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Thriller: Savage Cinderella

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A kidnap victim survives in the wild only to be drawn out of hiding by a photographer who steals her heart:

“Just hit me.” Cody squared his shoulders and readied his stance, pointing with one finger to the center of his body just below his ribs. “Aim right here, for the solar plexus.”

Brinn cringed. “You’re not serious. I can’t hit you. I’ll hurt you.”

He looked doubtful and then smiled, “I’m all healed up, see?” He patted his ribs firmly. “You won’t hurt me. Pretend I’m a big dummy.”

Click here to read it right now on Wattpad!

A Writer's Guide to Self-Publishing

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Want to start self-publishing and need some practical tips? Here’s a guest post from Alice Kuipers on Wattpad:

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When I was starting out as an author, not so very long ago, the main route to becoming published was to send work to agents, to publishers, to wait, to hope, to dream. For most writers, there were many, many rejections along the path to publishing, and I wrote lots of novels before my first published book finally found a home. 

In the last few years, there’s been a huge shift in the publishing industry. Lots of authors still find traditional publishers for their books. But a huge, industrious group of authors have discovered the joys and challenges of self-publishing their writing. I have worked with several authors here in Saskatoon as they’ve honed and perfected their words getting them ready to self-publish and I’ve watched them with joy on the all-important night of their book launch. 

There are some things to think about when you self publish. One terrific site for authors who want to self publish and who want everything I’m about to list already organized for them is Bibliocrunch. They provide editors, book designers, advice and ideas on budgeting. What more could you ask for! 

1. Edits. Have you finished your book? Have you edited your book? Do you need to spend more time going over the text? Once the book is published, you CAN’T change it without republishing the whole thing. Spend the time and even the money working on editing so the book is perfect. If you want to work with a professional editor, there are lots of options. Here’s one recommendation for editor Laura Backes from a wonderful writing resource: Julie Hedlund. For a list of editors you might want to work with, check your local writers’ guild, or go here.

2. Book design. Are you able to do this yourself? Do you need help and a professional eye? Where do you want to invest your money – I’d suggest the editor and the book designer, but it depends on your project and your own set of skills.

3. BUDGET. I’ve capitalized this because it’s crucial. How much can you afford to spend? How many copies do you think you can sell? Be realistic, but let yourself dream too. Outline an ideal outcome and an ideal budget. Go back over steps one and two – who can you really afford?

4. Timeline. Conventional publishers take a long time to publish books. But you could self-publish a book as often as you finish one. However, you might want to sit and think about how often you publish and how long it’s going to take you to get your project into shape. Think about when’s a good time for a launch – ten launches a year and you might wear out your audience. What else is going on in your life? Is it realistic to want to have the book out in the world in a month when you won’t have time to promote it? What’s a good time of year for your book particularly and for your life in terms of working to promote the book.

5. Promotion. Use your social media networks to promote yourself. Write a press release and send it to local media. Have a book launch – it’ll be fun and help you recognize your huge achievement. Think about the ways you could make your book launch unique. Contact writers you know to see if they’ll blurb or review your book. Set up a blog tour (where you post for various blogs and they share news about your book with their followers).

6. EPublishing. Digital printing is much easier than print publishing. There are fewer costs involved and once you have the book as a PDF it’s fairly simple to get it out there to readers. Lulu, Kindle Direct, and Bibliocrunch, which I mentioned earlier, are three great sites for digital publishing. If you decide to make your book solely an eBook, you may not think you need a book launch, but I think the book deserves a party of some sort. Think creatively about a place to host the party that fits with the themes of the novel (an ice skating party for a book about hockey?) Get attendees to review your book afterwards online and rate it. Ask them to recommend your book if they enjoy it. Word of mouth is still the best way for a book to find new readers.

Celebrate your achievements. And then go and write something else. Self-publishing is an exciting journey. Forgive yourself when you make a wrong turn and enjoy the good days. For any writer, the good days are when the words flow and when a reader says to you I loved your book. Thanks for writing it.

