Oh Look I have an Editeor

This is not my picture

I learned how to write during National Novel Writing Month.  NaNoWriMo is a challenge were you try to write a 50,000 word novel in one month.  You tone out that inner-editor and write like there is no tomorrow.  I got pretty good at that.  My inner-editor was almost forgotten after four years of not listening to her.  But then this year I started editing.  In all those past years only once did I edit one of my short stories and then I simple got my big sister to read it and tell my what was wrong.  Not really the same as editing it myself.  Most of the time I never reread any of my writing.  The book was just filed away in a folder in the very deep places of my computer.  All last year I was getting pushed to edit.  My sister would look at my writings and tell me that I really should edit.  Friend who I would tell about my stories would tell me to edit.  My grandparents would read one of my books and say 'Morgan you should really edit this'.  But it took a complete stranger to get it through my head.  I took a writing class with a local author and she read some of my stuff.  She was impressed and told me I should really start editing. "You need to stop writing and finish the books you already have."  I had never thought of it that way, but she had a good point.  My books weren't as I had thought finished.  They were only a ruff draft.  Like a raw diamond that hasn't been cut or polished.  A stranger telling me that woke me up and I finally acted on all the advise that everyone else had been giving me all year.  Editing posed a new problem that I had never in countered before; how do you edit?  It took me a few months but I managed to rewrite the whole plot outline for the first Nightin book, and slowly I began rewriting.  I'm still puttering away on it but every so often I hear my inner-editor pointing out something that can be easily changed.  She is waking up and I'm rather enjoying the help.  It's like having a spell check system in your head that points out confusing sentences and weak scenes.  I don't hear her often but maybe that's just because I don't know how to listen.  This summer I made the goal of 10,000 edited words and right now I'm only half done, but if I can write 50,000 words in one month I can surly edit 5,000 in the same time.  it's all a work in progress.

Have a blessed week
Morgan J

Challenge Me

We have not internet.  More accurately I am have no internet.  My two sisters have their smart phones so they get internet on that.  Truth is I don't really miss it.  I miss the music and the wide selection of movies to choose from.  We don't have a TV ether so there is nothing to distract me from writing.  Oh joy.  So I invented a game.  I was looking more for an excuse to spend time with my sisters that did not involve  watching a movie on the laptop.  It turned out to be really fun.  And they actually liked it.   I call it the Challenge, because it sounds cool and I couldn't think of any other name.  We each challenge the others with something random.  So that each person gets two random things that they have to incorporate into a drawing or in my case a short story.  The story has to be short or it will take way too long.  Last Saturday was the last time we did it.  My challenges were 'book' and the 'Chi Rho' which is the Greek symbol for Christ.  But this time the story I came up with would not be told in a few pages.  I'm still working on it, kind of, between editing and crafts and work and reading.  My sisters say that we can't do another challenge till I get it done.  I'm planing to get it done this week.  The game really is a lot of fun and it gives me a writing excuse to avoid editing.  It is also forcing me to write shorter stories and planing ahead so that the story doesn't run away with itself.  This has been more of a rambling post but I put off writing it till too late.  I will do better next time. 

You all have a blessed week.
Morgan J

Three Faces

Lately I've been thinking about two of my favorite characters and why I like them.  In 2009 I started writing my first real novel.  Everything I wrote before was a poor and recognizable copy.  It started with my older sister telling me to write something about WW2 because I was so fascinated by that time period.  I came up with a story that I liked and told chapters of it to myself every night before I fell asleep.  When one of the characters died I actually made myself cry.  My sister encouraged me to write it down and finally I started it.  Without a title we called it German Brothers for the lack of something better.  In 2011 when I finished the first draft I finally found the name; Harder to Win.  I got it from the Bible verse that says "A brother offended is harder to win then a walled city."  The main character was named Johann and he was the first character that really became real to me.  He is the sober, mature side me.  In 2012 I started a long series of books about a family of brothers.  In the second book a villain showed up that I had not been prepared for.  Searcher Maze Mirrorson came in as a bounty hunter and turned into a funny, sometimes crazy young man who is insecure and lonely. 

