Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

For those who celebrate, I wish you safe and fun trick-or-treating...and lots of zero calorie/zero kid-sugar high candy ;).

For those who don't, I hope you're have fun fall festivities :)

We actually have snow covered pumpkins this year! We lucked out though and didn't lose power with the eastern storm. May it come back soon for those who did. I'm off to help out with school parties and parades, but I'll try to visit all of your blogs later on. Sorry for being scarce lately. I do appreciate everyone who follows and stops by...and I miss your blogs when I'm in my writing cave. I'll be a better blog friend after I wrap up my GH entry!

Be sure to stop by next week for a visit with Harlequin Superromance author Kay Stockham!

Take care :)

Monday, October 17, 2011

Craft Quotes

I was looking over my calendar yesterday and it hit me...2011 is in the home stretch. That realization always puts a little fire under me. It ups the pressure on making sure I've accomplished my writing (and other) goals for the year. One of the things I did this year was read through recommended books on writing. Books that spanned revision to plot to conflict and more. I believe all people are perpetual students of something. We're in a constant state of learning through study or through experience. For me, this year was about pushing my writing skills.

I have most of the writing/craft books on my shelf listed in the side bar. I read them with a highlighter in hand and recently went back through to see what I'd marked. I thought I'd share a few quotes I found to be important.

"Make sure the GMC's of multiple characters collide. The collision creates conflict." Debra Dixon - GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict

"Pressure is essential. Choices made when nothing is at risk mean little." Robert McKee - Story

"...if the inciting incident presents a problem that compels the protagonist to defend herself, rather than propels her toward achieving a goal, the story produces a reactive hero, not a proactive hero." Elizabeth Lyons - Manuscript Makeover

"Complex and too complicated are two different things. Complex is interesting; if shows writer finesse and control. Complicated is a chore." Elizabeth Lyons - Manuscript Makeover

"Motive is what gives moral value to a character's acts. What a character does, no matter how awful or how good, is never morally absolute... A character is what he does, yes - but even more, a character is what he means to do." Orson Scott Card - Characters & Viewpoints

There are so many more fabulous quotes from the books I've read, but too little time. One can read, and read, but at some point they have to go off and apply what they've learned ;). Hence, I need to go tackle more revisions. I highly recommend the books in the side bar for anyone in need of some craft inspiration and direction.

I hope you all have a productive week and get all your yearly goals accomplished in the next 2 1/2 months! Feel free to share any favorite craft quotes or books :)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Mish mash and movies

I just had a crash and relax weekend. Crash, because I managed to stay up twenty-three hours straight, after which I only got four hours of sleep. I should include a warning here: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! I lived on lack of sleep in my twenties (blame school), but let's just say...I'm not anywhere near my twenties. I felt like I was coming down with the flu at the end of it all. Luckily, I aborted any illness with tons of vitamins and a good night sleep.

I'm sure you're wondering what triggered my insanity, LOL. When I was at the RWA Nationals PRO retreat this year, I won a drawing for an entry fee waiver to The Emily Contest, a fabulous writing contest hosted by the West Houston RWA Chapter. It's open to both published and unpublished writers and you can find more information on it at http://whrwa.com/emily/. I'd like to extend my thanks to whrwa and to everyone who dontated to the PRO retreat.

Of course, the deadline was this past Friday and that meant completing revisions on my first 7000 words. I'm pleased to say I got it done and in on time :). Next up, finishing the rest of my revisions in time for the Golden Heart. It'll be my third time entering.

So how did I relax? Movies of course! The funny thing was that several ended up being about writers. One was a TV movie where a mystery writer becomes a suspect for the murder of her hot neighbor. Part of the reason for suspecting her...the photos she took of him and the research she did on his rich family as inspiration for the book she was working on. The idea that research can be used against you is a bit scary for a writer! Okay, it was just a movie...but still.

I also saw Inkheart. My son begged me to watch it with him (he read the book) and I'm glad he did. I really loved it. I think it's a must watch for anyone who loves to read or write. Just beautiful.

Finally, I watched Finding Neverland, a movie about the author of Peter Pan.

Do you have any movies that involve writers/books that you love?