Novels and Book Series, I Want to do Both!

And here we are my dear readers! The final part of the three-part miniseries. Part one is Everyone's a Poet and part two is When does a Short Story become a Book? you can find both in the blog archive. But before we get to the meat of the conversation we'll soon be in the new year and I hope that you the readers will be sticking around. I hope everyone's holiday has been great as we wrap up the season.

This is something I haven't done before. So I can't really say what I feel I need improvement on. But I can talk about what my fears are when it comes to writing a book. The most visible fear is that I'll write a bad book. Not because of lack of editing, bad spelling, or incorrect grammar but that the story isn't interesting. I've ranted about it before but a good story plus good characters are what makes a book worth picking up. I want the books that I write to be worth picking up and to be reread. I fear my stories will not make those who read them look at the world differently.

Another fear I have is being limited to a small audience of readers. (If you didn't know I'm an African American who is also female.) I don't want my race to limit me to only other black Americans and females. That is not to say I don't want these groups to read my books. I just don't want my race and gender to limit who would find my books interesting. I feel that this is something that I have to think about when it comes to marketing my books. I greatly desire to appeal to as many readers as possible.

The final fear of mine is how I manage what I write. As the title says I want to write novels and different book series. This has more to do with my organization skills and my thought process. My brain comes up with more ideas than I know what to do with and I can't focus on all of them. After all, I'm still trying to get a higher education. But I guess for now I'll just focus on the ideas I like the most. Then again I have little to no control of my imagination so I might be out of luck.

I'm excited to write out the many ideas in my head into stories. I want to create an experience with the books I write. But most of all I want to help connect people with each other and let everyone get a bit closer to understanding each other. That is my strongest desire in what I wish to accomplish with my writing.

That is it for this mini series! We'll be back on for January with more fun conversation. I hope you're ready for the new year, I know I'm curious to what 2016 will bring. Hopefully, it with bring about positive changes but who really knows with this crazy world.

When does a Short Story become a Book?

And we're back for part two of the three-part miniseries The Styles I Write In. For part one check out Everyone's a Poet. The winter holidays I'm sure is keeping a lot of us busy, but for right now sit back and let's have a smooth conversation. The topic of the conversation is short stories! Short stories can be the length of a full page to multiple of pages.

Short stories are usually something that is known for entertaining children. But there are many short stories meant for older youth and adults. Like books, short stories come in many different genres and come in different lengths. But like their name suggests, short stories are a breeze to get through. If you're not big on reading books you should give short stories a try. You also can find different authors who write short stories.

I like short stories because of how easy you can get through them. That is not to say short stories lack depth in plot. Because of the length, the story is only focused on the plot and develops to the conclusion quickly. Short stories are not normally filled with a large cast of characters which means you don't have to remember a list of characters. When it gets down to it, I hate it when the plot doesn't get to the point. It feels like the author is stalling and padding the story to get a higher page count. With a short story, this doesn't happen.

I don't think I'm special when it comes to why I like writing short stories. But seeing this mini-series is about me here's my reason. I will get an idea for a story but when I start writing (with a pencil and paper) the story ends up shorter than what I originally thought it was going to be. It's when I'm typing up the story and adding more details that help it get longer. I haven't written a short story that's longer that 10 pages yet. The shortest short story I've written is at least three-fourths of a page. Which isn't that short since I have read a short story that was only half a page.

I feel, when you write a short story you have to know where it ends. Otherwise, you could possibly write yourself in a corner or drag out a section of the story for too long. Although it is hard to judge which sections of a story to extend and which to shorten. An easy choice for me is when it feels like I'm repeating myself. Because when you reread your work repeats of things that are written gets tiresome for you and possibly the reader.

Short story characters are usually simple. The reason for this is because of the length of the stories. An author can pour page after page on the characters. Whereas in a short story the writer has to pick which characters get developed. Even then the reader has to be able to understand the characters in a matter of sentences.

As for the plot of the short stories they can be about anything. You can count the prompts that I did as short stories themselves. I like to think that I'm pretty good at writing short stories. Like what I did with poetry, I write down whatever pops into my head. It's a habit that I'm getting out of. I now prefer to fully think out what I want to write so I won't have hundreds of ideas fighting for attention. I really enjoy feedback because it gives me another view on how my work affects others. Which is why I try to give small nudges to you my dear readers to leave comments. And yes I know that it is your choice but it can't hurt to ask.

To further explain this, the reason for your comments on my writing is for me to become a better writer. The time and effort I put into my projects are more meaningful when you Google+ a post of mine. Or when you leave a comment about how you enjoy a way I explained something. I read the comments that are left because you took the time to write them when you didn't have to. I feel that an author needs the feedback of the readers. So when I have short stories up on my blog, please give me feedback so I can be a better writer.

I do feel that this is a good place to end our conversation. I hope everyone is having a good December and that you all have been enjoying the mini series. Do come back for the third and final part which is called Novels and Book Series, I Want to do Both! This will be posted before the New Year! At least I hope so.

Everyone's a Poet.

Poetry is one of those hobbies that either make you look like a dork or some pretentious jerk. This sucks because poetry is a nice hobby to have. Even if you don't write poetry, reading it is good because it covers different types of genres so there's a good chance of finding something you'll like. Also if you're not really big on slugging through books, poetry is an easier way to start reading more often. Plus poets usually get the short end of the credited author stick.

Reading poetry personally, feels like understanding the emotions of the author intimately. The author's view on the emotions they feel is right in front of you. An author of a book can disconnect themselves from the feelings of the characters. Poetry is the author’s emotion. I don't feel like I always understand it (mostly because some use words I can't even say) but I get where they are coming from. It seems like the poet is telling you one of their most treasured secrets. I know that's a childish way to think of poetry but I enjoy viewing it that way.

