Forget dieing . . . I dare to live

"You can never begin to live until you dare to die." - Unknown {well. . .unknown to me}

They never told you the things you'd do different. They never explained how much it hurt .. . No use living in the past.

I greet the two teen girls. Their bright skinny jeans and skin tight t-shirts beg for attention. But that doesn't define them. Their more than their clothes and boyfriends, even if they don't know it yet. I help them find a game and convince them to take advantage of some ridiculous offer.

I hate my job.

A boy walks in the store and the two girls giggle and look over at him. A boy, a child. Seventeen on the outside, so much younger on the inside. I stop these thoughts with another, I was once the same way. Feeling so grow up and yet never understanding what I fool I was. I looked the fool. I acted the fool. I believed that I was a fool and took pride in it. Pride that I was well liked by teens and thought a fool by adults. I try to forget the fool, but yesterdays loves playing games. Letting my memories disappear and letting smiles dance on my lips. Then poisoning my mind with yesterday.

I ignore the costumers and go on with my job. I go on with my life. I go on. Why? Maybe it's the insane idea that one day I'll be free. Free from regret. Free from the nightmares that haunt my soul.

- excerpt from my current writing project

"One of the saddest things in life is the things one remembers." -Agatha Christie


I dare to forget the past so I can have a future.
I dare to be crazy
I dare to use big and fun words no one understands anymore
I dare to rebel against the myths that society pushes at us
I dare to make a fool of myself by being different
I dare to have fun {it's harder than you think}
Forget dieing . . . I dare to live.

Scary!

Allodoxa-pho-bio
 n. fear of opinions

Biblio-pho-bio
 n. fear of books

Ephebi-pho-bio
 n. fear of teenagers

Logo-pho-bio
 n. fear of words

Metro-pho-bio
 n. fear of poetry

Beautiful People, Amy

I have never done a Beautiful People post and so I thought I'd give it a try. All you  have to do is answer questions about your character, and there are different questions each month. Now I've never done it so I'm going to start with the first series of questions they ever had.

I will be doing my first Beautiful People post on Amy, the girl from my current writing project. If you, after or before reading this, are curious about the book, I wrote an except here.

1. What is her full name?
Amy {At the moment I don't have a full name for her.}

2. Does her name have a special meaning?
Amy was named after her great grandmother who was a an avid reader. She loved her great grandmother, who introduced her to the magic of reading, and loves that she was named after her.

3. Does your character have a methodical or disorganized personality?
Amy has a little bit of both. Normally she is quite organized, but as a writer she can forget about the state of her apartment for weeks on end.

4. Does she think inside herself more than she talks out loud to friends (more importantly, does she actually have friends?)
Amy does tend to think and talk more to herself. She does have a few friends that are real people. She would say she has a boat load of friends, but she considers books to be her friends also.

5. Is there something she is afraid of?
Amy is afraid of letting life pass her by without doing something important. But Amy is also afraid to try new thing and takes comfort in her everyday life.  


6. Does she write, dream, dance, sing, or photograph?
Amy does indeed write and plans on making that her profession. She dreams of writing a book and getting it published. Amy does dance but only in the privacy of her apartment and she does not sing. She tried photography at a younger age but could never make it work.


7. What is her favorite book?
She doesn't have a favorite book but enjoys poetry and anything Shakespeare.


8. Who is her favorite author and/or someone that inspires her?
Amy is inspired by a quote well said and a thought well thought. She has a load of people she is inspired by and couldn't think of just one if her life depended on, although some of her favorite authors are:
 - C.S.Lewis, Shakespeare, Edger Allen Poe, Emily Brontë, Arthur Doyle, and Agatha Christie.
As you can tell by the list of people she is not a big fan of modern authors though it is not the case all the time.

9. Favorite flavor of ice cream
Amy doesn't enjoy ice cream due to a bad experience as a kid and isn't much a big sweets eater either.


10. Favorite season of the year
Amy's favorite season is fall. She loves the inspiration that comes with the change in nature.


Well, I enjoyed writing that and hope you enjoy looking into the life of one of my characters. If you have never done a Beautiful People post you should, they are very fun!

Don't you just love Agatha Christie

A couple of days ago I got an Agatha Christie book for the library. Today I started it, and unlike other times, I flipped to the beginning and read the dedication. You gotta love her, it said this:

"To all those who lead monotonous lives. In hope that they may experience, at second hand the delights and dangers of adventure."

Don't you just love Agatha Christie. You gotta just sit and smile. "Top all those who lead monotonous lives", how awesome and descriptive of a lot of people. And let me assure you, Agatha Christie knows how to write in such a way as to immerse you in her story and and indeed show you  "the delights and dangers of adventure".

