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.