There are many ways to write poetry.  Some people believe that all poetry has to have rhyme and rhythm. This is not correct. While many ways to write poetry do involve different forms of rhyme and rhythm; free verse does not. The best way I can describe free verse is how a person would normally talk. There's no set of rules that need to be followed with free verse poetry. That doesn't make it easier to write. Which is another thing some people say, just because most poetry isn't the length of a book doesn't mean it's easy to write.

And with that sentence we move to the point of this post; why do I write poetry. Before I decided that I wanted to become an author, poetry was a way to get a lot of unfocused thoughts out of my head. At least 50% of the time what I wrote was bad. 30% was decent for my age but nothing special and the last 20% if cleared up is actually good. So I kept writing poetry and I got better. I stayed away from writing when it felt like my mind was too cluttered and actively picking out what I want to write about.

Although I do wish I could write more; I have this annoying habit of only liking to write when I have thought out ideas. I also have a collection of partly use notebooks that I need to pare down since that just clutters use space in my room. It's just annoying having notebooks that have several pages written in them and the rest of the notebook blank. So I would really like to get out of that bad habit. I would also like to be smarter. I feel like knowledge makes a better author and a greater understanding of the world will expand the experience that the people reading my work will have.

 I do have times where I write bad poetry to just get it out. Then I'll be able to write something good again. There's a possible reason why tweens and teens don't like poetry. Which is all the bad unfiltered mess a good chunk of tweens and teenagers write. Most of the poetry was school work. While it's not all that good, it is a healthy way to process different emotions.

When I started writing poetry seriously, I felt like an emotional weight was lifted off my shoulders. It became more than a way to clear my mind of thoughts. I want to be able to connect with others through my emotions that I write on a page. It's a goal that I want to continue to strive for. That's all for this talk, be sure to keep an eye out for When does a Short Story become a Book? which is part two of the mini-series.

The Styles I Write In

It's time for another mini-series! This mini-series is going to be personal, unlike the other mini-series. The other miniseries require that I do some research and come up with an OPINION of my own. They're a creative way for me to get more invested in the work I wish to do. I have not however written a miniseries that centers on the form of writing that I enjoy. Prompts don't count because they're writing exercises and are not of my own creation.

Since this is more focused on my current ability and how I wish to grow, I have to do some soul searching! Don't worry it won't take too long since it's about writing skills not how to solve all of the world's problems. The mini-series is going to be in three parts.

• Everyone's a Poet.
• When does a Short Story become a Book?
• Novels and Book Series, I Want to do Both!

The conversation will be on my feelings about the three, my confidence in writing in these different forms of literature, and what areas I believe I need to improve on. Hopefully, I won't be rambling on and on while talking about these subjects. Well, that's all for this talk and Happy Holidays!

What can happen in a second?

All he was doing was walking down the street. Jacket zipped with headphones in his ears. Too focused on his destination, he didn't see them coming. Before he knew it, he's slammed into the ground. Headphones are dislodged from his ears and all he can hear are yells within his ears. The answers don't come fast enough; at least that's what the tackler feels. In a second without his consent, his life greatly changes. Though his story is nothing new to those who look like him.

Do Holiday Movies Need to Suck?

So as you know it's December, and that means marketing to consumers so they can get into the holiday spirit and buy whatever it is that's popular. But our conversation today isn't about shopping. Which is weird because shopping is one of my hobbies. Our little talk by fire is going to be about holiday movies.

First off, why are there so many of them? I don't know but I think it has something to do with money. Secondly, why are so many of them bad? My guess is because the creators forget to make a good movie. That's kind of a problem when you think about it. The movie may have something to do with the holidays, but it still needs to be able to stand on it's own without the holiday attached to it.

But there are holiday movies that lightens our spirits and gets us ready to fight off the other shoppers because you so totally saw that toy for your niece first and granny isn't going to get it. The number of holiday movies increase during winter season. Which makes you want to stay inside and watch Netflix.

All we can do is watch the movies that really do have the holiday spirit and quietly forget about the ones that leave a bad taste in our month. In other news I shall be putting up another writing prompt for you to read. So be ready for that and we'll talk later.

Word Bank Poem

The 15 random words I need to put in a 15 line poem:
orange, yogurt, ghost, wrap, computer, tuxedo, book, Ron, paper, staple, kangaroo, coffee, beige, crunch, and green.

The day starts with orange yogurt,

With a coffee that has two cubes of sugar.

Read a book about a ghost to pass the time.

Get dressed for the day and see if the grass is green.

Then it hits you that it's Ron's birthday.

Store after store nothing seems good enough.

Maybe a pet kangaroo?

No that won't do.

"Crunch" what just made that sound?

A piece of paper advertising a computer sale.

Off to Staples to get the computer and have it wrapped in gold.

Got the gift now time to get dressed.

The beige tuxedo looks just right.

Gift in hand and dressed for the party.

Leave to be fashionably late.

So there you go! Here's the writing prompt of the month and we'll talk more in December!

Happy Holidays

I hope you all are doing well this November. If you celebrate Thanksgiving I hope that the food and company is good. If you don't, I wish for you to have a low stress week. We will soon be moving into the December holidays which will be filled with jolliness and stress. Although I do believe we all would rather the holidays not be full of stress.

I will be putting up a writing prompt. It will not however be one from the Adventure Prompt Poll. It's going to be something won't eat up to much time. Sadly it's not going to be up the following week because of the holiday. Not to worry it will be up before you know it.

The Poll Is Almost Close

The Adventure Prompt Poll closes tonight at 11:50 and it is a tie. If it remains a tie there will not be prompt this month. I have repeatedly ask you, the lovely readers to vote on the polls. If you have not voted yet I ask that you do so. I don't know if blogger fixed the polls yet but, sometime a vote isn't counted the first time you put it in. You're going to have to reenter your vote so that it is counted. It sucks but it would make me happy if you decide to vote. Remember the poll is in the left column of the blog.

