Drafting Process // Vol. III

It strikes me that I am posting this for my benefit, not for yours. The idea with this third volume is to go in baby steps and force myself to stick to them.

THE COMPOSTING STAGE

1) Make a VERY UNDETAILED list about the plot and story order. I keep getting into too much detail which is making me go crazy.

2) Determine the major characters: hero, villain, alternative POV.

3) Determine the supporting characters: who surrounds the hero, who surrounds the villain, who surrounds the alternative POV.

4) Use exercises to help develop and figure out the major characters. I find that I have a good idea of a character's personality but often don't know why they are the way they are. I want to use five exercises for these peeps: 1) Love language, 2) Meyers Briggs personality type, 3) Diary written by them, 4) Character interview, 5) Character form.

5) Use exercises to help develop and figure out the supporting cast. I only plan to use a couple of the above exercises for these peeps--1) Love language, 2) Meyers Briggs personality type, 3) Character form.

THE PRELIM STAGE

1) Fill in the plot and story order. THIS is what's driving me crazy, but the fact that I've done a lot of it already should help me. Why is it driving me crazy, you ask? Because I have five different documents open at the same time--one for the filled in plot & story order, one for glaring plot holes, one for glaring detail holes, one for cultural problems/research need, and one for extra plot ideas. I think I'm just going to have to take this part really slowly and celebrate every victory! haha.

2) The 2-3 page synopsis. Where I get to cut my large mouth down into a certain amount of words. Not so fun.

3) The 1-page synopsis. Too much concision for me. I'll probably not have fun doing this part either.

4) The 1-paragraph synopsis.

5) The pitch.

THE FINAL STEPS

1) Outline the first chapter, then each succeeding chapter as it comes. 

2) WRITE!

Drafting Process // Vol. II

About fifteen months ago, I wrote a post detailing my ideal drafting process: the one I hoped to follow as I pursued the second draft of my novel, The Bridge Between Heaven and Hell. As it turned out, that process needed some serious fixing. A visitor actually commented on that post, noting, “You might want to give yourself more flexibility,” in reference to one of my plans of action. Her observation turned out to be very true. Reading a 250,000-word book which took close to three years to write is no easy feat, because one’s writing style evolves so much over that period of time; also, when the first draft takes that long, one’s ideas change radically and one thinks, “In the next draft, I’m doing to do this-and-this different,” . . . et cetera and so forth. So, I have revised that previous, very long list, cutting it down to ten steps instead of—what—sixteen?

If you have suggestions for improvement, don’t hesitate to give them. Also, if you’d like to copy and paste this post into a Word document to save it to your computer, you have my permission.

Note: This drafting process applies to any and all drafts—first, second, third, fourth, eleventh, you get the idea. Let’s hope, however, that if you use this process you won’t have to go all the way to eleven.

1) For first draft: evaluate. Did you just get the idea? or half of the idea? or did a simple inspiration—an image, a movie, a book—give you a sudden thought? If so, you need to spend two to six weeks mulling over the idea in your head. For succeeding draft: take two to six weeks off to give your brain a break.

2) Make a list of the plot in the general story order. If you want to, you can read through your previous draft, but it’s unnecessary if you know your novel well enough.

3) Make a list of the major characters. E.g.: Reuel, Arac-Enen, Eladriel, Graece, Xara-Phenia. Fill them out completely with several different character exercises. While you can use your own ideas for this, some of these might be helpful to you: their love language, Meyers Briggs personality type, a journal of one of their days (written by them), a character interview, and the character form.

4) Make a list of the minor characters. E.g.: Ambryna, Eric, Vol, Volum. Fill them out with only one or two character exercises. Of the ones above, I would choose their Meyers Briggs personality type and the character form.

5) Pitch it. Don’t know what a pitch is? If you want to be a serious writer, you’d better learn—these are pretty important. In general, it’s a description of your book in less than 25 words (some say less than fifteen).

6) The one-paragraph synopsis. Self-explanatory.

7) The one-page synopsis.

8) The 2-3 page synopsis. This is where you get to focus on your finest plot points.

9) A general, loose outline of the book.

10) Chapter- by-chapter outlines.

Hope you found that helpful. :) Any questions or observations I will gladly answer below.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

warning: this post contains spoilers

I generally try to cram my book reviews into no more than two paragraphs, because I've found in the past that longer ones generate zero comments. Also, I don't read reviews that are overly long. But this time I'm throwing all that out the window, because I actually have stuff to say about this one.

The seventy-fourth Hunger Games are about to begin. And if you don't know the story, you should by now. It's been all over everywhere since the first movie came out in 2012. 

