Creative Blog Award. Yey!

I get an award!

Deirdra over at A Storybook World gave me a Creative Blog Award!

It's so pretty and I'm so happy to have been given this award!

Thank you so much Deirdra!

S is for Sex Scenes

May contain adult content.

I once tried to write a 3,000 word sex scene.

It didn't work.

I got close to 2,000 words before I couldn't write any more. I love the scene, it's soft and sweet and tender, but it was hard to get it that long. I could never write erotica, and that kind of makes me sad.

It's not only the actions, that get repetitive, but also the words for different body parts. I don't like using vulgar words, but things like "man root" make me laugh. 

I also only like sex scenes that fit into the plot. Or if it's a stand alone story.

What's your opinion on sex scenes?

Q is for Quotes

I don't normally save quotes, but I went and found some quotes that I rather like. I will share them now.

"I write, because life never works except in retrospect. You can't control life, at least you can control your version." - Chuch Palahniuk

"I write, therefore I am." -Unknown

"It's like standing on the edge of a cliff... Everyday you're making up the earth you're going to stand on." -Peter Carey

"If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then adhasdh asdglaseuyt[bn[ pasdlkhasdfasdf." -Lemony Snicket

"Write in any way that works for you. Write in a tuxedo or in the shower with a raincoat or in a cave deep in the woods." -John Gardner

"The only thing more tormenting than writing is not writing." -Cynthia Ozick

"The characters have their own lives and their own logic, and you have to act accordingly." -Isaac Bashevis Singer

"It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. Those who do not do this remain amateurs." -Gerald Brenan

"Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely essential." -Jessamyn West

"Marry someone you love and who thinks you being a writer's a good idea." -Richard Ford

"Writing is the most fun you can have by yourself." -Terry Pratchett

"Writing a story is like crossing a stream, now I'm on this rock, now I'm on this rock, now I'm on this rock." -Ann Beattie

"Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet." -Cyrus Farivar

"Novels do take charge of the writer, and the writer is basically a kind of sheep dog just trying to keep thing on track." -John Gregory Dunne

"I know what I want to do with my life. I think people think I'm joking when I say 'I'm gonna work dead-end jobs and write novels my whole life,' but I'm being perfectly serious. I could care less what my day job is, I just want to write." -Qzie (I will forever love this quote)

What are some of your favorite quotes?

P is for Point of View

There are three different points of views.

First Person. (written using 'I')

Second Person. (written using 'you')

Third Person. (written using 'he' 'she')

I prefer to write in third person. I feel it works better for me.

For a while, I couldn't stand reading first person after reading certain... "books". First person just made me wretch. Oddly enough, quite a few of my favorite books are written in first person.

I read that tense now. It's not so bad. Most YA books are in first person and are still awesome.

I still like third person a little better >.>

What do you guys like to read/write?

O is for Over Used Words

O as in Oh my god it's Robert Loggia.


I use 'so' too much.

Not normally when I'm writing a story, but rping, talking, probably in my blogging.

"So, what do you want to do?"
"So, how're you feeling?"
"So what's going on?"

So on and so forth. And it's always in that fashion.

There are tons of authors (coughStephanieMeyercough) who abuse words (and thesauruses).

How do you guys feel about over used words? What words do you over use?

N is for Nom de Plume

That word makes me feel so smart. Nom de Plume. Nom de Plume.

I also happen to like the definition of 'pen name'

I would have used 'pen name' but I already have a P topic.

Anyways, I have a nom de plume (*shudder* oh I love that lol). My name is not actually Jesi Marie, though that would be awesome. I have no issue with my real name or people knowing who I actually am, but I decided that if/when I get married, it would be easier not to have a last name on my books so I don't have to worry about changing it and all that jazz. So I picked Jesi Marie. Jesi is a family nick name that has stuck around since I was an infant basically, and Marie is my middle name.

And now... I have nothing else to say.

Anyone else got any pen names they want to share?

K is for Killing Characters...

... and feeling bad about it.

I actually got this idea from my roommate. When this whole challenge started, I asked her for some help on prompts, so kudos to her.

I hate killing characters. Unless they deserve it.

OK, I take it back, I like killing characters, especially when they deserve it. Really, they only die when they deserve it. I don't kill cause I feel like it. They have to die for the plot.

Can you tell I don't kill characters often? Being a romance/attempted YA writer doesn't lead to much of that.

I think in total I've killed three characters. And I didn't feel bad about it at all. And I absolutely loved the way I killed them.

God I sound scary, don't I? I swear I'm not that bad!

There are somethings I don't understand though.

I was on Gaia in the writer's forums and I came across a thread about a person who felt bad about ending a story they had been working on for years and essentially "killing off their characters".

