This is a poem I wrote a few days before New Year's, entitled "Words." Enjoy!
For daily prayer
I slowly kneel
Is someone there?
What should I feel?
Confused and lost,
Bent and beaten,
Always double-crossed
Tears to sweeten
Sweeten the glass
Broke 'round my feet --
Pictures of past
Gathered by me
Can I confide?
Must I reveal
Things I must hide?
Are these thoughts real?
My heart says so
And I can't doubt.
I think below
I am without
The words I need
They're lost among
My doubt and greed
To form a song
I cannot sing
For to speak
Means losing all things,
Letting damage wreak
With what is long done,
To touch the glass
And make it one,
Admit the past
Into my mind
Search for words
I'll never find
My sealed mouth burns
For want of freedom
To let it go
And build a kingdom
Is death
and woe
People would come
And see the glass
They won't welcome
A secret past
I cannot change
I've locked away
My true range
I've locked away
Thoughts and truth
I'm locked away
For all my youth
Until the day
I dare to tell
Secrets that cause
My tears to swell
And all that was
Will no longer be
And then at last
They'll see me.
Kirah
Friday, January 4, 2013
Friday, November 30, 2012
Finishing
“Finishing a book is bittersweet. You spend days getting to know the characters. Learning their nuances, their faults, their loves, their lives. They become your friends, acquaintances, enemies. And after the story ends, you miss them. You look for them in your own life, wonder where they’ve gone, you forget that they aren’t real. You fall in love with the hero and dream of him at night. The strange girl becomes your best friend. Their heartaches become your heartaches. You laugh when they laugh. And cry when they die. Eventually you realise they aren’t a part of your world, you were just briefly visiting theirs.” ~Whimsical Enlightenment
Yes, it's a long quote, but I finished NaNoWriMo. That kind of achievement deserves a long quote.
50,000 words in 30 days. I finished last night at 9:54 PM after writing 5,755 words. The book is horrible. It's rushed, cluttered, hasty, and all my characters sound exactly the same in most of the parts. But you know what? I finished. I can go back and rewrite it if I desire. The journey in a novel is really, truly, yours. A reader will experience, but they didn't write it. They didn't know that there was a scene between Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, but you removed it because your FMC refused to do it right. Or you changed the tense in an entire novel because it didn't flow right here. There's no telling what a novel will bring you.
Finishing one is one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.
Kirah
Yes, it's a long quote, but I finished NaNoWriMo. That kind of achievement deserves a long quote.
50,000 words in 30 days. I finished last night at 9:54 PM after writing 5,755 words. The book is horrible. It's rushed, cluttered, hasty, and all my characters sound exactly the same in most of the parts. But you know what? I finished. I can go back and rewrite it if I desire. The journey in a novel is really, truly, yours. A reader will experience, but they didn't write it. They didn't know that there was a scene between Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, but you removed it because your FMC refused to do it right. Or you changed the tense in an entire novel because it didn't flow right here. There's no telling what a novel will bring you.
Finishing one is one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.
Kirah
Friday, September 21, 2012
In a Manner of Speaking . . .
“When someone says, “One last thing,” it never is. Unless they die right after speaking. Make sure that they do.
Check their pulse to be certain." -Jarod Kinz
First: found my writing binder again on Monday. Proceeded to give the first three chapters away on Thursday, with no backup or hard copy. Silly, silly me.
So, I have this habit of reading books and then looking up the reviews on my Kindle and spending several hours reading them. I'll often either be agreeing with all the bad comments and saying, "They're right! Why did I ever spend eight dollars on this?" or scanning all the bad comments and saying, "Wow. How'd they get that?"
One of the complaints I see is about dialect. Usually it's not about how awful it is, though I know that there are some out there that say its too stiff and feels like you're trying to fit a beam into a blender. But I see things about how "modern" the dialect is, complaining that it doesn't fit with the era it's placed in. And yes, it does happen. It probably happens a lot. First, dialect changes with time, place, and person. But some words just weren't used in the past. Just as how "rad" and "groovy" are considered very odd and out of place now and "mates" and "bloke" is associated with Europe, every word matters.
