Finally Friday

It’s finally Friday!  I’m so excited.  That means once again I get to devote two days to my favorite hobby in the world, working on my almost completed first draft.  Seven more chapters and it will be done.  I can already see myself typing the last few words and it feels great, so I know when it happens in my real life that it will be even more exciting.

And what’s even better, somehow there’s absolutely nothing happening this weekend.  I don’t know how that happened, but I’m thankful to finally have an event free weekend.  When you come from a large family, there’s always something going on. 

So here’s to a productive weekend, I hope all of yours will be as satisfying as mine promises to be. 

Also, I read the funniest list called “The Fantasy Writer’s Exam,” courtesy of Cassandra Jade, so I encourage you to go her blog, read the list and join in the conversation.  It’s at least worth a laugh or two, even if you don’t write/read the genre.

So until tomorrow, I’ll be searching for my pencil and I hope you find yours.

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Road Trip Thursday…

Today’s Road Trip Thursday writing question from YA Highway is…what is you favorite book you’ve read this month?

Okay, so I haven’t read that many books this month and since I already reviewed the only novel I’ve completed this month so far, I’m going to pick a children’s story in honor of my niece who turned three two days ago. 

For her birthday I have her one of my favorite stories growing up.  Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess.  It is one of the best children’s stories and my niece, who normally wanders away about halfway through a book, sat and listened to the whole thing.  All the while telling me she like eggs and ham, lol.  And when I finished she asked me to read it to her again.

So my favorite story I’ve read this month definitely Green Eggs and Hams.

What is you favorite story you’ve read this month?  Leave a comment and let me know why I scrounge around for my pencil, I’ve seemed to misplaced it again.

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Challenge…

Okay, so today I read a blog that made me realize that many writers have a very elitist attitude and there are no exceptions, even when it comes to best selling authors who stay on top.  Like many elitist writers, I too have an author who I still don’t understand why her books are so big, but I have also come to realize that the reason I despise her books so much is because the comments she has made toward her own fans made me dislike her as a person.  So personal feelings aside, I am determined to look at her books with the most unbiased eye I can in order to see what makes her novel so unique. 

Now some people may say marketing, that’s all it is, she had great marketing, but I don’t believe that’s so since she has more than one book out and fans have returned to buy them, so marketing may be so for the first, but not so much for the next. If people didn’t like what they got the first time around, they won’t care how  much you market the second book.

So, my challenge to everyone who is reading this, I want you to pick the commercial author you despise the most, borrow a copy of their work, and with an honest eye try to find what makes their piece of work, well, work. 

I think this will be good exercise in identifying are own biases and realizing where we fall short.  Perhaps we put too much emphasis and value on one writing technique and not enough on another.  As writers we should appreciate the work that is out there, even if it doesn’t fit our personal taste, or we feel that it was riddled with grammatcial errors.  The more we expose ourselves outside of our own comfortable bubbles, the better are writing will become.

Besides, anyone can tear a piece of work apart, it takes another kind of person to figure out why it works, despite all its flaws.

So tell me, are you a victim of writer’s elitism?  If so, why?  Is it personal reasons?  Did the authors book touch on a controversial issue and his/her work didn’t support your side?  Be honest with yourself.

And like always, my pencil has vanished from behind my ear.  Excuse me for a moment while I find it again.

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The Summer I Turned Pretty

So I finally read the first book I bought over this last weekend entitled The Summer I Turned Pretty.  So what did I think of this teen filled drama/romance?  Well it reminded me of my senior year of High School, except a little less complex.  She had three boys, while I had four. 

The Summer I Turned Pretty focuses on a fifteen year old girl named Belly who navigates her way through the most confusing love filled summer of her life and the three boys at the center of it all.

Together they embark on an emotional roller-coaster of life and Belly is too distracted to realize everything may not be about her.

As far as Belly goes, I liked her okay.  She wasn’t as whiny as some female characters, but there were parts that really grated on my nerves.  Overall, I decided she was like that girl in school who was okay to hang out with sometimes, but I wouldn’t want to bffs.

Jeremiah is my favorite character and was throughout the entire book.  I loved the strong sense of dependibility underneath his class-clown exterior.  He was charming and is secretly the guy I’m rooting for.

Conrad, I have to admit, is the one I would have probably gone for when I was sixteen.  Boys who played guitar and kept to themselves had a way of drawing me in that makes me cringe.

And Cam.  Cameron is the guy I would love to find now.  Funny, smart, sweet and a nerd right down to his jacket.  There is something to be said for the first guy to ever really tell a girl she is beautiful and he is the guy I hate to not like.

