Literary Pursuits

Kingdom's Dawn - Book Review

2012-01-27T12:56:00.001-05:00

This year, I am participating in a book challenge. (check it out here.) I set the goal for myself of reading one book a month. (since I also want to work on writing and editing my own books) Here is my review of the book I chose to read for January.

the first book in "The Kingdom Series," Kingdom's Dawn is an allegory based on several stories from the bible starting with Adam and Eve. In this book we meet Leinad, a simple farm boy living with his father and a young peasant girl named Tess whom they have taken in. Leinad enjoys sword fighting lessons with his father and living a hard, but pleasant life of farm work. However, his happy life is soon turned upside down when his father is killed and his homeland ravaged by an evil called the Vactor. With no home to return to, and wild game scarce, Leinad and Tess struggle to survive. What will they do now and where will they go? Leinad struggles with his responsibility to care for Tess and overcome the many other trials they face both together and separated. Most of all, Leinad struggles to find his purpose. Should he stand for his beliefs even if he must stand alone? And can he carry out his mission to serve a king he's never seen?

Chuck Black weaves a wonderful tale of adventure filled with biblical truths and challenges we face on a daily basis. Challenges such as sin, overcoming adversity, forgiving and showing love to those that wrong us, standing up for our beliefs, and being faithful during the hard times... just to name a few. There are plenty of characters and circumstances to relate to, plenty of lessons to challenge you, and a bounty of adventures to imagine. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

The one negative note I will make is this - towards the end of the book, there is a pack of small desert animals called "The Moshi Beasts," which begin to eat away at Leinad's flesh. Although Chuck Black was able to write it in a way that wasn't too gory, I would imagine that it would still be a rather graphic scene for young readers. I myself felt a little uncomfortable while reading it. (but then, I have a very active imagination)

In parting, here is a quote that really stuck out to me in reading this book.

"If you begin to rely upon yourself and become arrogant in your skill, that is the day you will fall."

Along with all the amazing things I've already mentioned, there is a very wonderful and thought provoking list of discussion questions for each chapter in the back of the book. :) *happy sigh* I love reading books that are both a pleasure to read and help me to grow in my faith!

I give this book four out of five stars and am anxious to read the next book in this series!

I hope you find this review helpful!

Blessings,
Jessica

Journey Of A Writer: Starting off

2012-01-10T10:14:00.000-05:00

Though I've already written an entire book filled with more than 83,000 words, the task of writing that first line, first paragraph, and first chapter of a book hasn't gotten any easier. There is something so daunting about a blank piece of paper. Questions such as "Where do I begin?" and "What should I say first?" flood your mind. You mull these questions over in your head and come up with an idea. Maybe not one you particularly like, but an idea none-the-less. so you write. You type in (or handwrite) the first sentence. Then, if you are anything like me, you squint your eyes and hit the delete button. After several more similar cases, you come to a sentence that will suffice, for now, and you continue in your writing.

But what if you hit a wall and aren't satisfied with anything you've written. Or perhaps, you sit there, and you haven't written anything at all. If this is the case don't let it get you down. I've been there myself and so have many other writers. The job of writing those first words can be overwhelming and scary. For me, I am very meticulous with my first chapter. It's the chapter that the rest of my book is based upon. It is the foundation of my story. And with that in mind, I want to make sure that I get it right.

I know that not every writer is this way. I have a writing friend who just starts and keeps writing. Her thinking is, that she can change it later. And she does. As she writes her books, she changes drastic things about the plotline and then when she is all finished, she goes back and re-writes the things that need fixing in the beginning. If you can write like that without qualms about your beginning, then consider yourself lucky. I envy you, my fellow writer. Me... I can't do that, unfortunately. I need to know where things are going for the most part. I like to plan out at least the skeleton of my story. So, if I don't have that first chapter as a good solid base, my whole story is going to tumble down like a pile of children's blocks with a weak foundation.

If you have problems with this, here are some things you can do that will help when writing that first chapter/sentence.

First of all, don't stress about it. I know that you see that saying a lot in relation to this subject, but seriously, don't stress. When you get stressed, it leads to frustration and the blocking of creativity. Soon, you will give up for the day. So, keep calm and don't quit yet! As two writing buddies of mine remind me, "it is better to write some than none at all."

I know people say this all the time, but write something on the paper. I mean it! If you don't have anything written, you can't make it better. When I write and rewrite a sentence, I almost look at it as a process of elimination. I have to write all the bad first sentences before I can get to the one that will spark inspiration and lead me to write the rest of my first chapter.

If you have written and hit the delete button a dozen times or more, leave what you wrote and set it aside until another day. Really, it's okay to call it quits. Chances are, you'll be more creatively inspired the next time you take a stab at writing that first paragraph.

If you do the above step, make sure you treat yourself after quitting. You aren't a failure, your just having writer's block. You'll have many more such days before your journey with this book is over. So you didn't succeed today. Fine. Eat some chocolate and move on. You can work on it again tomorrow.

I hope these tips are of some help to you!

Good Luck!
Jessica

It's {Not That} Complicated - Book giveaway!

2012-01-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

Check out this great looking book giveaway for the book "It's {Not That} Complicated" by: Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin.

It's (Not That) Complicated by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

Writing Goals for 2012

2012-01-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

So my blogging was kind of sporadic in 2011 and my writing prompts were inconsistent at the least. Thanks to my readers for sticking with me through all the irregular posting.

This year, I have a few writing goals on my to-do list so I thought I'd share them with y'all.

Finish editing my first book
Finish writing my second book
Read a book a month
Blog more consistently
complete the MOHL "His Word in our Hearts: the 1 Peter Project" memory verse challenge

I know that last one isn't writing related, but I wanted to put it in as a shout out for the biggest challenge I'll be facing this year. I, along with my sister and a brave few, will be memorizing the entire book of first peter over the course of this year. It'll be hard but I trust that God can help us to reach our goal. Care to join us? Just check out the blog button for the challenge in my sidebar!

Journey Of A Writer: Research The Fun Way

2011-09-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

It has been almost three years since I started this little blog and began writing my first book. Since then, I am guilt ridden to admit that my blog has slowly been put on the back burner and left for dead. However, the embers still burn faintly and now that I am finished writing my first book and have a better handle on my writing in general, I plan to revive this sad little blog as I embark on the journey of writing my second book.

Lately I have been busy editing my first book, plotting my second and doing a bit of reading. Like the last time, book two is requiring some research. Though it is still dealing with a few of the main characters from my first book, I just felt I needed a bit of a refresher to the time period. Though I know a little, there is always more to learn. Plus, research is a great way to come up with plot ideas. What better time to brainstorm than when reading over the history and lives of people from the past?

Research can seem rather dull and daunting to a new writer. I remember feeling that way when I first started out. To begin with, I didn't believe I could truly finish a book. And when it came to studying history... let's just say we weren't on speaking terms. So, when I started on the scary road of writing my first book, it seemed even more impossible when I took into account the idea of researching for the time period I wanted to write about.

When we first start out, research seems like a rather morbid task that has to be done for the sake of writing. If you don't research, your book will not feel genuine. If you don't, the places won't feel realistic. If you don't, the characters aren't believable. But even with this knowledge, sometimes we still dread the task of research.

So how do you make research fun?

Here are some things I did when researching for my first book and have begun to do with the research for my second book.

Fiction Books: Aside from the obvious task of reading slightly boring books at the library or at home about your subject of interest, I like to read fiction books. Let's say you were writing a book about a character living during the civil war. Round up all of your favorite historical fiction books from that time period and re-read them. If you have a character who shares similarities with a character from another book, read that book and pay close attention to that specific character. But don't just read these fiction books for pleasure. Take notes as you go. Write down the things that catch your eye. Take note of what drives you to keep reading. Assess the characters, the plot line, etc. I guarantee you will find something you can use in your own writing.

Movies: In my previous book, I had characters who shared similarities with characters from movies. I also had scenes that I planned to write which I paralleled to scenes from movies. For example: there was a particular scene in my book during which a character was wounded. I paralleled that scene to one from a movie. Though I didn't copy the scene, I did watch a clip of it before writing. Doing this helped me to get in the right mindset before I started writing. It reminded me of the feelings and emotions I wanted to portray and it helped me to refocus on what exactly I wanted the reader to feel and think as they read my scene for themselves.