What About Us? Everyone Who Isn't White!

Welcome back for part two of the mini-series, It Sucks Not Being the Default! part one is Half the Population is Women. So I hope that you read that one first. As you get from the title, this is going to be about the portrayal of non-white characters in writing. Now I will try to avoid being too political. The biggest problem (at least to me) that authors have with portraying another race is the fact that they believe the stereotypes apply to the entire race. Now, just to be clear, not all authors have this problem. But if a writer isn't careful, they can portray their non-white character in an offensive way.


This also includes portraying non-white characters a being unintelligent, highly violent, over sexualize, greedy, and poor. It is fine to have characters like this but, to repeatedly portray a race like this is extremely harmful. Because these traits don't apply to any one race. I feel that harmful stereotypes are born this way. The action of one person shouldn't reflect on others of the same race. I will leave it at that because this blog isn't about politics.

So if the author's white, how are they to portray a non-white character competently? And the answer is to interview non-white people. Of course be respectful of the things that they tell you. They have no reason to lie about their life. It would be good to talk to them before you write the non-white character because there's a chance that some stereotypes crept in. Again, I'm not saying that every author has this problem. This is just me trying to explain how to create diversity in an authors' work.

But what if the author themselves are not white? Will they still have trouble portraying non-white characters? Just because the author is not white doesn't mean they can portray their own race correctly.  Also if they're going to have characters not of their race then, they may want to research and interview people of other races as well. But of course, not all authors have trouble with creating a diverse cast of characters.

So how do we get a diverse cast of characters? The easy way is picking random characters out of one hat and their race in another. For a more serious way to get diversity in characters, it will include understanding the culture of different races. This again can be done with research and interviews. But creating diverse characters is easy when you honestly want to portray diverse characters. Doing it half-heartedly upsets the readers and the people of the race the author portrays in their work.

That is it for this mini series and I hope you like it. This is merely me trying to point out ways that could help with writing non-white characters. That being said, I hope you've enjoyed our conversation.

Half of the Population is Women.

I hope everyone is having a nice day today, or it's at least not the worse day ever. If so I hope I'm able to brighten it a bit! This is our second mini-series and it comes in two parts. This is the first part and if you'll like to read the introduction it's called It Sucks Not Being the Default! It lightly touches upon what we'll be talking about. If this is the first time you're here it would be awesome of you to read my other post as well! You can find them in the blog archive. Also in the blog archive is the post A Drama With Comedy Ending in Tragedy it is the first introduction to the first mini-series. You are welcome to check it out. The last thing before I get to the meat of the conversation, be sure to vote on the Adventure Prompt Poll, it's in the left column.


Now we are all aware that there are males and females, yet males are more often than not the main character of the story. I feel that this has to do with the fact that authors learn to write in a male perspective. Until recent history, men were encouraged to get higher learning as well as get jobs and women were encouraged to find a good husband. But that has changed. Women now have more freedom than in those days where their main concern was only to get a good husband. However, that doesn't mean the perspective has changed with the times. Because society treats women as "the other", the female narrative view is alien. The only people who can relate to women is women, right? I don't think that's true. Because if everyone is able to relate to a male character then likewise we can all relate to a female one.

So, how about we look at one of the biggest problems with bad female characters. THEY ARE POORLY WRITTEN!!! As you all may know I hate it when an author doesn't create an interesting character. Even more so when they are the main character. You construct the female character just like a male one. I will admit that there is an element that needs to be addressed with the female character; how the world treats her because she is female. This can be addressed with other characters underestimating her abilities. Such as, being a female in a male-heavy workforce or dealing with being catcalled when she is only trying to get to work. Have no fear this doesn't need to happen all the time. This element helps flesh out the character and it is a relationship that should be shown.

A female character is poorly written when the author shows that they don't care about developing her. The best imagery I can think of is this: A woman continues to walk down a light gray hallway. The echoes are of her shoes and even breathing. Time and again she passes by doors that will lead her somewhere else but she is unable to open them. She is stuck and will remain so. She will walk the same hallway and pass through the different doors. But nothing will change for her. It's not good to have your character stuck playing one note. (Unless that's the point of the work.) A female character needs just as much time and effort in developing them as their male counterpart. Male and female writers can write strong female characters.

 A way to help create solid female characters is to talk to different types of women. Learning about their experiences with the world around them will help with the development of the character. Women are not scary and it helps if you’re respectful to them and listen well. The biggest thing to note is the gender of the character won't be a big problem as long as they are written well. If you hook the reader with the character then it should be smooth sailing.


Well, that is all I have to say on the matter. Part two of the mini-series will next so be looking forward to it. Again, do vote on the poll. It is important to the continuation of me posting prompts. I hope that you have been enjoying the mini series I have a lot of fun doing them. I will be continuing to do a mini-series from now on at least once a month. If that does change I will inform you. As for writing prompts they will happen once or twice a month. That may change if you, my dear readers continue to not vote on the polls. Thanks for reading!

It Sucks Not Being the Default!

Hello, my lovely audience it's time for the next mini-series! I'm sure it's not a surprise to anyone that stories about minority characters being portrayed correctly are few. Why is that? Well, I think it's because authors are taught to write in a male perspective. Here the default of perspective is a white straight male. That is not to say there is anything wrong with this perspective, it's just that there are other viewpoints to write from. Now some would think that it is easier for a woman to write female characters; that isn't the case. Female authors grew up with the same male narrative so some can be bad at writing from a female viewpoint like some male authors.

I believe this applies to non-white characters as well. There are a lot of stereotypes that blur our view of people and we assume that they are like these stereotypes. I personally don't find it a compliment when people tell me that I speak well for a black girl. But back to what I'm talking about. Because of this tradition of writing from the default, writers have some trouble disconnecting themselves from it.

