Hey, writers! There's a lot of stereotypes on what a writer is and does, isn't there? Well, this is what it's really like! Leave a comment on the video telling me if you could relate!
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Ever since I was seven years old, I've been writing. I remember writing about a girl named Kate's birthday, about a balloon whose friends all floated away, and three men riding on horses and they were on some sort of mission (for some reason I cannot, for anything, remember what their mission was).
Even as such a young child, I dreamed about publishing one of my books. One of my biggest dreams was always to be the youngest person to write a bestselling novel. When I was eleven years old, though, I decided: It was time and I was going to write a novel and self-publish it. I didn't want to wait anymore. From seven years old until now: here are seven of the biggest things I've learned about writing. 1. Don't settle for less. Don't settle for less than what you're capable of. You have a story inside of you and it's waiting to get out. If you're not satisfied with your first chapter or last chapter or a specific line -- go ahead and write it again! Keep trying until you get it right. If you're not satisfied with your editor's style, don't be afraid to get a new one. If you're not satisfied with the qualifications of a publisher or the amount of money you get to keep from the sales of your own book, don't be hesitant to find a new publisher or even consider self-publishing. 2. If your story doesn't have excitement and high stakes, it probably won't turn out well. My first full-on novel attempt at eleven years old took me three to four years and I never ended up finishing it. Why? I didn't have a stable plot or even a goal for the book. I wasn't sure where I wanted it to go or what the point was in the end. Make sure you have a stable, smooth going plotline to your story. 3. Scenes need to be important to the story. Of course, if you're participating in something like NaNoWriMo, it's technically okay for you to write scenes that aren't exactly incredibly important to story in order to keep your word count up. But when you're revising your novel or writing a second draft, scenes need to be important to the story. If it's just a filler scene it's going to bore your reader and be a waste of time. 4. Don't mix present tense with past tense. Something I tend to find myself doing is writing in past tense but adding in present tense words. Example: I never thought that this day would the day everything would change. The problem with this line is that it says "this day". That's a present tense word mixed in with everything else that is past tense. Instead, it should say "that day". 5. It takes a while -- but not forever. When I was seven and I decided I wanted to get published, there were so many moments when I came across realizations that began crushing my dream. I found out that it takes years to write a book, you have to write it and then write it again and again until it's perfect, you have to get an agent, and then you have to wait for a publisher. Now, just imagine what that sounded like to a seven year old. Of course my dream felt crushed. And it's true: writing a novel does take a while. But it doesn't take forever. And if you really want it and keep at it, you can do it. It's a fun process and if you choose to self-publish, it doesn't take nearly as long. 6. Don't let anyone break your dream. If you want to write a novel, then write a novel. Chase your dream, shoot for the stars and don't let anyone break your dream. It might take a while, but it won't take forever. It's that time of year again...stockings are hung, gingerbread houses are built, Christmas trees are decorated...and everyone's doing thier last minute shopping...yep. That would be me. And while I'm scurrying down the isles of the store, trying to find the perfect gifts...everyone else in my family is asking one question. What do I want for Christmas? Well, to be honest, I never even think of that until this moment comes. So...what do I want for Christmas? And what should every writer and every reader be asking for? Well, I'm glad you asked! Because I've got the Bookish Christmas Wishlist written up just for you! It includes things that I'm asking for...and things I question why I didn't ask for!
2) BOOKS Of course I was going to say it at some point or another. And why not right here at the beginning? Every reader needs books. And every writer needs books. And, of course, everyone has thier different preferenceces...but here are a few books that I defenintly want!
3) Bookmarks Obviously, if you're going to read books, you're going to need bookmarks. And lots of them. Because who likes losing their page...and who likes losing their bookmarks? And, I mean check out these cool bookmarks! 4) Mugs This one just goes without saying...and there are so many options! 5) T-shirts like these 7) Anything with Book Quotes T-shirts, Notebooks, phone cases, mugs, pillows, posters, ANYTHING. 8) Tea/Coffee 9) Notebooks 10) Cool pencils and erasers Not just normal ones... 11) Notebooks 12) Giftcards (bookstore/Dutch Bros/Starbucks/Amazon/etc.) This...this just goes without saying. An that's all for the Bookish Christmas Wishlist! Are you asking for any of these things?
