Developing Other Talents to Help Your Writing

To be honest, I don't have many talents. There are a very small amount of things that come naturally to me. So if you're one of those people who plays sports, acts, sings, paints and still has time for weekly volunteer opportunities, you might just want to leave and not mention it lest I turn red in the face and feel compelled to slap you in envy. It is perhaps because of this reason that I have dedicated so much time and effort into writing. My lack of options has given me the incentive to become great in this area of talent. It's a good motivation I suppose, but sometimes I wish I could do more things. And through trial and error, I have discovered that it's helpful and healthy to at least try your hand at other talents. To me, these other endeavors will always be secondary, but they can aid you in your writing in more ways than you might think.

Two years ago, I tried my hand at acting. It was something I thought I might be good at. However, I have since learned that I'm much better at improvising than delivering deliberately. To be fair, I only participated in drama for two years, so I didn't push my limits by any means. Acting is fun, but saying someone's else lines that I didn't write, is difficult for me. Even so, learning to adhere to other characters and learn how written movements can translate into real life, gave me techniques and insight for dialogue and character quirks.

Last year, my mother put me in a painting class (against my will). See, my father is a brilliant artist (you can check out his website here), so my mother along with strangers, assume that it must be in my blood too. I was adamant about the fact that I have as much visual arts talent as a kindergartener, but she insisted that I get my feet wet. And guess what? I turned out to be right! I'm an awful artist. But I already knew that. So really, it was a good learning experience for knowing which things I'm terrible at! How encouraging.

The only other talent that comes naturally to me besides writing, is singing. Now, I'd like to think that I'm a better writer than a singer (at least I hope so), but singing is the talent that other people see. When I was little, my elementary school music teacher would give me solos and strangers have said to me "Oh, you should be a singer!" To which I always replied, "no thanks". But when I entered high school, I decided to explore singing a little more. I began singing on a worship team, and the encouragement I received gave me confidence that maybe I didn't just sound good in the shower. So last year, I joined choir, and I'm loving it so far. Of the other things I've tried, it's definitely the most up my alley.

But how has singing helped me? Well other singers will agree that when you sing, you think about a lot of things. Your tone, articulation, pitch, volume, and overall sweetness of sound. And when you think about it, good writers should be considering the same things when writing. It's not all about how nicely it flows, there are many other factors to increase the quality.

I share this with you as someone who was once guilty of sticking to one thing. I'm glad I have explored other talents and I would encourage you to do the same for the reasons I have mentioned. It also can provide new writing material!

How have your other talents aided your writing? Let me know in the comments!

The Power of Twitter

About a month ago, my bloggy friend Kate at: themagicviolinist.blogspot.com made the (what has turned out to be) a fabulous suggestion that I start a twitter for my online book club. And boy, am I glad she mentioned it! I've been posting regularly for a little over a year now and over that time, I accumulated 12 followers. Which doesn't include email subscriptions and all that jazz. Averaging that out, you could say I got one new follower a month. Now to you, that may not sound like many, but I'm surprised that anyone thinks my posts are worth reading and commenting on! That being said, since I joined twitter about two to three weeks ago, I have gained FOUR new followers! Let me repeat: four new followers in two weeks, whereas it had taken me a YEAR to get twelve! It's the power of twitter, I tell ya. Anyway, I thought that was pretty cool and I wanted to share this cool way to expand your following since I know many of you are small bloggers too. If you're wondering what account I'm talking about, you can follow the tweetings of my online book club by searching for @internetreaders on twitter!

Do you use Twitter of other social medias? How have they helped you? Let me know in the comments! 

Forcing Ideas (Yes, You CAN Force Them)

I've mentioned on my blog before that inspiration is a dangerous drug we young writers often get addicted to. In short, inspiration does happen on occasion, and we all know how nice it is when a brilliant idea falls into your head. However, that simply doesn't happen often. And you don't have time to wait on inspiration. Sometimes, you have to force ideas.

I know what you're thinking. It sounds dangerous, doesn't it? After all, writing is a delicate craftsmanship that is meant to be born solely out of your genius creativity. Yes, we are geniuses, which is why we can force ideas. Any progress in my literary career can be attributed by deliberation. I've never gotten anything accomplished by sitting under an oak tree with a notebook, waiting for something wonderful to hit me like a meteorite. More often than not, you only have a nugget of inspiration, and the real task comes when you have to turn that into something legible; something with potential. Let me demonstrate:

For a while now, I've had a desire to write a book about, or from the perspective of a boy. And I want to write a fantasy novel. That was alll I knew, all I knew until a few days ago, when I started writing down ideas and possibilities. Within a week, a non-existent world has been created in my head, complete with characters and their compelling problems. The process went a little something like this: I realized that every genre has it's own trends. For example, every mystery has a detective or police officer who has had no success up until a certain point, and now it's their chance. And with fantasy novels, there are even more of these trends. Deciding what ingredients I wanted to include and didn't, helped this desire become an actual figment.

