Great lines...

...from great writers!

"What can I do to you, I'm only a shadow." -Singing in the Rain

This line stuck out as he leaned in to make her nervous in the beginning of the movie. Great lines really do make great stories. It develops characters and keeps things interesting. When people say monotonous things, it's not even like real life. All people say interesting and different things. They make comments to make us laugh, cringe, cry, shout, jump, REACT. Writers should provoke people to react. Another goal of mine is to get people to do. Provoking change or at the very least thought would give me the greatest since of accomplishment.

To the writers out there, remember that cliches don't provoke much thought and should be used carefully and tastefully. Write the words that turn heads, like all the little black dresses of the world. :-)

Louisa May Alcott

Searching through all the books that I have time and again, I really love my collection of Louisa May Alcott books. I have one that consists of the thrillers she began with. I haven't read them all. It's like wanting to keep a treat for awhile without using it all up. I also have Work, which was written around her time as a nurse in the Civil War. Of course I have Little Women, Little Men, and Jo's boys. Stories that started about her family and morphed into something great.

Alcott is someone that I value when I need some inspiration. She was a female writer in a time where many were published with male pseudonyms to get their words into the public. She started writing things that she truly felt great about. Alcott liked her thrillers. But of course, an editor that told her they wanted something more feminine and from her experience. Instead of giving up, instead of being stubborn, she looked at her life and wrote from her heart - her family. This led her to a fulfilling career and eventually gave her the opportunity to publish the thrillers that her writing career began with.

I keep trying to find my story, the one that has a background in what I know while still being fiction. I have a couple of promising things now, after years of writing my own sorts of thrillers. (More sappy romance though.) My mom keeps saying I'm going to have to write for the audience first if I truly want to get published, then I can write for me. That's still a tough one to get my head around.

Is that what Alcott did? In some ways it is. She wrote what the editor wanted rather than what she originally enjoyed. In the end she enjoyed the stories she got out of taking the advice. So I guess the moral of the story is, figure out what the audience likes and brainstorm something from what you know to give them what they want while still being happy with what you do. Easier said then done.

A Joint Project Begins

Wow, it's been far too long since I've updated this. I'm sure if I look back on the last several posts they all start that way. Hopefully I won't be beginning this way much more. I've started a writing project with my friend, Jessica. We brainstormed ideas for four hours over dinner tonight, while also talking about her husband, my boyfriend and our lives - past, present and future.

We got at least two hours of work in, brainstorming and researching, in the midst of getting to know each other better. We haven't actually started writing on it yet, but I look forward to what it could become. We are going to write, separately or together, and then e-mail each other as things go. We may have each gotten a walking buddy out of this as well. :-)

I look forward to a great new writing adventure!

Christmas time!

My writing has been going slowly, sadly. My mind hasn't been very creatively focused lately. It's been more stress relieving oriented. I don't know where I am right now, because writing used to be a stress relief. I think this is just one of those unfortunate periods where the fog in my head has surrounded the tales and taken them captive. I'm hoping that the happy feeling of Christmas and seeing my parents in the beginning of January help kick-start the new year with some fantastic words that flow out of me and onto paper (and Microsoft word).

Hopefully I'll update before then, but if not, Merry Christmas everyone!!

Take two!

So, it's been awhile since I've updated this, and unfortunately since I've written. I've been acclimating to the new city, new job, and new/old friends. It's actually draining when I haven't written.

SO good news!!

National Novel Writing November is here again, and I'm going to attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in a month again. 30 days to get one book done...but what I learned from last year I just need to write and focus on editing later. I'm curious, is it cheating if I start brainstorming story ideas now? I'll try not to actively brainstorm, but I won't blow off a good thing.

Independence Revised

So at the end of July I posted two old high school song lyrics that I was going to edit and see if I could make them something better. Well, here is my attempt at that. I think it's much better, but it might go through a bit more editing.

Independence
by: Jennifer Nelson
written: May 20, 2004
revised: September 17, 2010

I hear
in the distance
the laughing.
Even
humming.
What it wants
can't be heard
but it softly
whistles
while a life
flashes
in my mind.
Dreams come true
on this foggy
road. Inhibitions
leave
and make you whole
again. But you'll really never
know just what I am.
I see it there,
I can almost touch it.
I see it there,
so close I can feel it.
I see it there,
in front of me,
calling out for someone.
Your life is flashing
in front of you.
Your inhibitions
leave
and make you feel
again. But still
you don't have
me. I want to break
free and embrace
this life. To chase
wild stallions.
To find
what life is.
Laughing,
humming,
seeing,
freedom.
Life keeps flashing
in your face. Dreams
and inhibitions leave.
And you're so close to me!
Break out
and leave home
to find the new
world. The next phase
of life is shining
through. It's right
there. Can you see
it? Go embrace
it. Go and take
what is yours!

No end in sight....

Unfortunately, I had a day of distraction through trying to write today. I've got an interesting, fun story line that I can't seem to figure out a good beginning or end to. I keep writing parts in the middle, but I'm to the point where this one needs at least a vague thought of at least what I'm hoping for the end to have. This is normally the point where I'll put it down for a long period of time and pick up working on something else. I'm not going to do it this time. I'm going to work on this a little bit every day and find a way to resolve the problems I see in this story line.