Also, in terms of movie characters paralleled with book characters, sitting down and evaluating a character similar to the one you are writing can help you to dig deeper into their personality and goals. It's a great stepping stone that could help you to begin transforming your idea of a character into a living, breathing, believable character that seems like a real person. However, let me give you a warning... be careful not to fall into recreating a copy-cat stereotype of the character from the movie you've chosen. It's only a base to help you begin asking yourself questions about your characters and start digging deeper into what makes them tick. For me, personally, my characters tend to be a mixture. I take pieces of a movie character, mix those attributes with a similar character from a book, add a few things from people I know in real life, and then, on top of that, I also add my own ideas of who and what they are as a person/character. This helps to make them both believable and unique.

Talk to someone: I know it's a hard thing to do, but if you are writing about an event and have the opportunity, sit down with a veteran. It can truly help transform your story. For instance - my grandmother lived during the great depression and I have heard several stories that would make a book from that time period feel more realistic. Honestly, this can be a really eye-opening experience if you go into it with the right attitude and intentions. (Aka - Plan on only asking questions, speaking very little, listening a lot, and taking tons of notes.) I promise, they won't bite. ;)

I hope this post has helped anyone struggling with this subject. Don't be overwhelmed, just dig in and have fun!

Jessica

Writing on the Weekends #17

2011-09-24T01:00:00.003-04:00

Here are the rules for anyone new - Rules

Prompt: Shipwreck

Don't forget to add your link!

July Writing Challenge

2011-07-28T13:22:00.001-04:00

This month, two of my writing friends and I decided to do a writing challenge together. Each of us wrote out single word writing prompts for the thirty-one days of July. Then, each day we would write something based on that day's prompt. It could be a short story, poem... basically whatever we felt like writing. although I didn't get the writing done every day, I did manage to write up several fun short stories. Because it's been a while since I posted anything, I thought I'd share one such short story with y'all. I hope you enjoy it!

Warning... this short story is not to be taken seriously!

The Proper way to Fall Down a Mountain during a Ski Trip

(I know... it's kind of a long title.)

By: Jessica

For those who have never been skiing before and plan to go to the snow covered peaks for a vacation one day, I will share with you the right and wrong ways to fall down a mountain. For the beginner, just a little wobble can send them face first into the snow. However, us experts like to take our wipe-outs to the extreme.

How not to wipe-out...

1. Do not try and daintily fall on your behind. This is considered "the wimpy wipe-out."

2. Putting out your hands to soften the blow - sad really.

3. Inching down the hill sideways - that's not even skiing!

Steps to Executing a Pro-Level Wipe-out...

1. Ski as fast as you can.

2. Don't bring ski poles. They will only get in the way and lessen your chances of a great wipe-out.

3.Run into as many trees as possible.

4. Yell as loudly as you can so people know to stay out of the way.

5. When you get to the jump, bend you knees so you can pick up speed; then lift off like a rocket and do your preferred pose - a cannon ball or spread eagle for example.

6. Don't worry about the landing. Just fall wherever the wind takes you.

The End

Writing on the Weekends #16

2011-05-14T01:00:00.011-04:00

Here are the rules for anyone new - Rules

Prompt: Blaze

Don't forget to add your link!

"The Destiny of One" Book by: Sarah Holman

2011-05-07T09:03:00.001-04:00

When I first started blogging, I became friends with a like minded Christian young lady named Sarah Holman. Our friendship blossomed as we chatted about the books we were writing and got to know one another through e-mails. This past Christmas, I edited her book for her. Now, she is having it published! Her book, "The Destiny Of One," will be available for purchase on May 14th! In the meantime, take a few minutes to read her book synopsis below and check out her site. You can also visit her blog, The Destiny of One, to find out where her book will be featured next. For those that are interested, I also did a post about this on the blog I share with my sister. In that post, I did an interview with Sarah. feel free to check it out as well.

Destiny – it's a word that plagues Maria Morris. What does God want her to do with her life? Should she go to college or does God have other plans for her? When her parents go missing during a business trip, Maria embarks on a quest that will change her life forever. Trying to fight against an overbearing Milky Way Government, Maria travels to earth in search of a lost prince and some crown jewels. Her faith is tested, however, when a new law is passed. Will Maria be able to find her parents and the crown jewels before it's too late? Is she strong enough to stand up for her faith even if it means never seeing her family again? Most of all, will Maria discover her true Destiny?

An Easter Poem

2011-04-24T01:00:00.006-04:00

In honor of Easter Sunday, I'm posting this beautiful little poem that I found recently. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!

On Easter Day

Easter lilies! Can you hear

What they whisper, low and clear?

In dewy fragrance they unfold

Their splendor sweet, their snow and gold.

Every beauty-breathing bell

News of heaven has to tell.

Listen to their mystic voice,

Hear, oh mortal, and rejoice!

Hark, their soft and heavenly chime!

Christ is risen for all time!

--Celia Thaxter

Writing on the Weekends #15

2011-04-23T01:00:00.003-04:00

In honor of Easter, I chose a prompt a bit on the dainty side.

For anyone new, here are the rules for this prompt - Rules

Prompt: Luster

Don't forget to add your link!

Book update and some music!

2011-04-14T11:17:00.038-04:00

As of April 2nd, I am officially done writing the first draft of my book. The total manuscript is 142 pages long and a little over 83,000 words. Now that I'm done, I am taking the month of April off from working on my book. In other words, I'm not allowing myself to edit it. I want time away from my book so that I can edit it with more ease and see it for what it truly is. That being said, I've been spending a good deal more time reading and doing chores around the house. With the reading will come some book reviews and writing posts so keep an eye out!

Since it will be a while until my book is ready for outsiders perusing, I thought I would share some music with all of you. This is a sample of the music I've been listening to while writing my book. For the most part, it has similar themes or emotions that paralleled with what I was writing. (just so you know, the music from Batman Begins is for a specific character not the theme of the entire book.) I hope you enjoy it and it gets you excited to hopefully one day read my book!

(make sure you turn off the music at the bottom of my blog page before pushing play on the playlist below.)

Writing on the Weekend's #14

2011-03-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I did one of these. Far too long in fact! As promised, I am going to be working hard to get these writing prompts up for y'all on time this year. :) So, here is the first one of the year. Enjoy! Don't forget to put in your links!

Here are the rules for anyone new - Rules

Writing Prompt: Silver

A Giveaway!

2011-03-10T19:04:00.001-05:00

Raising Homemakers is giving away a copy of Jasmine Baucham's book "Joyfully at Home." Go Here to enter!

First post of the year

2011-02-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy with Writing that I didn't even notice that I hadn't written a blog post yet in the year 2011. Sorry to all my readers!

Just to give a little update:

After a slight hiccup on my part, I managed to finish editing my friend's book. (though it was a bit later than I had planned.)

I am now busy working on tying up the loose ends of my own book. I reached 70k a few days ago and I'm about three or four chapters away from finishing my book. I'm still aiming to get it written by April. I've got another 15-20k to write (estimated) so I should be able to finish by then.

This year, I'm hoping to slowly work my way back to writing more blog posts. Last year, I kind of took on a lot of online activities. Aside from writing my book I was also trying to write for three blogs and had joined a 365 day photo challenge. (which proved to be a bit more than I could handle.) This year, I've eased off some of my online responsibilities so hopefully, I will be able to be more consistent with the "writing on the weekends" writing prompts for y'all.

I'm also going to try and get more reading done this year while I am in the process of editing my book. (in a few months after I've finished the first draft.)

So, keep an eye out for some new posts!

Blessings!
Jessica

Descriptions

2010-12-08T13:16:00.002-05:00

This past week, I've begun the task of editing my friend's book. One of the things that she along with one of my other writing friend's struggle with is the topic of description.

This is one of the great things about having friends that enjoy writing. Description just so happens to be one of my strength's with writing. It's nice to be able to use one of my strength's to help my friends out.

