Do not give up

I know writing first drafts are hard. Trust me, I haven't even gotten through one yet. But here's a little encouragement for all of us. :)

Your character's could be someone's OTPs someday. Or someone could ship them. Maybe you'll even start a fandom. Maybe even one as big as SuperWhoLock! Just think about that. All those feelings you have for your ships, someone could feel the same way about your characters some day. Alright, have a little squealing moment there. ;) I won't judge you. You should see the smile on my face from just thinking about it.

You could impact someone's life for God someday. People go through rough times in their lives, and books often help. Yours might just lead someone to Christ. Now that's something to smile about. :)

Friends can't bug you about reading it anymore. Just hand them the papers and sit back. lol, or your little sister.

You'll have the ultimate bragging rights. Especially if you're a teenager. Not many teenagers can say they've written a full length book.

God, family, and friends will be proud of you. You will have persevered through something not many people can do. You will have faced writer's block, plot holes, and difficult characters, and made it to the end.

Sit back for a moment. If you're having a hard time with your story, think of all the good things about writing. Think about the different things you love about your characters. Remember that time the words just flowed from your fingers?

And have fun! I don't care if it takes me twelve years to write my story if I'm having fun. Don't make yourself miserable. Pushing is good, straining is not.

Brookie

Featured blog of the month

Hey everyone Teen Words of Steel has just had the great honor of being the very first featured blog of the month over at Ravens and Writing Desks!!

You can go read the first post, How Does That Make You Feel?, now. :)

Thanks to the girls at Ravens and Writing Desks!! :)

Brookie

Writing it together

My friend and blogging buddy, Owyn, and I have been working on a series together. For now it's being called the Trio of Light. That name came before we added another character, but that's besides the point. I'm going to try to give you a glimpse into writing a book with another person.

Pro:  The first pro is that there is a lot of imagination going into this. Not only are your ideas going into this story, so is your partners. That makes for a very creative story.

Con:  The con is that well, there's a LOT of ideas going into the story and yours won't always make it. Sometimes you might have a brilliant idea, but your partner doesn't think it will quite work, bye, bye Mr. Idea.

Pro: You don't have to do as much work. Say if you're writing fantasy like Owyn and I are, right now I'm working on history and maps while she works on the first draft of the plot.

Con: You won't always agree. Sometimes you want someone to die, and your partner's a softy. ;)

Pro: You have someone to talk to about the first draft. I've never felt comfortable talking to others about my first drafts because I feel they royally stink. But because Owyn and I are writing together I feel comfortable talking to her about it.

Con: Sometimes you start to slack on writing. Owyn and I have been working on this story for a year now. But because of our busy schedules we're still at the beginning. (That may have to do with the fact that we've changed the plot like three times, and added Callan, my baby)

Pro: It's lots of fun. I have had a great time working with Owyn on our book. I have been recently learning that I'm an extrovert and I love people, so sometimes I can get a bit lonely working by myself. Plus, it's a great excuse to have Owyn up for the weekend. ;)

Con: Sometimes it can get a bit annoying. EX: Arin, Owyn's baby, is a bit too perfect at them moment. Sure, she has a few emotional things, but nothing much. I think I spent ten minutes on the phone trying to convince Owyn to give her at least one or two more flaws.

Pro: You and your friend can really get to know each other this way. Before I moved Owyn and I were friends, but not super close. But while my family was still in the stages of moving (We moved slowly) Owyn and I decided to start writing a book. Since then we've become very close friends and have kept in close touch. :)

So there you go! If you think you like the sounds of working together, grab a buddy and start brainstorming!

Brookie

Why the deaths had an impact (Spoilers for the Hobbit)

For those of you who haven't either read or watched the Hobbit, there are spoilers.

So, why do I think the deaths in the Hobbit have such an impact?

Thorin, Fili, and Kili have faults, weaknesses, and doubts.

Thorin: He becomes obsessed with the gold and with finding the Arkenstone. He lets it take him over. He even begins to think one of his company has stolen it for himself. He lets hate and anger brew inside. Thorin won't keep his word, he lets people starve outside his gates.