For example: when a character is transported from reality to a fantasy world, either they enter through some kind of portal, somebody takes them, or it's just a dream. I decided that I wanted somebody to take my character, since I couldn't think of a portal, and the last one just seemed lame.
Next: the fantasy world always wants the "real" person for a particular reason. Why? It could be, to save the fantasy world, fulfill a prophecy, or provide the character with some kind of escape. I settled on the first one.
See how with a simple process of elimination and trial and error, you can make more progress than you ever could at the hands of inspiration? I encourage ya'll to do the same.

Have you ever forced ideas? What has been your experience? Let me know in the comments! 

Why I Love Spring

I guess you could say I have a lot of connections to spring.
I was born in the spring.
According to those fashion pallet thingies I should wear "spring colors". Which, I wear spring colors all year round and it's exciting to know than in a few weeks, people will stop looking at me funny for doing it.
Green is my favorite color, and when it's spring, green drives away the dry, cracked earth and the grey grass to grace it with life.

I like winter too because of the solitary nights and cozy times by the fire. But this has been a long winter with lots of ice and howling winds, and this year, spring seems to beckon me like an old friend who I'm finally admitting I need.

Spring makes me want to do things I wouldn't otherwise, and it makes me forget things I wouldn't otherwise forget. For example, in the springtime time I sometimes forget to eat. I'm so busy enjoying the warm, fresh air doing cartwheels on new grass that at 4 o'clock I realize, whoops I forgot about lunch. In the colder months, eating was a constant hobby. I mean it's so cold outside and that spaghetti with cheesy bread is so...warm. In the springtime, I'm content to sip on homemade lemonade all the live long day and spend the afternoons doing what I please.

To me, the new year doesn't really start until spring. In January, the world is still cold and people are getting over their New Year's hangover and nobody looks well. However in spring, the world is fresh and I think we all feel fresh. The end of the school year is coming, and you're more willing to study harder. Swimsuit season is on the horizon, making us spend more time at the gym or me for me, frolicking around outside. In the south, spring never seems to last long enough. It's more like a brief transition from winter to summer so I like to savor it as long as I can.

Wearing shorts, washing the car outside and going for nightly bike rides are just a few of the reasons I love spring.

Are you excited?

My Life Timeline in Books

I saw this linkup on the book chewers blog, and thought it was pretty much fantastic. Naturally, I've decided to participate.

Altoona Baboona by Janie Bynum. My dad used to read this to me before I fell asleep. The funny story and clever rhyming scheme made me laugh, and it still does. I can still remember complete lines such as, "Altoona Baboona flicks peas with a spoona, and dances all night in the light of the moona." :)

Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park. I was a big fan of this series from kindergarten to third grade. To me, Junie B. felt like a kindred spirit, if you will. I remember reading one chapter where she mentioned that she had a favorite shirt which she would pull out of the dirty clothes and wear again. Stop looking at me like that, I've NEVER done that before...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. This was the first book I fell in love with. Yes, you CAN fall in love with books, often more easily than you can fall in love with people. I read the book when I was seven and finished it in one day while at school as I read under my desk when the teacher wasn't looking. I would spend many more days and nights dreaming of Narnia and pretending to be Lucy. The movie came out one year later, and going to see it the first showing on that cold December evening, remains one of the most magical nights of my life.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M Montgomery. We all love Anne. How could you not? She's funny, dramatic, imaginative and delightfully irrational. I read this book aloud to my mother at the age of eight or nine and I've read it countless times since. Gilbert is my man.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Yes yes, I like girly books. You're going to have to get used to that. I read this aloud to my mom at the age of ten (it's something we do a lot) and I fell in love with Jo. She and I are still uncannily alike. The tom boy-ish ness, love for writing and delightful immaturity fit me to a T. I've read the book numerous times.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I read this when I was 11, and it promptly became my favorite book. The intriguing love story, clever dialogue and humorous descriptions captured not only my intellect, but my writing style. I often find myself emulating Austen when writing. I recently bought a new edition of Pride and Prejudice, because my old book was falling apart at the seams :)

For some reason, I can't remember many books that truly impacted me when I was between the ages of 12 and 14. To be honest, I probably spent that time re-reading old favorites.

At age fifteen I read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. This is probably the longest book I've ever read, and definitely one of the best. Victor Hugo's writing is BEAUTIFUL, and the elements are so honest. One of my favorite sections is when Marius and Cosette have started to notice each other, and the author's description of how boys and girls behave in love is laughingly accurate.