First: look over your writing. Look for the obvious ones like "guys" and "whatever." But then consider: do you have modern day sayings hidden in there? I found one in the first line of a completely medieval story: "still as a statue." Sayings are a lot harder to find than you would think; they like to slip in and cling to the words of the story. But sometimes its fun to make up your own proverbs and such. I've made up several, and it satisfies me to be able to put something small and original in my work. I spend time thinking about it and writing it down, but I don't do overkill. Sayings are common in our lives, whether you notice it or not. And, as an aspiring author, you have to notice everything.
Have a good weekend!
Kirah
First: found my writing binder again on Monday. Proceeded to give the first three chapters away on Thursday, with no backup or hard copy. Silly, silly me.
So, I have this habit of reading books and then looking up the reviews on my Kindle and spending several hours reading them. I'll often either be agreeing with all the bad comments and saying, "They're right! Why did I ever spend eight dollars on this?" or scanning all the bad comments and saying, "Wow. How'd they get that?"
One of the complaints I see is about dialect. Usually it's not about how awful it is, though I know that there are some out there that say its too stiff and feels like you're trying to fit a beam into a blender. But I see things about how "modern" the dialect is, complaining that it doesn't fit with the era it's placed in. And yes, it does happen. It probably happens a lot. First, dialect changes with time, place, and person. But some words just weren't used in the past. Just as how "rad" and "groovy" are considered very odd and out of place now and "mates" and "bloke" is associated with Europe, every word matters.
First: look over your writing. Look for the obvious ones like "guys" and "whatever." But then consider: do you have modern day sayings hidden in there? I found one in the first line of a completely medieval story: "still as a statue." Sayings are a lot harder to find than you would think; they like to slip in and cling to the words of the story. But sometimes its fun to make up your own proverbs and such. I've made up several, and it satisfies me to be able to put something small and original in my work. I spend time thinking about it and writing it down, but I don't do overkill. Sayings are common in our lives, whether you notice it or not. And, as an aspiring author, you have to notice everything.
Have a good weekend!
Kirah
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Gone, But Not Lost
"Losing would be painful, but not as painful as knowing there's something you could've done." -Joe Trippi
Ah . . . I lost my writing binder. That equals almost a hundred pages of writing, revising, and maps- gone. Hours upon hours of head-ducked, out-of-reality, feverish work- gone. What do you do? Do you break down and cry, hiding in your room in a refusal to face reality, but unable to refuge? Should you refuse to write ever again, saying that fate as intervened and you're clearly not destined to be a writer? Do you freak out and grab your friends, shouting that its gone and do they have any idea what this means?
Or do you continue to write?
A story is not just words; a story is a part of you. I can still recall certain phrases and entire scenes from my first books in fifth grade. They might make me shudder as I remember my clumsy way and form of getting my point across, but I haven't forgotten.
Never stop writing. You can do this. It doesn't matter what's gone in the physical world- there's another much more appealing reality in your head. Write what's true, write what's false, write the reality and the fiction. It doesn't matter what it is- just write. Who cares if you're crazy? At least your "I'm going to go hide in my room for three hours with my imaginary friends" crazy, and not several other negative types of crazy. Just write.
And write.
Never doubt yourself. If you do doubt yourself, please come over here and let me tell you how amazing you are.
Kirah
Ah . . . I lost my writing binder. That equals almost a hundred pages of writing, revising, and maps- gone. Hours upon hours of head-ducked, out-of-reality, feverish work- gone. What do you do? Do you break down and cry, hiding in your room in a refusal to face reality, but unable to refuge? Should you refuse to write ever again, saying that fate as intervened and you're clearly not destined to be a writer? Do you freak out and grab your friends, shouting that its gone and do they have any idea what this means?
Or do you continue to write?
A story is not just words; a story is a part of you. I can still recall certain phrases and entire scenes from my first books in fifth grade. They might make me shudder as I remember my clumsy way and form of getting my point across, but I haven't forgotten.
