Choosing the Right Words...

It's important to convey the right emotions through the words you chose. I know I have issues with this. I like this chart a lot.


It helps quite a bit. However, being petrified and terrified are still different. They are not interchangeable. Just like being unsure and anxious gives two different emotions.



If you are in doubt on whether to say "said" or any other word, it's alright to just say "said". It just depends on the situation. Obviously:

     "Hi" I said.
     "Hi" she said.
     "What are you doing today" I asked.
      "Nothing" She said.
      "Come with me," I said.
      "Alright," she said.
Would be boring (just like the conversation). It would be a bit more exciting if you change some of the words.
     "Hi" I said.
     "Oh, Hey!" replied.
     " What are you doing today?" I asked.
     "Nothing much," she explained.
     "Come with me," I insisted.
     "Alight," she muttered.
Through that the reader knows that person A (the I) wants to hang out with person B (the she) even though person B isn't very thrilled by it. Maybe they are siblings or person A is a cousin of person B.

Words are very important to getting things across. If one word can convey ten, use the one word. (Unless it doesn't fit the personality of the narrator).

Summer Time

It's harder to write in the summer. I'm pacing my dinning room trying to come up with new ideas. Unfortunately I come up with my best ideas after experiencing tragedy or witnessing a great tragedy. I really hope not to experience or witness any more but it is inevitable. I just don't want to wait till that happens.  I just need to come up with a different way of writing.

I watched The Great Gatsby a week after it came out and thought about the character Nick Carraway. In the film he wanted to be a writer and stopped writing to become a bonds man. It is clear in the movie that he was a watcher. A person who witnesses great tragedy and "seems" to do little to change anything. It is clear that his actions do have an affect (is that the right use? or should I use "effect") on the events. Silence can sometimes be the greatest affect (as seen in abuse cases all over the world) on any persons life.

 I know I tend to be a silent watcher. When ever I go to a party, not wanting to drink, I watch on the sidelines and make up stories about what will happen to the people attending the party after they leave. It can be either a tragedy or a comedy (usually based on my mood at the time). If I chose to drink, I would think about my feelings after the party, if I feel like I was stupid or if it was fun. Usually I feel I did something stupid and disappointed every woman who has ever told me to aim higher. I do use the experience for my own benefit. I make my mistakes into funny stories and material for personality traits for characters.

Keep Going

I always ask myself "is it worth it?" when it comes to my writing. I wonder if anyone would really read it, or if I could even sell one book. Would people bash it down? Will I be the laughing stock of the world? Highly doubtful but it's common to doubt what you're writing. 

When I do, I go back and read some of my stories I wrote in middle school and high school. I was pretty good at keeping up a fanfic page in middle school. Then I realize how much I have improved in my writing skills. It keeps me going just a page more.  I still ask my self why I decided on being an English major.

Why did I chose to be an English major? Well originally I wanted to teach and I don't like math... or dates so English or PE would be the only thing I would want to teach. 

Once I attended WSU, I realized that I just love literature. I love to find hidden clues, left from men (and some women) who died hundreds of years ago. I love the people here in the program, they get me, they know how I think and how I see the world. When I'm in a room with people from Math or Sciences, I don't understand what they do and it's hard for them to explain things to be. 

I used to hate reading. Mostly because all my family did was read. Sometimes they would miss appointments just because they were reading. I told myself that I wasn't going to do that.

I did gain a love of writing when I was younger. I was in fifth grade when I got my first creative writing project. I was aloud to write a story, any story I wanted. Just as long as it was at least 2 pages. I wrote a story about a world that didn't need men, so all of them were frozen and hidden under water. My teacher thought it was cute and told me I should be a writer. I never took her seriously.

Once I got to High school, it changed. My Sophomore English teacher introduced me to saying what I wanted in my papers. I didn't have to hold back on my opinion just because the book was considered a "classic". I got a chance to write a story again. This time I wrote about knights (since my high school mascot was the Knight) and the different types of knights at my school. One of my classmates (one who used to tease me a lot) told me to be a writer. 

That's why I'm here. Why are you?

First Chapter Due

My first chapter is due in my YA class in a few days now. I've already have five chapters but it's very rough. Or, at least to me they're rough. Another bridge I have to cross is believing that my story can stand up. If I don't believe in it, it won't be able to stand up to criticism. When someone says that "this has to much [insert something] in it" I have to either say "I see what you mean" or "No, it has the right amount, you just don't see the big picture". It's hard sometimes to know which is right. Obviously no one knows my child the way I do. My main character is and will always be my friend and my child. I will protect her/him and cry when I can't.