This is where I come in to tell you my thoughts on the matter and ways to get out of such a rut! Well more like how I try to change the perspective myself. This mini-series will be in two parts:

1. Half of the Population is Women.
2. What About Us? Everyone Who Isn't White!

Our talk will be about trying to break the habit of seeing the world just one way and the traps that you can fall into. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for all of us. Don't forget to vote on the poll you have until the 20th to do so.

Can I Eat Turkey Before I Eat Gumbo

If you don't know what gumbo is just google to find out, but I'm sure we all know what a turkey is. If you don't, then you can google that too. But here in the United States, there is this holiday known as Thanksgiving. We have this holiday to celebrate the Native Americans and the European immigrants putting aside their differences and becoming allies. Since I'm not a Native American and I don't feel like getting all of us depressed; I'll end the history lesson with that. The point of Thanksgiving is for friends and family to get together and spend the holiday with each other and being thankful for life.  Because big corporations can't make money off of happiness, Thanksgiving often gets skipped over for the December holidays since they're more profitable.

What's worse is that you can find (at least in the United States) Christmas related stuff in the summer.  Which is ridiculous because no one is thinking about Christmas in the summer.  There's no effort in just enjoying the season we're in now. I personally think that it harms us. There are many things you can do through out the year without attaching it to a holiday. You can be kind to your fellow man outside of December. I just want to take my time with the holidays and not be forced to feel whatever emotion that the corporations want me to feel. Like the feeling of spending money. Is that to hard to ask? Well for what it's worth lets have a nice November and a good Thanksgiving.

Voting you have to do it.

As, you the readers are most likely aware, I tend to remind you often to vote on the polls that are put up. I recently was notified that the poll doesn't always register the vote. So if you did vote, there is a likely chance that the vote wasn't counted. To help fix this is for you to hit the change your vote option and enter it again. Once you do that it should count the vote this time. I know it's a pain to do but it will make me really happy if you do it! And isn't it better to know that information? But don't think that I'll stop bugging you to vote on the polls.

Adventure Prompt Poll

So round three of the polls is up! Hope you guys remember to vote since voting will be lasting for a while. The prompts:

• Night at the museum is about a youth being in the museum after it closes and they mess around while trying not to get caught by the security guards.
• Oh the choices is about a person finding two objects before them that will decide their fate.
• Captain off deck is about a crew having to face off a sea monster and the captain is no where to be found.

Again don't forget to vote for the poll. It's in the left column. If you haven't already there are two writing prompts up that you can read; Labyrinth and Haunted Amusement Park. If you are new here you can look in the blog archive for my first post The World Cost Too Much! to know more about what type of blog this is. In other news the next post will be put up soon so look forward to it!

Haunted Amusement Park

If you would like to support me and my work, become a patron of my Patreon.

"Today on October thirty-first is the third anniversary of High Spirit amusement park fire. The fire broke out late that night. Sadly three people were killed and five were injured by the fire. While most of the big rides are cleared from the site, police do ask for safety reasons that everyone stays clear." The news anchor Jane Field ends her segment.  "Andy make sure you stay away from that old amusement park site, okay. I don't want to go to the police station to pick you up." Andy's mother said. "Don't worry I'll be fine mom. Away I'm going be with Sam since we're both too old to trick or treat." Andy replies.  Padding his pockets Andy checks for his phone and keys. Feeling them he walks to the door unlocking it. "Bye Mom!" Andy walks out of his house.

Making his way down the sidewalk Andy catches Sam waiting at the bus stop. "So are we just going to wander around at night or you know where a haunted house is?" Questions Andy. "I know that Main Street has two haunted houses going on," Sam said. Andy nods his head in a pleased manner. "Well let’s get going!" Patting his friend's arm the two teens head in the direction of the haunted houses. As the two continue their walk they take a wrong turn.

 Neither realizes this until Andy takes the time to look around. Looking around Andy notices that there are no houses around. "Sam, we took a wrong turn." "Well if we go through the burndown amusement park site we'll be back on track." "What about the cops?" "They're never there so it's fine." "Alright let’s go then." So the two made their way to High Spirit amusement park. The field leading up to the amusement park is lifeless. The dry grass crunches under the two's shoes. Just like Sam said there were no cops at the site.

"Do you remember this place being this creepy?" Andy said to Sam. "Well, this place did get burned to the ground. Makes you wonder why anyone came to this place anyway." Sam replies. They walk up to the entrance sign of the amusement park. The words 'High Spirit' are dull from not being repainted in the last three years. The music starts playing first. Slowly it plays like it once did three years ago. It sounds hollow and keeps skipping over several notes in the song. The lights turn on and rest on a dim setting. "Welcome friends to High Spirit amusement park! We hope you enjoy your stay! Remember in fifteen minutes is the main event! Don't Forget To Miss It Dear Friends." a childish voice speaks over the broken music.

The two look at each other. "Why does this keep happening to me?" Andy questions aloud. "Don't know, but we're going in," Sam said while forcing Andy to come along. The two teens walk through the park. The music continues to play brokenly as they walk. Each game they pass by has a spotlight shining brightly on it. Calling the two to come over for a game. But they move, not stopping. The closer the teens get to the center of the park more games have the spotlight flash on them.  It seems that they don't realize that they're destroyed.

The childish voice starts to speak, “Come all who desire their spirit to be put to rest. Here is where you need to be. Life was the final test. Close off from the world we are. Come closer to the center of the park. It's time to depart. For the main event is about to start!" The voice finishes its speech. "Sam, I think we really need to leave," Andy said. Sam gets nervous. "Now that you mention it we should really leave!" "But you're here for the big event! YOU JUST CAN'T LEAVE!" The childish voice tells the teens.

From the shadows, burnt bodies come forward. "Aren't you two going to become part of the park?" The voice continues. "NOPE," Andy says and starts running with Sam beside him. The music speeds up as the teens run out. The childish voice mocking them and the burnt bodies following them through the amusement park. Seeing the sign up ahead the teens run faster. Crossing the entrance the two feel ash hitting their backs. Refusing to turn around they continue running until they get back to the main road.

