With this blog I hope to inspire people to live out their full authentic selves, no matter what other people might tell them is or is not appropriate. Follow me for noveling helps and articles about how to live your life freely and openly.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ava's Journey - Book 1

I plan to at least make a trilogy out of this book idea... I'm just not sure yet if I have enough material in my head for that yet... We will see!

Music of choice for writing: Daughtry mix on Pandora
Possessing program: yWriter... beacuse it keeps track of your word count for the day, section, and overall
Best place for writing: Anyplace where I can people watch (Starbucks, anyone?) or my own comfy desk at home (that's falling apart.... curse you, Walmart).
How I stay inspired: By thinking about my story 24/7. I usually know exactly what needs to happen one or two scenes into it, without outlining.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Swimming in Novel...

So I've been swimming in my novel the past few days, everything from outlining to character sketches to working through "Living Write". And I've come to a few harsh realizations.
One, That I am sadly lacking in education to conquer a novel. Sure, I've done it twice before, but I'm talking more about quality here. I haven't had much college experience, and let's be honest, who expects a high schooler to take a class on writing a novel!
Let's make something crystal-clear here. I don't want to just "write a novel" I want to have it published. And not self-published either. Eventually I want to be on the best-seller list. Then I want to be like Ted Dekker who sits at home all day and writes. Gee I envy that man.
I. Love. To. Write. That's why I have two blogs. I love to write about anything and everything. But I'm terribly afraid that, for lack of education, my writing is trash. That, my friend, is my biggest fear. And let me also point out that I'm not referring to the fact that I was home schooled as lack of education. No, the blame lays all on my head alone. I could have gotten involved with Nano(National Novel Writing Month) a lot sooner. I could have read more in high school. But the facts are clear. I didn't.

But I'm not here to look at the past. I''m hear to look at my today. I realize that -
* I'm lacking in education in what's popular with teenagers right now. What style of writing do they enjoy?
Answer: I went to the library and checked out three books to add to my 100 day plan. Note: my library is extremely limited and the books that I really wanted to read weren't there. :( Inkheart by Cornella Funke (Loved the movie, so I should love the book!), Stormbreaker by NYT best-seller Anthony Horowitz, and Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan.

* I'm lacking in writing education
Answer: Going through the creative writing books I already have to help prepare myself for a critique group. Join a critique group. Take writing classes.

That's it, me thinks.
Okay, I'm going back to writing about my poor, twisted Ava.

Cheers!