Writing: Character Development

During reading over what and how I wanted to edit the novel I wrote over nanowrimo, I found that I barely knew my main character. Do note that I don't plan when I'm writing a first draft. I find it terribly difficult to stick to it, and things just don't work out for me. Anyways, when I found out that I wasn't super sure of my main character, I decided to look up somethings about character development, and how to go about it.

One of the things I read about was, interviewing your character in the place of them. It literally has gotten me to figure out so many things by just asking my character. That might seem weird, because some characters are in my head and I should just write them down, but like I said before, I don't plan, so I make up my characters on the spot. Georgia-my main character-was a girl I thought up on the spot. She has a difficult past, and while writing Nanowrimo a lot of wholes were left out that could have effected her one way or the other.

I plan on doing that with some of my secondary characters, but my main group of characters seem to be the ones with the least back story, or fully developed. It's frustrating, but it's so much fun interview the characters. It should be easy, and come out naturally. If the answers to the interview don't come out as so, you should rethink the importance of the character in the story.

That's all I want to say this week, and I have some websites that I think will also help with character development:

http://www.pgtelco.com/~slmiller/characterdevelopment.htm

http://lillieammann.com/2009/07/27/creating-fictional-characters%E2%80%94part-8-developing-characters-throughout-your-story/

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474976908598

http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Character-for-a-Story

Of course there are so many more website and books out there, and the best way to learn is to find things on your own. I hope you have a wonderful time writing. :D

Love and Hugs
Clara

Review: Pure At Heart by Sahana Epari

Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. They are worse than you think they are.The feeling of something you thought you had but you never did. Your whole train of thought changes direction. Suddenly everything you have lived for becomes a life you never had.
I thought I knew everything.
My name is Evaline Pangborne, and I am a werewolf.
When Eva and the Shadow Clan find out a ground-breaking secret of their life, they seek the only way out of the pain and suffering--an escape route. An escape route they got, but along with that came even more secrets, questions, and betrayal.
The people Eva trusted most, is now someone to despise and hate, and the people Eva never wanted to trust, get closer and closer to her. Living itself seems like a big joke to her. What's the big secret? And why is everyone keeping it from her?

from goodreads


I feel terrible for not reviewing this book earlier, but better late than never, right? Yeah... So, I received this book for review by the author herself, and my first impression was that this was going to be awesome. Then I started reading the first few chapters, and the many punctuation errors got on my nerves.

Sahana Epari is a debut and young author that is one of the few people I know that are published at such a young age. What I love about her writing is that she is aware of her characters. Her characters were the strong leads of the novel, and even though Eva got on my nerves more than once, I could easily distinguish Eva and her attitude towards life. There were many little jokes here and there, none that made me laugh out loud though. The dialogue was a bit stiff, and did not flow like it could be for some characters. Though, some characters talk in a distinctive way, and I liked the mash up.

Eva is arrogant and very naive. Actually, most of the pack is naive in my opinion. They are kids, but I think that because of their role in the world, they could have been more mature. They were very childish and the thought process of Eva wanted me to punch her sometimes.

One character I did love, was Victoria. Victoria reminds me of one of my friends. She is the bad-ass in the back ground that has this mysterious air around her, and I truly feel sorry for her the way she is treated by Eva, but both of them do get each other at their necks.

The paranormal world was built in a way that you slowly discover more of it as Eva does. The world is built in a full extent, but not at all majestic or grand as Divergent, or Daughter of Smoke and Bone. There were the basic werewolf vampire creature fight and it was a simple set up of a story.

I like Pure At Heart because of its simpleness and quick pace. If you are a werewolf fan, I think that you will love this story. So in the end, I will give Sahana Epari's debut novel a head moves back and forth, thumb moving towards the middle or down. (3 out of 5)

The Thing About Series.

