Friday, April 19, 2013
Hobbit Birthday Giveaway!
You are invited to a Hobbit birthday with Gillian Adams over at
ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com. Enter the giveaway for a
chance to win an awesome speculative fiction book!
Friday, March 8, 2013
March Characters in Costume Reveal
March Characters in Costume Reveal
http://ofbattlesdragonsandswordsofadamant.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-characters-in-costume-challenge.html
Today for the March Characters in Costume Challenge, we're focusing on character accessories and answering the following question:
What is one item/object/accessory that your character is likely to have on or about them at all times?
What is one item/object/accessory that your character is likely to have on or about them at all times?
The key symbolizes trust. Something that has to be earned.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Story Illustrations
I was going through some of my old artwork and came across these old *cough* beauties. I wrote a three book series when I was twelve and illustrated them. It was about three sisters who received special gifts on their thirteenth birthday. The Eldest got a magic book that had a different story every time she read from it. The middle sister got magical dancing shoes that gave her incredible endurance. The youngest got a magical unicorn necklace that turned into a talking unicorn at night. The youngest sister ends up saving the kingdom teamed up with her unicorn.
Did I mention they were princesses?
 |
| The youngest sister riding her unicorn to save her kingdom. (She was 16 in this book) |
 |
| This was an illustration for one of the stories the eldest sister read from her book. I made up a legend on how the Unicorn got it's horn. |
 |
| The Necklace/Unicorn |
Monday, March 4, 2013
Free Kindle Book Today and Tomorrow!
If you have an Amazon Kindle you can download Jill Williamson's By Darkness Hid.
I haven't read this series by Jill Williamson yet. (I was waiting for the first book at my library! Yay! No more waiting. :) ) However, some of her other books have been excellent! If you like Christian fantasy, then this is the series for you.
Feel free to share the link, the more people who download Jill's book, the more people will be able to find out about it!
By Darkness Hid is free today and tomorrow (3/4/13 and 3/5/13). Click here to visit the Amazon.com Kindle page for By Darkness Hid.
I haven't read this series by Jill Williamson yet. (I was waiting for the first book at my library! Yay! No more waiting. :) ) However, some of her other books have been excellent! If you like Christian fantasy, then this is the series for you.
Feel free to share the link, the more people who download Jill's book, the more people will be able to find out about it!
By Darkness Hid is free today and tomorrow (3/4/13 and 3/5/13). Click here to visit the Amazon.com Kindle page for By Darkness Hid.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
School and Writing: History Edition
If you are still in school, you can take advantage of what you learn and put it into practice through your novel.
Today is the history edition, I'm only giving one example. (For time purposes)
A few weeks ago I wrote a 1,700 word paper on The Whiskey Rebellion. My book has a rebellion in it, and I was able to break down TWR to it's most basic points and do a similar sett up in my book.
The outline type thing is on the left, and the actual events are on the right.
Guy in power disconnected from people / The government is disconnected from the common citizen.
Does something that messes up the people's "normal" lives / The government passes 25% tax on corn/grain products
The people act (mostly) peacably to get the mess fixed / Farmers try petitions and go to Philadelphia to argue their case
The guy in power refuses to change / Government ignores farmers protests
the people get angry start rioting / Farmers upset and start rioting and refuse to pay tax
the guy in power tries to control the people and makes the mess worse / The government demands that anyone who refuses the tax will be taken to court to be tried. If this happens the farmers crops will be left unattended and will likely die.
the people start going after anyone connected to the guy in power / Tax collectors are attacked in various ways.
Something else sets the rebels off, they cause major damage / Rebels go after one of the men who encouraged the whiskey tax, they set fire to his house
The guy in power tries to obtain order by force / Over 3,000 soldiers are sent to dispel the rebels.
(Various things can happen after this point, but I'm showing you how the Whiskey Rebellion unfolded.)
The guy in power arrests various rebels and the protestors seem to disappear, the guy in power "wins"/ The government arrests over a hundred rebels, the rest of the rebels dispel and disappear
Rebel's are punished, justice / The rebels are tried in court, however each one is given a presidential pardon.
