Saturday, September 18, 2010

Barnes & Noble: A surprise.

So today I got a surprise in the mail from Barnes & Noble.  A 5 dollar gift certificate.  I was confused on why I got it until I saw in small letters that it was from their refund department for the e-book that I mentioned about a few posts back.  I was in shock.  I didn’t think they would actually do anything to sort the situation out and I am completely shocked that they did.  I am allowed to use the card at an actual store and online as well as for e-books.  I am not sure which I will do.  My mom says I shouldn’t use it online, but I’m not scared off of using their online store just nervous that I will be paying the right price or getting the right book or what have you.  I see through this experience that online things can go wrong, but I’m willing to try again.

I think I will go to the store and get a book in person.  I haven’t bought a tangible book in a while, but I don’t know which book to get.  There isn’t really any out that I really want.  But I will head down there in the next few weeks to take a peek and see what they have.  Haven’t been in B&N in forever, but I love going in there.  Maybe I will get  Nook cover instead of a book.  I need one and 5 dollars off would be nice.  Hummm, I’ve got time to think about it.

But I just wanted to update to let you know that B&N did make things better, and I have nothing but respect for companies that will admit they made a mistake want to make amends.  Like I said I am not one to make a big huff about things businesses do to me, I know I’m not the only one that is screwed by companies, but the last two issues I’ve had with companies just got my feathers all fluffed up.  But both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have renewed my faith in them.  Now I’m not encouraging people to go out there an make a stink about every single thing a company does bad because not all things are worth the dust you’ll kick up, but if it’s something you feel strongly about then you should say something and if a company respects their customers then they will try to work things out for you, and if they don’t then you don’t need to deal with them any more, there is to much competition out there to let one company stress you out.  And that is all there is to say about that.  ;-)

Well I’m off, just wanted to update you about what happened.  Can’t wait to go shopping, I’m really thinking about getting a Nook cover, see B&N was smart.  They send me a 5 dollar gift card and I will end up spending more.  But I want to because the renewed my faith in them.  I know, I’m sad.  LOL!  Ok, talk to you all later.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Friday, September 10, 2010

In Wil Wheaton’s Words

So a friend of mine recently went to PAX in Seattle, WA, and while on  the phone with him on one of the days he mentioned he was on the way to the Wil Wheaton panel.  Now I hadn’t become very interested in Wil Wheaton until he showed up on The Guild.  But I loved his character he protrayed so much I grew a fangirl crush on him.  So I was jealous my friend got the breathe the same air he did.  LOL!  Anyway, Wil did a reading at the panel that someone got on camera and posted on Youtube.  This story he wrote about him and his wife just tugged at my heart strings and it’s just a wonderful story.  The way he wrote and spoke just had me in awe. I’d love to be able to write that way.  Though there were curse words in what he wrote it was still elegant.  Hard to explain really, so why don’t I just show you instead.

So I just had to share this.  I love the way he talked about his wife.  You could just feel the love he has for her through his words.  To me, that’s what good writing is.  You can feel your character’s/writer’s emotions without them really having to say it.  Hope you enjoyed.  Oh and if you haven’t checked out The Guild, I highly advise you do.  If you are a gamer you will love it.  And I’m off now.

Writing away,
M.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Barnes and Noble: E-Buyer Beware!

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Ok, so last Friday I was on the Barnes and Nobel website looking for some free e-books to download to my Nook. I got one a couple of months back and I am still trying it out. I hadn’t bought a book until recently because I was nervous on how the whole thing worked. The transaction on the site worked nicely and I had planned to purchase another book that was coming out this month to my Nook from the site. Now my funds are budgeted so I can’t go buying a ton of books. I have to pick and choose what I order or buy. So the event that happened on Friday got me ticked off.

I am a “fan” of Nook on Facebook and they mentioned free classical book downloads. So I went to check them out and downloaded them. Then I went to look at the other classical book downloads and saw some of them where free. I saw Sleepy Hollow was free so I clicked on the link for it. The page came up and it said to click for the free download. I clicked it, downloaded it, and then it went to the next page where it said I’d bought the book. I was confused on this. It said it was free everywhere, so why was I charged?

