TCWT! October Blog Chain, NaNoWriMo Edition

Today, with this post, I kick off the Teens Can Write, Too! October blog chain.   This month's prompt is:

“What are you writing for NaNoWriMo? Briefly explain how this book idea come about. Then write a mock first page for the novel.”

For those of you unaware, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  (Also known as November)

This year for NaNo I'm writing my first fantasy. The working title is Noxumbra Manor.  Here's the blurb I wrote for the NaNo website:

"Gwendolyn Copperstone has been a peasant all her life, but when she inherits the insolvent estate Noxumbra Manor from her uncle, she gets flung into a world of deceit and mystery. Gwen's uncle had secrets, and someone will do anything to make sure Gwen doesn't find out what they were."    

The story of how I came up with this idea kinda.... I dunno, funny?   Once my mom asked me what my pseudonym would be if I were to publish under one.  After some thought, I decided on Gwendolyn Copperstone.
  
A few weeks later, I found NaNoWriMo, and I signed up using that name.  Over the course of the month, Gwen sort of....evolved.  Kinda.  She wasn't just my NaNo username.  I'd come up with an appearance for her: long, red, wavy hair and green eyes.  Don't ask why, I don't really know myself. 

Sometime after NaNo, I started thinking about Gwen, and who she was. For some reason I decided she should live in Spryll, a fantasy world I'd made up a while ago and hadn't done anything with.

When I started thinking about what I'd do for NaNo this year, I thought about Gwen.  I decided she should be Lord Gwendolyn Copperstone (she inherits a title as well as the manor).  I don't remember why.  Gwen was one of... 3?... characters I was thinking of writing a story for during NaNo.  The problem?  She had no plot.  I knew she inherited a manor that was in horrible shape, and her best friend's name was Sydrian. That was it.

Then I the brilliant idea of someone wanting to scare her out of the manor.  And once I had that, a plot began to form.  I've been thinking and planning and profiling characters and outlining since then, and I'm almost ready for NaNo, and seriously hoping Gwen turns out to be a lot better than Lizzie (the main character in my 2011 NaNo novel).

So, with the backstory finished, here's my first page:

The early spring wind kissed my face with frostbitten lips.  I pulled my cloak closer.  My horse shifted beneath me. 

“Do you hear them, girl?” I asked.  She tossed her main and nibbled at some new greenery poking out of the ground.

Then I heard the sound of hoof beats and ringing of laughter.  

“Ho, Gwendolyn!” A young man’s voice called, “Do you wait for us?” He rounded the corner and came into view, brown hair ruffled by the wind.  A young girl sat on his lap.

I smiled.  “Good morning, Sydrian and Nidia.   You seem to have left the rest of the market train behind.”

“They’re coming,” said Nidia. “Can I ride with you, Gwen?”

“Oi,” said Sydrian, “Why don’t you want to ride with me, your favorite brother?”

“Gwen smells better.”  Nidia wrinkled her nose at Sydrian.

Sydrian and I laughed.  “Yes, you can ride with me, Nidia,” I said.  Sydrian moved his horse next to mine and handed me his sister.  As Nidia settled in front of me, I heard the rumbling sound of wagon wheels.   A wagon piled with goods for the market rounded the corner, followed by a smaller wagon carrying stall pieces and children, and some adults on horseback.

“Good morning, Gwen,” said the man driving the first wagon as he came to a halt.

“Good morning, Arvel,” I said. “Sydrian, seeing as I now carry your load, would you please add my box to the rest on the stock wagon?”

“Of course,” he said.  He hoisted my box into the wagon.  Once it was secure, he jumped back on his horse and struck a dramatic pose. “To Plarn!” he said as though we were headed to battle. Nidia and I laughed.  The wagons lurched forward and headed to the market at Plarn.

Want to be writing buddies?  I'm on both the Young Writers Program and the NaNo main site.

Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain!!

