So basically, I have some new and exciting stuff that I've been writing.
1. "My Feet Will Never Touch The Ground"- I already have an idea for the finale that I've started writing. I'm not sure how I plan to "get there", however.
2. "Life's Waiting To Begin"- I just finished Chapter 3, and I also wrote the finale. And I can honestly say that it will be awesome. Once the story is done, I'm considering writing an "epilogue/mini-sequel" (sort of like how "The Start Of So, which could potentially be very, very intense. I already have ideas, but I'm not going to say anything yet,
3. "Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll"/"Rock & Roll High School"- This story has existed in various evolutions and versions (at least 3), and the idea has been mulling in my head for over 3 years. Originally, it was going to start in the summer before 10th grade (at that point, it was a Rock & Roll summer camp); then it was going to start in 10th grade; then in 11th grade; now, it's starting in 9th grade. Starting it earlier allows me to give more background on the characters. I have hundreds of handwritten pages in various notebooks, with some good material, and some material that really shouldn't ever be seen by human eyes. I'm just now starting to really organize it and make sense out of all of it.
4. "The Radio Saved My Life Tonight"- So I started this over a year and a half ago. The title comes from a Bon Jovi song. The idea is that a girl hears a certain song by a certain band and really connects to it... and then mysteriously meets the guitarist in said band. I hope to post it soon- it needs some cleaning up first.
5. Short story- okay, so I'm working on a short story now. It's currently untitled, but it will hopefully have a title eventually. The premise: a character made a choice between 2 different paths, and it is only after she reveals her choice that begins to think seriously about if she made the right choice. I know that's kind of vague, but I don't want to give away too much yet. I think it could potentially be very good.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
What? ANOTHER new chapter of "My Feet Will Never..."?
Yes, that's right, today I posted Chapter 4- Feeling Alive All Over Again of "My Feet Will Never Touch The Ground". Summary- "It's finally homecoming, but the dance itself isn't what makes the night special."
Can you believe I've posted 2 new chapters in less than a week? I think it's amazing, considering the last time I was able to do that was... a long time ago.
It feels good to be writing more again. Now that I'm basically done with highschool (I have one AP exam- Calculus BC- tomorrow, and one- Physics B- but after that, I'm done aside from a senior project). My mind is less scattered now than it was a few months ago. A few months ago, I was thinking about my classes, my AP exams, and "The College Application Process" (that is, writing essays, contacting admissions officers, visiting schools, wondering where I would and wouldn't get in). Most of that stuff is behind me now, which is awesome. It feels great to have the time and energy to write again.
Can you believe I've posted 2 new chapters in less than a week? I think it's amazing, considering the last time I was able to do that was... a long time ago.
It feels good to be writing more again. Now that I'm basically done with highschool (I have one AP exam- Calculus BC- tomorrow, and one- Physics B- but after that, I'm done aside from a senior project). My mind is less scattered now than it was a few months ago. A few months ago, I was thinking about my classes, my AP exams, and "The College Application Process" (that is, writing essays, contacting admissions officers, visiting schools, wondering where I would and wouldn't get in). Most of that stuff is behind me now, which is awesome. It feels great to have the time and energy to write again.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
"My Feet Will Never..."- Chapter 3!
I finally posted Chapter 3- Viva La Vida of "My Feet Will Never Touch The Ground".
Summary: Ashley gets ready to apply to college; later, she makes a bold move that might be misinterpreted.
Chapter 3 of "My Feet Will Never" was a long time in production, but I've already started writing Chapter 4. Basically, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, but I just couldn't bring myself to actually write it.
Now that I've written Chapter 3, I'm starting to get in to the real "action" of the story. The first few chapters of a story are generally like an introduction- not much usually happens at first; it's usually just introducing the characters and the settings. Honestly, as a writer, I don't always like jumping right in to the conflict in the first chapter. Sometimes it's good to introduce the problem at the very beginning, but "My Feet Will Never" definitely needed a little bit of introductory scenes and background before anything exciting will happen.
Summary: Ashley gets ready to apply to college; later, she makes a bold move that might be misinterpreted.
Chapter 3 of "My Feet Will Never" was a long time in production, but I've already started writing Chapter 4. Basically, I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, but I just couldn't bring myself to actually write it.