I thought about this today. I thought about it regarding my book, and I thought about it regarding this story. My English teacher had said many times over the course of the 2013-2014 school year that no story is new--every one of them has already been written. Boy, do I wish publishers would figure that out. And so today, as I moved the irrigation pipes across the orchard grass field, I thought something to the effect of--when a book is called "original," that only means that the author took inspiration from more than one source. The more sources you draw your material from (and I mean fictional sources, I don't mean research), the more original is your work. For example, when I first started my book, my storyline was much like The Lord of the Rings, and the book itself I described as "A cross between The Lord of the Rings and Narnia." Is that very original? No. But now I can say that my inspirations are The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Captain America, and, to some extent, Star Wars. The fact is that the more you read and the more you watch--the more ideas you'll see, and the more you can incorporate them into your books. That's not plagiarism. That's adaptation. Plagiarism would be taking one stories and one idea and rewriting it with some changes. Remember, the more pieces, the bigger, the harder, the more intricate, the more thought-puzzling, the more time-consuming is the puzzle. Just like how they say the people in your dreams are made up of bits and pieces of all the people you've seen. So are your characters. (That's why I can say I want Colin O'Donoghue, Hayden Christiansen, and Richard Armitage to somehow become one person for my MC.) So is your plot. (Disclaimer, because I have to: I do not, and never would, advocate plagiarism. Ever. I sincerely doubt any aspiring author reading this would, or does, commit plagiarism with his or her works. Most book ideas that come to a writer wouldn't be plagiarism, because, as I said, inspiration can come--and should come--from so many different places. From a photo on Pinterest. From a landscape. From a piece of the plot in Captain America.)

I can assume that Suzanne Collins drew from many sources when she created Panem, even if she didn't know it. The history of the U.S. with the thirteen colonies--and the irony that history repeats itself. The coal mining days of America. I could guess that she watched North and South by BBC, but that would be supposing she were like me, which I very much doubt she is. I can assume she drew from many sources when she thought of the Hunger Games. I'm almost certain she looked at reality TV now and remembered the Colosseum (based on what I've heard). And she asked "Why not?" . . . an incredibly important thing to do, but unfortunately a topic too long for me to discuss in a post which is supposed to be a book review.

I can't fault the plot. The plot is original because it was taken from sources which melded together to create a bestselling series. So what about the characters?

Katniss Everdeen. The book, written in first person present tense, is entirely from her perspective. A bad thing? No. But Katniss is no-nonsense, practical, your typical strong personality, except--and this is a plus for her--not saucy, not opinionated, and not like most every other female protagonist in literature today. But I couldn't like her very much. I couldn't identify with her. She was too coldhearted, too unfeeling. Stylistically, this was Suzanne Collins's main problem: she didn't have near the emotional punch that J.K. Rowling had as I read through Harry Potter. (To be fair, Collins is, technically, a better writer than Rowling.) Or is that what she wanted? Because Katniss has to be unfeeling . . . because she has to survive.

Gale. I honestly didn't like him. Team Peeta and Team Gale? Well, I'm definitely Team Peeta. Gale and Katniss are too alike for a good relationship, besides which Gale is angry and vengeful. If you could choose, which would you do: a relationship with a man who's been your friend for the last five years and helped your family survive, who you could call your best friend; or a relationship with a man who saved your life at least twice, who stood by your side and helped you when you were three inches away from death for two weeks? That's a hard question. I've heard it said that ultimately Katniss and Peeta went through more together than Katniss and Gale. I both agree and disagree. Without Gale's help, Katniss may have starved with her family in District 12. Without Peeta, she certainly would have.

Which brings me to Peeta Mellark. I'm most likely Peeta's same Meyers Briggs personality--if he is an ISFJ as I expect. But he was way sweeter than Gale, and much easier to like than Katniss. I really don't know exactly what he sees in her. She's an excellent hunter and she cares deeply for a few people ("There are a few people whom I really love, and even fewer of whom I think well," said Elizabeth Bennet), but outside she's pricklier than a thorn.

The most well-done portion of the entire book was probably Katniss's confusion over her feelings toward Peeta. She doesn't believe she's in love, but she can't stand being separated from him and she even says "I already miss him" as they hold hands, united by physical touch but sundered by the cold truth, before the welcoming crowds of District 12. She can't withhold herself from running to embrace him when she sees him after the Games, but she has to do it partially for show. She screams at the doctors who try to heal him--she wants to be with him. But is this because she loves him, or because she fears for his safety? Even the readers don't know the answer. To me, Gale should mean safety and security because he was unassociated with the Games, whereas Peeta should mean fear and isolation because his presence meant she was in the Hunger Games. Hmm.

What was my overall takeaway from The Hunger Games? I'm excited to read Catching Fire. But I hope that Katniss opens up more--and I hope suspense increases. And I hope the confusion with the love triangle lessens.

4.5 stars.

Common Mistakes Writers Make #1: hopping through the tenses

I came across this mistake just today in a blog post I’d been reading—and decided it was an excellent opportunity to share this problem which inexperienced writers often have. The mistake? “Tense-hopping,” or moving from past- to present-tense (or any other tense) within the same fictional work. This error is easiest to fall into if one is attempting to write one’s novel in the notoriously difficult present tense, but it’s a mistake that can be made any time, really—and is worth learning more about.
 