Never stop writing. You can do this. It doesn't matter what's gone in the physical world- there's another much more appealing reality in your head. Write what's true, write what's false, write the reality and the fiction. It doesn't matter what it is- just write. Who cares if you're crazy? At least your "I'm going to go hide in my room for three hours with my imaginary friends" crazy, and not several other negative types of crazy. Just write.
And write.
Never doubt yourself. If you do doubt yourself, please come over here and let me tell you how amazing you are.
Kirah
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Themes
"When I look back over my novels what I find is that when I think I'm finished with a theme, I'm generally not. And usually themes will recur from novel to novel in odd, new guises." -Richard Russo
Themes are literally what defines our books. They are similar to the main idea, but they're not quite as jump-out-and-smack-you-in-the-face, if you know what I mean. It wriggles its way through the pages, making pointed comments and altering the plot ever so slightly to make it fit its own needs.
The theme of Hunger Games is rebellion- the idea of rising up and breaking the rules. My book, Realms, has the main theme of overcoming the past and approaching the future. (I think.)
One of my newer experiments, which I still don't have a name for, has a similar theme, but at a different angle. Its theme is something like what your home is and how it defines you. My two main characters define this well. One is an amnesic thief that can't remember anything from five years earlier, so he doesn't know where he's from or how he got to his current location. The other is from a very traditional country, where family is almost holy to them. He's asked to take on a task that will probably destroy him and his culture forces him to take it on. It makes for some interesting and different internal conflict.
I was once advised to subtly mention the theme within the first few chapters, preferably within the first. Some of my friends do this; I don't. I usually don't even realize the theme until the first few chapters are done. I just barely realized what the theme was for my newest work. But reflecting on it now, I see that the theme is just a part of the story. And that's what it is to me. Sometimes it takes some self-discovery, some thought, some work, some tears to weave your theme into it. But face it- we'd be doing that anyway. So its okay.
What's the theme in your books? How are you going to express it? How do your characters compliment or reject that theme?
Good luck!
Kirah
Friday, August 31, 2012
Angel's Fall
This poem is dedicated to my great-grandma Hazel Johns, who passed away on August 29th. I love you!
Angel's Fall
One
would've thought
That a century
Would prepare to
To die
But I guess
Its hard to let go
If you don't know
Who will catch
You
Twenty years
waiting for the frayed rope
To snap
And join her husband
Ten years
living with nurses
Instead of family
Ready for the snap
Scared for the fall
Frigtened of that moment
Of darkness
Before Light
Yet once the rope breaks
And you fall
I guess it takes a minute
to get angel's
wings.
-Kirah
Angel's Fall
One
would've thought
That a century
Would prepare to
To die
But I guess
Its hard to let go
If you don't know
Who will catch
You
Twenty years
waiting for the frayed rope
To snap
And join her husband
Ten years
living with nurses
Instead of family
Ready for the snap
Scared for the fall
Frigtened of that moment
Of darkness
Before Light
Yet once the rope breaks
And you fall
I guess it takes a minute
to get angel's
wings.
-Kirah
Monday, August 20, 2012
Special Speaker (Writer?) Rose Winters!
My best friend Rose Winter's agreed to do this post for me. I gave her free reigns, and she decided to say this to the writing audience out there:
Thank you Rose!
Kirah
"Okay. So. Something I've noticed is that many teen authors skip story building. I know Kirah has talked some about world building and character development. Well, seeing how she hasn't really spent time on story building so I'm going to say it. I have seen some writers who will completely skip this story building step. This is a very important step and you cannot skip it.
So. My personal oppinion is that story building should be your first, mmm, three chapters. You have to build a life for your character. You have to show what time period, what country, the gender of your character, (OBVIOUSLY SUPER IMPORTANT) and your world building needs to happen here.
My deffinition of story building is pretty much deffining your character. Tell your readers who they are reading about. Don't just give a name and time in the story, you need to give a name, description, and everything else you NEED the readers to know. Everything necessary to the character's personality needs to be here before foreshadowing and flashbacks appear. You NEED story building in order for your story to work."
