Character Comparisons

Hey Blogger Buds,
It's a writing post today. Or at least an attempt at one. As you guys may know, I give out the occasional tip on writing, but I'm pretty useless at it, which is why I usually try to keep my mouth shut. But, just a few minutes ago, I started a chart, comparing two characters. They grew up together, long-standing rivals that hate each others' guts. One is a "good guy" the other is a "bad guy." And I decided they were a bit too black-and-white, good-and-evil, for my tastes.

This is what happens when you have a Chromebook. You
spend obscene amounts of time on sketchy websites to blot
out things.

Hence the chart.

As you can see by my...lovely...work of art, I tried to cover as many bases as possible without getting insanely specific. (This chart is still a work in progress, bt dubs)

I want these characters to be incredibly similar, except for the small things, like habits, and the important ones, their cores. The only real difference, in my eyes, is that one of them has more of a capacity for "change for the good" than the other. I'll explain.
"A" (that's purple, if you're curious and can't see) maintains the core belief that the one should be sacrificed for the all. This is not in any way a good, redeemable quality, because we want our heroes to be good and care about people, but A, at least, believes in sacrifice, in the greater good.
On the other hand, E (Mr. Blue up there) lacks a [normal] moral compass and believes that it's each man for himself.
Both of these men will be driven to kill. But someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself can't turn into a hero.


What am I driving at? Good question. I'm just saying that I strongly believe in the shades-of-grey characters (not to be confused with the Fifty Shades of Grey characters), and making your bad guy and your good guy mirror each other, not in a cliche way, but in a "look what Mr. Antihero* could have been" way.

I'd really love to hear your opinions on this. Thoughts, anyone?

Peace,
Riv

*No, that's not what the A stands for.

The Core of a Book

Hey Blogger Buds,
Today I'm going to try to talk about writing a bit. Now, now, before you get scared, I'm not going to try to give y'all advice. I don't think I'm nearly experienced enough for that. I also don't know why I said "y'all." I'm not a Texan in [poor] disguise. (Or am I?)
But I've stripped down books to the bare basics. This is something really obvious, and maybe some of you understand this already, and you're about to go "Duh" and click that little red X.

A book is a series of character interactions, and the shifting of relationships that results from those interactions.

Meaning?
A book is comprised of chapters, which is comprised of scenes, which is comprised of two or more characters* interacting. Animals are also characters, as is setting/nature. These interactions change characters' views and feelings, and further actions. Those are what further the plot, and carry the story through.

I haven't done this yet, but I do plan on making line graphs on character relationships. The lines will track character closeness as the story progresses, and I'm going to have it colored as well, for emotions they feel toward each other. And yes, there's a difference.

Now that I've simplified it, told you what I think of the bare basics of books, what's your opinion? Do you agree? Disagree? Agree to disagree? Was I at all helpful for once, or my normal, useless self, rambling on to bother you?

Peace,
Riv

*Of course, there are scenes where a character is just thinking. And besides for the fact that those are few and far between**, we're going to pretend that the character's conscience or Evil Drive or whatever is also a character.
**ish

On Sekrit Project

So Blogger Buds,
I haz a Sekrit Project. Yup, it's so cool, it's not secret. It's Sekrit (with a capital S, too!).
I've heard people talk about their secret/sekrit projects, but I could never imagine writing something and not wanting to show it to the world.
And then it hit me. (And this time, I'm not referring to the Frisbee getting bigger and bigger.)
I got the idea that's total cliche, as well as contemporary (and remember, I wasn't known as the Fantasy Fanatic for nothing). It's a funny, romantic, full-out chic-lit which, in a way I can relate to.
I'll share it with you, because I don't care if everyone knows the idea, because you've heard it already, and the Sekrit part is how it's written, not the basic idea.

Take the biggest city you've ever been to, the craziest one. You've got it? Imagine how hectic it is and multiply it by ten. You're getting closer to NYC. And if that city you're thinking of is NYC, multiply by ten anyways. It's grown since last time you looked.
Our male MC comes from New York.
Now take the smallest town you've ever seen, and divide it by ten. Then you'll have the setting. And if the town you're thinking of is this setting, head to a doctor, because this place doesn't exist.
Our female MC lives here.

It's the story of big-city boy coming to small-town--um--town. And he pretty much gives FMC PTSD from meeting a New Yorker, rated the second-rudest city in the US, just behind LA.

And I've said enough ;-)

Good luck with your novels, too! Whether they be agented, unagented, going through ARCs, being edited, being drafted, being planned, or something else!
Or, if it's for you only, be it secret or Sekrit, good luck! And if you're trying to find a Sekrit Novel idea, good luck to you too! I hope the weird little clues stuck in here did some good!

