Character Profile: Sir Edwin

Sir Edwin was the first character that I saw his picture and said yes too. I just had such a perfect idea in my head of who he was that it is a surprise that I found his look alike so quickly. I found this one on Pinterest.

Full Name: Sir Edwin of Normandy

Roll: Supporting Character (I think of him kinda like the father figure)

Age: 43

Hight: 6'1"

Species: Human

Hair color: Brown

Eye color: Gray

Allegiance: To the Royal Council and Lord Agron

Skills: Sword fighting, strategy, and leadership

Now and Then

I wrote this as a discussion question for my British Literature class. We had just read Joseph Andrews. Sorry if this comes across sounding like a rant.


The way in which Joseph Andrews was written is very different than the way authors are told to and write today. I am also taking a creative writing class this semester so I will try to compare and contrast (mostly contrast) what we (as writers) are told how to write verses how Joseph Andrews was written.

Punctuation is an important part of any book because it can help emphasizes thoughts and draw the reader to conclusions as well as set the tone. In Joseph Andrews, I was beginning to wonder if periods cost the author money because he used them so sparingly, sometimes just one sentences to a good sized paragraph. By the time I got to the end of his long winded sentences, I often forgot what it started with or what the point was. Writing for a modern day crowd, writers are told not to have so many thoughts to a sentence because it can confuse and distract the reader.

Another difference between the writing in this book and modern writing is the excessive use of capitalization and italicization. Just about every other word is capitalized in Joseph Andrews for no particular reason that I could find. The author also italicized names––most of the time. All these marks often left me confused at first but soon I started ignoring punctuation all together. I think that is why today we are told to use these features sparingly, so that our readers will pay attention to them and know they mean something when they are used.

The next point is something I learned just this semester about writing. In Joseph Andrews, we get the feeling that the author is having more fun writing this book than we might be reading it because of all the tangents and digressions the “narrator” goes off on. This is a big no for today’s writing. The reader should always feel like they are having more fun discovering the authors little jokes and plot twits than the author did writing them. If they don’t, they might take that the author wrote this piece more for him or herself than for others.

In Joseph Andrews, we are told just who and what each character is/ looks like/ feels. But we aren’t shown. Today, authors are told, “Show me. Don’t tell me.” This means show how someone looks when they are angry: creased brow, tight fists, narrow eyes. Are their hearts pounding? Is their vision blurred? Don’t just write, “He was angry.” Readers can pick up on that from the “visual cues” a writers gives just like a person can in real life. Writers are told this makes the whole reading experience feel more real.

Which brings me to my last difference that I will talk about: the plot. It started out slow, and then stayed that way. The truly exciting parts didn’t happen until book three and then I found them anticlimactic and melodramatic. Basically, I felt they built up to the action could have been so cool, and then the problem was resolved and the reader was forced to move on without feeling like much had happened at all. The most exciting thing to occur was when Fanny was kidnapped. But even that conflict was resolved quickly without anybody getting hurt and no actual addition to the plot but to take up space. Writers today are told that every scene, every action, must have a purpose in the plot.

Once...

Once, there was a girl. A girl who loved to read. She loved to read so much, in fact, that once when she sat down to think about it, she couldn't ever remember just when she couldn't read the written word.

Her mother loved to tell the stories of this girl who loved to learn so much. After story time at their local library, instead of making crafts with the other kids, this girl would go back to the picture books the teacher had just read. "Come over here with us," the teacher would encourage, "We are having fun over here."  The girl would just shake her head, her brown curls bouncing. What were crafts when she had books?

And then there was the fateful summer she learned to read. Nobody could say to have truly "taught" her. Her mother taught her the letters, the sounds, the way they fit together to make sounds. But summer came and homeschooling ended. It wasn't until the following September that a small book was pulled out. "Show me what you know," her mother encouraged, hoping she would point out letters, sound them out. Instead:

words

popped

out.

Not lots of words. But words. Full out reading. With no direction. "When did you learn to read?" her mother asked. But the little girl couldn't answer. Before there wasn't words, and now there was words. 

But the use of words wouldn't stop at reading for this girl. At the age of twelve, on what she would look back on as a landmark of her life, she spoke these fateful words,

"Mom, I think I want to write a book."

And her mother said what would become so much more than a little encouragement. She said, "Rachael, I think you would be good at that."

Yep, that girl was me. I soaked up words before I even grasped just what they were, what they could do for me. You story might not be as involved. Perhaps you didn't even like reading when you were younger only to now discover what it can do for you. 

But what ever your story, I want to encourage you not to let it end here. There could be a turn ahead that takes you off in ways you couldn't imagine before.

What Hurts

  What hurts? Pain, emotionally and physically, is one obvious answer. But, what hurts me to write might not hurt another author or writer. As I have said before, I have had to live through leukemia and hospital stays and surgery. But to someone who has only read about it, researched it, it doesn't hurt nearly so hard.

  So, what is an author to do if they haven't been through a huge ordeal like I have? Well, to tell you the truth, I hope and pray most authors, or even people for that matter, haven't suffered as greatly as I have. I wish everyone could get through life without being scarred in some way.

  But the truth of the matter is: we have all been hurt in some way. Someone close to us has died. Parents divorced. Best friend moved away. Didn't get into the college of our dreams. Some may seem minor compared to others, but heart break is just that.

Heart break.

  You don't have to have had the exact kind of heart break to feel the heart break. Now I know I said above that it wouldn't hurt as bad, and that is still true. But it can still hurt if you remember just what broke your heart before. 

So go. Write hard and clear about what hurts.

Happy Monday :)

Inspiration

Edit or Regret It

First off, Happy Labor day everyone. Hope you are enjoying your time off of school or work (or both in my case. I am lucky enough to work somewhere that closes for every holiday.)

So on to my post:

I can not stress enough just how important the editing process is to my book. When I finished writing the first draft (in just one month of NaNoWriMo) I thought "Wow, this is the best thing I have ever written." So I spent the month of December researching editing tips and advice. Pinterest is a great place to blog links on editing and writing. 

If you want to check out some of links, you can go to my Editing Time board: http://www.pinterest.com/givingmyall/editing-time/

I learned from some pros about different ways to edit. I heard from people editing for the first time. I found out the following facts about Editing:

1. It is hard. Like the hardest thing you might ever do.

2. It takes a lot of time. The amount varies on the length of the manuscript, the way you edit, and the kind of book you are writing. But most people seemed to agree that if you were really serious about editing, like working several hours a week on your manuscript, six months to a year was the magic number.

3. You are going to want to quit about month three. Don't. It gets easier; I promise.

As someone who has been editing her book for a grand total of eight months, I can't even count the times I wanted to call it quits. I considered abandoning the tedious editing process and return to the glorious writing experience. It was SO tempting I even started writing down ideas for my next book.

How did I keep going? I will talk about the advice and tricks I used to keep focused on Friday.