The three most common verb tenses used by writers are past, present, and future; three less common are past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect. WikiAnswers says that there are also six progressive tenses, but I don’t particularly trust Wiki sites, and I think that if the progressive forms were important, I’d have learned them in my in-depth grammar curriculum throughout my homeschooling years. Disregarding those forms which I can’t define, let’s quickly look at what the six most common tenses look like:
 

Present tense: Hannah walks down the hall. (Hannah is walking down the hall at this moment.)
Past tense: Hannah walked down the hall. (Hannah walked down the hall a minute or an hour ago.)
Future tense: Hannah will walk down the hall. (Hannah will end up walking down the hall sometime.)
 

Present perfect tense: Hannah has walked down the hall. (Hannah is just finished walking down the hall.)
Past perfect tense: Hannah had walked down the hall. (Hannah walked down the hall a while ago.) 

Future perfect tense: Hannah will have walked down the hall. (Hannah is in the process of walking down the hall right now, and will have done so when she has come to the end of it.)Now, this is what it looks like when we “tense-hop.”

He watched her labor on. Only once during the race had she stopped—twenty yards before him, and she had shouted, “You are the most horrible brute in Owraith’s kingdom. Why do you not ascend to his throne? For you are worse than he! Kill me now, and have done with it!”

He stops to listen to her. “Eighth,” is all he says in reply. His hand went to his left hip, as though he would draw a sword. But for her to see that sword in the hands of a supposed madman would be his doom—psychologically and physically.
              —The Bridge Between Heaven and Hell (modified for these purposes), © Hannah Barta

Did you notice the mistakes? The final clause before the quotation in the second sentence reads, “She had shouted,” but the first sentence in the next paragraph says, “He stops to listen to her.” This problem lies outside grammatical rules and is, therefore, an aspect of your writing that should be eliminated.

Have you ever had this problem before? What do you think about it when you see it on blogs or in fiction?

#ifbookcharactershadtwitters

There are a number of exercises aspiring authors can do to increase their understanding of their book characters. And today, after looking at the “Twitter accounts” of the characters from the modern-day episodic adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma called “Emma Approved,” I thought it would be fun, and worthwhile, to fake a Twitter conversation with a couple of my characters. Any “interaction” with characters is a good way to understand them better, I think.

@EladrielEnen After 400 years, it’s finally going to happen! #freetheslaves
@EltarEnen @EladrielEnen, be careful. Never know who might be listening.
@EladrielEnen Give a little. No one can stop us now.
@EltarEnen I repeat, never know who might be listening.
@VolumCastaway @EladrielEnen, @EltarEnen, or who might act after listening. #evillaugh
@EladrielEnen @VolumCastaway, stop it.
@VolumCastaway Stop what? It was a joke!
@EltarEnen @VolumCastaway, #notfunny #ihatehashtags

@GraeceMaster @EltarEnen, your gift is awaiting you.
@EltarEnen I didn’t put anything on my list.
@GraeceMaster Don’t we give gifts anyway? Spirit of Nulefete, good man.
@EltarEnen I accept no gift from you.
@GraeceMaster This gift begins with denial.

@EltarEnen @EladrielEnen, told you to keep your mouth shut.
@EladrielEnen What are you talking about?
@EltarEnen The slavemaster is plotting diabolically.
@EladrielEnen What?
@EltarEnen #ignoranceisbliss

@EladrielEnen @EltarEnen, ignorance is never bliss.
@EltarEnen It was in that instance or you would have spoiled it.
@EladrielEnen Thanks for telling me I’m useless except as bait.
@EltarEnen Be thankful for once instead of getting mad.
@EladrielEnen I. Am. Mad. #andhaveeveryrighttobe

This is so fun! Now it’s your turn. Want to carry on a miniature Twitter conversation between your book characters in the comments below?

i'm away on holiday

But that time is over now.

My six weeks are up, my work has begun again. And how excited I am! I just started making a list of things to change for my second draft, and oh . . . I can’t wait.

I know it’ll be several weeks, maybe even a few months, before I start writing anything, because I don’t have the time to sit down and write a lot in one sitting. But the start is what matters. And the fact that I’m excited about it is such a blessing. I was a little drained after I finished the first draft. And after a while I was afraid the excitement would never return . . . that I would be left feeling so-so about the whole thing. And guess what? I did for a little bit. I wondered if the book was even worth continuing. I considered for about three seconds shifting this fantasy into a book set in the modern world. But what would there have been of it? Virtually nothing, and certainly nothing edifying.

But who cares if it gets published or not? I love my characters. I would sooner invite them to dinner than a lot of other people in my life.

I’m about to scream now and should probably get off before I do for my excitement is raised to new heights and. . . .

1. Finish the first draft of my book.

I have that empty feeling inside my stomach. Maybe it’s shock. Maybe it’s sorrow. Maybe it’s the bittersweet.

Ironically, I had a short “Pinterest-comment conversation” with the lovely Ysa Rivas about typing “The End” of your book. If she’ll allow me—forgive me, Ysa, I didn’t ask permission—here is the first part of our conversation about this pin:

Ysa: THE END is the saddest thing in the world to type.