Peace,
Riv

Current Mood: Not feeling well
Current Music: Taylor Swift by Tim McGraw (wait, that's not right...)

Sadism

Hey Blogger Buds,
Sorry for the MIAness. Life happens.
I've discovered what the most sadistic creatures in the entire universe are.
Writers.
And I have proof.

Proof 1: We have conversations that go something like this:
Awesome Author 1: Great news! I wrote an awesome scene in my MS today!
Awesome Author 2: Good job! What's it about?
Author 1: I killed off 5 characters!
Author 2: 5? Wow.
1: Yeah! And it was soooo cool. There was TONS of drama, and the surviving characters were soooo sad, and there was blood everywhere. And it was a great fight. Lots of description and mauling and death! And it was original!
2: Very impressive. You're an author to be admired. *high five*

...
Yeah...

Proof 2: Any advice you get on writing will include something along the lines of:
Awesome Author 1: Do whatever you can to stop your MC reaching their goal. Make them suffer. Make life as difficult as you can.
Awesome Author 2: *runs off and drops grand piano on MC's family, best friend, and boyfriend.

Proof 3:
Awesome Author 1: I'm bored. What should I do? ... I know! Let's go stick my character in a dungeon!

Proof 4: Not sure about you guys, but the front page in one of my notebooks is a list. A LIVE/DIE list. The die list is longer than the live list. There's also a MAYBE list, for those with who I don't know what do.

Proof 5: In aforementioned list, my two MCs lose their loved ones.

Proof 6: I have another page in the notebook about boy-girl relationships in the same WIP. I also put down in that list if the relationship dies...along with a character.

Proof 7: I was scribbling down a scene where an MC of mine was in agony over losing their loved one. I was crying even as I made my character's perfect composure crumble.

Proof 8: Read a book. Look at the events that take place. That's proof enough.

Proof 9: You really need more?

Proof 10: I was able to come up with 10 proofs of our sadism!

Peace and pianos,
Riv

Writing and D&D (With Puppies!)

(I wrote this post a while ago. I'm only just posting it.)
Hey Blogger Buds,
I'm not an RPG fanatic, and even though I can recognize a Dungeons and Dragons cube, I'm not a dork, even if Julie Kagawa disagrees (scroll to the last picture).

Today, I combined my latest guilty pleasure and writing. I googled, "finding your character's kryptonite" and I was lead to a page about RPGing. (For those of you not in the know, that stands for Role Playing Game, and even though Role Playing Gaming doesn't make sense, to RPGers, it does, so too bad.) My interest was piqued (great word, ain't that?) and I decided to give it a look.

The page is right here. It's a bit long, but I recommend reading it anyways. I usually avoid long web pages, but I read it all.
It actually had some great writing advice. (And some not so great writing advice, but we're going to ignore that.) The topic was How To Play Heroically.

1)Find your character's kryptonite. Look into their past. Superman would be, as the original poster put it "a superbore" without one thing that can bring him down. (I can't believe I'm about to say this.) Take a lesson from math, graphing. Find your point of origin. Ex: Puppies
2)Find what your character reacts to automatically. A)One thing they'll fight to the death for no matter what Ex: Puppies B)And one thing they're terrified of. Ex: Puppies
3)You're in charge of your destiny. Make your book character-driven, have your character do something. Don't always have them consulting everyone else. I know there's no "i" in "team", but there's an "i" in "win". Thinking is smart (wow. that's the best I can come up with? "thinking is smart"?) but being sporadic (huh. "sporadic" is with a d...) can be fun! Ex: Head to the pound for a Pomeranian
4)Drama!. Yeah, not in excess, and not always. If you're writing one of those self-mocking dramatic stories, go for it! If not...try to fit the context. Ex: Start talking to a puppy
5)Get creative. Enough said. The original article goes in a different direction than I want to, here. Ex: Beagles
6)Don't be selfish. Your main character isn't the only one with goals. Ex: Kitties


Okay, in all seriousness (Ha! Me? Serious?) (I like parenthesis today.), listen to me, and check out that link.

"Real" examples:
1)Indiana Jones and artifacts (weakens his heart more than his body, but whatever.)
2) A)Indiana Jones and his Girl of the Day B)Indie and snakes
3)Indie and...well, Indie.
4)Do I really need to give an example?
5)I remember the best part of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Go to 1:10 here.
6)...I don't know...

So. What do YOU think of Pomeranians? (And Indie?)(And parenthesis?)

Peace and puppies,
Riv

On The Terror Of Outlining

Hey Blogger Buds,

Yay! This is my 200th post! Now on to it...

