A Sunday Morning Walk

This morning I was woken up by my mother and my dog at 7 am. This is not an unusual practice in our family. I can remember my mom coming into my room on summer mornings before the sun was up and urging me get up or I would miss out on something that day had to offer. I can remember a time when 24 hours seemed like an eternity, when waking up at 6:30 was difficult, but I did it because I didn't want miss a single minute of summer. Now, 24 hours feels like it's never enough for everything I have to do, but this morning, when I opened my eyes in the half darkness and was practically jumped on by my dog, I was suddenly brought back to those days in summers past when I would dress groggily in shorts and a t-shirt, slip on some tennis shoes, and go for a long walk down Alder. This morning was just the same.


Alder is our favorite street to walk down. It's the closest thing we have to alley, a wide expanse of road with no curbs, lined by lush, un-manacured foliage and interspersed with garage doors and glimpses of people's backyards. Spring is in full swing now, and this morning Alder felt more like a jungle than a barely used street in our usually pristine neighborhood. The air was humid but cool, and all around us were the sounds of bird calls: woodpeckers, mockingbirds, doves, cardinals, blue jays, purple martins. Overhanging trees lush with new green leaves rose from behind chain-link fences and stretched lanky arms out over the street. Even today I caught myself thinking, "This is where the fairies live."


Sometimes I feel like when you reach a certain age people start pushing you to grow up: teachers expect more from you, college becomes a major topic of conversation with every adult you meet, your friends get summer jobs and show off pictures of their new cars on Facebook. And that's good. Great actually. Fun. Exciting. And yet, walking down Alder, I couldn't help thinking about a time when I played with dolls, and spent hours on the swing in the front yard, and went on expeditions in search of fairies. Part of me knows that I'll never have the same freedom I had when I was little, the same feeling of skipping through life without a care in the world, but I know somewhere inside me is that little girl with the wide eyes and the insatiable imagination. And all I really need are a few more Sunday morning walks to find her again.

How to Use your Friends in your Writing

After lots of internet searching about characterization, I've found that there seems to be somewhat of a consensus about basing character traits off of people you know. I'm sure most writers have done this at some point. (I mean, what better way to make your characters real than by giving them actual human traits from people you know?) But, for some reason I never thought that this applied to friends. Maybe I felt like friends were forbidden territory, that somehow I would drive them away if they ever knew that *gasp!* their habit of twirling their hair around their finger had suddenly been transplanted onto a fictional character that is nothing like them. "How," I imagined them asking, "could you take my little habit and attach it to that evil character?" or worse, "Is that character supposed to be me? I can't believe you think I'm that horrible!" Suddenly my brilliant resourcefulness as a writer would be demoted to backstabbing and shaming my friends. So for a while, friends were off limits for me as far as characterization went.  


But, why should they be? In many places I've read that writers write characters they would want to be friends with in real life, so why not use my own friends as inspiration? It was silly of me to think that they would stop being friends with me because of a minuscule reference to them in my writing, but I understand that my fears were not completely unrealistic. When drawing traits from people who are close to you, it's important to know when you are crossing boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. The following tips will (hopefully) help you learn to use your friends as a source for inspiration, without damaging your relationship.

• Don't just transplant your friend into your story. Chances are, trying to put your friend (all his/her idiosyncrasies, strengths, weaknesses, and moods) into one character will not turn out as well as you planned. While incorporating human traits is important, if fictional characters were quite as complex (and moody, and indecisive) as real people, they would actually be less relatable for the reader.
• Do pick and choose traits. By using only a few of your friend's traits and incorporating them with other traits, fictional or otherwise, your character will most likely better fit the story you are trying to tell and be less obvious to your friend that they were your inspiration.
• Be careful about directly pointing out friend inspired characters..to your friends. While you may love your character to death, your friend may not see it that way. In fact, they may only notice the traits you added that aren't like them. Only you can be the judge of how your friend will react, and if you do decide to tell them, make sure you are clear about how characterization works.
• Use good traits. As a general rule of thumb it's better to show off your friend's good side through your characters, rather than bashing them with a character riddled with their weaknesses. Sure, maybe they won't notice. But if they do...well, then you're in trouble.
• Make sure you have a good match. This may seem obvious, but don't try to use other people as inspiration unless they actually fit the character. For instance, don't put your friend's tendency to rescue animals in need with your antagonist, unless that trait fits his character type/personality. 
• Use your better judgement. In the end it mostly comes down to common sense. If your friend were to discover this trait in one of your characters, would he or she be angry, or honored? In the end you are the only one who knows your characters as well as you know your friends, and you have to decide how both will benefit from your burst of inspiration.