Thank you Rose!
Kirah
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Camp Nanowrimo Part 2
"The reason I talk to myself is because I'm the only one whose answers I accept." -George Carlin
Not insane yet.
Kirah
Not insane yet.
Kirah
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Camp Nanowrimo
"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ~Jack London
Welcome to August the first, aka my older sister's birthday, aka first day of Camp Nanowrimo. I'm using my dad's old laptop- thank you!- so that then I don't have to share with my computer-addicted siblings. I did Nanowrimo on the family computer last time, and this is my experience in a nutshell:
Me: typing rapidly
Sibling: Can I have a turn?
They don't understand typing crisises. I don't know how many times I tried to explain that November.
My overall opinion of camp: fun, but calmer than Nanowrimo. (And then watch me become a nervous wreck by the 5th.) Good luck to all other campers!
Kirah
Welcome to August the first, aka my older sister's birthday, aka first day of Camp Nanowrimo. I'm using my dad's old laptop- thank you!- so that then I don't have to share with my computer-addicted siblings. I did Nanowrimo on the family computer last time, and this is my experience in a nutshell:
Me: typing rapidly
Sibling: Can I have a turn?
They don't understand typing crisises. I don't know how many times I tried to explain that November.
My overall opinion of camp: fun, but calmer than Nanowrimo. (And then watch me become a nervous wreck by the 5th.) Good luck to all other campers!
Kirah
Monday, July 30, 2012
How Your Mind is Set
"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." -Mark Twain
Wasn't Mark Twain a genius? I've spent a lot of time with people who "don't exist," and I think they're all fantastic. It's one of the more enjoyable schizophrenic forms of writing society. (See my "On the Roll Again" post to find the definition of schizophrenia)
I bet that none of you know that my grandpa used to teach at BYU. He taught that everybody has a certain predefined mindset from the time they were born. There are nine slots, ranging from highly logical to extremely creative. I got put in the "Creative Writer" slot- wow, fancy that!- which means that I have a little bit more logic than creativity. I can come up with great, creative, slightly ridiculous ideas, but I have enough logic to lay it all down and have it make sense.
With my characters, I have to sort them like this:
Evelyn Grace is extremely logical. She likes things to make sense. The betrayal is what really shakes her, since she has to accept something new.
Ambrr Cyrus Monstalki is orchestrated (balanced in creativy and logic). I actually do know why- they breed the guardians to be like that.
Stark Kavvenharbreis favors creativity, which is what makes him such a hopeless leader and is why he'll always be wondering "if I'd done this" and is why he always thinks that his stupid ideas will work.
I have other characters I could demonstrate- P'eter Eron Lionatus, Shretka Merimear-Detora, Zel Haiwal, Thodo of the Tenth Flame, Nae Voloni Reshancrea, Corsan Haiwal, and so on . . . Those of you that have read my previous versions of Realms may not recognize a few of the names, but it's okay, that's what this draft is for.
Camp Nanowrimo begins in August, so I'll have to try to pump up a few more words from Realms. Wish me luck!
Kirah
Wasn't Mark Twain a genius? I've spent a lot of time with people who "don't exist," and I think they're all fantastic. It's one of the more enjoyable schizophrenic forms of writing society. (See my "On the Roll Again" post to find the definition of schizophrenia)
I bet that none of you know that my grandpa used to teach at BYU. He taught that everybody has a certain predefined mindset from the time they were born. There are nine slots, ranging from highly logical to extremely creative. I got put in the "Creative Writer" slot- wow, fancy that!- which means that I have a little bit more logic than creativity. I can come up with great, creative, slightly ridiculous ideas, but I have enough logic to lay it all down and have it make sense.
With my characters, I have to sort them like this:
Evelyn Grace is extremely logical. She likes things to make sense. The betrayal is what really shakes her, since she has to accept something new.
Ambrr Cyrus Monstalki is orchestrated (balanced in creativy and logic). I actually do know why- they breed the guardians to be like that.
