So last week I made some changes to the blog and made a commitment to write 2 hours a day on my story. I would like to say I was successful in keeping to that commitment, but not entirely. I did spend about two hours every day working on my story, but I didn't do much in the way of actual writing.
I was able to track down this incredible excel document that helps you not only organize your novel info, but also dig deeper into who your characters are and what their journey will be in your story. I've been a little obsessed with it (hence no actual writing) but it has actually been extremely helpful in figuring out the direction my story is going and how I'm going to get from point A to point B.
There's just one problem. All of this organizing has made me think I need to change the point of view the story is being told from. The problem with that is I'm already 20 pages in and it seems a little daunting to go through and change everything...
At present it is being told in first person by three different characters. Each chapter is labelled with whose point of view you are reading from (only one P.O.V. per chapter). It was working out alright until I realized I'm going to reach 30 chapters and still won't be near the end. Granted, each chapter is short, but I'm not sure how well I like that idea. I've never really had the opportunity to read any fiction books like that (several short chapters), so I'm not sure how effective they are. I know that if I change the P.O.V. to third person, I can combine some of my chapters and it won't be quite as...choppy.
What are your thoughts? Should I keep it first person and just leave it with multiple short chapters, or should I change it to third person and make the chapters a little longer? And why should I keep/change the point of view?
You can comment below with your responses. Thanks for your help!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Updates
It has been a while since I worked on my story (or any writing at all really), hence my lack of updates for this blog. I have been preoccupied with other things in my life and have, sadly, allowed my writing to take a back seat to everything else. This, I have decided, is going to stop.
This last Tuesday my dad and my sister went to a book signing for Shannon Hale. If you haven't read any of her stuff, I highly recommend her! She is a phenomenal author and an incredible person. When I was younger she and her husband lived in our neighborhood and they are just lovely people!
Anyways, so at the book signing Shannon mentioned that she spends 5 hours a day with writing. 2 hours to answer emails and such, 3 hours for writing. Now, Shannon has kids (including three year old twins), and when I heard she spends that much time, as well as raises her kids, I thought, "What's stopping me from doing the same thing? If she can do it, I should be able to as well."
So this is my new commitment. I am going to spend at least two hours of every day writing. Whether it's 8 15 minute blocks or a straight 2 hour haul, I'm going to do it. In order to do this, I had to evaluate how I spend my time outside of work and identify the time wasters that take away from my writing. The biggest culprits are Netflix and Facebook, with Youtube, Tumblr, and TV/Movies in general coming in at a close second. I also struggle with wasting time playing games on my phone. Once I figured this out, I decided that I will not allow myself to do any of these things until I have gotten my two hours in for the day. Period.
In addition to this commitment, if you haven't noticed already I have added a counter on this page which is a visual representation of my progress on the novel. I will update the counter daily as more of the story is written. I have also given myself a deadline to reach my goal of 100,000 words. The countdown for that is also displayed on this page.
Thanks to everyone who is still hanging in there with this. I know I'm not the most consistent with posting, but I am working at it.
Love you all!
This last Tuesday my dad and my sister went to a book signing for Shannon Hale. If you haven't read any of her stuff, I highly recommend her! She is a phenomenal author and an incredible person. When I was younger she and her husband lived in our neighborhood and they are just lovely people!
Anyways, so at the book signing Shannon mentioned that she spends 5 hours a day with writing. 2 hours to answer emails and such, 3 hours for writing. Now, Shannon has kids (including three year old twins), and when I heard she spends that much time, as well as raises her kids, I thought, "What's stopping me from doing the same thing? If she can do it, I should be able to as well."
So this is my new commitment. I am going to spend at least two hours of every day writing. Whether it's 8 15 minute blocks or a straight 2 hour haul, I'm going to do it. In order to do this, I had to evaluate how I spend my time outside of work and identify the time wasters that take away from my writing. The biggest culprits are Netflix and Facebook, with Youtube, Tumblr, and TV/Movies in general coming in at a close second. I also struggle with wasting time playing games on my phone. Once I figured this out, I decided that I will not allow myself to do any of these things until I have gotten my two hours in for the day. Period.
In addition to this commitment, if you haven't noticed already I have added a counter on this page which is a visual representation of my progress on the novel. I will update the counter daily as more of the story is written. I have also given myself a deadline to reach my goal of 100,000 words. The countdown for that is also displayed on this page.
Thanks to everyone who is still hanging in there with this. I know I'm not the most consistent with posting, but I am working at it.
Love you all!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Exciting News!!
