Rewrite

My editor pointed out to me that one, quite critical scene, in my book needed a rewrite. After reader her comments I couldn't agree more. Hawk-eye and Mynnah grow closer and actually (finally!) admit they love each other. I guess being on the verge of dying makes them more honest.

But long story short I didn't really want to rewrite it. Not because I disagreed (see above) but the scene had so much emotion in it that I was just afraid to even reread it.

I spent many weeks thinking about what she had said and contemplating how I could change the ever important dialogue to match the characters personalities and situation. Well, those weeks turned into months. School started and I tried telling myself I would get to it as soon as I could actually think of a way to fix it.

As fate would have it, I was walking in our woods (we live on 7 archers) and the answer came to me as most answers do: when I am least expecting them. One of the reasons I love being a writer is because my mind will never stop surprising me.

So that very night I had a little writing session with my sister and sat down to write. It was just as painful as I anticipated. So. Many. Feels. But my characters again came through for me and when I put my fingers to the keys the words just flowed out. It is far from perfect, but now it is much, much better.

Here is one of the Quotes from Hawk-eye. He really knows how to make his words count:

––TTFN

Princess and the Dragon

I had to write a dialogue poem for my creative writing class. I don't write poems. Ever. So please feel free to dislike my attempt.

In the name of trying new things, I present my poem.

Princess and the Dragon

Princess Clarissa

Why am I here? I see no advantage.

The vacant halls whisper squalls of solitary air.

The silent chambers yearn for conversation.

Chairs sit fallow, fireplaces void of warmth.

Why am I here? I see no advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I keep you here. The reasons outnumber the stars.

The blank halls sing silent songs to you.

Soundless compartments are your charming companions.

Unused objects offer themselves to you.

I keep you here. The reasons outnumber the stars.

Princess Clarissa

Why must I stay? I see no advantage.

The nourishment is tasteless, your selection poor.

Stale, shallow food hesitates on my tongue.

The wine is corrupt and of insignificant variety.

Why must I stay? I see no advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I keep you here. The motives out number the sands.

Food flows as free as you can consume.

The simple sustenance sits sweetened in your mouth.

Delightful drink divulges your appetite.

I keep you here. The motives out number the sands.

Princess Clarissa

If stay I must, show me the advantage.

Outside I kept myriads to converse with.

Beyond the fortification breathes forth sunlight.

Exterior acreages hum out freedom in sonnets.

If stay I must, show me the advantage.

Dragon Keeper

I want you here. I cannot number the wishes.

Individuals divulge disagreeable stories without drive.

Entities can harm you past my safeguards so sufficient.

Ache also accompanies the world of freedom.

I want you here.

But go if you must.

Apologies

To all my readers I must offer some sort of explanation. I feel I owe you all at least some of the reasons why I have not been posting every Monday and Friday as planed. If I told you all the reasons we would be here a long time.

My reasons stem from my Leukemia. I may be "cancer free" but that doesn't mean I am chemo free. I have to take large doses of drugs and have painful shots daily and monthly. This month will be one year I have been on this plan and a year and a half since I started chemo all together. When will it all end? May 2015.

Until then, I must learn to juggle that, full time college, and two part time jobs.

I do not wish to give up my writing because it gives my life the least stress and allows me an outlet from this reality of confusion in which I live. There are so many days I wish I could just step into my stories and never come out again.

As you all know, I can't.

I don't want your pity, so please don't think of this as my sob story to the world. I would, however, appreciate your honest prayers that strength will be graced to me. If I can just make it through until Christmas, I know life will get easier.

Thank you all for listening. I will try to write as often as I can.

––Rachael

Character Profile: Eyan (Hawk-eye)

Yikes! How in the world did time pass so fast?! Sorry about the delay everyone. College life over came me for a while.

**this blog post contains slight spoiler alerts. But nothing that is not revealed in the first few chapters of the book**

So here is my Character Profile on Eyan, on of my favorite characters to write because of his backstory and personality. I searched far and wide before I found a picture that suited him just so. Turns out he is a character from one of the Finale Fantasy video games. My brother told me which one but I can't recall it at the moment. Feel free to comment below if you know.

So here he is: Eyan

Full name: Eyan Langton

Roll: Male Main Character (MMC)

Age: 21

Hight: 6'2"

Species: **Slight spoiler alert!** Halfblood

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Blue

Allegiance: to Lord Agron and Lady Elysium who are **another spoiler alert!** his aunt and uncle

Skills: Fighting, bow shooting, close combat knife fighting, and **last spoiler alert!** using his blessing to start fires with his hands

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.