I'm officially back!

I got back home today, and I have only one thing that I want to live you with -
"Small hours".
Those are what count for eternaty. The hour that you spend watching tv, gaming, or goofing off is an hour that could be spent writing, reading, or pursuing your craft. Never underestimate the power of only a few minutes spent writing. Ideas can spring from the simple act of sitting down to write.
Am I saying all tv is evil? That entertainment in general is evil? No, but make sure that you earn it.

I'm simply exhausted tonight, so I'm keeping this short and sweet.

If whatever you're doing does not fit into your 20 year plan of where you want be in your life, cut it out to get to your goal faster. Simple as that.

Cheers!

Fiction Friday

This is a small piece I wrote with some of my novel members in it. Enjoy!

Every small detail on her outward appearance screamed “control freak” – her perfect black manicure to the tight bun on the back of her head. She absent-mindedly fingered her upside-down, broken cross necklace as she stared at the door.

“Staring at the door isn’t going to make more customers come!” her boss gently teased her as he stepped out from the back room. “Sure, but it makes me feel better!” She lightly responded.  Going over to the pastry case, she started methodically arranging all the pastries into several long lines. “Cling!” the bell attached to the door rang once as a young girl came in, trying to wipe the tear streaks that were running down her cheeks.

“Krystal!” The control freak exclaimed, coming around the counter to take a closer look at her younger sister. “What happened?”

“It’s – it’s – b-b-ullies, Ava” Krystal stammered, rubbing her upper arm.

“What did they do to you now?”

“Th-they at-tacked me. I-I wasn’t d-doing wr-wrong!”

Grabbing a napkin out of the dispenser Ava gently started to wipe to marks off of her sister, tenderly tracing the malformed shape of her sister’s head.

“Maybe you need to let Bill pick you up from school from now on,” Ava suggested. “I’d do it myself, but you know you get out before me.”

Krystal animatedly shook her head no.

Ava sighed and smoothed her sister’s short pixie hair.

“A-Ave, yo-your per-perfect” Krystal affirmed her sister as she gave her a side hug. The bell rang again as a customer walked in. Spinning to help the customer, Ava’s sleeve got caught on the shelves nearby, pulling the sleeve up to her elbow. The customer gasped. Even Krystal pulled away from her sister, confusion written on her face. Cut into Ava’s forearm was the word “sinner”. Numerious other cuts and burns lined Ava’s arm. In shock, Ava yanked her sleeve down, her cheeks flushing with shame. Suddenly her perfect manicure, her perfect hair, even her perfect love for her sister, was all swept away in one moment by her imperfection.

Nothing is as it seems.

One last post....

before I officially leave for vacation.... errr... the conference.
I just wanted to make a note here that I've been learning so much through "Make a Scene" by Jordan E Rosenfield and through Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress that it's making me question a lot of things.
It's never made me question how badly I want to write, and hope to someday be a best selling author. No, it made me question my own writing skills. Notice that I didn't say ability. Ability is something that is innate. I think I have at least a little bit of that. I did, however, use the word "skills". Skills can be grown, changed, and even matured. I think my skills need a little of all of that!
My dilemma is simple. Right now I cannot afford classes, and I cannot afford to work (me working would push us into a much higher tax bracket, and all my money would go to pay taxes!! Not cool) so I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. But here's what I can do, in micro steps, in no real order:
1. Finish studying the creative writing books that you do have (5 total)
2. While you are studying, write short stories, edit them until complete
3. Send the edited story to a critique group, edit again
4. Send the story to a publisher
5. Get rejected. Learn something from it.
6. Start working again on novel (from scratch)
7. Send parts of the novel to critique groups
8. Edit, edit, edit
9. (Someday) submit to publisher.

 This video sums up EXACTLY why I want to write by one of the guys who got me into writing in the first place, Ted Dekker.