As I've been editing, I've written several notes and tips on how my friend can bulk up in the description department and I thought I would share some of those notes and tips on here with all of you. :)

Describing A Character: As a writer, it's important to give your readers something to remember character's by, even if they aren't a main character. Think about it like this... If they were important enough to be given a name, they are important enough to describe. Even if they are just minor character's give your readers something to remember about them. For example: Let's say that you introduce a character named Karlie in your second chapter. She isn't a main character but you describe that she has brown, wavy hair. Then she has a conversation with your main character and exits the scene. The problem here is that the next time you bring Karlie into the book, we won't really remember her. The only info we have is that she has brown, wavy hair. It's not memorable enough. However, if when you introduce us to her you inlcude that she has braces or that she is obsessed with cats, it gives the reader a few details about "who" Karlie is and we can then remember her better when she pops up again later. Don't simply describe what a character's outward appearance is. Remember that their tastes and opinions can sometimes tell us more about who they are as a person than the style of their haircut can.

Describing Feelings: Have you ever felt sad? I'm sure you have. However, these days "sad" is a rather limp/bland way of describing such an emotion. When you write about emotions consider "Strong Adjectives" and "Strong Adverbs" in your sentences. Rather than simply saying they were sad say they were dejected or doleful. Stronger words make a bigger impact. Just try not to get carried away with them. One strong word can go a long way!

Also, when describing a characters feelings, consider the objects and environment that surrounds them. These two things can individually work to maximize a Characters emotions. Consider, if you will, a character who is suffering from depression. Nothing seems to be going right and today seems to be worse than usual. The type of environment they are in can help to improve their spirits or it can make them feel even worse. If the character feels depressed but is in the midst of taking a refreshing walk on a breezy spring afternoon, the good weather could help them to have a more positive outlook. Than again, if they are in their house feeling stuck and trapped, it can make them feel worse. Also if a room is decorated cheerfully, it can make the character annoyed because they don't feel as cheerful as their surroundings.
In much the same way, objects can maximize this depressed character's feelings. Take a cup of tea or coffee. The warm liquid can bring a bit of comfort and relaxation to their depressed thoughts and anxieties and have the same affect as a warm blanket. As a parallel to the feelings of depression, a glass of ice water can relate the feelings of being cold and standoffish to people because of the depression. This is actually what is called imagery. You take something like the weather or a cup of coffee and use it to emphasize what your character is going through. When you use imagery in your writing, your readers will feel more deeply what your character is going through and struggling with because they have something visual to compare their inner feelings and emotions to.

Descriptions about objects and places: When writing about a specific object or place, pay attention to detail. So many people call a tree a tree and fail to specify what type of tree it is, if it has leaves or needles, if the tree has sap, what the bark looks like, etc. Details like this can bring a whole new visual to your scenes if used properly. Think about the first Narnia movie. What made it so enchanting wasn't the plot line but the destinations and the attention to detail in all of the props. Peter's smooth sword with the writing on it, Susan and Lucie's narnian dresses with their delicate embroidery, the lamppost that had frost on it, the little pink flowers that grew on the trees when the snow began to melt, the chandelier in the beavers dam all help you to understand and believe in the world that the characters find themselves in. One thing you need to be careful of however, is that you don't ruin your scenes by adding too many specific details. Like what I said above about the tree and specifying what type, if it has sap, etc. Just one or two details is sufficient. You don't have to pile them on. If you do, it will choke the scene and your readers will cease reading in frustration.

An Exercise: One thing that can happen when a person struggles with description is that they tend to rely heavily on dialogue to carry the plot and action of their story. This exercise (Which I recently made up with my friends in mind) will help to fight against that and allow for details and descriptions to enrich your scenes.

Step #1: find a scene in your writing where you wrote a large chunk of dialogue. Once you've located it, read through it quickly to refresh yourself of what is taking place in the scene. Now that you've reminded yourself of what is taking place, take a separate piece of paper and re-write the scene. When rewriting, none of your characters are allowed to speak. You must write the scene by simply using description. (sort of like a birds eye view of what is going on!)

Now that you've re-written the scene without a single line of dialogue, evaluate what you have written. How much more detail were you able to add by not including dialogue? Did you include body language and outward actions that you had failed to include before? What about facial expressions and noises such as the scuffling of feet or the creek of a floorboard?

Step #2: Now comes the second step. Re-write the scene again, only this time, you can only have a maximum of five chunks of dialogue.

Example:
"Character #1 speaks"
"Character #2 speaks"
"Character #3 speaks"
"Character #2 speaks"
"Character #3 speaks"

[You don't have to set it up exactly the same as the above example. I included that so you could better have a feel for what I was talking about.]

This doesn't mean that you can cram in as much dialogue as you can into those five chunks. The point of this step is to make you aware of what truly needs to be said aloud by your characters. Having to narrow down your dialogue will make you evaluate what information is truly important to you in your story.

Now that you are all finished the exercise, look over some of your descriptions from step #1 and add them to your original document so you can enhance the scene. Also, delete any dialogue that you now feel is hindering your story or not adding anything to the scene and storyline.

Descriptions can greatly enhance and enrich a story but an easy cop-out with writing in general is discouragement. Don't think to yourself that you are bad at writing description because then you will be. Your mindset is important. When you approach any piece of writing, instead of focusing on what your good at, (like dialogue) focus on the weakness' you have (such as Description). With that in mind... do your best to write in those area's of weakness better than you did the time before. Make sure to reward yourself when you see improvement! Pretty soon, the thing you are bad at will become your favorite part of the writing process!

Many Blessings!
-Jessica

Lilla Rose Giveaway!

2010-12-01T10:46:00.002-05:00

I found another blog which is hosting a Lilla Rose giveaway. Go and check it out at "The Modest Mom" blog!

-Jessica

"MyWriMo" Writing Challenge - End

2010-12-01T10:13:00.001-05:00

I worked really hard this past month on trying to reach my word goal. As I had suspected, November was filled with several trips to the eye doctor, Thanksgiving, Preparations for singing in church, and many, many spur of the moment outings.

My word count goal for the month was 15,000 and I managed to just scrape by after spending all of the last day writing the final 3,000 words. My total word count for the month actually came to 15,080 so I went slightly over which is perfectly fine with me. ;) I had hoped that I would be able to reach 20,000 but for some reason when I set my word goal, I had the feeling that I would only barely be able to get to the 15k due to unexpected events popping up at the last minute. Still, even though I wasn't able to get to 20k like I had hoped, I'm still really glad that I was able to reach my word goal.

My future writing schedule is as follows.

December: Edit my friend Sarah's book. That's the main focus for December. Although I will be working on my own book here and there, I don't plan on writing as much as I did this past month. (That's part of the reason I wanted to write so much in November. Because I wanted to be able to relax in December and focus on spending time with my family.)

January: I won't have as much time to work on my book in January either due to a Bible challenge I will be participating in. However, I plan on working hard to write my book whenever I've got spare time.

February & March: These are the month's I will again be really focusing on writing my book. I'm hoping to finish it by no later than April so I can take a few weeks off and then begin editing it over the summer. :)

Currently, my total word count for my book stands at 57k. By the time I'm finished, the total will probably be somewhere around 100k. :) Just so you all know, I only make a big deal about the word count because It really excites me. In the past, I've never been able to get past the second chapter of a book. It's amazing what outlining and writing accountability can do for a person! lol! ;)

I hope all your writing endeavors are progressing well!

Blessings!
Jessica

Giveaways!

2010-11-05T15:09:00.001-04:00

Here are some great giveaways I recently came across!

Beautifully Feminine Lilla Rose Giveaway - at "A Wise Woman Builds Her Home"

Joyfully at Home book Giveaway - at "Feminine Farmgirl"

Two Year Blog Anniversary Giveaway - at "Blessed Femina"

The Family daughter book giveaway - at "Joyful Jewels 4 Jesus"

"MyWriMo Challenge"

2010-11-01T17:44:00.001-04:00

Hello to all my readers out there!
I know it's been far too long since I last posted. Figured I'd give you all an update and share about an exciting new blog challenge.

Firstly, my word count with my book currently stands at 43k. I am super excited to have gotten this far with it considering I've never been able to get past the first few chapters in my previous book writing attempts. I owe this great feat almost entirely to my two online writing buddies who have encouraged and challenged me along the way to continue on and not give up. Thanks girls!