Me: Really?? I would say it’s the happiest. . . . LOL. Not really, because you are in a sense “leaving” your characters, but at least you know you’ve accomplished something! For my first draft it won’t be very sad—triumphant, I’d say—because I finally, after almost three years of work, finished, and I can move on to draft two.
Happiest? No. Accomplished something? Well yeah—that is, believe it or not, the first time I finished a novel! Triumphant? Sort of. But I’m mostly just in the middle. . .thinking all this is weird, not believing I have to go all the way back to the beginning, happy I get to implement this nifty schedule, sad that I don’t get to even begin that schedule until October 8, wondering what project I should start on during the next six weeks, thinking that my college English class will take up all of that time and more. . . .

If you’re not the sentimental type and are wondering why I’m being a little overdramatic, it’s kinda because I’ve invested at least 225 hours into this 225,000-word novel over the course of 972 days. If I’d been paid minimum wage (for the state of Washington), this book would have been worth over $2,000. But no. . .this journey isn’t exactly measurable. It’s priceless.

Now I get to start it all over again.

Trying too hard.

As writers, we want to captivate our reader. We want to create characters that stay with that reader for weeks—or, hopefully—years to come. We want snappy dialogue and intriguing plots (including romance). But one of the problems I’ve faced the most? Trying too hard. Way, way too hard.

With dialogue: Yeah, you want that snazzy script. What you don’t want is something that’s chop-chop-chop, as if you have actual movie action and a theatrical trailer narrator along with it. Your reader can’t see the action: they have to imagine it. It’s better to keep things a shade slower and not to be so dramatic.

With mystery: If you have a mysterious plot or characters, you’ll want a certain level of mystique around it. But what I’ve caught myself doing over and over again with The Bridge Between Heaven and Hell is while I try to create an aura of mystery, I often just end up being vague. I myself can’t even remember what I was trying to say. (If the author doesn’t even know, how on earth will the readers?) You have to be clear.

With romance: I’m convinced that less is better. Not nonexistent, of course, but it amazes me how much more of the romantic air you get when you don’t constantly give attention to certain characters’ rapport. In letting my characters tell their individual stories and throwing in a few clues, I have managed to create a vibe that’s almost “outside,” alerting readers to “root” for this romance.

Not trying is not what I’m trying to say here. Of course you need to put effort into your novel or story. But trying too hard—blech. Dialogue becomes choppy. Mystery: “What in the world is she talking about!?!” Romance is overdone.

Sometimes, believe me, it’s better to leave it all alone.

How NOT to get a writing-induced headache, among other things.

from here

This weekend, participating in the Go Teen Writers Virtual Writing Retreat, I learned how not to to get a writing-induced headache.

You must drink as little water, and as much limeade+club soda, as possible. Doing so will surely increase your hydration and decrease your chance of a headache.

You must eat as much sugar and junk food as you can. Your brain will certainly be better fed through this.

You must eat as little of the balanced dinner your mother prepared as you can stomach. After all, if you followed the good advice in the second command, you won’t have much appetite for healthy food anyway.

In your writing breaks, you must either watch TV or get on your computer. You cannot do any physical activity. Not following this rule will make you much more liable to get a headache.

Yep, I did the Go Teen Writers Writing Retreat. I learned how to get a headache, become exhausted, deplete my writing stores, and drag myself through the drudgery of another day of spending at least four hours scribbling a pencil over the lines of my little black book. Here are my stats:

A taste of how I feel. (source)

Weekend word count goal: 10,000

Friday's word count goal: 3,000 at least

Friday's word count: 3,030

Words to go: 6,970

Saturday's word count goal: 4,000 at least

Saturday's word count: 4,014

Total words written up to this point: 7,044

Words to go: 2,956

Sunday's word count goal: 2,956 at least

Sunday's word count: 2,966

Total words written: 10,010

Approximate time spent: 12 hours

I don't write because I'll die if I don't.

It seems that one hundred percent of those I’ve seen blog about why they love to write say the same thing: “I have to write. I just love it, so I do.” Or they pin a relating quote. But . . . what if I’m not that way?

I don’t write because I’ll die if I do not. I don’t write necessarily because I love it—because I don’t a lot of the time. When I find the correct adjective, the perfect noun, the strongest verb, and mold that into a sentence—and then into a paragraph full of like sentences—that makes me happy. The flow of the perfect paragraph makes me happy. But so often I can’t achieve that without constantly changing what I just wrote, which would be too time-consuming and would end up in no man’s land.

I write because I have the novel in me that must come out. I write because I want to have this story somewhere else than in my mind. I write because I love my characters and what happens to them. I write because I want to read this book someday.

But I think about what will happen when I finish this book. Will I ever sit down to write a novel again? Will fairy tale retellings be enough for me? Or will I confine myself to college essays, letters, and e-mailing, like the rest of the world?