The rebels ultimately get what they want / The Whiskey tax is removed by President Jefferson
By using this as my basis, I was able to see how a real rebellion unfolds. This gives my book a realism I wouldn't have had otherwise.
Do you have any tips on how to take advantage of daily things, from school to work to chores in improving your writing or story line?
Today is the history edition, I'm only giving one example. (For time purposes)
A few weeks ago I wrote a 1,700 word paper on The Whiskey Rebellion. My book has a rebellion in it, and I was able to break down TWR to it's most basic points and do a similar sett up in my book.
The outline type thing is on the left, and the actual events are on the right.
Guy in power disconnected from people / The government is disconnected from the common citizen.
Does something that messes up the people's "normal" lives / The government passes 25% tax on corn/grain products
The people act (mostly) peacably to get the mess fixed / Farmers try petitions and go to Philadelphia to argue their case
The guy in power refuses to change / Government ignores farmers protests
the people get angry start rioting / Farmers upset and start rioting and refuse to pay tax
the guy in power tries to control the people and makes the mess worse / The government demands that anyone who refuses the tax will be taken to court to be tried. If this happens the farmers crops will be left unattended and will likely die.
the people start going after anyone connected to the guy in power / Tax collectors are attacked in various ways.
Something else sets the rebels off, they cause major damage / Rebels go after one of the men who encouraged the whiskey tax, they set fire to his house
The guy in power tries to obtain order by force / Over 3,000 soldiers are sent to dispel the rebels.
(Various things can happen after this point, but I'm showing you how the Whiskey Rebellion unfolded.)
The guy in power arrests various rebels and the protestors seem to disappear, the guy in power "wins"/ The government arrests over a hundred rebels, the rest of the rebels dispel and disappear
Rebel's are punished, justice / The rebels are tried in court, however each one is given a presidential pardon.
The rebels ultimately get what they want / The Whiskey tax is removed by President Jefferson
By using this as my basis, I was able to see how a real rebellion unfolds. This gives my book a realism I wouldn't have had otherwise.
Do you have any tips on how to take advantage of daily things, from school to work to chores in improving your writing or story line?
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Writing when you don't want to...
There's always that day (or string of them) when you don't want to write. Here's my list of fixes. :)
1. Music
Listen to some music that fits the mood, scene, or character...
2. Talk it out
Find someone to talk it out with, honestly it can work wonders.
Normally my dad is awesome for this, he's a creative genius. However he's crazy busy.
No fear though, I have two wonderfully awesome gal pals who are always ready to help me out.
3. Talk it out 2.
Don't just talk it out, have your friend throw out some plot, character, challenge ideas out for you.
Ex: Recently we created a gangster character for my friend's book, it was fun for me (hopefully) helpful for her, and the three of us got some laughs (bonus!) Someone else inspiration can spark your creativity again.
4. Read a book!
I have a long list of must read books. (Somehow neglected with school and writing goals...)
5. Pray.
Now if you aren't a Christian you don't have to listen to this one, but I find praying for motivation and inspiration can help a lot.
6. Do something else.
I love to do other things besides writing, and doing something else gives my brain a well needed break.
My list:
Chill w/friends
Catch up on emails (Don't shoot me, I'm bad about this kind of thing.)
Blog (again don't shoot!)
Paint or draw
Get outside
Photography
Watch an old Ellery Queen episode <3
Craft something
Etc.
7. Reinvent
Its fun to change up a stale thing. I map out my novel. (Keeps me from going down as many random rabbit trails) So a change of plans can inspire me.
As a fun little example:
I decided to make a boring trip back to the mansion more interesting by introducing a impulsive pickpocket. It gives one of my character's a chance to be the hero, I get to write a funny little character and I point my characters towards the rebels. Score!
8. Make a writing goal!
Now this normally doesn't work for me. I'm the over achieving, perfectionist, procrastinator type. I tend to make crazy over the top goals I could never reach and then give up on them. (There will be a post up on writing goals within the next week) However, set the bar lower and work up to a higher daily word count or whatever. Most of us don't have hours to muck around in writing I get a set amount of time write my heart away and then get back to life.
9. Daydream a little, think of how you'll feel when you finish your novel. Or whatever else that would excite or motivate you.
