12th Day of Christmas

Sting - I Saw Three Ships

So, like David Bowie, I have a little crush on Sting. I actually call him Stingypooh--my term of endearment for him. I even call my Mom and Dad Momsipooh and Dadsipooh. Hence, "pooh" at the end of a tittle or name is a term of endearment. It's like Winnie the Pooh! But I really like this song, and Sting's voice is glorious to start with, but putting it to this song is even more amazing. I couldn't find a video that actually shows Sting in all his numminess but that's ok. The pictures shown in the video well represent the true meaning of Christmas; that is even better. Enjoy and Happy 12th Day of Christmas.

12 (13) Days of Christmas - Day 13

Bing Crosby & David Bowie - The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth
I have a little crush on Mr. David; however, David and Bing sound just amazing together in this song. Enjoy!

My 12 (13 - Christmas Day included) Days of Christmas includes some of the Christmas songs that I really, really like. Tune in every day from now until Christmas Day to see what I'll post next. Merry Christmas everyone.

Writing Your Voice

I’ve been thinking about writing voice lately. Voice is something that’s important to developing your characters. You’re writing what they’d really sound like if they were talking. This makes them real—practically human or inhuman depending on your genre. (Yah, for supernatural books. Love the vamps and warewolves - just not Jacob) Anyway, voice is also important to blogging and other forms of social networking. The voice you portray is who you are, how you sound, or how you want people to think you sound. Probably don’t put up a façade though. Keep it real.

An example of a writer who is A-FREAKING-MAZING at voice is Carrie Harris. Her voice brings a humongous grin on my face. I’ll admit her voice is delicious. You just want to eat more and more of it, like chocolate. Sounds, creepy, but she does write zombie books. Hehe. Carrie is probably the cleverest of bloggers I’ve come across; and I’ve read a lot lately. The way she writes her posts makes me ache to read her book “Bad Taste in Boys.” It comes out next year. I can’t wait any longer for the zombierific book to reach bookstores. I’m dying for it—literally. Just kidding, but you know that already. Right? (I hope so)

Check her blog out at http://carrieharrisbooks.blogspot.com/

Anyway, what’s my voice? I can’t really peg it down, but I think my voice should be diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. I’d say I’m a conglomerate of silly, serious, angsty, and evasive. It will forever be named SANGSTIVE. Yes, I just created a new word. Shakespeare can’t be the only person to make up words. It should be in the dictionary. Like. Right. Now. I stamp my foot. See there’s my silliness coming out. Actually, I like the word silly so maybe that’s why silly is one side of my voice.
With all this thought about writing voice, I’ve decided I need to write more like I speak. It’s just cooler that way. It could get confusing though, cuz sometimes I don’t finish my sentences, and on rare occasions I stutter. But I like my voice—just not the recorded version of it. Who does though?

What kind of voice do you have? Do tell!

Writing Revival

Two weeks ago, I was on fire—editing-wise. Last week, I was in a rut—writing-wise. Sometimes as a writer, you get burned out; you need a break. I’m on a break—a sabbatical from writing. I feel a little stupid doing this right now when I promised myself I would get through another edit by the end of December. I should be able to stay strong to my goals; but alas, I need a vacation away from my daunting manuscript, even if it just for a week of two. But the break is not necessarily a break from writing; it is a period of time to learn more about writing. I want to hone in my skills of writing, so I can revitalize myself out of my I-am-the-worst-writer-in-the-world rut. I’ll be better equipped to write and edit. In order to accomplish my said sabbatical from writing, I purchased two books to educate me further in the writing craft.

Book #1 – “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print” by Renni Browne and Dave King (no relation to me)

Book #2 – “38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes: (And How to Avoid Them)” by Jack M. Brickham

I’ve read almost half of Book #1. It has opened my eyes to ingenious ways to polish my manuscript. Book #2 is on its way snail-mail, but I am eager to lay my hands on it, mark it up, and apply what I learn from it to my editing and future writing.
Anyway, writing is so not easy. Sometimes you need to take a break to get through it. And then you come back with the fire burning—really bright—again. Perhaps, I'll make my goal to finish another edit by the end of the year. Maybe I won’t. But at least with this little writing revival, I'll come back with more enthusiasm to write.

Remember . . .

Starting Monday, December 13, 2010 my 12 Days of Christmas will commence. Well, actually, it will be 13 Days of Christmas but that includes Christmas Day. I have something extraordinary planned for Christmas Day. Every day from December 13 until Christmas Day something special will be posted on my blog. Look forward to whatever it is . . .

So You Want to Write a Novel

When I started writing my novel, I'll admit, I sort of had a small, tiny, minuscule idea it was going to be easy, but after having written for almost a year now and researched the industry—A LOT—I found out it isn't easy. It takes a lot of work and a lot of hours at your computer. Gees and I’m not even to querying yet. Anyway, this video cracks me up because it's not a piece of cake to write a book. Enjoy, but most importantly enjoy your wonderful Thursday! Remember, tomorrow is Friday and that is just delicious!

BTW, look forward to my own version of the 12 Days of Christmas coming soon. Of course, it will start 12 days before Christmas. That is typical Julia, stating the obvious! :)