I'm currently at 37,330 words. I'm gonna finish my novel at 50,000 words by the end of February (AKA tomorrow). So far so good. Write-or-die helps. I think for me I just need to let go, relax...break the fourth wall and stuff. Just write, and fix it later. I did half-break the fourth wall once, but I tied it in (very very very loosely). I was listening to the samples of the DW soundtrack with the 11th Dr. And when I heard that familiar music form my fave part of the only partial-eppy I watched....I couldn't help but paise mide-sentence to write (fish fingers!). Haha.

*AHEM* This has been a writer's soap opera by Lu. Tune in next time to hear...

I have a story that I'm currently writing, and I need feedback before I decide to continue writing it. You can find the story by following the link below. Currently I have written 2 chapters to it.

http://darkhorsed.deviantart.com/gallery/36801958

Nothing wrong with fan fictions. I'm a fan of Kingdom Hearts but never saw Coraline (know about the story, but never saw it). I think the idea would make for a nice addition 'world' for the characters to visit, however the only thing is that those who haven't played Kingdom Hearts or seen Coraline would have a clue about what you are talking about. You have a lot of solid references to both sources and I know what is going on (and what I can expect to go on), but would anyone who doesn't at least know the premises of the two sources know it? This is one area you can work on. To develop the characters and the story. It does look like some first writings (hey, we all have to start somewhere), but it's not bad.

On my own stuff, I've got 2 1/2 weeks until the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference. It's so close. I can't wait for it. But one of my challenges that I need to have figured out before I go is how to describe my book in 1-2 sentences. I can do it in a paragraph or two, because I have two complex story lines that weave together, but I don't know how to do that in 1-2 sentences for a pitch to an agent or publisher. Those who have had a chance to read my book, I'd love some help with that.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback and I'll keep that in mind

I have another story I need feed back on, well, its really the opening paragraph to the story, I just need initial feedback. Here it is:

Thriller (Alternate Title: Darkness Falls)

Finally, the great day dawned; the first day of the two day Festival of Light. The Orb of Light shone brightly in the center of the underground city of Cobal. Tonight the light from the orb will be extinguished, to be replaced with darkness to symbolize the Dark Days, before the Orb of Light was created. After about five hours, the Orb of Light will reignite. However, unbeknownst to the people of Cobal, but now knownst to you the reader, a group with villainous intentions plots to destroy the Orb of Light.

Time to bump this thread.

I am leaving for the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference tomorrow night. I've been waiting for this for four years and now it finally is not in conflict with Finals week. (I didn't have Finals anyway this year). I am praying God will connect me with an agent or a publisher that will really be able to take my book to wider audiences. I am ready for it to go out much farther than my personal circles with word-of-mouth from there. I'm still working on the editing/revision of my sequel and this summer I plan to knock it out. God is good and I can't wait to see what he does this week.

Good luck with your book, Fencer!

Right now, I'm working on the planning stages of a fantasy novel as well as a Sci-fi series.

I'm also considering doing Camp NaNo this June. Is anyone else doing it then?

~Riella

The Colorado Christian Writer's Conference has come and gone. There is no way I can justify what went on during the conference in one post. There is just too much. But here are some of the highlights. I took a 'continuing session' on suspense and thrillers with Robert Liparulo, who has become a hot thriller writers (he is a believer, but he tends to write to the mainstream audiences). There wasn't a whole not that he covered that I didn't already have come clue on, but most of that was because we couldn't get into too much details for time sake.

I learned A LOT about the publishing industry itself. I learned that is it not wise to use self-publishing as a spring-board to a larger, traditional publisher. Not for the same book. Of course I had to learn this the hard way, not knowing any better. But that being said, one publisher there, Oak Tara, did express an interest in my manuscript for my spiritual warfare novel, Battle Cry: Adventures in the Kingdom of Heaven. For them to take it, I will have to change the Title (it was a working title that I simply didn't find anything better for a while) and likely make so changes to the book. The reason why publishers won't 're-publish' (among others) is that when a customer goes to search for a title and they find two titles by the same author by different publishers, it leads to confusion and that's NOT good. So pray God's will is made clear as I get my manuscript ready to submit to Oak Tara Publishing.

One of the joys I had during the conference was the "Square Peg Society". It is a group for Christian fiction that does NOT do the traditional "Amish Romance" that is the standard for a Christian fiction book. It is for a group of writer's that think outside the box and seek to break the rules. The founder is an author of Christian horror (hard to believe, but after talking with him, I completely understand his perspective). He truly understands the role of the villain of a story and how an author can use the villain to tell the story that could not be told otherwise. I always knew a good villain is crucial to the success of a story, but I learned how to dig deeper into the villain and use him (or her) to bring out issues that I personally struggle with, or issues I want to see dealt with, but issues that I might not be able to talk about in the open. Also, the stronger the villain, the greater the hero.

That is a BRIEF summary of what went on during this conference. It was really cool and I am still processing a lot of it.

I'd like some advice.

