Archive for the 'The 4-1-1 on Me' Category

June 16, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",3rd Semester,Creative Writing II,Life in General,Mentors,Prescott College,School Daze,Summer 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me

So, I’ve talked about my Creative Writing II (a.k.a. CWII) mentor’s feedback regarding the first 100 pages. Well, for the first assignment, I had to go chapter by chapter and define the major plot and the subplot. The first 100 pages is 9 chapters and the first few pages in chapter 10. Not even halfway into this exercise, I wanted to stop.

Subplot was winning.

And then the doubts crept in.

I stink.

I suck.

I’m doing this wrong.

I can’t turn this in, my teacher is going to laugh her ass off.

At this point, I’m going to have to write on a piece of paper

THIS IS ONLY A FIRST DRAFT

and hang it in front of me as a reminder.

I have a feeling Georgia is going to be both teacher and cheerleader.

June 16, 2010 | Dance Jam Productions,Road Trip Wednesday,The 4-1-1 on Me,Writer Moment

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #33: When/why did you start writing?

I started writing in the 7th grade. Me and a friend had just eaten lunch and were bored, so she suggested we write stories. I agreed. I don’t remember if she finished her story or not, but I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to keep going, so I did. By the time I reached high school, I knew my target audience was going to be teens. Back then, I was a bookworm, never rocked the boat at home, and crushed from afar. I lived vicariously through my friends. And boy, were their lives like soap operas. LOL. “You better watch out or you’re going to end up in one of my books” became an ongoing joke between us. And, actually, my best friend did end up in my second book, so I guess I really wasn’t kidding about that. LOL. The cool thing about this writing gig is that for all the people who’ve done you wrong, can now end up in your books as the victim. And all the guys you crushed on from afar, who never even knew you existed, can be the love interest.

Truthfully, I think I was destined to be a writer even before 7th grade. I didn’t have imaginary friends, but I did talk to myself when I was younger. A lot. If I was playing a game with a friend and it required me to be on the phone or something, I would have the best conversations. Seriously. Or if I was playing by myself, I’d have long, drawn out conversations in which I would play both parts. LOL. To this day I still talk to myself, but it’s more of a “figuring things out aloud” type of situation than when I was a child. When it starts that young, I think it’s a sign of creativity. Don’t you think?

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway

June 10, 2010 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",3rd Semester,A Whole Latte Trouble,Book Two,Creative Writing II,Life in General,Mentors,Movie Queue,Prescott College,School Daze,Summer 2010,The 4-1-1 on Me,Writer Moment

It’s the second week of school and I got feedback from my mentor regarding the first 100 pages of Book 2 earlier this week.

The story lacks focus. You say your main plot is about the investigation into this fellow yet from what I can nearly 100 pages in, Draven has does very little to show the reader that she is this awesome, kick-ass informant. We see much more of her at school or with her friends just talking about “stuff” that is arguably sub-plot and fails to move the main plot along.

I see very little tension at all in the book. I assume as a reader that a book which focuses on a sleuth will have elements of tension, danger not only from the investigation itself but from Draven’s cover being blown. I also assume that in her role, she will make enemies. So, that also adds to the danger/tension. But I see none here. In fact, she is just hanging out like nothing is going on at all.

So, that is the plot, sub-plot and story-telling side.

There are some issues with redundancy and consistency. I’ve highlighted them in some cases and made comments on others.

There are cases when I feel the dialogue is forced. Some pages of dialogue go on for too long and fail to move the story to the next level.

Also it is hard in some places to know who’s talking in your dialogue exchanges. Watch for it.

Consider your pop-culture references and how they might date you as an author and how a reader may take that reference. There are many. While they may be funny to you, your readers are teens today.

Consider your use of stereo-typical representation of Hispanic youth. “Chica, Chiquita, etc.” Just make sure that you are 100% comfortable with these references and they are genuine.

There’s a scene in CLUELESS where Brittany Murphy’s character said something hurtful to Alicia Silverstone and Alicia responded with, “That’s way harsh, TY.” That line was running through my head after reading this. LOL.

But I have to remember that it’s a first draft. The novel, not the feedback.

It’s not going to be good the first time. Nor is it going to be good the second, third, or fourth time.

It’s a story that I completed some time last year and then promptly put away because I didn’t want to look at it anymore. It was a hard write. Then I pulled it out—I don’t remember when—and started editing it. I got midway through Chapter 8 before putting it away to start Book 3 (NaNoWriMo 2009 Fail).

I wish this was the only class I was taking this summer, because I won’t be as focused on the process as I normally would be. The revisions won’t be as good as I want them to be, or should be. Yeah, I know it was my bright idea to create a book revision college course, but even though my concentration is going to be pulled in three different directions, I still expect this to be a learning experience I can carry through to future books.

Technorati Tags: CLUELESS, Brittany Murphy, Alicia Silverstone

June 9, 2010 | Life in General,Road Trip Wednesday,The 4-1-1 on Me

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway‘s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #32: How do you know when project will/won’t work?

When I first started writing, ideas would come so fast. I would stop in the middle of one story and start a new one. As I got older, I really had to discipline myself and say “You need to finish this one first. No more half-stories. ” I’ve since learned to write down my ideas, but I think that’s the answer. I think that as long as a writer has ideas, the idea of project working or not working will never come into play.

This is just my personal opinion, but I believe that if an idea doesn’t work out initially, it can always be used somewhere else. Or turned into something else. The stories I’d created in the past no longer exist. That’s because I moved around several times and kept them in a folder. Thinking it was school work I didn’t need, I tossed it (I now write in spiral notebooks). I didn’t toss them on purpose. Had I kept them, they would’ve turned into full length stories.

I think projects will always work, it’s just a question of how and when.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway

June 7, 2010 | Family Portrait,Life in General,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up

CLICK PICTURES FOR FULL-SIZE VIEW

Saturday was my birthday and we spent THE WHOLE DAY at Wet’n'Wild water park.

From 10am to 6pm.

That’s me in my little $161 tankini. LOL.

I’d wanted to go there last year when it first opened, but never got a chance to. Babendude’s company had done some of the lighting for it and ever since he’d told me it was coming, I’d wanted to go. It used to be called WaterWorld. And it was weak. Real weak. When we went last year, we’d gotten there about 4-430. By 6pm, we were done. The rides were so weak.

Needless to say, I’m glad this place got an overhaul. The rides were frickin’ awesome, even though I went on all of them only once. The later in the day it got, the longer the lines. Around 4-something, I was done. Just hung out in the cabana with my niece while everyone else was still in the wave pool or on rides. It was definitely worth the rental fee.

It wasn’t our intention to stay the whole time, but some guests showed up late, the lines were getting crazy long for the rides…it just happened that way. I’d wanted to get there when it opened so that we could rent a cabana. It had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs, a small table, a ceiling fan, satellite T.V. and food service. Awesome.

It was just a small group of us: me, Babendude, my niece, Crouch, Joe, J.T., and my co-worker Lisa and her husband and daughter. We all just had so much fun. After going home to change, Babendude and I went to Kabuki for dinner. We were both so tired after that, I’m surprised we made it out of the house. LOL.

Birthday gifts:
$200 – Mom and Dad
$25 BN gift card – Friends
16GB black iPod (to replace the 6GB that’s close to full), Betty Boop flip-flops and $25 iTunes gift card – Babendude
Tons of birthday wishes and phone calls from family and friends

Best. Birthday. Ever. You can view the rest of the pics here.

Technorati Tags: Wet’n'Wild