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Hey Mary! I’m Ella, and welcome to KP!!! I’ve been homeschooled for most of my life, but this next year will be my second year at a classical Christian school. My WIP synopsis is:
24 miles off the Island of Camino, a commercial airline goes down in the Pacific. Only one passenger survives.
Dylan, an orphan-turned-foster child, was living with his uncle when he got the chance of a lifetime: travel to the ideal vacation destination, Camino, for a three-week internship. It’s the chance of his dreams, but it all goes terribly wrong when his plane crashes and he’s stranded alone on the ocean, fighting to stay alive.
Drifting in and out of reality, Dylan wakes up on a beach with two strange girls standing over him. This island isn’t Camino——in fact, it’s the opposite of the lush, high-end place. And as it turns out, the girls aren’t the only inhabitants. This island is a clock-work mechanism, with each member doing their job to keep it in order. But after Dylan’s appearance, disastrous events begin to happen on the island. Inexplicable and far too coincidental, the inhabitants begin to turn hostile.
Soon, Dylan is not only trying to get home, but fighting for his life.I write a lot of dystopian, mystery, thriller/suspense, and YA fiction. And I love sports. And asking people questions. 😉
Your WIPs sound SO interesting. How long have you been writing?
What is your biggest writing strength? Weakness?
Have you ever played any sports?
I know you’ll have an amazing time here, and I’m excited to get to know you more!!! <33
what we do in life echoes in eternity
-gladiator, 2000Hi Ella!!
That’s great! I’m so thankful that my mom chose to homeschool me!!😁
Wow! Your WIP sounds awesome! That’s right up my alley! Do you have a title for it yet?
I would definitely read any of the books you write in those genres!!!
Thanks!! I have wanted to write since I’ve been 14, but never wrote down anything! I guess I thought it was silly! When I turned 16 I became serious about writing and I’ve been working on the Inventor’s Daughter for 3 years(it was slow going at first). Now I’m working on my second draft. Otherwise, these last two years I realized my that writing is something that is a part of me, and I have to do it. I feel like this is what God is calling me to do, to reach out to people through my writing.
I also have written some poems too.
I think my writing strength is that I understand people super well so I can write about what motivates them and why they make the choices they do. It creates more depth. I find that I write internal plots better sometimes.
My weakness in writing is (well, I should say was, b/c I’ve become better at it) probably staying on plot and not getting side tracked with too many shiny ideas or unnecessary but unique characters that show up. lol! I feel that dialogue is tricky at times. Sometimes I feel I have too much of the On-the-nose-dialogue. What about you?
I use to play soccer and Loved it!! But once in a while, my asthma would slow me down, but it never stopped me! Instead of sports, I do a lot of painting and DIY crafts. I also am interested in floral design. WBU?
Great meeting you Ella!! Looking forward to getting to know you too!
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
Hey Mary! (Btw, before I forget, it looks like your website link on your forum signature is cut off… maybe shorten it? I think it’s limited to 80 or so characters…? Just letting you know, I do that all the time!)
Thanks! I’m trying to decide on a title right now. Do you like Camino or They Came at Night better? I kinda like the second one.
That’s really cool! I’ve written since I was four, I think. It’s more than a hobby now–it’s almost like breathing, haha! Definitely a God-given gift, because there’s no way I could stay with it if I really sucked, lol!
My writing strength is probably really similar to yours! I like to understand the how and why of what people do and writing really helps me build that, but also put the knowledge to use!
My weakness is most definitely dialogue. Dialogue either sounds forced or is unnecessary for me. I have it in my head, it’s just harder to put it on the page!
I have asthma too… blech. It’s horrible!!! I ran cross country, died. I played basketball, died. I’m doing track this year, probably will die. But it’ll be awesome!!! XD I adore soccer, but have never played on a team.
I like to draw (my characters, especially), read, do graphic design, find new music, and yoga (not religious, of course XD). What kind of music do you like? I like pop, hip/hop, r&b, and lofi.
Are you watching the Olympics?
what we do in life echoes in eternity
-gladiator, 2000Hey Ella,
Oh, thank you for letting me know!!😄 How does it look now?
I like the Title, ‘They Came at Night.’
Yasss, writing has become more than a hobby-It is just as important as breathing or eating or sleeping!
If someone tried to stop me from writing they mind as well chop off my hands! (But if I told that to a nonwriter, they’d think I was being dramatic) lol
Yes! I can relate to your struggle with dialogue!!
GOOD FOR YOU! Track always sounded so fun! I loved to Run. But I knew my asthma would likely get in the way.😞 I had done cross country skiing and died…I literally felt like laying down on the track during practice. I never thought I’d make it back…😳 *Me, faint with asthma, “Oh look my instructor just lapped me.” Say your fine, just 4 more kilometers to go…)
I like drawing my characters too!!
