I'm back!

Well, I survived a whole month of being sick. What was a cold turned into pneumonia and I battled with that for days on and off.

I have signed up for Nanowrimo which is a world wide writing challenge. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. I don't know if I will even get near that goal, but I did write 44 tho last September so I know I can come close.

I debated for a long time on what I should work on in November, my space western or me sequel to my current WIP sci/fi. It has been a long and hard decision, because in someways I am ready for something new. But in some ways I have the sequel in my head so strong, that it's impossible to escape thinking about it. Almost like I was obsessed. :)

In the end I deciced that I would work on the sequel since the plot is completely hammered out and is complete. The rough draft was written last year the rewirte should be easy and fun.

Either way, I am looking forward to a month of great writing.

Bear with me

I am sick sick enough that my baby wore pajamas all day and watched too many movies and I laid on the couch wishing I could die. I'll be back soon enough.

I am cursed now. . .

Now that I understand Brooks' Story Structure (see link above) I see it everywhere and can't read a book without figuring out where the plot points were. I'll be sitting at the dinner table and say "Plot point #2 was . . . " I am driving my kids insane. We were watching Van Helsing last night and I was doing it again. My kids groaning only added to the soundtrack I am sure.

No doubt about it. I am cursed, and it's in a good way. Who knew just 13 simple lessons would have me understanding plot and structure so well that I plotted out almost all the books buzzing around in my head. This morning! Bwahahahahaha!

Back to Van Helsing, I didnt watch any editors comments but I am way curious if the director/prodoucer had a "thing" with windows. Looking out of them, looking in, crashing in them and getting thrown out of them. Just curious.

Wednesday: SDE post and another poll. :)

Story Structure and Hero's Journey combined

This is the second guest blog on Jordan MeCollum's blog. This article is on how to combine the Hero's Journey and Story Structure.

Jordan McCollum
I have had so much fun doing this. :)

It's here!

I'm the guest blogger on Jordan McCollums blog today. I am talking about Story Structure. Go see!

Story Structure

Shattered Dreams Experiment #1

Okay, In chapter one we meet Anna. She is the wife of Jeff. they've been married a number of years and he is a brutal abusive man. Anna has dreams. Things that in this "life" she will either never attain or must be done in secret.

In chapter one Anna has written a story on a typewriter she bought from a thrift store. Although we find in a later chapter she doesnt have a car. Todays question is: How did she get the typewriter? If you have your own answers please feel free to post.

Poll is on the sidebar.

A new feature on my blog. . . The Shattered Dreams Experiment

Two things have happened that have moved the fruition of my epithany. One, it's a writing challenge month, second, I now have two writers groups.

This means one thing.

I. MUST. WRITE.

Therefore I am announcing the plans that had me so excited last month. You my blog readers, (yes you, not the guy behind you) are going to help me write my new book. The idea started as a small idea niggling the back of my brain and as I was taking one of those humoungous long drives we do living out here in the boonies--I let that idea become a serious reality.

I am going to add a poll feature to the side bar below my butterfly and I am going to ask you the readers to help decide what's going to happen in this book. I will be posting some details of the book and be asking you readers what you think should happen in the story.

A little background on the story: Shattered Dreams
Anna is an abused wife stuck in an abusive marriage. Fate changes that one day and she is released from the Hell she called life. The story is of her life as she climbs out of the hole of her previous life.

I will be posting and asking your opinions on a regular basis. Hope you join in, I think this will be an amazing social experiment and those participating will be mentioned in a hopefully long acknowledgement page. :)

Just a note,

That epithany that I was so excited about? Well it's time.
I'll post about it tomorrow. (or the next day)

The influence of television on telling in writing.

I find it interesting that I see alot of telling in first time writers. Granted, writing is a skill that is learned, and something like music and art that must be practiced to become good at it. Could that be why begining writers so often fall into the pattern of telling me what the main character is doing instead of immersing me into the story by showing? I know when I started to write, I wrote alot of telling interspersed with a ton of unnecessary detail.

As I have learned to write, I have learned to move beyond telling my reader what happened. I have learned to drag my reader gasping and choking into the scene and have them experience it in a similar way to what I see in my head.

I wonder if the increase of watching TV, playing games, whether on a game system or online, or perusing the internet at all is part of the reason. When we sit and watch something on TV we see and hear everything that is going on leaving out the other three senses. Everything the prodoucer/director wants us to see is on that screen and in the soundtrack. TV can be, regardless of the intense visual/audio bombardment, a one dimentional system of input.

It has been proven that as we watch TV part of our brain shuts off and we can become zombie like. Whereas, reading opens up a diferent world in our minds. In a book with good writing, description, and showing we engage all of our senses by using our imagination. We hear internal thought as well as dialogue, we smell scents that are described, we hear, feel, smell, see and taste what the writer wants us to. We are drawn into the setting and experience it to the fullness we choose inside our heads.

As the rate of electronic entertainment increases and the occurance of reading decreases, are we setting ourselves up for a world of sitting back and just watching life go by instead of experiencing it to its fullness?

October is a writing challenge month.

And while I am a week late I think I will sign up. I have two writers groups now and I need some material for them to look at. Of course my first submissions will be something I have allready written. I wonder if some of the members will get tired of seeing the same things twice? Oh well, I only have a few things that are ready.

If your interested go HERE.

Good news Sunday. . .

Well the drought is over and I am in a deluge of good things. I went to a writers conference called "The Book Academy" a few weeks ago. I learned alot. It was a very good conference. Thanks Julie Coulter Bellon among others.

The best thing that came out of the conference is I am now part of TWO crit groups. Both an online one and a in real life (email for me but they will meet IRL) one. (Thanks Tristi!) I am also a group mom for a teen group too. These are realy GOOD things. I have needed a group for a long time. I had literally exhausted all resources to get one. I was lost and depressed in the area of writers groups. And while some people insist that writers are solitary and can do this craft by themselves, for me it's not possible. (Thank heavens for friends, I have only survived because of them.)

Just celebrating today. It's been a good weekend. :)