These two characters are based off two different sides of my own personality.  I read somewhere that every person we bring to life on the white page is a version of us.  We put a bit of ourselves in each character.  At first I was a little skeptical.  So I tried to make up someone based on someone else.  His name is Journey.  And he is by far my least liked character.  He is really annoying.  What ever happens you can be sure Journey will do the one thing that bugs me the most.  Guess what? As I learned more about him I discovered that instead of being completely different, Journey actually has almost the same personality as me.  Now how irritating is that?  That is so like him.  After all the trouble I went to he turns out to be the opposite of all I was trying to make him.  He is like my evil twin.  But, I will not waste this post in ranting on how much I dislike this guy.  Searcher is so much fun to write and when I'm not writing about him I actually start to miss him.  Johann is like my perfect big brother.  If I had a big brother I would want him to be like Johann.  In Johann I put all the characteristics that I want to cultivate in myself.  Searcher got all the mischievous qualities that I enjoy.  Most of the time the Johann side of me won't let me do them but every once in awhile on weekends I can get away with being a little silly.  The part of me that relates to Johann keeps me moderate and mature and matter of fact.  While the bit of Searcher in my head keeps me laughing and having fun.  I love one because he is a better version of me.  And I love the other because he is just fun to hang around, and he gets to do all the things I would be too scared to do.  (Like turn all the lights off in school when everyone's talking.)

I'll see you all in a few weeks,
Morgan J

Confrontation

Moving away from home for the first time is fun and exciting.  Stressful sometimes and scary all the time.  I moved out with two of my sisters and they have made the whole experience so much easier and harder then it would have been along.  Three girls in a single bedroom apartment can get on each others nerves.

"We're out of space we need to put the books on top of the shelf."

"No, I think it looks bad.  We can just stick the notebooks in a box."

"No, I want to be able to find my notebooks."


And so it goes on.  There have been many argument in our little apartment, and there will be more.  We knew it would happen before we moved out.  You can't put three girls in a one bedroom apartment with the same car and same place of work and not expect a lot confrontation.  But instead of splitting us up it has helped us grow closer.  Every time we make up we learn more about each other and how to get along with them.
Arguments aren’t so bad when you end them the right way.  When you end the discussion knowing more about the other person and understanding them better, you did it right.   Last week I asked my older sister for ideas on what to write about in the next post, she came back right away with “arguments”.  I got to thinking about confrontation in life and stories.  In life it forces you to go past the ordinary “hi, how are you” kind of conversations.  An argument shows you a vulnerable part of that person and opens the door for you to get to know them better.  The same thing applies to stories.  That moment of weakness gives you a chance to show the characters fears and motivations.  It gives the different characters an opportunity to get closer and the reader to get closer to the characters.  Arguments can be used as a tool introduce the readers to hidden sides of your characters.  

The Writer Side of Me

                                          

Someone asked me last week what I wrote about on my blog and my answer was "I don't know, random things."  So I figure it is time I start getting some focus, that is part of the reason I am joining the #Mywriting Process Tour.  The other reason is Della from Gut Level Christian invited me and it sounded like fun.  Its really simple,you talk about your writing process and answer these three questions:  

1 What am I working on now?

2 Why do I write what I do?

3 How does my writing process work?

Then list three bloggers who are going to post and share their links.  Finding three people to post after you is probably the hardest part. 

Right now I was working on editing the first Nightin book.  This is really a big deal because in all my five years of writing I have never edited a single one of my books.  I was planing to finish the fourth book this summer and the fifth this November but now I'm just going for the first book rewritten.  The first draft had a drop dead ending.  Where a big airship bursts into flames and crashes, the end.  I talked to an author about those kinds of endings and she advised me to write the book so that it could stand along.  That meant completly rewriting the plot for the first book.  It covers lest time story wise, but as far as I can tell it will be just as long.  So far I'm only on the third seane but I have decided to do 500 words a day for the rest of the month and maybe next mouths if things go well. 

I write for the fun of it.  I've been telling stories sense I was six or seven.  Stories were always a part of living.  If I go too long without writing I start acting strange.  Sometimes I'll be depressed and then the next day I'll be silly and random.  Writing is a challenge that I love and look forward to every time I open a blank page.  I write because I love it and I want to get better.  With each idea I think this is the book, this could be my favorite book.  I keep trying to write a book that I would love to read over again.  

