Guest Post by Sarah

Greetings, O favored readers!  Welcome to Daughter of the King!

My name is Sarah, and I hail from the blogs Maidens of Virtue, which I share with my two younger sisters, and Sarah, Plain & Average, my very own personal blog.  Many thanks to Brittney for asking me to post in her absence.  I'm so honored!

I am assuming most of you who read this blog are either aspiring writers, like myself, or young published authors with natural talent for spotting plot twists and the unique creativity to come up with an enthralling original story.

Though I am, by no means, an expert in the field of writing and cannot even claim experience in anything published, I love to write.  I love the feeling of a new tale begging to be written down and shared.  I love the touch of a pen in my hand, and the texture of my favorite notebook, filled with inky treasures, against the skin of my palm.

I do not wish to make this post about myself, but just to give you a little of my writing background. . . In less than one week, I will turn one and twenty.  =]  It wasn't until my eighteenth year, however, that I really began putting my ideas to paper.  And it wasn't until this past April that I actually began publishing (on my blog) a seven-part short story entitled, All in a Day's Work.  That was a new experience for me.  Though I wasn't diligent in keeping up with the schedule I had set to post it, the story was a great way to begin.  And by July 8th, I had the awesome feeling of actually completing a story.

My advice to beginning writers:  Keep writing!  You probably hear/read of this all the time, but it is true.  If this is your passion, keep on.  When you hit a block, take a break, review, and get back on the bandwagon.  If the writer's block is far too high to scale, I suggest trying something called Chainsaw Therapy.  This is an incredibly fun and entertaining writing exercise concocted by fellow blogger Katie, of the Whisperings of the Pen blog.  You can read her version here, and my version here.

Another tip:  Do NOT hoard your work.  In my opinion, this is super important.  If your wish is to one day be a published author, share your writings!  Siblings make the best sounding board, as do parents, and yes, close friends.  I understand some of you are probably shy and quiet, most likely a bit introverted (no offense meant) and jealous of your work, but trust me, the best thing to do is have another set of eyes read your work-in-progress (WIP).  All too often, we as the writer become blind to our work, whereas the reader, a sister for example, whose eyes and mind are fresh and open, catches an important problem in the story that could possibly contradict the whole plot and yet was not visible to us.  Sisters, and mothers especially, are great proof-readers, as well.  (One of my sisters just read this over for me before I published...)

Do consider this!

And now, I will now attempt to conclude, before I begin rambling on and on about grammar issues, dead words, and chainsaws.  If you are serious about your writing, set a goal to write a minimum of 50-100 words every day.  You will be amazed how much this helps!  Also, for more exercises, tips, and tricks in writing, check out the Go Teen Writers website.

Many thanks for reading!  And a huge thank you to Brittney for the chance to guest post!!

Hope this helped.

Blessings,

Sarah

Sarah, Plain & Average

Maidens of Virtue

[Photos via Pinterest]