Aside from that, I haven't done much other writing. I am joining my two younger brothers in their writing curriculum for school this year, however, they are currently using another resource and taking a break from the one I was joining them on so, like I said, I haven't worked on much else aside from my own book.

I am very excited to also have the opportunity to edit one of my writing buddies books. Editing someone else's book has really given me a lot of insight into my own writing. I am very thankful for this new learning experience.

As to the writing challenge aspect of this post... Tarissa from "In the Bookcase" is hosting a writing challenge called "MyWriMo." It is similar to the "NaNoWriMo" challenge except you set your own word count goal for the month of November. Since November tends to be a busy month for me with Thanksgiving and several other events, (and also because the dreary days that come in a multitude this time of year cause me to procrastinate with my writing) I decided to join the "MyWriMo" challenge.

I've set my word count goal for the month at 15k however, I want to really push myself this month and try to get beyond that word count. Just as an FYI, the most I have ever written in one month was 10k but, I didn't write everyday and I wasn't really pushing myself. Thus, even though I set the word count not too far above what I know I can attain, I really want to work hard and see just how much I can write in a month.

My hope is that I can finish my book sometime in the early spring of 2011, take a month off and then edit it over the summer. :)

Today is the first day of "MyWriMo" and I wrote 1,019 words. I can't wait to make some more headway with my book! (Especially since I will be even more busy in December!)

Good luck to all of you who have decided to join this writing challenge!

Blessings!
-Jessica

Raising Maidens of Virtue - Book Review

2010-09-30T11:50:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, my family took a trip to Maryland to visit my aunt, cousins, and second cousins. I hadn't seen any of them (except my aunt) in eight years. We had lots of fun and I enjoyed the break away from home and the nice breezy weather that we had while we were there. (even if sometimes it was a bit hot)

Because I'm a writer and all and because I LOVE books, I couldn't help but bring along a few books to read. :D

One such book was titled "Raising Maidens of Virtue - a Study of Feminine Loveliness for Mothers and Daughters" by: Stacy McDonald. I had already read about halfway through this book and was so interested in it that I managed to finish it over the weekend between trips out for pizza and visits from our cousins. :)

I absolutely loved this book! It is filled with biblical truths, good morals, and wonderful life lessons for young ladies of all ages. This book is actually written as a study for mothers and daughters to do together, however, I chose not to do it with my mother. Partly because she is already so busy homeschooling my brothers and also because I felt like I would be able to get more out of it if I read through it myself the first time. (I like to really stop and evaluate and think while I'm reading.) :)

Stacy McDonald makes it easy for younger girls and children to be able to understand the life lessons by sharing a story at the beginning of each chapter. That was the best part. Having a story to compare things to makes it easier to understand and later remember. She also has several notes and stories shared by her daughters. (since it's a study for mothers and daughters, it was nice to have opinions and thoughts from both parties throughout the book.)

By far, the most influential chapter, for me, was the chapter titled "Lady of Leisure." This chapter kind of killed two birds with one stone. Recently at my church, we have been studying Idolatry. My pastor has shared that even things that are good can become idols in our lives. For the young lady in Mrs. McDonald's story, reading was an idol. Though there is nothing wrong with reading, the young lady was spending an ample amount of her time with her nose in books while her family worked hard on their farm. Truly, the young lady was living for herself rather than for God and others. (something I think we all do from time to time.) This story also shared the dangers and problems that can arise when a young lady fails to guard her heart.

I was very pleased to find several projects for mothers and daughters to do throughout the book and also in the back. There are creative memory projects and even the idea to host "a Historical Woman Tea Party" /luncheon with your mother and several of your friends and their moms. :D

Also included in the back of the book were several book and website resources that Stacy McDonald and her daughters recommend for young ladies. I haven't looked into this aspect of the book yet but I am positive that there are some excellent books and websites included.

I found this book to be very refreshing and challenging. It wasn't a self help book and fill-in-the-blank type of study. It really dug deep and made you think by giving you examples of things that often happen from day to day.

I give this book a rating of Five out of Five stars and recommend it for exactly who it was intended for... girls, young ladies, and Women of all ages!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

The Two Tailor's of Ridendale

2010-09-15T16:00:00.000-04:00

This past week, I wrote this short story for the writing class that I am participating in with my two younger brothers. I really enjoyed writing it so I thought I would share it with all of you.

The Two Tailor's of Ridendale

By: Jessica

Once upon a time in the land of Ridendale there lived two tailors. The first, named Fortitude, was a simple living man. He was friendly and kind to everyone he met. Though his shop was small, all of his customers trusted him to do good work and he was especially well known for the intricate embroidery that he could work onto fine silks. The second tailor, whose name was Cavalier, owned a shop far more grand than his rival. It was decked with grand bolts of silky material, pearl buttons, and fine lace. Even the sign to his shop had twists and flourishes around its gold letters. Although Cavalier's shop was far more exquisite than Fortitude's, his customers were often dissatisfied with the quality of his work and the amount of money asked for his services. One day, an announcement was made that a contest would be held in order to find the best tailor in the land. The details were as follows: all the tailors of the land would create a ball gown for the princess to wear at an upcoming celebration. One ball gown would be chosen and the maker of this gown would become the royal tailor. Cavalier boasted to his customers that he would surely become the new royal tailor which left his customers feeling a bit agitated. Quickly setting to work, Cavalier sketched out the dainty gown and picked material from his choicest fabrics. After hearing of the competition, Fortitude labored night and day over his own gown. He chose a simple sheer white fabric and meticulously embroidered a vine of white flowers at the hem and neck of the dress.

Weeks passed and finally the day arrived when the gown would be selected for the princess to wear for the celebration. As each gown was brought before the royal family, its maker went to great lengths to point out its many beautiful details and fine points. Yet, as the day wore on each gown was declined. Now it came to be Fortitude's turn. Anxiously he stepped forward and laid out the fine white gown before the royal family. Its simple beauty was breathtaking and the royal family looked at it in wonder. the other contestants gazed on with amusement. Surely this simple tailor dressed in his weathered tunic and old hat would not win such a competition. Fortitude said nothing as the royal family inspected the dress. At last, the king spoke. Fortitude's shoulders drooped as he realized that he had not won. Cavalier came forward behind Fortitude, pushing him out of the way and placing his dress on the table before the royal family. It was a soft sage colored gown with clear crystals and semi precious stones on the bodice and hem. The princess squealed with delight. The family looked over the dress thoroughly and decided that this was the one that suited their daughter best. At the joy of winning, Cavalier smiled broadly and a cheer rang through the great hall which left poor Fortitude to gather up his dress and ride home, unsuccessful and disappointed.

The night of the celebration, the whole kingdom excitedly awaited the thrill of seeing the princess' dress for the first time. Word had spread and cavalier became famous practically overnight. So much so, that he had dozens of orders brought to him with requests from women who also wanted their ball gowns to be designed by him. This made Cavalier cocky at his success and fame. The festivities soon commenced and the princess danced every reel and waltz to her hearts content. Yet, as the night wore on, little did she realize that the seams of her beautiful dress were beginning to unravel. Finally, the worst thing that could have happened to Cavalier's career happened. The bottom half of the princess' dress tumbled to the floor in a great heap during one of the dances and the princess tripped over it, which sent her skidding to the floor in nothing but her petticoats. A shock went through the crowd and several people tried to repress their desire to laugh heartily at the sight. Scarcely knowing what had happened, the princess looked down in horror at her petticoats and then over at the frayed dress that lay a few feet away. Hot, angry tears sprang to her eyes and she rose from the floor as her father threw his cloak around her shoulders.

"Have another dress brought at once!" the king shouted.

At these words Fortitude came forward with his beautiful white gown and bowed before the king with the gown held aloft.

The king smiled wryly at this and the princess and the new gown were quickly whisked away.

"Take that fool out of here!" the king commanded, pointing at Cavalier who was then promptly dragged out of the great hall.

After the shock had subsided, the celebration began once more and the princess reappeared to join the gaiety and happily resumed dancing. The princess practically floated like a gentle dove across the dance floor as the layers of sheer ivory fabric swayed with each dance in a dreamlike manner. That night, Fortitude was presented as the new royal tailor. Afterward, Cavalier's shop diminished into nothing and he soon had to close down. Fortitude still kept his little shop the same and continued to treat his customers with friendly kindness which made him even more popular. Although he was now a celebrity amongst the people, it was Fortitude's humble attitude and hard work that made him famed throughout the land.

