Co-Labbing with Kelsy

Today I get to learn how to "co-lab" with my best friend.  She is also a writer (everyone be watching for her!) and we have decided to co-write a novel.  You see, we discovered that our characters, even before we knew each other, are very, VERY similar.  So, through an hour-long conversation, we decided to co-write a novel involving two of her characters and two of mine.  Only problem: I've never co-written a novel before and therefore she must teach me how to do so.
This could be a very interesting week, folks! Stay tuned for how this story goes and more updates on how to co-lab!

Days Go By...

I can't believe that it has only been two weeks since I arrived here at college. On the other hand, I can't believe it has been two weeks since I arrived!  If you look closely at those sentences, they are almost identical, but with a totally different thought pattern behind them.  The first sentence denotes my sorrow and frustration and how much I miss home.  The second denotes that the time is flying by so rapidly!  You know, it's weird. I feel like I have been here for so long and yet I can't believe I've already been here this long.  Time goes by in funny ways, and right now it feels like Thanksgiving is closing in way too rapidly but I'll never get home for Christmas at this rate.  Is that weird?  Have you ever counted the days until the end of school, only to find that they're going by too fast?  Or is that just me?  Sometimes I wonder if I'm normal or completely abnormal.  Someone help me out here!


Quote of the Week:
"The Impossible could not have happened. Therefore, the impossible must be possible inspite of appearances."
                                                                                    -- Agatha Christie

Fun Fact of the Week:
Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. The average adult? 15.

Story Starter of the Week:
Jenna had never seen such a beautiful forest.  It stretched on as far as she could see.  She took one step in and turned to go back out.  Suddenly, she found that there was no way out.  What happens next?


*Don't forget to post your stories in the comments!

College: week one

So I just moved into college.  It's 20 hours away from my family and friends and I don't know anyone here.  I must admit I am a bit scared.  I haven't found that one person who I can talk to no matter what...yet. I haven't made many friends at all besides my roommates (and, yes, there are five of them).  I'm not sure what to do with my time.  Sure, there's a scheduled out block for classes and church and special events, but what about the other hours in the day? I admit I felt absolutely alone for the first two days, but today it has started getting better.  I finally put my trust in Jesus to lead the right friends to me and to lead me to the right friends.  I also requested that he hurry.  I've never liked feeling lonely, and I finally realized that I don't have to be.


Quote of the  Week:
Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.
                                                   - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Fun Fact of the Week:
Panda's are not considered bears.  It's because they have opposable thumbs.  Just so you know.

Story Starter of the Week:
Jeslyn finds herself thrown four years into the future.  How have people changed for the better/worse and what will she do to change the world's society?

I admit it.  I probably have too many stories/novels/books going at one time.  I might be addicted to writing.  And I definitely can't shut my brain off.

The story count in my folder on my computer = 25+
I can't go a single day without writing something!!!!
And it takes me a while to go to sleep at night because I keep thinking of interesting ways to spin a plot line.
HELP!!!!!!
Just for those of you out there who think I'm serious about the help part, I'm not.  I may have all those "problems", but to me they're not problems at all.  You see, I work better with a lot of stories to choose from.  If I get writer's block on one, I just move on to a different one -- usually in a different category.  Different category, you ask?  I have stories in a lot of categories, ranging from love stories set a long, long time ago to modern-day suspense novels.  They're all my babies, and if I didn't have a start on all of them, my brain would be way too cluttered with ideas for me to write clearly.
I can't go a single day without writing something because it's what I love to do.  There have been many people who have said that you should do what you love so that you never have to work a day in your life.  I'm one of those fortunate people who has found what I love and it happens to be something that can be a life career.  I think that's what work should be.  doing what you love and making revenue off of it.  That's not "work", that's pure enjoyment.
As for the last one, I admit it might be somewhat of a problem.  However, somehow the more I think about things -- the harder I think about things -- the faster I get to sleep.  If I focus in on a storyline or a problem that needs solved, I end up going to sleep faster than if I had just lain there and went "OK.  I'm going to sleep now"....etc.
So, you see, some people's problems are another persons life.  A "problem" is different for everyone because everyone is different.  Not everyone could sit down with an empty Microsoft Word document in front of them and see the wonderful things that can be spun onto it.  Not everyone can look at a crawl space and think "hey, great place to hide a body." (note: If you are not a writer and you think that, most people would call you a psycho).  On the other hand, I can't look at a page of numbers and say "the pattern is..." a math genius could.  We all have our idiosyncrasies and we all have our areas of expertise.  Some of us are just blessed enough to be able to do what we love as our "job".


Quote of the Week:
"If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads."
                                                                                                                                     - Francois Mauriac

Fun Fact of the Week:
No matter how hard you try, you cannot lick your elbow.

Story Starter of the Week:
Put yourself in a homeschooler's point of view.  Why do you like/not like homeschooling and why?