From the email I got from Barnes and Noble, there is a Sleepy Hollow sketch book that is free to download and not the Sleepy Hollow novel. Well the webmasters must have accidentally listed Sleepy Hollow as free and then caught it and fixed it after I downloaded and made my complaint to B&N. They sent me an email basically saying I was wrong and had the wrong book. Umm, no, I had the right book. I just feel like I was being called a liar in this situation. Usually I try not to make a stink about things and just assume it was my stupidity, but here lately I am just tired of companies getting one over on me. I sent B&N and email backing telling them that I was not in the wrong and I was furious at being called a liar by them and that I won’t be using their website again. I will use my local store still for tangible books since I can talk to actual people, but I won’t use the website for buying e-books. I learned of another place that I can get e-books for cheaper so I will use them. I wanted to use B&N to support the company because I saw them as a quality company. But I’m one to like things simple and I like good customer service. Even if they had given me an online gift card for 10% off a future purchase instead of a refund, it would have been “something” to let me know they understood me and were sorry for the situation. I hate companies that put the blame on the customer when the company is to blame. In all fairness I know they have tons of people trying to rip them off in similar situations and they ruin it for everyone else, but it doesn’t make me feel better when they are in the wrong and basically called me a liar.

I’m just lucky the money wasn’t much, but when you are on a budget every little bit counts, even what is considered pocket change to big corporations. I hope the book is good and worth the money and irritation it put me through. So word of the wise, if you purchase from the B&N website, make sure the item you are downloading is the right price or you may be seriously paying for it in the end. I am really let down by them, and I had plans to get some Nook accessories from them for my Nook since it needs a cover and some other things, but I will go to Amazon for that and call it day. I don’t know, I guess I’m just sad that I wanted to support the company even though they cost more than most places and in the end it feels like they don’t care about those who do want to support them. Meh, I’m just being a hormonal so and so today. I’ve had all weekend to calm down about the money and it’s gone now so I will deal. Just think their customer service sucks old musty book pages. Maybe that’s why they are so bitter. Oh well. I just wanted to tell you guys about my situation and what happened and how it turned out. I expect it to turn out this way too, but at least my piece was heard…kind of.

On a good note, I had a problem with Amazon sending me a book with a deeply cut cover and they are in the process of fixing the situation. I had posted this on craft blog I had, since it was a craft book, but since I closed it I will post about it here. I need to go double check to make sure it still going as it should. But the funny thing is the money I saved on that book I ended up spending a book that was suppose to be free. Irony, eh? *sigh* Oh well. Ok, I’m off. I need to relax my elbow, I believe I banged it in my sleep and now it’s in pain. I do have another post to make about my novel Jumper…I wonder what it would be called if it was published? But yeah, I have decided something big on it. But I want to work on it a little more before I make my final choice. More to come later on that.

Writing away,
M.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Reading Habits

So I’ve been reading some author blogs, again instead of working on my own novel, and found this meme, that was started here, that I decided to try.  Feel free to do the same.  :-)  Let me know in the comments if you do and I will stop by your blog and take a peek.  :-)

Do you snack while you read?
No, never.  Don’t know why, just never craved a snack while reading.

What is your favorite drink while reading?
If I drink anything it’s usually either water, tea, cocoa, coffee, milk, soda, or jucie.  Just whatever is on hand at the moment.  Don’t usually drink while reading either though.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I did highlight Stephen King’s “On Writing” but other than textbooks I don’t mark in my books.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
If there was something on the page I really wanted to look up later then I will dog-ear the page, but other than that it’s bookmarks, paper, or laying flat.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Usually fiction, but I’m big into self-help books and sometimes memoirs so a little non-fiction as well.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I usually like to read to the end of the chapter but here lately I’ve been stopping in the chapter when I get tired or had my fill of reading for the moment.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No, never did that.  A lot of crying over things the author did, to the point of having to close the book and collect myself…what can I say, I get wrapped up in the characters, but no throwing of books as of yet.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
I usually do it but not lately because I read one book where the author used as many big words as he could to simply describe going to get a newspaper.  So I gave up on the dictionary and read the novel in my pleasantly dumb state.  :-)

What are you currently reading?
Oh goodness.  I’m currently reading 4 books.  Never did it before, and it kind of happened accidentally.  I am reading “Along For The Ride”, “Breaing Dawn”…I  don’t want to hear it, Witch Week…for research, and a murder mystery that the name completely escapes me.  I think it’s something like “The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder”, or something along that line.

