Writing Sites:Inkpop

Well, as many of you  already know the glory of inkpop, I post this here for those of you unaware. Inkpop is a site hosted by HarperCollins for YA writers and readers.

Click the banner to visit!

Well, inkpop is a great place to share your work and read others' stories. There are some awesome groups and discussions. Plus this site is open to all genres! Amazing, right?

On the down side, this isn't the top site for feedback. There are way to get feedback, but not the quantity or sometimes quality you could get on other sites.

Other Good Things About Inkpop

1. You can make covers for your books, which I think is has a huge advantage. It makes you feel like your one more step closer to publishing. And come on, tell me whoever has been writing a book, and hasn't dreamt of what the cover will look like?
2. A great place to meet the like-minded and read their stories. Inkpop has an amazing community, and excellent ways to connect. Like messaging, forums, friends, so on.
3. You can make groups like the Inkpop Fantasy Society, the Inkpop Short Story Society, The League of Super Evil Cupcakes, and the Inkpop Angels.
4. The design of this website is fun to look at and easy to manuever. Some writing websites are a little boring, but inkpop's design isn't like that at all. It's fun, colorful, and creative. Why don't you check it out?
5. The Top Picks. They are the top five most popular projects of the month. (See Basic Inkpop Knowledge for more) The editors at HarperCollins review them and give feedback to the author, permanently marking the project with a gold star instead of a number.
6. You have a chance for publishing. Editors who review the Top Picks can publish them, if they like the potential. This has happened only once, In Leah's The Carrier of the Mark, but it's possible it will happen again.

Basic Inkpop Knowledge

• A swap is when you read someone else's book and give feedback on it, that author doing the same for you. This is one of the ways to get feedback. The other is the rare and lucky free read. Free reads are when you read and/or comment, giving decent feedback, on a book with the generosity of your heart.
• Members do not appreciate one-liners during a swap. It is the number two reason on how to not make friends. A one-liner is "feedback" that is basically saying something like "Good job, I like it." It offers no feedback, and really doesn't say anything good about your story either.
• True feedback is at least one thing good about the book and one thing they could change.
• It's probably not the best idea to ask for free reads, that's kind of selfish and lazy. Asking for swaps is fine.
• To vote for a project, you add them to your picks. Adding them to your picks gives that project points, based on your Trendsetter Rank. The project rank is not effected by watch lists, comments, or the current number of picks lists it is on. It is the collective score of all the picks lists it has been on.
• Picking a project earlier, increases your trendsetter rank. If the project you picked gains places while it is on your picks list, your rank increases. Simple.

Inkpop Purpose's

Inkpop's purpose is to let you put yourself out there as an author and find people who feel the same way about writing.

IFS Challenge #1

Greetings all!

I hope you enter, and happy writing!

1. Format: Must be short story, or book. Poems, one shots, and fan-fiction will not be accepted. The story must be an original work.

2. It must include the following elements: The story takes place at midnight exactly. The story must have a snake in it. The story must involve a horn in it.

3. The following elements are optional, but additional points may be earned for creative inclusion:
a. the major plot twists map to the five tastes (sweet-salty-sour-bitter-savory).
b. a prince whose dwelling is haunted falls passionately in love with an irrational demonologist - all thanks to a lie. It seems a sailor who has a legendary grimoire will bring them even closer together
c. What starts as contempt becomes true love - all thanks to a party. What role will the revealing of an impostor play in their relationship?
d. During the story, someone turns another person in. The story must involve a crown in it. During the story, a character has to pay a fine
4. Dead-line for this challenge: February 28th.

Make sure to post the link to your story on this thread. In the heading of your story make sure to write IFSC#1

The contest will be judged by myself and a few selected members of the IFS, who will be notified shortly.

Happy writing! 


-Kayla


Link to the thread for inkpoppers; http://www.inkpop.com/forums/threads/52457/re-inkpop-fantasy-society-writing-challenge-one/

Cure for Writer's Block-Eleanor Kirk

What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out the window. - Rudolph Erich Rascoe


It always seemed you're inspired in the weirdest moments of the day. Whether it's when you're about to fall asleep in math, watching that extremely annoying, dripping sink, or microwaving your dinner. And suddenly,  a character is rambling their story out endlessly in your head and you know you have to write it down right at that very moment. Burrito forgotten, math teacher ignored, dripping sink no longer of any importance, you rush to your notebook. Sometimes you make it in time, sometimes you don't. If it's too late, and the character has lost interest in you, you have to wait for that next, incredibly lucid moment when the next story strikes you.

For me, writer's block happened as often as I breathed. So all you writer's out there who are suffering from this dreaded condition, you're not alone. But hold your cheers, I was recently informed of a cure. Give it up for Eleanor Kirk's very helpful cure for writer's block!