Want to follow our blog chain? Here are the participating parties, day by day:

October 5^th – http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.com  – Lily’s Notes in the Margins

October 6^th – http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com – Reality Is Imaginary

October 7^th – http://onelifeglory.blogspot.ca – One Life Story

October 8^th – http://gabrielletheauthoress.wordpress.com – Of a Writerly Sort

October 9^th – http://towerofplot.blogspot.co.uk – The Leaning Tower of Plot

October 10^th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com – This Page Intentionally Left Blank

October 11^th – http://whatupdates.blogspot.com – What Updates?

October 12^th – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com – Miriam Joy Writes

October 13^th – http://cinderscoria.blogspot.com – Between the Lines

October 14^th – http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com – Inside the Junk Door

October 15^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com – Musings From Neville’s Navel

October 16^th – http://kirstenwrites.wordpress.com – Kirsten Writes!

October 17^th – http://mirrormadeofwords.wordpress.com – A Mirror Made of Words

October 18^th – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com – The Teenage Writer

October 19^th – http://platonicpencil.wordpress.com – Platonic Pencil

October 20^th – http://markobrienwrites.blogspot.com – Mark O’Brien Writes

October 21^st – http://amandafoody.blogspot.com – It’s All In My Head

October 22^nd – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com – The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer

October 23^rd – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com – Teens Can Write, Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)

Beautiful People: Lord Gwendolyn Copperstone, 2

Here's the second group of Beautiful People questions for Lord Gwendolyn Copperstone.  Yeah, Lord.  I forgot to say in the last post that she inherits a title, too. It causes kind of a scandal. Click here if you want to see the first group of BP questions.  The following set of questions is from April 2011.

How old is he/she? About 26.  I may change that, though.  It depends on what I make the coming-of-age age in Spryll (right now it's 18). Also the marrying age.  In lots of fantasies the marrying age for girls is ridiculously low. Like 13.  Eww.  Things are not going to be like that in Spryll. 

What does he/she do with his/her spare time? She visits her neighbors and hangs out with her friend Sydrian. 

Does he/she see the big picture or live in the moment? Before she inherits Noxumbra Manor, she sees the big picture, to some extent, but once she gets to the Manor, she has to take things day-by-day.

Is he/she a perfectionist? Mm, not really.  She very careful, but not a perfectionist.

What does her handwriting look like? (round, slanted, curly, skinny, sloppy, neat, decorative, etc.) Neat and slightly slanted.

Favorite animal? Fireflies (Spryllian fireflies are blue).

Does he/she have any pets? She's got some chickens, and maybe a goat.  The jury's still out on the goat.  She might have a horse, too, for transportation.

Does he/she have any siblings? How many? Where does he/she fit in? Nope, she's an only. 

Does he/she have a 'life verse' and if so what is it?  She doesn't have one at the moment.

Favorite writing utensil?  I hadn't thought about Spryllian writing utensils yet.  For now I'll say quills. 

That's all for me, folks!  Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Beautiful People: Gwendolyn Copperstone

A few months back I found Beautiful People, a blog meme for writers to get to know their characters better.  With NaNoWriMo coming up in a month and a half, I thought I'd start getting to know my main-character-to-be a bit better.

Some of you may recognize Gwen's name, since Gwendolyn Copperstone is my NaNoWriMo username and the name I comment under for WordPress blogs.  Gwendolyn Copperstone started out as my dream pseudonym, then I used it for NaNo, and she somehow evolved into a character that lives in Spryll, a fantasy world I made up a few years ago, but never did anything with.  Go figure.

Here's a blurb for Gwen's story, so the answers below will make more sense:
When Gwendolyn Copperstone, a young herbalist in the land of Spryll, suddenly inherits her uncle's insolvent manor, she finds herself flung into a world of deceit and danger. Her uncle had secrets, and someone will do everything they can to make sure Gwen doesn't find out what they were.

That's not really all there is to it, but it will serve for the purpose of this post.

There's usually a new set of Beautiful People questions each month, but the hosts are taking a break, so I'm just going to start at the beginning of their archive and play around for the next little bit.  This set of questions is from March 2011.

What is her full name?  Gwendolyn Owena Copperstone

Does her name have a special meaning?  Not really.  Her middle name means "born to nobility; young warrior" in Welsh, and that kind of fits with her story, so that's why I gave it to her.

Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality? Methodical. 

Does she think inside herself more than she talks out loud to her friends? (more importantly, does she actually have friends?)  I'd say it's about equal.  Gwen has some very close friends that she talks to, but she also spends a lot of time to herself in her garden.

Is there something she's afraid of?  Hmm, this is not something I'd considered yet. Let me think.   She's afraid of accidentally poisoning someone, and failing to save the Manor. Also thunder and lightning, I think.

Does she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph? Dream, yes.  The others, no.  Unless you count writing letters.

What is her favorite book? (or genre of books) Ooh, another one I hadn't thought of yet. Somehow I forgot to include books in Spryll.  Huh.  Well, her favorite book would probably be her favorite plant and/or flower book. Maybe a book on herbal medicine. 

Who is her favorite author and/or someone that inspires her? Hmm.  Not any of the characters I've invented thus far.  I will think about this.


Favorite flavor of ice cream? There is no ice cream in Spryll.  I'll have to come up with a Spryllian alternative.

Favorite season of the year?  Spring.  Spring is when her garden comes back to life after the winter cold.


That was fun!  I'll be doing more of these.  Kirk Out. 

Book Review: Dark Destiny

Yesterday morning, I finished Dark Destiny by M. J. Putney. 

Here's the summary from the author's website:
Tory and her friends are celebrating the success of a second mission to aid WWII Britain when an urgent summons calls them back to their own time: Napoleon is on the brink of invading England.  Can a handful of young mages stop an army?  In desperation, Merlin’s Irregulars ask Rebecca Weiss, an untrained telepath from 1940, to come back to 1804 and change Napoleon’s mind before it’s too late. 
As Tory and Allarde make a commitment that will cost him his inheritance, Rebecca promises to do what she can to stop Napoleon even though she is unsure of her magical abilities.  But Tory and her friends saved the Weiss family from Nazi imprisonment, and Rebecca will risk anything, even her life and her budding relationship with Nick Rainford, to repay them.
Tory and her friends undertake daring missions to Wales and France, where Napoleon is gathering ships and plotting invasion.  But while their success may save England, they must still face the bittersweet consequences of their decisions when they return home.

Star rating: **** (Four stars)

 
Dark Destiny is the third (and I believe final) book in the Dark Mirror series. 

A little back story:

In Dark Mirror, the first book, 16 year old Lady Victoria Mansfield finds out that she is a mageling (she has magical powers).  In "polite" society, magelings are frowned upon.  Tory tries to keep her magic a secret, but winds up exposing it when she saves her nephew's life.  She then gets sent to Lackland Academy, a school for "curing" magelings of their magic.  She eventually finds Merlin's Irregulars, a group of mages who want to use their powers to defend England.  She joins them, and they have dangerous adventures.  She also finds Merlin's Mirror, a magical device that allows her and her friends to travel through space and time.

My thoughts:

Dark Destiny was lots of fun, much like the other Dark Mirror books.  The action was good, and I like the characters.  That pretty much all I have to say about the good parts of the book.

This book had a lot more romance, and not in a good way.  There was much more kissing, some couples spending the night together (just sleeping, thank heavens), and too many uses of the word "handsome".  Really, Tory, Cynthia, and Rebecca, I got the fact that your true loves were handsome when you said it the first time.  After looking at the author's website, specifically the covers of the adult books she's written, it's nor really surprising that the romance in this one got more.... physical.  ***SPOILER***  The one piece of romance I really liked was when Allarde's father decides not to sign the disinheritance papers about three seconds before his death, and Allarde and Tory decide that they will stick it out, even though society will give them the cold shoulder because of their magic. ***End Spoiler***

That's about it.  Hope you have a great week!

Sarah F. Brings Me Back to the Blogoshpere

I had not had a decent post idea in a while, and was just wishing someone would award me an excuse to post, when Sarah F. from Inklined gave me The Fantastic Blog Award.

Thank you, very much Sarah! 

 Like 99.9% of awards, this one has rules.