Free Audio Books!

2010-08-06T11:25:00.001-04:00

Anyone up for free audio books? :)
My mom sent me this link this morning and I was absolutely thrilled to look through it's pages to find some of my favorite books available for free in audio form. They have some of Jane Austen's works and Mark Twain, just to name a few of the great authors on this site. For those of you with IPods, Itunes, or MP3's they also have free downloads available. I love having audio books to listen to when my family and I take long car rides and go on trips. (not that we do this very often.) I also have a love for listening to them while I'm cleaning my room. ;) Just so you know, there may be some books on this site that aren't as clean. I merely glanced through but what I saw looked mostly like the classics. :)

If your interested go Here. :)

Happy Listening!
Jessica

Hostage Lands - Book Review

2010-07-31T11:53:00.002-04:00

I recently finished reading a book called "Hostage Lands" which is written by: Douglas Bond. Although it is more of a juvenile historical fiction, I really enjoyed reading it.

The basic synopsis of this book...
A young boy despises his Latin classes in school, but when he finds a mysterious historical document written in Latin, he and his Fiery red haired, nose blowing, goggle eyed Latin teacher work hard to decode it and discover it's contents. What follows is the account of a Roman soldier on his journeys and adventures with a Christian Celt warrior. The Roman Soldier learns the ways of the Celts by living with them while secretly having orders to acquire information on the Celts for the Roman Empire. Through a funny and exciting chariot race, the healing of an old Celt man who gets wounded by a wild boar as well as many other adventures, this Roman Soldier learns about Christus (Christ) and how he died for the sins of others.

This book was full of fun little jokes and Christian values. There was a little bit of discussion over Roman/Greek gods due to the upbringing and background of the Roman soldier but these discussions were countered by bible verses and biblical views from the Celt.

Because it was written by a Christian, it was a very clean book aside from some graphic details about a group of Christians that were torchered in the Roman Colosseum. (this part took up about a page or two of the book. Not much.) This section of the book actually is the part that really stuck out and meant the most to me. It was saddening but also encouraging to read about a group of Christian martyrs.

All in all, it was a great read. Also, it wouldn't take long to read. Some could have finished it in a day. Me, it took me a few months to read because I was so busy that I would only read a few chapters before it had to go back to the library then I had to wait for it to come in again. :)

Objectionable Content...
Cussing/bad language: None
Sexual References: None
Romance: There was a little bit of romance. The Christian Celt was in love with a young woman from his village. Both he and the young lady had a desire to serve the Lord through their relationship and there was no references to them holding hands or kissing or anything. Just that they were in love.
Violence: Minimal/Typical fighting of soldiers. Aside from the graphic descriptions of the martyrs and the whipping of the Celt man, there was no graphic details during the fighting sequences.
Miscellaneous: I felt that the young boy did demonstrate mild thoughts of disrespect towards his elders. Towards both his teacher and father to be specific. However, it was inward thoughts. he never outwardly demonstrated any disrespect that I recall.

I rate this book with Five out of Five stars and recommend it for ages 12 and up. My youngest brother (13) really enjoyed reading this book.

Many Blessings!
Jessica

What I've been up to

2010-07-26T13:14:00.002-04:00

I doubt you've noticed, but for someone who loves writing and reading so much, I sure don't blog that often. lol! ;)

Although I've done very little posting in the previous months, I have been doing a lot of writing. I figured that I would share with you some of what I've been up to.

Over the past month or so, I have been kept accountable with my writing by two very dear online friends. Since we started our private accountability group, I have written 15,080 words of my book. I've never shared it on here, But I am a very slow reader and writer. When I was younger, I struggled a lot in the area of reading, grammar and spelling. I didn't truly appreciate the joy of reading until my third year in High-school when I read over 300 hours over the summer for our libraries summer reading program. I found a love for books that I had previously missed out on due to my hatred for all things language. :) Because of my slowness in reading and writing, It often takes me at least 2-3 solid hours of writing (preferably without interruption) to reach a word count of 500. Needless to say, I am very proud of myself for how much writing I've gotten done since my friends and I started this accountability group. My total word count for my book currently stands at 22,345. My estimated word count is somewhere around 72,000 words. :)

One day this week, my dad fulfilled a craving I had to go and write at my most inspired and favorite place to spend a day. The Winterthur Mansion. I felt like I was in an Austen book as I sat in the early morning light writing on a moss covered patio with my laptop on a weathered table and nothing but the melodious song of Bluebirds, Cardinals and Robins in the tree tops. It was so relaxing as I sat writing with swallowtail butterflies flitting by me and carpenter bees busily gnawing at the wood on trees. :) (My dad took a nap on a bench a little ways off. lol!) [The two pictures below are of two of the many beautifully eye catching parts of Winterthur. I couldn't find a picture of the area we sat at.]

I've also been doing a lot of reading lately. Over the past few weeks I finished two books. Since I'm such a slow reader, It takes me about a week minimum to finish reading a book. It also takes me a while to finish reading because I have the habit of stopping while I'm reading to process what is happening with the characters. I like to stop and think as I read to predict future events or evaluate a specific sentence that catches my eye and to really appreciate the writing and style of the author and the word choices they made. I'm considering putting up a few book reviews in the coming weeks so keep an eye out. :) I also updated my "Currently Reading" page. Feel free to go and check it out.

Lastly, today I joined my two younger brothers in their school studies. Today was their first day of school for them and I have decided to join in their writing curriculum for this school year. Today was simply an overview of the rules of the curriculum and a short exercise in writing. Over the next school semester I will be required to write several Essays and papers for this writing class. I thought it would be good to stretch myself and give myself a little challenge in the area of my writing. That is, aside from the daily challenge of working on my book. It's been a while since I wrote any essays and I feel the need to brush up on my skills and push myself to my limit so that I can improve my writing skills. :) I did graduate from highschool three years ago but I see no reason to stop learning. :D

Along with all of this, I also recently sewed a new skirt and did the daily stuff like chores and making meals. :)

All in all, I've been trying to push myself to be more productive and fight my urge to procrastinate. I'll be trying harder to write blog posts more frequently and not procrastinate with all of you dear patient readers. If there is anything specific you would like me to write about, please let me know.

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Natural Reactions

2010-07-20T09:49:00.000-04:00

During the writing and editing process, I think we as writer's often fail to think about the natural reactions that people would have when placed in similar situations as our characters. I was thinking over it the other day and realized how important a tool it could be in knowing how your characters actions are different or similar to the common reaction that someone might have if placed in the same situation in real life.

Take for example the idea of someone throwing a baseball to you. There are two basic reactions that you could have at this moment. You could shy away from the ball being thrown at you in fear of being hit, or you could try to catch/hit it (depending on if you have a bat in hand.)

However, when you bring an actual character into this scene, the normal reactions could become abnormal.

Let's say that it was the character of Peter Pan who was on the receiving end and the baseball was thrown at him. First off, he probably wouldn't stand over home plate, but instead, he would hover due to being able to fly. And while he would probably catch the ball, it would be very unlikely that you would ever see it again considering the fact that he would probably hide it with the idea of a game of hide and seek and then forget the idea completely including the fact that you had even played baseball to begin with. So, you would simply have to bid farewell to your baseball whether it was signed by your favorite player or not. :)

What if your character was a turtle playing baseball? Would he hide in his shell to prevent himself from being hit as the ball whizzes by him?

See, the the character's personality and characteristics can change the course of events and make them extraordinary? Normal no longer exists and what used to be a simple game of catch/baseball has now turned into a tool which can transform your story into something with flair and give your readers greater insight into the lives of your characters. :)

How often do we truly pay attention to the natural reactions that people might have?

In the movie "How to Steal a Million", Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole play two people looking to steal a small marble statue in order to keep people from discovering that it is a fake. As they get ready to hide in the museum in preparation for stealing the statue, Peter O'Toole turns to Audrey Hepburn and tells her to watch the natural reactions that people have. A little perplexed, Hepburn turns to look at the crowd leaving the museum. At that instant, a guard picks up a pamphlet that Peter O'Toole had purposefully left lying on a ledge. When the guard picks it up, a handful of coins fall to the floor and everyone that is on their way out the door as well as all the guards look in the direction of the noise. At that moment Peter O'Toole and Audrey Hepburn hide. No one sees them because everyone looked in the opposite direction.