Now that I've written Chapter 3, I'm starting to get in to the real "action" of the story. The first few chapters of a story are generally like an introduction- not much usually happens at first; it's usually just introducing the characters and the settings. Honestly, as a writer, I don't always like jumping right in to the conflict in the first chapter. Sometimes it's good to introduce the problem at the very beginning, but "My Feet Will Never" definitely needed a little bit of introductory scenes and background before anything exciting will happen.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Writing Goals (Plans?) for Spring Term
So Spring Break is drawing to a close, and I am about to begin my last term of high school. Do you have any idea how exciting this is? I don't think you do, unless you're a fellow senior. I have six weeks left of classes (29 school days; one of them is a 1/2 day, so 28.5 days sort of), then AP exams, then my senior project, then... graduation!
Anyway, I figured now would be a good time to set myself some writing goals (er, plans, since I plan to actually stick to them) for Spring Term:
1. Finish editing the first draft of "Faded, Stupid, and Reckless". I have 21 chapters (143 pages) left to edit. I will work on editing every day I can. I will edit a minimum of 1 chapter total every school-week (Monday-Thursday), 2 chapters each on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 chapter on Sunday, bringing me to 6 chapters a week.
2. Work on "Keep the Dream Alive", and make progress. Get a clear idea of where it's headed; maybe write the finale?
3. Get "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll" organized. I have SO many ideas for this story, so I plan to really knit them together. I need to figure out which scenes to trash, and which to keep; what order things happen in; figure out an overall plot line; decide which characters are worth keeping and which really don't have a place in this story (several versions of the story have led me to create numerous characters); decide whose point of view it should be told from.
4. Work on "My Feet Will Never Touch the Ground". At least write a chapter or two.
5. Write a short story. I like short stories, and I don't think I've written one in almost two years (eek!).
Anyway, I figured now would be a good time to set myself some writing goals (er, plans, since I plan to actually stick to them) for Spring Term:
1. Finish editing the first draft of "Faded, Stupid, and Reckless". I have 21 chapters (143 pages) left to edit. I will work on editing every day I can. I will edit a minimum of 1 chapter total every school-week (Monday-Thursday), 2 chapters each on Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 chapter on Sunday, bringing me to 6 chapters a week.
2. Work on "Keep the Dream Alive", and make progress. Get a clear idea of where it's headed; maybe write the finale?
3. Get "Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll" organized. I have SO many ideas for this story, so I plan to really knit them together. I need to figure out which scenes to trash, and which to keep; what order things happen in; figure out an overall plot line; decide which characters are worth keeping and which really don't have a place in this story (several versions of the story have led me to create numerous characters); decide whose point of view it should be told from.
4. Work on "My Feet Will Never Touch the Ground". At least write a chapter or two.
5. Write a short story. I like short stories, and I don't think I've written one in almost two years (eek!).
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Editing "Faded, Stupid, and Reckless"
So I'm working on editing Faded, Stupid, and Reckless. It's not the first story I've tried to edit (I began editing My Paper Heart Will Bleed).
Editing is interesting. When I edited My Paper Heart, basically what I did was I formatted the story, spell-checked it, double-spaced everything, and printed it out. Then, I took a red pen and edited some small things.
I realized that I had a LOT of mistakes in the story. There were plenty of grammar mistakes, and syntax and punctuation issues. There was also the whole thing of a dead character mysteriously coming back to life.
I also decided that I wanted to change almost every character's name. So basically, the printed manuscript of My Paper Heart is almost completely covered in red ink. It's actually kind of amazing to look at.
Around this time last year, I decided I wanted to edit Faded. I felt that it was my strongest story, but I knew that it could be so much better. I had a lot of formatting to fix before I could print it- that alone took a few hours. Over 70,000 words. 364 pages. 51 chapters (plus an epilogue). Several reviews and messages. Hundreds of hours of hard work. When I typed the last sentence of that story, it was such an indescribable moment. I had spent over a year working on it. I had asked many people what they thought- many liked it, but some didn't. I wrote down ideas, and crossed many of them out. I worked on the story at home, at school, at camp, on the beach, on vacation, on the plane, at hotels, at family functions. I worked on the story when I could've (should've?) been doing homework, watching TV, or interacting with other humans. I felt so many emotions while working on the story- happiness (writing makes me happy), satisfied (isn't it just satisfying to see all this work you've done?), frustration/writer's block, confusion... I worked on the story while friends, homework, school, teachers, music, and family members crossed my mind. The only thing that never crossed my mind was the idea of not finishing the story.
