Leibster Again!

Thanks Maddie Jay!

1. I love softball, but gave it up for horses.

2. One of my many nicknames (Thanks big sisters) is Manatee, because King George and the Ducky was my sisters favorite VeggieTales.

3. I can drive a tractor like a boss.

4. I just got really, super close to elk yesterday at the neighbors while looking for our dog. And the bull had a huge rack!

5. Our Golden Retriever and Siberian Husky both don't like to play in water. What is wrong with them, I don't know.

6. I am shy in the real world.

7. I hate coming up with random facts.

8. I'm still doing math.

9. I hate math.

10. I love history.

11. I love little kids.

Maddie's questions:

1. Who is your favorite band or singer?
I hate choosing, but my answer is Francesca Battistelli

 2. Who was your first fictional crush? (can be movie or book)
Speaking of The Lion King, Kovu



I would be the last person.

3. What is a cartoon you loved when you were little, but can't stand now?

SpongeBob. Although I didn't love it, I liked it

 

4. What was/is your least favorite subject in school?

Like I said above, math

 

5. If you had to dye your hair an unusual color, what would you choose?

Blue

 

6. Do you grow your fingernails out long, or keep them short?

I try to keep them shorter. Not super short though

 

7. How much makeup do you usually wear?

Blush, mascara, and eye shadow

 

8. What is one song you can't stand to listen to?

Red Solo Cup. I absolutely abhor it

 

9. Ford or Chevy?

Ford

 

10. What accent do you love to listen to?

Australian. But I like to speak in oh so awesome Indian accent ;)

 

11. How many (or any) kids would you like to have?

As many as my future husband will let me. ;) Although probably not more than twelve

 

My questions:

 

1. Who is your favorite Disney character?

2. How many times have you watched Cars?

3. Do you like Rascal Flats?

4. If you write, do you have any animals who can speak?

5. If you could go to any fictional place, where would you go?

6. What is your favorite genre?

7. Did you ever have a crush on Kovu? (I will definitely be judging you based on this answer)

8. What is your favorite book?

9. Have you watched or read the Book Thief?

10. If you have done both, what did you think of the movie cast? If not, why not?!

11. What is your favorite snack?

 

I nominate:

Alyssa at Beautiful Girlhood
Bethany at Ramblings of a Young Author
Brittney Johnson at Daughter of the King
Athelas at A Wayfaring Stranger
Wild Horse at Opal Swirls
Amy at Living Water
Ghost Ryter at Anything, Everything

 

How well do you know your character

I know I've done a very similar post before, but that was quite a while ago, back when we were a very tiny blog. Now we're a tiny bit bigger, so I'll do it again.

How do you get to know your characters? Do you have a folder full of interview questions, or maybe you date your characters like Rachel Coker does.

But I like obstacle courses. I like to take my characters and put them in situations that aren't necessarily in the book, but will give me more of an idea of how they would act at different events. Of course first you need to have at least a basic knowledge of your character's background history. I like to do one for every big scene.
(Note: The obstacle course should be close to your original scene)

You can also do almost prologue scenes. It's a helpful way to know how your characters felt at an important moment that will effect them throughout the book. This is the kind I'll use in the example.

I'll use my latest MC this time.

Basic info:
Name: Bella
Age: 15
Living in: The Colorado mountains
Parents: Mother died, father left
Guardian: Aunt Renee
Siblings: Three brothers, Liam, Jackson, Preston
Faith: Christian

You might want to gather a little more information than that, but this is all I'll use for the example.

Bella snuggled under her covers. She could see the sun just peek his yellow head over the distant horizon. She wondered if her mommy could see it from Heaven.

Bella heard a slam of the gate out front. She jumped from the bed. Daddy wasn't supposed to leave for work for another hour. Maybe he had another headache like he often did in the mornings after Mommy's death and was just heading to the lilac bushes to sooth it. Although she hadn't heard him leave at all last night.

She threw on an old sweatshirt and ran out the front door. The truck was just being started up.

"Daddy wait! You didn't give me my goodbye kiss yet!" Bella ran as fast as her legs could carry her. But her father was already out on the road driving away.

"Dad!" Her big brother Liam raced past her trying to catch the old Ford. "Dad wait! Don't leave. Please!" Liam collapsed on the grass when he realized he couldn't catch him.

"Liam, why is Daddy leaving so early? He didn't kiss me goodbye either." Tears were building in Bella's eyes.

Liam handed her a rumpled note that he had been carrying.
I can't take care of you anymore, I can barely take care of myself. I've been out of a job for months now. Call your Aunt Renee, she'll care for you much better than I did. Liam take good care of your siblings.
~Daddy

Tears streamed down Bella's cheeks. "Why doesn't he love us anymore?"

Liam got up and hugged Bella. "He does, he just doesn't know it," he whispered.

That beautiful, warm sunrise, was now the worst one that would stay in Bella's memory.

Wow. I could have kept writing that scene forever. ;)

So now when I write more scenes I can keep her reaction to this in mind, and it will help me write her so that she is consistent. :)

What methods do you use for getting to know your characters? What do you think of the obstacle course?

Brookie :)

Camp Nanowrimo

For those of you who don't know what Camp Nanowrimo stands for I will tell you and explain what it is.


Camp National Novel Writing Month: Is a time to write, write, and write some more.

First you set your word count goal, anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 words. Then you get a cabin where you have cabin mates, of course you don't have to stay in a cabin, and they have lots of new cabin features since even April. From there you write like crazy, updating your word count as often as you can. :)


A note on the cabins: You will have cabin mates who will most likely try talking to you. Let me say it's lots of fun meeting new people. You can also come and join Andrea Nan, Maddie Jay, and myself in our private cabin!




If you would like to join us, leave your Nano name in the comments and we will invite you to our cabin. We hope that some of you would join us!

Brookie

Writing Contest

                                        Rules

1. Entries must be 250-600 words

2. They must be left in the comments by the following Wednesday

3. Followers of TWS will be the judges, they must leave their votes in the comments by Friday

4. Non-Followers of TWS are allowed to place an entry, but not vote

5. Entries with foul language or scenes that are too inappropriately graphic will be discarded

6. You may choose one or more of the prompts to put into your 'one' entry

7. Voters are not allowed to vote for themselves

8. Votes will be made by G+ing the prompt that voter likes best (Till we have a better system)

 



                                                    Writing Prompts

You may continue a past story if it includes one of these prompts

1. Include this phrase in your prompt: "And in that moment, there was no one."

2. Use this picture: No picture this week!

 

 



3. Or use these objects: Knife, Strip of cloth, sunglasses

                                            Last weeks entries

Thank you for participating Athelas and Beckah! If you would like a critic email your entries to me at the email listed below 'Who We Are'.


A note to all: It would be great if we could start having more people vote even if you aren't putting in an entry. We don't usually have that many entries so it doesn't take long to read them. Also letting the people who entered know that you liked their story is a great thing that we should do. I don't mind having a bunch of comments that only say 'I loved your entry so-and-so!' :) So lets start encouraging each other more please. Thanks guys!

Brookie