An Endangered Species

When you hear the phrase 'endangered species' you probably jump to the conclusion that I'm talking about fluffy panda bears, curious chimpanzees, and gigantic whales.  Ha, psych! I'm talking about words.  You know the things that we use everyday to communicate with, unless your deaf which then you don't.  Yes my friends words are endangered.  Every year words get dropped from the dictionary, and what are put in their place? Sad things like unfriend, sexting, retweet and so many words that I would be embarrassed to use.  Be shocked, I don't use those words I like saying that 'they stopped being my friend' instead of 'they unfriended me' and 'they sent obscene pictures of themselves to each other' instead of 'they were sexting'.  I know that I'm weird and the former is much longer than the latter statement, but wouldn't you feel smarter saying the former?

There is something that you can do to stop the madness!  It's called adopting a word.  You can click yourself over to this lovely little link which connects to the savetheword website.  Sign up and adopt a few words. Impress your friends and use unknown words.  Put them in your writing.  Become a superhero and have them be your catch phrases!  Yes, put on the cape and say 'resarciate fiends!'

So far I've adopted ecstasiate (to go into ecstasy; to cause to become ecstatic), cloakatively (superficially) and tauroboly (pagan bull sacrifice).  Those are amazing words aren't they!  Alluding to my previous post the definitions of the words could put together a plot;)  Perhaps I may be one of the few that finds this extremely cool and you all think that it is a waste of breath using the words but you have to admit it is fun to dumbfound people!

From Here

It's Monday, and I'm packing so this is all that we get today.  This week is going to be lighter post seeing that I'm going on vacation to Chicago.  Stay cool and have fun!

Creating Plots

Plots are the steel frame to the roller coaster of the novel that we build.  Our characters, theme, settings, prose, word choice, ad style are everything else.  What is a roller coaster with out the frame?  Nothing besides a bunch of mismatch objects.  One problem that people who want to write, whether they be novices or professionals, come across at one time or another in their writing career is the lack of plot ideas.

How do you make plots you ask, well, in very simple and somewhat obvious places.  Let's go through your normal day and see what we can find for plot ideas, I'll leave an * by each place with ideas!

6:00 a.m. you wake up and head towards the shower.  Once done with showering you brush your teeth, do your hair, etc.  You head to the living room where you have the paper (don't ask how it got there, I don't know it was magic) sitting on the kitchen counter.  You get some breakfast and coffee/tea and read the paper***.  It's off to work.  On your way to work there is a car crash that makes you take the detour route*, which makes you late.  Your boss comes and yells at you, which is more than what they usually do which is sitting at their desk watching YouTube videos, something must be wrong in their life*.  You go to your desk after the scolding and check your email.  You have a few new messages, one from your sister vacationing in Peru that has lots of pictures attached, so many that you can't even download them all*.  You get to work.  During lunch hour you and your friends go out to the town, where you come across an old man sitting on the sidewalk that says 'Fortunes for $'*, you hand him the change in your pocket but don't stay for the fortune.  During lunch you overhear the people behind you arguing about their relationship, apparently one of them slept with the other's sister, who's married and has 2.5 kids in a house with a white picket fence and a golden retriever named Fido*.  After lunch you head back to work.  During your break time you head on over to Time.com and read through some articles and head on to mynicheoftheuniverse.blogger.com where you read fabulous post***.  After work you go pick up the dry cleaning from the little old Asian lady who always has a smile on her face, today the glass windows are shattered, someone tried to rob the place*.  You get your clothing and leave.  Once home you change out of your clothes and listen to your spouse babble about their day* while flipping between the evening news and E! News.  During dinner your children overload your ears by telling you every grueling detail about their school day*.  You all watch a movie*, then send the children up to bed.  Before going to sleep yourself you finish that novel that you picked up last weekend from Barnes & Nobel*.

From Here

Did you see how many times in a day that you can find?  A ton!  And that's not even looking for any.  Go to the park and people watch, go to the grocery store and pick up the latest copy of People or Enquirer, those are chalked full of ideas.  Listen to the radio.  I was driving home from the grocery store yesterday listening to the radio and the announcer dude was taking calls for things that people had done that no one knew about and that they didn't want people to know.  Some lady called in and was talking about how her mother was dating a man 12 or 13 years younger than she was, the lady didn't know that.  The day before her mother got engaged to the man, the lady that called and the man somehow got drunk and had sex.  He proposed to her mother the next day, and the neither one has told the mother that they did the deed.  If that isn't a good plot then I don't know what is!  Want to make it fantasy?  Put them in a different world, add some mystical creatures or something and call it a day! (No offense to fantasy writers out there, I'm just making a point and I love fantasy, no offense intended!)  With the media out there bringing loads of stories in each day it's fairly easy to grab onto one and twist it into your own plot line.