Stark Kavvenharbreis favors creativity, which is what makes him such a hopeless leader and is why he'll always be wondering "if I'd done this" and is why he always thinks that his stupid ideas will work.
I have other characters I could demonstrate- P'eter Eron Lionatus, Shretka Merimear-Detora, Zel Haiwal, Thodo of the Tenth Flame, Nae Voloni Reshancrea, Corsan Haiwal, and so on . . . Those of you that have read my previous versions of Realms may not recognize a few of the names, but it's okay, that's what this draft is for.
Camp Nanowrimo begins in August, so I'll have to try to pump up a few more words from Realms. Wish me luck!
Kirah
Saturday, July 28, 2012
I've Decided
"Peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one." -Rita Mae Brown
Realms is going well- Evelyn Grace is actually turning out much better than Evan Andrews. I'm struggling a bit with the side characters in her story, but I think that they'll round out eventually. I just need to get it written down! I'm really excited to get into Ambrr and P'eter's POV. Stark, Thodo, and Acris (you knew her as Thorne, but I needed to change that for obvious reasons- Thodo and Thorne!) should be very interesting.
I've decided today that I'll write the whole trilogy- I will finish. I will! And I need to get it read by someone; I need to get it out there!
Kirah
Realms is going well- Evelyn Grace is actually turning out much better than Evan Andrews. I'm struggling a bit with the side characters in her story, but I think that they'll round out eventually. I just need to get it written down! I'm really excited to get into Ambrr and P'eter's POV. Stark, Thodo, and Acris (you knew her as Thorne, but I needed to change that for obvious reasons- Thodo and Thorne!) should be very interesting.
I've decided today that I'll write the whole trilogy- I will finish. I will! And I need to get it read by someone; I need to get it out there!
Kirah
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Deus ex Machina
"When you're drowning, you don't say, 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to come and help me,' you just scream." -John Lennon
Deus ex machina is Latin for "god from the machine". It means that an unbeatable problem- person, item, or event- is suddenly fixed by a new character, event, or ability.
Examine your writing- how do they solve their ultimate problem? Is it something they can already do, something that they have to find within themselves and sacrifice for? Or is it deus ex machina? Does another character come from nowhere and rescue them?
I'm sure I used deus ex machina somewhere in my early stories. But I can't even remember how on earth my first story ended. I remember a long climax, fighting dragons and using magic, and then . . . they somehow got home. Does that count if I can't even remember exactly what happened?
Saving your characters can take away from the meaning of the story. Let them struggle, let them fight, and leave them the tools that allows them to fix their own problems in the end. Don't make it easy though. We authors are far too cruel to allow that.
Kirah
Deus ex machina is Latin for "god from the machine". It means that an unbeatable problem- person, item, or event- is suddenly fixed by a new character, event, or ability.
Examine your writing- how do they solve their ultimate problem? Is it something they can already do, something that they have to find within themselves and sacrifice for? Or is it deus ex machina? Does another character come from nowhere and rescue them?
I'm sure I used deus ex machina somewhere in my early stories. But I can't even remember how on earth my first story ended. I remember a long climax, fighting dragons and using magic, and then . . . they somehow got home. Does that count if I can't even remember exactly what happened?
Saving your characters can take away from the meaning of the story. Let them struggle, let them fight, and leave them the tools that allows them to fix their own problems in the end. Don't make it easy though. We authors are far too cruel to allow that.
Kirah
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
On the Roll Again
"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. "~E.L. Doctorow
Schizophrenia: a mental disorder that makes it hard to tell what's real and what's not.
Today is my bragging rights day: I've written over twenty pages in the last week and a half. What I learned: Writing is easy as long as you start. Beginnings are hard. I will probably always hate my first chapter. Oh well, at least I got it done.
Kirah
Schizophrenia: a mental disorder that makes it hard to tell what's real and what's not.
Today is my bragging rights day: I've written over twenty pages in the last week and a half. What I learned: Writing is easy as long as you start. Beginnings are hard. I will probably always hate my first chapter. Oh well, at least I got it done.
Kirah
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Excuses, Excuses...