Hmm. I like the Tenors! And Broadway songs from musicals! ‘In My Dreams’ from Anastasia on Broadway is my fav song! Also Christian and classical music.
No, my family has never been into that kind of stuff. You’ll find us watching Iron chef America or the British Baking show or Cutthroat Kitchen Lol!!
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
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Thanks!
Oh, wow, 3 years! That’s a lot of dedication. You’ll have to give me some tips on that if you don’t mind, because I’m expecting to work on TAS for at least that long. XD
That’s a great choice for a title, then. It fits the character and the story you want to tell. If ya ever want a beta or alpha reader, ya know where to find me. 😉
The 2012 movie is the one with Hugh Jackman, actually. Yeah I liked the acting but not so much the music. XD
Yes, you can ask for book critiques. If you go to Community, there’s a Topic for Novel Critiques and you can go there to make a request for feedback. I’m sure lots would be willing to help you (including myself). If you go to Submissions, you can also submit to have someone from the KP staff critique your work in a blog post.
Hello @maryg3,
It’s so nice to meet you! My name is Precious and I’m also new here. I got accepted into the forum about a week before.
1. I think I’ve already established my love for Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia and I really enjoyed Oliver Twist and Dombey and Son (though Dickens is a little too verbose to be my favorite author). I also love The Giver and the entire quartet. Lowry is really great at capturing dystopian worlds but she sometimes branches into historical fiction. Have you read Number the Stars? I remember loving it so much. I also love historical fiction and don’t mind romance as long as it’s portrayed in a meaningful way.
2. I think that your mission is really inspiring because it’s so hard to find well written Christian fiction that sends a poignant message without being didactic. I usually had to search older works to find books like these. But the ones I really liked were Dwell Deep by Amy Le Feuvre and Three Girls at Chautauqua and The Chautauqua Girls at Home by Pansy. You can find them on project gutenberg if you’re interested
3. You’re definitely right about short stories. At this point I’m in the throes of outlining and researching for a science fiction novel which features teenagers fighting to be part of an elite science competition that is more than it seems. I’m not really sure where to start so I am just writing the back stories for my characters, their hobbies, and having mini interviews with them (am I weird to pretend they’re real people?). This is really helpful because even though most of these stuff won’t make it into my actual book it will give my story depth and indicate to the reader that they have full lives beyond the page.
4. It’s so cool that you wrote a picture book. I remember in middle school there was a book making elective and I worked on writing a short story based on the life of Joan of Arc because I was really inspired by her bravery and devotion to God. Unfortunately I never got to complete it (my drawing skills were wack) but it was fun to write. And learning the logistics of physical binding and page formatting was interesting. I still bind and hand make my journals today.
Again it’s really nice to have you here and you’re summaries are making me really excited to see more of your work. Especially the science fiction one. My WIP also explores the subconscious mind too and how it can be manipulated.
cherry scented ink and gold gel pens,
Precious
Hi Joy,
Yeah, well, ahem, there was a little bit of procrastination mixed in with the dedication I think, LOL!!
I knew nothing about writing when I wrote this book until I was halfway through and started to read more about writing novels and I forced myself to finish the second half of my novel over this past NaNoWriMo! PHEW! I didn’t regret that.
What I would say from my experience with my first book is that it is helpful to have a solid idea of what your plot, theme, and message will be. I didn’t have a clear message or I had too many, but I knew the theme when I started. That’s why I struggled with writing my book blurb forever.
So! To start, I find it helpful to write your book blurb first, then a summary or synopsis. And if you want to expand it a little more you could put it into a short story form, which will help you hit the most important beats for a novel. (I assume you know what those are) 😉 It’s ok if your finished product may be changed from the original blurb and you worked out the wrinkles to your original message or plot to get a clearer image. Also, I found that sometimes not writing in where chapters will begin and the end is helpful. Once you have written your first draft you can insert them in later. But this really depends on what kind of book you’re writing!! Treat it like a short story that has no chapters. (Maybe I’m totally off on that, but I feel like that is what I’m going to try more in the future.)
The way I originally plotted out my novel so I could stay on track and remember what I wanted to come next (keep in mind I didn’t know that there were suppose to be essential scenes a novel and a book couldn’t just be a bunch of exciting experiences, but I knew how I wanted it to end) was I got a notebook and on the first page I wrote down all my “cool” sounding chapter names and characters. That came to about 22. I compared my book to similar ones to see roughly how many chapters I needed. Now I have 25, I think. I then wrote down, at the top of a page, a chapter name which left each chapter with the front and back of a page to write on. In bullet points, I jotted down the major event for that chapter and how it would play out. I also listed the characters that would be present or introduced in that chapter. And if I had any descriptions I wanted to remember for the future, I would write them down in a blue pen for the character it belonged to in that chapter. Or if I had I special line of dialogue that came to me, I’d write it in red in the relevant chapter and put the character’s initials after it. I guess I treated my chapters more like scenes or exciting events to keep the reader engaged even if they didn’t have much of a place in the plot yet. I later tied in the chapters I knew I wanted to keep with a common theme or message. So some of them became more like second plots but still affected my protagonist in some way.