"I think we're safe now Andy." "Look at us, we have ash all over our backs. It seems the bodies can't leave the amusement park." "Well, that's good. I think we should go home and talk about this tomorrow." "Yeah, see you later Sam." Ending the conversation the teens went home. Andy went straight to his room and changed into his plaid pajamas. Falling asleep a childish voice speaks, "While you ran away from me this time, I know you'll come back. Because you promised to come back to me. Didn't you Andy?"

The Winner in the Halloween Prompt Poll is HAUNTED AMUSEMENT PARK!

Thank you to all the people who voted on the poll. Hopefully we'll have a bigger turn out on the next prompt poll! The Haunted Amusement Park will be up today so I hope you like it. That being said if you haven't already read Labyrinth I hope that you do so. It can be found in the blog archive in the left column. If you're new to the blog, I welcome you and hope you're having a good time here.

I Plea for You to Take Action!

So unless you haven't been reading to the end of the post, you should be able to see that I continually ask for you, the lovely readers, to vote on the prompt polls. I don't want the polls to relay on three people only. That's not fair to you since the three that are voting don't know what prompts you want to read. More than that this is one of ways I'm able to interact with you outside of comments. Just to let you know I do read all the comments that are posted on the blog.

The thing is I don't know how to response to silence. It'll make me feel a lot more confident in what I'm doing if you do something as small as voting for the polls. There's only three options and it'll take you less than a minute to vote.  But please do vote on the polls it's exciting for me to see what it is you'll like to read.

If you wish to read more about me nicely telling you to vote on the prompts here:

• Hey Lookie I have an Idea!
• So I Can't Read Minds
• What are writing prompts?
• Halloween Prompts

You can fine all of them in the blog archive. Make sure to read the mini series A Drama with Comedy Ending in Tragedy that has just finish. Do be sure to subscribe, Google plus, and follow my blog. An tell anyone who wants to get away from politics, mean comments, and bad drama that they're welcome to hang out here. Oh yeah and don't forget to VOTE ON THE POLLS!

Tragedy; Everyone You Know and Love is DEAD!

This is the last and final part of the three-part miniseries A Drama with Comedy Ending in Tragedy. Look in the blog archive for part one I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE! and part two There's Nothing Like a Good Comedy. This final entry into the mini-series is going to be a deep talk. The first two where only light chats, but this one is different.

The reason for this is because most people SUCK at writing tragedies. I'm not talking war or horror stories where 90% of the characters that are introduced is a red shirt and you can disconnect yourself from them. I'm talking about you suddenly find yourself looking at the wall for half an hour or more because the journey you just went through was making you question your life choices. This is what a tragedy is supposed to do to you. 

In a tragedy, the characters and most importantly the main character has to be written well. The writer also needs to know the motivation of the characters and what fate has in store for them. The main character does not need to be likable, but they do need to be relatable. The reader must feel a strong connection to the struggle of the main character.

This is where the low and high points in the story become key in the story.  The high points need to show the happiness of the main character. The readers have to believe in this happiness. Taking in all the good that is expressed. Now the low points can be dealt with in different ways. The main character can experience a chaotic train ride to their end. Hints of their fall increase to where it's the main character's own fault that such tragedy befell them. Or the universe decides that's it okay to ruin the life of a random person.

The events that happen in the life of the main character have to work with the laws of the universe the author has created. That doesn't mean the universe can't be expanded upon, just don't have the main character randomly be in a place they have no business being in for too long. It's very easy to side track when trying to give the main character some peace in the misfortune they suffer through. Another thing is to balance the dark and sadistic things that happen to them. While it is a tragedy there is no need for TORTURE PORN! Yes, a character going through torture, rape, and other horrible acts is a way to distress the main character, there is no reason to have the reader suffer through it for pages on end. You can have it happen but what it does to the mind state of the main character is the important part.

Now the next question is, "Why do these bad things continue to happen to the main character?" Well, one such way is the main character's Tragic Flaw.  I won't go too deeply into this explanation because I want to do something more with it. But a tragic flaw is the main character's most damning personality trait. This is the reason bad things continue to happen to them. Of course, there is more to it than that, but like I said I'll tell you more at a later date. Or you can just find out for yourself and take away my fun.

 The next big thing to talk about is...HOW MANY BODIES YOU'LL NEED FOR THIS TO BE A TRAGEDY! And the answer is... not a single one to the point where it can become a drinking game. Now for the no one dies part of it, the story could be about a person who ticked off the wrong person at the wrong time and as punishment they must slowly go mad and lose everything and everyone they've ever known. The drinking game body count involves creating a decent amount of characters going on a mission that is most likely going to kill them and kill them off one by one.

What will make both remarkable is how the characters go about their end. The other important thing is how the reader is affected.

•  Do they see themselves and the people they know in the characters? 
• Will the actions of the characters make them rethink some choices they made?  
• Or is it just a morality tale?

The effect is up to the reader. But those characters have to be written well. I cannot stress this enough. The tragedy will fall flat on its face if the characters are not handled well.

So the biggest thing that is not really talked about is whether a tragedy needs a sad ending. And honestly, if it makes sense within the plot there could be a happy ending or happy like ending. If the main character is someone who is able to get out of all bad things that are thrown their way, an ending in which they live in peace is possible. Because all the bad things that happened to them still happen, they just managed to get through it okay. They survive the physical and mental damage they now have.

But unsurprising enough a sad ending in a tragedy is easier to pull off. That doesn't mean writers pull it off well. The story has to make sense to the reader. So when an author pulls out a random ending that doesn't fit with the plot readers get upset. Whether the ending is happy or sad the main character has to earn it. They cannot be given the happy or sad one just because the author thought it would be a nice way to end it. The ending has to feel natural. (Which you would think is obvious.)Only, remember that it's easy for an author to write them into a corner. That doesn't just apply to authors of books because everyone does it.

