6 10 Langkah Jadi Penulis Muda

buat kamu2 yang ingin jadi penulis, berikut ini ada beberapa langkah yang bisa kamu lakukan supaya bisa jadi penulis yang oke:

1. Mulai dari sering menulis di buku harianmu;
Tentang apa ‘aja, keseharian yang kamu alamin, dari bangun pagi sampai tidur lagi (kebanyakan’ya?). Tulis kejadian yang paling berkesan pada hari itu panjang-lebar, dengan gaya bahasamu pastinya! Ini penting untuk mengasah kebiasaanmu menulis.

2. Banyak-banyak membaca buku, koran dan majalah
Girls, perluas wawasanmu dengan rajin membaca surat kabar, majalah, dan buku-buku apa saja yang kamu suka. Jadi penulis tidak boleh ketinggalan berita, apalagi nggak tau’ apa-apa, kasihan buanget’deh lo! Dengan rajin baca, darisana kamu bisa punya gagasan dan ide untuk menulis. Beneran!

3. Sering browsing internet
Tapi jangan browsing yang ‘nggak-nggak’ya..Yang pasti kamu bisa membuka wawasanmu dari internet. Kalau nggak tau alamat situs sesuatu yang kamu cari, tinggal klik www.google.com, dan tulis kata kunci hal apa yang ingin kamu ketahui, dan..beerrrrrrrr..sederet cerita tentang itu bakal keluar buanyak sekali. Ini berguna juga’loh buat kamu mencari bahan informasi ‘ngerjain tugas pe-er sekolahmu.

4. Penulis kudu’ paham teknologi
Iya’dunk! Kamu kudu’ bisa mengetik di komputer, paham internet, punya email, tahu banget soal yahoo messenger, bagaimana menggunakan faks, scanning dan gadget lainnya. Semuanya kudu’ bisa biar mempermudah urusanmu dalam menulis cerita dan artikel.

5. Banyak-banyak membaca tulisan karya orang lain
Kalau kamu ingin menjadi penulis teenlit, banyak-banyak membaca teenlit karya orang lain, jangan cuma satu penulis. Disitu kamu akan melihat bagaimana setiap penulis punya gaya bahasa, alur cerita, penggambaran tokoh yang berbeda-beda, nah..itu kamu harus pelajari, girls!

6. Karya tulis sekolah = tes menulis
Yup! Kalau kamu sering mendapat tugas karya tulis, mengarang bebas atau yang sifatnya urusan menulis, jadikan itu proyek ujian menulismu. Kerjakan sepenuh hati, jangan menyuruh orang lain menulisnya’ya..

7. Lupakan kalimat pertama tulisanmu dengan ‘Pada suatu hari…’ (ihh, kaya’ anak SD aja!).
Kamu bisa mulai dengan menggambarkan setting dan suasana cerita yang ingin kamu buat, misal: ‘Embun sudah berjatuhan di rerumputan halaman rumah. Burut bercicit-cicit ramai. Ayah juga sudah menyalakan mesin mobilnya. Benar-benar pagi yang sibuk..’.
Atau kamu juga bisa memulai langsung dengan menceritakan tokoh yang ada dalam ceritamu, misal: ’Jangan tanyakan apa yang membuat Erin marah hari itu, sebab lagi-lagi nilai ujian matematikanya dibawah angka 6. Jadi dia lebih banyak diam daripada bercanda seperti biasanya..’

8.Selalu berlatih dan berlatih
Sama seperti bidang yang lain, kalau kamu tidak latihan, maka hasilnya akan nihil. Jadi, selalu mau meluangkan waktu untuk menulis dan menulis, apa saja..

9. Tulis point-point yang kamu ingin tulis
Bila kamu ingin membuat sebuah cerpen, buat coretan point-point apa yang ingin kamu tulis dan ceritakan di kertas. Seluruh point adalah tumpahan imajinasimu. Jadi jangan sampai terpaku lama di komputer, tanpa tahu apa inti cerita dan klimaks ceritamu.
Misal: tema ceritamu tentang ‘Cowok Paling Belagu di Kelas’. Tulis point-point cerita seperti:
- tokoh utama: Rio
- tokoh pendukung: Aryan, Hisna & Iwi
- Awal cerita: Belagunya Rio di sekolah
- Isi cerita: Rio suka m’bully di sekolah
- Isi cerita: Rio kena batunya
- klimaks cerita: Rio insyaf, dan banyak aktif di OSIS

10. Penulis = orang paling peka’!
Yup! Tanpa kamu peka’ dengan keadaan sekitarmu, maka imajinasi, wawasan, dan ilmumu akan tersumbat. Ceritamu jadi tidak berisi dan hambar! Maka, banyak-banyaklah bergaul dan punya kepekaan yang luar biasa terhadap perasaan diri dan orang lain, lingkungan dan semuanya.