Sorry, that was long!!! But long story short, just write it all down. Even if you don’t know why you’re writing it, just keep writing. You might think it’s going to be too long but you can go back later and take out the fluff and scenes that slow your novel down. It is easier to be ruthless and cut out the extra stuff and refine the plot than have too little and not venture out. I feel like it helps the novel flow more naturally and feel less like a textbook.
Oh oops! Haha! Some of the singing was a little off-putting I agree!
Ok, Awesome!! Thanks for helping explain that! I will try that!
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
Hi Precious,
Nice to meet you too! That’s great! I’m really liking it so far!
C.S Lewis and Lowry are GREAT! Oooo!! I’ll have to check those out! Dwell Deep sounds similar to my WIP, The Inventor’s Daughter, so I’ll definitely try to read that! I’m open to any book referrals. It’s hard to find decent reads!
Your WIP sounds really cool!! I’m also working on a science fiction novel. And NO, you are not weird to interview your characters! You can find me talking to my characters or acting out a scene! It helps dialogue to flow naturally! Lol! Like this meme:
I read that you can use the MBTI method for your characters’ personalities! Then you can read about their strengths and weaknesses. I haven’t tried it yet. Somehow I feel like that would be I little tricky.
Thanks, I clearly remember the day I decided that I’d have that as my mission. Like they say, “If you don’t see the book you want to read, write it!”
Thanks! I plan to write more but illustrate them differently.
That’s cool that you can make journals! I would totally love to do that. I think it’s a writer’s thing to hoard notebooks! Haha!Thank You! You’ll be able to read more of one of them when I ask for a critique soon! 😉
How long have you been writing?
It’s great to talk with like-minded people! I’d like to hear more about your writings! Do you write poetry?
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
Hi!! Welcome!
Sounds like you are writing some really intriguing stories! 🙂
Have you read/watched the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings?
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
Hiya Elfwing,
Thank you!😊
I have read the Hobbit and seen the movies. I’m not a fan of the movies though. 🙄 I’ve listened to an audio of the LOTRs and seen the movies. I really like both!
What are you working on?
Nice meeting you!:)
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
ahhh yes they totally ruined the Hobbit movies. Although I think they did a good job of Smaug
LoTR is my favourite book to read and I’ve listened through it several times too! Cool that you listen through it too! I have the unabridged audiobook copy narrated by Rob Inglis. I can fall asleep listening to that book now lol
i am currently juggling an eleventh book in a fantasy series I’ve been writing for the last year and a half or so (all the books are still in first draft)
a sci fi novel that is almost done in first draft,
and the heart a historical fiction book I plan to write once I’ve finished the two stories in the other genres I’m writing in.
here is a meme I made based off of Smaug talking to Bilbo in the Hobbit. Don’t worry I don’t kill every character people will love lol
just a few
Good to meet you too! see ya around! 🙂
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
Hey Elfwing,
I agree! They did an epic job with Smaug!!
WOW! Eleven books! That’s a lot of commitment! Do you have a name for your series yet?
I enjoy reading/writing historical fiction too!
LOL! Great meme! Right on! If you want to make someone’s death heartbreaking…you have to make the reader care about them! 👍
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
yes I did come up with a name; The Forgotten World
haha thanks glad you like the meme!
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
That sounds great!!
What would you say sparked your inspiration to write the series?
INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1
Thank you! it took me a year and a half to decide! lol
Well, I must say my inspiration was partly from a Griffin clan keychain pendant I was given two years ago. One side of my family two generations back has that last name. 🙂 That triggered the story being started as well as the story of the MC (main character), but the actual world had been in my head for a long while. The rest of the reason I wrote it was because I wanted to write a clean fantasy series that teaches lessons. Since I have attempted writing allegories and real-life stories but find them extremely difficult and forced, I instead write stories that teach lessons like trust, choosing right, cost of disobedience, love, forgiveness, redemption from past bad choices, consequences, but an emphasis on trust, forgiveness, and loyalty. As Tolkien said; “faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens.”
I am going to be writing a Christian Historical Fiction (hopefully very soon) about a family of English immigrants coming to Canada and their journey to meeting Christians who point them to salvation and their journey as they grow closer to God. I’m really excited about it!
I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title
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