Now that you know more about self-publishing, what’s next? Ready to build a fan base, get writing feedback, or connect with readers and writers? Wattpad is the place for you. Find out more here.

FANTASY MEETS REALITY

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Wattpad brings you a guest post from professional writer Alison Baird on creating fantastical stories in the real world.

Want to read a novel about werewolves, mystery, and romance? Click here to check out Alison’s story ”The House of the Wolf” on Wattpad for free: 

A young girl reunites with her long-lost family, only to discover that they are a werewolf pack.”

Fantasy Meets Reality

Perhaps the biggest challengein writing fantasy fiction involves the suspension of disbelief: that is to say, helping your reader to imagine that magical events and beings could actually exist.  One solution is set your magical tale in the real world.

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I chose to set my fantasy novel The Hidden World in Newfoundland, since it was about the fairies and Newfoundlanders inherited the fairy tradition from their Irish ancestors.  And what a beautiful landscape to write about!

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My publisher later suggested that I write a series about witches, a trendy topic at the time with the success of TV shows like “Charmed” and Hollywood movies such as “The Craft”. 

A witch, I decided, would not live in an ordinary suburban home: it would have to be a place with a unique and magical character. As it happens, there are many beautiful old historical houses in the town where I grew up, Oakville in southern Ontario.  The heritage house in this photograph is one I have always especially admired:

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Once I had set my story in a place I could easily visualize, it made the strange supernatural events I was describing seem more believable.  And by sheer coincidence, the stock image Penguin used for my book’s cover looked uncannily similar to the Oakville house!

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My new book The House of the Wolf is set in Quebec, since it is about the Loup Garou (the French Canadian werewolf).  The capital, Quebec City, is a place that always seems to me full of magic and romance – perfect for fantasy:

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Again, my book’s cover just uses stock imagery.  But the story takes place in very real locations, which people could visit after reading the book.  I feel that this adds another level of enjoyment to the experience, and hope that readers will agree!

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Read werewolf fantasy “The House of the Wolf” on Wattpad:

A new novel of werewolves, mystery and romance. In the high arctic a white wolf journeys across the tundra, seeking the lands of the south where humans live. He longs to learn whether the old tales of kinship between his species and theirs are true, and he will risk any danger to find out.

Meanwhile, eighteen-year-old Chantal Boisvert travels northward into the province of Quebec, seeking out her own roots. She is eager to meet with her late father’s family, and at first they seem to welcome her. But why do they seem so secretive? Where do they go when they vanish into the woods? Could it really be true that the Boisverts are Loups Garous — werewolves?

WATTPAD WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT ELEVEN!

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IMPROVE YOUR WRITING EVERY WEEK WITH WATTPAD

Welcome to the Wattpad Weekly Writing Prompt!

Start anytime.

These are free writing prompts for Wattpad writers who want to be inspired and challenged. You’ll come away with new ideas, new techniques and, most importantly, you’ll generate lots of new writing. The prompts are posted every Monday on the Wattpad Insider.

To join in: read the prompt and get writing – post your writing on the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Threadwhere I’ll give feedback as much as I can!

The prompts are written by Alice Kuipers, bestselling author of Life on the Refrigerator Door, The Worst Thing She Ever Did and 40 Things I Want To Tell You. Visit her at www.alicekuipers.com:

Week Eleven

I’m excited as this week we have a special guest post from young adult author Arthur Slade. Arthur Slade is the author of seventeen novels for younger readers, including the bestselling Dust and The Hunchback Assignments. He lives in Saskatoon, Canada. http://www.arthurslade.com

Here’s what he has to say about writing fantasy.

“Fantastical stories are often about an alternate world where human beings can transform into wolf-like creatures or, just by sucking blood, they will live forever. As an author who is exploring the fantastical side of literature you have to let your audience know what type of book they are in for. Your biggest problem is getting your audience to believe the fantastical elements of your story. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. 