I hope this was helpful! I may not be the most experienced person on this subject, so if you have anything to add, or if  your think I missed the mark completely, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

From a Writer's Notebook: Personal Histories

Yesterday my dad brought home this little booklet from the Texas State Historical Association Conference, and it got me thinking. First I thought about my own history- all the big events: trips, awards, deaths, births, and the little things: the way the light streams through our sunroom window every morning, the rich flavor of the Chai Tea lattes at my favorite coffee shop, all the times my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Over the years I've tried to record both kind of events. I have two journals that chronicle my life (sporadically) since the 6th grade. And while my journal writing has decreased significantly, especially once high school started, at least I have something, which more than a lot of people can say. 

A journal is a good thing for a writer to have. Our first assignment in our Creative Writing class this year was to write a personal essay. Our teacher said it was because we had to know how to tell a story from our own life before we could tell someone else's. I think this holds especially true in today's world, where everyone expects instant gratification, and some new writers think they can jump into a character's fictional world before taking a long look at their own. Journaling allows us to go back to our best and worst moments, and makes us wonder how we could have been so worried about something that was really pretty small in the grand scheme of things. All of this puts our earlier thoughts and actions into perspective, and allows us to pull better ideas from our own lives.

Despite popular belief, I think that blogging is not the same as journaling. A blog is sort of like a journal, but unless it's extremely personal (in which case maybe you should reconsider posting it on the internet), it doesn't quite compare to holding a journal in your hands and seeing pages filled with your handwriting. Maybe that's just me being old fashioned. As much as I love blogging, I also long for the feel paper under my pen. So I write journal entries and letters to pen pals and occasionally type on typewriters. There is something wonderfully tactile about it that a blank screen just can't compete with. 

So, I encourage you to go out and find a journal (Yay! Notebook shopping!) and take a few minutes to write something about your day. It could be what you had for breakfast this morning. It could be a description of your best friend. It could be the nagging thing at the back of your mind thats been worrying you for weeks. Whatever it is, write it down. It may seem trivial now, even boring. But years from now, when you are reading over your old entries, it will feel like a life well lived.

ps. I'm not sure if this really fits into the "From a Writer's Notebook" category, but it seems to me as good a place to start as any. More from this series to come!

New Series: From a Writer's Notebook

I have always been an observer of things. I suppose it's a quality found in most writers, but I think it is one of our most important tools. It is where we get our ideas. It where we learn what truth is, so that we can better inject truth into our writing. Of course we can't keep all the things we observe in our heads all the time, so we write them down. I was given my first Moleskine notebook for Christmas, and it has been a valuable tool for capturing the little gems of inspiration that the universe throws at me. Often, when I don't have my notebook with me for whatever reason, I feel a little helpless and I find myself searching for any scraps of paper and writing utensils I can find, just in case I need to write something down. In this way, my writer's brain is always tuned in to the things around me, even when my regular self may be trying to stay awake in math class.


I am fascinated by the things that make my writer's brain tick. That's why I am introducing a new series of posts to my blog. In these posts I will share some of the things I found interesting enough to write down in my notebook, and examine why these things in particular caught my attention. Some other things these posts might cover are:

• How to be more observant
• Less traditional ways of filling up your notebooks
• When to write a lot and when to simply jot down a few words
• What to do if someone notices you writing down what they're saying
• Etc!

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy the new series, and as always, feel free to share pieces from your own writer's notebook in the comments! 

On Keeping up with Your Favorite Authors

Hello again, everyone!!!!! I am going to do my best to try and contain my excitement and write a calm, thoughtful post...But the truth is I'm REALLY EXCITED!!!! This post is going to be kind of short because it's late, and I need some time to dream about the amazing things that I have just discovered. Okay, let me start from the beginning:

So, after yesterday's post, in which I mulled over a lot of different things, one of them being The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale, I decided to check out Shannon Hale's website for the first time in a very long time. This evening I added her blog to my blog roll and started reading it, absentmindedly hoping to catch up on some news. Did I ever! Just within the past 15 minutes I learned that:

1. Shannon Hale is coming to my home town! I can't believe it! After years of carefully watching her blog for news of tour dates and destinations (and a very long hiatus in which I didn't visit her blog at all), I find out that she is FINALLY coming here, and that I will get to see her in person, and possibly even meet her! How cool is that?

2. A special edition of the 4th book in the Bayern series (Forest Born) has been re-printed with  original cover art by the original artist!! After complaining about the new covers in my last post, I thought this, along with #1 had just about made my night. And then I found out that...