Fili: Is loyal to a fault. Even though he knows that his uncle is becoming a monster, he doesn't do anything about it. It's his uncle, the rightful ruler of Durin. He puts loyalty before everything else.

Kili: Is almost just as loyal as his brother. And according to his mother, he's reckless.

But they also have some good qualities. The fact that they are loyal, they are brave, and strong, they don't fear death. They would gladly give their lives for their uncle Thorin and for Durin. They make mistakes, but they realize what they were, and they overcome those mistakes. They go out and join the fight, they forget the Arkenstone, and they die fighting for others.

I think why their deaths make such an impact is because we realize that no matter how big a mistake, no matter how awful and cruel someone can act, they can change. And when we see that they finally made the great sacrifice to change, they died fighting for it. That rips us and tears us, because we know they could have lived greats lives, yet they were cut short. But even so, for those few hours, they did the right thing, and they fought a great fight.

So shed some tears with me over Thorin, Fili, and Kili. :') They deserve them.
Do you have anything to add?

Brookie

M C, H N Y, and tBoFA!!

  Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! :) I hope you have all had a wonderful time. :)

  This is a really short post. Sorry. It might look a little scary, but there aren't any spoilers.
So, I assume many of you have seen the last Hobbit movie, the Battle of Five Armies? I have to say I was a bit disappointed. But I enjoyed it anyways.

  I have just one thing for you to chew on till I can write a nice, full length post on this. Why did the deaths in this movie have such an impact on many of us? I mean, the tears well up every time I see a picture of (You know who). There should be a post coming soon on my thoughts about this. Share what you think, without naming who died! in the comments. :)

Brookie

Fantasy Horses (Not true)

So after reading a random blog post on horses in books, seeing as I know about horses, I figured I might write a one or two on them.

There are quite a few books out there with horses. I'm here to tell you which facts are true and which ones aren't. (I am taking a few from the post I saw because they were important, but other than that these are my own)

1. Saddle breaking a horse takes months

  No. Breaking a horse to ride might take a month, depending on how often you get out there. But saddle breaking a horse should only take a week or two at the most.

2. Horses scream in pain or fright

  Nope. I have seen our horses get into plenty of tangles, our mare has even given birth, and I have never heard a horse scream. Now they can scream, but mostly they don't.

3. Shin Splints are serious

  From what I've heard, no. I've never had to deal with this yet. But I have read this before, were the horse gets a shin splint and it's awful. People cry, it's the end. No. It's not serious.

4. All horses love apples and carrots

  My horse hates apples, but loves carrots. My sister's horse loves both. Some horses don't like carrots, but love apples. Remember that horses are like people.

5. Horses get along super well

  It might be true for some horses. But talking from experience, no horses ever get along well all the time. Our horses are always playing the nip-nip game and, well, horsing around. 

6. Horses are loyal

  Ha! I have always found this one funny because everyone thinks it's true. Your horse can love you, it   may even only care about you, but horses are not loyal. This is a human trait that only humans have. Horses are built with a fight or flight instinct. If something truly scares them, they will forget all about you. As much as I love my horses, I know I cannot rely on them to somehow save me. 

7. They always look majestic

  I wish. Horses are wild animals, and whatever they can find, they will get into. Unless you are rich and live in a elite barn, with paid workers constantly out there, your horse will get scrapes and hurts. They can do it while getting an itch, playing, rolling, fighting. Horses will get messy. 

8. They only sleep standing up

  If you have a herd that is comfortable in there surroundings and comfortable with each other, they will sleep lying down. It's rare for people who don't live around horses to see this, but people who do, see it all the time. Horses generally have around thirty minutes of on the ground sleep a day. Now that's an average, they don't always lay down everyday.

9. Baby horses are always cute

  Well, this one is mostly true. But when some of them get their winter coats not so much. Our little guys looks like a furry mule right now.

10. They hate/love dogs

  Some horses love dogs some hate them. Some only tolerate them. 

Was anything answered here that you used to think was true? If you have any other questions on horses for your book, let me know!

Brookie

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Who am I and what am I doing here?

Or what we're going to address, who is my character and what are they doing in that book?

I like to talk about the MC, but today we'll talk about that character who doesn't know what they're doing.

