Guest Blogger

The wonderfully talented JP wrote something for you guys since Charlie and I have been unable to come up with anything to write about.  Let me know if there's anything you guys would like to discuss!!

So near my house is a bookstore that I walk to ever so often whenever I feel a bit sad. Something about the smell of paper…Anyways, it was one of these visits did I discover a biography of writer and all around badass Truman Capote. I’m not really a fan of biographies or memoirs. I think those writers try to analyze people lives like they would a fiction book where everything is meaningful in such a convenient way; whereas, the reality is that people deal with a lot of random and sucky crap.



What I liked about the Capote bio was that author, Gerard Clarke, didn’t try to explain or contextualize all the sucky crap that happened to Capote. And there was a whole lot of sucky crap.


First of all, he was gay. Which sucks in itself if you’re growing up in the early 1940s. He was abandoned by both his father and later his mother. He was molested by other high school boys. He was rejected by his family for being too effeminate. Even when he gained fame and fortune for writing “Breakfast at Tiffanys” and “In Cold Blood” he soon became an alcoholic and died a much too early death.


However, what I learned most about the life of Truman Capote (besides, ya’ know, stay away from the booze) was to be honest: in my writing and life. Capote was such a great writer and so worth doing a biography about because he was fearless when talking about his problems like his loneliness. I think when he made up his characters, he gave a little of himself to them: his insecurity, his alcohol abuse, his abandonment issues. I don’t know if it was therapeutic for him, but it made his stories much more authentic and therefore more compelling to read.

However, where he succeeded in his writing, he failed in his personal life. He never told people about his problems and in doing so he became self-destructive.

I think one of my favorite quotes by Capote has to be in “Breakfast at Tiffanys” where the main character Holly talks about her sadness. I think it’s my favorite because the words are simple, yet the pain is evident.

“Never love a wild thing.... He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up.... If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky.”

Maybe I didn't know Capote, but I sure do hear him.

Thanks, JP, for this lovely post!

Writing and getting started (kind of)

Hello, Dreamers.  Merry late Christmas. 

I'd like to talk about something I've been thinking a lot about lately: Actually getting started writing after you've been playing with an idea in your head (and, you know, have written it down and everything).  This, to me, is seeming like a hard step in the writing process of a project I really want to start.  It's a very personal project, that I haven't totally gotten okay-ed, but I do want to write it because I feel that it will help me, personally.  However, this project has several thoughts and feelings that I personally experienced and revisiting those thoughts and feelings scares the crap out of me - and I think that's why I'm having a hard time actually starting it.  However, I don't want to start it until it has been okay-ed, but I know that that approval might not come for a while, and even then, it might not be a "yes".  Which would totally suck, but I would take it.

So that probably made absolutely no sense to you because I even confused myself a little bit there.  But I guess what I'm trying (and probably failing) to say is that getting and idea is 'easy', playing with it in your head is easy and figuring out where you might go with it is easy - but when you sit down to start writing it or, in my case, when I think about sitting down to start writing it, it gets harder.  Because that's when it becomes real.  It's when this idea in your head that you might do something with someday becomes this actual piece of work that is coming solely from your imagination and fingertips.  And that's scary because if something is not turning out the way you want it to or it's not sounding the way you want it to or it's not flowing the way you want it to you, you blame yourself because you're the only one with influence on it.  And, as a writer, I think that we sometimes use this as an excuse to never start writing - fear can be a powerful thing, but only when we let it. 

I'm really losing where I'm going with all of this.  It used to be so easy to just put to words exactly what's on my mind, but now it's hard.  Guess I've been out of the practice too long.  Which is another reason I really want to start writing the other project.  I can't get back to SOLACE just yet - not to mention I'm not sure if it would transfer over to this computer or not.

Since I've just wasted your time, I'm going to let you go now.

~Hanna~

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Dreamers!

My big, long Thanksgiving post is on my other blog (http://www.wonderfulwritingwebsite.blogspot.com/) if you're interested in reading it.