How a story ends is important because you have to wrap everything up in a way that makes sense. Even if the story was going to be a series, plot elements that are not going to be carried over into the next book have to be all tied up but they are not to be forgotten in the rest of the series.  Balancing all these things is hard and add on a tragic story telling to top it off and you have a good chance of failing.

The important thing is to know what the story is trying to get across. The author needs to know that while writing the story and the reader needs to be able to figure it out. That being the end of the long talk, we are finally done with our first mini-series. If you haven't, I ask that you vote for the Halloween Prompt poll. The polls help with choosing what prompt I'll write next.

There's Nothing Like a Good Comedy

This is part two of the three-part miniseries. For part one read I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE! Like the title has hinted this will be the comedy in drama and comedic storytelling. First thing first, not everyone is funny. Also, it's hard to be funny because everyone's sense of humor is different.

Comedy comes from suffering. Not in the torture sense of the word, but the humor comes at the expense of someone. Comedians make jokes at the expense of themselves or those they know. The same goes for a television show. One or more characters suffer for a joke. Slapstick is the physical pain of one or more people. These are just some examples of comedy and there are much more than what I just listed.

Writing comedy is not something that is easy. Because everyone's sense of humor is different, there are going to be times when a joke is not going to get the response the writer wants. Also jokes don't always sound that funny when read. But that's the nature of the medium. Though it does help if you're a naturally funny person.

The best way to understand it is to watch comedy movies. Both the good and the bad ones. Yes I know, no one likes sitting through unfunny films but it's important to see what the bad ones lack. But to stay on the safe side, only expose yourself to the bad movies only once in a great while. Unless your job requires you to see awful movies. What needs to be focused on is the setup and the delivery of the joke. Timing is what makes the joke funny.

Now there is no way to know if a joke is going to work. What I just explained is only the basic info of telling a joke. There's no science to this madness and there most likely never has been one. It's easiest to write funny dialogue for characters who seem naturally funny. The character's personality should be able to clue you in on whether they're someone who's supposed to be funny. 

Serious moments in the story naturally don't have someone trying to be funny.  If the desire is to have a character be a bit off in the head then it can work. Touchy subjects are hard to make lighter with jokes. Unless you're willing to have a hard time with the audience, it's best to leave touchy subjects to people who will take them seriously.

 Being able to write funny characters takes practice. Again it is easier if the writer themselves are naturally funny.  The character also needs to be set up beforehand to be funny. Not by saying that they are, but the character's actions and words need to clue in the reader that they are. This is a common problem in writing. An author will continue to tell you a personality trait of a character, instead of showing the reader what their personality trait is. An example of this is when a character is said to be mean and then does nothing to confirm this statement.  The next time you come back will be the third and final part of the mini-series. Look for Tragedy; Everyone You Know and Love is DEAD! and make sure to vote for the Halloween Prompt poll.

I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE!

Welcome dear readers to our very first mini series! Now the conversation shall star the art of drama making. (Though I'm sure we all know some drama makers.) A drama starts with a need/want of the main character. They are then driven by the need/want thus putting the plot in motion. The need/want pushes the main character to go on their journey. The story then throws challenges in their way and they have to successfully or unsuccessfully deal with them.

So how is the story going to stay interesting? The drama of course! But there is another element to it, the person the story is about has to have some type of appeal. Now some may wonder, "Why is that? If the story is good then can't the main character be a bit lackluster?" And my answer is, NO! For they're the one the story is about! If the audience isn't invested in them, then the story isn't going to be looked at twice after the first time. No matter how great a plot is, dull and empty characters are not fun to follow.

I believe the main person of the book should be the most or at least in the top five most interesting characters in the story. But for some reason, some authors make them hollow. Why this is I don't know. Maybe so readers can insert themselves into the story? I don't know about others but I read a book to follow who the story is about.

But let's get back to the topic at hand. One of the best ways to get drama is for there to be conflict. Now the conflict doesn't have to have violence in it but there needs to be a power struggle. This is where other characters and nature come in. Some ways to get into conflict:

• A character to contrast the hero of the story
• A love triangle involving the main character
• Someone that was important from their past returning and starting up trouble
• Bad weather that's most often a storm
• Lady Luck leaving their side
• The betrayal of an important family member or friend
• Rape of the hero or another important character
• The sudden death of a friend or family member

And that's just naming the few that came from the top of my head. Another way to get drama is through a characters' motivation. The character's motive can be getting a kiss from their crush to killing the person who destroyed their home and leaving them scarred for life. They just need something to forward the plot.

The last example of gaining drama is for the main character to reach their highest and lowest points in the story.  Their lowest is usually when they have been outsmarted or humiliated by the villain. The defeat needs to be caused by something they overlooked or their own overconfidence. This will then lead the main character to reexamine themselves and try to improve from this loss. The highest point is their victory over the main challenge. Once reexamining themselves they then confront the villain once more and beat them this time. The highest point can also be the happiest or peaceful moment of the main character's life. The story can have the main character go through as many high and low points they need; as long as it makes sense within the plot.

So that concludes our chat about getting drama, now let us talk about maintaining it. This is where creating interesting characters becomes key. It's important to have them express themselves throughout the story.

• Disappointment when things go wrong.
• Humiliation when they become outclassed.
• Happiness as they win what they are looking for. 
• Anxiety when they are running out of time.  

The emotions the characters feel fuel the drama and make it believable. But all that doesn't matter if the readers don't care for the characters. That's because no one wants to read a story with lame characters. Funny enough, people will read an alright story with interesting characters. It's the characters that hook readers in and it will be the characters that make them stay. This does not mean that they have to be completely likable. They just have to get the interest of the reader.

