I've Got Sketch Appeal

So here's something that I haven't really blogged about or shared w/ you all yet; I've got a thing for drawing.

And all of these drawing is sort of a walk-through of my style and how it drastically changed--for the better! These two characters are my two main characters of the novel I'm currently writing, so I've been drawing them for quite a while now, at least 8 years. That's at least how long this novel has been consuming my writing imagination.

So a little introduction? The blonde girl's name is Chiko and she's very much a zero-to-hero character. She's a small-town girl that travels the world where she learns a lot about what she can do, and a lot about who she is. She thinks by keeping her talents secret, she's safe, but once she's open about who she really is, it saves her life--repeatedly.

The brunette is Kokishi and she can manipulate fire and her confidence burns. She likes to be brave, actively seeks adventure and doesn't say no to danger.

So here I've got 'em in order of when I drew 'em and such. The colored ones towards the end were done w/ photoshop--I've got the sketches on one side and the other is what's called "vector art" where I've colored/painted them through photoshop. They take forever but they really bring out the characters! Sometimes, if not every time, I learn a little bit more about who I'm trying to write about when I sketch 'em out. Tell me which one(s) are your favorites, but otherwise enjoy this display of what I love!

The pink arrows sort of show all the earliest pics I could find of "Chikaz" or Chiko. The green arrow? Kokishi!



This is actually one of the first vector art projects I tried and I definitely learned a lot from the process.

 

This was my second project, and I love it so much because even after a few years, I'm completely happy w/ it.

In many ways, I'm beyond happy that these ladies got costume make-overs. After writing more about them, I had to give them something that would match their personalities, but would be realistic to fight and travel in. What do you think?

Something Wicked this Way Comes!

So I wanted to do a lil’ shout-out to my homeboy, William “the Bard” Shakespeare.

I went w/ my brother and my friends to an outdoor production of Macbeth and my oh my! Was I in heaven or what? I had more fun than you could "shake-a-spear" at! So because I’ve got the Bard on the brain, here’s some attempts at describing his awesomeness:

My favorite History: Richard III

My favorite Tragedy: Macbeth

My favorite Comedy: Twelfth Night

Some grand quotes:

"You speak an infinite deal of nothing." {The Merchant of Venice}


"My purpose is, indeed, a horse of that colour." {Twelfth Night}

"I am a Jew…If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we die? And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that." {The Merchant of Venice}

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" {Romeo & Juliet}

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way come." {Macbeth}

"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." {Measure for Measure}

Lady Macbeth--bold, brash, and Scottish

"Do you not know I am a woman? When I think, I must speak." {As You Like It}


"Love sought is good, but given unsought is better." {Twelfth Night}

"Though she be but little, she is fierce!" {A Midsummer Night’s Dream}

"{Thine} face is not worth sunburning." {Henry V}

"What’s past is prologue." {The Tempest}

"Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me." {Much Ado About Nothing}

"Beweare the green-eyed monster, my Lord. It doth mock the meat it feeds on." {Othello}

"If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction." {Twelfth Night}

"Confusion now hath made his masterpiece." {Macbeth}

"Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting; it is a most sharp sauce." {Romeo & Juliet}

One reason why I love Shakespeare: Okay, like I can narrow it down to just one, jeez. I can’t narrow anything to just one. But I like that all of his characters have brilliant personalities, has strong female characters even though in his time, women were taught to be lesser then men. He took the common stories of the day and made up his version which was fresh, bold and better! His imagery is luscious and to die for! His wit, intelligence and expertise on the ways of humanity are spot on. And above all, he’s taught me that characters—as well as people—reveal who they truly are by what they say…and what they don’t say.

“In black ink my love may still shine bright.” William Shakespeare

Characters: They're [Supposed to Be] People, Too

So here's another little something for the novice writers out there.

How many times have you read a novel and thought: okay, plot was great. Writing style--liked that. Characters? meh.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6407514-forest-born

That's actually what I thought while reading Shannon Hale's Forest Born this week. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE her books (5 stars for Goose Girl) and have since high school. It's just that syndrome where the first book is your all-time favorite and the other books don't get quite as much love, they just don't seem as great. Which is why I don't really like the idea of writing series, because I don't know if I could trust myself to undo such a dangerous thing as that.