And finally, last year I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I began to read it thinking that I wouldn't like it, since I've attempted other Steinbeck books in the past and have always failed to finish them. But at the prompting of my mom and my older brother, I decided to give it a go. I'm not gonna lie, there are a lot of harsh concepts that made me cringe or crinkle my face when reading, but I think it was one of the few reads that changed my life. Though the story was difficult to digest because of its serious content, I cried tears of joy so many times when reading. Steinbeck addressed some beautiful things that most author's wouldn't dare to do and created a wonderful story of redemption. If you're an older teenager or young adult, don't do yourself the disservice of neglecting to read this book.

I hope you liked my "Life Timeline in Books!" Be sure to check out the link below, so you can participate and I can see your posts! Thanks for reading :)

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March Book Club

ATTENTION READERS!!! From February to the end of March we will be reading "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner! If you would like to be part of the review and online discussion, leave a comment with your email and I will be in touch. ALSO, you can now follow this book club extravaganza on twitter! Yes sireebob you can find us by typing in Online Book Club, or searching for @internetreaders. Happy reading!

"These Broken Stars" - Book Club

Welcome to the first installment of my online book club! Just as with any normal book club, on this post we will be discussing the book "These Broken Stars" along with Kate and Marie. I'll start by offering a brief synopsis.

"These Broken Stars" is a compelling sci-fi romance written by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner. When the giant ship called the Icarus crashes onto an unknown planet, two teenagers survive and are forced to roam this unknown planet in isolation. Lilac and Tarver are as different as they come. Tarver is a hard working soldier of a humble background who otherwise would never dream of associating with the rich and beautiful Lilac LaRoux. Not only was I surprised that I ended up enjoying a sci-fi novel, but I was amazed by the writers' ability to keep the reader hooked on a story that revolves around two characters. I think that should testify to the fact that this book is engrossing in all regards. But I'll let my friends share their thoughts. *BEWARE OF SPOILERS* tread, I mean uh...read lightly guys. Read lightly...

Marie: 

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I pulled my copy of “These Broken Stars” out of the mailbox. The cover, for example, practically screams “YA dystopian romance!” a genre which I am not very fond of.

But I had made a commitment to read it. So I opened up the cover, and started on the dust jacket, a habit I cannot seem to get rid of even though it annoys me so much that I usually just buy paperbacks. The front inside flap was a plot summary. Okay, I thought, a snobby rich girl and a soldier stranded on a planet, they fall in love…pretty much what I was expecting from the cover.

I congratulated myself for being so insightful. But then I flipped over to the back cover, to the biography of the two authors, and saw something there that made me think twice about judging a book by its cover. At first, I sort of skimmed the paragraph. In my head, it went something like this. Bla bla bla Australia, bla bla bla writing , bla blab la space opera, bla bla—wait, space opera?

And I had to stop and read it a few times. I don’t know how many people know this, but I am a giant space opera nerd. I love the Star Wars movies with a passion that rivals my love for Cheetos. I’ll sit at home by myself just so I can watch reruns of Star Trek and Lost In Space. 

The knowledge that this book could technically be considered space opera gave me the push I needed to stop procrastinating and start reading. And I did. I read it all the way through. And I was very pleased to find that it is space opera, beautifully written and wonderfully melodramatic.

I’ll admit I still have issues with the whole “first-person-present-tense” thing. But that’s just me; I’m silly like that. The authors did a wonderful job of differentiating between the two styles. I really did like Tarver and I really did hate Lilac (for a few chapters.) Then I started liking both of them, and things probably would have continued like that for the rest of the book, only they fell in love with each other.

Maybe it’s just me, but as the reader, I feel like the awkward third wheel during the more romantic scenes of the book. I suppose, in most books, there are usually a few other characters hanging around, characters who are just as awkward as you, and you can be like, “Yeah, this is awkward. Hey, let’s go throw some rocks at a tree. Yeah. Sounds cool. Rocks. At a tree.”

That being said, I liked Lilac for the rest of the book. She changed a lot, and in a positive way. She started being true to herself, and discovering what her talents were. (Blowing things up. That’s a good talent. I was jealous.)

Tarver, however, turned into this hormone-driven animal-type guy. I suppose that’s how any boy would be, and Lilac was okay with it. I wasn’t, but I’m not the one who fell in love with him. Anyways, he was starting to get on my nerves until something horrible happened to Lilac, and she sort of changed forever. Then I could see that he actually cared for her. And it was really very sweet.

I have a few other things I would like to say, about the ending, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep dancing around major plot points—which some of you may not have read yet, so I should probably stop before I give anything away. (Plus you’re probably bored to tears by now.)

I’ll say one more thing before I finish. I loved how the authors put excerpts from Tarver’s interrogation in between each chapter. That was clever. I had the same idea, before I read this book, and was a bit crushed to find that they did it, and even more that they did it better than I did.