That's understandable. You do end up getting connected to your characters.

But there was one person who was like 'they're just tools. I don't feel bad about killing characters. They're just words on paper.' Now that I don't get. How do you spend so much time making these creations and not caring about them to some extent? I mean really?

People.

I know that everyone is different, but most writers I've talked to get attached to their characters.

So, how do you guys feel about killing off characters? How many have you killed off? And for those of you who are readers, how do you feel when characters are killed off?

H is for Hook

I've got a bit of time right now, so I'm going to do the posts between H and today's letter (T) that I had actual topics for. That means I will be posting letters H, K, N, O, P, Q, and S.


Today is Hook!

Normally hooks are at the beginning of the book. You've got to get your reader snagged on your first line.

I like starting my stories in the middle of the scene, normally with dialog. I've recently read somewhere that starting with dialog is not a good way to start a story. I'm not totally sure why. I like beginnings like that.

Really, I started opening with dialog after reading my favorite book about 10 times. I have always sucked at beginnings and endings, so I turned to In My Enemy's House by Carol Matas. She started with a Nazi yelling for the Jews to get out of their houses in German (if I remember correctly, it's in German) then in English. So I decided that that was how I was going to start my stories.

Now I just kind of go for the middle of a scene. Or however the characters tell me about the beginning.

So how do you normally start your novels/stories? What's your hook? Readers, what kind of openings do you like?

Sorry for being M.I.A.!

Things have been a bit busy around here. My school is driving me nuts and I'm trying to figure out what to do with all of that.

I may not have too many posts coming up.

Ugh.

I'll be back though! I swear!

Laters!

PS.

Hello new followers! I love you all, new and old! I'll get new stuff up as soon as I can! Promise!

G is for Genre

I love this movie <3

Yey for genres! Without them we would not have fiction books. Well, we would, but we might feel rather bored with the books.

I'm a genre writer. I write mainly romance, but I think I'm going to be bleeding over into YA as well. I've been reading a lot of YA lately, cause I love it. I can't help it. It's just grabs my attention more so than more adult books. I like and read adult fiction, but come on! It's YA!

What genres do you like to read and/or write?


And I am now caught up! Until tomorrow!


Laters!

F is for Flashbacks

I wanted to find an actual clip from Wayne's World for this, but I wasn't going to search for one, and this one works just fine.


Flashbacks! F! Yey!!

I don't do flashbacks actually. I always heard they were bad juju and too many of them ruin the story. So I never really done them. I have in the past and it always started with FLASHBACK written in large letters at the beginning and END FLASHBACK at the end. That was my segue.

Smooth, right? Just like sandpaper.

Now, I do bring up things that have happened before, but I give more of a synopsis rather than explaining everything that happened and show it like a normal scene in the book. I guess I'd change my mind if the story absolutely called for it.

What about you guys? What do you think of flashbacks? Do you use them? How do you segue into them?

Laters!

E is for Encouragement

Haha, E is for Encouragement!

I really feel about now that I belong on Sesame Street!

I like getting encouragement. I'm glad I have a family and friends that support my writing and my desire to become a published author.

Because elephants starts with 'e' lol

I always find it sad and just a little bit pathetic when I hear that people's parents don't support them in what they want to do. Parents should be there for their kids no matter what the kid wants to pursue. Sure, maybe they could say 'hey, do you have a back up plan?' But not 'no, you can't do that. No way. That's a bad idea and you'll never go anywhere with it.' *shakes head* It's pathetic and that's what I call a bad parent.

So, for all of you out there on your way to this dream, go you! You can do it! You can do whatever you put your mind to! You can and will make something of yourself. So what if you have to work a few dead end jobs until you make it, who cares if people look at you funny and say 'it's not a real goal' or think it's easy peasy to go down this path! To hell with all the non-believers! Fuck 'em! They don't know what they're talking about.

You CAN do it.

You WILL do it!

And when you do, you can rub their faces in it and feel triumphant when you say "I told you so, bitches!"

D is for Drabble!

I am so far behind that I'm going to spam your boxes right now. They'll probably be short, too.

So, D for drabble!

A drabble is a term I heard on gaia, and it's basically a quickly written story between 200-400 words or so. 

I've never tried to do that before. Well, my five minute prompts from writer's group are normally about that length. So I guess you could call those drabbles. I like those. Let's try now!

Mikey sighed softly as he laid in bed, staring at the ceiling. It was nearing midnight and he couldn’t sleep. It’d been a while since this sort of thing had happened to him. The last time he hadn’t been able to sleep was when Zachary’s father had tried to marry the boy off to some freak from Italy. Actually, every time Mikey hadn’t been able to sleep at night was because of Zachary. 