A great resource that demonstrates natural reactions would be found in the Sherlock Holmes books. Holmes always finds his clues and solves his cases based on natural reactions, logic and an ability to deduce.

When writing and Editing, it is important to think about the natural reactions that people have and how your character's actions are similar or different from the normal response. This can really help you have more insight and knowledge about the character's you have written. :)

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Blog Pages

2010-07-08T12:21:00.000-04:00

I finally went and added pages to my blog. They are just below my header. Feel free to go and check them out!

Blessings!
-Jessica

Accountability

2010-06-24T10:34:00.001-04:00

Laura sat in front of her computer. Her head was filled with thoughts about the book she was writing. She just wasn't interested in it right now. She didn't feel like writing today. The plot was boring at the moment. She just wanted to finish and move on to the next scene.

Sound familiar? I know I've felt this way on numerous occasions. Some days, writing can feel like a real chore.You sit in front of your computer screen and try to talk yourself into meeting your word count goal, or you tell yourself to just keep writing so you can get to the exciting parts, or maybe you even just sit there, blankly staring at the screen with no ideas of what to write.

In the past, I have struggled a lot with writing on a daily basis. For me, I would write just when I felt like it or when I had an idea. I told myself that I wasn't the kind of person that could be so disciplined as to write every single day.

I struggled with it up until a few weeks ago - as many of you may have noticed due to a lack of posting. I don't write that often. I write sporadically.

But, something happened a few weeks ago that changed the way I see my writing and how I approach it. I mentioned to a dear writing friend of mine my continuous struggle to write more often and get on an actual routine. While discussing all of this with her, she suggested we start a facebook group for accountability in writing. It is a private group just for my two writing friends and myself. Everyday, we work on our books, and after we are finished, we write a quote from what we wrote that day. We also include our word count for the day and our total document word count.

This has done wonders for my writing. In the past few weeks, I have written over 4,000 words on my book. The first week, I wrote over 3,000. The second week, I didn't get much writing done at all because I wasn't feeling well and our family was really busy. And just the other day, I wrote over 1,000 words in a single day.

Having friends there to keep me accountable has really improved my motivation and passion for writing as well as how I approach it.

Not only do we write our word count and a portion of our books on the group, but we also have had some short discussions about writing and have also been able to get advice on our books from each other.

If you're anything like me, you might be very hesitant to join online writing groups and accountability writing forums, etc. I have seen them over and over again and I never much cared for the idea of total strangers reading my work and commenting on it. Honestly, I didn't trust the people with my hard work. I didn't want someone to steal my ideas or anything like that. Although most writer's discussion boards, accountability groups, etc. have a rule about stealing other author's works, I never really felt comfortable with it.

I figured, I'm probably not the only person that feels this way. So, I decided to share this idea with all of you. If you, like me, don't feel comfortable with strangers reading your work, you should consider starting your own, private writer's accountability group on Facebook or a blog. Just posting a few lines from your book everyday is much better than posting entire chapters. Not to mention having those other writer's post their word counts really does push you to do better and be more diligent with your writing.

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Awards

2010-06-17T08:35:00.003-04:00

So, before you all start to comment and reprimand me for not posting often enough, I figured I'd put a post up. lol! ;)

It's nothing amazing. And it doesn't really have anything to do with writing. It's just a post with all of the awards I've gotten in the past six months. :) So, here it is... Enjoy! lol!

I had a lot of followers and online friends give me this award. :)

From: Hannah Paige

From: Young Homemakers

From: My Mom

From: Hannah Paige

From: Lindsay

From: Tarissa and Sarah

From: Lindsay

From: Sarah

From: Katherine

Here are the questions that have to be answered by all those that receive the book nook award. :)

1. What is your favorite book and why?

Just one book? Hmmm... Well, I think my absolute favorite book is Peter Pan. For some reason, I've always loved the story. For one thing, it's about a boy that doesn't want to grow up which is something I could really relate too when I was younger. Another reason I love it is the constant encouragement for us to use our imaginations. Thirdly, I've always loved J.M. Barry's writing style. But, that is just one of my many favorites. I chose this book since it is the first book I can remember reading and actually enjoying as a kid. :)

2. Who is your favorite character in your favorite book(s) and why?

My favorite character? That's tough. It's either Peter or Michael. Personally, I never much liked Wendy. For some reason, I always thought she was too girly and dainty. If you were to compare my personality, I would be most like "Jane", wendy's daughter rather than Wendy. I've always been more of a tomboy. Peter and Michael I always thought had the most fun. Peter was always so forgetful and just plain loved to have adventures. Michael, he was always the cute little brother of the bunch. So, I like them both equally.

3. If you could spend a day as the character of a book, who would it be and what would you do?

I would want to be Anne of Green Gables. I would live at her house and be able to walk through all of that beautiful countryside. :) Yeah, I'm a big nature girl. "There's so much more scope for the imagination." ;)

4. Would you rather read the book Little Women or Pride and Prejudice?

Honestly, I'd rather read Pride and Prejudice. I'm in the midst of reading Little Women right now and I am finding it difficult to get through. I've seen all of the movies so I know the plot line (which makes it kind of boring.) and I'm not a big fan of Little women to begin with. I've always liked "Joe's Boy's" better. I love little kids (specifically little boys! They are so adorable!) and I've always loved that Joe and her husband took in wayward children and gave them a home. :) As for Pride and Prejudice... I just find it more exciting than Little Women. Must be because I'm not really the homemaker type at heart. But, don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of really mushy romance either. But then, when is Pride and Prejudice ever "mushy" it's more like a series of arguments between Elizabeth and Darcy. lol! :)

5. Where is your favorite place to read a book?

My favorite place to read is on the couch in the living room. Unfortunately, when I read, I like to listen to music and enjoy peace and quiet. So, I don't read their often because it's right in the middle of our house and is the most noisy room. Most of the time, I read in my room on my bed. However, I think we all agree that if we had a window seat in our own house, we would most definitely read there the most. :)

I'm awarding the Book Nook award to...

Sarah

As for the rest, if you see an award that you don't have that you would like, go ahead and grab it. :)

Goodness, that was a lot of awards! Forgive me for not posting them sooner! I didn't realize that there were so many that I hadn't posted about! Yikes! :)

Thanks to everyone who awarded me! Keep up the good work y'all!

Blessings!

-Jessica

new Blog Design!

2010-04-28T13:17:00.000-04:00

I made up a new blog design since I am bored just sitting here trying to recover from having my wisdom teeth pulled. What do y'all think of it?

Blessings!
Jessica

What's in a name?

2010-04-01T17:18:00.001-04:00

(Photo credit goes to Me, Yours truly, Jessica P.)

"This character's name doesn't fit their personality!" If you're anything like me, you have thought something similar to this on numerous occasions while reading books.

Every so often, you come across a character who's name just doesn't sit well with you. Sometimes, this is done on purpose by a writer. Take for instance a case where a character appears to be more than they really are or one that is hiding his/her true self from the other characters. Often, their name can play a big part in making their personality and motives more transparent to the reader.

But, sometimes, you will come across a character who's name just doesn't make any sense at all. I can say from experience that it ruins your entire mood for the rest of the book. There may not be anything wrong with the character, per se, but that terrible name choice just cuts your thoughts short every time. At the conclusion of the story, you end up saying... "It was good, but..."

As a reader, sometimes the name of a character is even more defining than all the information you could write up on them. Finding the perfect character name is like the difference between a five star hotel versus one you go to on the side of the highway. Sure, the environment may be nice, but you still miss the little extras and added perks that those additional gold stars represent.

So, how do you find that perfect name in order to make your character really come to life?

Let's look at some of the biggest road blocks readers have concerning character names and some of the things to think about when choosing names for your characters.