10. And now for some fun, do a writing exercise!
A. Take two characters who dislike each other and make them go shopping together. (Girly exercise, but oh so fun.)
B. Get two people who usually get along and have them at each other's throats. (Literally of figuratively)
C. Have one of your characters painting a picture and two other C's (Characters) are trying to figure it our without hurting the painter's feelings. (Or maybe one of them doesn't care and the other one is very sensitive.)
Now for the hard part, make these things happen in character, and for a reason. For example with number B. I could get my two MC's to fight if one of them verbally attacked the other's family, even if s/he has a viable reason. Or they could just be in the sparring room, as they both are quite competitive.
Well there you go! How do you stay motivated by writing? Whats your favorite writing exercise?
1. Music
Listen to some music that fits the mood, scene, or character...
2. Talk it out
Find someone to talk it out with, honestly it can work wonders.
Normally my dad is awesome for this, he's a creative genius. However he's crazy busy.
No fear though, I have two wonderfully awesome gal pals who are always ready to help me out.
3. Talk it out 2.
Don't just talk it out, have your friend throw out some plot, character, challenge ideas out for you.
Ex: Recently we created a gangster character for my friend's book, it was fun for me (hopefully) helpful for her, and the three of us got some laughs (bonus!) Someone else inspiration can spark your creativity again.
4. Read a book!
I have a long list of must read books. (Somehow neglected with school and writing goals...)
5. Pray.
Now if you aren't a Christian you don't have to listen to this one, but I find praying for motivation and inspiration can help a lot.
6. Do something else.
I love to do other things besides writing, and doing something else gives my brain a well needed break.
My list:
Chill w/friends
Catch up on emails (Don't shoot me, I'm bad about this kind of thing.)
Blog (again don't shoot!)
Paint or draw
Get outside
Photography
Watch an old Ellery Queen episode <3
Craft something
Etc.
7. Reinvent
Its fun to change up a stale thing. I map out my novel. (Keeps me from going down as many random rabbit trails) So a change of plans can inspire me.
As a fun little example:
I decided to make a boring trip back to the mansion more interesting by introducing a impulsive pickpocket. It gives one of my character's a chance to be the hero, I get to write a funny little character and I point my characters towards the rebels. Score!
8. Make a writing goal!
Now this normally doesn't work for me. I'm the over achieving, perfectionist, procrastinator type. I tend to make crazy over the top goals I could never reach and then give up on them. (There will be a post up on writing goals within the next week) However, set the bar lower and work up to a higher daily word count or whatever. Most of us don't have hours to muck around in writing I get a set amount of time write my heart away and then get back to life.
9. Daydream a little, think of how you'll feel when you finish your novel. Or whatever else that would excite or motivate you.
10. And now for some fun, do a writing exercise!
A. Take two characters who dislike each other and make them go shopping together. (Girly exercise, but oh so fun.)
B. Get two people who usually get along and have them at each other's throats. (Literally of figuratively)
C. Have one of your characters painting a picture and two other C's (Characters) are trying to figure it our without hurting the painter's feelings. (Or maybe one of them doesn't care and the other one is very sensitive.)
Now for the hard part, make these things happen in character, and for a reason. For example with number B. I could get my two MC's to fight if one of them verbally attacked the other's family, even if s/he has a viable reason. Or they could just be in the sparring room, as they both are quite competitive.
Well there you go! How do you stay motivated by writing? Whats your favorite writing exercise?
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Giving Characters Playlists
One of my favorite things to do is create "playlists" for each of my main characters. (and minor ones, give those extras a little love! :) )
For me this adds another level to my writing, and gets me in that character's mind set. (For the record I write with only one POV, but I do like to get in my other characters head so they don't all sound like my MC's clone)
I'll give a couple examples.
A friend recommended this song for my reckless MC Lexi. (Bellow)
Here's one for Jayden (Bellow) He's the villain/betrayer.
And just an awesome Tintin one! (Not one of my characters :) )
There are a ton for each character. :) My friends often are better at finding these than I am. Do you ever listen to music when you write, or think "This song is perfect for____." ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)