Anyway, it's her last book, and I thought she sort of painted herself in a corner. She has Isi, Enna, Dasha, three powerful, fun, and witty female characters (think fun bantering and threats from Enna, I've got a sassy character like her). And then she has Rin, a character who's motif throughout the book is that she's someone else's shadow. Did I mention Rin is the main character?

I'm not trying to bash Hale's story, because when one reads the book, they do get a sense of wanting to become your best self and learn who you are and refine that image. That's all fine and dandy, but Rin sounded so depressing the whole book, wanting to sacrifice herself to dangerous events to protect others--basically telling herself others' lives are more valuable than her own. If the main character thinks that she isn't worth reading about, shouldn't that be a red flag? Main characters should never think like that!

I understand readers come into the ring w/ different backgrounds; I've been very fortunate to never have been in Rin's mindset, so a lot of her reasoning and doubts I couldn't sympathize with. I say that because I know every person has weaknesses, we can't all be the best all the time. But when you have a character that has growing moments and passes w/ flying colors--and then tear themselves up afterwards, it makes reading on that much more difficult.

It turns out that Rin holds herself back because she has this power that she thinks will hurt others--but Isi, Enna, and Dasha do, too and seem to handle themselves just fine. All the characters regret something they've done w/ their powers as well, but Rin holds herself back almost the entire novel while the others get over it and lead on interesting lives. Rin doesn't forgive herself when she's been multiple instances to do so, which again, maybe I don't understand. I honestly hope I don't ever have to understand. But it doesn't seem normal.

So I decided, that in many cases, instead of arguing or venting, why not just avoid this altogether? These are my personal feelings, so I invite anyone to let me know if I'm way off the mark:

1. I feel like, if you can't write about such things as guilt, shame, insecurity or things like that w/o appearing fake, maybe you shouldn't write about them. Some people have vivid stories to tell and they should tell them, and there are people out there that can tell happy stories, and we need those, too.
2. But if negative motifs belong in your story (c'mon, you can't have a war novel w/o things like guilt, shame, hate, ect) for Pete's sake do some research! I've got lots of injuries in my story like bashed heads, stabs, twisted ankles, and I've never broken a bone, but luckily I've got a dad who knows his stuff. There are plenty of sites out there that would have information on ailments both physical and mental. When making the non-existant look real, you can't have someone stumble out of a burning house fit as a fiddle doing cartwheels.
3. I'm mainly referring to the main character when I say: if they're going to have self-esteem issues, give them some sort of redeeming value that makes you at least sympathize. I don't know how many books that I've read where the main character says "oh, I'm horrible at singing, and dancing, and riding, and I don't look pretty, and I can't cook, I'm shy, I'm weak, I'm useless..." uh...why should I keep reading? Give your character something they're good at, heck, even something they know they're good at and enjoy doing. I admit, a character that thinks too highly of himself is borderline witty or annoying. But if their personality is bland and colorless, you could cripple the other elements of storytelling.
4. Have someone read your work/read it out-loud. Editing might reveal some cliche' wordings (it sure has for me!) and especially w/ someone else reading--I tell you, if someone is willing to read your stuff and critique it--worship the ground they walk upon and take that offer. If their perception of what's going on is what you intended more or less, that's a good sign. If they don't care and don't hit the emotional level a scene is supposed to have, touch it up.
5. If it helps, map out your character: make even a mini autobio. That's right, autobiography. Have them summarize themselves, their likes, dislikes, what makes them cringe, what embarasses them, you name it. If you can draw a circle around their personality, it makes it easier to capture their essence better on the page.
6. People-watch. It's stalking but research all at once. And it's entertaining!

I don't know, maybe someone should read the book and tell me if I'm off. But as my Creative Writing professor told us in her class: every rule in creative writing can be broken, just as long as it's on purpose and for a good reason. A bestseller reason.

I know that I'm not saying all this to complain, but as self-critiquing, too. With my first drafts, my main character was rather whiny and pathetic, which is kind of what I wanted: I wanted to write about a girl who goes from not lifting a finger to really being combative, powerful and fan-flippin'-tastic.

But I realized when editing, I needed to hook my readers from the get-go that this girl I invented is worth reading about, that she has problems to overcome, but she's special, she's unique, and worth their attention and affections and above all, she feels real.