I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Thanksgiving and to remind you to remember what you're thankful for. This Thanksgiving is going to be an extremely difficult one for my family and myself, but I still realize how much I have to be thankful for.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and good luck on Black Friday!

~Hanna~

Dear Readers

Dear Readers,

I again must apologize for my absence.  It has been very hard to keep up with the blogging world due to the fact that there's really not been much going on.  And what has been going through my mind and what I've been feeling is too personal for me to share not necessarily with you guys, but to post on the Internet where anybody could potentially read it.  It's been a hard 59 days and I don't see it really getting any easier.  However I would really like to get back in touch with a lot of you and also get this blog back up.  Really, this blog hasn't been what we set out for it to be since Charlie went to England.

So I really want to know the answer to a few things.  First of all, are you guys even still checking this blog?  Or reading it?  Or do you even remember that it exists? 

Secondly, do you guys want to see the blog come back and be the out-let forum type thing it has been in the past? 

Thirdly, what do you guys want to hear about?  I've been out of writing for (like I said) 59 days, and I'm obviously not at the same point in my writing as you all are or could be.  So I'd really like to know what you guys have questions about or you just want to discuss.  Just please, don't suggest anything associated with the military, the war in Afghanistan, or the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.  Thanks.

Finally, are any of you doing NaNoWriMo?  And if you are, have you done it before?  If this is your first time, do you think you'll be able to do it or are you completely overwhelmed?  Do you know what it is?

I hope to hear from you all soon.  Please don't overlook our CONTACT US page where you can email any suggestions or pieces or whatever.  I was kinda thinking if you write something and you want people to read it and you don't mind it being posted on the Internet, if you email it to us via our contact address, (considering content, of course) we could post it on the blog and allow readers to give you feedback.

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween - Remember, dress in light/bright colors, not black if it gets dark early where you are!  Cars can't always see you! (And, no, there's nothing wrong with going trick-or-treating.  My great-grandma did until she couldn't get out of the house anymore.)

~Hanna~

Falling in and out of love...with a novel

Our wonderful follower, Corey, asked me this question:


Hanna,



I have a very important question on writing. I recently haven't found much time at all(as usual I suppose.)to work on my book. There are times when I feel my book is getting kind of bland, but I just want to skip all the talking and blah stuff to just get to the action, magic, and drama! What can I do to fall back in love with my story?
 
Finding the time to write, first of all, is harder and harder as you go through school - I knew that in Jr High and now in high school, I realize it even more.  With that said, writing can be frustrating when you're A: too tired to write  B: you're not inspired to write, but feel you really need to and C: when you finally think you're going to write and your computer randomly dies and won't turn back on. 
 
Thinking that your book is bland is completely normal - everyone has those feelings that "my book isn't as good as John Verdon's or John Green's.  They just have something that I don't." *there's nothing blah about dialogue - though, Corey, it's my favorite part, really.* However, sometimes skipping unimportant descriptions (or as I call them "filler sections") is acceptable.  Just insert a page-break or begin a new chapter with action or use the ***'s to symbolize time has passed.
 
As for falling back in love with your story...I'm not exactly sure what to say to you here, because right now I'm in the same boat.  I've kinda disliked my story at certain times, but I've never been so out of love with it as I am at the moment.  But the difference between you and me is that I know why I fell out of love with it, to me, it seems you don't really.  Usually when someone says they fell out of love with someone, when they realize why, they have peace-of-mind or sometimes they can even work it out because they realize where the faults were.  I know that at the moment I can't even pull up my novel because of the fact that I started writing "for" my cousin, Jimmy, whom was recently killed in Afghanistan.  In my novel, Jim is basically a character - Hallie's cousin in the Army - and he comes home in one of the books.  I can't stand the thought of writing what was supposed to happen, or what I wanted to happen, with Jim when I know it never will.  Not to mention that Hallie has a recurring dream that Jackson (Jim) is being ambushed in Iraq (which will probably be changed to Afghanistan) and that he...dies in her arms.  I don't think I could even stand to look at the scene, read it, think about it, or anything.  So I'm kind of put-out with the story right now.  I think - I hope - in time I will be able to look at it again, but that's a thing that's always going to have an open wound in my heart and each time I have to read, write, or think about Jackson is going to be like I'm pouring salt water in it. 
 
