I've just about finsihed editing my story there are a bit less words now, I got rid of a chapter because it did nothing for the story and combined two chapters into one, it made more sense that way. I hate it even more now, I must have read it at least twenty times while editing and I am sick of it. I'll never look at it again. Now I'm ready to go with my next story, it's a good deal longer than this one, and a good deal darker. The story that I finsihed writing (It's called the Peasant Princess by the way....I know the name is terribly corny and cheesy....but I couldn't come up with anything better, it took me two years to come up with the name, I made the story up ages ago but only wrote id down recently, and though I hate the way it sounds, I'm afraid it's going to stay that way.) anyway the story is a fairy tale, A light simple story, with a happy ending. This next story that I am going to write is quite dark, it's set in the neighbor hood where I spent my childhood, and is about a teen girl who is very lost in life and how she is searching for answers in life, and for a long time she is searching in all the wrong places. It was actually very easy for me to make up the whole story, because it is set in a place that I know very well, I know the sort of people that live there, their behavior and actions. I have lots of friends who are in similar situations (or who were in similar situations) that my heroine will be going through. While my heroine will be going through similar emotional struggles that I have went through, her situation is nothing like mine, so I am interviewing my friends who more or less understand what I want her to be going through, so that I will be able to realistically protray her. I've gotten the basic plot down, though it does need a little bit of work, mostly with minor details. I've made up all the characters and given them names (my favorite part of writing stories ) and hopefully I will be able to start writing soon.

It's awesome to hear the progress all of you are making. I'm at that gut-wrenching stage in the post-contract publication process: waiting for a release date to be set. I thought I was going to get a clue last week, but I have not heard from Lighthouse since. I just hope they didn't go on Christmas vacation without letting me know. I am fine with the book not getting release until after Christmas, but I would really like to know that beforehand because I have a number of people looking at it as Christmas shopping.

So, in the meantime, now with Finals over, I am trying to get going on my sequel. I already did a first draft, but it needs re-writing, and what needs re-writing is enough that I can't merely just plug it from the first draft. I needed to start over. But I'm carrying the key plot line and driving it to be more character driven than merely plot-driven as the first draft tried to go after I took a hiatus halfway through. Now I know what needs to happen and when and I want to get as much done over my five week Winter Break as I can. I just need to get past the next chapter and a half which set up the characters and the plot scenario. Once I do that, I will be able to hit cruise control (which for me is pretty fast, since I tend to hyper-focus).

Once I am done with that, I will see how my first does selling-wise (there should be no reason for my book not to be released before then, given where it is at now), get more feedback, edit some more, and see about when would be a good time to launch the sequel.

LucyofNarnia--I know what you mean. I have tons of stories that I've started and not finished. I have no idea how to keep going. I've just chalked them up as writing experience and gone on to the next story that caught my fancy.

Tiffany

Well, then, I have a lot of experience... Thanks!

So my bit of advice here might be this: try writing both endings and see which one you like better, or which one works better. If nothing else, it's a great writing exercise and (in my case anyway) offered more insight into several characters.

Thanks so much for the advice! Although it'll probably be a matter of years before I get around to writing this scene, I spent lots of time planning out these type of scenes. When I do get around to writing it, writing both endings sounds like the best idea!

Thanks you for the input too, sweeet!

I've never actually attempted writing a script, but I expect it'd be fun to try sometime.

Script writing sounds interesting! When we have to do little plays and skits in class, I always end up writing the whole thing.

When you write, do you start with a character, a plot idea, or a theme? I normally get a combination of those.
However the main novel I am working on right now started as a character relationship.

My novel began with a single image. The concept of the theme was there to begin with, but the plot began to formulate with a single image. From there, things expanded to what I have now. My sequel is built on the first. But my story is not the first to do this. The entire concept and script from the movie Chicken Run all originated from a single line "Eggads, we've got a Klingon!"

Right now I feel like I'm stuck at the boring part of my story. All the really interesting stuff is supposed to happen later.
Also, I'm reconsidering the title, Elwen. It started as being just about the heroine, but then it got into all this stuff about politics (of two different nations), the plight of the poor, the exploits of the robber who turns out to be her lover, all the issues of her large extended family, with bits of history, and possibly a shipwreck at some point.
Then again, that could work. Ivanhoe is good, but the character himself isn't there for most of the story.

So how do you keep yourself from quitting when the writing gets tough (I have a bad habit of quitting stories and making new ones later- which I quit too, of course. )

One thing my creative writing teacher told me that is the mark of a true writer is having a "cold passion". In other words, being able to write even when you don't feel like it. I definitely haven't mastered this yet , but it is sound advice (he's written a few books and is the head editor of a journal).

I've found a method for getting past the boring parts of my story. First of all, I always write in order - so that the exciting parts act as motivation for me to plow past the boring parts. It's all about forcing yourself to sit down and write those. I've found that I always get more done when I go somewhere with the intention of doing writing. That way, there's little to distract me. The library is a good place. Also, coffee shops. Any place that's quiet. Yesterday, I sat in my dad's office at work and managed to write 1,000 words of boring blah in about an hour.