3. Her book, Austenland, is being made into a movie!! I can't believe it! This is amazing!

Besides the fact that I am in a state of elation at the moment, I'm also amazed that I stumbled upon all these things at the same time. I mean, what are the chances? I just happened to click her events page and discover that she is coming to my home town (!!). I would not have seen the new cover or learned of the movie had I not scrolled through at least a page of old blog posts. What I'm trying to say is that if you like an author and their work, keep up with them! Authors appreciate your support, and you love meeting them and getting signed copies of their books. What if I had waited a month to look at Ms. Hale's blog, and missed her tour date! I would have been devastated! Now, I know not everyone is as big a fan of Shannon Hale as I am, but I'm sure there are other authors out there with an active online presence that would love it if you followed them- because you never know who might be coming to town.

Thought Sandwich

I don't know how you bloggers do it. How can you write about just one thing per post, when it seems like all your thoughts have formed a mob in your brain and are yelling at you and waving crudely made signs that say things like, "Don't Forget your Dog!" and "Respect the Math Homework!" Both of which would be totally boring things to write about, and unfortunately they're both vying for my attention right now. So, at the risk of writing a very disjointed and all-over-the-place post, here are some of the (other) things that are on my mind at the moment:

This Book:

I am almost finished with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. And I'm conflicted about it. Seriously conflicted. Without giving too much away, let me just say that it is a little too "real" for me. It is one of those books that truly captures what life was like during a certain time period, but such raw, un-sugar coated subject matter has left me feeling a little bitter towards the world (and humanity, and men). 

But then, I think about what I like about this book. I like the friendship between the main character and her laotong, a sworn sister for life. I like the rich descriptions of just about everything, the clothing, the food, the setting. And I really enjoyed learning about Chinese culture at the time; it has been a fascinating look into an idea set completely foreign to my own, written in an unbiased way that lets the reader decide their own feelings about it. The truth is, despite the things I don't like about it, I haven't been able to put it down. I should be finished with it shortly, so be expecting a full review soon.

300 Word Essays:
I sent my Iowa Young Writer's Studio application out last Saturday. They asked for a ten page writing sample and a two page statement of purpose. After making the mistake of applying to only one summer writing program last year and being rejected, I have decided to apply to several this time around, and right now I'm working on the applications for both the Sewanee and Kenyon summer workshops. They both are asking for 300 word essays detailing myself and why I want to attend their program. Just 300 words! I know I should get used to the concept of telling a lot about myself in a small amount of space, seeing as I'm going to be applying to college next fall, but 300 words seems ridiculous. Sometimes I wonder if 300 words were a thing and not a number, what would it be? Can it contain love? Or even love poems? Can it span a year, or a day, or just an afternoon? If it were an event would it be a wedding, or a birthday party, or the drive to school? And if it's not even the equivalent of the drive to school, how is it supposed to convey my love of words, or my dedication, or my personality? I don't know, maybe it will be easier than I think. Maybe the judges will see my 300 words and think, "Ah, I understand you." Or maybe not. Despite my lack of confidence in them, I suppose the only thing to do is to make those 300 words the best that I possibly can.

The SAT:
This is a big, scary topic. A few weeks ago I took my first real SAT test. We were hoarded into a room, deprived of our electronic devices, and made to sit for 5 hours (or what seemed like 5 hours) in front of a test that would decide our fate. Sort of. At least, I try not to think of the SAT as a life altering, all powerful being. Maybe if I did, I would study harder for it and ultimately get a better score- but after hearing about the competition that goes on between some students over their grades (on everything, not just the SAT) I'm kind of glad I'm not a cut throat gal, willing to push myself over the edge just to get a better score than that genius over there. Still, with all of the other stuff going on my life (mainly trying to keep myself from sinking into the interminable sea of homework that is washing up on the shore of my desk), I haven't had enough time as even I would like to devote to practicing for the SAT. I guess what brought all this on was that I just got an e-mail about SAT scores being in, and I haven't had the nerve to look at them yet. So...Wish me luck!

The Feel of a Book:
This last thing I'm going to talk about is a little quirky. Or you could call it picky, or you could call me a dreamer and leave it at that. Some girls plan their weddings years in advance. They have the flowers and the dress and the color scheme and the cake and the music and maybe even the presents all planned out (not to mention a pretty good idea of what they'd like to see in a groom). And, I can wholeheartedly say that I am not one of those girls. But, if I could plan out one aspect of my life as thoroughly as the people that plan their weddings like that, it would be the feel of my book. If I ever do get a novel written and published, I have a pretty good idea of what I want it to feel like when someone holds it, or turns a page. And, like the girls who want their wedding to be exactly like Angelina Jolie's*, I have a certain book in mind that I would totally love my book to feel like. (For those of you who know me, this will not come as a big surprise.)
The book is:

That's right, The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. This is my favorite book of all time. I read it in elementary school and I love everything about it. Other books have come close, and may have even surpassed it temporarily, but I have yet to find one that makes me feel the same way whenever I pick it up. The writing is magical, the story is un-put-down-able, and the characters feel real enough to be my best friends (How I've wished that were possible!). And though I could talk about the merits of this wonderful book for hours, that is another blog post for another day. Today, we're talking about feel. I love the way this book feels. At 383 pages, it is just the right size for your hands- not too skinny, not too fat.  It's squatness makes it feel slightly shorter in width than most other books, even though it's not (I checked). It's pages are a wonderfully rich cream color and they have a nice thickness (I've never liked books with with flimsy pages). Not only that, but who couldn't love the stunning cover**, the simple, but intriguing end pages, the map (!!), and the font, which compliments the story perfectly. Now, I know Mrs. Hale probably didn't have very much say over her cover or the font or anything like that, but I must say, she really lucked out. And I'm sure, as much as I dream about the feel of my own, yet to be conceived book, the feeling of holding my book in my hands will surpass any of these silly fantasies.

But, just for fun, here's some more pictures:

* Just for the record, I know nothing about Angelina Jolie's wedding. I'm sure it was very nice.
** Unfortunately (in my opinion), this beautiful cover was replaced by a typical teen fantasy cover that I do not like at all. This dislike, however, is not directed in any way at the writing in this beautiful, beautiful book. You should read it, no matter which cover it has.
Note: Also, if I sound contradictory about some of things in this post, it's because when I write I tend to work everything out in my head at the same time, which makes it very hard to create consistent points.
NOTE: I feel I should give credit for the title of this post to a friend of mine, who thought it up during a random brainstorm session. I used it simply because it sounds cool and because I think it captures the feel of this post. Any more thoughts to add to the sandwich?

The Infamous New Year's Post

Well everyone, it's 2012. There seem to be a lot of people on the internet conflicted about New Year's Resolutions. No one seems to know what to make of them. (Do you make one, and forget about it three weeks from now? Or do you not make one and feel like you are entering another year of aimless wondering?) Because I am planning to make this post ridiculously long,  here are my thoughts on the subject:


The Three Most Important Rules for New Years Resolutions


1. The first rule is the most important. And no, it's not "stick with it," as some might say. The No. 1 rule for making New Year's Resolutions is to purge yourself of guilt. That's right. Resolutions aren't supposed to so gruelingly difficult that you don't look forward to keeping them, or that you beat yourself up about them if you slip up. So take a minute right now and repeat after me: "I will not feel guilty for not keeping my New Year's Resolutions."


2. Enthusiasm. That's rule #2. That might seem hard at first, especially if your resolution happens to be anything but fun. But if you look at your resolution less as something you have to do or you'll feel terrible about yourself (while simultaneously feeling terrible about breaking our "No Guilt" rule), then you are more likely to give up because the pressure is just too much. So, take a minute right now and repeat after me: "I vow not to hate my new year's resolutions, and if I do, to find some little part of them to be enthusiastic about, because if I try and can't find some part of them that I enjoy, then they are not worth keeping."


3. Make it legal. (Or at least, in the personal sense) Rule #3 is to find some way of making your resolutions permanent. Keeping them in your head is important, but thoughts are fickle things, my friends, and our flawed, human brains can't be counted on to remind us of our resolutions all 365 days of the new year. So take a minute right now to find a piece of paper or a typewriter or word doc on your computer and write down your resolutions, including Rules 1 and 2. Trust me, you'll be glad you did.


And now that we've looked ahead a little bit, let's take a moment to look back on 2011.


This year I:

• Started my Junior year in high school
• Took my first really helpful/productive/inspiring creative writing class
• Learned to drive
• Worked my butt off writing music for the school play
• Visited Cloudcroft, New Mexico, where I've informally decided to move to if I ever get the chance and/or enough money
• Discovered my new fav author, Thomas Mullen
• Saw my new fav author, and many others, at the Texas Book Festival 
• Won a regional Silver Key from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
• Had a Wind in the Willows themed Christmas

I could go on, but I'll spare you the more boring details :) And now:

The two major accomplishments I hope to achieve in 2012 are:

• Getting accepted to the Iowa Young Writer's Studio this summer
• Winning an award for a Senior Portfolio from Scholastic Art & Writing 

Today some friends are coming  over to eat cabbage (for money) and black-eyed peas (for luck), so I better wrap this up. Before I go, I'll leave you with this picture:

Cheers! 


Enjoy 2012!