What is the last book you bought?
A punk knit pattern book from the Dollar Tree.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I have started to love reading at night after everyone has gone to sleep. I lay in my bed in read.  I also like to read while exercising.  Makes it go by faster.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I like both.  I love series because you can invest in the characters and learn about their lives and follow their journey.  I also like stand alones for that simple story of a person’s life and what happened to them and how they solved whatever problem they came across.  Both are equally good.

How do you organise your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
Right now they are organized in any way that will get them on the shelf or to stack up.  I’m hoping to get a big bookshelf one day where I can put them up by author in alphabetical order.  Yeah, that’ll be nice.  :-)

Ok so there are my answers.  I am finding it interesting how other people read.  It’s nice to see others treat their books like babies or treasures too.  LOL!  Ok just wanted to share this with you.  Talk to you all soon.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Frustration sets in.

My middle grade novel is suddenly changing on me the more I read about middle grade novels.  My concept I was going for would work better in a made up world or witches than in real life.  So now I’m toying with the idea of making my once plain and smart little girl into a plain smart little witch.  Ugh!  It really would work better, but hasn’t this been over done?  Witch stories I mean?  My concept is my character seemingly is the worst witch ever, but she is really one of the smartest and her wild knowledge helps save the day.  Then there is the concept of age.  First she was 8 then I pushed her up to 9 and now I am wondering if I should push her up to 12 now.  Ahhh!!!  Why can’t this be easier?  Such a mess this has become.  I am excited about the witch concept and I am eager to look up some “spells” and read folklore about witches and whatnot, but I’m still not sure on the concept.  I want to just focus on one novel but I feel this character could be a series.  Well I will work on the one and see what happens I guess.  Meh.  I should be in bed instead of doing this but I can’t sleep so I research.  Oh well. Off to research some more.

Writing away,
M.

Oh hold until…well I don’t know exactly.

I have decided to put “Jumper” on hold.  It’s just not going anywhere.  I tried hard to work on it today and then realized that the romance I wanted to form between these two characters just didn’t form.  I think I need more time to think about this because this story is very involved and I have to create a world for it and I just need time to think about it.  It does make me sad to abandon the story right now and I am wondering if I will ever return to it, but right now I need to WRITE and I can’t do that on this story any more right now.  I’ve been working on it since 2008 and it just hasn’t gone anywhere.  I know some authors do this and some just realize the story isn’t going anywhere and they say good bye and mourn their loss.  I’m not ready to give up on this story yet, but I won’t return to it for a while.  I want to focus on other work I’ve done and want to do.  I think it’s time to focus on my middle grade novel for a while.  Yep, my Nanowrimo from last year.  Here’s hoping this isn’t just another “Jumper”.  Can you tell I’m a little sad and feel I wasted valuable time?  Yep.  I know, it helped me learn and we all will go through this one time or another but it still is sad.  Hopefully working on my middle grade stuff will make me feel a little better.

Writing away,
M.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Chapter 4 is finally done!

So this rewriting/revising session wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be, and it’s sad that it was what kept me from moving forward in my novel.  I did have to slightly rewrite the chapter but I could keep a lot from the original, which was good.  It’s like my muse has woken up or come back from vacation.

Ok, speaking of muse, I’m gonna tell you something about myself.  So, other thank reading and writing, I have other hobbies.  Watching movies and listening to music are some of them, but another two hobbies I have are crafts and dolls.  I like to do crafts of all kinds, but have found myself lately sticking with fabric and needlework crafts.  As for dolls I like to collect them, customize them, and take pictures of them.  I recently saw a Live doll on Amazon for roughly 10 bucks that looks like a thinner more glamorous version of moi and I thought to myself, she could be my muse on several levels.  I thought if I had something to represent my muse to bounce ideas off of that I don’t really want answers to, what better than a mini me.  No people I have not gone insane, it’s just lonely talking to yourself.  LOL!  Hush you all, doll people would get it.  Any doll people out there to support me in this?  LOL!  But yes, I feel if the muse is here and present then I no longer have the excuse that she’s not here.  Unless of course I seriously messed up and my muse is actually a hunky male.  In which case, I may have to start all over then.  I’ll keep you updated on the muse front.