My weak point in my writing is my descriptions. Not that I have difficulty describing things... it's more the way I describe things. I can see my mental picture really clearly, and describe it in detail. But the description is very.... blunt and dry. Like if I described the colors in a sunset, it might go something like, "At the bottom of the sky was the setting sun. Above that, a layer of reddish sky. Orange sky was on top of that. And then pink was the final color before the rest of the sky faded into the black of night." I mean, you can picture it. You know what the colors are. But it's worded as dryly as an instruction manual.

And then I see other descriptions in books, which describes the sky with all this imagery. Curtains of this, swirls of that. I think Tolkien even used cherubs in his description of a sunset once.

So, I guess my question is... how can I learn to do that? I don't know why I'm so lacking in imagination in this part of writing. I don't have this problem with the other parts of novel writing. I just can't seem to be able to think of any way to describe it than just plain coming out and dryly saying it. I can recognize a good description in a book when I see it. But coming up with my own is another thing.

My mental images are really clear. I can see, feel, hear, smell everything in the setting. But how do I learn to state it in a way that is more... beautiful and less dry?

~Riella

The first advice I have to use action verbs. You use the phrase "at the bottom of the sky was the setting sun". The words "at the bottom of the sky" is redundant. A setting sun alone covers that whole line. When the sun sets, what happens to the sky? What happens to the clouds? Try describing it from that perspective.

Another thing I discussed at the conference is Point of View. We all know about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, person perspectives, but one thing that I didn't realize that was cool. Any fiction author will tell you that when you write from the perspective of a character, you only describe what that character can see, hear, feel, touch, think, etc. And that being said, a tendency of many authors is to take a character and use his/her view to describe the setting around them. I will illustrate with this.

Let's take a short eight-grader (about 12 years old) trying out for a basketball team. One description has him step into the gym, look at the posters and banner hanging from the rafters, look at a group of girls chatting from the stands, the other boys practicing and drilling, noticing the overall view of the setting. The question is, would this boy do this? Very likely not. He would zoom in on his competition immediately and not take notice of the surroundings of the gym. He wouldn't see the banners or the girls in the stands. Some other characters would do that. The point is when you are in the head of one character, only describe what that character would see. Some do take in their surroundings and others have tunnel vision from the outset. Know what your character would do.

I hope this helps.

The words "at the bottom of the sky" is redundant.

That was just a quick example sentence I wrote for the post. It isn't from my novel or anything. The point I'm trying to make with it is that my descriptions are very dry. They have a "to the left was this, to the right was that" kind of set-up. And I don't want my prose to have that kind of structure.

Thanks for the advice about point of view. But what I'm more looking for is how to get better at describing things. Not choosing what to describe and what not to describe. Where I would say, "It was red", other people might say, "It was red like a freshly picked cherry." That's a really bad example, but that's the thing. I'm not creative with descriptions - not even enough to make a good example sentence in this post. So, I'm trying to figure out, how do I learn to give more creative descriptions?

~Riella

I'm also considering doing Camp NaNo this June. Is anyone else doing it then?

I am! I'm looking forward to it, though my plot is only half-there and I barely have an outline. Ah, such is the life of a writer. Hopefully I can get myself together in time.

If you do Camp NaNo in June, what would your genre be, Ithie? I'll probably be writing about superheroes, oddly enough. I've never tried doing that sort of thing before, so it'll be a fun challenge.

Any other participants in Camp NaNo are more than welcome to add me on the site. As it stands right now, I haven't been able to figure out a way to add each other, but maybe the option will become available when the event begins. If so, my username is ScarlettGamgee.

If you do Camp NaNo in June, what would your genre be, Ithie?

I plan to attempt June NaNo this year. And as odd as it sounds, my genre will be "suspense comedy".

~Riella

But how do I learn to state it in a way that is more... beautiful and less dry?

I can think of a few of pieces of advice. First, write down descriptions of what you see at sunset for a month. Or something like an apple. Just do the same exercise every day and try to pull out something different each time. Like everything else, pertinent descriptions come with practice.

Second, read poetry. Be aware of other ways to describe things.

Third, like Fencer suggested, consider what your characters are thinking, and look for adjectives and word pictures that fit the mood of the scene. If it's a deciding moment when the hero is going to give up the debating club to try out for football, he's probably not going to see the sunset as "cotton candy clouds drifting lazily across the sun" but "wisps of cloud surrounded the setting sun like a collection of third string runningbacks." Pardon the rubbish example, I should have picked something I knew more about, but I hope you see what I mean? The first description suggests a relaxed summer evening when you're looking forward to something fun the next day, and the other is melodramatic.

Good descriptions help move a story forward by setting a scene and mood. If they're just there to pad the word count or to show off the pretty pose you can write, no matter how good they are, they're going to end up feeling dry.

I should take my own advice.

I'm also considering doing Camp NaNo this June. Is anyone else doing it then?

I'm doing CampNaNo my username is Apye, if anyone wants to be cabin mates with me June is going to be a crazy month, cause I have exams and a dance festival coming up, but I still really want to do it, I haven't really written anything since April Screnzy