Here is a picture of one of my characters from the novel I will be writing in April, May, and July (for Camp NaNoWriMo).  I've been writing a lot about my characters and have got to 'know them' even though they are fictional.  Yesterday I noticed I missed writing about them... anyway, here is a drawing of Tira, a princess from the nation of Tarasia.  She is either just barely 11 or almost 12, there isn't much of a difference, but I can't decide which... but, without further ado, here it is.

Eh, not very good, but at least it's something.  It took me at least half a dozen tries to get it that good, although those failures led me to give her a bow on her hair, so that makes her more unique.  Which is always good.

~The WordWeaver

I have no idea how to start this post - I mean, there is so many things I want to say that I just don't know how to start it...

But there I did it.  I already started my post.  And so I'll just continue, anyway I can.  :)  Starting at the beginning, which is always a good place to begin.

Was it Tuesday?  Thursday?  Sometime around then, it got really warm, 50 degrees about, which means I am outside doing something, even though my brother thought I was crazy for doing it, because there was still a bit of ice on the creek.  But, because the Volleyball Tournament was just in a couple days and I couldn't serve for my life, literally.

So, yes, I was practicing basically ALL DAY.  And my hands were purple, no really, I got creepy purple spots all over my arm.

Still, I practiced my hands off (not quite literally), and I was sweating a good bit, so I went 1.4 second creek stomping in the freezing cold stream beside my house.  Again, my brother thought I was wild-crazy for doing that.  Heehee.

Anyway, the sun began to sink, and then I didn't practice after that (Side Note:  That was the last time I practiced before the Tournament except for one or two serves up against the wall Friday Night - normally the Youth practice was on Thursday, but they cancelled it that week).

That next day, I woke to a world of white.  At about 12 of clock (midnight), the snow had begun to fall, or so it is thought.  After I woke though, my brother and I started shoveling the driveway, it was wet and slippery snow, so it seemed as if it would melt very quickly.

Soon, my dad began to help too, and he got an idea of rolling up the snow in a big ball.  Fairly soon, he had a MASSIVE ball, and by the end it took my dad and I to push the ball off the driveway, and I also made a second, smaller ball clearing up some of the other parts of the driveway.

After rolling the larger one off the driveway, my dad decided we should build a snowman, and by the looks of just the bottom part, the snowman was going to be BIG, really BIG.  And as we looked at the second piece of the snowman, we saw that it would be far to hard to pick up the second ball and put it onto the first one, so we made a ramp out of two planks of wood, and rolled it up.  Nonetheless, it was still a challenging task.

The head of the snowman was pretty heavy, but my dad and brother could lift it up and put it on the top.

Still, when we stepped back, the man of snow was HUGE, at least 7 feet tall, and very wide.  Yes, it was very, very, extremely, amazingly, stunningly big.  Hehe, yep, it was very cool - literally.

I'll posts some pictures of it and other things tomorrow, in a seperate post, so watch out for it.

But, for now, this post isn't even half over.

After the warm day, and the snowman-building day, it was not time to sit easy and rest.  Friday was Co-Op day, and so I had to write up several things for that, and that didn't go so well - meaning it took a long while to write it.

After Co-Op was over, I tried to get so sleep early, as it was about an hour and a half journey to the Tournament, a college in Juniata, and we had to get up at a quarter 'til 7 to meet the other youth at my church before we set off on the trip, to travel together.  Buuut... well, we got delayed, so we were a bit late, and when we did get going, the GPS said we had 6 minutes to spare once we got to the college, and that was hardly enough to race into the doors, find our team, and to see our plans for the games.

Anyway, we took some shortcuts the GPS didn't know about, and arrived there before 9:00 AM, (but still very close to it).  We ran in, and I took a deep breath as I heard the District Executive still talking.  Once he was done, we went over to the bleachers, met up with the other youth, one of the youth leaders showed us our positions on a green paper diagram.  I was in the dead center, (although since we only had 8 players, there was no one directly behind me).

And then it began.  My feet pounded on the gym floor, the noise ringing through my ears as other teams took up their positions, and my teammates and I at our volleyball court.

Now, as the time slowly passed for me, and my heart thumped as a great blacksmith's hammer on an anvil, and I began to sweat from nervousness (like, not on my face, but at my underarms and on my hands, making them sticky).  (Anyway, back to my first sentence), Now, as the time slowly passed for me, I'll tell you what the college courts looked like.

The main room had courts 1, 2, and 3, (with other balls always rolling into the other courts in this room), and then outside of the main gymnasium, a hallway, on which the scores were posted, and then a left turn, a second gymnasium was revealed.  This gym only had one court, which was better to play in because the other team's balls weren't going every which way.

But, back to the first game.

I absolutely failed.

Yep, I served the ball UNDER the net.

But, the next game, I served it over twice, once scoring immediately.

Then some other games went by.  I got it over a total of 8 times.  Out of like the 4 times I served.  So that was good, but I wasn't very helpful to the team...

