Does hair color matter?

My book came.  The book that is going to tell me how to write a novel.  There is sits.  On my coffee table.  Is it taunting me??  Did it really  just whisper “I knew you wouldn’t follow through.”  Sigh.  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will read the first chapter.  Tomorrow I WILL begin this journey.

I did have a writing realization today.  I was having a very important discussion at work about the casting of characters for the movie “The Hunger Games”.  Interestingly, we all had very different pictures of the characters, physically.

I also realized I am not a very detailed reader.  Really – Peeta is blonde?  I totally pictured him as light brunette.

What this really tells me is that listing characteristics is not character development.   Characters are developed in readers minds through character actions, reactions, and interactions.  What is important is the whole character not just physical attributes.

This realization really hit home while I was reading a book the other day.  The book is fluff.  I thought I was in the mood for some easy reading fluff.  But, it is boring.  It is formulaic and boring.

Here is my own interpretation of blah character development:

She watched him approach her.  He was tall, maybe 6′ 3″,  and muscular with sandy blonde hair and rugged good looks that make women stop and look twice.   As he said hello she heard a melodic voice greet her.  His grey eyes gleamed at her behind thick lashes.  She knew this was going to be interesting.

Give me your opinion – is that good character development or do you find it boring?

Heart a flutter

I was on vaca over the weekend and took a little blogging hiatus.  I came back to a very full inbox and amongst my super important catalog sale emails was a blog post from my new blogging friend at Lost in a Sea of Blogs.  In her blog she shared that she was awarded The Versatile Blogger award.  YEA!  Congrats!

As I read about the award, I see a name that looks familiar.  Wait.  That is my name.  Wait.  Why is she listing my name? – does this mean she is giving me an award???  OMG, I think that is what this means.  Oh, she is so sweet.

 

This award comes with some rules.

✿♡✿The Versatile Blogger Rules:

1. Thank the person who awarded you and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell 7 Random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award on to 15 new-found bloggers.
4. Contact each blogger you want to pass the award on to and let them know you’ve done so, and let the giver of your award know you accept it... or not.

Random facts: I was on the show “Wild on…Cabo”, I danced for 14 years (these 2 previous comments should not be linked together), I am the youngest of 5 kids, My dog’s name is Athens,  I know how to make Poticia (well, with my mom’s help),  I was a dept store lingerie buyer, I love “The Biggest Loser” (but have eaten ice cream while watching it)

I am way too new to have 15 bloggers, but here are a few:

Check out Robin of east ashley;  check her out cuz she is super talented.

Carol, for being my very first comment and being very supportive.

And I’ll tag Nova because she is always a very good blog read.

Wow!  My first award.

 

Post peak???

I had a scary thought – what if my best work was in one of these previous blogs and now it is drifting further and further down the home page to the land of “click next”?    What if my most witty writing, that should bring in loads of interested followers, was post number 4 when only 4 people took a peek?

If this is true, it means I am not a good writer but had one lucky day…or it means my writing has peaked and is only going down hill…

So, as my yoga teacher would say, I am now going  stop the negative mind speak and send positive (witty, creative, and interesting) thoughts out in the cyber world!   Namaste.

Speaking of witty, creative, and interesting…what does everyone think of the casting for the movie of  The Hunger Games?  So excited to see how they bring it to life, but, as with all books turned movie, it might stray so far from my vision that I can’t just enjoy the movie.    I’ll take the risk though, and see it opening weekend 🙂

…and on the 7th day, she rested.

I have officially been a blogger for 1 week.  Given the anguish and stress, I am granted myself a weekend vacation.

Plane to board, friend to visit, cherry blossom’s to see, and, of course, yummy food to eat.   And before all that can begin, a bag must be packed.  Have a wonderful weekend and I hope I return with some fabulous inspiration for future blogs.

Transitionally challenged

I haven’t been at this blogging thing long and I already had my first “aha” moment.  I need some new transitions.  If we constructed a word cloud of my (5) blogs, I am worried “OMG, OK, Alright, and So” would be in flashing neon lights.

Neon light, a photo by Rd. Vortex on Flickr.

I think the issue is that I am writing like I am talking to you – you being a figurative term for the 2-3 people who will read this blog.  If I give this novel writing thing a chance, is “Minnesota sarcasm” an optional writing prose?   Hopefully the Novel Writing Book that I bought will address prose styles…it is what I would call entry level, so I am not sure it will be comprehensive enough to include Minnesota twang.  That might come in Level 2…

I am too embarrassed to tell you the title of the book.  It is probably the type of How-to book that would cause “serious” writers to snicker.  I mean, its not like I really think I can write a novel in 90 days, a short time frame, but I think that I will benefit from learning how to lace up the sneakers before I sign up for a marathon….or get my feet wet before I dive in…or drive a tractor before getting your license (that one I added just for all you folks that think MN is all farm fields).  Now would those be called metaphors, alliterations, conjunctions…shoot, where is my high school grammar book???

Cultivating Wit

My last published work was my match dot-com profile.  OK, it was my ONLY published work…although I think there may have been a college research paper that made it into an obscure dietetics publication.   My match dot-com essay may not have been a BEST seller, but it has paid handsomely, and my husband agrees!

