Vacationed...

Vaycay shunned. Vay cayshuned. Vayke aschun'd.

We're going on a  vay-cayshun, and snorkling for the first time! Has anyone ever been snorkling before? Frankly, I'm just freaked about the sharks.
Sharks?
Well, when you put it that way...
I'm missing 2 weeks of school.
And 2 weeks of internet.

So that's really what this blog post is about: Don't have Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) for very much these next few weeks! And don't be expecting your charrie sketch on my other blog, sketchwriteress.blogspot.com, for a little while. Sorry!
So on to the next thing!
I'm going to run of a quick writing prompt here...
Thanks to the wonderful insight of a comment-er on the Staring does not = stalking! post (http://thewriteress.blogspot.com/2012/02/staring-does-not-stalking.html), I've been inspired to help you all on your path to authoral greatness.
You can thank me later.

So here's something really really quick cause I have no time at all...
Find a few of your favorite books, and flip open to the middle of one of them. No peeking! Stab your finger in the pages somewhere, then open the book up and take the first sentence your finger lands on. Beginning with that sentence, write a paragraph or two or twenty of your own work.

Example: Let me take my copy of Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix...

"I take a tentative breath and draw in the sweet odor of roses, lilies, lavender." (This is from the beginning of chapter 21.)

Could you write something out of that? I could. A whole story, actually. Keep in mind that this is definitely NOT plagiarism, no! It's taking creative licenses and doing your own totally different thing. I highly doubt what you write from this will exactly follow the lines of Ms. Haddix' novel.

Take a sentence you like from your own book, or here's another one to keep you busy:

"When you find something that's whole, you do what you can to keep it that way."
Gary D. Schmidt, Okay for Now.


To borrow the words of Gail Carson Levine (gailcarsonlevine.blogspot.com), have fun, and save what you wrote!

Ack... editing blues!

I love editing-- in fact, that seems to be the only thing I'm good at! Even when I'm supposed to "critique" and not scour out any imperfections in a manuscript, I still end up doing that. Oh, the editing blues!
I just finished editing Jacob Buller's The War Horn manuscript... and it was really good! Really, really good. So look for it in Amazon's ebook collection in the next few weeks (right, Jake?). Read all about it at teenagewritingrocks.blogspot.com.
Oh, how I ache for spring! The days have been chilly here, but the sun has been coming out a tad bit more and now it's up to almost 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm! And almost shorts weather.
So is editing your dream? (Mine is becoming a children's book editor, so I guess I'm getting good practice.) What's your dream?

Happy (late) Valentine's Day!!

Ahh, the day of love... How did you celebrate your V day? I went to a Valentine's party... lots of fun. And I have taken it upon myself to share some of the activities that we played.
The first, we were given a paper heart with the beginning of the poem "Roses are read, violets are blue..." and asked to complete it. Mine:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I'm not a poet,
So don't expect this to rhyme.
Here's a few others:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Your parents are dead
And never loved you. (We advised this author to drop the dark poetry or he'd never get a wife.)
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Darth Vader's your father
But I still love you.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
This poem is stupid
Because it's not true.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Will you marry me?
(Yup. All the girls went, "Awwwww!")

Share some of your favorite V-day poems. And catch phrases: some of my favs were "If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put U and I together. (Mostly because everything would be easier if the vowels were in closer proximity to each other.)"
"You've stolen my heart. Literally. Blood... loss... [passes out]"
"Is that Cupid in your pocket? Or do you just have really weirdly-shaped pants?" (This one doesn't make sense, but I think it's funny.)
"Which of these 3 things should you NOT give a girl on Valentine's Day? 1. chocolates, 2. flowers, 3. tickets to a monster truck rally. (Hint: it's number three.)"
"My life without you is like a broken pencil... pointless."
"Hey, a date with me is at least better than eating those weirdly chalky heart things."

:)

Happy V day!

Currently...

Hello again, world! I have a few thoughts I need to share.

Well, not really need, but I just wanted to let you know...

Currently, I've discovered goodreads.com!! SO SO cool, it's one of my new favorite websites. If you're on goodreads, search for me and add me as a friend: goodreads.com/TheWriteress. If you're not sure what goodreads is, I'm not either. I'm still figuring it out. So go and see!

My fingers are currently stained blue-green because of tie-dying today. Very fun, and now I can't get it off. Fantastic. (And with school tomorrow, too. Although I was able to remove the dye from my face, where it splattered.) My friend says that if you go to public school with dyed hands, they would take it as a sign of a gang and you would get in giant trouble. Who knew, right? Ridiculous.

Currently, I am compiling a list of the best, absolute BEST YA fairy-tale-esque books. (If you didn't already know, this is my favorite genre of books and I read these ALL the time.)
They're listed in no particular order.

Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D. Baker
Princess Academy (#1) by Shannon Hale (are you sensing a theme here?)
A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
My Fair Godmother (#1) by Janette Rallison
Palace of Mirrors by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Frog Princess (#1) by E.D. Baker

And currently, that's all for now, folks. At least in the princess-y romantical books. (Disclaimer: I hate, absolutely hate, books that market themselves as "Romance". When I use that term, I use it lightly, and the worst (or in my opinion, best) thing that happens in these books is that the MC and the guy kiss. That's all. I have read a few books that go farther, and I am not promoting books such as those. Thank you, and have a nice day.)

A few more things...

