May
22
From Burned by PC Cast and Kirstin Cast
“Yeah, ’cause we think you’re like Rachel on Glee,” Shaunee said. “Super annoying, but she has to be in the show ’cause sometimes she comes up with good stuff and kinda saves the day.”
Alright, this quote jumped out at me for two reasons. The first, most obvious one is that I love Glee and love Rachel.
The second is that it was a pop culture reference. I always wonder if I should put them in my own writing or not. I’m an admited pop culture junky so tend to want to lay them on heavy. It is a risk because if your readers don’t know what you are talking about the majority of the time, you might lose them. It is also kind of like putting a time stamp on your book. When I read The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith, I know no idea that the first part of the series was written nineteens years ago. It seems so modern.
Lately, I’ve been going by what genre I am writing to figure out how much to throw in. For example, my crime book has very few. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few clothing ones to show that my main characters is a designer kind of girl. It aids to the overall story. For another book, I am having the character work in a club. It is much more light feeling and I think the pop culture stuff is fitting.
I wish I had marked the page in Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris that had the best pop reference ever. It was something about Sookie hearing Jace Everett’s Bad Things. For anyone that watches True Blood, it is the theme song. I thought it was so clever of her to put it in there. An extra treat to all of us that are big fans of both you might say.
Posted in Quotes bad things burned charlaine harris dead in the family glee kirstin cast l j smith pc cast pop culture quote rachel sookie stackhouse true blood vampire diaries writing
Mar
28
So I am getting close to being done with my second and well technically third edit. I printed my first draft out and hand edited it. From there, I both put the hand edits on the computer and re-edited as I went.
What I’m realizing now is that I have a long way to go. It is sad to realize but at least I am getting somewhere. My first draft had 106 pages. My second one, hopefully by the time I finish, should be around 150. I am extremely happy with what I have but the fact still remains, that isn’t enough.
It is hard to face because part of me says not to push the word count just to push it. But on the other hand is the reality that for the genre I’m going for, or most adult fiction, my book is so short that it would get passed over easily. I want to get to 250 but I’m struggling with how to do that.
At least I am getting there though. The hard part, coming up with the story, is behind me. Now I just need to find a way to really make it complete and perfect.
And of course there is still the matter of a title. I really, really liked The Beautiful Blood but decided it was way to close to The Lovely Bones so I’m still thinking. I have post its all over the wall by my bed with ideas.
Posted in Writing Updates book heather finley struggling word length writing
Feb
11
I have edited 11 out of 18 chapters. I am so excited. At the same time, I’m feeling ready to be done. Isn’t that weird? I hear all the time about writers getting obsessive about wanting their story to be perfect so editing non stop. I don’t think that is going to be the case with me. I’m happy with what I’ve done so far.
Still tons more left though.
Okay, back to editing for this girl.
Posted in Uncategorized author book edit editting novel writing
Jan
21
Writing has become more and more of a focus for me lately. I started getting into a new book I was writting but now have decided to focus back on editting the one I finished already. I’ve been away from it for a while so it feels good to look at it again. It is like that cliche, looking at it with new eyes.
At this point, I’m starting to get very excited. I just finished editting the first five chapters. I am extremely happy with them. It is funny because all of the sudden I am wanting other people to read it. Today was the first time since I started that I had that feeling. There was one line I editted that I just sat back and said, wow, I can’t wait for someone else to read that. It was such a good feeling. Pride in your work is important no matter what you do and I feel like in this case it is saying that things are falling into place.
I also had a huge realization. I am not Angelina Jolie nor am I John Green or Kathy Reichs. I am never going to write something that I think is as life changing as Notes from my Travels, as well written as Paper Towns, or as interesting of a read as Deja Dead. That is fine.
But the catch is, none of those writers are going to ever tell the story of Natalia Rizzello like I am. Plain and simple, they can’t tell the story I am writing like I can. Absolutely nothing against them but it is true. It is the same of most books and authors out there. Like Nicholas Sparks could never write a Harry Potter book as well as J.K. Rowlings even though obviously he is a great author.
I’m not trying to say I think I’m this absolutely amazing author or anything but I do honestly feel that I’m doing justice to the story I am telling.
Posted in Writing Updates angelina jolie authors book deja dead harry potter j k rowling john green kathy reiches natalia rizzello nicholas sparks notes from my travels Paper Towns story writing
Dec
02
Sorry about being so MIA lately. I’ve spent way more time reading than I have on my computer these days. And dating but that is a whole other story, lol. But I’m back. Well at least I hope. I think I’ll try to do the news stuff again starting next week because it was something to keep me writing every day.