 As you may know, I'm a pantser. When I try to outline, I ADD so much I...hey, is that a butterfly?

*five minute later*

At one point over the weekend, I was in a situation where I had no internet access and a computer. What did I do?

I opened Wordpad. (Yes, Wordpad. I hate Wordpad. But the computer I had in my possession was lacking the awesomeness of Word.)

Busybusybusy

And I made a heading. And a bullet point (well, originally I numbered it, but that didn't work out).
I've been nearing the end of my WIP, Eberheardt, for a while. The end has been so close I can almost taste it. If I stretch, my fingers can brush against it.
Anyway, I opened Wordpad. I recalled what I'm up to in my writing. And I began to outline.

And it was scary. Very scary. I have the rest of my book mapped out. I know what's going to happen.
And the idea that my baby is reaching the end of her story is just terrifying. Sure, revisions are next, and rewrites, and then the word that starts with "q", ends with "ery", and has a "u" in between. (I've stopped saying it, because it's become a more real thing.) My book baby won't be finished for a long time.

But I feel like, with this outline, the end is a more real thing.

The thing is, when you write high fantasy, this actually happens sometimes.

It's really, really, scary.

I'm terrified.

Do I plan to quit?

Never.

Do I plan to take a break?

Of course not.

Do I plan to take a deep breath, eat a Twizzler, and write?

Absolutely.

I'm a writer, like this kitteh.

Cuz writer cat iz writer, writer cat can write storiez without opposable thumbs.

And when I finish Eberheardt?

I'll write some of the other ideas that have been running through my head, and dripping down on to the paper every now and then.


I'm a writer. And when the end brings the kitteh-pocalypse gets tough, the tough find an awesome ending.



Any words of encouragement on endings? How do you deal with finishing a project that you've worked on for a long time?


And, most importantly, when Basement Cat challenges Ceiling Cat and the Final Battle Comes, who will you be rooting for? Ceiling Cat, or the side that has cookies?

We have cookies, too!

Peace and lolcats,

Riv

PS: Sorry for the crazy lateness!

Guest Post: You Can be All That AND More!

Hey Blogger Buds,
Last year, I sent out a call for guest posts. Lindsey, one of my awesome interweb friends, responded. I didn't have time to schedule posts last year, so here we are! I commented in red. For fun, my comments are in a Southern accent.

Hi everyone. Riv was asking for guest bloggers, and she agreed to let me be one of them for you. ("Agreed"? The pleasure is mine, hon.)
I am talking about becoming a better writer in this post. What I say is not the words you should live by. What I say is simply advice and so forth from me, a writer who is seeking to get her work published, as I am sure some of you are trying to do.

How can I be better? You might already feel that you are a good writer, or maybe others tell you, "Your story is amazing! This should be published." You can already be a talented writer and still more. When you are an unpublished author this especially applies to you. (*pricks up ears*)
The fact of the matter is that you can always improve. Think about those times you have looked back ay your older projects. Whether you meant to or not, you were probably editing them as you read and your jaw was hanging open. (*nods at sage advice*) Okay, maybe your jaw hanging open is a little over dramatic, but we all know that our older projects are nothing like our new ones. That is because we improve our projects as we continue to write more and learn more about what is good and what is ugly in a manuscript.
I think one of the best ways to improve yourself as a writer is to try to find time to write most every day. Even if you just write in a journal, it's still something. I once heard from an anonymous published author that she would write something before going back to her main project she was working on. I have found that this technique is rather helpful. I've mostly been doing short stories while working on novels, but sometimes it is hard to work on both with the same amount of time and effort.

Another way to improve yourself is to constantly look back over your work and, yes, edit it through. We all know we've edited our main project many times over and over again, but until that manuscript is published; the least you can do is keep re-editing it. You can even post your work somewhere (suggestion: inkpop.com) or have a friend read it and ask others to edit your work. Editing is sometimes annoying because you do it so many times, but it is getting your project(s) somewhere.
It's not bad to have this high self esteem about the work you do, but do not let that esteem take over your whole mind and your projects to the point where you're going, "Eh, I really don't have to anything else because my last chapter was so good." Ever part in your story is important, and in the end it is all of those parts put together that makes the novel all that it is and makes you, the writer, all that you can be.
You can be a good writer. You can be a greater writer. Writers, you can still be more. Do not be afraid to be more than all that you already are. (I think I can! I think I can!)
I hope that this post helped some of you out, and if not then I guess this was just a long post of me rambling on. (Never, Lindsey. We adore your rambles.) If you dare to hear more of my rambling about writing, you can follow me on my blog: http://lrenees-fictionalwriter.blogspot.com/ (Y'all have my personal recommendation to follow Lindsey. She's a doll.)