"I have this little litany of things they [writers] can do. And the first one, of course, is to write- every day, no excuses. It's so easy to make excuses. Even professional writers have days when they'd rather clean the toilet than do the writing." -Octavia Butler
Okay, I've hit rock bottom. I have to write, I need to write, I want to write. But I go upstairs to do so and I decide that I'll read some of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society first or listen to the Writing Excuses podcast or I'll try to beat my high score on Temple Run.
What can I say? I'm a professional procrastinator.
So instead of me talking about how to get back in the mode, why don't you guys comment and tell me how you get motivated? I want to get some ideas. It'll be fun. Please post!
Kirah
Okay, I've hit rock bottom. I have to write, I need to write, I want to write. But I go upstairs to do so and I decide that I'll read some of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society first or listen to the Writing Excuses podcast or I'll try to beat my high score on Temple Run.
What can I say? I'm a professional procrastinator.
So instead of me talking about how to get back in the mode, why don't you guys comment and tell me how you get motivated? I want to get some ideas. It'll be fun. Please post!
Kirah
Monday, June 25, 2012
Filler
"I don't want to waste any time. And if you are not working on important things, you are wasting time." -Dean Kamen
Sometimes
you have things
in your stories
that aren't
important.
Just like the
way I've broken
these lines up,
we add things that
aren't important
or we stretch
things out
to make it look like
we've done more
than we actually have.
Don't waste time. Don't waste words.
Kirah
Sometimes
you have things
in your stories
that aren't
important.
Just like the
way I've broken
these lines up,
we add things that
aren't important
or we stretch
things out
to make it look like
we've done more
than we actually have.
Don't waste time. Don't waste words.
Kirah
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Interaction
"A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction into a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day." -Bill Watterson
There are a lot of ways to tell what a character's like; by his habits, routines, and internal thoughts. All of those are important, but the way they react to people and their world really defines who they are.
Orson Scott Carr said it best, so I'll paraphrase what he said: 'The more characters you have, the more interactions you have. If you just have two characters, you have two relationships: A to B and B to A. If you have three characters, you have to write about six relationships: how A reacts to B, A to C, B to A, and so on. We don't treat everyone in the exact same way.' (To see exactly what he says, look at the introduction to Speaker for the Dead.)
But how do we interact with our world? Well, some people are passionate about politics and always have an opinion on it. Others are indifferent. We have varying levels of obsession for everything, from tracking its every movement to absolute hatred. Keep that in mind. If you need to similar personalities, like two strong girls, give them different hobbies and hatreds. It can help you and your reader to keep them distinct.
Hope it helped,
Kirah
There are a lot of ways to tell what a character's like; by his habits, routines, and internal thoughts. All of those are important, but the way they react to people and their world really defines who they are.
Orson Scott Carr said it best, so I'll paraphrase what he said: 'The more characters you have, the more interactions you have. If you just have two characters, you have two relationships: A to B and B to A. If you have three characters, you have to write about six relationships: how A reacts to B, A to C, B to A, and so on. We don't treat everyone in the exact same way.' (To see exactly what he says, look at the introduction to Speaker for the Dead.)
But how do we interact with our world? Well, some people are passionate about politics and always have an opinion on it. Others are indifferent. We have varying levels of obsession for everything, from tracking its every movement to absolute hatred. Keep that in mind. If you need to similar personalities, like two strong girls, give them different hobbies and hatreds. It can help you and your reader to keep them distinct.
Hope it helped,
Kirah
Friday, June 15, 2012
Goals
"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures." -Charles C. Noble
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted; I've been up at BYU.
Everyone has goals, right? Some of mine are to memorize eight or ten songs and play them in front of people, to get down my serves for tennis, and to do a lot of writing this summer. A lot of best-selling books open with a character's goal, such as Katniss's goal to survive, Harry's goal to escape Dudley's torment, and Percy's goal to graduate from seventh grade without getting expelled. None of these books scream it; we get to watch the characters fulfill the goals. (That's also an excellent example of showing, not telling.) Then we get to watch the characters succeed or fail in achieving that goal. Harry escapes Dudley and goes to Hogwarts, Katniss is doomed to a violent and painful death, and Percy is expelled.