So, here’s the thing about series. I, personally, start out reading series whether I want to or not. It’s really rare, lately, to find a single book. I can count on one hand how many books that I've read this year, that doesn't have a sequel, or counterpart. It’s quite obsessive to me how authors want to write so much of the same characters. I could never right a nine book series about the same people, and setting. It’s just too much of the same thing for me to write about, and sometimes it’s too much for me to read.

Series can be difficult. Recently I've read a lot of debut author’s first novel in a trilogy, or series. I know that I’ll have to wait a year, or maybe two to read the second novel. That’s quite difficult, and I've learned to not think about books, so I don’t get disappointed when I do read the sequel. That, there, is what scares me. I want to read a novel, and have it in my thoughts, and what I think about when I go to bed, but when I know there’s going to be a sequel to a novel, my mind shuts that off so I wait. I think that I’m the only one that does that, but please tell me if you do too.

The plus side of series, is that you don’t have to be introduced to a completely different cast of characters, and their setting. It’s like a family reunion, you see them every year, and have an adventure. Then sometimes, I think that authors write novels just to keep a committed fan base to only read their series. I can understand that some stories need that extra four novels, but then there are series that are just published to be franchised. Can someone explain to me why publishers would do that when they know readers are pick, especially in the young adult community. I know I’m generalizing, and you may be not one of those picky readers, but most people I know are.

I just want to get this golden age of paranormal romance series out of the way soon. That sounds really arrogant, but I can’t stand anymore of those books. It’s great once in a while, but when the only young adult novels that are being published are those, it’s down right awful. Again, I have to say that this is all my opinion and you can respond or not, but please be nice to one another.

Liebster Blog Award Continued?

Well I have been tagged numerous times for the Liebster Award and I haven't answered the eleven questions back for a while. To check out the first time I was tagged click here.


Tagged from Captivated Reading Questions:

1. What do you keep reading and going back to over and over again?
Embarassingly the whole Twilight series.
2. In school were/are you a Cliffnotes person, or did you ALWAYS read the required reading?
Sometimes cliffnotes if I don't have time.
3. What else do you love, besides books?
Music
4. What's your favorite book COVER?
The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
5. What book would you love, more than anything, to be seen turned into a movie?
Nevermore by Kelly Creagh, if they stay true to it.
6. How long have you been blogging?
A little more than half a year.:)
7. Do you like to write, as well as, read?
I love to write, anything, and everything.
8. What's the first novel that you can remember reading?

Review: Survival by A.M. Hargrove

 

Book: Goodreads Amazon Website
Author: Website Twitter Amazon Smashwords 

As you may know from the list of book reviews I have done that I love young adult/paranormal romance novels. This is exactly what I thought I wanted to get myself into after I finished Nevermore by Kelly Creagh because I just love the genre. I didn't know though that I'd come out in a faze and wondering is this really the future of young adult novels. I'm ashamed to say that I could not finish this book because it was just too unreal to me. It was like watching ice melt, you knew exactly what was going to happen.

A.M. Hargrove, I loved the effort in creating the Vesturon aliens and the background knowledge of everything. I love how the author didn't really shy away from issues that are in their world true to ours in a way and how she took the novel step by step at a time. Most of the time I was confused by the pacing of the book and how things went. I love the first part of the book, Maddie's story. Then later the novel fell short on the big things that I wanted to happen or thought I wanted to. The author's writing was very strange to me. The dialogue felt very stiff, I didn't flow like a normal conversation and maybe it's just because aliens were speaking English and that was intentional? I don't know. I do love how she incorporated the slang and differences from the humans and the Vesturon. I was very interested in their species and felt like she could have added more, though I love all the tech stuff the author added.

How I Start to Write a Novel (A Writing to Wednesday)

I've been writing since I was in pre-school and I loved it. I love to learn new words. I'm not that big of a fan with grammar like most people. I have my share of trial and error with trying to start a long project of writing a novel. So I thought I'd like to share some tips and tricks that might help you.