As for the novel.  I think I’m going to hop back in for chapter 5.  It’s a little less than an hour before the next live chat tonight at Writer On Con, and I have just enough time to make a dent on my work.  So I am off again.  Talk to you all a little later.

Writing away,
M.

What does she want?

Ok, so Write On Con is becoming such a big help to me and my writing, but it’s also showing me all the big errors I am making in my writing.  But one good thing, is has gotten me over my fear of continuing on in my revising and I am back at it now.  But I find that when I take big breaks I forget what was said and then looking back over it I am shocked by what I have put.  I mean it’s good, at least in my eyes, but I am like “How the heck did I come up with that?”  So now I am having to move on from that and figure out where to go from there.

Also I think I have figured out what is keeping this story from pouring out of me.  I read a recent blog post that talks about knowing what your character wants in the story.  If you know that then you move forward to get it for them…or not, depending on your story.  But I realize I don’t know what I want for my character.  I mean she’s in another time so maybe she just wants to get home.  Or maybe she wants love because she sort of broke up with her boyfriend.  But I feel there is more to her than just that.  I think she is searching for something more, but what is it?  I mean she will have a very crucial roll in the future of her city and country, but she doesn’t know it yet.  So is it ok for the character not to know what she wants in the beginning of the novel but to find out about it later?  I suppose it is.  I remember the blog post saying something along the lines of it’s ok if they don’t know it right away but you must know it from the beginning.  So I feel her goal will be to fix the actions in her life so that her future will come to play so she can protect the people of her city and her country.  But I don’t think she will take this “goal” to easily.  She will be stubborn about it, and not caring to put herself in harm’s way for people she doesn’t know or really care about.  “Let someone else do it,” will be her defense.  Don’t mind my babbling, I’m just thinking out loud here.  The one place it’s fine for me to talk to myself.  LOL!  Ok, so Andrea has a goal.  Now it’s time to go shake her life up a bit.  Off to write some more now.  Update later on how it’s going.

Writing away,
M.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Write On Con first event chat.

So I just finished with the first chat of Write On Con and it was so informative.  I need to find where the transcript of it will be because so much was discussed.  This chat event was: Live Chat with Literary Agent Suzie Townsend.  Suzie had a lot to say when it comes to what agents are looking for in a manuscript.

So many things I would not have thought about were discussed.  It makes me a little nervous about my writing, wondering if it’s any good, but also it made me think that some of the stories I thought were a waste of time really aren’t and they need a little pep put into them.  All along I thought something was missing and I was right and I am going to go about my MG novels a different way.  My current YA novel is still on the cooker too, but I just don’t know how to attack this current chapter, but being around like minds made me want to jump in on it today.

There is another chat coming up this evening, I am looking forward to it.  Perhaps I can have some of my chapter written by that time tonight.  Can’t wait to see what I learn from it.

Writing away,
M.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I write like...

I had to do it again with a paragraph from "Jumper". I was worried it was sounding a little Twilight-ish but was surprised and delighted to see who...or is that whom...I wrote like.


I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!





Stephen King!!! Yes, I'm excited about that. I will try this again and see who I sound like by the end of the chapter. I am thinking this chapter will have to be another complete rewrite. I have slacked on writing because of it. Been "afraid" of writing it. Does anyone else have that "fear" of writing? Worried you won't see what happens next or where the story is going? Yeah, that is what keeps me from writing more or continual. I need to stop this if I ever hope to be publish. Hummm. Well, back to writing some before bed. I picked up reading again as well today. A novel I had been working on while exercising. I paused in reading it because something the author did bothered me so much. There will be a post coming soon on that. First writing and perhaps some sleep. More soon.