Guest post: Death to Middle Grade Books!

by Hannah (different Hannah)

Reading has been a hobby of mine for as long as I can remember. (okay, ever since I learned how to read [although reading lessons were never a favourite when I was little]) Even though I am a huge extrovert (most of the time), I've always loved the feeling of picking up a book and reading it. Being transformed into a different person, being transported to another world. I loved it!

random picture

 Reading, in a way, made me who I am today. I've learned from character's mistakes, and well... sitting down and reading has calmed me down on some of my really angry days where an argument would've lead to serious... badness.

But what I've noticed, since reading when I was little, there has been a significant change in reading material for kids.

There is a total difference in books from ten years ago and now.

Today I am talking (shutter) middle grade books.

Don't get me wrong, I love middle grade books, sometimes. There are several middle grade writers who are totally amazing! (i.e. Kate Dicamillo) But most of the time I go browsing in the middle grade section and find books like Middle School: the worst years of my life by James Patterson (guys who write for adults should not attempt middle school books, just saying), and Diary of a Whimpy Kid.

Most middle school books these days, I've noticed, are set to appeal to the lowest common denominator possible. And for middle school boys, the thing that appeals to them the most, apparently, according to most middle school books and movies, is potty talk and gross stuff (like peanut butter and ketchup sandwiches from Percy Jackson). All the popular kids book are all like that. And schools feed them to the poor innocent children like it was candy.

And then as soon as the middle schoolers reach high school, they are thrown into a pit of books full of drugs, violence, and cussing. (and adults wonder why our generation is turning out the way they are.)

Okay I get it, putting this stuff in these books do make the kids read, and, I guess enjoy it. But honestly, why does it matter if the kids were reading or not if we are filling their minds with this garbage!?

(sorry, but I am rather passionate about this subject)

What ever happened to literature? Good books. Classic books have been swept under the rug by society because they are boring. Well, I guess they do force the kids to read them in literature class, I don't know about you, but I don't like being forced to read books. It just ruins it.

My point is, as writers we should pledge to write books worthwhile. We are helping develop the next generation.

Who's with me!?

---------------------------

To read more ramblings like this you can find me at my blog in Neverland, or for bookish things, head on over to Candy Apple Books! Thanks for reading,
Hannah

Scribere // Or, if you speak English, not Latin: To Write

a guest post by Layla.

Writing. Though Microsoft Word objects strongly to this start of a sentence and will not quit barking at me "fragment 'consider revising'", I am determined to keep it there, standing alone, for it seems to carry the very essence of my post within its seven miniscule letters. Writing is a true exertion of mind and imagination, writing is a way to let your thought and feelings soar like that golden eagle with an ominously curved beak flying in the sky. Many people have an ever-growing desire to write a book--whether the subject is historical fiction or futuristic horror, but many people struggle, thinking their plot isn't firm enough, characters' emotions aren't realistic or descriptions and dialogue are bland. Therefore, I have compiled this list of tips to help you along with your writing expedition and a bit later on I will address another slight topic based upon writing. Enjoy!


1).  Surprise Yourself.
If you aren't surprised by any major events, or what you want to call twists, then you can be positive that your readers, to be frank, won't be surprised at all. Sometimes I feel like I am controlling my characters too much, in which case I pay no attention to my own thoughts and simply write, letting my characters do as they see fit. You want your characters to be your children--you created them and gave birth to them--but not your slaves. Guide them gently and give them a few firm pushes but don't force the unnecessary upon them. If you don't let them make some of their own choices you'll find your story suddenly unrealistic and your characters not pictures but words.


2). Make Yourself Bawl Like An Obsessive Fan-Girl
Though this one relates slightly to my previous entry, it seemed vital enough to be included as its own tip. You don't want to be able to read through your entire book without getting choked up or slightly sorrowful, for a book lacking emotion is like bread lacking yeast--never getting the chance to rise. I killed my favorite character in the 8th chapter of my book and I honestly got tears in my eyes. Reading it back to my brother, he looked away when I read the part to him so I didn't see his show of emotion. You want to emotionally disrupt your reader so that they can thoroughly enjoy the book, even through the floods of tears or slamming of book covers. So muster up some courage and abruptly kill your favorite character, make them lose an object which was required to complete their quest or have a deep betrayal when it seemed like your book was drawing near to a close. And, to quote Robert Frost, ..."and that has made all the difference." For indeed, one mere action most certainly can do just that.
 
 3). Use Real-Life Dialogue
Dialogue seems to be a subject that is struggled over many a time by both experienced authors and amateurs. How do you know if your dialogue sounds even slightly realistic? I am trying not to give you the impression that I am an expert, for I am not by any means, yet am giving my humble opinion and hoping it will help you in some small way. Though this idea was mainly stolen from N.D. Wilson, I have tweaked it quite a bit to fit it my personal tastes. If you choose to use this idea I advise making it fit for yourself, as this is a subject which will tend to vary depending upon person. The idea is: use conversations you have overheard or had with people, change the theme entirely and apply them to your book. This may be a little confusing so I will use an example of my own.

The original:
"You promised you wouldn't scare me anymore, Sissy!"
"No I didn't. Or at least I forgot if I did."