With that statement, we are done with part one of the three-part mini series! Next is There's Nothing Like a Good Comedy so be sure to be looking for it. Do be sure to cast your vote for the Halloween Prompt poll that ends on the thirtieth.

Halloween Prompts

1. Creaks and Freaks: Takes place in the owners home that has a natural haunted feel. Until one day the owner finds someone/thing moving in the hall and is gaining speed toward them.
2. Haunted Amusement Park: Two friends stumble across an abandoned amusement park. When they get closer the lights and rides suddenly turn on.
3. April Showers Bring a Murder: An unstable person kills a loved one based on something someone said to them. The story ends with the murderer explaining their reason for committing the crime to the cop.

That is the brief explanation of the writing prompts this poll round. Do remember to vote for which one you're interested in. Also check out Labyrinth which was the first prompt to win the polls.

Onwards to the mini series!

Labyrinth is the final result of the polls. So be sure to look in the left column for the next one. See my blog archive for "What are writing prompts?" to get more information. Voting in the polls makes it exciting to see which writing prompt will win. Remember to vote when the next writing prompt comes out.

Our next adventure, will be a mini series. What's a mini series you say? Check in the blog archive for "A Drama with Comedy ending in Tragedy" to learn more. The first story in this mini series is "I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE!"  Also, the next poll of writing prompts will be coming soon. Come back often to what's new!

Labyrinth

If you would like to support my work, become a patron of my Patreon.

A rough texture rubs against Andy's skin. It gives him an itchy feeling on his face, hands, and feet. Then a thought crosses his mind, "My bed isn't itchy." Slowly opening his eyes, the morning light slips in. Wider the brown eyes open to the light reflecting off the deep green ivy leaves. Shocked by this, Andy sits up too fast, causing his vision to spot and blur. Placing his hands on his head, closing his eyes, and counting out loud, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one...now look." He sighs as the seemly endless green surrounds him.

Putting one hand behind himself, he uses his muscles to force himself up. Spotting a sign he rushes himself over. Reading it aloud, "You have one hour. Don't touch the walls." Despite the temperature being mild, Andy felt sweat starting to gather on his forehead. He does not take the warning lightly. After all, whoever took him managed to do so without him waking and he has no idea where he is. The sign is placed near a dead end. He turns to walk past where he woke up not too long ago. Turning deeper into the maze Andy continues.

Two dead ends showing him how much time he has left worries him. By the two clocks was the reminder, "You have one hour. Don't touch the walls." His white nightshirt gets damp by his sweat around the neckline. He pauses and watches a fat rat try climbing the ivy walls. It stops, caught in the ivy, and begins squeaking as the Ivy traps the rat within its' walls. Silence resumes in the maze. "I won't touch the walls. I'll complete this trial in the time I have left. I will survive." Andy said to himself.

He continues on, the bottom of his gray plaid pajama pants stain green from the grass. He hasn't run into another dead end since the last two. Andy tries keeping the light of his thought even though he has no idea how long he has left or if he is near the end. Continuing his walk forward Andy spots a big clearing. Whatever weariness that settled in his bones are chased out. Running as hard as he can Andy exits the maze. Turning around, the opening he left through closes as the ivy maze tangles itself shut. Andy sees a cellphone on the ground by his feet. Picking it up he notices it has a signal and he calls for help.

AND THE WINNER IS...LABYRINTH!

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about the poll on the side was to decide what writing prompt I should do. Don't know what a writing prompt is? Well look in my blog archive to find out. The short version is that they're writing exercises. As the poll title suggest the first version of the poll ended in a tie. The second one ended on the 17th. Hopefully in the next upcoming poll won't end in a tie. Maybe it will I don't have future vision.

The ultimate draw to this blog is the fact it's about someone chasing a dream and possibly crashing and burning. Not that I want to burn. Burning looks very painful. This blog isn't about political parties, gossip, and what's wrong with my country. This is about imagination, jokes, and being sassy! I want the readers of my blog to have a good time and engage with me through the comments and polls.

But for the new comers welcome and those who continue to come back thank you.     

The Problem with Women's Halloween Costumes

Just look in any Halloween store and look at the problem in the woman's costume section. Nearly all of them are not fit for cool weather! But seriously, most of these costumes are revealing, and what of the women who want a costume that covers their butt, chest, and a skirt that at least covers half of their thigh. I don't know why costume designs are so revealing for women since there's porn! I think everyone will be alright if women wore comfortable costumes or a least the option to do so. But who cares it's not like teenagers are wearing these costumes? Oh wait they are. Believe it not, not all of them feel comfortable and don't like it when older men look at them. And it's not their fault because the costumes that fit them are revealing. Is it so hard to make costumes that are warmer?

Spooky Time!

If the amount of horror movies didn't tip you off it is October. It's the month when cooking channels, restaurants, and coffee shops go overboard with pumpkin related food. This is also hell if you're allergic pumpkins, which I am not.

I don't know about you but I both love and hate this time of year. In one way everyone is putting in a lot of effort to make October both a scary and fun time. But then you have companies that are over doing it with the commercialization of the holiday and it gets even worse during December. Plus there's the big problem with female costumes which I shall rant about in another post.

Anyway, greedy America isn't focusing on the important part which is to just have fun. It's not about making people gain weight with pumpkin products it's about coming up with new ways to retell a scary story. Or creating new scary legends of your own. But that doesn't matter to companies, it's what they believe will sell and how they can continue to profit from it.

So I have to wonder when someone says, "Getting into the Halloween Spirit" are they talking about themselves or what companies continue to put out? Because the "Halloween Spirit" keeps changing like the color of the leaves. But that being said I do hope everyone has a good October.