I was actually quite proud of that essay.   I think I creatively showcased who I was without listing my likes and dislikes in bulleted form.  Impressive for someone whose work emails must be typed in bullet format, or probably won’t get read.

In my match profile I theorized that wit was a skill that needed to be cultivated…granted, I said that to explain why I watched Gilmore Girls, but, I stand by the statement.  And, since Gilmore Girls has gone off the air, I am at risk of my wit going flat.

I have had some zingers in the past and can occasionally see glimmers of when my wit was at its best, but it is tough to find wittiness in laundry, excel spreadsheets, and the treadmill.   I am hopeful my new Gilmore Girls inspiration will occur right here and my fingers will find wit in the keyboard.   So, I need your help.  Let me know when I succeed and when I put you to sleep.

Good Night.

Affects of Blogosphere Over Exposure

 

blogosphere1, a photo by DaveBleasdale on Flickr

I apologize.  I was a bit overwhelmed yesterday.  I think I was suffering from Blogosphere Over Exposure.   Such exposure can result in feelings of inadequacy, failure, and retreat.  Discontinuing exposure has led to improved mood and appetite (ok, my appetite is really only ever affected by the emptiness of my stomach…oh!  Random thought – we had yummy yummy authentic Mexican last night – so sad it took us 8 years to travel the half mile to try it!)

Sure, a fat publishing contract and movie rights are the dream, but what I really want it is to try my hand at something I have always thought about doing.  And when I say I want to try writing a novel, the key word is try.  I cannot measure this adventure in words typed, chapters outlined, or characters developed.  Rather, enjoying the journey, learning new things, and engaging reader(s) will be the yard stick.  Thanks Carol, for showing me that joy.

And so, I will buy the book on writing a novel.

And I will write.  Time to put proverbial pen to paper and just enjoy doing that.

So, to take a lesson from our Mexican dinner last night, I will not wait any longer to give this a good old college try.  Gosh – that all came full circle nicely…honestly, the dinner comment above was just a random thought!

Dream…on? Support group for the “I’m out of my league”

Somewhere, within the 10 steps to creating a blog, it was recommended that new bloggers “befriend” other similar bloggers.  Ok, good.  I have direction – Find Other Bloggers!  Or, as my husband just said,  “Are you still surfing the blogernet?”.

Direction, a photo by 23am.com on Flickr.

I understand that connecting with other writers on their own personal journey to COMPLETING A NOVEL can be inspiring, educational, and supportive.

*Sigh*

It hasn’t.  I feel very much alone in what I  discovered is an enormous ocean of writers.  I have also discovered:

1. Not all of them are good writers, or at least not great blog writers. But then self-doubt creeps in and I wonder, perhaps the truth is that I don’t know what good writing is?!?!
2. Many have been at this a LONG time already.  “I have 4 novels completed and am working on the fifth”,  “I am having my second novel published and finishing the edits on my other 5”, and my favorite “I have been writing since I was four.”    Is this not a community for newbies?
3. Sure, some say they have full-time day jobs and are working on their dream of writing a novel in the odd hours of the day…but that day job for most is writing!  Maybe I should start a support group for those of us with what is amounting to a crazy pipe dream.
4. Acronyms rule every world – business and creative.  Those acronyms make outsiders feel, well, like outsiders.  Maybe I’ll throw some business acronyms around in my blog so people start wondering what it is they don’t get.
5. I am more likely to play in the NBA than have a bestselling novel.  Do these odds apply to females – as in it would be even harder for us than men to hit the NY Times list?

Good thing I ordered a book to get me started on this journey.  Too bad I was too cheap to just buy it last night and now have to wait 3-14 business days for enlightenment.

Blogging – my new obsession???

Don’t tell my boss, but I had my blog open most of the day at work.   I just couldn’t resist evaluating my 3 sentence post from last night (and I still found a typo!) and refreshing the stats page (who are those 5 people who looked at my blog today??).    I also had my first comment and it wasn’t even my mom… but it was my husband.  So, good news, the comments section works 🙂

I can see that personalizing my blog could become a time sucker.  I think I will have to go with “good enough” so I can focus on the real objective – writing!   I don’t know very much about the  academics of fiction writing.  What I remember from a High School class is to just sit down and write, about anything, just write everyday.   Sounds close to the definition of a blog to me!  To add to this little bit of knowledge, my next activity is to do some research (i.e. buy a book) on writing a novel.   My husband is super excited that our Friday night activity is a thrilling trip to Barnes and Noble.  Maybe I’ll bribe him with an offer of buying him coffee.   The dog doesn’t want us to leave either, maybe I’ll find him a doggie treat as a bribe.

Puppy says don't leave me

 

Step 1: Create Blog

As my husband just said, I could have written my first chapter in the amount of time I have spent trying to set up this blog…and although I am not a complete perfectionist, my type A personality really wants to play, err, work on this blog some more.  My goal with this blog is to chronicle my attempt to write a novel.   I like the idea of being accountable to someone, even if it ends up just being my mom, who will probably be my only follower.