                                                        

I have one of those right now. Her name is Sadie, and she's going to marry the MC's brother. But other than that... well, right now she's useless. I will figure it out as soon as November comes. NaNaWriMo people! My first year of the 50,000 word goal. :)

So let's talk about Sadie, and whoever is in your book that needs a job. Let's first ask the question; Do you love them? Do they absolutely have to stay?

No. Then cut them out.

"The moment you write a character who doesn't add to the story, you've written one too many." W. G. James

Yes. Keep reading.

If you can't find the heart to get rid of them then it means work, just to warn you. Give them a bit of a background, it doesn't have to go deep. But what are they passionate about, why and how do they know the MC? Ask yourself the basics, you don't have to go really deep unless... well we'll discus that in a moment. What do they do for a living? Are they going to help or oppose your MC? This is one of the biggies.

Now, can you give them a bit of a twist? What if originally they're the MC's friend, but then towards the end they betray them. Maybe it's not even because they are evil, but they thought doing it this way was best. Or maybe they've got a deep background, what happened before they met the MC? Were they famous? Bullied? An alcoholic? In a gang? What if their past comes to bite them and in the process trips up the MC?

Or do they have something important to share with the MC? Did they get into a similar situation in the past, maybe they have some advice. Use your imagination, it's not just for little kids you know. Now that you're older you can harness it and use it to do what you love, write. :)

What do you think? Anything you'd like to share? Or maybe share an instance where you had a character who at the beginning was a nobody, then turned out to be really important to the story?

P.S. I did get the title from my worldview curriculum if you were wondering. 

Brookie

Choosing a name

First I must say I am so sorry. But my excuse will calm your complaining. We found out my dog has Cancer last week. I volunteered to organize sponsoring a child for my youth group. I went on a fast of only going online once a day for a week. And we had guests.

But I am taking some of my precious time and writing you patient people a post. ;)

Today we will talk about choosing a name. Let me just say beforehand that I am not going to give you a bunch of rules like most posts on naming character do.

 So...

Rule #1: Always- Just Kidding ;P

Now I like examples so this post will probably have quite a few.

When starting a story you might already have the name or you might just have the plot. But either way most likely you'll change it. I have two WIPs that I'm working on and I've changed both of MC's names. Plus several minor characters names.

One I started out with Bell, then it changed to Bella Quest, (Because I like the name Bella better), then I realized that 'Bella' and 'Quest' both have five letters and apparently that's a big no, no in the writing world. So I decided on Bailey Quest. The last name Quest had really gotten stuck on me and it's also part of the theme. And the 'B' also was something I didn't really want to get rid of.

There is also the 'rule' of why is your character named what they are. Bailey doesn't really have a background to her first name. Robin and all the other characters from Falconston do. They are in a world where they worship birds. So everyone has a name that is somehow connected to birds. Robin, Caique, Sparrow, Blue, and others.

Then from the WIP that Owyn and I are working on together, I have A' Mercy. Her full name is Anna Mercy. Her mother's name was Anna. Her mother was very brave and outgoing, but then she died. A' Mercy is a bit on the shy and quiet side, and she doesn't feel she deserves the name. So she shortened her own to be 'A' Mercy'.

Now see how not every character has some back-story to their name. I don't suggest giving every character something. But I do suggest that you give at least one character in every book you write to have some back-story. And mix it up as much as you'd like. :)

Then we also have the 'rule' of not giving two important characters names with the same amount of letters. I try my best to avoid that one. But it's one that, 'Really? Suck it up, readers.' ;P

Give characters age appropriate names. Don't give the new-born baby a name like Mabel. I personally like the name, but nobody names their kids Mabel anymore. If you're writing historical novels research the most popular names during that period. Not when the book takes place, but when they would have been born.  

And lastly, choose a name that you like. If you name your MC Harold, but you don't like the name, do you really think you're going to want to come back to the story? And please use names like John, Josh, and any other popular names to a minimum. ;)

Don't give your character first and last names that have the same amount of letters
Don't give two characters names with the same amount of letters
Give at least one character in each WIP a background to their name (It really is kinda fun)
Give age and era appropriate names
Choose names that you like

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