Problems with character names...

character's who's name's you can't pronounce - In the story God King, (An Egyptian/Bible themed book) there are characters with names like "Sennacherib", "Shabataka", & "Taharka". Now, I can pronounce these names because I've already read this book and had it read to me when I was in school. but when your reading a book that is packed full of names that are hard to pronounce, it can be difficult as a reader. Often times, I end up abbreviating character's names as I am reading. Example: "Shabataka" would be "Shab." ;) lol! You can get away with this name problem if the name is a reflection of the characters heritage or location of where they live. (I cover this one later on in this post!)

Self Indulgent Names - Every once and a while, I will come across a name that seems self indulgent on the part of the writer. The name doesn't seem to fit the character at all. It appears to simply be a name that the writer liked and decided to choose for their character without much thought as to why the name suited their character and how it fit their personality and character qualities.

For instance, giving the name "Adalaide" to a 13 year old female character who is a model, has stylish blond hair, talks on her cellphone and texts all her friends, and wears jeans with holes and a stylish t-shirt and scarf. Do you agree that this character's name doesn't suit her?

I don't come across this problem too often, but when I do, it really urks me to no end! It's similar to the line from Disney's "Pollyanna" which says... "He doesn't look much like a Fred to me... He looks more like a George!"

Things to keep in mind when choosing Character Names...

Character's with names that are opposite of their character traits - It can be fun to make up names for characters that are opposite to their personality. (Example: naming a character patience when they have none.) This doesn't always work, however. It depends on the setting and plot of your story. Also, this isn't something that you want to constantly be using in all of your stories just because it can get tedious and wearisome as a reader to constantly read about characters with names contrary to their personalities. But, it is still nice to try your hand at every once and a while. :)

Keep your names simple - Not every story is equipped with the choice of having elaborate character names. :) Sure, the name's Jasmine and Gaylin are nice. But Jasmine wouldn't fit so well for a tomboy of a girl who lived on a farm and Gaylin wouldn't work so well for a young emperor who was about to ascend the throne of england. :) Most of the time, a simple name is the best route. Ida, Aleck, Krista, and Jed... You name it! lol! ;) Easy to remember and easy to say. :)

Note: When I say "Simple" that doesn't give you the right to choose "common" names such as Ted and Betty. ;) lol! (Not that you can't use these. But please vary your cast of characters!) Experiment and be creative! While the name Jane might be nice for your character, the name Jade (similar but less widely used) could be a quick, and more gripping alternate name that is more interesting and intriguing to a reader. :) (aka - same feel but more appealing)

Names that tell you of their faith, heritage, or ethnicity - You wouldn't want a Hawaiian man to be called Ed or tom now would you? Think about where your character lives, their heritage, their faith, etc. All of these things can play a huge part in the life of a character and can help in choosing a name that fits them.

Character names chosen because of their meaning or to represent the character personality - In the book "Pilgrims Progress" there are tons of characters that are all named to represent their character qualities. For instance, we have "Christian" the main character along with characters like "Hopeful", "Ignorance", "Vain Hope", and "Mr. Feeble Mind." All of their names tell you what kind of character qualities they have.

Often, a writer will also name characters partly based on the meaning of the name itself. In the book I am currently writing, I have a character named Erik. The name Erik means "Eternal Ruler; Peaceful Ruler." This is exactly the type of characteristic my character has. For me, I take great pride knowing that this characters name matches his personality. Everything about him is a perfect fit.
Just to kind of make my point, the name "Aslan" from "The Chronicles of Narnia" book series literally means "Lion." No wonder his name sounds so valiant and lordly!

Stereotypical Characters - Take for example a blond female character named Ashley. As soon as you find out she's a blond with a name like that, you automatically label her as some ditsy, lip-gloss loving female with handbag and high heels to match. (No disrespect intended. This is just an example.) Keep in mind the stereotypes that people often carry in their heads. Before you may have even had the chance to describe your character, your audience could very well already have a preconceived idea of what your character looks like, how they dress, and what their personality is like simply by reading their name. To deter such an occurrence, choose names that are less used in literature. For instance, I've noticed the name's Jack, Joe, Mike, etc. constantly pop up in books. Try to be a bit more creative. What about the lesser used, yet still great, name's like Aleck and Cecily?

In closing, I hope this has helped you to see the importance of choosing good, befitting names for your characters and has made you think about some things that you hadn't thought of before. I truly hope you learned a lot from this post and that it helps with your writing!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Writing on the Weekends #13

2010-03-06T01:00:00.003-05:00

This week's writing on the weekend's is yet another spark word. Have fun! (Unfortunately, I couldn't get the picture up. Something happened with the html and it they are temporarily not working. sorry! I'll try and see about getting them fixed!)

Spark word: Puddles (If you don't want to use this as a plural, that' fine!)

Here are the rules for anyone that is new to "W.O.T.W."

Please make sure to come back and put the link to your post and not to your your blog address itself in the mr. linky below! Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!

Where do I start?

2010-03-04T18:02:00.001-05:00

Over the years, I have noticed how important the starting point of any writing is. Whether it be a book or short story, the starting point is the deciding factor to how the rest of your story will play out and how the readers will feel.

For instance, do you start in the middle, at the end, or at the very beginning of a story?

Lets look at a well known piece of literature and try it from different starting points. :)

The book "Anne of Green Gables" begins with the line... "Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow,..." So, L.M. Montgomery started her story off at the very beginning and with the town gossip. :) That's one way of doing it and personally, I like that it starts out with Mrs. Lynde. Then, the reader is sure to know every little detail that is taking place in the beginning! ;)

But what if "Anne of Green Gables" had started when Matthew was on his way to pick up Anne from the train station - thinking he was there to pick up a little boy? Or perhaps on the day that Anne breaks the slate over Gilbert's head? Or maybe it should have started at the point where Gilbert "rescues" Anne at the pond after she gets a leak in the boat while pretending to be "Elaine" from "The Lady of Shalott"? Or maybe we should go to the most heart wrenching section... the part of the book when Matthew dies.

The truth is, each one of these starting points will have a different affect on you as a reader. :)

#1. When Matthew picks up Anne at the train station - Personally, I think if you had to pick a second place to start the book, this would be it. :) It's still close to the beginning of the story, it just doesn't give you as much background on Matthew, Marilla, and Mrs. Lynde. This starting point wouldn't affect you too differently as a reader or make you feel like you had missed too much. :)

#2. The day Anne breaks the slate over Gilbert's head - Yes, it's funny. Yes, it would definitely draw an immediate reaction from you as a reader. But the truth is, why should you care about these characters when starting at this point and how would you explain everything about Anne being an orphan, how she came to be with the Cuthbert's and why she is the way she is? I think this would be a difficult place to start the book because this scene really requires background in order for it to mean anything to the reader other than just being in awe that a girl smashed a slate over a boys head. ;)

#3. The day Gilbert "saves" Anne at the pond - Truth be told, this would be a terrible place to start the book. As a reader, you would miss all of the back history of Anne and Gilbert and end up seeing this scene as strictly a romantic theme rather than romantic comedy. You would think Gilbert was a saint/knight in shining armor and Anne was being a meany and just some annoying stuck up girl. :) lol!

#4. When Matthew Dies - So, you've probably seen it in the movies and read it a hundred times. The main character dies in the beginning and the rest of the book/movie is spent showing you how he/she got to that point. I don't think it would work in this case, however. As a reader, you would think... "So this old man died out in the fields. Big woop! Who cares! Why should I feel anything for this character that I don't know yet?" Matthew's death wouldn't have the same impact if you didn't already know about his relationship with Anne and how much He love's his family and friends and how much they love him. His death would have a confused, dispassionate impact on the reader rather than a somber, sad, heart wrenching affect.

So, where is the best place to start a book or story? The place that gives you the best feel and setup for the rest of the story. What feelings and emotions do you want/need your readers to have first that will compel them to keep reading and want to know more? If your story is fast paced all the way through, it might be good to get right into the action rather than having a slow start. If your story is slightly dreamlike, start with something that has a strong surreal feel to it... for instance, a ball. (if that matches your story) :) You get the point right? Think about your audience. What emotions do you want to be forefront in their hearts and heads as they begin reading? And also, more importantly, what starting point is best for your characters? Which starting point will allow your characters the most growth and allow you to share the most important pieces of information and character history?