The edited version:
"You promised me you would stay away from the donuts, Charles! You are getting far to fat!"
"No I didn't. Or if I did I forgot it now!"

I tweaked the words, added and took out depending upon character, and made clear, realistic dialogue.

4). Relate To Your Characters
I despise when I finish a book and there is not one single character who has the tiniest thing in common with me. You want to have a variety of characters with numerous personalities and quirks so that everyone will have someone to relate to even a tiny amount. It gets dull reading about numerous characters who are all the same, but are the exact opposite of you. Most people get along much better in real life with people who have many similarities in tastes, beliefs and such and it is the same in books. Do not repeatedly add new characters with the same personalities. Vary them. Make them relatable.

5). Use Description (But Not Too Much!!!)
I tend to become disgusted when looking through other people's list of writing tips, and see them say not to describe things because it will bore the reader to death! And it all depends on if you overuse description. A book with zero description is more likely to bore someone to death than a book with heaps of description. If I were to pick up a book which started, "I saw a girl on the street. She said hi. I felt cold," then I would put the book down without a second thought. Your description doesn't have to be perfection, drowned in narrations of each intricate detail, for though that may appeal to a very select few, it would be troublesome to write correctly and would not appeal to more than 3/4 of the modern society. If you feel your writing is becoming bland, paint a picture of the scene in your head and then describe the scene as if it were a school/home school assignment. Do not overdo the description but don't go without.

I hope those were or at least will in some later time assist you. However, as I have told you I will speak upon another writing topic briefly, I will do that now. And that is on finding time to write. Now I know that not everyone is in the same position and some people literally CAN NOT find the time to write, but for most it is just a lame excuse. So here I have compiled a list of ideas to find the time to write.

~Set an alarm for early in the morning- perhaps 4:30 or 5:30 & write the whole morning. I've done the 4:30 & it really helped me make a lot of progress and gave me time to do other things later in the day.

~Write while doing everyday things necessary to life--watching toddlers (I've had to adapt this one LOTS!!!!!!), eating (only do this if you can write/type with one hand fluently and not spill!!!), and any other small things that are a simple part of your everyday life.

~Give up a little bit of your time for writing. In order to have the time to write your book, you are going to have to give up some of your own time. Period.  If you go into writing not expecting to have to give up some time which you would ordinarily spend reading or perhaps *wink* blogging.

~If you accidentally delete a lot of your book do not stress out- write! I have most definitely learned this one from experience and I most fervently wish that someone had given me the tip before. If you stress out for a long time then you are losing vital time! Instead of stressing out, sigh *or release a hasty sob;)* and begin writing again- for in the time you spent stressing out you could have nearly written all that you had recently deleted.

I know I am "certainly definitely absolutely" not the best person to take writing advice from but hopefully these can nonetheless help you in some sort of way, no matter how small. If you have any questions, ideas or thoughts please comment them because I will respond!!!!! Hope this helped you:)


Layla Hughes is a 10 year-old bookworm, second oldest of seven children and is obsessed with anything Arthurian Legend--she's even writing a book about it! She lives near the beaches of California where she tends to her 28 chickens and takes an endless amount of photos. She blogs at AAAAAAAA! with her younger brother and is always welcome to a hearty conversation about books!

One Hundred Days

A hundred days, ten thousand words.

On the first of February, 2013, I entered the first writing challenge of my life: Go Teen Writers’s 100-4-100 Challenge. The goal was to finish the hundred days, write ten thousand words or more, and not miss more than twenty days of the challenge. I wrote a total of 22,667 words, wrote eighty-eight days, and averaged approximately 257.58 words a day.

I enjoyed this challenge yet disliked it: it was nice to think of the glory of finishing, but hampering to think of having to write daily. The “hundred words for a hundred days” lulled me into just writing a hundred words, having little motivation to write any more unless I had a goodly dose of inspiration or I forced myself to write over a certain period of time. However, if you struggle with writing regularly, I would recommend participating in this challenge the next time they host it.

I’m happy to say that because of this, I’m 22,667 words closer to the end of my novel than I was before it started. I have about three and a half chapters, maybe less, to complete, before ending the first draft of my book once and for all. And once I’ve penned that first draft, there is not a person in the world that can take that away from me.

Enjoying the Journey

a guest post by Rebecca.

If you've ever known the thrill of beginning a new story, one you've planned out, one that's become so alive in your head it's begging to be written, you know what it's like to take the first step into a world that is entirely in your hands. You mold it, you make it all that it is – or isn't. Every house in every city, if it is to be there, is up to you to build it. Every creek, every tree is only there if you put it there. To have a whole world in your hands is a pretty big job; it takes thought, careful crafting, and attention to detail. But all of this comes only secondary to the biggest job we have: leading our character on a journey that is going to change him, for better or for worse. A fresh character is like a child – he needs our careful guidance and our input to make him all he needs to be. He knows not what the future holds, but trusts us with utmost trust that we will bring him through the journey safely (which, if he's the main character, he's got a pretty good chance!).
 