So this isn't me being mean about someone else's work (I promise, I love Shannon Hale! Forgive me!)--this is me seeing what someone wrote and deciding for me & my work, it isn't my style, it isn't what I like to read, so I'm taking an alternative route.

My Silly Scribbles from ENG 218

It's good to be back! If you've been starving for some ridiculousness from me, I'm sorry I made you wait a decent 2 weeks. We were supposed to go on a trip of a lifetime back to visit Germany, Italy and Denmark but because of stupid weather, unlucky circumstances, and no wiggle room to rebook our trip we had to cancel. It meant a lot to our family, especially to visit family in Denmark.

Vader isn't what you would call a "people person."

So the next best place we could think of was, naturally, DISNEYWORLD. and HARRY POTTER WORLD. if you're FB friends w/ me, go see the 80+ pictures that were taken by your's truly.


Tagent= almost over


I bring this up, because on this trip, I brought a writing journal w/ me to fufill my writing goal of writing everyday {which I would give myself about 3.5/5 stars--but I read 5 books! Holy whuuut??}


And because I brought it w/ me, it brought back memories and I decided to post some of the ones that I enjoyed writing, and reading over again. These posts are unedited, how they are seen in my journal. The journal entries were part of a class requirement--I just had to have a certain amount of writing but I could write about anything--which I did. The freewrites were timed and I had about a max of 5min to write.

Journal Entry 9/3/10

A list of interesting sentences created with fridge magnets (mostly if not all credited to my roommates):

• *Her hair felt gone.
• I am raw gorgeous sweat.
• Delirious women scream and use knives.
• Bitterly rips gown after swimming club.
• We white boys live have purple smooth language.
• We produced one in the hot spring.
• Me feet is languidly moaning.
• Boil and smear beauty but iron shadow.
• Worship puppy love, please.
• I must like life after death.
• Stop chanting at me luscious forest.
• This mad man moons their mother.
• He is staring as she sleeps in water.
• Incubate our pink eggs and they will blow up.
• Whisper a sweet symphony.
• Some enormous chocolate fluff is under the TV.
• Trudge beneath the garden and fiddle.
• I want black lust.
• I shot him.
• Frantic meat spray.
• Think about my ugly blue tongue.
• Lick a juicy pole.
• Winter is the cool of summer.
• Watch your falling blood.
• She shakes her butt delicately.
• Lie those out next to the sordid bed.
• Honey you’re behind rocks.
• You could run away but I will crush you.
• His elaborate apparatus drools.
• My milk eat a girl.
• Me want her rust like skin goddess.
• Drunk though essential.
• Wax my bare smelly legs in the misty wind.
• Mostly we cry but manipulate men easy.

Freewrite 9/10/10
{describing a childhood home/setting}

Germans. Everywhere. Mountains faced us on the east all covered with thick evergreens. The Tree of Life is the left, probably the tallest and biggest tree I’ve ever seen in my whole life—taller and thicker than a mansion, with a handsome bird’s nest on the highest point. Some of our crazy neighbors are herding their flock of sheep; those buggers always manage to break out and graze by the Tree as though it’s a magnet to all living creatures. Depending on the time of year, the grass is tall and bends like waves on a windy day, or the field gets a buzz cut and hay bales that look like giant marshmallows take its place. Germans are staring at me through their windows.

Journal Entry 9/21/10

What I am good at: dansk, writing, making up/finding names, cooking/eating, ping pong, reading, talking, clarinet, piano, singing, dancing, drawing, photography, laughing/getting people to laugh.

What I am not good at: sports (Frisbee/Capture the flag, volleyball), eating veggies, break-dancing, math/chemistry, thinking realistically, remembering names, focusing on homework (especially boring homework).

What I want to be better at: writing, racquetball, working out, sign language, listening, being assertive

{There are some things that I’m not good at that I don’t really care to improve. Good or bad?}

Journal Entry 10/4/10

List of Problems I’m Glad I Don’t Have (or hope not to have):

• a crazy/psycho ex
• mean roommates
• food allergies
• car/motion sickness
• divorced parents
• switching majors
• abuse (of any kind)
• debt
• unemployment
• death of a child/stillborn (this is what initially started the list; I could’t fathom how hard it would be to be pregnant only to lose a child that’ll never grow up.)
• illegible handwriting. 