What other bookish things are on your wishlist? Let me know in the comments! I'd love to hear!
For any of you who missed it, here's the synopsis for my novel, Just a Dying Dream. Hailey King never thought that a nightmare could be the beginning of a completely unexpected adventure. Tatum Dallas never thought that he'd have yet another bad dream but wake up to find out nothing would ever be the same again. Hailey and Tatum are wanted as test subjects for a project involving a machine that has the ability to create, alter, and ultimately allow one to enter their dreams. In a time where danger is suddenly more constant, memories become torture, sanity turns to insanity, and dreams become reality...Hailey and Tatum are faced with an experience they never thought possible. But can they survive such a moment in time when the never ending secrets, seemingly incurable pain, and unpredicted dangers are constantly trying to push them over the ledge? Neither of them thought that "just a dream" could be the beginning of a whole new new reality. I was looking through this girls blog and I found some really cool writing tag questions! I was immediately like, oh my gosh I have to do this. XD
So without further ado...here we go. 1. Describe the plot of your novel in one sentence. Hailey and Tatum are both used as test subjects for a government ran project/test after having an unbearably believable nightmare -- The government wants to use them to dream them into the future but it may just be too much for Hailey and Tatum to handle; they have to make it past the secrets and unknown to work as a team if they're ever going to make it back to thier real lives. 2. Pick one aesthetic to describe your novel. My novel's aesthetic is probably...double exposure. 3. Which top three songs would be on a playlist for your novel? Ummm, I'd say "Embers" by Owl City, "Lovely" by Twenty One Pilots, annnd gosh, I can't think of another! 4. What's the first line of your novel? As of now, it's: "I had a dream that night." 5. Which line from the novel most represents it as a whole? "I feel like our minds have the ability to dream beyond what we imagine...I think there's a reason we forget our dreams most nights." 6. Which character's name do you like the most? I love the name Tatum (one of my two main characters) and the name Renee (one of my major supporting characters). 7. Pick a color to represent each character. Hailey -- lavender Tatum -- brown Professor Denton -- Red Renee -- Dark purple or blue Tanya -- pink Abrielle -- violet 8. Pick a font to represent each character Hailey King -- Grand Hotel Tatum Dallas -- Anton Renee Burgess -- Gochi Hand Professor Denton -- Mr Dafoe Abrielle Dallas -- Waterlily Tanya King -- Playlist Script 9. Which character has the best handwriting? Probably Tanya 10. Which character is the best writer? Worst? Tatum is probably the best and Hailey, surprisingly would be the worst. 11. Which character is the best liar? Worst? Best -- Hailey. She's very good at saying she's fine when she's not. Worst -- Abrielle. She's still little so she's definitely honest. 12. Which character swears the most? Professor Denton probably would. And Tatum might under his breath if something super bad happened. But in the book, there's no cussing or swearing or anything.
Now, this was an exciting thing to diagnose my second main character with because now, I get to explore the mental disability and write a character from a completely different and new perspective.
I really enjoy writing this character (and both of them for that matter) because he is so different and writing from his perspective is so interesting because his mindset is so unique. My advice to anyone who is going to write a character with a mental disibility is this...do you research. You can't write a mentally disibilty based off of what everyone around you says. Because most of the time, it isn't what it's made out to be. Especially if you got your information from someone who doesn't have the illness or from a movie or anything of the sort. Make sure you do your research and, if possible, even talk with someone who has the illness. If you don't know anyone who has it, then find someone on the internet who does. Maybe someone who has a Youtube channel or even just an interveiw online with someone who has it. My character, Tatum Dallas, is definitely one of my favorite characters that I have ever written but he's also a very hard one to write. Reason number one: He's a male. And well...I'm not. Reason number two: He's mentally unstable. And well...I'm not. But I'm making sure to do all of my research and get my facts straight. And it's been a very fun process. I'm so excited to finish this novel and share it with the world. :D xx |