One way is to gradually introduce the fantastical elements into the story. Give the reader details about the real world, and slowly layer in the details about the fantastical elements. This slow process of adding fantastical elements  like building blocks allows for the gradual suspension of disbelief.  Frankenstein is a perfect example. It begins with a letter home from a ship’s captain in the Arctic. It seems like the start of a normal historical novel. Then they pick up a stranger who tells them a horrible tale that eventually turns the story into a fantastical tale.

You could also introduce the fantasy immediately. Here’s an example sentence. “Edward plunged the knife into the man’s chest, then leaned in close, nostrils flared to suck in his soul. It smelled like cinnamon. Souls always smelled like cinnamon.” Now that first sentence forces the reader to confront the fact that it is a fantastical world within the first sentence. 

As with all types of writing, fantastical fiction depends on the same rules. Make your characters believable and your reader will believe what they believe. If your character suddenly shouts, “There’s a ghost, someone get me a plasma gun,” you might lose your reader. Instead what is it the character feels when they first see a ghost? Disbelief? A coldness along the spine? A euphoria that their long held beliefs about the undead are true.”

This week’s prompt from Arthur Slade is for you to write up to 400 words of the opening of a fantastical novel. Your choice of idea, character, and…well…everything. Introduce the fantastical immediately, or just hint about it.

Post your responses here at the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Thread! Arthur Slade and I will read and give feedback as often as we can this week. I can’t wait to see what he has to say about all your work.

The Most Loved Stories on Wattpad in 2012

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Watty Awards! Start reading the finalists and winning stories, in Thriller, Sci-Fi, Romance, and other genres, here: Watty Awards 2012.

The Good Kind of Bad

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Forget what you know about your life. Secrets are sometimes better left just that; secrets.

I watched Joe rest his weight on the kitchen counter and with a shaking hand, pour himself a good measure of vodka. His breathing shallow, his body weak; the heavy bottle beyond his control as distilled alcohol splashed onto the kitchen floor. His clumsy fingers grabbed for the glass before he downed it and steadied himself on the counter. I gasped at the sight, clamping a hand to my mouth to catch the sound. Unsure if Joe had seen me I’d already gone, back between the covers, trying to forget what I should never have seen.

It’s her wedding day for the second time in a month; though with two very different grooms. As Will Edelmman waits at the altar she’s escaped England and responsibility to Chicago; the city of her childhood.

She soon meets enigmatic bad boy Joe Petrozzi and after three short weeks together, she’s walking down the aisle for a second time; though her new husband has a secret, and he’s desperate to keep it that way.

The thrill ride can’t last forever as the whirlwind romance begins to spin dangerously out of control. So begins a dark love story; a tale of secrets, lies, murder and mistrust. Daring to dream of a different life, she gets her fingers burnt searching for The Good Kind of Bad.

Click here to read the whole novel free on Wattpad.

From Rags to Riches: The Pursuit of Success

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Ready for a thrilling rags-to-riches story? Wattpad brings you a guest post by Edward Mullen, writer of “The Art of the Hustle”:

“From underdog to billionaire, Trevor Morrison is the epitome of success. But money was never the goal…”

From Rags to Riches: The Pursuit of Success

Trevor Morrison is a true underdog. He graduated high school and was desperate to find his purpose in life.

With no discernible talent other than a desire to lift himself out of his situation, he set off to make the best use of the hand he was dealt. Ten years later, Trevor is a self-made billionaire and running one of the largest companies in the world.

Author J.K. Rowling has a similar, but real-life rags-to-riches story. When she was 29 years old, she considered herself to be the biggest failure. She was an unemployed single mother with no money, and had a mountain of unpaid bills. Her marriage had recently fallen apart and to top it all off, her mother had just passed away. Soon after that, Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression and even contemplated suicide.

Instead of giving up, she pursued her passion for writing as a way of coping. Her big idea was to write a story about a boy wizard named Harry Potter using emotions and experiences from her life.

