Connect and Get Updates
Recent Comments
Brenna on Stay Tuned for Updates
Again I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I remember you telling me that on Twitter. But it's nice to...Brenna on #WriteMotivation Continues!
Hey you! I haven't heard from you in a while, and this is old, so I was wondering how you...Jenn on #WriteMotivation Continues!
haha thanks!K.T. Hanna on #WriteMotivation Continues!
Oh I definitely agree. I think something writing related is still writing. Outlinging, Writing, Revising, Editing, Drafting out ways to improve...Jenn on #WriteMotivation Continues!
Thanks, you too! Oh...realized maybe I should have used my recommendation link for How To Revise...
As started by Jessica, this is a game for everyone in the Campaign group to get to know each other. Enjoy, and don’t forget to post links to your own list in the comments!
- I won first place at the science fair my freshman year of high school. My project looked at the genetics of horse color.
- In 7th grade I started a Mary Shelly-inspired contest with my friends, where we would have one year to finish a novel. I wrote that novel – my first – and promptly threw it out.
- I used to cry when school was cancelled. No joke.
- I went to Fiji and Australia for a band trip in my second year of college. This summer I went to Hawai’i. Must go back to all of these places, and a few others.
- I’m slowly but steadily learning Japanese with the help of Rosetta Stone and one of my friends. Tanoshii desu! (It’s fun!)
- I like chocolate ice cream. There are no other flavors.
- I was reading chapter books before kindergarten (American Girl!). I read James Michener’s Chesapeake in 4th grade. Now I read way below my reading level: YA.
- Before Harry Potter, there was Animorphs.
- My favorite Harry Potter character is Remus J. Lupin. He is the main reason Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite book of the series.
- To this day, my favorite computer game is Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego.
Campaign, Anyone?
Filed Under Tales from the Author's Desk | 12 Comments
I just joined the Third Writing-Platform Campaign, over at Rach Writes. Who else wants to join in?
TGIF
Filed Under Tales from the Author's Desk | Leave a Comment
No post today. Use what time you would have spent reading it to write.
WRITE!
I had an idea. A brilliant idea.
I decided to get a cover done for Narrator to post everywhere – my desktop, my bedside, my fridge, my mirror, heck maybe even my car – to help me visualize my goal. My awesome friend made me a cover…and then made me another! Enjoy! I know I am!
I’m headed to Otakon for the weekend! Panels on Japanese mythology for the anthro-side of me, drawing and crafts for the artistic side, costumes for the jealous side (I really want to cosplay someday), and laughs for the rest! Hopefully I’ll have some stories to share when I get back!
(You can tell I’m excited by all the exclamation points!)
Happy 4th of July!
Filed Under Tales from the Author's Desk | Leave a Comment
In fifth grade, we had a reading project where we were divided into groups to read one book each of The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce. I fell in love. After I read my group book (the first one, Alanna: The First Adventure), I read the other groups’ books. I went to the library and found her next quartet, The Immortals.
Now, I own all of her books – including her short story anthology, even when I hate short stories – and am happily anticipating her next book, Mastiff. About once a year, I go back and read her entire library.
What keeps me going back after all these years? The characters. The plot. The world-building. The pure inspiration.
To say Ms. Pierce has influenced my writing is a huge understatement. She’s practically driven it. I learned that you don’t have to write in purple prose to write well, that you can have heroes who are silly, and that young adult fiction isn’t just for teens.
If you haven’t read her books yet, get to it. There’s plenty to interest you: woman knights, animal magic, spies, police mysteries.
“Write what you know.”
You’re bound to have seen this at least three times since you started your writing career. It’s a favorite of creative writing teachers. Artists draw what they see, authors write what they know.
I’ve always found this to be a stupid piece of advice. I like fantasy. I like fairy tales. I occasionally like aliens. I don’t know any aliens. How can I write about creatures or worlds I have never seen, if I’m supposed to write what I know.
In short, I determined this was the worst advice ever.
It wasn’t until I started following author blogs that I realized there was a different interpretation of the phrase. Writing what you know doesn’t mean you have to only write about what you had a direct experience with. It means applying what you do know to your fiction.
Sound the same? Here’s an example: say you lost your pet. It’s not the same thing as losing a relative or a friend, but you can apply the emotions you had toward the incident toward these others ones, and adapt what you know as necessary. Or say you love medieval castles, and you read every book ever on them, visit them, live in one, etc. You can apply all of that knowledge that you know to your story.
If you don’t, your stories will probably fall flat. Your readers will be thrown out of their suspension of disbelief and think “this author has no clue what she’s talking about.” Obviously, you don’t want that to happen. So you write what you know.
In this context, “write what you know” might possibly be one of the best pieces of writing advice.
Given the last few days, I thought it would be good to hand this post over to West Wing, and share some of their thoughts.
For those of you who live under rocks and have never heard of West Wing, you should know that you are missing an amazing show. Seven seasons of brilliant storyline and characters, all set in the west wing of the White House.
In response to 9/11, they drafted an episode outside the continuity of the show to address terrorism and the issues it raises. Here are the quotes that have stuck with me through the years:
President Bartlet: We don’t need martyrs right now. We need heroes. A hero would die for his country, but he’d much rather live for it.
Girl: What are you struck by most?
Sam: It’s 100% failure rate.
Girl: Really?
Sam: Not only do terrorists always fail at what they’re after, they pretty much always succeed in strengthening whatever it is they’re against.
Josh: You want to get these people? I mean, you really want to reach in and kill them where they live? Keep accepting more than one idea. It makes them absolutely crazy.
If you want to watch the episode to learn different facts and see many viewpoints on this issue, it’s called Isaac and Ishmael. It’s the first episode of the third season.
American Royalty?
Filed Under Creativity, Tales from the Author's Desk | Leave a Comment
One of the most powerful weapons in the writer’s creative arsenal is the “what if” question. While talking about the royal wedding with a friend, I stumbled upon an interesting what if:
Ignoring for the moment that it goes against everything we stand for, and that it was one of THE reasons we fought for independence, what if we had a monarch?
I actually first heard of this on West Wing. A crazy congresswoman wanted to establish a monarch to take care of the president’s traditional ceremonial duties, and let the president actually govern.
But the real question is who would make up our royal line? I believe George Washington would be the best choice. Founding Father, leader of the Revolutionary troops, practically unanimous choice for our first President.
What do you think of an American monarch? Do you have any fun what if scenarios you’d like to share?
Welcome
Official Progress
4/21 segments
A narrator hijacks a cliche fantasy story, much to the chagrin of its characters.Status: Second revision
A young noblewoman with strange powers must choose: her king or her soul.1,639/70,000 wordsStatus: First draft
When a girl's heart is stolen, she's plunged into a world of magic and shadows - but can she get her heart back before she loses it completely?1,087/70,000 wordsStatus: First draft
-