When you write... you can write magic.

Happy writing,
LReneeS

*claps* Thanks for the amazing post, Lindsey!

Emotions in Writing: Creating and Channeling Them

Hey Blogger Buds,
I'm so sorry I missed Tuesday! I was feeling really ill, and I was sleeping most of the afternoon.
Today I'm talking about emotions you're feeling, and how you express them in your writing. This post idea is kind of spur of the moment (seriously. I stared at this page, typing that first sentence, and in my mind I was planning what I was about to say, when bingo!) so bear with me.

We all know that emotions play an important part in books. And we all know that the reader won't feel the emotion unless the writer is too. Like the great Robert Frost said, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."

But it's more than crying and shrieking (by the way, I may be a pantser, but I don't see how the outliners can surprise themselves). It's about feeling everything, and letting that affect the writing, down to the phrasing.

Let me give a personal example. Back in November, I participated in Nano. I went to one of the live write-in event things, and it was amazingly awkward. I sat there, a little teenager with a little notebook, while all the adults tapped away at their own notebooks. Except their notebooks were computers. And mine was, well, just a notebook. I was tense and awkward, but I started writing. Upon rereading, I noticed that my characters were like that too. Their dialogue was strange and choppy, the prose, simply put, strange and awkward. Awkward. Like I was.

So you obviously have to have the right mood, and be interested in writing for your words to come across semi-decent on the page. If not? Your writing will be unattached and bland. Channeling is a lot more natural, once you're feeling it.

So. What do you do if you're in a certain mood, or not in the mood at all?
If you're not in the mood to write at all, pull up some other project you have, and just write. Or start something new. Maybe it will never see the light of day. But if you start writing, there's a good chance you'll GET into the mood.
If you're in a certain mood, either try the above method, or just write a random scene for your novel that maybe-will-end-up-in-it-but-will-probably-not-but-you-want-to-write-it-anyway-just-in-case-and-besides-why-not.

Okay. You want to write. You really want to get to the next scene. It's going to be so exciting when the zombie giraffes stampede, and the undead gummy monkeys jump down from them and start whacking everyone upside the head with rotten bananas! The scene is going to be really thrilling and fast-paced, heart-stopping. But, in reality, the thing you're in the mood to write about is the forbidden love between the robot werewolf and the vampire Pomerania puppies!
(Impromptu prompt: Write a short story, under a thousand words using the aforementioned plot devices.)


How do you get into the right mood for a scene?
One way is to think happy (or heart-stopping) thoughts. That time you cuddled a live grizzly? Happy. That time you bungee-jumped? Heart-stopping. Maybe it'll get you in the mood.

I take the easy way out, though. Music. Besides for making a playlist for each of my novels, I have one for moods, as well. For my novel, Eberheardt, I made some extra playlists. One of them was called "Death Scene".
For another project of mine, a contemp (don't worry, it's fun, nothing serious) set in a small town, I have a handful of country songs.
And, for a third one called "Fight Instinct", which has a lot of hand to hand combat, I added a bunch of quick songs, and I boost the bass, if possible.

What do you do to get in the right mood for a scene?

Peace,

Riv

PS: I'm still looking for guest posters! If you're up for it, just let me know somehow!

What Are Your Characters Missing? Post-Its

Hey Blogger Buds,
So I'm sitting here writing, and I have a character (several actually) with a messy desk. He seems to be looking through all of the papers for some specific information. Now, it's not just him. I have another character like this. And I realized there's one modern invention I feel bad that they're missing out on. I mean, all of my characters really need it, but it's too modern. Poor folks, didn't have the things we all know and love until the mid-1900's. What is it that my characters probably need more that I do? What is this thing that could record important information for them? This thing that I use for writing homework assignments, passing notes during class, and scribbling random good lines to use in writing?

Post-Its.

Have you ever fully appreciated those little squares of genius? They're so awesome and useful and...

Wait. The point of this post is not to freak out over slips of paper, so I'll get it all out now.

POST-ITS!!!!

POST-IT

Look at this awesome:

Okay, I'm good now. *breathes*

The real point of this post(-it) is to talk about writing. So here's a [writing] challenge. Let's see how well you know the world your characters live in. Think: 

What modern invention do your characters in your other-worldly fantasy need?

What would really help them?

PS: What my characters could really use are some machine guns. Why organize your war plans on sticky little paper when you can wipe out the enemy in one move?

PPS: They could also really use some Coke, and not the soda. Maybe it would get them off their high horses--yes, they really are on high horses.

PPPS: "So main antagonist, is your nose getting cold up there in the thinning atmosphere?"