1.  Thank the person who gave you the award. (Done!)
2.  Answer the five questions given to you, and ask the next person five new questions.
3. Award five people.
4. Post the rules. (Also done!)

Sarah's questions are:
1. What is your favorite part of blogging? Well, I'd have to say the other bloggers I meet. 
2. What are some of your favorite blogs?  See my Great Blogs! list on the right. 
3. Are there any blogs you follow that have really huge followings? Go Teen Writers just topped 500 followers!
4. What's your favorite subject to read in? To write in? I'm assuming by subject, Sarah means genre. (If I am mistaken, Sarah, please correct me).  Reading:  I like fantasy, mystery, some paranormal stuff, and historical fiction.  To write: I've written 1.5 mysteries, and I must admit that I love figuring out motives and clues and stuff.  This year for NaNoWriMo, I will attempt my first fantasy, and it will also be a mystery. So, I guess mystery.
5.  If you could interview one author on your blog, who would you pick? Ooh, tough question. I really have no idea.

My questions are:
1.  If you were a dragon, what color would you be?
2.  If you were only allowed to write in one genre for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
3.  What was the last book you read?
4.  Did you like it?
5.  What is one school subject that is being force-fed to your brain you are taking this year?

I nominate:
Allison @ Allison's Bookish Life
Erin @ Laughing at Live Dragons
Sarah @ Comfy Sweaters, Writing and Fish. 
Pheris @ The Word Asylum
Liam, Head Phil @ This Page Intentionally Left Blank

In other blogging news, since I was awarded this award, I've had five post ideas.  Now I have a request: Someone please threaten me with something creative if I don't actually post.  (Disclaimer: any threats posted in the comments may be used in future stories).

Have a great week, all!

The Ultimate Weapon

SO.  I'm back.  I passed drivers' ed.  Not fun.  Need to work on parallel parking.  Also using full sentences. 

Anyway. 

To celebrate my surviving DE, I've decided to post on something dear to my heart.  Something that deserves more credit.

Frying pans.

Think about it. Frying pans are the ultimate weapon. You can use them as a weapon AND as a shield.  AND THEN, when the battle is over, you can cook dinner in it!

What does the ideal battle frying pan look like?  I have no clue.  But here are some ideas.

• It needs to be made of a nice, wear resistant, easily cleanable, food safe metal.  Preferably with some kind of non-stick, rust proof coating. 
• For extra battle awesomeness, it could have a dagger that attaches to the handle. 
• And Celtic scroll work along the sides and bottom, of course. 

 Got any more ideas?  Let me know in a comment!

'Til I post again, live long and prosper.
L

The Twelve Dragon Riding Princesses: A TCWT Post

Harken, readers dearest!  Today I have the pleasure of posting for the Teens Can Write, Too! August blog chain. This month's topic is:  Write a retelling of your favorite fairy tale, myth or legend.  

I have chosen to rewrite The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  Here's my story (and before you ask, "mesonoxian" means "of, or pertaining to midnight"): 

The Twelve Dragon Riding Princesses

By Lily Jenness

You may have heard the story of the twelve dancing princesses.  A tale of twelve frivolous young ladies who dance every night on a special island for no apparent reason.  That story is not true.  That is what they told their father, the king. The real story is as follows.

There was evidence in the form of worn out boots that the twelve princesses of Spryll went on mysterious mesonoxian missions.  This dismayed the king greatly, for every night he had the door to the princesses’ room secured with more locks than he could count.

Anxious to know what his daughters were up to, the king offered his kingdom and one of the princesses to any man who could discover their secret. However, if the man did not discover the secret before three days had gone by, he would be put to death.

Many princes, knights, and even a private detective tried and failed to discover the princesses’ secret.

It happened one day that a soldier recently returned from war, heard about the king’s offer, and, having nowhere to go and having nothing to do, decided to try his luck at uncovering the princesses’ secret.  He spoke of his plans to an old woman he had met on the road, and she gave him a cloak that when worn, would render the wearer invisible. Along with this material gift, she gave an intellectual one in the form of advice: “Do not eat or drink anything the princesses give you”.