The aspect I loved most about this book, was the unfinished feeling that lingered after it had ended.  It wasn’t that the book didn’t feel complete, it’s just the relationships made their way full circle and then life happened, causing relationships to crumble under the weight and others to begin to bloom, but none of them disappearing or building beyond the most fragile moments before the summer ends and she is swept back to her winter life.

All in all I liked the book and found it to be a relaxing read.  It may not be Shakespeare, but it was fun to be fifteen again, if only for a little while.

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Lazy Monday

My weekend was busy. I had my niece’s third birthday party to attend, was called into work on my day off and spent time with my Sister R and Little Brother M. While I did manage to squeeze in over three thousand words, it was far short of my weekend goal to finish two chapters and now it is Monday all over again.

Monday is the day I dread the most for when it comes, I know my extra free time for writing has come to a close and I will be hard pressed to find time to write five hundred words let alone a thousand. It means I must put my work on hold just that many days longer, which is hard to tell my fingers, since this is about they time the burn with the most passion.

Oh well, even if I must write as slow as a snail as I navigate through another week of work, belly dancing and singing lessons, not to mention working out, the little I get done will be worth it when the weekend finally comes around again and I can sprint toward the finish line once more.

How do you keep the motivation to keep going when your life gets a little to hectic and finding time to write is just as likely as finding a nice place to nap?

Let me know while I sort through the papers on my desk. I know my pencil is here somewhere…

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Short Story Sunday

As I’m currently wrapped up in another project at the moment and do not want to squander this momentum, part II of Pirate Ninjas is on hold until next week or maybe later in the week if I find the time. So until then I’ll be looking for my pencil.

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Books, Books and More Books!

Okay, so I am really excited because today I have finally purchased some new books to read and study, but shhhh! Don’t tell my boyfriend, lol.

Since it’s a good idea to “know” your market, I went out and checked out some of the paranormal/fantasy books out on the shelves today, along with some straight, good old fashioned YA novels.

I was definitely surprised to see how many vampire novels there were, I mean I knew the market was flooded, but I had no idea just how flooded, but I’m not really worried about it because all of the books I saw didn’t have anything like my premise, and my main character isn’t a vampire anyway. He’s an Angel.

So I looked at some of the Angel stories and finally picked one to read. Fallen. Thankfully none of the Angel stories out there really match, or look like my stories, so I’m happy about that and I’m genuinely excited to read Fallen. I’ve heard great reviews about this book and can’t wait to buckle down and take some notes.

I also bought The Summer I Turned Pretty, which is funny since I had enter a contest to win it and the contest isn’t even over, but I just couldn’t wait to find out, lol.

Anyway I can’t wait to devour my new reads and when I’m through with them I’ll let you all know what I thought about each. So until then, please don’t spoil anything for me yet ;p

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Why do you write?

It probably goes without saying that I love to write.  Not only do I write poetry (strictly for me, not for publication), I like to write short stories and novels.  In fact, I love writing so much, I have even started a blog so I can write about writing.

Recently, as in five minutes ago, I read Cat Woods current installment of the seven writing sins.  Today’s topic is greed and she asked the question why do you write?

Of course I left her a comment, but after, the question stayed in my head and I realized I had more to say.  So after some thought, these are the reasons why I write, in no particular order:

1.  It makes me happy;

2.  I believe I have something to offer the world and the way we view it; and

3.  Depending on the day, I genuinely believe I’m good at it.

There are other reasons, but these are the main three reasons why I started writing and why I continue writing today.

The first reason, it makes me happy, was something I figured out in middle-school.  I suffered from insomnia and stayed up late almost every night. Honestly I think my mom enjoyed my late nights because it almost always meant the house would be clean from top to bottom when she woke the next day.  But I definitely was not happy.  So I did what I always did and I researched ways to help with my insomnia.  One of the many tricks to help cure insomnia was for the person to keep a journal by their bed.

I didn’t keep a journal, instead, when I felt like I couldn’t sleep, I would write a poem.  Poems were the first things I ever wrote and I thought I was pretty dang good at them, not so anymore, but then I thought I was a genius. 

As time went on I attempted to write stories.  I had people and places in mind, but I could never construct a plot, or keep track of one long enough to complete one.  Looking back now I realize I spent too much time on description rather than the story itself.

Eventually I learned that a great story, and even just a good one, has something to say.  So I tried to discover what I had to say.  What had I been through that nobody else had?  At the time I couldn’t think of anything, so I put off on trying to write my novel, but I continued to write short stories and poems, as I waited to “experience” life so I would have something to say.