   

A Drama with Comedy Ending in Tragedy

The conversation we will talk about today is the Theatre! Well, more so the two biggest story structures that everyone follows; Comedy and Tragedy. If you don't know these two

are the faces of tragedy and comedy. They come with different faces to give you nightmares as well. But back to the point, for there to be drama we need conflict. The conflict can be simple like going to the store because your house ran out of milk. Now all stories have drama in them. Life itself has drama but it's the kind of drama that influences how the story will go. Now before we go on, you must know that this is only an introduction post to the next mini-series posts that I'll be putting up. The writing prompt with the most votes is going to be the next thing that I'll upload to my blog. After that will be the mini-series. It goes like this:

1. I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE!
2. There's Nothing like a Good Comedy
3. Tragedy; Everyone You Know and Love is DEAD!

And that will conclude the mini-series and the next writing prompt poll should be up and running by the end of it. Naturally, the main focus is less on the theater and more on the writing part. What to look forward to is how these two genres influence the beginning, middle, and end of the story. How the characters get to the highest and lowest points in the story, and what is expected of the story. Our talk of drama will be more about how to get drama in a story and how to keep. Comedy is going to be about how funny or unfunny it will or should be. And lastly, tragedy is going to be a serious talk about how hard it is to write a tragedy.

Of all the jobs why become an author?

From the time I was in preschool, I've enjoyed story telling. I love creating different worlds and the people who live in them. The process of creating these places, how they function, and the social behavior of the people. So I thought instead of having all these ideas in my head why not write them out. It did take me a while getting to that point. I didn't think about becoming an author at first.

I wanted to be in the fashion industry in my preteen years. But even though clothes made me happy, I didn't enjoy some elements of the industry. Then I started thinking about writing again when I was in my last two years of high school. Writing professionally seemed unstable (it still does) but it gave me joy. A part of myself returned when I started writing again.

So naturally, that's when I wanted to become and author right? Nope! I still had trouble accepting the idea. Writing was just an outlet not what I wanted to do. Because the vocal and loud cynical part of my mind thought that the stories I wanted to tell would not be interesting enough for people to willing read. Then I remember Twilight and it's bad knock offs and the cynical part of brain said, "If stories such as these can be created why can't you write your own?"

So I gave in and accepted the dream of becoming an author. It also helped that a few people I know found it hard to imagine me with a 9 to 5 job schedule. While I still find myself crazy for choosing this job I do feel happier. Though I'm still a bit worried for my future only time will tell.

What are writing prompts?

So a writing prompt is a way to great better at writing or get out of writer's block. For example the poll that I have up are three different prompts. Prompts can be about describing the objects around you by color and size or how you became captain of a pirate ship. Prompts can have elements of mystery, sexuality, morality, and just plain old Wonderland madness.

The three prompts:

1. Word Bank Poem is going to be a 15 line poem with 15 random words in it.
2. Murder Story is about how a crazy person tries to reason with a cop about why they killed one of their love ones.
3. Trapped in a Labyrinth is about trying to get out of a labyrinth in 1 hour or else.

That's the short version of what the prompts are, what I have to do is write within the guide lines of the prompt. That is why voting is important because you get to choose which one you want to read.

So I Can't Read Minds

This probably isn't shocking but I don't have super powers. Even if I did it won't be mind reading it would be something awesome like reality bending. The point is that this blog needs the readers to comment on it. I could go on and just do whatever comes to mind but that's boring to me.

Naturally the focus is going to be on writing and what it means to be an author. But that doesn't mean I do all the talking. Leave suggestions on material you'll like to read about and how I can make this blog better. I am an entertainer and the noise of the audience tells me what I need to do to keep the show fun.

So leave your comments and polls are going to be a thing on this blog so do be sure to vote because it informs me on the material that I need to write on here. 

So, I can't Drive

Back in April 2013 I was sitting  in my first class of the day. Naturally I was a little angel that did nothing wrong. When a blinding pain hit my head and my vision became as if someone forced puzzle pieces to fit in the incorrect place. After being told that I wasn't going blind, even though I already knew that I just couldn't see correctly, I went to the nurse office and was sent home.

So skipping over some boring stuff like the Urgent Care visits my mom took me to the ER. Now while I know it's not nice to sass the doctor, but it was so late at night and I was hungry.  To be fair the doctor did sass me back. So I got a scan of my brain and the doctor told me I had a stroke. Like a normal person I cried, very hard and I had to hold my mom who was also crying at the time. So I stayed holed up in the hospital for four days (it felt longer). Naturally when my family found out they all suffered different levels of freaking out.

Skipping other details that are not needed for the story I started getting dizzy spells at first once or twice a week. Then they started to increase to the point that I have at least one spell daily. It can happen while I'm laying down, sitting up, or standing. My reaction to what is happening around me slows down greatly while I go through one. My fear is that if I'm driving I won't be able to react fast enough if I'm behind the wheel.

And that's why I don't drive at least right now.

Hey Lookie I have an Idea!

So since my thoughts are free, I thought instead of just posting about how I don't have money, why don't I also post writing prompts that I did. That way you the readers can also see my strengths and what I need to work on. And because I'm still working to become a professional writer you get to watch me grow! Of course leave your thoughts on this and what type of prompts do you think you'll like to read?

The World Cost too Much!

This is coming from a college student with no income. So the McDonald's dollar menu is expensive to me. But I have the dream of becoming a professional writer which means that my income may still be shaky. Not only that but I want to be a professional photographer as well. I must not believe in living without my mother. My poor mama can never go man-hunting with me around.

So I composed a list of thing I need to get myself off the ground;
1. My own computer(what I am currently using isn't mine)
2. Adobe Photoshop and Light room
3. College
Those three thing alone make me want to faint at the prices. And that's if I get an old model laptop, one of the older Adobe software programs and went to community college. Which is what I'm doing already. Life is beautiful don't you think?

Now as for getting a "real job" what should I do?  Well I do like clothes so I could work in retail. But I can't drive. There is a good reason for that which I will talk about in another post. As I am now, all I can do is crawl.