I like to be motivated. The best way to be motivated for me is to set a schedule or deadline to write a chapter or up to a certain part in the novel I want to be. This way I don't lazy and forget about the idea or loose anything that I want to incorporate in the novel. Also this way I don't keep putting it off that I just don't write it.

Know your characters. This one is easy for anyone who starts out with characters and then builds the world around them. That's what I do. I like to have realistic characters that are partially based off of people I know. Some of my characters have multiple traits of many people I know and that makes someone new and also someone you know. This way you stay true to you're characters and don't make them decide to do things when you secretly know that that will never happen.

Write for your characters, not for you. This way you are writing to or for someone. You're not writing because you like to. You write because you have to release these people or characters and ideas you have to ink. My favorite author, Stephanie Meyer (yes Twilight) said once that she had to write Bella's story with Edward. She couldn't just leave these people alone. That might seem strange to an outsider, but if you write  long enough and avidly you know that you write because you think about them in your dreams and right before you fall asleep.

Don't force yourself. If you force yourself I find that all that work and time you spent writing nonsense just to fill in words and have a larger word count is going to be cut when you revise. Write until you can't, breathe until you don't, and rest until you wake. Take that into consideration when you write. Take a walk if you have writer's block, or take a break and have a night out in the town. The only way to write is to live first.

Meet people. Talk to people on the train. Don't go talk to anyone you see, but be friendly and say high or talk about the whether. If the other person want to continue the conversation and seem interested then they know. This way you get a broader sense of mundane or not so mundane people where you live. Don't go asking random people their life story.

Write what you know. I know you heard this many times, but seriously you need to write what you know, or what you will ultimately learn or find out to create this novel or book. Don't go writing about a town in Minnesota when you've never been there. Almost all the books I read the author of the book has lived or been there before and stayed for long periods of time. Again don't go writing about being on a cruise ship when you've never been.

Keep you're mind open. Don't let your mind close up and only limit yourself to read about a certain genre or subject to become an expert in the field. There are many things in the world that connect to other lines of communication and education. Also it's not fun to research about France, when you really want to read about the rainy days of Seattle.

Edit. Edit. Reread. Edit. Reread. Edit. Edit. Edit. I don't think there is much to explain, but being a writer is just that. You have to write and write until you have an idea of everything you want to put in. Then let your mind simmer in the fact that you made a very rough draft of something that could make millions. Next you have to edit like there's no tomorrow. I remember reading somewhere that the author's favorite part of their story is the worst part because it's making it for you not the characters. Rereading can eliminate any errors and second thoughts you might have on a scene or a whole chapter or character.

These are just some main points that I keep in mind when I'm writing. There are many more little tips and tricks and if you'd like I could make another one more detailed. If there is anything big that I didn't mention please comment below and I hope you are successful at writing.

Best of luck,
Clara

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor Review

Laini Taylor has to be one of my favorite fantasy authors because she is just amazing like that. Her style of writing is nothing I found queer, but the way she set ups her world is magnificent. I love the way she describes the places where the main character Karou goes and her world is just magical.

I especially loved Brimstone. Brimstone is Karou's "father" you can say and he's nothing what you would imagine going into this novel. He screams like something that would be in Lord of the Rings or Narnia. I found that Taylor writes a blend and equal amount of mundane and fantasy scene through the book. I much enjoyed both, and sometimes even the mundane seemed fantasy because all these experiences that Karou took were all around the world.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly Review

I've been trying to post books that I read in the past, that are still very popular(also not so popular), but I just wanted to get all the books that I've read in the past half year out of the way, before I got into really big present books.

 Summary

Andy Alpers is on the edge. She's angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and angry at the world for taking her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And her father has determined that Andi's accompanying him to Paris over winter break is the solution to everything.

