Saturday, January 28, 2012

Writing Blurbs

"I look at you and I think 'that's exactly who I was as a child'. What do you expect someone to say at that point? Do you want me to panic like a parent and lock you in a room hoping you never face negative influence? Do you want me to be your best friend and encourage you to explore the world? I think the hardest thing I could do is warn you, hope you'll listen, and be there when you screw it all up. That's all I can do. If you're like me then I know you'll figure it out eventually."

"To come this close to the one thing that terrified him, the one object in the universe that stopped him where he stood and shut down all rational thought, he wondered at what he had become. People would never think a legendary leader would have a fear like this. Besides, who in their right mind actually looked out at an ocean and saw it as their grave?"

"While the insults and screams of his father echoed around him, he picked out one of those places and told himself that he would escape this town and find his way there.
The most ironic part of it was he had no idea how soon he would actually fulfill that promise.
Because that was the night the barn caught fire."

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wishful Thinking

Maybe tomorrow will be the day...

Maybe I'll buy that Civic...

Maybe I'll repay that loan...

Maybe I'll find a career...

Maybe I'll clean my room and bathroom...





Maybe I'll just take a nap.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Winter is my Foil

I don't think there's anytime in the year besides winter that I hate so much.

Actually, I can say with full confidence that winter is most definitely the time I hate the most.

I get nothing done.

I pull up my books but barely write. During the day, I wallow and wait and wait and wait for summer.

On a more positive note, my dog does seem to like winter and its snow.



Now if only we weren't going from thunderstorms and too warm for even a sweatshirt to hurricane winds and snow all within 12 hours...

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Writing Blurb - Facing the Writer's/Character's Fears

I returned to writing today.

Well, technically, I did. I just didn't write chronologically (where I left my book at). I instead wanted to find out what fueled my main character to become who he was today.

What I discovered was that his personal flaws, fears, and insecurities are all rooted in a very sad childhood. One particular moment (the one I wrote) was the straw in the camels back, so to say. This moment broke my character's spirit. It was so emotionally disturbing that he was changed from then on, in some ways not for the better.

Midway through I realized that my main character, a creation of my mind that will be seen by what I hope to be millions of people one day, suffered the same type of life-changing trauma as I did as a child.

And that's when it became hard to finish the scene. Yes, it was hard putting my character through that scene because he is a part of me and his life, at least for me and my readers, is real in a way (only writers and good readers can understand that statement. It applies to many great novels, not just my own).

It was more difficult reliving the choices and emotions I once felt as a young girl. It was hard reading it on the page and understanding that this was not just a changing moment in my character's life but in my own life. Through words on paper, I was taken from a story and into my own memories and to a place where I could finally understand what I had gone through and accept it.

And that, my dear readers, is why I write.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Content

Josh Groban singing sweet lullabies...

A snoring dog curled up with me...

Cozy blankets wrapped up tight...

And a good book...

I think I could get used to this.