Give your character a goal. One part of my book that I enjoy writing is that every character blocks another character's objective. For example, Ambrr and P'eter want to find Evelyn, but they can't get her because Stark is sheltering her. And Evelyn wants to get home, but if P'eter and Ambrr find her, she'll never get there. And that's just the beginning.
Goals are an easy way to give your character a bit more dimension. Try to keep it consistent with their personality. Good luck!
Kirah
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted; I've been up at BYU.
Everyone has goals, right? Some of mine are to memorize eight or ten songs and play them in front of people, to get down my serves for tennis, and to do a lot of writing this summer. A lot of best-selling books open with a character's goal, such as Katniss's goal to survive, Harry's goal to escape Dudley's torment, and Percy's goal to graduate from seventh grade without getting expelled. None of these books scream it; we get to watch the characters fulfill the goals. (That's also an excellent example of showing, not telling.) Then we get to watch the characters succeed or fail in achieving that goal. Harry escapes Dudley and goes to Hogwarts, Katniss is doomed to a violent and painful death, and Percy is expelled.
Give your character a goal. One part of my book that I enjoy writing is that every character blocks another character's objective. For example, Ambrr and P'eter want to find Evelyn, but they can't get her because Stark is sheltering her. And Evelyn wants to get home, but if P'eter and Ambrr find her, she'll never get there. And that's just the beginning.
Goals are an easy way to give your character a bit more dimension. Try to keep it consistent with their personality. Good luck!
Kirah
Monday, June 4, 2012
Odd Inspiration
"I don't believe in writer's block and neither should you. Writing is a job just like anything else. The guy at Subway isn’t allowed to get sandwich block, you shouldn’t let a word drought keep you down." -Sean Platt
I have to admit, inspiration is odd and unpredictable. But, as I have said, my writer's block finally broke, and I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. And stared out the window. For the record, that is a great way to spend an airplane ride. Plus I finished reading Shadow of the Hegemon.
But my real inspiration for writing was a book called My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. There is no other book in the universe that created such a burning desire in me to create: to show darkness and light, to rise and plummet, to change and learn, to destroy and remake. I have this continuous urge to write. I have to finish Stark's backstory before I start Realms; I don't even have to have it edited. It just has to be done. I know that much.
I have had a lot of odd inspirations. Realms came from two sources: Take Two (an easier version of Scrabble) and a picture. The picture was of a boy with black hair and wings and blue eyes that lived in the clouds. I had actually been imagining things with people like him in it before, where the plot centered around two halfbreed boys who never quite fit in. I did that quite constantly, creating characters from pictures or video games and using them in my imagination.
Then I was playing Take Two with my cousin, and we were determined to build the whole puzzle with only names. I accidently spelled Peter like Pieter. My cousin first pointed it out, and I jokingly said, "Yes, Pi-eter!" (pronounced Puh-eater) "His dad wanted a dog named Pip; and he was the compromise!"
Now, two years later, there is a character with blonde hair, blue wings, and wide blue eyes (I stole the idea of having wider eyes from my friend, who had super big eyes back then). His name is P'eter- simplified from Pi-eter to make the pronunciation consistent with the spelling. He is also a halfbreed: half human, half Realmer. His father is determined to keep P'eter quiet so that his political career can excell as far as it can, even though it's illegal to have a halfbreed son. Oh, and they live in the Third Realmhome. In the clouds.
So, is there such thing as a stupid idea? No. Just write, and enjoy what you're doing. As long as you love what you're writing, what else matters? You can go back and make it perfect later; for now, just enjoy yourself. And don't forget that.
Kirah
P.S. I will be gone Thursday-Saturday. I might not be able to do much posting during June because I'll be gone a lot.
P.P.S. Here are some writing quotes to provide you with some inspiration if you need it. I have only read a few, but I enjoy them. Tell me what you think!
http://ghostwriterdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Inspiring-Quotes.pdf
I have to admit, inspiration is odd and unpredictable. But, as I have said, my writer's block finally broke, and I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. And stared out the window. For the record, that is a great way to spend an airplane ride. Plus I finished reading Shadow of the Hegemon.