Fear

Hey Blogger Buds,
I'm getting a bit personal today, talking to you about more than just the surface, the cover. (That was a [bad] pun. This is a book blog. Covers don't even affect my ratings!)

Anyways, I'm going to tell you a bit about me. What I fear. It's only a bit, nothing major or profound (I don't do profound.)

On My Blog:
That I'll start a blog hop, or a challenge, and my readers will roll their eyes and press the little red X in the corner.
That my readers will all lose interest.
That I'll lose interest or run out of time to post.

In My Reading:
That I'll fall out of love with books.
That I won't find any incredible books anymore, when, in a few years, all the series I love are over with.
That I'll stop having time to read. I used to read nightly, now I only read on weekends, pretty much. And I can't go back to a favorite and reread because I have this massive stack I still have to get to!

In My Writing:
That I'll stop loving it.
That I'll stop being able to do it, and everything I put down on paper will be trash.
That I'll stop having time to do it, and enjoy it.
That, when I'm finally finished everything and can start querying, an agent will send me an email saying, "Read the book ___ by ____. Your novel is an exact copy of it.

Peace and Bravery,
Riv

PS: Sorry about Tuesday, I was busy. Next Tuesday I hope to review either Jane Eyre, or Zan-Gah. Beware...

Quick Plug

Yeah, I know I already posted today, but I'm plugging (and trying not to get electrocuted).
As you probably know, Inkpop/Harper had a writing contest, about Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. I, of course, wrote my entry from Puck's point of view. There's still two days left to go vote on entries, so please check it out!

The contest is here, and my entry is right HERE.

Peace and fey,
Riv

Boys in YA

(First links go to Amazon, second to Goodreads)
Hey Blogger Buds,
So. Boys in YA. To be blunt:
I hates them.
I find myself always rooting for the underdog, the one she's not going to pick, obviously. So, in the Hunger Games, I knew in my gut who she'd pick, because it's just the way YA books go, but I found myself rooting for the other one. In Firelight, I was hoping she'd turn around and return to Cassian. Cam had my vote in Fallen. And I was hoping that Bethany would turn around and walk away from Xavier in Halo.

Why?
Because they're all handsome, popular, funny, smart, caring, considerate, strong, and perfect. Plus, they all have a tendency to smell wonderfully without wearing cologne, even after they were sweating through a football game in which they were the quarterback that helped their team win. And they always have dark, haunted pasts. (Do all guys need baggage?)

Take my former examples:

• In the Hunger Games, the one she picked was sweet and caring and sensitive. I won't continue, for those of you who have yet to read Mockingjay, in which case, what's wrong with you?
• Sophie Jordan's Firelight had Cassian and Xander. Xander was perfect, and Jacinda had a "magnetic pull" towards him. But of course she doesn't care that he might kill her. It would be incredible stupid if she went for the safe, caring boy who doesn't want to kill who she is, and who likes her for being what she is.
• And then Lauren Kate's quartet. I have other problems with Fallen, but mostly the way Daniel acted right off the bat. He's so mean, and Cam is so nice. And then in Torment I was right beside Shelby rooting for Miles.
• Last up: Halo. Beth knows to stay away from him, but does she? Nope.

I can go on and on, but I'd rather make a pledge:

1. I will not give my male characters an irresistible smell. If they smell, they will smell of sweat and blood, and it will not be attractive.
2. When my female character sees my male character's scars, she will not find them 'hot'. At best, she will see him as strong and fearless. At worst, she will find him repulsive. But ideally, she will not care in the least.
3. My character will not fall head over heels for a boy as soon as he pushes his floppy hair out of his face and/or takes his shirt off to reveal his always muscled chest.
4. The leading male will not make my female character sizzle when he stares into her soul with his intense, beautiful eyes.
5. My male character will not have disturbing pasts, and if they do, they will be emotionally scarred for life, and won't just be sharing their story to get some pity.

Anyone else care to take the pledge?

Peace and Boys,

Riv

Dear Ash Iron Fey Contest

Hey Blogger Buds,
It's no secret that I'm obsessed with Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey trilogy. I reviewed her second book, Iron Daughter here, and her third book, Iron Queen, here. She's writing another novella, too, about everyone's favorite trickster, with info here. She's fantastic, as an author and a person. But, surprisingly, I'm not here today to praise her to the high heavens. I'm here to enter another of her contests.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a story about Ash, the chilly winter prince, for Julie's The Queen is Coming contest, here. (Which Julie liked, by the way.)
Anywho, I'm here today, for Julie's latest contest, Dear Ash. The info is right here, but the gist of it is that you write to your favorite IF character. (Puck has, so far, received more entries than anyone else.)
I'm adamantly and ardently (Welcome to the Department of Repetitious Redundancy Department that welcomes you.) Team Puck, so my letter is to the One and Only!