But Paris a city of ghosts for Andi. And when she finds a centuries-old diary, the ghosts begin to walk off the page. Alexandrine, the owner of the journal, knew heartbreak also, and Andi finds comfort in the girl's words. Until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

Writing to Wednesday

So I've been trying to come up with memes and I came up with a weekly writing day on Wednesdays. I only wrote this very short scene in half an hour at most, so it's not the best quality there is. It's something that I'm proud of though and I'm willing to share this. This scene is absolutely FICTION, not true at all. All characters are made up and so are the actions. I hope you enjoy it.

Pigeon Bound

“Pst”, he sounded like a broken steam pipe.

“Hmm?” I nodded my head up, but still reading my book.

“You see that over there?” he hushed.

I looked over. Andrew, an outwardly known unpleasant guy in our grade was having his face smushed on to the left wing window of our school’s library. He was short for his age and so it looked like his head was flying into the window, like a pigeon would.

I sighed,” Same old, same old. Why? Have you not seen it done before?”

Eric looked straight out the window where Andrew was and said,” No I have. It’s just this time the guy has a gun.”

My eyes widen and I intentionally didn’t look over because I wasn’t sure if he was playing a trick on me or if Eric was telling the truth. The trick wasn’t a big deal he did it all the time, but if it was real than why isn’t someone else seeing it? I looked at Eric and he was a statue now because the gun was pointed straight into Andrew’s head. I know that kid that’s pointing the gun. I know his name. I know his life. I know his wants and dreams. I know the way he thinks, and still this is what comes out of knowing someone for their whole life.

He fired.                                                                                                                          

 I shut my eyes and let the shrieks and rummaging drown my thoughts as I sat there motionless and lightheaded.

Eric looked away and rested his hand on my back drawing smooth circle to calm me down. It didn’t work.

He made me breathe deep breathes. It didn’t work.

Then he started whispering incoherent words in my ears, but I couldn’t hear. I couldn’t hear the sounds he made when he picked me up and carried me out the library. It didn’t work.

My brother was a murderer. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. It felt like a giant earthquake was in the middle of your body and your brain was literally a rubix cube being broken apart by a toddler.

I blacked out after that. 

Uglies by David Westerfield Review

Uglies by David Westerfield

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689865384
• ISBN-13: 978-0689865381
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces

Summary

Tally lives in this dystopian world were you are 'ugly', until you turn sixteen and become 'pretty'. The technology in this world is extremely advance. It takes place centuries after the current time. They look back at us like we were extremely dumb, but that just happens after a few centuries because humans learn from their mistakes. As Tally has lost her best friend when he turned pretty, she meets Shay. Shay has the same birthday as Tally,so Tally would expect that she would want to be turned pretty together. Not at all. Instead Shay is the exact opposite. She's claiming that there is a better place outside the little 'ugly' town they have grown up all there lives. A place where there are people that ran away from turning 'pretty'. Shay's the rebel that will not rest or care if she gets caught, because honestly they wouldn't do anything to her. Tally on the other hand has waited for years, like every other 'pretty' has. She doesn't see anything wrong with the government because it has been like that for years. You turn 'pretty' on your sixteenth birthday and you won't have to do anything the rest of your life, except have fun at parties every night and day.

I personally love the world Scott Westerfield builds through out the novel and I just feel like there are so many endless possibilities that he could add. At first glance I was very hesitant with reading this book. The idea of 'pretties' and 'uglies' caught me, bewildered. Though it was tough in the beginning, I grew with the book as I progressed through it. The suspense did not keep me up much and Tally's character was hard for me to mold my mind and thoughts around to go through this journey with her. My favorite part of this book was mostly the dystopian points of the advanced technologies like hoverboards. How they described change 'pretties' freaked me out and I think about the actions they take. For example the flawless skin, stretching bones, and putting plastic inside your nose and checks, instead of cartilage was the opposite of the pretty fluffy stuff in paranormal young adults.

Wrapped up all in one I did not enjoy this book as I would like. I guess I have learned my lesson of not believing the hype. I might review Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky next week. Until then, I tip my hat off to you.