The Stroke of Midnight

I'm one of those people who doesn't celebrate halloween. The only time I ever remember dressing up for it was last year. I went as a writer. It involved wearing my glasses instead of my contacts, putting my hair in a bun, and sticking a pen through it. Most people didn't even realize I was in costume.

I was telling one of my bosses today that I was going to stay up till midnight so I could start my "writing thing" as she called it. She found it silly to stay up and start writing then, when I could get a good nights sleep and start writing tomorrow. When Fin and I explained to her that half the fun was waiting that first night for the exact minute when you can start writing, she called us a strange breed.

Yes, I suppose we writers are a strange breed. We go through halloween day, waiting for it to be over. Because for us, the 31st just means the day before NaNo. Then, the real fun begins.

Find me on the NaNoWriMo website under the username georgiepenn.

Characters Make the Plot

As you've probably noticed, I like to fancy myself as a writer. It's something I greatly enjoying doing and have spent many hours not only doing it, but learning how to become better at it. I've read books on the subject, written by published authors. I haven't agreed with everything they've said, but it helped me to see that every writer is different. Every writer has things that work best for them.

I hardly consider myself worthy to give advice, but I would like to expound on something that has worked for me. Character analysis.

That's right. Character sketches. Not just piddly little profiles though. I'm talking extensive stuff. This is a person that you're trying to create. A person that is making up the contents of your novel. There is always more to discover. Always more to uncover.

I get writer's block. I know, surprise, surprise. Probably one of the most obvious statements a writer can make. There are very few things I can do to break that inspiration stopping wall. One of them, the one that seems to work the most for me, is character analysis. Discovering more. It's amazing how learning one little morsel of information on one little side character, can open up a whole slew of new plot ideas.

Not only can you find a ton of character sketch material online, (I'm now going to shamelessly advertise) such as Beautiful People, but you can find some great books on the subject as well. I myself have only had the chance to get my hands on one, but there are at least a few more out there. The one I've used a little bit is called, What Would Your Characters Do. The Director recommends one called 45 Master Characters.

Check these books out. Look around for more like them. Get them from the library if you can. Find the one that works best for you. Find several that work best for you. Maybe none of them will work for you. Maybe you feel you don't need extensive character sketches. That's cool too, just remember that with writing, it's always a good idea to try something before saying it's not for you. You never know, you might surprise yourself.

Awesomeness

Guys. I'm not a fan of Glee, or The Glee Project. At all. However, I am a fan of this guy.

It also makes me pretty happy to hear this guy sing.

This guy has just always been awesome.

In other news, I'm sick. Therefore, I've posted music videos instead of racking my mind for words to type. I feel no shame.

Lessons From Three Year Olds

I've slowly compiled this list as the three year olds in my life have graciously shared their... uh... wisdom.

1. Raccoons are the reason peach pits mold.

2. He who falls behind, screams the loudest.

3. Tripling the number of pleases will greatly influence the answer in your favor.

4. A hotrod is any car that looks cooler than yours.

5. Batman is his own sport.

6. If you don't know where a place is, it must be the next driveway over. Idaho for instance.

7. If you're tall enough to reach the piano keys, you play beautifully.

8. A priests job is to check people in at the door.

9. If you live far away, you must live in Africa. Even if the return address label says Ohio.

10. If someone makes you unhappy, imagine a world without them in it. This includes ignoring them when they beg for your forgiveness.

I wouldn't worry to much if you can't remember all of them, they're more like guidelines anyway.

Beautiful People - The Way We Love

My turn to answer this months questions for Beautiful People. We're doing a special NaNoWriMo Edition this month to help everyone get even more excited for the upcoming event.... writing that sentence made me feel like a nerd. I'm okay with that though. Moving on.

We also challenged participants to answer all the questions, from each month, found in the BP Archives, all on one character. While I have done this several times already (it's amazing how much of a help this exercise can be) I won't be posting all the answers on my blog, in this post at least. So, for now, this months questions.

Sum up your novel in five words, or less.

Mislead brother seeks revenge.

Novel title?

The Way We Love.

Sum up your main character(s) in one word.

Grant: leader. Weston: nerd. Ranen: loner. Luna: capable. Lyric: strong.

Advice for newbies in three words?

Coffee and music.

Tell us about your secondary characters, how do they affect the story?

I've got quiet a few actually, but I'll try not to make this last to long. Shada, she's a young girl who helps Weston wake up and realize he can't just sit around for the rest of his life, mourning the death of Exie. She gets him moving. Lane, Grant's son. He pretty much causes the entire plot by unintentionally forcing Grant to return to First World. Jasper, the bad guy. He causes all the trouble. Tony, the one and only person outside of the gang that Ranen has ever cared a hoot about. His disappearance sends Ranen on a quest to find him. Throwing him into the path of Jasper.

Do you plan on staying up till midnight on the 31st?

Oh yes, I'm going to write till I can't keep my eyes open any more.

How many years have you done NaNo?

This will be my third.

What came first, characters, or plot idea?

I guess the characters, since this is the sequel and they were already there for me to use.

How much prep do you do before November?

I'm writing a full, incredibly detailed, outline. I'm on chapter 9, hopefully I'll get it done before the 1st.