THIS POST IS SLIGHTLY SPOILERY TO THE IRON QUEEN. Read the entire trilogy before reading my letter.



Dear Carrot-Top Puck,
This is probably going to be slightly awkward, as you're the first character I've ever written to. (You're feeling flattered and full of yourself, aren't you?) Puck, if I were asked about my "book boyfriend" yours would be the first name out of my mouth. You're the Kindly One that gets me through all of those annoyingly chilly scenes with certain princes you fondly refer to as "His Royal Iciness".
Of course, I don't only think of you when I'm reading. When I'm not (which is rarely), you're constantly on my mind. An instance which I can distinctly recall is walking home one day. I small a small black bird, your signature avian form, and falling to the ground beside it, a single green leaf. Maybe the leaf reminded me of all the sticks and leaves you glamour into boars and doppelgängers?
Ah, your glamour. Mr. Goodfellow, you're brilliant, not to mention hysterical. I love humor (I've been told that I'm funny, as well [though "funny" may or may not have been followed by "looking". *shifty eyes*]).
What was the best prank you've ever pulled? Your best joke? And what was your most artful "not-lie" that you've ever told? One last question for now, (I promise!) why do you change into a raven if your name is Robin? Is it to avoid all things cheesy?

Wait. Wrong Puck.

Puck, you inspire me. I love to write (I don't think I'm too shabby at it either) and you've taught me plenty. I write high fantasy, and my main character's preferred weapons are--I'm sure you guessed it!--two daggers. I spent plenty of time trying to decide what she should fight with (she's not a sword person) and then I figured it out, inspired by m favorite red-headed Good Neighbor (by the way, I wouldn't mind if you decided you wanted to be a closer neighbor!). So thank you, Puck, for your great fighting.
Now, onto some more...personal *eyebrow waggle*...things. Although you are, thankfully, not as cold as His Royal Iciness, you are still so mysterious. Meghan said that she doesn't remember when she first met you, only that you've always been there. How long have you known her, really? But Meghan's not the only one you've known for a long time, is she? What about His Royal Iciness? I know you two haven't always been trying to kill each other. How long have you known him? (Yes, I know there's no time in the Nevernever, but what about taking into consideration what happened in the human world?) Do you have any fond memories of your time with the ice prince? And fond memories can't include stabbing him, or watching him in pain.
But, to stop dredging up old memories, I'll look for older ones. In the Iron Queen, you told Meghan and His Royal Iciness that there were giants in the Nevernever long before Ash was born. So...how old are you, really? Are you from before humans roamed this earth? And if you know when Ash was born...who's his father? Wait. Forget that. Who cares? I only want to know more about Puck.
But I'll stop prying now. Though before I sign off, I have to ask one final question...
What's it like being a red-head?

Love ya carrot-top,
Riv Re

PS: If you're ever looking to set up a New York trod (emotions run high here in the city that never sleeps; there's glamour everywhere!) send me a message. My email's rivkarno1(at)hotmail(dot)com. Wait. You probably don't have computer access, being a Summer Fey and all. (So this letter is counter-productive, isn't it?) But you can come hop through my bedroom closet any time you want! (Just be careful of the skateboard, I think there's some iron on it.)


Peace and Glamour,
Riv Re

Current Music: Various Simple Plan Songs

ETA 4/22: I changed my entry a bit, somewhere around the middle.

Blog Schedule (Take #2) and I Need YOU (Please Read)

Hey Blogger Buds,
I've decided on a new blog schedule, which might make sense. And I'll try to stick to it! Life=hectic, but I love my blogger buds, so I've decided on what to do! I'll be posting 3 times a week (that's the plan, at least!).

Sunday-My Random Ramblings. This can be writing, funny stories I heard, interviews, guest posts, or...something. I have no idea.
Tuesday-Book Review/MM/TBRs/Something else book related.
Thursday-I have a new meme that I really want to try, so I hope it'll work.

This Tuesday I have a review going up. And it's DEFINITELY going up. I even scheduled it :)

Another thing. I'm planning to write a post on writing fight/battle scenes. They're a specialty of mine. Swords, fists, magic, all of it. So to do this post, I want your input! Please fill out the form below! EVERYTHING is optional, so you can fill out as much or as little as you like. I'll give credit to you if you want when I write the post.

Can't see it? It's HERE.