Fast Freewrite cir. September '10

Smells remembered from childhood:

1.       Fudge—Mississippi

2.       Grandpa’s farm

3.       Mormor’s house

4.       Homemade rootbeer

5.       Camping

Unusual people I met recently (this week)

1.       Bree’s sister

2.       New coworker

3.       My bishop

4.       RS stake counselor

5.       Oskar

Earliest Memories

1.       Kindergarten naptime

2.       Getting a “bad apple” card to take home

3.       Heart-shaped sunglasses

4.       Playing at the beauty salon w/ Polly Pocket

5.       Singing to Lion King.

Things that make me mad:

1.       Lies

2.       F’s

3.       “holier/cooler than thou”

4.       Obama/politics

5.       Mormon haters

Calming places:

1.       Temple

2.       Art museum

3.       Pool

4.       Bookstore

5.       Bed

Things that hurt:

1.       Migraines

2.       Braces

3.       Tight pants

4.       Burns

5.       Soap in the eye

Things I’ve ignored:

1.       Messy room

2.       Dishes

3.       People on FB from high school

4.       Practicing clarinet

5.       My journal

Things I wish I could do again:

1.       White water rafting

2.       Be in a relationship

3.       Live in Germany

4.       Travel

5.       Speak German

{the thing that I love about this list, is that I’m currently happy because I’ve got a #2 again, and on August 3^rd, I’ll get to have #3-5 back in my life. WHUUUUT?!}

Parody Madnessss...Parseltongue for Sheer Fabulousness

So once upon a time I had this awesome Creative Writing class last year and we had to write poetry--which I did, that'll be coming soon. But I asked my teacher if I could write a parody instead and she was down with that, so that's what I did, a parody! This is some fun, original work called "Good Riddance Voldemort" based of the song "Good Morning Baltimore" from Hairspray. The original lyrics are on the left, mine are on the right. I hope you like it; parodies are super fun to write!

Do you write parodies or have you heard of some good ones? Share, share, share!

Oh, oh, oh                                                                   Oh, oh, oh
Woke up today                                                           Woke up today
Feeling the way I always do                                     Hating your guts like I always do
Oh, oh, oh                                                                   Oh, oh, oh
Hungry for something                                              You killed my parents
That I can't eat                                                          You monstrous beast
Then I hear that beat                                               With freakish pale physique!
The rhythm of town                                                  When Dementors in town
Starts calling me down                                              Start getting me down
It's like a message from                                            And the Death Mark visible
High above                                                                 High above
Oh, oh, oh                                                                   Oh, oh, oh
Pulling me out                                                            I grab my broom
To the smiles and the                                                And I'll meet you to
Streets that I love                                                     Fight for the ones that I love!

Good morning Baltimore                                          Good riddance, Voldemort
Every day's like an open door                                  Everyday I keep learning more
Every night is a fantasy                                            Every night I have that fantasy
Every sound's like a symphony                               Where I curse you times infinity!

Good morning Baltimore                                          Good riddance, Voldemort
And some day when I take to the floor                  And some day when I pass all my OWLS
The world's gonna wake up and see                       And proclaim my love for Ginny
Baltimore and me                                                      It'll be Voldemore vs. me!

Oh, oh, oh                                                                   Oh, oh, oh
Look at my hair                                                         Check out my wand
What "do" can compare with mine today?            How do you compare with the Elder Wand?
Oh, oh, oh                                                                   Oh, oh, oh
I've got my hairspray and radio                              I've got my spell books and Sneak-o-Scope
I'm ready to go                                                           I'm ready to go!

The rats on the street                                               The hippogriffs on the street
All dance round my feet                                           All bow around my feet
They seem to say                                                      They seem to say
"Tracy, it's up to you"                                              "We too hate You-know-Who"
So, oh, oh                                                                    So, oh, oh
Don't hold me back                                                   You watch your back
'Cause today all my dreams will come true          "Cause my prophecy'll finally come true!

Good morning Baltimore                                         Good riddance, Voldemort
There's the flasher who lives next door                 I have a secret band of brave cohorts
There's the bum on his bar room stool                  I hate you more than that Slytherin tool
They wish me luck on my way to school               You just wait until our epic duel.

