Photos, Updates, and How I Write

Photos:
I have given up trying to post pictures into here from our trip to New Jersey, but, you can go here to see the album.  (Please let me know if you have problems with the link-- it links to my husbands account- which is why I couldn't post the pictures into here myself!)

Updates:
I have finished my edits (so far) for Quest of the Hart.  (Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is the title I want to use).  I need to read through it (especially the last few chapters) then send it off to Katie for her read-through.

Quest of the Hart is a fantasy story about a princess who wants to marry for love, but has an arranged marriage.  After spending time with her prince, she finds herself falling in love with him.  A former friend competes with the princess for the prince, eventually casting a spell on him that can only be broken by his true love.  The princess must undergo a quest, learning about friendship, love, and courage, if she is to wake her prince in time for their wedding.

How I Write:
The sarcastic answer to this is: one letter at a time, forming one word at a time, until I have a book.  Ha. Ha.

OK- all kidding aside.  I write on my netbook, or occasionally on our desktop.  I have a tendency to think about what I write for awhile before I even start to type.  I like to envision a scene --start to finish-- as if it were a movie playing out on the screen, then put it down on the paper.  These scene don't always come in order, but I write them down anyway.

Ever since I was a child, I have told myself stories to fall asleep at night.  Now I do the same thing, only now I think about my characters and the plot I have in mind.  This means, there are times I am almost asleep and I am sitting up, grabbing pen and paper, turning the light on and writing down the scene that just unfolded in my mind.  (fortunately my husband stays up much later than I do, so I am not usually disturbing him).

With Quest of the Hart I re-wrote this story line at least 2-3 times.  I had the basic idea, but it took me a long time to understand my characters.  This last time around, I really focused on listening to my characters and letting them show me how they would react in the situations they found themselves in.  I think it made a large improvement in the story.

I have always had a couple of people who I have asked to read over what I have written (for grammar errors and to show me areas I need to improve.)  I find that I get so close to what I am writing that I could read over a section and not see what is missing because I know what it is supposed to say there.  (That's the problem when you can see the scene in your head!)  A couple of months ago, I became a member of a critique group at Writer's Digest.  There, I met Katie, my critique partner.  We exchange our work on a weekly basis.  I have found this to be a wonderful help to me.  Not only have I really enjoyed reading Katie's manuscript (especially when I have to look up words I don't know-- she is great with vocabulary!!!), but I have found I am improving what I write.  I can see where my story is weak and try to fix it before I send it off to her.

If you are a writer and are looking for a place to help you grow-- I can recommend this site and board.

Upcoming Posts:
What I listen to when I write
Where I write