Words

In the film The Book Thief Max, a Jew in hiding, asks Leisl, his protector, to describe the day to him. She responds with a cliche answer and he corrects her...

If your eyes could speak, what would they say...

It's the best advice I believe every writer should apply to their writing. One of my greatest struggles with my novels is to capture the story in a way that shows my readers how I've envisioned it. I have a vivid imagination and see my stories as if they were films inside my mind. It is incredibly easy for me to get into the rut of thinking that people should just envision the same film as I've seen it in my own mind. Weirdly enough, it doesn't always work that way with just roughly describing the story. It takes a unique approach of writing to capture each scene as I've seen it unfold.

If my eyes could speak, what would they say? They'd speak the depth and hues of colors, the warmth and comfort of relationships, the pointed and prickly way words can stick on a person...

This year's inspiration for my novels is simple...to write what my eyes say.

Books

It's amazing how overwhelmed I feel with the variety of things I could do in my spare time, now that the semester is over.

Should I try a new recipe? Should I deep-clean my room? Sort my books? Watch a movie? Knit? Read?
I actually have the time to read!

As always, I have an enormous stack to read, too. So what is there in my stack to read? Quite a bit. The photo above is merely one of the stacks I have lined up. I was very tempted to try the whole Project 52, where you read a book per week throughout the year. However, I know that realistically it's impossible for me to read a book in a week what with everything else I want to accomplish and do this year. Instead, I'm going to just be lax where reading is concerned and make a point of trying to read as often as I can.

So what exactly do I have coming up? A lot of Young Adult novels, apparently. I never quite realize how often I frequent the Young Adult section at the library until I stack all the books together at home and the red YA stickers stick out.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling is a re-read. It is a well-written, interesting children's book. And I just felt like re-reading it. That's my excuse. ;)

I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn't) by Brene Brown was a bday gift and recommendation from my older sister. The only piece of non-fiction in my pile, currently, it is *fascinating* and thought-provoking. A book about how "We spend too much precious time and energy managing perception and creating carefully edited versions of ourselves to show to the world..." A book abut how imperfections are okay, no one is perfect, and being vulnerable is not a weakness. Really good stuff here, people!

Demonglass - by Rachel Hawkins is the 2nd in the Hex Hall series. Tale of a girl, who thought she was a witch when she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for witches, fairies, werewolves, and other mythical creatures. There she discovers she's in fact a demon and her crush is working for a group set out to wipe out all of her kind. Interesting yet not quite as well-written as I'd like. A bit too predictable, Sophie feels like a bit of a whiner to me. ;)

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein is the sequel to Code Name Verity. I am in awe of Elizabeth Wein's writing style with its depth and intrigue. I am excited to crack this book open and it will balance nicely amongst all the fluff I have in this stack without feeling like a chore.

A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper is the first book in a series. In journal format, we discover the world of Sophie, member of the royal family on the tiny island of Montmaray just before the outbreak of WWII. I do love a good journal-format novel and Sophie is relateable while her little sister is hilarious and her cousin is fascinating.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is yet another re-read. Seeing the film Catching Fire called for a re-read of the entire series. I feel like every time I read this series, I learn something new and I relate so much more to Katniss.

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger was a recommendation from my co-worker, the Young Adult librarian at work. Apparently it is a novel about a teen girl sent to a very unusual finishing school.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey was a recommendation from a patron, a mom who has pretty good taste in novels. I'll admit I groaned a little bit when the library added this to their collection...there has been no end of dystopian and post-apocalyptic young adult novels since The Hunger Games, but I've become more willing to try this particular one since it was recommended by this particular patron. Here's hoping to some good reading success!

What about you, blog followers? What have you been reading and what do you recommend?

Writer's Block

There are times when writing drives me completely insane! I mean, the times when it just won't flow out and I'm stuck with these scenes in my head and yet no way to get them out, pen to paper! It's so completely aggravating. Which is why I am so excited to say that brilliance has struck in a completely different form...and that brilliance came from...*drumroll*...Pinterest, where else? :P

Pinterest is good for many different things...I'll admit, I'm addicted. ;) Who isn't, these days?
Anywho, I found an image on Pinterest of a journal...a journal overflowing with pictures and words and ticket stubs and postcards...little pieces of beauty. And it struck me as I saw that image: that is exactly what my novel is about! Finding beauty, even in little things...even in times when it's hardest to find anything of beauty. And as I discussed these ideas with my favorite writing friend: Scarlett!...I found myself getting more and more excited. I decided to try something new...something more 3-D when it came to capturing the thoughts and feelings and emotions of my characters. 