Actually, I forgot what I was going to say. So currently, the gist of this post is 1) add me as a friend on goodreads, and 2) if you're a girl like me read these fairy-tale romanticals. Also, if you have any suggestions, please let me know! I'm always looking for more books to read.

:)

Staring does not = stalking!!!

If you're into Christmas carols, you'll recognize these few lyrics. He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...


Creepy!!

But please, tell me you haven't done this before. You look up and see a peculiar sight-- a grown man trying to inconspicuously sniff his armpit, a woman sneaking her dog into Wal-Mart, another teenager with earbuds in their ears but then you realize that the earbuds aren't plugged into anything. And you're drawn to this person, trying to figure who they really are.

My drama teacher said something really profound the other day: Staring is not stalking.

So get out there and stare! Just not too conspicuously. Observe, maybe. See how that 20-something year old woman at O' Charley's folds her napkin just right, or wipes her mouth after every bite. Or the frail, elderly man leaving the pet store with a giant dog. A Great Dane, maybe.

Observe, then write! Create a description of the person, a little bio, name and all. If you don't know, then guess. Fabricate a whole life and career for this person if you wish. Say you see a man rushing to work. His tie is sticking out, his shirt isn't tucked in, and frankly, his hair looks like a rabbit had just nested in it. You can guess that either this man lives a very messy life and isn't married, or he just got back from saving the world and is late for work.

Your call.

See, that's the coolest thing about stalking! Er, I mean, staring. A brief explanation on that: stalking is going so far as knowing this person age, name, address, phone number, car model, love life, and shoe size. (You are not stalking your close friends if you know this about them. You are, however, if this person is someone you have never seen in your life. Although I think that should go without saying.) Staring is looking curiously at people-- however, NEVER let them know you're looking!

So write up 1, 4, or 20 pages of a fake life for someone you caught a glimpse of at Kroger. Word to the wise:
Sunglasses like these make it fun!

So go and get gawking!!

(Note: Try not to stare at people who are disabled in any way, not matter how fascinating their tic. They would obviously feel uncomfortable, even if your staring is for good, not evil.)

Why Do I Hate To Write?

Writing has it's pros and cons. (Oh, wow, I just sounded like I'm writing a 5-paragraph essay. Ugh.) I'm a writer; I love to write. You may be wondering why, then, have I titled this post Why Do I Hate To Write?

The reason is simply... because everyone does at one point or another.

Man, this is getting so hard to explain... I love to write. I love the plot when it flows, the characters when they're believable, the dialogue when it's witty. I love the settings that come alive, the descriptions that flow like poetry, the possibility of creating my own world.

I hate the plot when it's sticky. I hate the characters when they're unbelievable. I hate the dialogue when it sounds like something from a Dick-and-Jane book. I hate the settings that make me feel as though I'm blind, the descriptions that overload me from page one, and the limitations in believability.

Does this sound like you?

You see, I said that everyone feels this at one time or another. But that's not strictly true-- there are those select few who enjoy nothing more than tearing up any writing assignment from English. And those who are ignorant to the wonderful worlds you can create through the power of the pen! (Or the power of MicrosoftWord, if you want to be difficult.)

So ENJOY the writing privileges you have. No one, ever, absolutely loves writing. Not Stephen King, not James Patterson, not Stephenie Meyer. They all experience dark days. So take heart! If you're a writer, don't feel bad that you hate the craft sometimes. Just read a good book (unless this will remind you of how bad your writing is), write a few paragraphs, have a good chat with a friend. Then get back into it and remember why, exactly, you're doing this at all.

Why are you? Exactly?

A Word On Kilts

Am I the only one who thinks that men wearing skirts is wrong and definitely NOT the way God designed us? For Geography I researched kilts. In Scotland. And Wikipedia.org says that kilts are being adapted for the US and Canada. And that they're becoming a growing fashion trend! FOR MEN!!
Tell me this picture isn't wrong.

They're like Jedis. (Or those Star Wars guys that wear feminine fashion statements.) Are kilts wrong? Or just for special occasions? In fact, kilts are being sold for "formal occasions" in the USA.
"Hey, Jessica, what are you wearing to the prom?" 
"Oh, I'll probably wear my purple formal dress." 
"What is your date wearing?" 
"A skirt!" 
"Ooooh, masculine!"


Uh huh.

So the polls are open-- and non kilt-wearing men are expected to dominate. Vote here and now!

Have you ever pre-read?

...and isn't it such a lovely concept? Pre-reading is like licking the cookie dough spoon because you made the cookies. It's like picking teams first because you were the one that wanted to play dodgeball. It's like... it's like...

Pre-reading The War Horn for Jake!!

According to his epic blog (teenagewritingrocks.blogspot.com), if I blog about pre-reading it, I get another copy of my name in the hat. I wonder how many times I can do this... xP

Ha, ha. But anyways, I am inviting any and all to comment about their pre-reading experience. I, personally, have never done it, but I think that The War horn would be a great place to start.

So Jake has given us the fantastic chance of being the ones to pre-read his novel! *sends up a little prayer*

I've gotta go. Deadline is tonight. Pray for me, please, and Jake (that his writing will continue to glorify God the way it has for... um... forever). I'll let us go with a visual aid.

Hmmm, what should it be? A short video clip? A photo? Drawing? Here: to make you laugh. (I frequent this restaurant often. To let you know.)