Day - 71

Character motivation

What makes a character tick? Why do characters act a certain way? These are both questions that can be answered by a well developed character. Let's go back to Tim and Amber, the characters I've created for some of my writing exercises. What makes Amber tick? Well, she obviously was impacted very hard by the death of her mother Janet. As a result of this, she appears to be a little bit mad at the world.

Tim, well we don't know a whole lot about him yet except that he's easy going, sarcastic, and has a book addiction.

Charlaine Harris does such a great job of developing characters and providing motivation for them. I can only aspire to be half as good as her character motivation/development.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 70

So I've discovered something that I've been overlooking in my writing. I'm not giving enough description about individual characters. For example, I may say something like "Suzy was brunette with blue eyes." Sure, this gives a general idea of what Suzy looks like, but if I said something like "Suzy had curly, brunette hair that went past her shoulders. Her blue eyes offset her pointed nose and narrow chin," this gives a totally different impression of the same character.

Now the tricky part is finding the balance between too much physical description and not enough.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day 69 - (Writing Exercise CH2EX2)

This writing exercise is about constructing a character from people I know. I took two physical features and one personality trait and combined them into a character named Stacy. What features and trait did I pick? Hmm......

Ch2-EX2

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day 68 - (Writing Exercise CH2EX1)

This writing exercise is about taking an aspect of my own personality and making this the main motive force behind the character's feelings and thoughts. So I guess the question is what personality trait did I impart into the character Tim?

Ch2-EX1

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 67

Tim and Amber are two characters that I made up during the first few exercises. To be completely honest, they have taken on a life of their own. Creating back story and personality traits for each character is a lot of fun. Amber has turned into a feisty character who is strong-willed and outspoken. However, there is a vulnerable side to her, which is her late mother Janet.

Tim is the "good guy." He's kind of sarcastic and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't partly based on me. Then again, I'm only sarcastic on days that end in "y." But I digress....

I've enjoyed developing Tim and Amber and am looking forward to what will happen to them next in the upcoming exercises. I don't know what will happen, but it should be interesting.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 66

Character Development

Chapter 2 has some great information on how to develop characters. One method described is called the "fission method." This involves taking a trait or passion that you possess and building a character based on that. For example, if you are shy, you can create a character that is shy. To change things up you can make the character really shy. Additionally, you can take different traits from different people and combine them into one.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 65

So after getting sidetracked, I'm getting back on track. I finished up four of the writing exercises from Chapter 1 and am now on Chapter 2. So what did I learn from Chapter 1 - "Ideas for fiction?" Well, I learned that it is possible to create a short story or a long story for that matter, based on a simple idea. Ideas can have a domino effect and create new ideas.

Chapter 2 deals with "Character." The plan is to build on the exercises I did in Chapter 1 on different ideas and learn how to develop characters and put them into different scenarios.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day 64 - (Writing Exercise CH1EX13)

This writing exercise is about a quiet disaster and an argument or discussion about the problem/disaster.

Ch1-EX13

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Day 63 - (Writing Exercise CH1EX12)

This writing exercise is about writing about a surprising behavior.

Ch1-EX12

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Day 62 - (Writing Exercise CH1EX11)

This writing exercise is about writing a scene in a war or after a war.

Ch1-EX11

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Day 61 - (Writing Exercise CH1EX10)

This writing exercise is about writing death and writing an obituary.

Ch1-EX10

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 60

I've discovered that a few authors post playlists of songs they listen to while writing. This is very interesting to me. Different types of songs can invoke different types of feelings and emotions. These can aide in the writing process in my opinion. Naturally, different styles of music can help with different writing genres. So without making myself look too girly or emo, here are some of the albums I've been listening to while working on these three different stories....

Red Bow
A Plea For Purging - Depravity
As They Sleep - Blacken The Sun
Asking Alexandria - Stand Up & Scream
Settle The Sky - Now That We're Watching
Oceano - Depths

Hmm....after writing this out..I'm noticing a dark theme music wise for Red Bow....

Crush
Intro - Intro
Intro - New Life
Mark Morrison - Return Of The Mack
Bobby Brown - Don't Be Cruel
Carrie Underwood - Play
LeAnne Rimes - Family

Alright, don't judge me on these albums. In my defense, Crush is a love story.

Untitled
Of Mice & Men - Of Mice & Men
We Came As Romans - To Plant A Seed
Park Lane - EP
Our Last Night - We Will All Evolve
Jamie's Elsewhere - They Said A Storm Was Coming
Texas In July - I Am

There are actually certain songs that I like to listen to when writing certain scenes. Maybe one day when the books are made into movies, I can have those songs playing the background. Ha!

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 59 (Writing Exercise CH1EX9)

This writing exercise is about an obsession a person has with collecting something.

Ch1-EX9

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 58

I'm plugging away on these exercises again. There is a lot of value in these writing exercises. I might think that the topics are a little bit weird, but I see what the author is trying to encourage....creativeness and practice. Practice may not make perfect in my case, but it will certainly give me more experience and time to polish my writing craft.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 57

With the help of my wife, I came up with two of the main character names for Untitled. Additionally, I tapped out a quick draft of a car chase scene from this particular story. Who doesn't like a good car chase scene? I have to admit, it was a lot of fun writing out a rough outline. There is so much room for expansion, but the guts are set in place.

So what does the car chase scene look like? Patience... But I do promise that this car chase scene is nothing like you've ever read or seen before.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 56

Progress check!

So I've gotten behind in updating and also completing the exercises. Despite all of these obstacles, I still am dedicated to the project and to practicing my writing. Just about two months down and ten more to go.

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day 55 - (Writing Exercise CH1EX8)

This writing exercise is about religion and writing about an idea.

Ch1-EX8

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Day - 54 (Writing Exercise CH1EX7)

Writing exercise 7 is about writing a sports themed scene. An intense rivalry, if you will. This was actually perfect because one scene in Crush is centered around a sports rivalry. Just a warning, there is some cussing in this exercise.

Ch1-EX7

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 53

Writing Tip

Story Grid - Make five columns across and seven down. In the first column, write:

1. Inciting Incident: (Event that starts the action)
2. First Turning Point: (Hero or heroine makes decision to deal with problem)
3. Second Turning Point: (Character realizes how big the problem is)
4. Third Turning Point: (Character accepts responsibility for problem)
5. Crisis: (Character makes decision to do something to get what s/he wants)
6. Climax: (The action character takes as a result of decision)
7. Resolution: (The situation after action is taken)

Above and across, write hero/heroine, relationship, story (external).

I like this idea of writing out thoughts in this grid format. I'll be trying this approach with some of the writing exercises.

Full tip can be found at:
http://fiction-plots-pacing.suite101.com/article.cfm/story_grid

Can I Get Published In A Year

Day - 52

I came across an interesting writing tip..."Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action."

Wow! I went back and read through some of my writing material and found that a lot of my sentences did neither. So why is that? Bad writing habits? Lack of writing experience? Probably a little bit of both. Only practice and reading different authors will remedy this, I hope.

Can I Get Published In A Year