At a Harvard commencement speech in 2008, J.K. Rowling said,

“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. So rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Somewhere along the way, Trevor Morrison and J.K. Rowling were taught some really powerful lessons on hustle:

1. Work hard

2. Be determined

3. Turn your negatives into positives

4. Believe in yourself

Click here to read the complete “The Art of the Hustle” free on Wattpad.

Self-made billionaire, Trevor Morrison, recounts his life from being a poor kid from a small town to creating one of the largest companies in the world, all before his 30th birthday.

A true underdog tale is told in The Art of the Hustle. When Trevor Morrison graduated high school, he was desperate to find his purpose in life. With a lack of money and viable options at his disposal, he eagerly took advantage of the first opportunity to come his way.

The harsh realities of the world were soon revealed as people who he thought he could trust betrayed him. The only thing that he could count on was his hustle – namely his wits and his insatiable desire to forge ahead despite a multitude of setbacks.


The Popularity Debt

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“Nothing lasts forever, and all friendships come at a price…”

“Gossip’s gossip. It doesn’t matter whose mouth it came out of.”

Click here to read the complete novel free on Wattpad!

Scaredy Cat: A Romantic Comedy

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Everly Rowan finds courage (and love), with help from spiders, laser tag, bible-thumpers, handcuffs, and skydiving.

She melted. Somehow, this sweet and very muscular man had got the idea that she was a daredevil who led a wild and fun-filled life, tossing shoes out of windows, initiating high-speed car chases, and breaking up fights at school dances. If only he knew. She smiled a beautiful smile. And he kind of wanted to show her off. Who could be cross at a man like that?

Click here to read the whole novel free on Wattpad!

An Action/Adventure Heroine That Breaks The Mold

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Are you a fan of Bond films, 24, SALT or the Bourne Trilogy? Here’s your newest guilty reading pleasure: “JET” by Russell Blake. Check out the whole novel free on Wattpad!

JET. “A Female Bourne” Ex-Mossad heroine in a non-stop, high octane, action adventure thriller!

Read more about this feisty heroine in the guest post below:

An Action/Adventure Heroine That Breaks The Mold

When Wattpad approached me about writing a guest blog about my new novel, JET, I was right in the middle of thinking through the fifth installment in the series. I’m tremendously grateful that readers have resonated with the character, an ex-Mossad operative who fakes her own death to escape her past, and was eager to make the first novel free for Wattpad users, believing that the more who are familiar with the book, the greater the impact of the whole series will be.

It may seem odd for a male suspense author to be writing about a twenty-something female ex-assassin, but the odd thing is that JET is the easiest character I’ve ever written. I started off with just a single idea: Kill Bill meets Bourne.

I loved how Tarantino crafted the main character in the Kill Bill movies, and wanted to create the most kick-ass female protagonist the literary world had ever seen – a mold-breaking adrenaline rush of a heroine who could give the Lisbeth Salanders and Jason Bournes of the world a run for their money; a female Jack Bauer crossed with James Bond who was larger-than-life and unapologetically overblown. In other words, a female main character who was not only fun to read, but one readers of any gender could root for. But most of all, I aspired to write the fastest-paced series of novels I’d ever read – books that left readers soaked in sweat and breathless, their hearts trip-hammering as they finished the last pages. I wanted to ruin readers for all other action adventure novels, and do it with the saga of a female protagonist the likes of which had never been imagined.

I also wanted the books to be smart. I was raised on Ludlum, Higgins, Forsyth, Grisham and Harris. I hoped to create a series that could stand side by side with the work of those venerated masters and not make excuses. In short, I wanted to write blindingly fast-paced books that plunged the reader into another world within the first few pages and held them in a death grip till the final sentences, and did so with interesting turns of phrase and evocative, almost cinematic style.