1. Read over what you’ve already read for that story. Pick out a character and write their personal diary. Pick out a sub-character and write their personal diary. Swap all the romantic relationships around and see how that works. If set in the real world, transfer to a fantasy world or put your character a few hundred years back in time. If set in a fantasy world, put your MC in the real world. Stuff like that – it helps. If it doesn’t help, progress to stage 2. 

2. Make trouble for your characters! And I mean serious trouble. For the main characters/good guys. And seriously – this one gets the thoughts pouring out – kill off one of your characters – not the MC, but it has to be somebody on the “good” side – like the MC’s best friend, the cute little brother, the main romantic interest, the person they all respect who holds the answer to everything, the genius who can get them out of every scrape, the one with the ability to kick ass when it comes to the bad guys... the possibilities are endless. Planning the death scene is enough to get things going again, let alone the problems they have to face afterwards. Just a word of caution – if the story’s set contemporarily and in the real world, it might be a bit farfetched to kill somebody off. 


***WARNING!! ONLY PROGRESS TO STAGE THREE IF YOU ARE IRRETRIEVBABLY STUCK EVEN AT THIS POINT!!*** 

3. Translate your book into a different language – Spanish, French, German, Latin, Esperanto, Martian.... DO NOT wimp out after just a couple of sentences. It will only work if you do a sizable chunk, so make sure you do at least a chapter. The amount is different for everybody. Believe me, writer’s block will seem like nothing after this – unless you’re bilingual, in which case the trauma of this method won't affect you at all. Before you ask, I translated a thirteen page long chapter into Latin once. I have never had a problem writing since. And my chapters are now a sane length as well.

How to Cure Writer's Block: A bit of humor from Khornate_Entity

I do have a good method for defeating writer's block, but it does require commitment to the story.

What you do is this. Take a trip to Paris, and descend deep into the Catacombs. Search for the tomb of the fabled magician Francois Le Chatelier, and prise open the top with a crowbar. Remove the urn within, taking care not to spill the ashes contained therein. Take those ashes to the great stone ring on Salisbury Plain and spill them onto the altar as the sun strikes the top of the tallest stone on the morning of the summer solstice, and recite the Great Words of Alsace. Then speak to the thing that arises from the stone. Take care to be very polite, but ask of it any questions you wish. However, make sure that you have dismissed it by noontide, or the creature will plague you and your land for one hundred and thirteen years, bringing darkness and pestilence in its wake.

By that time, you should have taken a long break from your story, and when you come back to it you will have a fresh mind for it, and the story will flow naturally.

Story Feature: ANYA by SilverOnTheMoon

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

Anya Gugliotta has blue hair. So did Alexia Dewhurst. The only difference between them? One started a revolution and one did not.



Fisk Beidler has technokinesis in a world where technology is everything. The only problem? Droids get really ticked off when you rearrange their wires into a TV.



The city of Atlanta died three hundred years ago. Why? Nobody really knows. When a rebel is captured by the Emperium and divulges information about the city, Anya and Fisk are sent to investigate. And they discover something big. Bigger than them, bigger than their world, bigger than all the worlds in existence. Tied into the fate of a girl who lived three hundred years before, the two are only certain about one thing:



Never trust someone who's armed with pesto.

Story Feature: Unearthing Wind by brokenbone95

It's all hanging on the edge, and it could come crashing down.
Sumara is a world that is hanging on the edge. The tensions between the different countries are there, and yet they seem to be unknown to the oblivious world. The story begins in Ashin with our 'runaway princess' Romi. She's gone on a journey to save her sister who's recently been captured. However, very soon into the journey trouble strikes and secrets are revealed. The fate of Ashin and the world is in one mans hands, and he may very well choose to let the world go.

(C) 2011 by brokenbone95.

Project Post 1: The Color Red by Nata

This is our first post for the Introduce Your Project promotion that we're going to run on the blog for the next few weeks. Everyone is allowed to participate, just message me the details you want in my inbox on Inkpop guys! And without further adieu, I introduce to you today, The Color Red.
Are there second chances for demons? Zero is about to find out.

Red, the color of blood, of forgotten roses, of sunsets that strike fear straight into your heart. Red, the color of ripe apples, of painted lips, of velvet ribbons. Red, the color of my eyes.



Zero is a slave, kidnapped from her life and thrust into a world she didn’t know existed. Her captors took everything she had, even her name, leaving her with just a metal collar and a cruel master. Zero’s master is Elyore, one of the most powerful slave masters in the world, and she wants to stay that way. Elyore knows more about Zero than she does, and how to use her slave to achieve her plans. Zero knows that she is the only one who can stop Elyore, but how can you end something if you don’t even know what it is?



Being a pawn isn't a bad thing, it's who you're a pawn for. Zero knows which side she should fight for, but does she have the strength to switch?





(Thanks to Nata for being the first to respond to my message in the Forums on InkPop. Please, everyone, go give her project some love!)

http://inkpop.com/projects/86514/the-color-red/