The Reason for My Writer's Block

This past week I finally discovered what has been causing me to have SOOOO much writer's block! Those of you who have been reading this blog know that I was super busy with my sister's wedding and getting ready for college, etc. (those of you who don't usually read this blog just found that out) Well, the Monday after my sister's wedding I woke up and it dawned on me. I had been having so much writer's block because my mind was too busy.

You see, it's kind of like....traffic. Yes, I know that's a weird analogy, but hear me out.  If traffic gets too busy, like say there's hundreds of cars heading away from work or something, then what do you get? A traffic jam.  So, having so much stuff that I had to focus on caused me to have a traffic jam, per se, in the creative writing part of my brain. Now that those event(s) are over, I can finally think again. And, boy, do I have a lot to write!  I woke up this morning with five different scenarios going in my brain. Thank God, I am finally back to my crazy writer self :)

Now on the funness part of this blog!!!!


Quote of the Week:
The Only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad."
                                                                  -Salvador Dali (btw, that's what scares me about him.)

Fun Fact of the Week:
In Baltimore, it is illegal to take a lion into the movie theater. (yes, a real live lion. who does that?)

Story Starter of the Week:
Louise was an old woman who lived alone. One day a stranger knocked on her door.  who was he or she and why?

I Have Discovered I'm Weird

Today I realized that I don't write like any writer/author/journalist that I have read.  In more ways than one.  Of course, we all know that each author has his or her own voice, so that makes them different.  However, I have discovered that I'm "weird". Why? Let me explain.

In each and every book that I have read about the craft of writing (and I've read a lot) they tell you to do certain things to build a novel.  First of all, they tell you to build an outline of your plot and characters.  I hate outlines.  I have never used them (except in school, when I had to) and I'm pretty sure that I will never use them.  Ever.  I'm just not a detailed person in that sense.  So, you may ask, how do I get through writing my novels?  It's all in my head.  I can't really explain it all that well, but usually it's just that I know where I want to start and I know where I want to end, and anything that happens in between is in the hands of my characters.  I let them lead the story.  I know my characters and their backgrounds, but I just open up my mind and let the story unfold.  God guides my thoughts and my hands as they type.  I guess it just comes easier to me than to some other people.  I never understood why anyone would think that writing a novel is all that hard, because to me it isn't.  I just sit down and let the story spill out.  Is that bad? I don't think so.  I just think that each and every writer has their own technique of developing a story.  Mine is just different.  And that, folks, is why some people would call me weird.  Are you weird too? If so, I would love to talk to you. :)

SO...

Quote of the Week:
"I never set our to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird."

                                                                                   - Frank Zappa

Fun Fact of the Week:

The King of Hearts is the only card king without a mustache.

Story Starter of the Week:

Janie has been kidnapped by a serial killer.  How does she get out of it?  Or does she get out of it at all?

Be Different!!!

This week’s thought: be different. 

That’s right, folks, I said different.  Distinctive.  Peculiar.  Weird.  How do you know what kind of “different” is good?  That’s entirely up to you.

In my life, I find that I am different from my family.  As a writer, I tend to think a bit eccentrically.  On the other hand, my family thinks in what you would call “normal” ways.  How do I know we think differently?  I talk with them.  sure, I can talk with them about shopping and parties and food (I am a girl, after all) but there are times when I can see they don’t get why I’m saying something. 

I’ve seen myself talk about the newest story/book I’m writing.  My face lights up, my hands become an extension of my mouth (hand-talking, for those of you who don’t know what that is), and a giant smile spreads across my face.  My characters are alive in my head.  My family looks at me like I’m crazy when I talk about how to kill someone in my novel or some character that got kidnapped or some relationship on the pages of my book. 

On the other hand, my older sister’s passion is media.  She’s the media director at our church.  When her face lights up, she’s usually talking about a really cool motion background or the newest video clip on the announcement video or how she melded two sound clips together and made it sound amazing.  Half of that stuff, I don’t get at all.  But it’s what makes her happy.  It’s what makes her different. 

You see, everyone is different in their own way.  so, to answer my earlier question: How do you know what kind of different is good?  It’s not by mimicking someone else that you become different.  And it’s not by remodeling yourself into some eccentric character.  Different is about being YOU.  if you stay true to yourself, to your true character, and to the light inside of you, then the world will see you as different.  It’s a personal choice.  It’s a personal obligation.  Keep yourself grounded and humble, and you will be different in a way no one else can be.  that is what being a good different is all about. 

Quote of the Week:

In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.

- Unknown                             

Fun fact of the week:

If you push your fisted hand together, knuckle interlocking with knuckle, for a full minute, you can feel the magnetic pull as you try to pull them apart. 

Story Starter of the Week:

Bob was an invisible man.  It was a tough life, being invisible.  One day, however, all of that changed.

*what to do with these?  The quote of the week and fun fact of the week are for your personal enjoyment.  The story starter of the week is usually a 1-5 line paragraph to get you started on your own story.  Be creative and don't forget to comment it so I can read them!