Cheers!
L Finch

Youth of the Nation

It shocks me how cries for help from our youth often go unheard. We let them struggle in silence - until that silence isn't enough. Runaway teens, cutters, burning, suicides, attacks at school, bullying... the list goes on and on. From the time they are in their mother's womb they are attacked with the threat of death. It doesn't let up even then. And what are we doing to change that?
I wear a red bracelet that says "life" on it to remind me to pray for the unborn - but it also reminds me of the unheard youth of the nation an their struggle for life. It reminds me to write - write - write. The faster I pound the keys the faster I can leave my mark on their voiceless struggles. I've been voiceless before, I've been a teenager. The diffrence between me and them is that I've found my voice, and they are still silent.

I "see" them in my mind, duct tape over their mouths, tied down, trapped. Endure the trapped feeling long enough and the only way "out" is with a gun, a knife, a razor blade.

But that's not the end. And that's the part that I need to show them, that's the part that they cannot see - life gets better. This is not the end. Life is not as bad as it seems. There is a light at the end of the tunnel if you just keep pushing through.
When the cutters came to Jesus (yes, there are cutters in the Bible! See Mark) he loved them and did not turn them away. They were isolated in the tombs, and the people were scared to go past them. Sounds like a lot of today's youth -
1. isolated
2. harming their bodies (through drugs, addictions, etc)
3.wanting a way "out"

Christ showed them the only true way out.
However, I believe that there is still hope for you, even if you don't believe in Christ.

Life.
Will you help our youth?

Micro-goals

Micro goals are goals that are broken down into very tiny (hence: micro) seven-day steps. I first learned about them through the book "Living Write" by Kelly R. Stone. Excellent read, just ignore some of the new agey stuff.
Let me give you a personal example of a micro-goal:
I want to start submitting articles places, but have no idea of where to start and am scared of rejection (aren't we all!).

Monday: Make a list of places that might take inspirational pieces, pick top one
Tuesday: Develop a story idea to fit the parameters of the submission site
Wednesday: Write the story
Thursday: Complete guidelines for submitting story
Friday: Re-write story, call and ask for the editor's name
Saturday: Re-write story again, write accompaning letter
Sunday: Submit Work

Now, I'll be out of town starting Wends so that probably won't happen this week. I just wanted to give you an example of how micro-goals work. Pretty cool, right?
All I can say is get the book and read it. It'll change your writing life.
For the past week I've been writing every day and it hasn't quite been life changing, but it's been close to that. To give you a little bit of background for me, I wrote a lot when I was 13-16, got a play produced, quit writing, wrote a novel when I was 21, then stopped writing again. Writing has never been a constant thing in my life. Perhaps it's beacuse I love to wait for the muse to strike. Maybe I'm just lazy. Unmotivated. Tired. Unfocused. That needs to change.
I've written out my vision of success (To write a novel that helps girls and glorifies God), I have micro-goals, I have up to 20 year goals written. I've never been so motivated to keep up writing.

However, I do have to keep in mind that my tenancies are to get discouraged easily. To keep that from happening, I will surround myself with positive quotes, and I will surround myself with positive people and hopefully join a critique group in the near future. Check out this quote:

"I think a successful writer needs to ask herself some hard questions on a regular basis. What's your writing goal? Then, what kind of book do you want to write? When you have answered the first two questions you are prepared to face the third: does the book you want to write enable you to reach your first goal?"
- Novelist Nancy Martin

1. My writing goal is to offer girls with addictions and who suffer from abuse hope.
2. The book I want to write (am writing) is about a girl who is abused and also deals with cutting and the healing and redemption that can be found even when dealing with awful, awful things.
3. And the book I want to write enables me to reach my first goal, so it looks like I'm golden!

My writing schedule for next week:
Monday: Write 2,400 words. Read 2 chapters in "Making a Scene".
Tuesday: Write 2,400 words. Read 2 chapters in "Dynamic Characters".
Wednesday: Write 2,400 words. Read 2 chapters in "Making a Scene".
Thursday (at healing conference!): Write 800 words. No reading required.
Friday: Write 800 words. No reading required.
Saturday: Write 800 words. No reading required.
Sunday: Write 2,400 words. Read 2 chapters in "Dynamic Characters".

Cheers!
L Finch

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.

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!