But my real inspiration for writing was a book called My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. There is no other book in the universe that created such a burning desire in me to create: to show darkness and light, to rise and plummet, to change and learn, to destroy and remake. I have this continuous urge to write. I have to finish Stark's backstory before I start Realms; I don't even have to have it edited. It just has to be done. I know that much.
I have had a lot of odd inspirations. Realms came from two sources: Take Two (an easier version of Scrabble) and a picture. The picture was of a boy with black hair and wings and blue eyes that lived in the clouds. I had actually been imagining things with people like him in it before, where the plot centered around two halfbreed boys who never quite fit in. I did that quite constantly, creating characters from pictures or video games and using them in my imagination.
Then I was playing Take Two with my cousin, and we were determined to build the whole puzzle with only names. I accidently spelled Peter like Pieter. My cousin first pointed it out, and I jokingly said, "Yes, Pi-eter!" (pronounced Puh-eater) "His dad wanted a dog named Pip; and he was the compromise!"
Now, two years later, there is a character with blonde hair, blue wings, and wide blue eyes (I stole the idea of having wider eyes from my friend, who had super big eyes back then). His name is P'eter- simplified from Pi-eter to make the pronunciation consistent with the spelling. He is also a halfbreed: half human, half Realmer. His father is determined to keep P'eter quiet so that his political career can excell as far as it can, even though it's illegal to have a halfbreed son. Oh, and they live in the Third Realmhome. In the clouds.
So, is there such thing as a stupid idea? No. Just write, and enjoy what you're doing. As long as you love what you're writing, what else matters? You can go back and make it perfect later; for now, just enjoy yourself. And don't forget that.
Kirah
P.S. I will be gone Thursday-Saturday. I might not be able to do much posting during June because I'll be gone a lot.
P.P.S. Here are some writing quotes to provide you with some inspiration if you need it. I have only read a few, but I enjoy them. Tell me what you think!
http://ghostwriterdad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Inspiring-Quotes.pdf
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Worldbuilding
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people that are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." -Albert Einstein
Whenever I first heard of worldbuilding, I imagined building a city layer by layer, bit by bit, until it stands upright over the rest of the world. I love fake worlds that feel authentic. It takes a considerable amount of skill, but it pays off.
I was going to go into a big speech about it, but I found a link about worldbuilding that says it a lot better than I could have:
http://www.sfwriterstoolkit.com/worldbuilding/
Tell me if it helps!
Kirah
Whenever I first heard of worldbuilding, I imagined building a city layer by layer, bit by bit, until it stands upright over the rest of the world. I love fake worlds that feel authentic. It takes a considerable amount of skill, but it pays off.
I was going to go into a big speech about it, but I found a link about worldbuilding that says it a lot better than I could have:
http://www.sfwriterstoolkit.com/worldbuilding/
Tell me if it helps!
Kirah
Friday, May 25, 2012
Change
"Change is inevitable- except from the vending machine." ~Robert C. Gallagher
Well, life just changed for me. It's this little thing called high schoool, ever heard of it? In three months I will be going there, and until then everything I do will be voluntary and homework-free. (Voluntary = running and weeding.) It doesn't seem real- three months! Come back to me in July and see if I've accepted this "new" reality yet. I'm really going to miss my friends.
By the way I will be vacationing from Memorial Day (Monday) to Sunday, so I won't be able to post then. Thanks!
Signing into summer,
Kirah
Well, life just changed for me. It's this little thing called high schoool, ever heard of it? In three months I will be going there, and until then everything I do will be voluntary and homework-free. (Voluntary = running and weeding.) It doesn't seem real- three months! Come back to me in July and see if I've accepted this "new" reality yet. I'm really going to miss my friends.
By the way I will be vacationing from Memorial Day (Monday) to Sunday, so I won't be able to post then. Thanks!
Signing into summer,
Kirah
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