My writing process?  This one is a little harder.  Well first I get an idea for a character or a setting or a plot and play with it.  I'll get to know the character or do some back story on a setting.  Throwing some 'what if''s into a plot is really fun.  When I have a character that I like and think can tell a story I just start writing.  I find out more about the story and characters by writing them.  So far I have not been able to start a story from just a setting which is a disappointment because I have a really cool made up world that has history's and mythology's and the beginnings of several languages but no characters have caught my attention.  Anyway, so I start writing with a plot most likely a character and the story unravels from there.  Unless it is the Nightin story that took me a year to find a plot that fit the characters.  When I am working on a book I generally work on it till it gets done.  I learned how to write from NaNoWriMo so writers block is practically nonexistent.  I can only remember one case of writers block that I had a few years.  It was between books and I could not get a good idea to work on.  Back to the subject though.  I write till its done and then I move on to the next story, some times I'll plot the story first most of the time I just jump into the story.   

Well that's all I think.  This was kind of fun.  Ellie Moore from Jabbering of a few teenage authors (to be) will be posting next.  I am afraid I failed to dig up the other two bloggers to follow my post so if your reading this and want to write one to, just leave a comment and I can put your link up.  You would be doing me a favor.

Thanks for reading and have a blessed week.

Morgan J

P.S.

What do you all think of the new title?  Is it hard to understand or does prudence sound like a name instead of another word for common sense?  I would love to get your opinion on it.

Whispers of Research

I'm late.  So sorry.  I did write a post though.  I had a post ready to go on Wednesday.  It was all done and I even pushed the publish button, and . . . . nothing.  For what ever reason the internet would not work.  I tried all that day and it never took.  In the evening I drove over to Starbucks and it still would not post.  I have not had a chance to get to another internet sores till just now.  But as it happened I forgot to bring my little touch pad with my post on it so I have to write up a new one.  No matter it was just rambling about my favorite character. 
Well this is the secant week of living in an apartment and it seems like everything was going wrong not with the apartment but with me.  On Monday my right eye was so swollen and irritated that I could barely function.  So on Tuesday I went to the emergency care center.  They told me to go to the eyes doctor.  On Wednesday I started loosing my voice, and when you work with kids that is quite a handicap.  Thursday I went to the eye doctor and he told me I had several Corneal ulcers that means eye drops every waking hour.  Friday I could barely talk above a whisper.  And that brings us to Saturday.  To day my voice is better and my eye is good I just can't ware my contacts which means everything beyond arms reach is blurry.  But I am feeling better then I have been all week so to day is the best day of the week for more than one reason.
I've started doing some research for my current project.  The Nightin story is a steampunk, which is Victorian historical fiction with a little syfy mixed in.  I got a book from the library and I've been watching movies set in the Victorian period.  My grandmother found a steampunk movie for me called The Adventurer: Curse of the Midas Box.  One of the characters named Captain Will Charity reminded me of one of the characters from my book.  Dapper, witty, always cheerful under the hardest situation, at lest that is what I think of him as.  To someone else he may just be a crazy young man who doesn't know what he's saying.  That movie and the fact that I am editing or rewriting the first book of this series has pushed me to do more research on my genre.  I have to pay more attention to how they talk and manners of that society.  How did people in that time period talk?  That is what I am trying to learn and hopefully discover what book Flame Nightin would bother to come to Dart for that could not be found in Early's library. 
With the wave of the hand and a flick of the wrist I will wish you all adieu till next time.  I think Saturdays will work for me best, so not next Saturday but the Saturday after that I will write you again.
Morgan J

Secant Draft

Hello all,
I'm still alive.  You probably forgot all about me and my tiny blog.  No matter.  I forgive you.  Life goes on.
Now I have to be completely honest with you readers.  My writing group gave us all some homework; to publish a blog.  So this is me doing my long overdue assignment.  Also people have told me as a want-to-be author, that I need to make connections.  Here's me putting myself out there.  Do you feel the connection?  Me nether.  I'll just have to keep trying. 
As part of the homework I am revamping the whole blog, new title new look, everything I can think of; the secant draft of the blog if you will.  I will also be posting every two weeks.  That doesn't sound like very much but if you consider that before I have rarely ever posted more then once every two months, this seems like quite the overflow. 
I'm not sure what day of the week my next post will come on, but for sure some time two weeks from now.  I can believe I just committed to that.  Maybe its because I'm writing this at 1 in the morning.  I get a little strange late at night.  When it gets about 12:00 I start doing and saying things that I wouldn't normally do if I were sane.  I better publish this to night before my sanity returns to me and I chicken out.  If I wait I will never get this started.

So on that note, good night or good morning which ever one it is, I write you again in two weeks.
Morgan J