The soldier presented himself before the king, and was installed in a room next to that of the princesses.  As the time for sleep approached, the eldest princess came to the soldier and offered him a glass of wine.  He thanked her, and while she was not looking, tossed the wine out the window.  He bid the princess goodnight, then he faked sleep, snoring loudly.  Three of the princesses peeked in his room, and were satisfied that he was soundly asleep.  As soon as they were gone, the soldier donned his invisibility cloak, and snuck in their room as their door was closing. To his surprise, the princesses were dresses for battle.  As he watched, the eldest opened up a secret passageway in the floor. He followed them down, and bumped into the youngest princess’s sword.  She gave a shriek that something was amiss, but her sisters disregarded it as her imagination.

The passageway ended and opened up to a forest made of trees with golden leaves.  The soldier snapped a twig off one of the trees as proof he had been there.  The youngest princess again gave a shriek, but again her sisters ignored her.  The golden trees gave way to silver trees, and then silver gave way to diamond.  The soldier snapped a branch off of each, and each time the youngest princess shrieked her uneasiness.

The diamond leafed trees opened up to a cliff overlooking the sea.  On the edge of the cliff stood twelve majestic dragons, each having been saddled for battle.  By each dragon stood an armored man, holding the reigns.  These armored men helped each of the princesses onto a dragon, and then climbed on behind them.  As the soldier watched them fly away, he began to plot how he would follow them to their mysterious destination.  He went back to the palace, and faked sleep again when he heard the princesses return.   The next night, he followed the princesses again to the cliff, and he planned to sneak a ride on one of the dragons.  Unfortunately, a gust of wind blew his invisibility cloak off, and the youngest princess saw him.  The soldier felt a blow to the back of his head, and the world went dark. 

He awoke in his room with twelve pairs of worried eyes staring at him. 

“What should we do with him?” asked one of the princesses, “He cannot live and carry our secret. But if he disappears or is found dead, Father will be suspicious.” 

Then the soldier offered to go to battle with them the next night, and he promised that he would not tell their father what he had seen.  The princesses agreed to his proposal, and the next night he flew with them to an island in the middle of the sea.  The island was lit with small fires, and in their glow, the soldier could see a writhing mass circling the island.  A sea monster.  The men with the princesses dismounted on the island to fight on the ground, and the princesses took off on their dragons to fight the monster from the air. 

At one point, the soldier lost his sword. Then he saw a possibility, and he took it.  He acted as a decoy to draw the head of the monster to the center of the island. As the monster got ready to strike, the twelve princesses converged upon it, and killed it.  The monster fell with a crash, and the body slipped into the sea.  The princesses rejoiced, for now that their opponent was dead, they no longer needed to sneak out at night. 

The next morning, the soldier was brought before the king.  The king demanded to know if the soldier knew the secret of the worn out boots.  Not wishing to die, the soldier said “yes.” And he lied.  He told the king that the princesses snuck out each night to dance in a meadow surrounded by gold, silver, and diamond leafed trees, and he gave the king the branches he had collected on the first night.  He told the king that the princesses wore their boots because they lasted longer against the sharp leaves.  The king sent for the princesses, and asked them if the soldier’s story was true.  They said yes. The king was overjoyed to know his daughters’ secret at last, and promised to hold them as many balls as they wanted, as long as there were no more midnight adventures.  The princesses agreed. The soldier was then told to pick a princess for his wife.  He chose the eldest, for she was the closest to his age, and he admired her battle prowess.

The dancing version of the story was passed on around the kingdom and down through the years, until two brothers named Grimm heard it, and published it in a book of fairy tales.   