Good morning Baltimore                                          Good riddance, Voldemort
And some day when I take to the floor                  And some day when I pass all my OWLS
The world's gonna wake up and see                       And proclaim my love for Ginny
Baltimore and me                                                      It'll be Voldemore vs. me!
I know every step                                                     I know every spell
I know every song                                                     I know every charm
I know there's a place where I belong                    I know Gryffindor is where I belong!
I see all those party lights shining ahead               I see all those Death Eaters flying ahead
So someone invite me                                              So I better kill you
Before I drop dead!                                                  By the scar on my head!

So, Oh, Oh                                                                 So, Oh, Oh

Give me a chance                                                    Just watch me fly
'Cause when I start to dance                                 'Cause no one can deny

I’m a movie star                                                      I'm the Chosen One
Oh, oh, oh                                                                 Oh, oh, oh
Something inside of me makes me move            Something inside of me wants you gone
When I hear the groove                                         When I whip out my wand!

My ma tells me no                                                   My mum loved me so
But my feet tell me go!                                            Which gave me pow'r over my foes!
It's like a drummer inside my heart                     It's like the Patronus from my wand
Oh, oh, oh                                                                 Oh, oh, oh
Don't make me wait                                                Don't make me wait
One more moment for my life to start...              One more moment for my quest to start!

Good morning Baltimore                                        Good riddance, Voldemort
Every day's like an open door                                Everyday I keep learning more
Every night is a fantasy                                          Every night I have that fantasy
Every sound's like a symphony                             Where I curse you times infinity!

Good morning Baltimore                                        Good riddance, Voldemort
And some day when I take to the floor                And some day when I pass all my OWLS
The world's gonna wake up and see                     And proclaim my love for Ginny
Baltimore and me                                                    It'll be Voldemore vs. me!

Writing: Wows and Woes

Okay writers, lace up your sneakers and roll up your sleeves.

I've been struggling with...really picking up my work and finishing it. Just to back-track, I've been working on a YA fantasy novel probably since late middle school, early high school and I'm 239 pages into the story and I don't know how much farther I have until I'm done, but I do feel like it's eh...maybe close?

Anyway, every summer I have this half-hearted goal that by the end of it, I'll also write the end of my novel, but THIS IS THE SUMMER to cut the crap and get this novel DONE.

So to help me get my act together, and if you need a boost to get YOUR act together (if you feel slightly guilty, I'm talking to you...McGruder) then I've collected some tips for writers in any stage of writing.

1. Make a goal of writing for five minutes a day, every day. That's what I've heard: either 5-10 minutes or just a page a day. And if you think about it, if you write a page a day for a year, that's 365 pages minimum done and that's a book! I have less to write and less time to do it in, so if I do a page a day, I could seriously pull this off.

2. Writing a good novel isn't just about great dialog or a plot to hook in the reader; both have to be as believable as possible even if it's fiction/fantasy. The best way to get believable characters is basically knowing everything about them, like they're a real person. Sounds super easy, right? Here's a few ways that I've heard works for different people:
     *write a blog in the voice of your character. You get into their heads and make 
      statements and decisions like they would in real life. Obviously you can put it in a word  
      doc, or if you feel like it, put it in a real blog and design it, whatever. Just don't adopt  
      multiple personalities, okay?
     *Fill out this sentence for as many characters as you can stand:

       My name is {name} and I am a {age} year-old {place in society/occupation/ect.} who wants {something/someone}.

      If you can't answer this for your characters, then take a step back and figure it out. If
      your novel doesn't outline this for your readers, then make adjustments! This also helps
      when designing characters and  giving them a driven purpose.
3. Everyone wants something; I want something (actually a lot of things) and I'm sure you want something; if you don't then you might be in a vegitable state. Every quality character wants something and the story is there to show the readers if they get what they want or not. So if you're stuck w/ the storyline (if I'm stuck on a storyline...) then that's something to help steer you back.

Does that help? I'm here for you! If you're writing, wanting to write then let me know where you are and where you want to go. If you want more advice, I hope to post more soon. None of these are my ideas; they're things that I've heard at LTUE Symposiums or in my Creative Writing class, so I'm not some kind of genius or published puffball. If anything, I need this advice, but I want to spread the word.
Do you have any advice you want to add? Feel free to comment and add!