So, kalau sering menulis, kamu jadi bisa menilai sendiri atau minta penilaian temanmu atas hasil tulisanmu. Kalau sudah pede, kirim aja’ ke majalah atau penerbit, siapa tahu karyamu dimuat bahkan jadi buku. Wah, lumayan’loh honornya. Bahkan kamu bisa jadikan hobimu ini jadi suatu profesi. Iya, profesi penulis!

Jadi..Selamat menulis! Yakinlah..kamu juga bisa’kok jadi penulis!!!@

http://forum.tabloidnova.com/showthread.php?p=21742

1 tips menulis cerpen(cerita pendek)

Menulis cerpen (cerita pendek) dapat menjadi permulaan karir yang baik sebagai penulis fiksi. Menulis cerita yang sangat panjang, seperti novel pastilah lebih membutuhkan waktu dan tenaga yang cukup banyak. Belum lagi mencari penerbit yang mau menerbitkannya. Cerita pendek dapat menjadi terobosan dalam karir menulis. Lebih banyak alternatif bagi penulis cerita pendek untuk dikenal, daripada novel. Majalah dan koran banyak yang menerima cerita pendek. Blog bisa juga menjadi alternatif dimuatnya cerita pendek di internet. Seringnya nama penulis muncul dalam cerita pendek yang dimuat di berbagai majalah dan koran, bisa menjadi pertimbangan positif bagi penerbit, bila penulis tersebut menyodorkan naskah cerita yang lebih panjang seperti novel ke penerbit.

Tulisan ini ditujukan pada penulis pemula yang ingin menulis cerita pendek dengan baik. Sesuai namanya, menulis cerita pendek memiliki keunikan tersendiri.

Tema
Sebaiknya Anda memiliki tema yang jelas saat menulis cerpen, tentang cerita seperti apa yang ingin Anda tulis. Pesan apa yang ingin Anda sampaikan kepada pembaca. Dengan adanya tema, yang menjadi tulang punggung cerita, maka cerpen Anda akan meninggalkan kesan tersendiri pada pembaca. Penetapan tema dari awal juga berguna agar saat menulis, Anda tidak terlalu jauh melenceng dari cerita sudah ditetapkan.

Alur cerita
Fokuslah pada satu alur cerita sesuai dengan tema yang sudah ditetapkan sebelumnya. Karakter tambahan, sejarah, latar belakang, dan detail lainnya sebaiknya memperkuat alur cerita ini. Percabangan alur cerita mutlak harus dihindari.

Karakter
Jangan menggunakan jumlah karakter yang terlalu banyak. Semakin banyak karakter bisa membuat cerita Anda menjadi terlalu panjang dan tidak fokus pada tema. Gunakan karakter secukupnya yang sesuai dengan alur cerita.

Sepenggal kisah hidup
Namanya saja cerita pendek, sehingga cerpen hanya menceritakan tentang sekelumit kisah dalam hidup karakter yang Anda buat. Jika karakter Anda memiliki kisah hidup yang sangat panjang, tulis hanya sebagai background yang menjadi penguat tema cerita tersebut. Tekankan hanya pada satu bagian dari hidupnya untuk ditulis.

Penggunaan kata
Bagaimanapun cerpen memiliki keterbatasan dalam jumlah kata yang bisa dipakai, apalagi cerita super pendek seperti flash fiction. Seringkali majalah atau koran tertentu benar-benar membatasi jumlah kata yang bisa dipakai. Jadi, Anda sebaiknya menggunakan pilihan kata yang efisien dan menghindari menggunakan kalimat deskriptif yang berpanjang-panjang.

Impresi
Secara tradisional, cerpen dimulai dengan pengenalan karakter, konflik, dan resolusi. Alternatif lain, adalah Anda dapat membuat impresi pada pembaca justru pada awal cerita, dengan langsung menghadirkan konflik. Karakter Anda sudah berada di dalam kekacauan besar. Hal ini akan membuat pembaca semakin penasaran, ada apa yang terjadi sebenarnya, bagaimana karakter tersebut akan mengatasi persoalannya. Pengenalan karakter, setting, dll dapat dilakukan secara perlahan-lahan di bagian cerita berikutnya.