Now it isn't just dedications that make Agatha Christie worthy of note. It's her wonderful, creative, and unbelievable writing. Though she has had a couple hit and misses, like her book 'Elephants can Remember', she has also written some classics.

Some particular favorites of mine are 'And Then There Were None', 'Murder on the Orient Express', and 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'.

 

What about you. Any Agatha Christie favorites?

Confessions of a word weaver

Something I love... William Shakespeare's plays and poetry. Which seems so weird to me being that a month ago I would have said I'm not a fan of his at all.   

Something I hate...

Cheesy "love" relationships between main characters.  

Something that makes me giddy...

Reading Edger Allen Poe's, The Raven, to myself in whispers at night. (Call me crazy but I love it!)

Something that brings tears to my eyes...

The death of a character. Especially one of my own.

Something that makes me giggle...

Everybody else witty characters. I can never seem to make any of my own.

Something I believe...

That the words you use are a window to your soul

Something loathe...

 Unruly main characters. What is more terrible than than a hero who refuses to play the role?

So there it is: confessions of a word weaver and a spinner of tales. What about you? Any confessions?

Philosophical Thoughts

not my photo

I love books with a philosophical message hidden deep inside it. And a book I have been reading recently is just that. As I was reading Showdown by Ted Dekker an insisting question is discussed in the book.

In writing is it best to show peace or conflict first?

Character one says, "How can there be conflict unless there is first peace?"

But character two answer, "But how can you write about peace or love unless you first subject the reader to ugly conflict?" 

Well that makes since, until character one answers. "Unless the reader begins with knowledge of peace, why should we demonstrate peace through conflict if the reader already knows peace?"

Um...I'm going to have to take a rain check on the rest of this conversation. Dispite the confusen of this conversation, it brings up some very good points. Do we not react to conflict in books because we are not familiar with the conflict but understand it's conflict because we first know peace. The funny thing is I don't really think there is an answer for this question. It can be debated both ways and I believe they are equally right. Maybe I will get to the bottom if it by the end of the book.

But what about you? What you do think is best to show first in writing, peace or conflict?

Can she make it?

She's an aspiring novelist. Doesn't know if she can make it, but is willing to let herself go to get it done. Has so many other things that need to be finished. Will she succeed?

This describes both myself and my main character in my still untitled book. 650 words into it, 1 chapter finished, and I'm looking to see how it's all going to turn out.

My excitement for my writing is still at a high. Some of the things I'm most excited about is:
- I'm writing it in first person. (I've always wanted to do that)
- I'm approaching it with a little bit more of a poetic tone.
- I just got off some awful writers block.

But can I make? Those words can not help but creep into my soul. So I guess, like a story, we will have to wait for the ending. And like a story, I want to know how it ends but I still want it to go on forever.

to be or not to be (character development)

To be or not to be, that is the question. - Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Oh, dear characters, why do you let me down? It's so odd that main characters do what main characters should not do. To me a main character is a hero, a Robin Hood if you will, a defender of the weak. I was very upset every time I started writing a book my main character was far from what I wanted him/her to be. So what was wrong with me?

As I started reading books and paying close attention to plots line, characters, and such I noticed a ground breaking thing. No character is born/introduced perfect. No character starts as the hero but develops into what he/she must become, like real people. As I thought this another thought entered my mind: It would ruin a book to just happen upon a perfect hero. Like opening a book in the middle and trying to understand it.

Characters need development, trials, and choices to make them who they are. I like to quote Shakespeare's famous saying, "To be or not to be, that is the question", when referring to characters choices. For "to be" will take them in one direction while "not to be" will, as well, change there live. And sometimes us writers don't even know what will happen one way or another. We, most of the time, are just along for the ride. So just keep in mind that it will not always appear the way you want it to, but it will become more clear in the end.

One thing to keep in mind thankfully is that God does not write stories like us. He has no plot issues, no character issues, and no second thoughts for He has written our story with care.

I'm reading a book

This is awesome! The end is SO random!

Today I'm 16

Well, it doesn't feel any different! The funnest thing is "everyone" says 16 will feel different, but don't be fooled. Nothing really feels different. And I'm okay with that.

Yep, you read right, I am 16 today.

But the real reason for this post is to infrom you that I will be gone all of next week. From Sunday to Saturday.

*sniff*

But it's okay. It's only a week. I will survive...I WILL survive!

So goodbye for now my dear, faithful, wonderful, amazing followers...For now.