So, in your case I just ask you to think about why you started writing your novel, why you've kept with it for any amount of time, and why you used to love your characters and story basis - after all, you couldn't have fallen out of love with something if you never had loved it.
 
I'm hoping this helped you, Corey - and anyone else who's struggling with this issue.  Let me know if you have any questions or any other topics you'd like Charlie or I to post about.

~Hanna~

Charlie is back, life sucks, and so forth.

First things first, I'd like to apologize immensely for being away for so long.
In a way, life has been hectic. Yes, staying in your bedroom 24/7 does take a lot out of a person. I wish I could come up with some excuses.

Fake excuse one (1): I have been reading A LOT! (If 3 novels are a lot.. then this is not a lie.)
Face excuse two (2): I have been writing epicness!
Real excuse one (1): I watched an entire season of Glee in one day! Yes, 24 hours of non-stop entertainment and music! Fun,Fun,Fun.

For some reason, I can't write anything I want to stick with for more than a few days, and my plot is getting worse and worse the more I think about it. Talk about fast-paced.... it feels like I have nothing slowing it down, and that is why I hate it so much... or maybe I just have not found the right beginning. (READ HANNA'S POST ON BEGINNING'S.) Take my advice, they are important.

Here is some writing advice, and hopefully, I will take my own advice, too.

One month of thinking and plotting? Right... now get to writing. Forget the "OOOH, lets find pictures of our characters!" and the "OOOOH, lets read more for ideas and better writing!" (even though that is important) just write!

Trust me, I know. Take a look at my characters. I went as far as finding backgrounds, and editing their clothes and hair and eyes and mascara and skin tone on photoshop!
Sad, sad me.



Yes, that is Taylor Swift with long, golden straight hair, and beautiful juicy red lips and white skin, and added wings... Yes, the hair looks fake, I edited it. I am not the best photoshop editor out there... just to make that clear.
She is what my angel looks likes. <_<
Nothing to see here... move along.
Get Writing!

--Charlie, The Cooler Teen.

Thank You

The past two weeks of my life have been indescribably the worst of my life that I can remember. And they are indirectly a result of this day. 9-11.


Nine years ago today two planes were flown into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and one went down in a Pennsylvania field. Hundreds of people were killed, and we still mourn them. This year I didn't have time to put together a tribute, which is something I feel extremely horrible about, but seeing the pictures of that day just makes me want to throw up.

Nine years later we are at war as a result of these attacks. The combat troops have been pulled out of Iraq, but the war still ranges in Afghanistan. I thought that I knew well enough the cost of war, having my cousin, Jimmy, fight twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan. On August 28th, 2010 I discovered I hadn't even scratched the surface of just how much the war effects me. August 28th, 2010 was the worst day of my life that I can remember. Because on this day Heaven decided that they needed my hero.

I'd like to take a minute to say thank you to each and every person who has lost their life defending our country or in the event of an enemy attack, such as 9-11. As I said in my speech at Jimmy's services, people always say that freedom isn't free, but I never imagined it could cost this much.

As an insufficient thank you - to Jim and to every other fallen hero - I'd like to share with you all a poem I wrote for Jim on September 3, 2010.

"A Heart Forever at Half-Mast"


All gave some
Some gave all.
You fell into the latter
It's not fair -
Though I guess it never is.
So much to live for
So much to die for
When does one out-weigh the other?


Where is the line drawn
Between dutiful service
And inhumane violence?
Where do we reach the point
When we say "No more"
When we agree that enough's enough
And bring you home
And we find a better way to do this?


Heroes fall
And families mourn
We carry on your legacy
And cling tight to your honor.
Is there a time
When we stop crying?
When we can speak your name without pain?
When our hearts are no longer at half-mast?


You are my hero
And so I say
Thank you
For serving
For protecting
For being brave and strong
For being my cousin.