Kejutan
Beri kejutan pada pembaca di akhir cerita. Hindari membuat akhir cerita yang mudah ditebak.

Konklusi
Jangan biarkan pembaca meraba-raba dalam gelap pada akhir cerita Anda. Pastikan konklusi di akhir cerita Anda memuaskan, tetapi juga tidak mudah ditebak. Pembaca perlu dibuat berkesan pada akhir cerita, tentang apa yang terjadi pada karakter tersebut. Akhir cerita yang mengesankan akan selalu diingat oleh pembaca, bahkan setelah lama mereka selesai membaca cerita tersebut.

0 tips membuat karakter dalam novel

Pembuatan Karakter Utama

Nama yang mudah dieja

Karakter harus dapat disukai namun memiliki kelemahan yg mempengaruhi tindakan2nya

Biografi yang sesuai dengan sejarah, latar belakang, dan pengalaman pribadi
-fisik (tinggi, berat, warna rambut, warna mata, postur, dan umur)
-sifat
-hobi
-temperamen
-pendirian; pandangan moral religi dan politik
-kebiasaan & kelakuan unik
-kesukaan/ketidaksukaan
-rasa takut dan fobia
-tujuan jangka pendek dan panjang
-harapan dan impian

Menilai kompetensi karakter
-Mengapa karakter ini yang terbaik untuk diceritakan?
-Apa yang memotivasi karakter ini untuk menjalankan plot cerita?
-Apakah resiko dan tantangan plot cerita setara dgn tujuan pribadinya?
-Apakah karakteristiknya masuk akal?
-Apakah karakter memiliki kualitas yang kuat untuk survive dalam cerita?

sumber:http://kemudian.com/forum/belajar_nulis/163081

0 NOVEL

What is novel?

A novel is an invented story presented in book form. Writers of novels are often referred to as novelists. 

The novel is often defined as being a fiction in prose of a certain length, typically more than 50 000 words, with characters, incidents and perhaps a plot. This admits of counterexamples: many novels, among them Ulysses by James Joyce and Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, contain passages written in drama or verse form. Historical (non-fictional) novels, such as I, Claudius by Robert Graves are a well-established subclass of novels. Some, perhaps Rainer Maria Rilke's Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge, contain little or nothing in the way of a plot. 

Novels are a relatively recent genre, first flourishing widely in the early 18th century in Europe. Miguel Cervantes is credited with writing the first Western novel, Don Quixote, the first part of which was published in 1605. But the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms predates this by centuries and is easily a novel by modern standards. The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu (a Japanese noblewoman), was written even earlier, in the early 11th century, and is often considered to be the world's first novel. Still, many Greek and Latin narratives may also fit that description, including The Golden Ass by Apuleius, a 2nd century Latin author from North Africa. In it we find the characteristics that even today make up a novel. The first English language novelist was Daniel Defoe who wrote Robinson Crusoe in 1719. 

The novel and other literary genres

Prior to the rise of the novel very little work written in prose was taken seriously as artistic literature. People used prose for science, law, history, and philosophy, but the general attitude was that work written without poetry could hardly count as aesthetically interesting on its own. The early novel was meant to reach a large public and at the beginning it was considered as a lower form of literature - neither true nor beautiful. The novel is thus historically linked with realism in style and content, but this can no longer be considered generally true. The discovery of the wealth of aesthetic value that inheres in prose not constrained by poetic structures can be considered a major development in world literature. 

What sets the novel apart from a short story is that it is longer, more complex, and deals with more than one issue in the lives of its characters. What sets it apart from a play is that it is not confined by the restrictions of the stage, human actors and the audience. What sets it apart from poetry is that it is written in prose form. 

Sub-genres of the novel

There are many sub-genres of the novel. These include: 
the detective novel 
the romantic novel 
the horror novel 
the thriller novel 
the science fiction novel 
chick-lit

0 Who J. K. Rowling is

Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE[1] (born 31 July 1965),[2] who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling,[3] is a British author, best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies.[4]

Aside from writing the Potter novels, Rowling is perhaps equally famous for her "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($798 million), ranking her as the twelfth richest woman in Britain.[5] Forbes ranked Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007,[6] and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom.[7] She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain.

0 HOW TO BE A GOOD WRITER

Why a creative writing class ? 

To come together; people of similar interest, of comparable talent. To meet and share ideas, to give and take. I don't want published writers in beginners class : since we all have different experiences, we can bring in new ideas and take some advice which we received in the class. 

How do you teach creative writing ? 