Thanks for filling it out, and t'is all for now, folks!
Riv

NaNo Results

Well, I failed.
But I was doomed from the beginning.
My life had perfect timing. The beginning of November was when school decided to tackle me, and my computer decided to die on me.
But I accomplished some things.

1)I wrote ten thousand words. Those of you who write a lot are shaking your head sorrowfully, maybe even crying. But this is good for me. I don't have much time to write,
2)I've been taught a valuable lesson. If you want to write a book, write. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you read all about those on other blogs, but it takes a certain experience to listen.
3)I've fallen in love. Not in that way, but NaNo was just the break I needed to make me yearn for Eberheardt.
4) And next year? Maybe I'll try NaNoWraMo, if it comes up again.

Hope you guys did better than me! Share in the comments!

Peace, Love, and Books,
Riv

Making a Cotton-ball Bird Or: Writing a Book

Hey Blogger Buds,
This is going to be, like, my first actual WRITING advice. *pats self on back* What prompted this is a little ball of fluff sitting in front of me that looks like a bird. He's from the Animal Rescue Center. One of his wings is clipped, so he can't fly away.
But I digress get ahead of myself..
As you may know (I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not), I'm working in a day camp. A friend of mine works in the Arts and Crafts room. Two weeks, or so, ago, I took a break snuck out went to visit her on "business" and saw a cute little birdie made from those plastic feather things and colorful cotton balls. So I asked her to make me one, but there were no open feather bags. Yesterday my kids did a project with-you guessed it-cotton balls and feathers. So I got a bunch of different colored cotton balls and two orange feathers and now I have a Bird of Paradise, or so he is dubbed being ultra-colorful.
My birdie is like writing a book, though my friend glued him in about 5 seconds.
This is the barest writing process. It doesn't really even qualify as advice, in my opinion.

Note: This post is dedicated to M.B. for making me a birdie!

Step One: Plan it out. Or not. I painstakingly chose cotton balls for my birdie's head, body, tail, and feet. I didn't just grab pieces out of the bag.

You can either plan out your book carefully before making it, or you can make it up as you go along.

Step Two: Start off. Choose your fluffy yellow head for your birdie. This is a medium-sized ball.
Get it all started. Right your intro. Simple. Ease into the plot, get to know your character. Don't make it too massive. That's the plot's job, and you don't want a lopsided birdie with a head as big as its body.

Step Three: Make the body pretty. Or exciting. Or green, as my birdie's is. You have to have the Big Green Fluff to glue your Medium Yellow Head to.
Now the plot comes in. It's big. Not a stupid part of it all, like the feet or extra tail bit (more on that in a moment.)

Step Four: The Tail. Bring in a deep, dark blue bit for the tail. Use a small one. Glue it to the end of the body.
Ending. Small and neat. Tie all the bits together.

Step Five: Add wings. Get out your bright orange wings and glue them to the sides of the birdie so he can fly.
The sub-plots and the characters. Fill them out. Let them fly. Don't ground them.

Step Six: The Beak. Trim a piece of plastic from the end of one of your orange feathers. (Not the side with the feathers, the stem.) Glue it on to the front of your Yellow Face for a beak.
Use those sub-plots and characters. Take from them and bring to the beginning of the story, using foreshadowing. (That's the key word here; foreshadow.)

Step Seven (Optional): Feet. Take two tiny pink cotton balls and add them beneath your green body as feet.
The minuscule details that support the plot, make it more real for the reader.

Step Eight (Optional): Add a tip to the end. Take a third tiny ball and stick it onto the tip of the deep, dark blue one. Don't make my mistake and use brown. It makes it look wrong and no longer Rated E for Everyone.
Wrap it more tightly and neater. Just don't make a stupid mistake in the wrap-up that makes it not even worth it. Sometimes the deep, dark blue piece is better than adding brown at the end, which can ruin an awesome-sauce (I thought I was over that?) book.

Differences between books and cotton ball birdies:
Birdies
Books
Takes two minutes
Takes months/years.
Plays nice.
Doesn't.
Doesn't want to fly off, and does as told.
Fight back and tries to fly off, but you can't clip any wings because that's inhumane.

Enjoy!

Peace,
RR

Current Music: The Time of My Life by David Cook
Current Mood: ......Complacent.