I've recently started to edit my novel, transcribing it from 3rd person POV to 1st person. It's been very strange, to say the least, especially since it's been years and years since I attempted to write a novel in first person. Needless to say, the first time I attempted it years ago was not successful. I found it to be much too difficult. Yet, ever since I started this novel, something kept nagging me at the back of my mind that this novel was *meant* to be written in first person. I ignored it but eventually had to give in. And happily, it's made writing the novel that much easier!

All that to say, I've begun to place myself in the shoes of my protagonist...to try to *be* her. What have I done? I've taken novel planning to the next level. ;) 

I took all my scrapbooking supplies, a blank journal, all my magazines and spare pictures/postcards, etc. and plopped them down on my bedroom floor. With a corkboard and a fun playlist playing on my boombox...oh, yes, and don't forget a cup of tea!...I began to write, to piece together, to tape, to cut, to glue, to transcribe, to scribble...I lost myself in the world of Julian & Simon.

It's not necessarily the journal of Julian, my protagonist, so much as a journal of my discovering new people. I write out scenes for my  novel, I jot down notes, I paste in photographs and magazine clippings that illustrate what I'm trying to say. I put down photos of places and people that Julian sees.

What I'm doing is viewing the world through a character's eyes. 

It seems completely insane, doesn't it? To get one's self so wrapped up into a novel and to go to so much trouble to do so. It is insane! I'll admit it, readily! But it's also fun! And here's hoping it causes the juices to flow!

How far do you go to overcome writer's block? ;) 

"Writers are desperate people..."

For each book I finish reading, I bring home two more. It's a vicious, never-ending circle. And I love it.

So much of my reading stacks these days are made up of children's and young adult novels. Why? Two reasons really...I read when I'm tired these days, and the last thing I want is a particularly deep book that needs my entire mind to focus on. (No, I save those books for when I'm most energized in my mind!) Instead I choose children's and young adult books because of my love for them. The simple yet meaningful or total fluff and fun! stories that you can get totally sucked into, no matter what age you are.

But most importantly, I have been immersing myself into the world of young adult novels because I am writing a young adult novel. Part of the whole process of writing this novel has me digging deep into the mind of young, teenage Sam as well as reading book after book of young adults struggling with some issue in their lives. The language, the culture, the thought-process...it's like research for a  fictional story. On top of all that I have also dug out my own journals from ages 16-20 and oh the flood of memories comes back! Experiencing those feelings all over again, understanding, sympathizing with, and cringing at my old self. I went through those same novel-like moments of struggling to discover who I am.

In the odd yet brief, free moments that I have when I'm not reading, I am writing. My novel is coming along so slowly because the words have to be right with this novel. The understanding and opinions and attitudes of my characters...the struggles...all of it has to be as real as possible. But a little bit every other day or so, several sentences are added and the more I get to know my characters, the more I relate to them.

Isn't that why we read in the first place? We relate and yet it's not real...merely a distraction from life.
I won't lie, I have thought several times of giving up on this novel because I feel like I relate too much with the characters, and because all this reading and digging back into my past has brought back hard memories as well as pleasant ones.  But there is a side to me, the teenage Sam who wants this novel to be written. A book about young people who struggle and grow and crave understanding. It is a novel that must be written. So, here I am, comfortably situated on the couch, pillows behind my back, Pandora playing, and a cup of tea nearby as I let the words slip from fingers to keys. I know it won't be a great novel and most likely will never be published, but it will be mine. It is already mine...words that are a part of me in a way that some people cannot understand. And even if no one ever reads it, I know there will be a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction once I've finished this novel, because I am a writer and sometimes there are words that just need to be written.

Isn't that why writers write, after all? It's not because we love it, although we do...there are days where we absolutely loathe writing. It's not because we are passionate about words, although we are...there are days where we passionately wish we'd never write another word. It's because we must. However, I find that people assume that because I'm a writer that I write everyday. Normally, this is true...these days I tend to write every day, either in the form of a letter or a blogpost or a journal entry. However, I can go weeks, even months without writing a single word for myself. This is especially true during a school semester. I get over-loaded with essays and papers and assignments for school writing that my desire for any other writing becomes burnt out. Do I believe a writer has to write everyday to be a writer? No, I don't. I think a writer writes when he or she simply needs to. If there is the desire to write and you follow up on that desire, you are a writer, in my book.

Tell me, why do you write? What do you write? Perhaps the words come out in a trickle or in a steady stream. Perhaps they appear once every blue moon or perhaps every day. I am not a strong writer in the sense that my writing is spectacular, nor do I fool myself to believe that many people read this blog or enjoy it. But I write because the words come. More often than not they come messily and in a confused ball that seems to just spew out of my mind.

So, yes, please, tell me, why do you write? Share something with me, ask about guest-posting on my blog! Share your blog! Share a novel, a poem, a journal entry...anything! I am intensely curious about other writers who write because they must.