I in the Socratic approach, as my teacher Wallace STEGNER at Stanford university taught the class. I don’t think you can stand before a black board and teach creative writing as you can teach history or mathematics. Writing is so subjective, each writer approaches it differently. Who am I to say that this is how something should be done, but not that way? Taking the Socratic approach is the best out - we all participate, we all contribute. The students teach one another through their discussion of a piece of writing on the table. The duty of the teacher is to set the environment, get you to the class on time, get the discussion started and to pick it up when it begins waver or drag. But the students must do most of the talking - all students not only one or two, but all. 

What is creative writing ? 

The term means imaginative writing, as opposed to expository writing or factual writing. Though the creative writer draws from factual sources, sociology, psychology, politics, religion, etc., etc., etc., he should use all of that information imaginatively - never factually. The short story or novel is to produce in its reader the pleasure of an aesthetic experience. 

Who is a creative writer ? 

The creative writer must have something to say, and if he is to be a writer the demons will not let him or her alone until they have said it. The real writer does such and such whereas the want to be writer does this. The real writer writes, Goethe said, everything has been said. The problem is to say it again. The young writer must have the ego to believe that what he has to say is as important as anything that has been said before. In a sense he is right, because no one before him has written about this particular moment on earth. At the same time the young writer must be as humble as the most humble. He must realize that he will never know all of it, and for the rest of his life there will always be something out there that he could learn. 

What are the tools of the writer ? 

The tools of the writer are words, words, words. The writer builds images with these words. To convey to the reader a feeling of love, hate, envy, jealousy, fear, evilness - all the possible emotions - the writer must make you see, hear, feel, taste, smell through the images he creates out of words. The writer does not have to be a great intellectual - but he must be able to use words to grasp your attention, hold your attention, until he is ready to let go. And if he is good enough, he will have your attention long after you have put down the book - all of this is accomplished through words, made from those twenty six little letters of the alphabet. 

How are those images made ? 

That depends on the individual writer. Flaubert once told his protégé Guy de Maupassant to describe a scene of action in a single phrase - or better yet, a single word. Faulkner could probably use an entire page, or maybe even more to describe that same scene, because he would add so many other details. Yet it would be the same scene. 

Who am I to say what is the right way, and what is not ? that all depends on the temperament and vision of the writer. Although I have used more of the Flaubertian, Hemingway, Turgenev approach - that is, the shortest way and quickest way of getting to the point, I will never tell a student not to use Faulkner's approach. What I tell my students is to read both Flaubert and Faulkner, and the 73 other books plus about another thousand, and by then you should have your way of describing the scene of action. It may probably take years of writing to find your own way, your own narrative voice, but the easiest way is to read, read, read and write, write, write. 

Dumas said a writer needs a passion and four walls. I will add that he also needs a table, a chair, pencils, lots of paper, a strong imagination and he must be willing to take risk. He must be willing to say what he thinks is important, whether this would ostracize him from the group, from family, exile him from his own country - whatever. If he wishes to be serious he cannot ever think about what can happen to him : he has something to say, and it must be said. The demons won't let him rest until it's been done. 

That is the difference between the writer, and the person who wants to be a writer. The want to be writes when inspiration hits him - which is very seldom - maybe once or twice a week. He worries about who will read him and who won't. He is also afraid of criticizing the wrong people. He is afraid of being ostracized, or maybe even shot. The writer does not have time to think about any of this. He is too busy writing. 

I would like to quote a passage from "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White. "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines, and a machine no unnecessary parts? This requires not that the writer makes all of his sentences short, or that he avoids all details and treat his subject only in outline, but that each word tells." 

Use natural language 

To quote from Strunk and White again : "Write in a way that comes easily and naturally to you. Using words and phrases that come readily to hand, that is everyday words. Dialect will be necessary at times, slang necessary, profanity necessary at times. But I suggest that this should be used sparingly." Another quote from Strunk and White : "Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective has not been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place. This is not to disparage adjectives and adverbs. They are indispensable parts of speech, and there are times when you must use them - but do not depend on them as you would on the noun and verb." 

Do not overwrite, do not overstate and please do not affect a breezy manner, to think that anything and everything you write is important. Avoid the use of qualifiers - words like rather, very, little, pretty and, another suggestion by Strunk and White - and I can't agree more. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I have had students to turn in a piece of work after only one draft of a story, and they are so gullible that they think should get an agent. I tell them that anyone can write a first draft. Good writing, real writing sometimes requires a dozen rewrites. Hemingway rewrote the ending to "A Farewell to Arms" over twenty times. I rewrote my first novel about twenty five times. This is what Strunk and White have to say. 

