Legend

Hi blogging world. Maybe you missed me? Maybe not.
But here is a poem that recently got published in an awesome e-zine. Enjoy!

LEGEND

He strode

Dark as night

Light shone

Nothing more

Noise and voices

Laughter

Tears

Quiet refusal

Solitude, anger

Atom as one

To be then chewed

By the public

In front of the world

Red apples

Spit beauty

On a splattered canvas.

Writing on the road

Travelling is literally the very best way to write!

I’m not even joking. I have been travelling and constantly on the road and lucky me, I made sure that I don’t get Wi-fi. 

Why? No internet access. Really, when I’m online, I will do other things than write and when I’m on the road it’s like nothing else exists but the story.

Also, this is awesome because I just recently got my new Sony Vaio laptop. Darn, I could have finished so many more books if I had one before.

Plus, it’s fun to write in the car because sometimes the ride just gets plain old boring.

And the characters just keep coming.

It’s like there’s nothing in the way.

Free train of thought. It’s just natural.

How do you guys like to write?

P.S. Aren’t jellyfish cool?

Starting your novel: Transitions

A question popped up in my e-mail today and I thought it was a great topic to address because I wandered about this myself and it isn't a no brainer.

So the question basically was...Is it OK to start your chapter at a certain time and place and then in the next chapter to transition on forward how ever.

So first of all, what are transitions? Let me start with a definition:  A transition in a book or story is pretty much any passage or device that bridges moments of discontinuity in our writing.  Changes in time, changes in setting, changes in point of view character, even changes in mood. 

This person that asked the question is talking about time transitions. And I have to say, it really depends. I think that transitions can be done well, and they can be done really badly. It really does depends so this is what I think. The huge dependency of this topic is the transition amount or area. So if you do do a transition it would be very annoying for me personally to start reading about a sixteen year old and then in the next chapter he's fifty. That would be the throw the book at the wall moment! Especially if I liked the character from the start and looked forward to reading about a teenager. But hey, if you are doing something like: Two years later...Or even a month later...Or maybe tomorrow...It can be done really well. I've seen it done well. I''ve enjoyed books that have in fact transitioned at the start, but at the same time, you are risking that flawless start in the very first chapters where you are just engaging the readers so...It is something of preference. Writing is in fact majorly based on opinion.

What do you think?

BLOG VOICE! Blah! Blah! Blah!

Having your own voice is important in blogging, I can't even say how important it is and thus far. That's why I am blogging on it now. Hey, it's like your online personality. This morning I was waking up and I was like...Hmmm, I wanna blog about something gripping. Voice!

Yes, I've sucked at keeping the blog content up to date but I am revamping the blog and starting to really seriously keep everything up to date and interesting! I don't want you guys to lose interest in the blog and I love to read all your blogs so...

The most important aspect of a successful blog is voice. You gotta yell. Sound just like yourself. I guess it's sort of like talking to your audience in a YouTube Video. If you begin to blah bblah blah and go off topic, people will lose interest which is so not good!

Blogging about writing is a great way to network because hey, maybe soon you will be published. If not, it''s fun. But the main things most blogs lack, I think, is voice and I guess a part of that is just because they are trying to sound too formal. Now, I know a ton of really great blogs you can learn from on the side bar which have amazing voices. Think like you are writing from a character and not from yourself, but maybe in that manner of having found yourself. Do I not make sense?

Alright, I hope that helps.

Let that voice loose :) or tell us how you found your voice!

Youtube

Hey everyone! It's raining here, so kinda a great day for writing. What type of weather do you guys like for writing? For me rainy is perfect for my novel setting.

I am also thinking of changing the design of the blog but am unsure because I do like this one. So apart from writing I actually recently started a Youtube channel with my sister. We founded a 100% natural  skincare company called Delizioso Skincare four years ago so we finally decided to launch it with tips and all kinds of stuff, so go on over and check it out :)

www.youtube.com/user/totallygreenme

I know this has nothing to do with writing but its something that we've been working on. We do videos and how tos so I'm just going to post one here:

http://youtu.be/mSBRGCIcvpQhttp://youtu.be/mSBRGCIcvpQ

We'd love it if you subbed! Either way, Happy Easter cause today IS Sunday. The next post is about voice in blogging, and that is something I am working on. Cheers!

What throws you off INSTANTLY about a book?

Well, first and foremost, Happy New Years! 2012 has been a busy year already.

Look out for some great interviews coming up, and contests and tips!

So what throws you off about a book? Clearly not everyone judges books too much by covers, right? Well here is a list of some very common thing that we all should avoid so that your reader won't immediately shut your book and throw it at the wall. These things are quite personal, but hey, we all need a list to avoid.

Typos

This one is pretty self explanatory. I found typos in published novel and so have everyone I know living on planet earth. It happens, but to keep your book off the wall I suggest to try to remove as many as you (and your beta) can spot after like a million read overs.

Unlikable Characters

This was actually mentioned often. But it is a toughie. You can't make everyone like your character, can you? Is it really possible? probably not. But some characters which aren't described in a great sense and are very average tend to be disliked by the majority. Especially the perfect kinds.

Boring Set Up

Can differ from one to one. I don't suggest you start every single book with the twin towers being blown but hey, we do want some sort of suspense or an interest pull. Apparently a book always has to have conflict (cough)...

Repetition

It's good here and there. Sometimes. Sometimes. Here and there. Repetition is good. But too much repetition sometimes can make my head reel.

Infodumps

We all know this classic. I didn't at first. I was infodumping badly. No explanation necessary. Won't dump too much info.

So I hope this is a cool list to start off. Do you guys have any suggestions to add? I'm sure we all have more personal ideas. Some more personal annoyances for me tend to be characters that are super super tough and unlikable, characters which are emotionless, too emotional characters, slow starts and prose, and lets just say (I'm being honest) too much prose.

I actually have a couple agents interested in my novel now, and I'm revising so lots of stuff going on but how's it going? Ha, that was terrible. Basically, look out for my next post hopefully tomorrow about too many projects.



WINNERS!!!WINNERS!!!

Ok so if you guys remember I made that giveaway contest a couple months back....Yep it was THAT long and yep time does pass like mad when you are trying to squeeze everything into a short or long time frame. The contest HAS been extended previously, but I've gotten all the prizes here so that I can give them away to you. Sweet, right? Ok. Cool. Lets get started!

I decided to randomize the entries as this is a very comfortable thing to do because I don't pick favourites...lol...Of course not. Whoever had more points got more entries into the randomizer and this was an online thing since I didn't have much paper to write on...Shrugs. Believe it or not, I actually wrote my whole first novel on paper. Lined school paper. The good kind. Is there a bad kind? I wrote during French Class all year. My teacher took it away from me allot. But I always got it back in the end. It sucked. But it was my first writing attempt and I'm glad I didn't stop. I sort of started in the first place because I was bored...Off topic!!!

Back to the winners. So I am opening the randomizer right now. Typing the names in. I've got all the points and things and all that stuff and click. This one goes for first place. Its Loading. Loading. Loading. Is my computer THAT slow?

First place goes to...

Evangeline a.k.a Vangie

Congratulations!!

Second Place goes to...

FantasyGirl2000

Third Place goes to...

Kayeleen Hamblin

If you see this than e-mail me at arielemerald at rocketmail.com to collect your stuffs...HEHE. If you don't, I will come down to your blog to let you know...soon. Promise!

Cheers