Another good idea is find headlines from a newspaper or magazine, write down the ones you like, put them in a bag and pull out a few.  There's your skeleton of a plot line.

So, for all of you lazy people out there that don't like reading here's a list of everything:

• News Paper Articles
• Magazine Articles
• Radio
• Television
• Books
• Emails
• Everyday Activities
• Blogs
• People Watching
• Fairy Tales
• Movies
• And the list could keep going!

Plots are about relationships, conquests, missions, adventures, and so much more!  They're everywhere, now go find one!

Technologically Unsavvy

It has begun!  My writing that is, I know you were all thinking that I was talking about the end of the world.  After I had posted on here, looked around at some other blogs, read some forums, and found a really cool story, I sat down and wrote.  I took out a piece of paper and wrote.  Weird huh?

I have found that maybe doing some things without technology is a great idea.  I went camping last night and I cannot even begin to tell you about the relaxation that I got from the sound of crickets chirping along side of the soft croaks of the tree frogs.  It was a very much needed trip.  I was away from the computer, away from the phone, away from the microwave and all the other technology that I have lying around the house.  Maybe we all get too caught up in the whole typing process of writing, but what is writing?  When I think of the word writing I tend to think of a person holding a pen and using it to put words in a notebook or journal, not a person leaned over a small computer typing furiously as if their life depended on it.

I find that I enjoy writing stories much more than typing them.  What do you all prefer, type or write?

From Here.  No I have no clue who this person is but, he
sure looks peaceful.

While siting in my tent I thought about what it would have been like to live in the early 1800s, since I'm writing about that time period.  It would have been similar to the camping trip.  The only difference being that I had flash lights and they had candle, but I don't think that candles would be good in a tent considering that there is a little warning sign on the side that clearly states no open fires around the fabric.

I think that occasionally we all need to step out of our technological world and see the beauties of nature.  Especially if we're writing anything historical or in a different world where such technologies don't exist and we have little clue about how things happen without the help.  My youngest cousin who is about 5 asked me today how we found answers without Google.  I couldn't help but laugh a little, I mean I don't really remember a time without the internet, yes I'm young get over it, but that brings up a really great point: we can't find answers without Google.  Sad, isn't it.  I mean that there are books out there, but how many people would go find a book to look that up?  Especially without a computer.

I think that it is time for a little quote: "What are men compared to rocks and mountains?" Mary Bennet, Pride and Prejudice. I thought that this would be a good little addition to the post, considering it talks about nature:)

Perhaps I'm thinking too much like a transcendentalist, but I am sure of one thing with technology I couldn't live without Spell Check! 

Reminiscing and Starting

As of lately I seem to be listening to music that I remember listening to when I was younger.  I am not sure why all of a sudden I'm listening to George Strait, John Michael Montgomery, Trisha Yearwood and the Dixie Chicks, but I am and loving every minute of it!  I think that all have these moments in life when we just stop and look back at where we've been.

While listening to these songs, I'm thinking about my WIP.  What kind of things bring Lucy back to her past?  What things will she think about?  What are her reactions to her thought?  How do others react to her things that make her remember?

I find these just as important as the book, I mean the part of what happened before the book with the characters.  I'm not sure about all of you people out there with the novels that you read but I know that with the novels that I read that most all of them have allusions to the characters' pasts.

What are your character's pasts?  Mine?  Well she's just 17 and has been secluded from most of society besides little adventures into town and the social parties that she snuck into when her nanny wasn't watching, but she does have an older sister that did crazy things with her and told her great long tales about balls and such.

One thing that I do to keep all of my characters pasts in order is I take a piece of paper and write their name at the top and list things that I think are of importance to know about the character's past.  It takes a bit of time and can be a bit tedious, but I find that it is completely worth the time to do it!

Picture from Wikipedia

Now on to the second part of the blog: Starting.  That is one scary word: starting.  I am having issues doing the action that the word describes.  I have begun to type my historical YA, I've done a decent amount of research and I've read a lot of books that come from this time period as well so I have a basic understanding of the Regency Era.  I have my outline ready beside me, a few little notes I've taken, my hands are at the ready, and.... nothing.  Yup, a big fat nothing is happening.  So what do I do you ask?  I go on blogger, I go to absolutewrite, I go look at fish on aquabid.  Yeah, go me!  I realized that my issue is that I'm not sure where to begin, I want so much for this story yet nothing is happening.  I completely understand that I am supposed to basically force myself to write, but that isn't happening.  I guess that I'll try a few different starting points and try going from there.  Anyone had anything like this happen to you?  I bet that it happens millions of times everyday, and I'm just experiencing them right now.  Ugg, I'll try to put my Jane Austen thinking cap on and write.