This is a difficult job. It bogs us down. It troubles our brain so that some nights, we can't sleep until we figure out just what we're going to do with the mess so-and-so's in. Sometimes we want to call it quits on this whole writing-thing.
 

Through the process of writing a book, it seems hurdle after hurdle is thrown at us to keep us from reaching the finish line that shines happily down at page three hundred and three. Something isn't historically accurate, our main character is behaving like a piece of cardboard, the one-year-old unplugged the computer in the middle of an intense scene... If you think you can have a book written in a certain amount of time, you'd better double it, because undoubtedly you're going to run into problems.
 

But I have no goal of discouraging you. In fact, I hope to do just the opposite. I want to share what I've learned (and still am) and it's merely this: Writing is a journey that you can enjoy!
 

I need this posted on my wall for every time I sit down at the computer desk with a frown and a mind empty of words. Maybe you do too.
 

After all, it's wonderful to be a writer! We forget the blessings. There's joy in making friends with other writers – ones who know you're deathly close to throwing a character off the side of a ship because he's causing too much trouble. It's a gift to be able to use twenty-six letters to create an entire paperback adventure. Those mornings you write with a baby on your lap, or juggle your scrambled eggs and the slaying of a dragon are good things – I mean, wonderful memories, and a lesson in multitasking!
 

My point is simply this: remember that as much as our characters are on a journey, so are we. We are changing through our writing. We're growing, learning, furthering our skills with every hurdle we run into. Whenever you can, remind yourself you're going to enjoy the journey! Because when all is written and done, it'll be worth it.
 

When you're having troubles, remember three things:

• The tough times shape up most.

• Whatever happens, we will come out of it alive. (Even a fight with a polka dotted panda bear.)

• Experience is a good teacher. Make note of the troubles you're having now, so you can have a battle plan in the future.

So yes you have a lot in your hands – yes you will have difficult times – and yes, there will be a time when the word joy is close to being removed from your dictionary – but yes, you can do it! Keep working hard, and enjoying the journey.

Thanks to Hannah for allowing me to guest-post!

Rebecca

Rebecca Rash is a Christian writer of young adult fiction. She enjoys being part of a large family and living in the beautiful country side. As well as writing, she also dabbles in photography, music, movie making, and reading. She loves most books classic, old barns, and walking without an umbrella on a rainy day. 
 

You can find her short-story collection, A Handful of Flowers, here on Amazon.com.

Drafting . . . that lovely yet frustrating process

I'm writing today's post based on information I have or need to have for finishing the first draft of Bridge and moving on to the second draft, third draft, next drafts, and publication process. A lot of this was inspired by Go Teen Writers, but a lot was also just my ideas. Here are the steps I've crafted for finishing my first draft and moving on to my second draft and beyond. Let me know if you can offer advice!

1. Take a six-week break before beginning edits/more drafting. Let your thoughts run wild with new ideas.

2. Don't write the ideas down. Don't even think about touching pen to paper or fingers to keys within the six-week period!

3. Once the six weeks end, make a list of the changes you remember that you should probably make. Compare them to what was in the first draft as opposed to what will be in the second draft. For example, right now I already know that

     Alonya will be Reuel's betrothed, not just a candidate for betrothal.

4. Read through the first draft. Keep a notebook with you to write down changes, keeping the probable changes "global," or large-scale focused, at first. Don't pay as much attention to little things like active and passive verbs or sparkly dialogue. Some examples of "global" changes: "characters, plot, pacing, themes/symbolism" (taken from Go Teen Writers's "How to Write a Novel").

5. Once you've read through the manuscript and made notes of changes you obviously need to make, revise the list you completed in step 3.

6. Now delve deep into each major character and completely fill them out. Here's an example for a list of things to know about your major character.

7. Do about half as much for each minor character. Think about what you need to know for this minor character. Do you need to know the name of their mother? The place they were born? Or are those things not as important?

8. Now delve deep into the plot. Are there ways to strengthen it? Ways to make more disasters? Ways to make it more logical? more intriguing?

9. Make a loose outline of the book.

10. Outline in detail the first  chapter.

11. With your notebook and the first draft on hand, begin to write the second draft.

12. After the first chapter is finished, outline the second; once the second is finished, outline the third; and so on. Keep each outline fairly short--chapters don't need to be super long. (Advice you could actually listen to, Hannah!)

13. Once finished with the second draft, unless you feel it to be perfect (which is unlikely), repeat the whole process for the third draft. The good thing about preparing to write the third draft is you won't need to strengthen and evaluate the characters and plot nearly as much.

14. Once you feel that your book is as good as it's going to get, have a pair of trained eyes go over it. Someone who is good with English--and maybe not someone in your family. Familial advice may be both harder to accept and harder to get--family may be biased or fearful of hurting your feelings. Maybe a fellow writer would be a good choice.

15. Then let a pair of less trained eyes run over it. Compare the opinions of the writer and not-writer, and see how they line up with yours. Ultimately, remember: You won't please everyone. You can't please everyone. So don't try to please everyone. In the end it is your choice how you change your novel. Some comments are helpful whereas others are not.