So anyways. I had all of Faded in a document, formatted and spell-checked (spell-check also took quite a long time). I printed it out and hole-punched it (that took a looooooong time) so I could put it in a binder. Then, I made a list of things I wanted to change about the story. I haven't made any major changes as of yet- I've really only edited to fix little things, but the big things will come next.
Some things that will probably change for the next version of Faded:
1. Better grammar, syntax, and word choice.
2. While reading through it the first time, I realized that a lot of the sentences written had sounded good originally, but now they just looked awkward. So those will be fixed.
3. Some characters may have different first and/or last names (not saying which characters!).
4. A "re-organization" of the events that occur before the move to Montreal. I've realized that the flashback was awkward, and it might belong at the beginning more.
5. Removal of unnecessary events that contribute nothing at all to the rest of the story (there were a few of these).
6. Stronger, more "real" characters.
Editing is interesting. When I edited My Paper Heart, basically what I did was I formatted the story, spell-checked it, double-spaced everything, and printed it out. Then, I took a red pen and edited some small things.
I realized that I had a LOT of mistakes in the story. There were plenty of grammar mistakes, and syntax and punctuation issues. There was also the whole thing of a dead character mysteriously coming back to life.
I also decided that I wanted to change almost every character's name. So basically, the printed manuscript of My Paper Heart is almost completely covered in red ink. It's actually kind of amazing to look at.
Around this time last year, I decided I wanted to edit Faded. I felt that it was my strongest story, but I knew that it could be so much better. I had a lot of formatting to fix before I could print it- that alone took a few hours. Over 70,000 words. 364 pages. 51 chapters (plus an epilogue). Several reviews and messages. Hundreds of hours of hard work. When I typed the last sentence of that story, it was such an indescribable moment. I had spent over a year working on it. I had asked many people what they thought- many liked it, but some didn't. I wrote down ideas, and crossed many of them out. I worked on the story at home, at school, at camp, on the beach, on vacation, on the plane, at hotels, at family functions. I worked on the story when I could've (should've?) been doing homework, watching TV, or interacting with other humans. I felt so many emotions while working on the story- happiness (writing makes me happy), satisfied (isn't it just satisfying to see all this work you've done?), frustration/writer's block, confusion... I worked on the story while friends, homework, school, teachers, music, and family members crossed my mind. The only thing that never crossed my mind was the idea of not finishing the story.
So anyways. I had all of Faded in a document, formatted and spell-checked (spell-check also took quite a long time). I printed it out and hole-punched it (that took a looooooong time) so I could put it in a binder. Then, I made a list of things I wanted to change about the story. I haven't made any major changes as of yet- I've really only edited to fix little things, but the big things will come next.
Some things that will probably change for the next version of Faded:
1. Better grammar, syntax, and word choice.
2. While reading through it the first time, I realized that a lot of the sentences written had sounded good originally, but now they just looked awkward. So those will be fixed.
3. Some characters may have different first and/or last names (not saying which characters!).
4. A "re-organization" of the events that occur before the move to Montreal. I've realized that the flashback was awkward, and it might belong at the beginning more.
5. Removal of unnecessary events that contribute nothing at all to the rest of the story (there were a few of these).
6. Stronger, more "real" characters.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
molliegym's first blog
So I already have a personal blog, about my life and stuff I like (and sometimes, stuff I don't like). But I figured I might as well start a blog dedicated to my writing- which I have attempted to do on Quizilla and Myspace, but quite honestly, I don't really like the blogging interface on either of those websites. However, I love blogspot because it's easy to use.
So what's the point of this blog? Well, basically, it's so I can have a place to talk about my writing. I'll talk about how things are going with my writing. I may even post "sneak peeks" here, or perhaps entire chapters.
So what's the point of this blog? Well, basically, it's so I can have a place to talk about my writing. I'll talk about how things are going with my writing. I may even post "sneak peeks" here, or perhaps entire chapters.
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