Writing away,
M.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Monster High = Product Placement

Ok, so I just got done reading the prologue, the first chapter, the second chapter, and the third chapter to Monster High (the novel based off those cute dolls everyone has been going crazy over), and can anyone say product placement?  No seriously, every few words were practically plugging a brand name.  The story and from what I could guess of the plot were cute, but the product placement just kept getting me.  Are teens so materialistic that they wouldn’t “get” a story without Gucci, Uggs, and Calvin Klein being mentioned?  Since when did characters in stories become so materialistic?  That was honestly a turn off for me, and I thought to myself would I let my son or daughter read this novel, if i had either of course?  And I believe I would let them read it, but I would worry if this would make them want more instead of appreciating what they have or what can be afforded.  I don’t know, maybe I am thinking to much into this.  I just don’t think the story needed all the product placement in it.  It’s a good story so far.

But it also makes me wonder why they released so much of the story.  Are they worried it won’t be good or accepted?  Perhaps this is a thing the author already did in the past.  Not sure, I will be investigating her blog some more and report back.  But it does make me wonder about other YA/MG authors and if they plug a lot of products.  It’s been some time since I read YA, but that will be changing soon as I am planning to hit the library some time in the next week or so to check some out for research for my writing.  But tell me, what do you think about product placement in stories?  I mean mentioning the characters are going to McDonalds, which I am sure will show up in the story somewhere, is one thing, but mentioning over 10 different products in maybe 30-40 pages worth of novel is a bit much.  And a lot of them got repeat mentions.  So it just makes me wonder how others feel about it.  Maybe I am just getting old…I am turning the big 3-2 in a little over a week after all.  *tear*  I wouldn’t have minded product placements if they were made up items like J.K. did in the land of Harry Potter.  This story could have done that with monsters being the main characters…I’m assuming.  I won’t say more on that, go read the chapters to get what I mean by that.

Ok peeps, I’m off.  I need some sleep.  I want to get back to writing tomorrow, something I have slacked on for over a week now.  I want the rewrite done by my birthday…in a little over a week.  Wish me luck!  Ok, bye for now. 

Writing away,
M.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Mom at Sixteen

So I just finished watching the Lifetime movie “Mom at Sixteen” online and it made me thinking of writing.  All I ever read about writing YA is that you should never force a moral or lesson down your reader’s throat.  That will make them basically get bored and lose focus on your novel.  This movie was exactly that.  It was very predictable, I’d seen it before but forgot about it so rewatched it, and the lesson was constantly pushed down the watcher’s throat: Don’t have sex or you could become pregnant.  It was kind of irritating and pulled away from the story for me.  There were constant sex education classes the focused on sexuality and why do girls give in and have sex with guys.  There was a lot of “Well we want to do it,” “The peer pressure,” “They won’t like us any more if we don’t do it,” and honestly I can remember feeling the same as a teen.  But even I was rolling my eyes by the third class meeting going over the same thing, girls should dress appropriately and not have sex.  It seemed like every teenage girl in the movie was either dressed like a slut or doing “it” on campus somewhere.  But of course the baby mama teen was dressed prim and proper and was appalled at the actions of her peers.  Although it’s been a while since I was a teen, I remember that this just wasn’t how it was.

So why am I reviewing a movie on my writing blog?   Because movies come down to the same concept of novels.  An interesting and engaging plot with characters you can relate to.  I felt I could relate to Jacey the baby mama and the sex ed teacher the most.  The sex ed teacher can’t have kids of her own even though she is trying…can you kind of figure out the ending from this?  Well she figures out the baby is Jacey’s and it’s because of her big mouth the school finds out.  Then the school carries on calling Jacey a slut and throwing stuff at her like she is the only one in school that is pregnant.  Now I ask you, when have you ever heard of only one teen being pregnant in school?  In a small town maybe, but in a regular town heck no.  This story was just so far off course from reality, and while I know it was a Lifetime movie that had to end nicely or with a twist, it still irked me.  They could have tried a little harder on the script and made the characters more relatable and made the story a little more correct.  This was done around the time when the sex bracelet games started, so it’s not that old of a movie, and it was after I had graduated, in fact it was made the year my sister graduated five years ago.  So it’s not old.  And when I was in school it was not a shock to hear a girl was pregnant every few weeks.  And then when my sister started telling me about her schoolmates being pregnant in school it didn’t shock me.  So the story was just kind of meh to me.