Medals
Articles
People calling night and day
Even a Purple Heart
And we can't even be happy for you.
Yes, we all gave some,
But you gave all.

"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten"

Sorry

I appologize for the lack of posting.  This past week has been pretty hard on me and my family, therefore I haven't had a lot of time on the computer nor have I had anything I wanted to talk about.  Writing just isn't important right now, so writing writing tips has also taken a back seat.  Hopefully I will be back after the end of this week or shortly there after.  Just please understand that I need some time.  Thank you so much.

~Hanna~

Characters

This idea was also suggested by Jessica in our suggestion box.  So this post will be all about characters.  From the ones we love to the ones we love to hate. 

Every character has their own voice, a personality that is unique to them.  No matter how stereotypical you try to make a character, they are still very much their own person.  Just as actual people are all each unique.  Stereotypes, in my mind, don't really exist because even if you fit into a category, you're not the same as another person that fits the category.  Anyway, because each character is unique, there's really no way to tell you how to develop them to make them "real".

However, knowing your characters inside and out is very important in the development process.  When I began writing the first draft of my novel, I had absolutely no idea where I was going with it nor did I really take time at the beginning to get to know Hallie, Edward, Dale, Tabitha, and Gale (and every other character in the novel).  Without doing this everything I wrote was kind of like discovering another piece to a puzzle.  Which was kind of interesting because my characters somewhat created themselves, but it was also kind of tricky because I wasn't always sure how a character should react to things or if they would say something or not.  I think it's really important to know your main characters inside and out (I mean, I even know what Edward's house in England looks like ^^), but the minor characters you don't need to know everything about them - just what's essential to the story.  In doing so with your minor characters I think you'll be surprised to discover some random things about them as you go through the story.  I know through the course of writing Solace I've discovered that Dale is a really interesting character to me, and some other characters I kind of want to tell their stories.  Or at least I want to know them.

In a wonderful book called "Writing Magic" by Gale Carson Levine it gives this basic profile for a character.  This is how I filled out Hallie's character profile:

Character Sketch of Hallie Pearson


Name: Hallie Leanna Pearson

Nickname, if any: Hal

Kind of being: Human

Age: 21, almost 22

Sex: Female

Appearance: 5’7”, mid-neck length, brown hair, Caucasian, blue eyes, 120-125 lbs.

Family members: Michael, Lydia, Sophia, Clay, Brent, Jackson.

Pets: none.

Best friend: Gale

Room: Baby blue, gray, black, and white décor. Old look. Book shelves.

Way of speaking: English.

Physical characteristics: Optimistic, cautious, guarded, a little hurt, accepting, loving.

Items in her purse: Phone, perhaps pepper spray to please cop-of-a-cousin, Brent.

Hobbies: Reading, spending time with friends and family, music, writing.

Favorite sports: none (likes watching OSU football).

Talents, abilities, or powers: Accepting and loving, seeing the best in people, writing.

Relationships: Cautious because of past. Beginning to get back into relationships. When she is in a relationship, she’s in it with a passion--always giving her best.

Fears: Being hurt, dark, losing someone she loves, marriage.

Faults: She worries a lot, she has a hard time opening up to people.

Good points: She’s strong, accepting, loving, and very down-to-earth and modest. She has a beautiful laugh and loves to use it--though she doesn’t use it all that often.

What she wants more than anything else: To be whole again, to follow her beliefs and to not go against her values. Later on, Edward.

By doing this I discovered things about Hallie that I didn't really know - granted some of them aren't important and are never mentioned.  Such as her interest in writing or her fear of the dark.  Although I kind of knew these things - to an extent - seeing them all written out and right there in front of my face was amazing.  The character that I have and am working so hard to develop, seem real, is basically explained right there in one page apposed to the 180+ pages of draft two so far. 

I would use this same exercise for creating both your protagonist and antagonist.  Maybe for your antagonist add some things like "Why they became this way" or "Motive".