The awesomeness doesn't stop here!  Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain:

Want to follow our blog chain? Here are the participating parties, day by day:

August 4– http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com –Musings From Neville’s Navel

August 5 – http://crazyredpen.blogspot.com/ – Crazy Red Pen

August 6 – http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com – Lily’s Notes in the Margins

August 7 -http://oliviasopinions.wordpress.com/- Olivia’s Opinions

August 8 - http://snippetsandslicesandscenes.blogspot.ca/ – Snippets, Slices, and Scenes

August 9 – http://markobrienwrites.blogspot.com – Mark O’Brien Writes

August 10 – http://onelifeglory.blogspot.ca/ – One Life Glory

August 11 – http://www.astoryofadreamer.blogspot.com/ – A Story of a Dreamer

August 12 – http://weirdalocity.wordpress.com/ – Life, Among Other Things

August 13 – http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com – Blog of a (Maybe) Teen Author

August 14 – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com/ - The Teenage Writer

August 15 -http://scribblingbeyondthemargins.wordpress.com– Scribbling Beyond the Margins

August 16 – http://otherrandomthings.wordpress.com – Dragons, Unicorns, and Other Random Things

August 17 – http://kirstenwrites.wordpress.com/ – Kirsten Writes!

August 18 – http://laughablog.wordpress.com–The Zebra Clan

August 19 – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com– Miriam Joy Writes

August 20– http://allegradavis.wordpress.com – All I Need Is A Keyboard

August 21 – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer

August 22 – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com- Teens Can Write, Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain.)

A Post in Which I Declare My Absence

Dear Readers,

I start driver's ed tomorrow.  I am not looking forward to it.  Because of this parent inflicted torture, I shall be somewhat absent from the blogosphere. I will check in now and then, and I might even post some more of the Pink Dragon Mission things.  I also will be participating in the Teens Can Write Too! August blog chain, but I might not comment on the other's posts until the thing is nearly over.  We'll see. 

Wish me luck,
Lily The Ever Imaginative

Character Texting

A couple weeks ago, while I was reinventing Lizzie's parents, I discovered a new method of brainstorming. Okay, so maybe someone else thought of it before I did, but it was new to me.  This method is what I like to call "Character Texting".  You essentially have a texting conversation with your character. I do this through a Word doc.  The way I started Character Texting was I randomly typed the sentence "Okay, Mrs. Evans, what will you be?" into the Word doc I was putting all her character info in.  Then she responded.  And we got a little conversation going.  I find this method to be much more productive than staring at the computer and thinking.  "Do I want her to be a realtor?  A interior designer?  A jelly maker?" and only typing it down once I've decided.  Through Character Texting I can ask her what she wants to be, and get her opinion.  Also, it kills two nargles with one stone, since I also get insight as to how she would say things.  Sure, I'm texting someone who doesn't exist and asking them what they want to be and looking at how they see the world, but it works.  And instead of thinking of her as part of me (she's MY character), I think about her as her own person, and she becomes more of herself.  Yeah, it's crazy and a bit schizophrenic, but I'm beginning to think that no really good fiction can come from someone entirely sane.

 To give you an example of how I Character Text, I shall hold a brief conversation with Lizzie (a teen sleuth and main character in my WIP).

Me:  Lizzie.  You need a motive.

Liz: Yes, I know.  I'm kinda pathetic in my story at the moment.  What happened to the subplot you had going with Joe?  I was looking forward to meeting a character who carved coffins for a living. Especially since he was dating my sister, and I could tease her about it.

Me: I decided not to do it.  But I am saving it for a later story.  Besides, it didn't really give you a motive anyway.  It could have worked for Lainie, but not for you.

Liz:  True.  I think I cooperate with the police too much. 

Me: Agreed.  Maybe I ought to give you your own lead to follow.

Liz:  That could work.   Which lead?  One that's in the story already, or a new one?  And am I right or wrong?

Me:  I don't know.  I think having you be partially right would be fun. 

Liz:  Yeah, for you. 

Me: And the readers.

Liz: Sigh. 

Me:  Sigh... ya know, if I spelled that Sygh, it'd be a good name. Or maybe Syghe....

Liz:  Solston to Lily!  Can we please stay in my story world?

Me:  Yeah, sorry.  I like having you be partially right. Maybe you misinterpret a piece of evidence. 

Liz:  That could work.  But the question still remains:  New lead, or old lead? 

Me: Hmm.  I never piled any good evidence against the actual bad guys, and the police certainly don't have enough reason to follow them....