Have fun out there!  Also, it's been almost a week that I've had this blog!  Whoo-hoo!

Motivation

Motivation.  That's what I've decided to blog about today.  I was going to blog about other mindless things, but I thought that since I have my first sketch of my outline of my newest project that I needed to have some motivation.

According to pychologytoday.com motivation is, "Motivation is literally the desire to do things.  It's the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day.It's the crucial element in setting and attaining goals-and research shows that you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control"


Hmm... Interesting isn't it!  I've just started this new thing called 'running', and trust me I've needed plenty of motivation to get me started and going.  I found that looking at a really cute pair of pants that I want gets me running, just imagining myself in a size smaller pants makes my heart flutter a bit.  It's about doing whatever I can to get to those shorts, whether it be eating right or running, I am going to get them!

A great motivation for anyone,
especially in this summer heat!

I know what my motivation is for running, but what is it for writing?  Is it the idea that I will bring more literature into the world?  Perhaps it's the idea that I can blog my way through the process and I will be able to look back at it?  Is it to fulfill one of my childhood dreams?  I think that it is all of those reasons and more. 


Wait a second, the blurb of the article that I posted said something about goals.  Not one goal but many goals.  Now I've got to rethink this whole writing motivation.  I know for the running my small goals to reach are certain distances and certain sizes, but what about writing?  This is where the handy-dandy word counter gadget will come in handy!  I think that for every 10K words that I write that I'll have a small celebration on here, whatever that might bring about is up in the air.  That'll be my motivation, to celebrate with all of you!


Now I've set the goals and thought these motivation ideas in motion it's now time to see where this will take me!  I hope to get between 7K and 10K by this time next week, if not then I don't know!


Here's a thing for all you readers: What motivates you to write?  What goals have you set for yourself?  What shall my punishment be? Mwahahaha!  Don't mind me, my mind is just fried from being in the sun all day!

My Findings

Goodness me, I forgot to post yesterday!  How silly of me!  I'm sorry, I was sick and I was unable to make it to the library yesterday and the charger to my laptop still hadn't arrived.  One good thing happened: I finished two of the three books that I had gotten from the library on Monday!  I'd have to say that they were very well written.  There were a few parts here or there that I would have re-worded or rewritten, but it was very little that I wanted to change.  The book The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen was FABULOUS! I'd recommend that to you all, I'll type up a review tomorrow.

I returned to the library today and was rummaging through the YA section of the library.  I had posted on the absolutewrite forum about YA that we'd like to see more of.  I searched through the rows of books at the library only to come up with very very VERY few books that were historical.

I am one who loves history.  I mean drags her family to historical sights and reads those "dreadfully dull" history books.  I like it:)  What is wrong with all the YA authors out there?  I remember as a middle schooler picking up  Pride and Prejudice at my aunt's house and being absorbed into the colorful world of Miss. Elizabeth Bennet (yes, I LOVE that our names match).  I then ventured to the public library and asked around for some great historical novels that were a little easier to comprehend than Jane Austen's.  There weren't many.

So, here I am years later still finding the same predicament: no historical novels besides prince and princesses!  I have now made it my quest to write a YA historical novel.  This isn't my first big writing task and now I have this blog to keep me going, I mean I can tell all of you readers about my writing adventures!

Just before I leave you all I just want to add one thing, this dog photo.  It's my old loyal "dog" that I have defending my weed garden!  I really need to tidy that place up a bit, but it is so darn hot here.  I have realized how much fun it is to take pictures of lawn ornaments.  There is a house not too far from mine that has... gargoyles!  I'm trying to figure out when I can go sneak over there and capture a picture or two without the owners noticing.

Well, ta-ta for now! (Tigger reference)

Too Many At Once!

Ever had that time you go to the library and find absolutely nothing?  Today I've had the opposite luck, I found way too much!
Usually I am way too picky on books that I want to read, and I usually discard them after skimming through the pages.  Most of them that I seem to pick up have plots that are transparent and have nothing to hide, which I've read too many of those books!

I came to the library today because my laptop died.  OK, it wasn't the laptop that died it was the charger.  The part that you stick inside the laptop to charge it, yeah that piece got stuck in the charger hole and refused to come out until I took pliers to it (Great technical names:))  I was originally going to the library to get on the computer to look up bras at Victoria's Secret because they are having a sale and I need bras.  I was also going to type up this post because I'm trying to see how long I can post everyday.

I went into the library was was making a beeline towards the computer area, when I saw a book.  A beautiful book with a picture of a young lady in 1800s clothing standing in front of a house.  I got distracted, I have an issue with being distracted by books and shiny things, oh and tarantulas!  I read the summary in the back and was glued!