This brings me to the reason why I love to write. I write because I want people to meet these characters I have met and love. They aren't known to anyone but me and I think it's a shame. I try to put them in a world that best shows off their talents, weaknesses, compassion, and skills. This is also why I'm a bit hesitant in letting them meet other people. I'm afraid that other people with judge them and put them in categories. They are just trying to be themselves, not anyone else. Each character, no matter their gender, sexuality, or belief, is part of me. I sometimes base them off of a friend or family member but in the end, they have something in common with me. When I show them to someone, it's like sharing a private thought to a stranger. It's very nerve-racking. But I want to let people know that there are people like this around and they deserve to be known, because it's how I express myself.

Random Ideas pop into my head

So I was pacing (an activity I usually do) and I imagined fighting some great evil with my favorite book characters. What if I could make a image of a person in a book that could talk to me and touchable (not in a weird way). What if I was a book character? What if I was a forgotten book character?? OMG that would be a great book!! I should write that!

That is how great ideas are born but I'm a bit worried someone already came up with it.... Which is a common thought in my head when writing any story. Luckily you can reassure yourself that your ideas might be similar to someone else but will always be different. Another worry of any writer is that his or her story will never be read. This is why I feel it is a good story. I might start writing it later but I am focusing on my other story currently.

I would like to say that it is still important to write the idea around somewhere. I usually hide it on top of a notebook or on a sticky note on the next month of my calender. That way the inspiration is as spontaneous as it was before.

Comments Back

I just got my notebook back from my Young Adult Lit. class and they were all positive. It is really great to get all this encouragement to write this silly book.

Tips for today!
1. Make sure to have people read your stuff!! Even if it's just reading it to someone else, get an opinion on it! My current roommate has background in the medical field and it helps a lot for what I want to do with my book. I also have a friend who is really into editing papers.... It's cruel what she does to my story but it helps.

2. There is no set way to write a story! Try writing it out of order or try writing all the very climatic scene. Fill in the translations later, just get what you really want down before you forget.... or some idiot smokes in your hall and makes the fire alarms go off..... I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU!!!!!

That's all for today.

Idea Vomit

Trying to come up with an original idea is difficult. Most ideas are actually different takes on old ideas. Like the book and movie Warm Bodies is just a zombie version of Romeo and Juliet. It's cool but everyone wants to be the original whatever. I don't want to write a story about a wizard who has to save his/her school. It's been done and it is way too soon to be starting that.

There are some days I'll be listening to a song and then BAM, an idea pops into my head. Usually they're strange in the context of the situation I'm in. Like the other day, I was pacing to "This Kiss" by my girl Carly Rae Jepsen and I got the idea for what to do with one of my side characters. I had her in jail and while the main character was visiting her, the main character would also meet an important character who would move the story along. That way it's not all in one place.

Then I thought, "what language should these creatures speak and what should I name them? They would be evolved humans and would have a slightly evolved language. Would this change the setting? The only other language I am familiar with is German, that is a sister language to English so it could work as a metaphor. What if the reader assumes they're Nazi creatures? Not all Germans are Nazis, How said is it that the stereotype of Germans are Nazis, my stereotype is VW cars,  those are hippie cars, I can have them run on renewable fuel! That would be great!"

This is basically my thought process for a couple chapters in my story.

Writing advice from other sites

From time to time I like to go on sites that say "How to Write a Book" and see what advice they give. Most of it is pretty good. The sites don't actually give you a plot but different ways of planning the book out. There is no right way to write a book. Many authors use different methods to get their ideas on the shelves of Barnes and Nobles everywhere. The important thing is actually finding a method to your madness.

Top tips:

Decide what you want to write about
        Yes it seems obvious but it's important to focus your writing. I know I have problems doing this. I had the hardest problem deciding if I wanted to change my main character's objective and who the antagonist will be. One site gave a great idea

            "Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your novel. Something like this: "A rogue physicist travels back in time to kill the apostle Paul." (This is the summary for my first novel, Transgression.) The sentence will serve you forever as a ten-second selling tool." Snowflake method

It's a great way to start writing a book and helpful later when you have to sell it to other people. For me Illness is "A girl who has to lead an army of teens to fight a new race of creatures who want to kill the human race". That is basically the climax of my story and what I've been building around.