Liz:  But you could fix that.  I'm not sure I want to follow the real bad guys.  I don't like them. 

Me: Do you like any of the bad guys?

Liz: Well, no.  But I really don't like them.  They're kinda...scary.  You don't show that in the story, but I've been in your head long enough to know what they're like.   You had talked about my motive being a combination of hyper curiosity and a strong sense of justice, and if you stick with that, I need to follow a lead that is more puzzling and intriguing than scary.  You have to make me want to solve the mystery.  I like solving puzzles, so give me a puzzle to solve.

Me: The whole story is a puzzle.

Liz: Yeah, but all I do, especially in the latter half of the story is say "Oh, look, this evidence goes here.  I better call the police!  I overheard something that might solve the mystery, I better call the police!" Over, and over, and over again.  I hate to say it, Lil, but story-me is BORING!  She's a good citizen, sure, but she's boring.

Me:  I hadn't looked at it like that. But I want you to be an admirable character.

Liz: There are ways of making me admirable the way you want me to be without making me boring....


There's more to this conversation, but it got kinda long.  I started typing and Lizzie got vocal.  It really helped with my story.


What do you think of Character Texting?  Give it a try and let me know how it works out!

The World Through a Writer's Lens

Today is my turn to post for the Teens Can Write, Too! July blog chain.  This month's question is: 

"How has writing affected your perception of the world?"

Writing has changed how I look at many things, but in subtle ways.  I listen to how people talk more than I used to.  Sometimes I look at strangers and see the faces of potential characters.  Or maybe they're wearing something I think a character would wear.  Or maybe they're just being normal and I wonder what their story is.  I didn't used to do that. 

Writing has also changed how I listen to music, watch movies, and read books.  For example, when I heard Carrie Underwood's new song Blown Away, I had two reactions: Eew, and Ooh.... The song is about a girl of undisclosed age who lets her father die in a tornado.  It's never said directly, but I got the impression that the father had killed the mother years before.  Eew, creepy, twisted, blugh. However, I have a character who can relate, Viola Wood, and I got a writing buzz. Viola's circumstances are way more complicated, but she can relate to wanting her father dead.  Her reaction to that song got me to like it.  Enough to listen to it multiple times in a row.  Had I not been a writer (or at least without a character like Viola), I would have just had the Eew reaction and never listened to the song again.  I had a similar experience with Rascal Flatts's song Here Comes Goodbye, only what happened with that one was I set the emotion and some of the lines to a scene right before a battle.  That made it worth listening to. Otherwise it's just another sad breakup song.  

Writing has somewhat changed how I look at odd happenings. Like the time my mom found a random windshield wiper set on our car.  It wasn't one of ours, someone had just put it there.  When she told me about it, I thought "What if it was a magic windshield wiper?"  I'm not sure what a magic windshield wiper would do, but it has potential.  Odd things like that, and even some ordinary things, now trigger ideas.

That's all for me folks.  Be sure to check out the rest of the blog chain! 

July 7–http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com–Miriam Joy Writes

July 8–http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com–Musings From Neville’s Navel

July 9–http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com–This Page Intentionally Left Blank

July 10–http://maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com–Blog of a (Maybe) Teen Author

July 11–http://scribblingbeyondthemargins.wordpress.com–Scribbling Beyond the Margins

July 12–http://lilyjenness.blogspot.com–Lily’s Notes In The Margins

July 13–http://correctingpenswelcome.wordpress.com–Comfy Sweaters, Writing and Fish

July 14–http://laughablog.wordpress.com–The Zebra Clan

July 15–http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com–Reality Is Imaginary

July 16–http://a-myriad-of-colors.blogspot.com–A Myriad of Colors

July 17–http://anmksmeanderingmind.wordpress.com–An MK’s Meandering Mind

July 18–http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com–The Incessant Droning of a Bored Writer

July 19–http://allegradavis.wordpress.com–All I Need Is A Keyboard

July 20–http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com--Teens Can Write Too! (We will be announcing the topic for next month’s chain)