As for a secret to creating believable characters:  People.  Real people.  Use the characters in your life to create a basis.  DO NOT USE EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT PERSON!  But truly, observe people, see how they interact - or don't interact - with the public.  Now, I'm not telling you to stalk people.  I'm just saying when you're out in public, keep your eyes open and take everything in.  You might look a little creepy sitting at a table staring at a person across the room and writing things down.  Just make mental notes as write them down as soon as you can.  Oh, and don't make staring obvious.  Think about a TV show.  The characters on say "Criminal Minds" are real to us because they could easily be someone we know, or even us.  (I'd be Reed or Garcia.) And the unsubs and victims are real to us for the same reason because we could easily know these people - which sometimes is chilling.

As for perspective, I like to write from a female perspective, because I'm female.  However, I have experimented writing from a guy's POV and have discovered that I can do it, it's not hard, but not as well as the female perspective.

You also need to have your characters face conflict.  I know that sounds really basic, but it's true.  I had a hard time facing this fact in draft one, and therefore a lot of the story is just Hallie and Edward living life.  Never did they have one fight.  It's unrealistic and doesn't make for a good story.  In the words of my writing mentor, "Chase your characters up a tree.  Then throw rocks at them."  :)

Hope this helped, Jessica, and everybody else!  Let me know what you wanna hear about next! And tell Charlie to come back!  He won't listen to me.  This is Two Teens, One Dream, after all.  ;)

~Hanna~

Beginnings

First off I'd like to apologize for the lack of posting.  It's been a long, hard week, so I haven't been able to post anything nor could I really think of anything to post about.

Jessica was the first person to use the suggestion box. One of the things she suggested we talk about was beginning your stories. Beginnings are kind of essential, to anything you write. When you do public speaking, they like for you to begin with a joke or a strong point. For example, I read a poem at my great-grandma’s funeral and I began with “You know, waterproof mascara is the best invention ever.” Just as so, it’s very important that your story, poem, or novel starts with a strong point. You need to draw your reader in, make them want to start reading what you’ve written. Your whole piece could be amazing except for the beginning. But if no one wants to read the beginning and get to the parts that are wonderful, it won’t matter.



My wonderful writing teacher my eighth grade year referred to these such beginnings as “Interest Grabbers” or IG’s.


This is the most accurate name I’ve ever heard of describing beginnings because that’s truly what they’re there for: to grab the interest of the reader.


So if you haven’t caught on by now a beginning is very, very important. Finding a good beginning, though, can be somewhat tricky. It really depends on your topic, and what type of piece you’re writing. One way to generalize this topic is to think about things that usually grab your attention (not like the hot guy sparkling over there, more general than that). Leads may include, but are not limited to:


Dialogue,
Action,
Thoughts,
Flash-forwards, or
Moral-to-the-story-foreshadowing-what’s-gonna-happen.


So, tell me. Which of the following pieces would you be more likely to read?


1) Today I decided to go to the mall because I was so mad at my mom.


2) The door slammed shut as my fist clamped around the car keys so hard I was sure I’d puncture my palms. Throwing my purse into the car, I followed suit and thrust the keys into the ignition, heading out in the direction of the mall. No matter how much I focused on the road, all I could think about was how idiotic and irrational my mother was. Just because she doesn’t like my boyfriend doesn’t mean she has the right to tell me who’s right for me.


It should be a no-brainer, but whatever. Number two would be an example of a combination of Action and Thoughts.

So, do you see how much more likely you would be to continue reading one piece over the other?  It's important because I would have put the first piece down by now, where as the second has my attention because it has captured my interest.  Would millions of people have read Twilight if Stephenie Meyer had started the book with "I'm Bella and I'm moving in with my dad in Forks, Washington."?  I will be the first to say that there are a LOT of books with slow beginnings.  And the slower the beginning, the harder it is for me to get through a book.  But sometimes the beginning (after the IG) needs to be slow, because you need to give some back story or information.  I agree, those are the most boring things to read and write, but they are needed.

Hope this helped!
*In the comments (after commenting on the post or whatever) tell Charlie you want him to start posting again.  He got spoiled with all of the new books he picked up in England. :P *

~Hanna~