JET turned out better than I could have hoped, and reader reception has been nothing short of amazing. With 177 reviews on Amazon in just a few short months and over ten thousand copies sold, it appears that JET won some hearts. And now I’ve made it free. I like to tell folks who have never heard of my novels to just read the first ten pages of JET and they’ll get what my approach to storytelling is all about. Having written 19 novels to date, I’ve synthesized my technique over time, and JET is probably the best expression of what I do I could hope for. If you’re a fan of Bond films, 24, SALT or the Bourne Trilogy, you might find JET to be a new guilty pleasure.

JET is a different kind of female heroine. She makes no excuses, expects no quarter and offers none, and goes toe-to-toe with the baddest of the bad. But she’s got depth, and finesse; she’s complex and three-dimensional – in short, she’s compelling and seems real, if over-the-top at times. There’s a veracity to her actions and attitude that rings true, which is why I think that so many female readers have warmed to her. She’s got issues, but she also has heart and soul. And she can kick some serious butt. Let’s not forget that.

I set out to break the mold of female action/adventure protagonists. That’s a tall order, but I think JET pulled it off. I’ll leave the debate to readers, but so far the feedback has been positive. I’d encourage anyone that thinks that action thrillers are moribund, hackneyed clichés that center around ex-CIA jocks for whom this time it’s personal, to give JET a read. I guarantee it will be an experience unlike any other, and might even convince the doubtful that the genre can be complex, interesting, surprising, and even, dare I say it, worthy of their time.

 Enjoy JET with my compliments, and if you like it, tell a friend.

Click here to read “JET” for free on Wattpad:

Code name: Jet

Twenty-eight-year-old Jet was once the Mossad’s most lethal operative before faking her own death and burying that identity forever.

But the past doesn’t give up on its secrets easily.

When her new life on a tranquil island is shattered by a brutal attack, Jet must return to a clandestine existence of savagery and deception to save herself and those she loves. A gritty, unflinching roller-coaster of high-stakes twists and shocking turns, JET features a new breed of protagonist that breaks the mold.

Fans of Lisbeth Salander, Bond, 24, and the Bourne trilogy will find themselves carried along at Lamborghini speed to a conclusion as jarring and surprising as the story’s heroine is unconventional. 

Going Underground

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Going Underground - it’s not about living in the past, it’s about living with it.

“She thought back to that Tuesday night all those months ago, when her body temperature had yet again signalled ovulation and she’d yet again summoned Jonathan to the bedroom. Not the most romantic of occasions, she had to admit. More a means to an end than anything else. Still, that didn’t explain why when she, as the mother-to-be, had been drawing up a list of baby names ever since, Jonathan, as the father-to-be, had been hell bent on keeping his enthusiasm tightly under wraps.”

At 8 ¾ months pregnant, Tracey Parkes has everything she wants in life. A nice house, even if it is a bit on the small side, a long awaited baby on the way and a reliable husband to boot… Well, as reliable as a husband can be when he’s keeping a long held secret - a secret she’s desperate to uncover.

Click here to read the whole novel free on Wattpad!

What is Chick Lit?

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Wattpad writer Anna Bell shares her insight into the evolving world of chick lit in this special guest post.

Get a taste of chick lit by reading Anna’s complete novel “Millie and the American Wedding,” and other chick lit stories, free on Wattpad.

We all know what chick lit is, don’t we? It’s those books, you know, the ones with those covers. The books with the main characters who wear six-inch stilettos, have fabulous high-flying careers, are size zero, and fall in love with a man so handsome that he could make a male model weep with jealousy. So right? So wrong.

Chick lit is one of those genres that is terribly stereotyped and judged. One that, despite evidence to the contrary on the bestsellers lists, is declared as a dead genre most years. And one that is often dismissed as a trashy read with little or no plot, usually by people who have never read a chick lit novel.

  

Continue reading “What is Chick Lit” on Book Riot.

Check out Wattpad’s new Chick Lit genre on our WeLoveChickLit home page!

WATTPAD WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT TWELVE!

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IMPROVE YOUR WRITING EVERY WEEK WITH WATTPAD

Welcome to the Wattpad Weekly Writing Prompt!

Start anytime.

