Wanna Laugh?

A couple days ago, I was shopping at Target and overheard a conversation between a mother and her son. This is how is went:

Boy: I need these underwear.

Mother: No you don't.

Boy: But I need them!

Mother: You've got plenty at home.

Boy: But what if I run out?

I had to bite my tongue not to laugh in front of them. Aren't kids supposed to be begging for candy or toys? Needless to say, it was hilarious enough to me that I wanted to share it with you.

That got me thinking about a cute thing that happened this week. My sister-in-law brought up something adorable and super sweet that my niece did the other day. So, my nephews were complaining about the dinner she made (kids, kids, kids *shakes head*) With her beautiful small voice, her two-year-old daughter said, "Thanks for making my dinner, Mommy." What a sweetheart, huh? And she's my lovable niece.

Anyway, what are some cute or funny things you've seen or heard about the last while? Or have you written something funny lately that has made you laugh to the point of tears? Oh, golly, that has happened to me tons of times.

    Writing. Jewels.

 

How Do Your Characters Feel?

So, how do your characters feel?

I've thought long and hard about how my characters would react in certain situations. How they would pull through a difficult time? How they would feel when happy, sad, excited, etc... Like how they would feel deep down inside of them, going beyond the surface one word adjective.

The thing is, as a writer, I have to show these things, not just tell them. How do I show? Well, I have drawn on personal experiences. I have stood in front of a mirror to figure out exactly how my characters face would look like during a scene. I have made myself feel giddy, melancholy, scared, elated. Yes, I may be considered a masochist by forcing myself to feel terrified just to write a scene. But it is worth it when I can lean back, sigh, and realize how awesome a scene turned out.

More often than not, I think of times in my life where I've felt exactly how my character is feeling. I may even write a scene as I experienced it.

For example: Whenever one of my old boyfriends (oh, how I adored him), would touch me, I felt electricity flood through my body. It was like hot, little prickles of pure joy spreading from my skin down into my nerves, muscles, bones until the feeling burrowed itself into my soul. Yes, I have used that sensation a few times in my books. Suffice it to say, the feeling was to die for. Sigh!

Or for instance, I've got some serious back and neck pain right now. I could draw from that to show one of my characters feeling bodily pain. PS: I'm really not looking for sympathy by having said that. However, my poor neck and back inspired this blog post, so yippee.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is this: Draw on your own life experiences to show how your characters feel. Perhaps, you can ask other people how they'd feel in a given situation. The options are there. It's just a matter of putting those feelings or emotions on paper (or laptop, if you're me).

How do you express how your character is feeling? Do you draw on your own life experiences? Do you ask others how they would feel? Do you close your eyes and take in the essence of the scene until the words flow through your fingertips? (Yes, I have done that countless times--pure magic, I say)

    Writing. Jewels.

Month of October Goals

Wow! Has September already come and gone? How is that possible? It just barely started. And that means that October is here and I have to report on my goals from last month. I felt far better last month than I did during the summer. What a relief!

Anyway, here's how my September goals panned out:

• Finish beta'ing my sister-in-laws book CHECK and by golly it's a great book. Be ready to read stuff by Robin LuBean King, kids
• Read Insurgent  by Veronica Roth SUPER CHECK and wow, what a great book! It's official, I'm back into reading.
• Keep pluggin along with my new project, SPHERICAL (a dystopian novel) CHECK. I didn't do much but it's coming along
• Edit one of my own works No check, I am waiting to get my second book BOUND back from a CP
• Be social CHECK. I even went on two dates with the same guy. No interest there, though. And I spent time with friends, so that's great
• Go camping with my sister CHECK Refer to the blog post I wrote about the camping trip

So, here's looking October straight in the eyes. But I have to tell you that I started a new job. Today is my fifth day on the job. I will be learning this job, so I might be overwhelmed with it all. I hope my goals won't stress me out more. Anyway, here are my goals:

• Read BEYONDERS: SEEDS OF REBELION by Brandon Mull
• Finish listening to DIE FOR ME by Amy Plum (audio books are awesome)
• I'm going to save writing more of SPHERICAL for NaNoWriMo, especially with all I'm going to be doing this month
• If I have time, I'll edit some or all of another project
• Start my new job, love it, and learn it fast
• Find a new place to live in Salt Lake City before I'm driven mad by the long commute
• Enjoy my half birthday tomorrow, October 6, 2012. Yes, I celebrate my half birthdays. What can I say? I love birthdays!
• Recuperate from spraining my ankle. Silly me

What are your goals for this month? Have you read any good books lately? And how is life treating you?

*Mwah*

    Writing. Jewels.

Insecure Writer's Support Group: 5th Edition

A couple weeks ago, I saw Orson Scott Card author of ENDER'S GAME speak. He brought up something that I'd like to share on this Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Granted, he was focusing his talk on education, but I think it will relate to writing, too.

He talked about credibility--the credibility that comes from gaining a university degree. After four years (or more, if you were me) you obtain a degree. A lot of work is put into schooling. I know far too well. I spent many hours sitting in the math lab. Lots of hours writing papers. And tons of hours sitting in classrooms. But I did it! Now I've got a piece of paper that says I have a Bachelor in Anthropology degree.