I think if you are going to do a story like that you need to do your homework and really try to understand your audience and the people and story you are trying to portray.  The story was a sweet story that ended happily, as most Lifetime movies do, but it just could have been better.  But that’s all for this review.  I have another one coming up.  Just want to do some research for it first.  Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I write like...

So my sister showed me this cool website called I Write Like. It basically tells you, well, who you write like. I just put in the first few lines of my novel and it said this:


I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!





Here's the wiki for James Joyce if you need some extra info on him. So I was rather impressed with myself when I saw that, but then I started thinking...does that mean my work is classic or dated? LOL! I'm going to try posting some blog posts and other novel bits in and seeing who it says I write like then. Let me know who you right like. :-)

Writing away,
M.

Monday, July 12, 2010

I'm back.

I had been thinking of merging all my blogs into one, but seeing as each one deals with a different topic I have decided not to merge and to leave them all as they are. So I am back writing here. I have been working on Jumper. 3 chapters are done and 3 are left. I know that there will be more chapters than that as the plot unfolds and more things are revealed to me. So far the story has changed several times and I like the changes. But it just feels so weird rewriting Andrea's story. Her plot is getting thicker and I am back at the "hard" part of writing, getting her story started. And now I am doing it from her point of view. Ugh!!! Don't get me wrong, I love the story and it refuses to let me walk away from it, but it's so frustrating and I have several other ideas I want to entertain in other novels but I can't until Andrea tells me her story. So that is where I am write now. Rewriting history, at least where Andrea is concerned. Wish me luck.

Writing away,
M.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

I think I need a do over.

So here lately I have been in this weird funk. There are so many things I need and want to do but I just can't stick with anything long enough to do it. I don't know why. I'm not really a lazy person. Once I start something I am dedicated to it until I finish it. So I don't know what this funk is. It might be related to things going on in my life that I can neither control or change and it's frustrating to me. This frustration is sucking the life out of me along with a few other things that I actually can control and change but for some reason I just don't have the dedication to do it. It's so weird. On some things I will do what I need to do until it's done. But on the one thing I need to do in order to change my life I just can't be dedicated enough to do it. Maybe I will be blog about it in my main blog later...if I can be motivated enough to do it.

So why am I writing about this in my writing journal? Well, this funk I am in has also affected my writing. I have not be dedicated to it in a long time even though writing is all I can think about. So for the past couple of days I've tried to get back to writing with little to no success until this morning. I got back to "Jumper" and tried revising chapter 6 when I just saw that the story was lacking something. I've let it sit so long that it's no long the story I want to write. Don't get me wrong, I still want to write Andrea and Maxwell's story, but there is honestly something missing as well as the story seems like a tango done by two people with either two left feet or they've only had one lesson. So I've been tinkering around in my head lately on what to do with it. Do I just keep going? Do I chuck it all together? What do I do? Well, it was two seconds ago that I finally decided what to do.

I'm going to rewrite "Jumper" and I'm going to do so in first person. I've been reading a lot of first person YAs lately and I think this story might be better told in first person. There are so many people in the story that it's easy to lose sight of who the story is about. It's about Andrea and what happens to her and Max. So instead of me telling her story, I will simply let her tell it herself. I think that's what she's been trying to tell me all along.

I will be starting on chapter one tonight to see how I like it. Fingers crossed tight that it will work. I want this novel done and ready for submitting by Fall. The way I wrote her story first time around it seemed to only warrant two books, but perhaps writing it in first person will warrant several books like I originally intended it to do. She was suppose to go through several time periods fixing certain events so that her life would go in a certain way that would better the world. To give you a better idea of what I mean, think the Terminator and how he went back in time to kill Sarah and John Connor to fix his time. So yeah, we will see how this works out. Wish me luck. :-) Off to write now.

Writing away,
M.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Chapter 4 is done.

Now that I've finished chapter 4 I am seeing where chapters after this are going to need some filler. I feel I should really be taking away from the story instead of adding to it, but I'll just do that in the 3rd go round I guess. Gotta get ready to take off for a bit, but I will work on chapter 5 when I get back. More later.