Anyway, we won 3rd place medal, so I'm fine. :)

Well, I'm going to stop rambling and post this while I can.

Have a good day!

~The WordWeaver

I was proved wrong on Thursday - apparently volleyball wasn't intended to torture short twelve year olds.  *Grin*

My reason - er, excuse - for being 'away' is easily explained.

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last went on here.  And here's an update on general things.

"My life ain't busy but my fingers are." - Me.

Hehe, yes, I made that up.  Why?  Because I've been typing like a pyromaniac, setting fire to my keyboard with fast clickings... okay, not really, but it sounds cool.  No?

Anyway, I have written several thousand words this week, the most I've written since NaNoWriMo, and I continue to write more and more, stacking up the words like... like a Walmart employee stacks... uh... tuna cans, you know?  The little round cans that are so much wider than they are tall?

Getting back on track, I'll simply state my current novel, Antartica 22, is coming along nicely.  A rough estimate is by the end of this summer.  It is, after all, going to be a long novel.

Volleyball:  Thursday was alright, the practicing went both better and worse than normal.  This means I was better at hitting the ball when it came to me, or I at least didn't spike it against my own side, but I missed it several times when I should have been able to hit it.

Plus, just before I served for the last time, we took a short break and someone kicked an extra volleyball.  Kicked it REALLY hard, and I unluckily was in the way of the ball, so it felt almost like I got a concussion when it hit my head.  I felt extremely dizzy and also like I was going to vomit.

Anyway, that's just about all I have to say.

~The WordWeaver

If you didn't finish your short story... don't worry, I didn't either.

In fact, I think the only person who did was General Jaguar Scout.  Let's give him a round of applause.

*Silence*

*Claps*

Anyway.

I have 2,000 words written for my short story, so far, because I admit I wasn't very focused - heh, what was I thinking trying to write a Short Story AND 2 novels???  But, I'm glad I at least have that much done, and I will be continuing to work on it in my spare time.

However (and that's a big however).

I'm busy - quite busy.

I keep laying off things I need to do... post on my blog... take a shower... brush my teeth... write a novel... you get the picture.

And volleyball isn't working out quite as well as I would have hoped.

I hit the ball up two days ago (practice day).  Yup, I hit it up.  That shows I'm improving a TON.  No, really, I'm not being sarcastic.

Something's come up with volleyball that gives me a chance of survival though.

THEY MIGHT NOT PICK ME!!!

What I mean is that since 9 players (no more, no less) make up 1 team, and there has to be 2 girls on each team, and the youth group doesn't have more than 2 girls to play, there can only be 1 team, as we usually have 2.

If you understand the confused paragraph above, it's simply stating there aren't enough female players to make up 2 teams.  So we just have 1 team this year, which leaves out some of the youth so they can't play.

I might be one - because I'm not the best player.

I'm not exactly sure if I want to play volleyball in a tournament so...

Un-decidedly,
~The WordWeaver

(Taking some time away from posting about writing, as that has been basically all I've done for a while).

Love - or at least real love - is 3-D.  It's not something that's just there, like in soap-operas, and it isn't over dramatized either.  I'll explain what I mean about not being over dramatized.

Number 1, love doesn't mean two people who are engaged and to be married, it means someone who will sacrifice all they have for someone else.

Number 2, real love isn't love on sight.  Nor is it like a romance story where two people hate each other, but then end up loving each other later on.

While that might happen occasionally, it sure isn't the most common.

Real love is something that is more about someone who will sacrifice his or her self for someone they love (i.e., someone they care about).

And lastly, love isn't 2-D.  It is not something that just happens, as in a movie, it's something that God gives.  And that is '3-D' love.

~

Happy Valentine's Day!

~The WordWeaver

The quote above is true.  Very true.

But I guess that's all.

~The WordWeaver

P.S.  Think on it, later I'll post something more about it.

A man once said that you must write million words to attain the quality of work that could be published.  That man was Isaac (somebody or other, I forget his surname), and to some extent he's wrong.  And to some extent, he's right.

He did not mean one millions words figuratively, else what would the point in saying it be?

Isaac (whoever), may have been right in his time, but not now.  The introduction of Ebooks would forever change his statement.

The reason?

It used to be so, so much harder than it is now to make a book - and when it takes that much work, it's got to be worth it.

Ebooks has virtually no work in it (except for formatting, which is irrelevant here).

And so, you see, he's wrong - partly.

The reason he's right - partly - is because if you publish something, it shouldn't be good, it shouldn't be okay, average, par, or standard, it should be exceptional.  And writing million words - not to just write them, but to write them from your heart - will make you  and extraordinary writer.

And it's possible to write 1 million words.

If you write 1,000 words per day (7 days a week), for 1,000 days, which is just barely 4 years, you'll have written 1 million words.