Well, how does this relate to writing? As writers, we want that credibility that comes from having one of our books or all of them published. But is that really where credibility comes from? Ok, yes it is...sort of. But, it doesn't have to be.

We are credible because we write! Just deciding to scribble down a story and finishing chapter after chapter is credible. Just because you're not published doesn't mean that you aren't an author.

Yet, obtaining publish-dom is a fantastic goal to keep you typing out words. Having a book on the shelves at the local bookstore or online definitely will make you jump up and down, giggling up a storm (ok, that's what I will do). By all means, don't let not getting that big six figure book deal keep you from thinking you are a credible.

Just keep going. Keep writing. And be happy along the way. You are writer and that makes you AMAZING! An inCREDIBLY amazing person.

PS: Orson Scott Card also said that it doesn't matter where you get your education, be it Harvard or a community college or through reading books or community classes. It's the fact that you have learned something that matters.

The fact that you write is all that matters! And by golly, I've learned so much more about writing by writing a book than I EVER did during my college degree. This time could very well count as a masters program. :D

I hope this has made sense. Perhaps, I've just been blabbing.

Anyway --> *hugs* Especially if you are struggling right now with your writing. :)

    Writing. Jewels.

Funny Idioms

I saw some funny YouTube videos the other day of this German guy ranting about how American idioms are confusing. I thought I'd share one of the videos with you. But before that, I'm going to share some that definitely would be confusing to someone that didn't speak English well. Here are some of my favs that are hilarious when taken literally:

• Tie the knot (Why would they tie a knot together? Is that a type of game?)
• On pins and needles (Who in their right mind would want to be on pins and needles?)
• To steal someone's thunder (There is no way that someone could possess their own thunder, let alone someone stealing it)
• Kick the bucket (Why would someone want to kick the bucket?)
• Flea market (Who'd want to go to a flea market? Disgusting)
• Graveyard shift (You really work in a graveyard? Creepy)
• You are what you eat (I'm not a hamburger)
• Charley horse (if you were standing by someone and they were screaming in agony while clutching their leg, wouldn't it be odd for him to say, "I've got a Charley Horse!")
• Raining cats and dogs (I don't see any cats or dogs anywhere and it isn't possible for it to rain cats and dogs)
• Back seat driver (There's no way someone can drive in the back seat)
• Elvis has left the building ("What?" they'd say. "I thought he was dead)
• Pulling your leg (Why would you want to pull my leg?)
• Get up on the wrong side of the bed (Which side of the bed is the right side to get out on?)
• Hold your horses (What? There are no horses anywhere and if there were, why would I want to hold one?)
• Let the cat out of the bag (Why would I put a cat in a bag in the first place? That's cruel)
• Put a sock in it (Why are you talking about a sock, and what am I supposed to put it in?)
• When pigs fly (Pigs can't fly)
• Smell something fishy (*sniff sniff* I don't smell any fish)
• Water under the bridge (Well, duh. Water is under the bridge)

So what are some of your favorite idioms? Do you have a favorite from the list above? Feel free to add your own confusing thought to any of the phrases above?

Writing. Jewels.

Okay, here's the video I promised... Get ready to laugh.

Great News

I've got some great news for you all. No, no... I don't have a publishing deal. Aww shucks. But I did find a new job! It's located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It will be a fresh new change for me, since I've worked at my current job for three years now. Change is good, right?

Right!

I'll be moving again...to Salt Lake City which will be incredible. I've lived in England, California for a brief stint, and Taiwan, but never anywhere outside of Utah County, Utah. This will be a new adventure for me.

This is happy Julia!

Anywho, I start my new job on October 1 and hopefully will be living in Salt Lake City before then. I'm so not going to commute. This is all sort of crazy and whirlwind. I'm nervous, not only for the move, but for the "new job learning curve". I hate not being able to dive head first into a job without being able to do it perfectly from the get go.

This is similar to writing (at least for me). I want my stories to be flawless from the beginning. That stems from having to go through my first book so many flippin' times, more times than I have fingers and toes. Talk about exhausting. It has gotten to the point that I don't want to look at it anymore. Ugh! Sucky.

But writing, as for day jobs, is a work in progress. We've got to realize that Rome wasn't built in a day (pardon the cliche). Good things will happen when they happen--sometimes not on our timetable, either. Thus be the writing industry.

Well, I feel blessed right now. I am getting the chance to have a needed change in my life and to progress professionally. If it weren't for a lot of rooting on from family and friends, including a whole bunch of Facebook followers, I'd have bombed the interview. I nailed it, though and what do you know, I got the job with high compliments from my soon-to-be employer.

Not to brag or anything. haha

Well, now you can congratulate me... LOL Anyway, how is your writing going? Day jobs? Life in general?

Loves and hugs from...

Writing. Jewels.

PS: Another piece of good news: I'm getting my hair trimmed and colored tonight. Goodbye splitends and grey hair.