What are the Issues of the Novel?
      Most teens what to read about something that they can relate too (most people do actually) and so if you want to write a YA novel, you need to thing about YA issues. What problems did you have as a teen? Where there cliques you wanted to join but couldn't because of who you were friends with? Was there a girl or guy you wanted to date but had to change who you were? Were you friendzoned by someone? Did you have a drug addiction? Did you have over baring parents? Did someone important to you die?
      All these questions and possible events can relate to someone between the age of 14-18 (the age range of a YA genre). You don't have to stick with just one. Most books have several issues all happening over the timeline of the book. You could even add other issues into the novel that you might not be as familiar with but try to stick with personal events since those would be easier to write. I know I'll never write about a love triangle because I have never had two guys follow me around and both ask for my hand in marriage (it would be kinda nice though).

Hope?
     A few sites I was looking at say a writer of YA genre should have a hopeful ending. For the most part I believe it. It's a recurring theme in most of them. "Hunger Games" has one, "Perks of a Wallflower" does, and even "Fault of Our Stars" has a bit of hope in the end. I don't think it's mandatory but I know I like books where there is hope, especially if I relate to the main character.

Favorite Author Advice:
     My favorite author of all time Ally Carter gave some advice to writing as well. I tend to look at it from time to time to see if she could help with my writers block.
    My favorite tip from her earlier post was to put the story away for a month and then come back and revise it. When I did this I realized, not only the horrid spelling and grammar errors, but how it all flows. I do depend on Feedback as well from friends and fellow YA novel enthusiast but they can't tell me where my story will ultimately end up. That is up to me and if I'm not happy with the story, why should I get it published.

Series or just one?
     A lot of the YA bestsellers are series of three or more. Not all though, "Perks of A Wallflower" doesn't need a second book to make it better (my heart couldn't take it if there was one) and nether does "Fault in Our Stars" (NO MORE TEARS!!). I plan on making Illness one book but I might make a book that deals with another character in the same town. Kind of what the other books of "The Giver" series. Don't get me wrong, I love "Hunger Games" and the "Divergent" series but I don't think I need to have such a long story line to finish Claudia's (the main character in my book) story.

To plan or not to plan:
      Plan where the story is going. You don't have to write an ending but it helps to have a "gist" of what is going on. Here is what I have for chapter 2 and 3 so far

"Chapter 2 gist:

Claudia and Iona take the test of acceptance to the new community on a new land. They watch a movie about the rules. Claudia expresses that she feels the test is easy going and that she isn't worried about passing. It’s almost like she doesn't care if she lives or not.

Chapter 3gist:

While Claudia waits for the results, she helps her parents around the house. This is when the readers will get to know the full effect of the illness."

This way I know where the characters are going and can remember later. I also write down the main events and later write down what chapter I want them in later. I've tried to write other stories with the mind set that "I know what I want and I'll just write it all right now and remember later" because you won't remember later. Just write all you want now and decide what will go in the middle later. Go with the sentence idea I introduced earlier in this post.

Write a back-story for most of the characters:
        It's not necessarily needed but it is fun to do. I also play D&D with my friends and I end up creating really interesting characters that I want to put in the story. My friends also have interesting back-stories to their characters and I usually end up reading them later. It also helps in deciding what motivates the character to do what they will do.
       Try to answer these questions when writing
        Why are they good or bad?
       What do they love the most in the word?
        Do they follow the law word for word or do they follow their own rules?
       What do they value most?
       What are the events of their past?
        How was he or she raised?
That should be a good starting point.

Angelfall Book Talk

This is a video of me giving a book talk for my Young Adult literature class (yes it's a class). I got full points for it and my classmates said that I was great.

Inspiration

        This story that I've been writing has been in the works since about 9th grade. I saw a news story on my local channel for a virus that can mess with the skin cells and make your skin fall off. I started to think "hey if this became a thing and only a small percent of the world didn't have it.... what would happen" and that is were Illness came from.
        I still only have a few chapters of it and now rewriting my plan for what will happen. I've changed the main character so much I have forgotten who she was in the beginning. I know that I was originally going to have everyone have tech names like "digit" and stuff but thought it would be too childish. So I moved towards original English and Welsh names. Some of the names are also Germanic since some of the towns are German.
        I will say that I have put this book on the back burner for a long time. I tried to tell people about it but no one wanted to hear what it was about. My mother would just nod her head every time I mentioned it. Now that I'm in college and an English major, I figured "why not". One of my classes this semester is having us write a first page of a YA novel as the final paper. I decided to kick start Illness as my book of choice. Most of the plot is written and I feel that it would be an interesting book to read (of course).