Now, a few years later, I have discovered not only the genres I am most passionate about, but I have also debunked the notion that I hadn’t “experienced” life yet.  I have many childhood and adult experiences I can draw upon to inspire me and help share what I have learned about human nature.

The last reason I think is my favorite because it really does depend on the day.  My boyfriend laughs at me because one day I will be confident, borderline cocky and the next I will tell him how bad my writing is and how much I suck.  Most days I’m in the middle, I think I have the tools to be a solid writer.  I may never be as great as some of the other authors and writers in the world, but I do believe I am better at writing than the average person.  Most people don’t have the patience to hone their writing ability, which is something a writer must do if they want to succeed because no matter where you start, or how good you are, there is always something else to learn.  And even though I’m not there yet, I know I’m closer than many people and that gives me hope that one day I might be able to make a humble living by my pencil.

So that is why I write.  It is one of the few things I am truly passionate about and enjoy, even when I’m frustrated and swear I’ll never type again, I know, deep in the back of my mind, it’s the only thing I really want to do.

So why do you write?  Is it for your own self-satisfaction?  Or does the potential money you could make entice you?

Please let me know while I find my pencil.  It seems to have disappeared again.

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The Unexpected

Yesterday was full of surprises.  My cat, who disappeared a few days ago and I was sure we would never see again, appeared at the front door while my boyfriend and I were unloading groceries.   My parents unexpectedly invited my boyfriend and I out to dinner because they had received free fundraising tickets.  And my sister L announced at six o’clock, when my boyfriend and I arrived at said dinner, that our belly dance instructor was looking for me.  She wanted me to audition with her at the new Hookah bar in town at 9:30 P.M. that night.

Now before I continue, you have to understand that although I’m a belly dancer who travels with a troupe and performs, I am in no way an extroverted person.  Performing in front of people without thoroughly preparing for it first, without knowing the songs in the set we are going to do is not how I do anything.  So naturally I broke down.  I asked my instructor if we were going to do choreographies or Freestyle?  I asked her if anyone else was gong to be there and if she really needed me.  And finally I tried to come with an excuse not to go.

In the end, after laying down trying to undo the knot that had formed in my stomach, I put on some eye makeup, threw up my hair and went out the door.  And you know what, I’m glad I did.  Despite my mini freak out and mountain of worries I actually had a decent time.  We even got the gig and I earned six dollars.  Yay me.  

I try to do the same thing with my writing.  I experiment with techniques, themes and ideas to see what I come up with, pushing myself beyond my comfort zone.  As a writing exercise I once wrote a short story with no sentences, only using onametopia.  The story was so abstract I thought, no one will ever get this, but to my surprise, one of my crits actually did.

Stepping outside my comfort zone is something that does not come easy, but something I know I must do for individual growth, hence the belly dancing gig.  The same thinking applies to my writing.  Sometimes I need my ms to entertain someone else in order for me to see the flaws and fix them.  It may make me sick and queasy, but my ms will come out better in the end.

Aww darn it.  My pencil has slipped away again.  Excuse me while I go and find it.

But first, tell me how do you step outside of your comfort zone?  How has it improved (or not improved) you own writing?  Do you deal well with unexpected, or do tend to fall to pieces like me?

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Wandering in the Dark

Okay, now that I have wasted almost two hours trying to figure out how to create a sub page and all the great links to my sub page,  I have finally figured it out and my short story is up and running.   For this I believe I deserve a small pat on the back. 

I was super excited about posting my first Quick Story Sunday this past weekend and I even sat down and typed it all at once.  Then staying true to bad habits and things never recommended by anyone in the writing community, I finished the first draft and went to publish it only to discover, I had no idea how to set up the sight like I wanted. 

So after numerous trial and error and a fair amount of inappropriate language I finally have everything the way I want.  Except maybe my short story…but even that is the way I want it since it’s only suppose to be a writing exercise.

After this horrific experience and swearing off blogging forever and always, I realized how much of my effort goes into writing this same way.  It doesn’t matter if I have a clear plan or not, there is always a puzzle to solve, always something left to put together.  When I can’t think of the missing piece I do what I always do.  I write. 

By just letting myself free to explore my characters without worrying about the plot, I have discovered I usually uncover the missing piece of the puzzle I have painstakingly created.  I also learn more stumbling around in the dark, examining and studying anything and everything I come into contact with.  Trying to figure out what it is for or what it does. 

Thankfully sites usually make it relatively easy for a person like me to stumble around…I wish my ms would make it little easier.

What about you, do you always read the directions and have a clear sense of what you are doing before you do it?  Or do you discard the instructions and figure it out yourself with as much or as little information you have?

Excuse me now while I chase after my pencil, it seems to have run away again.

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