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Get to Know Your Characters: High School

Hey blogger buds,
Tomorrow I plan to do a non-IMM (In My Mailbox) of a lovely package I won in a contest. (Including bookmarks! Yay!) On Sunday, I should havy my inkpop.com entry finished (I really want to enter!) in which case you'll have a spam post about that.
But today, I'm here to give you an idea for getting to know your characters! I've seen many different suggestions involving asking your characters questions, but today I'm here with my own idea!
This only applies to writers working in ether-realms and such. If the character you want to get to know is IN high school, this isn't for you. But I am totally doing this for my characters.
Basic idea:
Your un-schooled character in a high school in 2010*. (Recent times. Not, like, the 1400s.)
What to do:
1)Choose a character. Remember, if the character is in HS in your book, this will be boring.
2)Choose what the character keeps. Meaning: Does he keep his clothes and/or weapons? Or only his appearance (hair, eye, skin, height, weight, etc) and personality.
3)Public or Private? Will your character be in a public school or a private one?
4)The Deets. Work out the details. What grade? What courses?
5)Write it. When you finish picking all of this, open a new Word document and write how your characters day will be. It doesn't have to be a whole novel. It can be just a rough-draft. You don't even need descriptions of much; just get your character and their opinions in there! It could be 200 words, it could be 20,000. Just write it.
6)Comment and blog it! I'd love to know if you choose to do this challenge thing! Post it onto your blog, so everyone can get to know your character, and leave a comment here letting me know that you're trying it out!
Note: It doesn't have to be high school. If your character is junior high age, or college, don't stick to high school! Do whatever fits!
How you gain: Your character was stuck in their own world (literally). This is your chance to see what they're like outside of their comfort zone

As for me, I haven't had a chance to write it yet, but I'm brainstorming. I've got plans, a character, and I'm quite sure that this will help you get to know your character!

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Since U Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson
Current Mood: A bit hungry (I should fix that...)

*Soz bloggy buds, I know it's summer!

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Elana Johnson's Five Step Writing Guide

This is the best post. Ever.

Dude, I've got it down to a science. And I'm going to share it with you. You wanna be a writer? Publish books? 

Here's what you do.

1. Sit down at the computer. 
2. Open Word.
3. Type some words. 
4. Keep typing until you get to the end.
5. Repeat for book #2.

That's it. It's not that hard, really. *dodges Coke cans* (Of course, there's more to it than that, but really, that's it, right? If you boil everything else away...you sit down, open Word and type. If you're struggling, try this formula.)

Well, how would you do it? What am I missing?

Best post ever? Definitely. Direct linky, because EJ is awesome?
Right here.

Peace,
RR

Current Music: Dance Hall Drug by BLG
Current Mood: Tired, cuz I need to be up in a few hours

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Darn You, Writer's Block

Dear Brain,

Why must you torture me so? I feed you food, books, air, books, minerals, books, Twizzlers, books, music and...did I mention books?

What did I ever do to you to deserve this? You give me 52,975 solid words, plus several thousand hypothetical words*, and then you just QUIT!!

Why? Why? Why?

(This post is dedicated to Mary Cambell of Writer's Butt Does Not Apply To Me, in honor of her latest post.)

Now, where was I....

I finished up a chapter. They gallop off into the sunset. (Well, not quite into the sunset, as much as into the trees.) That's chapter sixteen. I write "Chapter Seventeen" in a fancy font. (Chapter Seventeen) Well, I write in bigger than that, but that's besides the point.

I write "Chapter Seventeen" and then I put in some open quotes, because I was planning to open with speaking.

And.

Then.

I.

Stare.

Sad? Very. I ate a WHOLE TWIZZLER while staring. And I try not to waste Twizzlers.

So brain, tell me, why do you inflict this torture on me?

LoveHate,

Me

Current Music: She's Got a Boyfriend Now by BLG (I recently put Love Drunk on my computer, so it's the first time I'm hearing the song.)

Current Mood: Mildly PO'ed

Hundreds of Dimly Lit Corridors...

Hello my bloggy friends,
I never knew that there were so many dimly lit corridors in the world. Did you? It seems that every time I read a fantasy/historical novel, or sometimes other types, there's at least one dimly lit corridor. I noticed this the other day when I was reading Mistwood by Leah Cypess. I saw the words "dimly lit" and then the word "corridor" was on the next line. I knew it would say "corridor" before I'd even read it.
There are some phrases that are overused. I mean, why are all corridors dimly lit? And why say corridor? Why not stick with "the dark hallway"? Dramatic effect?
I think we use too many cliche phrases without even realizing it. Because we all think that no one will use "dimly lit corridor" and it's the only thing that fits my dark hallway. I think we need to stop using other people's phrases and start using something basic.
I'm going to start a non-campaign. When you write, think; is this something another writer came up with? Or myself?
Remember: You're a good writer. You don't need to use any cliche's; you have your own phrases to use.

Rant over. *steps off soap box*

So who's with me? Am I write about our "dimly lit corridor" cliches? Or do you beg to differ?

Peace,

RR

Current Music: Still Love Drunk

Current Mood: Still with a cold

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