I'll try to do this, seriously, I'll try, starting today, February 9th, 2013.  And sometime in my life I will do this... but, I do not expect to write 1 million words.  If I write 500,000, I'll be just as happy. :D

(By the way, since the middle of the summer, when I started seriously writing, I have written over 130,000 words, :D)

So yes, that's why I'm going to be busy...

An over ambitious WordWeaver, writing out.

First, I have a few very important things to announce...

I have come to an idea that I know is worthy of being published.  But, before I start to work on it, I need to know if you (that is anyone who reads this) think it is worthy also.  And so, if you wish – and I would appreciate it immensely – if you (and that is to anyone) would look over my story, my plot, my character development, as I go through this journey.

I intend to publish this, traditionally, but I need ‘proofies’.  So basically, that’s what I’m asking.  Could you?  Would you?  If you do, you will certainly earn a slot in the ‘special thank you’ page, before the book.

So… yeah.

Email me telling me if you want to.  At the moment, I only have the plot settled on, but I need you to look over it because – frankly – it takes more than 1 person to write a book – if you understand me.

Email:  [email protected]

~The WordWeaver


~
Second, I got an amazing idea... another idea.  This one is very weird, very unusual, but very cool.  No one else in the world has done it before, and it's a daunting task, one which I will take on - and accomplish.

I can't tell you much about it, because it's hush hush right now, but it'll be cool... no, not just cool, it'll sweep your minds away.  I can't tell you more than that, because it's a mystery... hehe...

More News:

I'm going to be gone for a while.  Well, not exactly gone, but not here, on this blog, for about a week.  Why?  Because I have so many ideas, so many things I want to write, that sadly, I can't do both.

Here's a *short* list of what I'm planning/doing.

The novel that I am asking for 'proofies' above.
The novella I wrote a bit about further up (hint... Fishchips *wink*).
Editing TTT.
Finishing up Vengeance's Blade.
Beginning A Monster's Roar (a tentative title for VB's sequel)
Plotting out Frozen Hope (third book in the series)
Plotting for the fourth book
Plotting for the fifth book (all the same series).
(This is not the series now) Fourth Legend (an Epic Fantasy novel about some legends and defending a castle... yeah).
Finishing my Short Story.
Editing What Was, What Will Be.
Publishing the book above that I want proofies for (I have the title, but I am code-naming it Antarctica 22, but don't worry, it has nothing to do with that :P) Antarctica 22.
Publishing the mystery novella.
Market my books once published (though I hope to publish it traditionally, my mystery novella isn't something that has ever been done before, so I don't think publishers would except it).

Yeah... that's about it.  I'm not very busy...

Anyway, of course that list will probably take until I'm about 19 or something, no, I don't expect to do that in one month, or even a year.

So, as you can see, I don't want to be taking small steps, I want to be taking leaps forward.

~The WordWeaver

A Practical Guide For All Writers.  Keeping Cliche-Free And Original.


The most far-fetched cliche there ever was or ever will be is a peasant boy saving the world.

Now just think about it for a minute.

A peasant boy, saving the world.

It is used over and again repeatedly in all sorts of stories.

And not only is it cliched, it makes the main character, girl or boy, much more like a Mary-Stu or Gary-Stu (look it up if you don't know what they are, it's a very important part of writing, but I can't get sidetracked at the moment).

Saving a nation is one thing, but saving the world???  No, it's not necessary and - frankly - it can get quite boring.

So saving the world is basically an absolute no-no.  It can be done with moderate success, but truth be told, it's getting old.

We all like to think of young heroes, faced with the task of saving the world from seemingly unstoppable doom.  And when the hero wins, we feel happy.  Fantasy is like that, it's awesome, not only because it expands the imagination, it shows us daring feats, heroism that satisfies beyond the glint of gold or the shining of jewels.

Yes, we all have that tingling inside us that our main character has to do something great, something fantastical.

But the truth is, it doesn't work that way.  If any one man saved our world, it would have been Jesus, no one else.  And since your main character isn't Jesus, it's far out that he would - or even could - save the world.

So to avoid this cliche that can really make your story boring, keep one thing in mind - be reasonable.  Don't make your character a Mary Stu/Gary Stu by making him/her save the world.


Imagine this.  You are on one side of a river, and your reader is on the other.  Now you want the reader to come into your world - your side of the river, so you build a bridge.

Now say the reader will only come over, and you can only build the bridge, if your writing is realistic enough - even High Fantasy has a lot of realistic elements.

And so, as you build the bridge, each word you write impacts the form of the bridge.  Is it weak in some areas?  Strong in others?  Will it break in the times of doubt and let the reader pass into the roaring waters below?

This would be if your reader gets bored, and cliches are what makes them bored.

A Mary Stu/Gary Stu character will definitely make the reader bored, and maybe he'll leave even before he begins the journey over the bridge.

And if the character saves the world, it's weakening that part of the bridge,  you'll need supports made of creativity and originality to hold it up.

Thus, cliches are BAD, REALLY BAD.

They sure won't help in the bridge you are trying to build.

~The WordWeaver

P.S.  I'll respond to the comments... soon!