16. Once you think you've revised it to a satisfactory degree, find out how to publish and market it. Yay! I know nothing about this process (bad, bad, Hannah!), so I'm not going to say anything about it. :P

So how do you feel that was? Are there things I could change? Add? Subtract? I know I have several (at least) writers following me, and you all have great ideas! Oh, I was going to add . . . in steps 6 & 7, I talked about strengthening characters. Truthfully, I think this process should be done before the first draft. But I was naughty and didn't do it then, so I'm planning to do it before my second draft. Hopefully I learn from my mistakes, and once I'm writing another book I figure out my characters first!

When you lose interest in your novel

|| QUICK REMINDER: I'm sixteen. I've never published a book. I'm certainly not the best teen writer in America--not within a hundred miles of that. These opinions are my own, taken from my own experiences. I don't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you to accept advice, because I certainly am not! I hope you enjoy this post ||

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     Hannah from Candy Apple Books asked a really wonderful question in this post. How do you regain interest in a novel idea once that interest has worn off? Amazingly, I found I had a few answers for her. With regards to taking my advice or feeling pressured, please read the "quick reminder" above. I really don't want to make anyone think I'm "better than" any of you. These are just my ideas.

     So . . . how does one do it? Once "the passion" is lost, can it ever be regained?

     To begin with, I'm going to give a little background about my book. If you've followed my blog for a while, or even just for a month or so, you've probably read a post about it or seen it mentioned in passing. It is called The Bridge Between Heaven and Hell, and very long story short, it's about the son of an emperor who finds his once completely controlled life careen out of his hands with the advent of a war against an Elf. That's just the very short story of the beginning--but his loss of control is one of the main points of his story. This story is a fantasy, set in a world I created.

     I formed the idea for Bridge, as I fondly call it, in mid-February 2009. It was a cheap idea then that slowly morphed into something bigger and better. On June 25, 2009, I started to write what I like to call "the first edition": I didn't finish it, and I don't call it the first draft (I would be ashamed to call it the first draft!). Sometime within a year I stopped working on that edition, as my plot at least had gotten quite a bit stronger. Off and on I worked on beginnings for it, actually rather liking one of them, but I didn't continue the one I liked past maybe the first two or three chapters.

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     On December 30, 2010, I began the long-in-the-making, extremely tedious first draft. Except for some parts typed out on the computer, I've written the whole thing by hand. Anything on the computer has been, or will be, copied down to paper. (I'm going to go more into detail on writing by hand in a little while.) As the months have passed, I'm rather amazed I've made it this far and haven't quit. God has given me amazing willpower, as well as a desire not to quit. I have several new ideas and can't wait to change some things once I get to draft two--which will be, I believe, sometime this year--but I have tucked them away for then and don't really worry about them not being in this draft.

     So there's a little background on Bridge's journey. Now, to answer Hannah's question. . . . I'm going to use about three points.

#1 Love your characters.

     I honestly think one of the main reasons I have not quit on this draft--and on this idea--is because I adore my MC, Reuel. True, I would detest him in real life, but I can control all his irritating antics in my book. When writing, I don't think people exactly connect with their plot to the degree with which they will connect to their characters. Characters are people. People have things in common. This is going to sound harsh and know-it-allish, so I apologize in advance: but I think that, if you hate your characters, you either need to ditch them or make them stronger. 

#2 Burn off your steam.

     If there's a scene you've been longing to write for forever, but have been abstaining because you want to be disciplined and stick with the draft at hand, go ahead and write the scene! Or you could do what I do (which might creep you out). I love carrying on dialogues between characters. I do it almost every time I'm alone. Seriously. And it is so much fun. You get to talk in British accents (or at least I do). I don't write off scenes, generally, which might sound rather weird. I act them out (minus the swords and the weird costumes and the palace pillars and the mountains and the . . .)! 

#3 Consider your long hand.

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     Writing by hand is much more popular than I used to think. But nowadays, almost everyone has access to a computer--some of us even have personal laptops. And most of the computers are equipped with word documents, so it's easy just to type out your story. But I think there can be huge benefits to long hand. Having written everything out by hand in this draft, I believe it's made me appreciate my story and my characters that much more. We've spent so much time together (on a super good day, it takes about an hour to write 1,000 words by hand--versus on the computer, in which I could write about 3,000) that I've gotten a lot closer to Reuel and his life. (I'm still not his favorite person though.) So I would challenge you to write maybe your first chapter by hand. Your first draft. Your first 10,000 words. Something. Writing long hand also makes it more difficult to go back and "fix" things, because erasing an entire page makes the page look bad and wears down the eraser and cramps your hand. :)

     And then, remember prayer. God's will.

     I was pretty excited that I had these answers for Hannah. I was thinking about vlogging it--I just figured out how to record myself on webcam!--but then I didn't. Does a vlog sound cool to you? I'm going to think about doing one sometime in the future.

     Be sure to check out the original post, Rekindling the Passion on Candy Apple Books, and offer your own ideas to Hannah!