Now be honest, how do you really feel about NaNo?

For me the question isn't "am I going to do NaNo this year?" It's always, "what am I doing for NaNo this year?" I've seriously considered doing my own 50k challenge in a different month, as well as the one in November, although I've never actually done it yet. I love the words, the friends, and the crazy nights. To sum it all up, NaNoWriMo is one of my favorite times of the year.

Book Housing

Before

After

The point of this post is to show everyone that my Daddy is most defiantly the most awesome Dad on this earth. He builds me awesome bookshelves. 'Nough said.

Sorry about the poor picture quality. My only camera is the one on my ipod and it doesn't exactly take the best shots.

Beautiful People - NaNoWriMo Edition!

Da ta da ta DA! It's a brand new Beautiful People post! Only, it's not your typical Beautiful People. Nope, it's awesome because it's the NaNoWriMo Edition of Beautiful People! We're hoping it will get us all even more excited about the upcoming insanity.

What's the difference you ask? Well, not only are all the questions geared towards those writing novels this November, but we've got an extra little challenge on the side. Because, apparently, writing 50k words in a month isn't challenge enough.

What is this extra challenge? We're encouraging everyone to take a look at the BP archive that my Sam has so neatly put together and answer all the questions on one character. Even if you just do it without posting it on your blog, it's an amazing way to really learn a lot about the way your character thinks and what they love. We suggest using the main character of your NaNo novel, but any character will do.

While this months new questions are geared towards NaNoers, for those who aren't participating this year, we'd love to see the answers to the ones that can be adapted to the novel you're working on at the moment.

1. Sum up your novel in five words, or less.

2. Novel title?

3. Sum up your main character(s) in one word.

4. Advice for newbies in three words?

5. Tell us about your secondary characters, how do they affect the story?

6. Do you plan on staying up till midnight on the 31st?

7. How many years have you done NaNo?

8. What came first, characters, or plot idea?

9. How much prep do you do before November?

10. Now be honest, how do you really feel about NaNo?

Don't forget to sign the linky, and have fun!

Weakness

I just finished making the cover for The Way We Love. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, despite the complications I had while making it. You all probably want to see it, but you'll have to wait. It'll be on my updated Current Writing Projects page, after NaNo starts.

I'm sitting on Fins bed at the moment, listening to Celtic Thunder. It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since we went and saw them in concert. It was the kickstart to NaNo last year for me. This year I'll be taking a trip to the best bookstore on the face of this earth. Powell's. Books on my list to look for? Oh, you know, the usual. Charles Dickens, Ted Dekker, John Keats, C.S. Lewis... the list goes on. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find one, or two books to lug home with me.

Someone shared a verse with me lately. I love it when that happens.

And he said unto me, "my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I think the world overrates the wrong kind of strong. Who cares if you've got abs. Until you are weak in Him, you will never be truly strong. I think I need to work on that more. Much more.

Introducing The Way We Love

October. It's that crazy month where all the writers begin to realize NaNoWriMo is only four weeks away, and they better come up with some kind of plot if they want to make it to 50k. After being interviewed by an honest to goodness newspaper man on the subject, I was forced to decide what I would be writing this year. As a spur of the moment choice, my beloved characters of old won out.

I'll be torturing Grant, Luna, Ranen, and Weston for another year, at least. They'll be returning in The Way We Love, sequel to The Way We Think.

Since making that decision, I've been totally stoked about NaNo. I've even started outlining. Who cares if I've only got a few weeks and I'm just now on the first chapter.

So, who's doing NaNoWriMo? Keep checking back because Beautiful People will be geared towards NaNoers this month. Don't worry if you aren't planning on undertaking the craziness of the challenge, we'll have plenty of questions for you as well!

Braindead

I haven't been writing much lately. I've been reading. I actually haven't been doing much of that either though, so it's a lame excuse. Oh well, I just keep telling myself you've gotta have a break before the big bust, right? I would certainly call November the big bust of my writing life, and it's coming on fast. At this point, I'm not even really sure what I'm gonna write either. I've got ideas, but there's no saying that won't change. Like it already has three times.

I've got to get up early to go to work tomorrow, so I'm not even really sure why I'm taking the time to write this post. This could be one of those moments when I could be writing, or reading. I'm writing a story about gypsy's, a highwayman, and poor villagers. I'm reading Wuthering Heights. I'm enjoying both.

I guess I decided to post because I felt like I wanted to, the only thing was, I didn't know what to post. So, I decided to follow the example of My Sam and not think about it. Just write, right? We won't go into how much she inspires me right now, just know that she does.

Speaking of being inspired, I'm in love with music right now. Oh wait, I'm always in love with music. Let me rephrase that, I'm in love with Barrage right now. This is one of my favorites. It's called Allen's Bar.

This ones pretty good too. Until We Meet Again.

I'm in the midst of refurbishing my room. Well, I have been in the midst of it since we moved into this house, but it's getting closer. My Daddy is going to build me some awesome bookshelves so I'll be able to get my books off the floor and I'm hoping to find a nice, big, comfy chair to stick in the corner. I love big comfy chairs. Especially when surrounded by books.