Introducing my life in the 21st Century

Late last night I discovered something. I had just watched a movie where the main character was a writer and the entire movie her main character followed her around and only she could see him. I could relate to the fact that I can only completely understand my characters and that most people might think I'm crazy. But in that movie...he was really in her world. That's when I discovered...

I discovered that I had never introduced Kalid, my hero, to my world. So this morning I brought him into my world for him to discover me as I had discovered him in Lamora-Valkon. As I showed him around I discovered how little I knew about the 21st Century. I think I explained everything well enough...though he still has some trouble understanding electricity, computers, iPods, cars, and the like. And since I haven't yet brought any other characters to life in the pages of my novel, poor Kalid is all alone with me as of now. But I'm hoping to bring others out soon.

I don't think he minds it just being me though. He likes being visible to only me especially since we are both so alike. I do like having him around and being able to show him parallels in my life that are in his, though in different context.

Being a slave in Lamora-Valkon isn't going well for him so I hope that soon he will break out of that soon and that I will be nearby to write it all out when he does.

Until then...and until my next post...I will say goodbye.

The U.S.S.1 is Complete

Today I finally finished the uneditted section 1 of my story for my critics. They still have to wait till I edit the whole thing but that shouldn't take too long...and its only 11 pages or so. Although it may take longer because....

Tomorrow three friends are coming for a visit and are staying for a few days. I'm really looking forward to their visit but I might not write as much when they're here...rather anti-social. =)

And then the following week I'll be gone to Ottawa for Seed Sowers...so I probably won't be blogging during that week. But I think I have a few days in between and I will try to squeeze some of my editing into those days.

Anyway, I have to get going....got a work session tonight at our meeting and I have to get ready.

Hoping to post again soon!!

British Chocolate and Torture

My sister Erin just returned from her visit to Ireland and with her she brought some sweets. British chocolate is so amazing. It is a pure, delicious delight.

So I'm sitting at home enjoying this beautiful British chocolate as I'm torturing my main character by making him a slave in a foreign, hostile country. I feel so cruel!

See, Kalid Fania, my main character, is a slave in Lamora-Valkon, the evil country trying to conquer the land of Glenreden. He was captured in a raid as a young boy and has been enduring forced labor for seven years now. But things are about to change for Kalid Fania...so I must put down my Flake bar and follow my character as his real journey is about to begin.

Click and Unfold

I love when aspects of your story, say characters, click and unfold.

Just the other day I realized in my writing that I needed something more for a certain character. Little by little ideas came to me. Suddenly, as the last idea came to my mind, that character's story unfolded. It clicked and unfolded. It now gives that character so much more depth, as well as adding to the surrounding characters and the plot.

I didn't realize that this normally happens until now. The other most recent one and the one that's still fresh on my mind was the one I just wrote on. When I finally accepted the fact that my main characters needed to switch, the story clicked and unfolded. It was incredible! And it happened again...and I hope will happen again soon as I continue to write and develop the story and characters.

I love when you experience something incredible and don't realize how incredible it was until it happened again. My story wasn't the only aspect of my life to be affected by this phenomenon...but that is another story all together.

"I am hidden with Christ in God." - Colossians 3:3

Story Writing

I've been working on my story recently and I am thrilled to find the evidence of the Writer's Conference.

At the conference I had a revelation about my story. I had been struggling with a character issue. I had a main character but there was another character I cared about more and who developed more than the main character. I knew I needed to fix it but still hadn't. And now I'm glad I didn't.

I was hammered with character related teachings at the conference. The main character should be the one who changes the most, the one we end up caring more about. The one whose story we become most interested in. Well, with me, there was no hesitation knowing who, in my mind, my favorite character was.

My main teacher said that your main character isn't really your main character. I agreed with her and still saw the problem with my story and characters. And I tried to think how I could change that. The next morning, getting ready for the new day of teaching, I had my revelation.

My main character wasn't really my main character. The two characters needed to switch! After changing the main character, the story flowed and worked more than I could have imagined. And one of my critics told me that she was really glad that I had changed the main character because the new one had so much more potential for depth. I was so thrilled to get such feedback!

That brings me to another point. After the writers conference I saw what having a critique group could do. So soon after, I, for the first time, opened up my story and now have my sisters and some of my cousins all reading and critiquing my story. And already I know its going to be so much better with their help.

I also found that my writing in general has improved drastically since being there. I'm really looking forward to continuing my story and making it excellent...then hopefully I'll share it with the world. Dream Big, right?

Finally, I feel so blessed and am so blessed to be the one God has given this story to. He has given me His creative spirit and I have no doubt that He has given me this story to write. My deepest desire is to honor Him by writing it and making it excellent for Him. I just pray that He gives me help to do so and praise Him for His gift.

"Consider what great things He has done for you." - 1 Samuel 12:24

My first post on the writers conference

I need to write something on here. =) So this is my new post.
Only question is what do I write about??

Well, one thing that happened recently was that I drove with my Mom to Chicago to go to a writers conference that I was given a scholarship to. I enjoyed it so much and I can't possibly describe the experience. They said there that when you got home, no one would really understand your passion for wanting to write and how much you enjoyed the conference. I know that's true. I feel a little bad for my Mom now since she went a few years ago and it must have been the same feeling for her.

But I'll tell a little about the conference...
My main class was on Hollywood Storytelling Tools and it was my favorite! Every day for four days we had a class on another subject: character, plot, dialogue, etc. and how Hollywood does it in movies.
And I met a lot of amazing people that luckily I am able to stay in contact with.
I met Dr. Dennis Hensley, a professor at Taylor University in Fort Wayne, Indiana who teaches a Proffesional Writing Program and I was very interested in everything I learned from him. I'm really hoping to visit the college this fall.

The classes were great and the teachers were great. I really enjoyed myself and since the whole conference was so incredible its too much to simply put in one post. So this is the first of hopefully many of the stories from the writers conference and maybe I'll share some of what I learned and how they have effected my story.

A quote for Thursday

"The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions." - Alfred Adler