Something that always seems to get people stuck is those boring parts. But even more is the author's desire to get it perfect the first time through. Trust me, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN!!! I have two stories about how I have gotten through this and helped someone else through it.

I am working on my sequel during my winter break and I have a boring part early on as I try to establish my character before the plot really takes off. It is a challenge because anyone who's read the first will have no problems with the characters or setting, but anyone who hasn't needs to know what's going on. So I have two chapters right now that establishes that, sort of but due to the history of the first novel, I am having a challenge describing the character's background without saying too much too soon. So what I did was just push through it, described some stuff but not all. But most importantly is that I know for certain this is not completely the way I want it. But that's okay, because nothing that goes on is absolutely critical to the story line. After I finish, I am going to revisit it after I get some feedback. So for someone else, remember you can always revisit a scene later on. It does not have to be perfect on the first run.

The other thing is when another friend got stuck on the first draft of his novel and sought my advice. After reading what he had, I explained what I thought his story needed. He had a sub-villain that he hadn't visited in a while and after he explained the overall plot concept, I told him to think about what his main character needed to do in order to get to the next plot point he knew needed to take place. So for your stories, when you know a scene needs to take place and you can't figure out how to get from point A to point B, think about these things. In what condition, physically, mentally, arc-development, etc, do the characters need to be in for point B? What events need to take place so your characters are forced to to get to that point? As I pointed above, it doesn't have to be perfect and you may not think of a better idea until after the fact. I've done that myself, where I had a critical scene where one of my main characters completes his character arc. I knew what type of scene would set it up but I had to get from one point to another. It took 3-4 versions to finally get to what I wanted, but that is what writing is about. It is a process and it happens to the rookie and well-experienced writer.

Get some feedback, join a writing group, see what others see in your story that you can't. At the writer's conference I attended almost 2 years ago, I learned that to a published author, his/her editor tends to know more about the store the author wrote than the author does. Others do tend to know more about the story you wrote than you do after they've read it and I've even seen that with the feedback I've gotten for my novel. It's scary to think about that, but it is so worth it.

So how do you keep yourself from quitting when the writing gets tough (I have a bad habit of quitting stories and making new ones later- which I quit too, of course. )

One thing my creative writing teacher told me that is the mark of a true writer is having a "cold passion". In other words, being able to write even when you don't feel like it. I definitely haven't mastered this yet , but it is sound advice (he's written a few books and is the head editor of a journal).

Yeah, I don't have "cold passion" either, I need to work on that...

Thanks for your help!

Thank you! I've been trying to force myself to write more often. I kind of got out of the habit during the school year.
Right now I'm busy trying to decide whether my character really needs to hit her obnoxious cousin or not. One of her main flaws is a quick temper, but I'm trying to show that it has bad consequences. Both times when she loses her temper and gets violent, its either against people who turn out not to be as bad as she thinks, because she makes snap judgments, or it only winds up making things worse. But I don't want her to seem like some sort of mean person that hits everyone when she gets angry. Her cousin did do something that was worth getting angry about, since he nearly killed her friend's brother, but I don't want to show her as immature.

Lady Haleth, one thing to think about is when you want to show a character that has a quick temper, you don't want to show her having restraint over it. Perhaps she can find a way to take out her anger on something instead of hitting the cousin. Then you can have her take it further when she gets violent on someone. Just a thought.

I have a book update. I have a first glimpse of the cover art design and I REALLY like it. I just need to see what it will look like when colored and finalized to officially approve it, but it looks like something that if seen on a book shelf (or on-line) the cover will draw attention. It's so close.

Ooh, really, Fencer? I can't wait to see the design. Even not done by Christmas, maybe we can hope for it by the New Year? That'd be really fun!

I started rewriting a story that, a long time ago, I barely got into; but I had splendid ideas and I've just started going at it. I'm making myself write at least 1700 words on it whenever I have a long chunk of time for writing on it, and at least a paragraph or two when I only have a bit. It's quite fun. My main character is named Tracy, and she's making me like that name! I usually hate it.

Yes, I think she only gets violent with one guy, though that he later turns out to be not as bad as she thought him. I've decided she doesn't hit her cousin, she's just really angry and she yells at him and leaves. Because the guy who was nearly killed was a guy she really disliked, her reaction will be more complex than 'what a horrible thing to do!' Besides, he foretold the death of her other cousin, who she does like, so its a bit more complicated.
I also have come up with several edits to the previous book. There were some situations in the first book that didn't make sense. A city on a mountainside shouldn't be flooding, so I decided a landslide would make more sense.
Its weird how things change. The heroine's lover has now become this Robin Hood-esque figure, even though that wasn't my original intention. Anyone ever noticed this before? A story can wind up altered beyond recognition.