From Amazon.com

The Girl at the Gatehouse By Julie Klassen
Miss Mariah Aubrey, banished after a scandal, hides herself away in a long-abandoned gatehouse on the far edge of a distant relative's estate. There, she supports herself and her loyal servant the only way she knows how--by writing novels in secret.

Captain Matthew Bryant, returning to England successful and wealthy after the Napoleonic wars, leases an impressive estate from a cash-poor nobleman, determined to show the society beauty who once rejected him what a colossal mistake she made. When he discovers an old gatehouse on the property, he is immediately intrigued by its striking young inhabitant and sets out to uncover her identity, and her past. But the more he learns about her, the more he realizes he must distance himself. Falling in love with an outcast would ruin his well-laid plans.

The old gatehouse holds secrets of its own. Can Mariah and Captain Bryant uncover them before the cunning heir to the estate buries them forever?

Sounds good right?  Then I went looking around and picked up another TWO books, even though I am still in the middle of two books and have a few more at home still.  I am a bookaholic!  That's it!  Grr... Amazing books need to stop bringing me in.  And the worst part is that I am going to have to come back tomorrow to type up the next post, and what have we learned that happens when I come to libraries?  Bad things.

Where am I now?  At a different library typing this post and about to look up more books.  Have you ever had this happen? Finding more than one book and reading way too much, especially when you're writing a novel yourself...

I am going to take these novels and analyze how certain elements of them play out and apply what I learned to writing my own novel.  Yeah, that sounds like a good excuse reason.

Can't wait to hear your 'bad' library experiences!  Write to you tomorrow:)

Stick Shift

The "stick" in my Father's Jeep

One of the new adventures in life that I'm taking is learning to drive a manual transmission. Laugh if you want, but it's hard! I grew up with my father always having a manual transmission in it; I had thought that driving his Jeep would be easy. It wasn't. When I got my first car (which I still have!), it was an automatic. I love driving that car, especially when I put the cruise on and the car just drives itself, I get tingles! Ok, enough of me talking about cars. While learning about the driving of the manual transmission I have realized how similar it is to writing.

When I first started to drive the manual I couldn't believe how many things there were to getting the car to go! Not only did I have to watch the road, watch the speedometer, look at the mirrors and steer the car, I also had to feather the clutch, press on the gas-but not too much!, shift into second, don't get stuck in neutral, press the clutch again and shift into third! It's tiring just thinking about all that.

Now let's get to how this analogy is going to connect.

When I first started to write about three to four years ago I had thought only about the plot and characters. Pshh, what else was there in a novel? Theme? What's that? Motives? Huh? Character depth? Who? I could go on and on, but I won't. I learned a lot about writing quickly after I had allowed my friend to read it who is amazing at writing and grammar, but she won't actually do any of that (it's to frivolous or something...).

I learned that writing is like learning the manual- it takes time, practice and a whole lot of patience. There's more than just the break and gas pedals. There are mirrors, and engines, and gears, and window washer things, and so much more. In writing there's more too. It's not just putting the characters in a situation, it's having them react to events the way that you or I would, it's giving them a back ground, giving them a future and hopes and dreams, it's giving them life. The plot is the same way. It needs turns and twists and bumps and bruises, everyone is not going to be happy in life, so neither should they in a plot. In writing there is also this lovely thing called 'setting'. Ever heard of it? It needs some attention as well. People need to see what the characters see, feel the grass, taste the salty air, hear the waves, smell the fishy aroma of the ocean! Ahh, the beach:)

I think that you all get where I'm going with this. Writing is hard, and so is driving a manual transmission. I'll leave you with this:

DRIVE SAFE and WRITE WELL, oh and DON'T DIE!


So, before I leave completely I have a question to ask you! What things in life have you seen a connection with writing? Anything else in you're life? I'd love to hear/read from you!!!

Check That Off

I am about to make a journey into the world of Blogs!  I've never done anything like this before, so it will probably take some time for me to figure out how all of these kinks work out and what exactly I am doing, so please bear with me!

I know there is no one reading this right now, trust me I understand.  I mean who in the world finds a blog before the first post is created?  And if you did, wow! I'm shocked, you're faster at finding my page than I am!

I want to keep this first post nice and simple to begin with!  I'll just lay down everything that I will be blogging about: writing! I'm starting to write, and not just any kind of writing but novels!!! Duh, Duh, Duh!!!  Yup, I will be blogging about my struggles with writing, maybe some tips I've picked up, things that annoy me about writing (what that entails, I don't know!), oh and what things I LOVE about writing.  I probably will go off topic a bit, but that'll be fun stuff I promise;)  I am hoping to blog daily or every other day, but who knows what the future will hold!

Yup, just made a blog post! Checking that off the "to-do before I die" list.  Now to go find that pot of gold on the other side of the rainbow...

Picture from Clip-Art