(Note: This is also posted on my personal blog "In the Life of Me')
When I was down at Snow College I was introduced to Play in a Day. This is when a group of writers and actors get together to write and rehearse a play (or a handful of short plays) in 24 hours. The first twelve hours (for us we did 8pm Friday night to 8am Saturday morning) are spent writing. The next twelve hours (8am to 8pm Saturday) were used for rehearsal. Show went on for an audience at 8pm Saturday night.
We had five semesters of Play in a day and it was one of my best experiences from college. I would not be objected to doing again.
So, why do I tell you this? Well a year or so ago a guy that participated in our third Play in a Day (I think it was the third one, may have been the second or fourth) asked if he could turn my play from that event, "Between", into a short film.
I gave my permission, thinking it was for a school project or something like that. October 1, 2013 I received this message from him on Facebook:
"Odd question for ya. I may have found a producer for your piece "Between" Can I get a copy of it again if I can't find it and do I have your permission to make it a short film?"
I was surprised. A producer? To turn my piece into a short film? I told him yes and sent him a copy of the script right away.
Thursday January 2, 2014 at 1:31pm :
"Your script is to two different guys right now. I think it's going to happen soon! "Between" is going to film!"
Thursday at 6:25 he sent me a copy of the response he received from the producer concerning my script.
"I read the script. It has promise, but it needs to be properly adapted for screenplay. "
The producer then explained in the message what would need to be changed and how to adapt it for the screen. He closed the message with this:
"What do you think? Feel like tackling this with your scriptwriter and getting back to me?"
To which my friend added his own message:
"This is what he said when he read it. what do you think?"
I told him, "YES!"
You guys, I cannot begin to express the joy and excitement I am feeling right now! Not only is someone interested in my play becoming a short film, but it is on its way to actually happening! It's always awesome to see your work performed on stage and I will always take pleasure in that no matter how small or big the audience is. However, I am super excited that it could be viewed by more than just the few who had the privilege of seeing it when I was at Snow.
Another exciting thing about this is how much more I can do with it! I won't be limited by the space of a stage and few props. I can do so much more with this script! It's awesome!
Have I mentioned that I am totally stoked about this?? Lol.
In light of this, my novel writing will be taking a backseat for the next while, so any writing updates I give will be on the screenplay for "Between".
I'll be sure to keep all of you posted as things keep moving forward.
Again, super, SUPER stoked!!
When I was down at Snow College I was introduced to Play in a Day. This is when a group of writers and actors get together to write and rehearse a play (or a handful of short plays) in 24 hours. The first twelve hours (for us we did 8pm Friday night to 8am Saturday morning) are spent writing. The next twelve hours (8am to 8pm Saturday) were used for rehearsal. Show went on for an audience at 8pm Saturday night.
We had five semesters of Play in a day and it was one of my best experiences from college. I would not be objected to doing again.
So, why do I tell you this? Well a year or so ago a guy that participated in our third Play in a Day (I think it was the third one, may have been the second or fourth) asked if he could turn my play from that event, "Between", into a short film.
I gave my permission, thinking it was for a school project or something like that. October 1, 2013 I received this message from him on Facebook:
"Odd question for ya. I may have found a producer for your piece "Between" Can I get a copy of it again if I can't find it and do I have your permission to make it a short film?"
I was surprised. A producer? To turn my piece into a short film? I told him yes and sent him a copy of the script right away.
Thursday January 2, 2014 at 1:31pm :
"Your script is to two different guys right now. I think it's going to happen soon! "Between" is going to film!"
Thursday at 6:25 he sent me a copy of the response he received from the producer concerning my script.
"I read the script. It has promise, but it needs to be properly adapted for screenplay. "
The producer then explained in the message what would need to be changed and how to adapt it for the screen. He closed the message with this:
"What do you think? Feel like tackling this with your scriptwriter and getting back to me?"
To which my friend added his own message:
"This is what he said when he read it. what do you think?"
I told him, "YES!"
You guys, I cannot begin to express the joy and excitement I am feeling right now! Not only is someone interested in my play becoming a short film, but it is on its way to actually happening! It's always awesome to see your work performed on stage and I will always take pleasure in that no matter how small or big the audience is. However, I am super excited that it could be viewed by more than just the few who had the privilege of seeing it when I was at Snow.
Another exciting thing about this is how much more I can do with it! I won't be limited by the space of a stage and few props. I can do so much more with this script! It's awesome!
Have I mentioned that I am totally stoked about this?? Lol.
In light of this, my novel writing will be taking a backseat for the next while, so any writing updates I give will be on the screenplay for "Between".
I'll be sure to keep all of you posted as things keep moving forward.
Again, super, SUPER stoked!!
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