He groaned and closed his eyes, flopping his arm over his face. He was not going to let that simple minded boy disturb his sleep. Not again. Not when there was no reason for it. Maybe there was a reason. Maybe this was some kind of premonition that something bad was going to happen again. Something bad always happened. 

“Michael, you need to sleep, there’s a job to do tomorrow, and if you don’t get any sleep… You remember what happened last time, don’t you?” he mumbled to himself, the memory of the last time he did a job without any sleep. It ended with a mob doctor and almost losing his arm. Stupid mob doctors. 

Half an hour passed and Mikey dropped his arm back onto the bed. He wiggled his fingers to get the blood back into them, grimacing as they began to tingle. He got up and headed into the bathroom, pulling the medicine cabinet open. “Sleeping pills…” He pulled the bottle out and popped onto into his mouth. “Sleep.” 

Within another half an hour, he was asleep.

 254 words. I think this is an intro to the story here. My best friend wants me to continue that story, so I'm working on it slowly. Very slowly.

So, do you you guys do anything like this? If you try it, lemme see what comes of it!


Now onto E!

Laters!

C is for (cookies) Creations

Haha, I couldn't resist doing that.

Anyhow, what I mean by creations isn't world building, a written story, or a clay pot. I'm talking about creating creatures, beings such as vampires, werewolves, etc.

Of course, we didn't create vampires and werewolves (though there are some crazy Twitards who claim Bram Stroker stole the idea from Stephanie Meyer 0.o). Someone way back when, thousands of years ago, created these creatures whether they were based on truth or not.

I like creating new beings. I've so far created two that I can remember. I'll go ahead and tell you about one of them. Starlets are easier to sum up in one sentence without giving too much away compared to the Animus (gotta cover my bases before he's copyrighted, sorry ^.^;;).

Anyhows, this type of being is called a Starlet. I haven't worked everything out about this species yet but they're essentially a living black hole. 'Starlet' has nothing to do with black holes. It actually means a rising actor or a small star, so it's kinda close.

I love taking random words that sound really cool and making it into some awesome type being.

Do any of you do this? If so, what kind of things have you created(if you want to/feel comfortable sharing)?


Laters!

B is for Brainstorming

This  challenge is harder than I thought it was going to be! Just coming up with topics... Maybe I'm just lame though.


Anyhow, brainstorming!

"Brainstorming is easy. All you need is a little electricity, some mental fog, just to set the mood..." -my roommate

I do most of my brainstorming in bed at 2/3 o'clock in the morning. It doesn't include any electricity, but it's no wonder I have a hard time getting to sleep. But there's something about trying to get to sleep that just brings out all the ideas. Lucky me I have a notebook by my bed to write down ideas. Though half the time I'll feel lazy and tell myself I'll remember my idea in the morning... and never do.

I've come up with some of my best stuff that early in the morning. Like I needed an idea for the new beginning of the novel I'm editing because one of the characters drastically changed from the beginning to the next time we see him. I had the hardest time coming up with an idea that wouldn't call for a complete re-write of the first 50 pages. But then one night, while laying in bed and trying to fall asleep, I came up with it! And it changed nothing but the conversation! The setting was the same, the characters was the same, the scene ended the same, it was just the conversation that needed to be re-written.

I also come up with ideas while listening to music. Certain songs, or even an album, will spark a full idea for a novel. I love moments like that.

So, what do you guys do when/where do you brainstorm? What works for you?


Laters!

A-Z Blogging Challenge: A is for Aspirations

It's time for the A-Z Blogging Challenge! If you want to know more about it, click on the picture in my side bar (not the picture in this post).

Now... what A topic to choose...

I thought of one!!

Aspirations!


And not just any aspirations, but writing-centered aspirations!

-To be published I think that one may be a little bit of a give in. I would love to get my name on a book cover on a book shelf. I don't care if I become huge like Stephen King or even Becca Fitzpatrick, just seen and read.
-To make it on the banned books list Because it just sounds so awesome! It doesn't take much to make it on the banned book list though. Enough cursing, certain content. I'm sure I can make it there.
-To have one of my books used in a school curriculum Whether it's during the school year, as a summer reading book, or on a teacher's list of approved outside reading, doesn't matter. Seems kind of conflicting with the last one, huh?

On more short-term now type writing aspirations:
-Daily writing schedule cause I don't have one. I'm doing my best to make one, but there are some issues that make that hard to do. I'm not going to get into them here, though.
-Finish writing/editing a manuscript I have two manuscripts written (one that will never see the light of day) and I need to get onto editing the one I like, get it nice and polished up. I also have like, five ideas in my head that need to be written. This ties in a lot with the previous goal.

That's all I can think of right now.

So, what're some of your aspirations?


Laters!