These are free writing prompts for Wattpad writers who want to be inspired and challenged. You’ll come away with new ideas, new techniques and, most importantly, you’ll generate lots of new writing. The prompts are posted every Monday on the Wattpad Insider.

To join in: read the prompt and get writing – post your writing on the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Threadwhere I’ll give feedback as much as I can!

The prompts are written by Alice Kuipers, bestselling author of Life on the Refrigerator Door, The Worst Thing She Ever Did and 40 Things I Want To Tell You. Visit her at www.alicekuipers.com:

Week Twelve

We thought about openings last week with Arthur Slade at the helm. Editors, agents and publishers want to be taken in from the very first few sentences, because readers want that too. Lively, compelling openings are essential to hook your reader and make them want more.

A storm is on its way.

Use this opening line to start a story or a novel. This week, think about how to use the prompt to make your opening utterly ‘un-put-downable’!

Write up to 400 words.

Post your responses here at the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Thread! I’ll read and give feedback as often as I can.

Drip Drop Teardrop

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Even Death Can Fall in Love…

From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of On Dublin Street.

Read “Drip Drop Teardrop,” free on Wattpad!


Brazos Bride

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One question whirled through Hope Montoya’s mind: “Who wants me dead?”

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She understood now. To honor and cherish. To love and to hold. They meant more, she knew, but now this man holding her, cherishing her, sent her senses reeling.

Click here to read Brazos Bride free on Wattpad!

After reading a few novels,I realised that readers can hear music as they read. Based on comments I've read, I realised this. Can you please tell me how this happens as I don't hear anything. I would love to though. Thanks.

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On wattpad.com, writers can upload videos and photos to go alongside their stories. You should be able to see this on the right side of the text box. Just click on “play” to hear music that the writer has attached to the story. Happy Wattpadding!

Godspeed

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What is a heart if not the ultimate clockwork?

“This is your new heart. It’s rare, and young, and made of pure white gold. Exactly, I am certain, like the one it will repair.”

Abigail’s young life was saved by the kindness of strangers: Schuyler Algernon, the man who found her collapsed on cold city streets, and Quinn Godspeed, the doctor who risked everything by breaking the law to keep her fragile heart beating. As the truth about what she’s become and her feelings for her savior overtake her, Abigail is forced to ask what constitutes life, living, and what dark secrets are contained within Godspeed’s past and the walls of Schuyler’s house. 

Click here to read this sci-fi romance, free on Wattpad!

Sin: Psychological Thriller

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Sin.  Just an ordinary guy. If you ignore the screams, the deaths, and the asylum. And his dead sister.

Something else waited for me and I was letting the ghost of my dead sister lead me to it.  I was walking into a cellar, with a light that didn’t work, and I was ignoring the streaks of blood on the walls and the sinister scratching sounds from below.

Click here to read the whole novel, free on Wattpad!

WATTPAD WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT THIRTEEN!

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IMPROVE YOUR WRITING EVERY WEEK WITH WATTPAD

Welcome to the Wattpad Weekly Writing Prompt!

Start anytime.

These are free writing prompts for Wattpad writers who want to be inspired and challenged. You’ll come away with new ideas, new techniques and, most importantly, you’ll generate lots of new writing. The prompts are posted every Monday on the Wattpad Insider.

To join in: read the prompt and get writing – post your writing on the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Threadwhere I’ll give feedback as much as I can!

The prompts are written by Alice Kuipers, bestselling author of Life on the Refrigerator Door, The Worst Thing She Ever Did and 40 Things I Want To Tell You. Visit her at www.alicekuipers.com:

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Week Thirteen

Imagine that your character gets a letter from someone they didn’t expect to hear from, giving your character a gift. Only problem – your character can’t accept this gift for any reason. Write the scene from the moment the letter arrives, thinking about how putting problems in the way of characters makes them have to grow and change.

Write up to 500 words.

Post your responses here at the Weekly Workshop Series Discussion Thread! I’ll read and give feedback as often as I can.

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