Since I’ve been reading like crazy I’m going to start doing some blogs about books too. If you check out my reading list, you can see exactly what I’ve been reading. I’ll probably go back and write about at least a couple on the ones I’ve read last month. Especially on the book Pledged, I have been meaning to write some things. That was a book that really left me with a lot of thoughts at the end. Maybe I’ll even write on it tonight.
Besides reading like crazy, I have been trying to get into editting my book. I finished the first draft, did a written edit, and am now put corrects in while also doing a second edit. I kind of went through a period of really doubting that I could get anywhere with it but taking a few weeks away, then going back, completely changed my outlook. At this point I’m extremely happy with the way things are sounding. There are some parts that I’m completely in love with which is a great feeling. 2010 is definately going to be the year I become a published author. I have complete faith.
So yeah, reading and writing. Those are my excuses for not blogging but I feel like they are completely legit. Keep checking back for tons of new stuff up soon!
Oh PS, has anyone else seen the new Boondock Saints movies? I LOVED it.
Posted in Blah blah blah, Writing Updates, thoughts on movies all saints day blog blogging books boondock saints pledged reading sequal writing
Sep
22
As you might have noticed, I’ve missed a few days in news. I’ll try to get back on top of things tomorrow.
The reason I have been missing is actually VERY exciting. Since quiting my job I have been writing a lot more than before. In the past couple of weeks I started concentrating on one particular idea I had. I think I wrote a good ten chapters over the past four or five months.
I have now completely finished the book!
Well kind of. It is a first draft for sure. There will be lots of editting to do still. Right now it is about 100 pages long. I’m aiming for about 250. I feel like I have the big part done though. The skeleton is there so now it is just filling in all the details.
My game plan on editting is to go through my printed copy at this point adding and marking as much as I can. Once I get that down I will go through it again on the computer for another revistion as I’m fixing the paper ones. From there, as long as I feel fairly happy with it, I’ll give it to some people to edit. Probably my mom and grandma to be honest. Maybe my dad too. I haven’t yet figured out exactly what demographic it is for. I intended to write a chick lit novel but looking at it now it is far more action and way less romance than I though. Still probably chick lit since there is some fashion stuff and the view point is from a female.
From there, not to sure. This is all completely new to me. If you have any advice, let me know!
Posted in Blah blah blah book editting first draft writing young author
Jul
12
Is to attempt to write a book by August 15th. I know this is a HUGE challenge but I’m going to give it my very best shot.
I came to the realization that I’m tired of not being an author. I have so many books started yet here I am going to the same jobs day after day just to get a paycheck. It is time to get my life all in order and start doing something I truly love.
At this point I’m still trying to decide if I want to continue one I’m working on or to start with my newest idea. My idea is to attempt to write about ten pages a day. I’m going to try my best to power through and not worry too much on editting yet.
Wish me luck!
Posted in Blah blah blah, Writing Updates update writing
Jun
24
Where did the human race teeter? Did we mean for it to end like this? Is it ending?
We stared at the tv all morning. What did it mean anyways? I kissed Nick on the forehead. His brown locks curled feriously at the nap of his neck. His eyes looked worried but he didn’t say anything. Didn’t want to argue again, I guess.
Last night had been another long fight. He said we should stay home. Wait. I insisted that life had to go on for now.
Four people called in sick at the office. That only left three of us. Jaden and Phillip. I didn’t care much for Jaden. She was cold. Never one to go out of her way to make anyoen else feel comfortable. She was just there to do her job and go home to do whatever. I didn’t know anything about her personal life.
“So…” Phillip sat at the seat in front of me.
“Guess we know what the lead story will be for this week,” I attempted a weak smile.
He looked equally as concerned as Nick. “I would have expected you to spend the day at home. I’m pretty sure we aren’t going to worry about even putting out anything this week.”
We wrote newsletters for a big company. He had a point. It wasn’t like employees were going to care at all about what was going on inside the company. Certainly no promotions would be going on this week, if ever again. How long would it be until everything just closed I wondered.
“Where is Superman when you need him right?”
I nodded. “Actually I think that Resident Evil girl would be a better bet.”
I was trying to be lighthearted. Wasn’t exactly easy right now. Phillip knew that my family lived in Nebraska. There was no doubt that it had affected them already. Just a matter of time for all of us right?
Posted in Writing scraps narrative short story start writing