Writing away,
M.

Chapter 3, done.

I wonder if I am moving to fast through my chapters? I mean I don't know how this all really goes, but I am thinking I am ok for now. I don't really need to add anything in as of yet. I do see where I may need to add some more bulk to the story later but for now it's "ok". Going to chapter 4. Hoping to finish it and chapter 5 today. Ok, I'm off.

Writing away,
M.

Chapter 2, doing a little better.

So I just finished chapter 2 and it wasn't as painful as chapter 1. I know chapter 1 will have to be reworked, there is no getting around that, but chapter 2 was actually witty and funny and it didn't kill me to reread it. Now moving on to chapter 3, but I may need to take a break before getting to that. I'm not feeling well as of late and have been napping a lot. I think another nap is in my near future. I'll try to hit chapter 3 first. More later.

Writing away,
M.

My return to writing. About freaking time!

So today is my official return to writing. I've been thinking about it for months and I finally opened one of my stories today. I was working on a story a while back while I waited to return to "Jumper" and now I'm back to working on "Jumper". I just went through chapter 1 and honestly it I feel it didn't get good until the last page of it and it's 9 pages long. Ahhh!!! I mean I feel I am putting to much fluffy filler stuff in there when I just need to tell the story. And I am having problems with actions my characters could do in between talking. Do I even need to focus on that? I now see why writers need to be readers as well. I need to get back to that. I always take long lapses in between reading and I hate that. I actually love reading, all stories, good and bad. I have some book reviews coming to show you what I mean.

But back to "Jumper", it's just such a slow start, but then again I am worried that it's just my negative side speaking to me. Oh, for those who don't know, I am working on my second draft of the story. Taking it one chapter at a time. Chapter 1 is done, for now at least. I know I will be revisiting it again very soon. I so need to get to the library and check out some young adult novels. I used to buy them all the time when I was a little younger but now I haven't done it as much. But if I am going to write young adult I need to know what they are interested in reading. So it gives me an excuse to order some or buy some at the store. I have some in mind that I want to get actually, so perhaps I will look into that later on this week.

I have this nagging need to share parts of my story to get some advice on how I'm doing so far, but without showing the full story I don't think I will be giving myself a fair chance and my story is just not ready to be seen in full yet. So I guess I keep pressing onward and just give myself some slack so I don't delete the whole thing. I love writing but it's so hard on my confidence at the same time, I hate that. Oh well. I'm off to work on chapter 2 now before I do some exercise. I'll let you know how that goes, hopefully I'll feel better about the story by the time I reach the end. Bye for now.

Writing away,
M.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing by Stephen King


So I finished reading reading a book that I had started a good while back and then stopped reading and had to reread due to that. So I finally finished it today and let me just say this book is amazing. It is so inspiring to anyone who wants to be a writer and its an interesting read to those who are just readers in general or fans of his work.

Now I'm not going to go into deep detail about the book since its been out since 2000 and there are many reviews of it, you can click the picture above to be taking to Amazon and read the review there.

What I will say about the book is that he really breaks it down for those who doubt if they are or could be a writer. He doesn't hold back on what he thinks constitutes what a writer is. I know everyone has their own opinions on that, but his I respect highly and agree with. Also this book was written around the time he had his near death experience in 1999 and was finished while he was on the mend and writing this book helped bring him back from a bad moment in his life. Reading the part about his accident and how he did come back from it, writing helping a good bit, just inspired me more and put me in awe of his talent.

Now let me tell you straight off, I'm NOT a Stephen King fan. I have never read any of his books all the way through. But that doesn't mean I don't know of his talent to write. He's very talented and I'm awe-struck by it, hoping to be as talented as he is. But this book he wrote on the craft of writing has reminded me that one should not write for money or fame, and most writers do not get much money or fame. One should write because they love writing and they have a story to tell. Both of which I do have. So I'm going to write for me. I'm going to write for my IR...read the book and you will understand that one. And I'm going to write for my characters, to tell their story to the world. And because of this book I can now because Stephen King gave me something I long thought I didn't have. He gave me permission to do so with guilt or doubt. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Every single day. 2500 minimum. Starting today.

Writing away,
M.