Don't try to embellish your writing with symbolism in a sense every word is a symbol. Write simply, truthfully, and from deep inside of yourself. Don't try disguising your writing with symbols that only you or you and a couple of your friends know about. Trying to be clever will only cause your reader to lose interest in your story. Write simply and to the point, and if the writing is done well the reader will get the message. 

Point of view 

This depends on the writer and the story. Some writers are more comfortable writing from the omniscient point of view, others from the first person point of view. Faulkner has written some of his works from the multiple point of view. Some stories cannot be told but from the omniscient, others can be told very well by one of the characters in the story, it all depends on what the writer has to say, and with what form he is the most comfortable. I have done them from all. 

 
by Ernest J. Gaines

0 How to Self-Publish a Book

Step 1

Decide what your goal is. Some writers want to print out just enough copies of their prized project for colleagues and friends; others think they have a book that will sell to a larger audience. 

Step2

Examine competing titles to make sure you're not covering the same ground. Find out what sales of those books have been to see if it's really worth your while to tackle a similar topic. Call book distributor Ingram at (615) 213-6803 and punch in the ISBN of the book you want to check on; you'll hear a voice message containing the number of copies sold in the last year. 

Step 3

Determine what format you'd like to publish in: hardcover, softcover, or ebook, which is essentially an electronic file and requires no paper printing. 

Step 4

Check out print-on-demand publishers. If all you want to do is get a book published, these vanity presses will do the job for a price. Some vanity houses will print just a few copies for a few hundred dollars. Print-on-demand is ideal for very short runs (25 to 500 copies). Instead of printing on traditional, ink-based offset printing equipment, pages are reproduced using a highend copier. A digital file from a page layout program links directly to a high-speed copier and then is machine-bound. Some shops offer perfect binding so it looks just like a printed book. Look at sources like Trafford.com, Xlibris.com and Iuniverse.com. 

Step 5

Print your book directly from your completed files with a directto- press printer. Instead of producing a different piece of film for each color of each page, the files are transferred directly to the printing plate. You'll eliminate all the film costs, and save time too. 

Step 6

Shop aggressively if you really want your book to sell. If you're an established writer considering self-publishing, look around. You can either choose to have a print-on-demand company, such as those mentioned above, handle all the layout, printing and production activities, or go to a local offset printer and oversee each of those steps in the process personally. 

Step 7

Ask potential suppliers to send you samples of their recently printed books. Don't be shocked: The quality will vary considerably with regard to paper quality, cover design, layout, and whether it was run on a sheet-fed press or a web press. Ask questions about how individual pieces were produced. 

Step 8

View competitors' books to determine what size and format you'd like your book to take. Find out if there are standard sizes you should stay with to reduce costs, or whether a different format will help your book stand out. Format sizes can affect which print-on-demand publisher you can work with. 

Step 9

Familiarize yourself with printing costs. These will vary, but you can expect to spend more than $1 per book for a minimum print run of several thousand copies. You may also be charged extra for layout help, editing, design of a book cover, and for photos. Typical fees are $3 to $6 per page for editing, $3 to $5 for production, $500 to $5,000 and more for design, plus $3 per 300- page book for printing. 

Step 10

Hire a designer with book experience (see How to Hire a Graphic Designer). He or she will design the type, flow the pages, and create a spectacular jacket as well. This is more expensive, in some cases considerably so, but the difference in creating a quality product is significant. 

Step 11

Tally up your costs, including printing, graphic design, artwork, photography, copy editing and other expenses. A traditional publishing house that buys your book would normally absorb these costs, but then again, you lose control. 

Step 12

Request an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which is the standard code for identifying your book, at isbn.org. The cost for 10 ISBNs is $150, plus a minimum $75 processing fee. 

Step 13

Find out how and by whom your book will be distributed. Some print-on-demand companies handle it in-house. If you do it, you'll need to have the books shipped to you, to contact book chains about stocking your book, potentially visit each bookstore individually, and handle any mail orders on your own. Some bookstores will accept a limited number of your books on consignment, which means you leave them and if they sell, you get paid; if they don't, you pick them up in a couple of months. Some companies have extensive bookstore distribution; others focus more on online sales, which will have bearing on the types of activities you'll need to perform to be successful. 

Step 14

Be prepared to sell yourself. Any real marketing of the book will have to come from you. Self-publishing also means self-promotion, or hiring a publicist to do it for you.

now, try it.

good luck