So I liked the book. I didn’t love it, and that’s my problem, but I liked it. I might even read the next one, when it comes out, because I want to see what happens to Lilac. Oh, and I guess Tarver too. Hopefully, the writers will put their brilliance to work and have more than just five or six characters. I liked the solitary feeling of this first book—very intimate and private, unusual things for a work of science fiction—but I think Kaufman & Spooner have more tricks up their sleeve.

Kate:

I think this book was amazing in every way possible. The characters, the plot, the writing, everything! I took me a little bit to get into, but once I got past those first 80-100 pages or so, I couldn't put it down.

I loved Lilac and Tarver, but I think that Lilac especially grew as a character throughout the book. She started out as a snobby, gossiping, rich girl who wouldn't even take her ridiculous high heels in the wild. And I loved that! It was such a refreshing change from the stereotypical Katniss Everdeen heroines we see in today's books. I loved seeing Lilac slowly change as the book went on, seeing her slowly transform from the girl in the green dress to a girl who wasn't afraid to walk around a crashed spaceship to save Tarver. The scene at the end when she confronts her father and basically goes ballistic on him about Simon in Tarver was just awesome. I was scared of her just then!

And Tarver! Oh my God, when Lilac died, he just about broke my heart. I cried the entire way through the following chapters before she "came back" (I'm not sure what term you'd use for what happened to her).

I also thought the passages in between when somebody's asking Tarver questions were really cool. It reminded me of the beginning of the chapters in Ender's Game. Except I thought these bits were easier to follow than those.

And Tarver had some of the best lines. For example, this one made me laugh out loud:

She considers the question, then nods, reaching up to tuck her hair back where it belongs. "Where will I sit?"Sit? Why, on this comfortable chaise longue I've carried here for you in my pocket, Your Highness, so glad you asked.

These quotes were heartbreaking:

Her hand lifts to grab at me, finding my arm and clutching tight. "Tarver." Her whisper's a gurgle, the blood in her throat now. "I lied. I'm--I don't want to die." Her blue eyes are wide and terrified as she gazes past me.

I'm shaking as I ease down to stretch out beside her, pressing my forehead to her temple, whispering my words against her skin. "I'm here." I can barely make myself loud enough, but I think she hears me. "I promise, I'm right here, Lilac. I won't go anywhere. I won't leave."

The Frost in my chest creaks, something else trying to come through. "I remember being dead, Tarver." I swallow, and my breath comes out like a sob. "How do you live again, knowing what waits for you in the end?"

And this one was beautiful:

But for now, as we wait for the engines to kick in, all of that is far away. For a moment the image before us is frozen: our world, our lives, reduced to a handful of broken stars half lost in uncharted space. Then it's gone, the view swallowed by the hyperspace winds streaming past, blue-green auroras wiping the afterimages away.

Until all that's left is us.

Thanks so much for participating, ladies! And you guys for reading! Hopefully in future this online book club thing will be a little more organized, but I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. Have you read "These Broken Stars"? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! OH, and be sure to check out Kate's blog at: themagicviolinist.blogspot.com. And I'll have a link to Maria's site soon! 

The Book Blogger TMI Tag

How old are you?
I'll be 17 in April!

What book/s are you reading? 
 "These Broken Stars", "David Copperfield", "The Hobbit" and "The Diary of Anne Frank" (does that count?)

What are you wearing?
Haha, oh boy. Grey sweat pants and a black shirt, with pink and purple stripey socks. I'm usually more colorful, but it's freezing outside.

OTP?
This stands for one true pairing, in case you didn't know. Hmm, there' s a few that come to mind. Probably Anne and Gilbert, or Jo and Laurie. I read Little Women when I was ten, and I'm still mad that they didn't end up together.

Going outside and being active, or staying inside with a good book?
Both! Absolutely both! When it's nice outside, I love going on walks and bike rides or taking a book to the park. But when it's cold and rainy, I like to stay cuddled up in my chair with some blankets :)

What book are you going to read next?
Probably Great Expectations or The Three Musketeers, since I just bought those at Barnes & Noble the other day

Ebooks?
Not if I can help it.

What blog did you last look at?
themagicviolinist :)

Who's your favorite blogger?
I've said it once and I'll say it again, thewritepractice

Who's your favorite book character?
That's like asking me to pick my favorite desert. This is pretty much impossible, but I do love Anne from Anne of Green Gables; we're kindred spirits :)

Preferred drink whilst reading?
Coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

How many bookshelves do you have?
I have one that winds around my wall, but it still can't hold all my books, so I have them laying around my room too. I have 78 books!

Favorite author?
Again, this is incredibly hard. Either Jane Austen, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, or Charles Dickens. But then Mark Twain is really funny. Do you see my struggle?

Favorite book-to-film adaptation?
I love the Lord of the Rings movies

Last song you listened to?
"Fever" by Michael Buble. It's always time for Michael Buble.

Who do you want to answer this tag next?
Everybody! I can't wait to see all the replies :)