Address is http://thestorymint.com/

Today’s blog headlines are:

• Our last serial ‘Thabazimbi Heat’ ended two days ago with the perfect resolution.
• A new serial called ‘Fontaine’s Enterprise’  by Joe Labrum starts today.
• A second serial launches this week. This serial will be for anyone who wants to have a go at writing. Readers will be encouraged to comment and the serial will be moderated for ‘family friendly’ content.
• The Law Society's judgement on my harassment complaint is revealed.