Blessings!
-Jessica

Getting Organized

2010-03-03T08:55:00.000-05:00

Like most aspiring writers, I struggle with consistency. I struggle with writing every day and getting all my research together. :)

So, to help solve this and try and get more organized, I had my dad set up a computer timer for me. I will now be striving to write for three hours a day. Mind you, I won't be writing for all of that time. It's just the time slot I have chosen (for now) to dedicate towards my book.

During my "writing" time I will be reading books on the subject of writing, doing research, doing writing warm-ups, and of course, working on my book. (That's why it's three hours!)

I'll also have you know, that I now have organized when posts and things are due for all my different blogs that I write on and will be working on being more consistent. I will try hard to get up those "Writing on the Weekend" posts for y'all. :) ...As well as some other posts about writing in general or of poems and short stories I write. :) (I know y'all have probably been frustrated with how few and far between my posts have been.)

So, I'll be trying to do better and get some better stuff up for you guys. Is there anything that you would like for me to write about or do on my blog? If so, please comment on this post and let me know. :)

-Jessica

Playlist and please pray!

2010-02-24T10:01:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all! I finally got a playlist! lol! After months of thinking about getting one, I finally decided in favor of getting one. I added some of my favorite movie soundtrack songs and a few of my favorite classical songs. Take a listen and let me know what y'all think! I don't have any songs with words because, for me, I have troubles concentrating on reading posts when someone has a song with words. So, to be considerate of y'all, I didn't add any with words to them (actually, one has words halfway through). Also, you'll notice most of the music is soft and calming. That's just because that's my preference. :) I like having music that quiets my thoughts and heart and makes me feel more at peace. I also like music that inspires my writing. So, hope this inspires your writing also! :)

Also, as a prayer request... My mom is having a tooth pulled today. Please pray! She has been miserable the last week. Your prayers would be highly appreciated!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

I was Interviewed!

2010-02-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

Lauren Ann from "Beside Quiet Waters" interviewed me on the subject of writing. I had a lot of fun doing this interview with her and also found it challenging to answer some of the questions. Let me just say, she thought of some great ones! I figured y'all might enjoy reading the interview now that she has put it up on her blog. Here is the link. Go over and check it out! :)

Generations Of Virtue Giveaway!

2010-02-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

Feelin' Feminine is have a great givaway for a $20.00 gift certificate at Generations Of Virtue. Go Here to check out the giveaway and see the details for how to enter.

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Perseverance and hard work

2010-02-11T13:55:00.001-05:00

My readers may not know this, but the book I am working on is not my first attempt. In actuality I have, in the past, started and given up on more than three books. Let me just say that my age during those book attempts was around 13-16. Let me also share that I never got beyond the third or fourth chapter of these books. Why did these past books fail me and what is different about the one I am now writing? Well, let me share the answer with you!

Why did my past books fail?

~Because the characters were not realistic and you could not relate to them as a reader. It is important when writing, that you make your characters believable. Like they could really be a person/object/creature living in the world even if your world has purple grass and talking fish like Dr. Seuss. If you don't believe your characters are real, no one else will. Also, remember to give them flaws! Another issue my old book attempts had was that my favorite characters were "perfect." Not really possible to achieve in the real world! lol! It also helps if a character has something you can relate to. Whether it's being the eldest in the family or working a dead end job or having red hair or whatever, give them some characteristics that people can understand even if the character is not something human. Take for example the book "The Little Engine that Could." by: Watty Piper. It's a book about a little train that is trying to go up a huge hill while pulling a circus troop and all it's animals in the boxcars behind it. It's represents getting over those hard obstacles in life and not giving up. Something you can relate with! You may not be a train, but I'm sure you've had hard things in life that seemed impossible but that you persevered in and overcame.

~ Because the plot lines were too weak. I hate to say this, but you can't write a book on one singular idea. believe me, I tried it! lol! You can't write just about a girl going to camp. That can't be the only idea you have. It can be the start of your ideas but it can't be all that your book is about. You need things to happen! You need conflict and a climax and then the problems preceding can be resolved and the book can end. For example, the book "Pride and Prejudice." by: Jane Austen has the very basic plot line of a family and it's daughters and the subject of marriage. If you went on that alone, the story could be anything, it's just to vague a plot line! But, if you deepen your ideas and the plot and say that it's a book about a group of girls at marrying age during the 1800's in which the heroine deals with the expectations of society for ladies to marry men with high incomes no matter their looks, manners, and personalities, then you get something much more meaningful and intriguing. In other words, in my past books, the plot line was practically non-existent!

~Inexperience and terrible grammar and spelling. My past book attempts fell through the cracks partly due to the fact that I still had things to learn in the area of writing and due to my terrible grammar and spelling. If you really want to write a book, You have to take it seriously. That means working hard in your school work and doing well especially in the areas of spelling and grammar. If you can't compose a proper sentence, how can you write thousands upon thousands of sentences? Also, writing a book involves a ton of research sometimes. Working hard in school will help in this area. :) Take it from someone who knows! The things I learned in my creative writing co-op's and history studies helped me to really know how to do research well. Because I was home-schooled, my mom utilized our library to it's fullest. That meant me having to read through ten-twelve books (at minimum!) on a single subject and study times in history and record my notes on 3x5 cards and organize out all my facts and write papers, time-lines, and more! Thanks mom for all that learning! :)

~Writing a book was far more work than I was prepared to undergo at the time. When you first have a book idea, everything seems fun! You have a million ideas running through your head and your pencil or key board just won't move fast enough to get them all down in time. You start writing and it all seems so fun and dandy. Then you hit a snag. Your character behaves in a way you weren't expecting, something in the plot twists in an unexpected way, you run out of ideas, you get writer's block... so much happens during the process or writing a book. It isn't always easy and it isn't always fun. I already have at times pulled my hair out while writing this book and I am only on the third chapter! Writing a book is a lot of work and those who embark on such a task need to be prepared for anything to happen! There have been times when a character wouldn't cooperate and I wanted to give them a time out! lol! But you have to keep trecking even when the going gets tough (or your character rebels! lol!).

What's different about the book I'm writing now? (Besides me correcting and working on the above problems.)

~I know exactly what I want to happen (for the most part.) in my book. From the beginning to the end, I have my book basically mapped out in an outline and have written out notes/paragraphs on the basis of what will be taking place in each chapter. That's not to say that I haven't left some holes in my plot that still need filling in. What's the fun of writing if you know EVERYTHING that is going to happen! I want to be just as surprised as my future readers will be at some of the things that take place. So, I know most of what will happen in my book but have left myself some room for imagination and creativity. :) In my past books, I didn't have an outline of events that would be taking place.

~ I am working harder than I ever did before. In past years, I worked on my book whenever I felt like it and just wrote with the flow not really trying to make a certain point or achieve a certain goal. I didn't put much effort into the writing itself. I just wrote whatever came to mind. Now, I usually read a few paragraphs before the area I am writing in so I can get into the flow of things. I also give great thought to why I want this character to say this sentence and the reasons this event in my book is taking place. I also have done a ton of research. More than I ever did on any of my other books. So far, I have about twenty hand written, double sided pieces of paper with facts and notes from my researching. I still have five more books to read and If I keep going at this pace getting this much info, I will have around 120 pages of research. (My book takes place during the middle ages so I have a lot of information at my finger tips!)

~My characters are far more in depth and complicated. In my past books, I wrote two dementional characters. They seemed like regular kids but they didn't have much depth to their character. I knew what they looked like and their intrests but I didn't know important facts like what drove them to do the things they did or their deep thoughts and emotions about certain events or how they handled stressful situations or their views of life, all of which is important to know about a character and give your characters more depth and meaning. You need to do with your writing what the 3D affect does to a movie. It just makes everything pop and feel more real! Lets look at an example about this so you better understand what I mean. Lets say you have a soldier for a character and he is going to war. He has brown hair and gray eyes and he's really short for his age which is twenty-three. Do you feel like you know this character based on that information alone? Of course not, because that's not even scratching the surface. So lets say he's fighting to try and locate his father who went missing in action a few months before. Now how do you feel about him? Two things happened inside of you when I said that. You realized what drives his actions and you sympathized with his story. :) lol! You like him a lot more now, huh? hehe! That's because a character is more intriguing when you know what goes on inside his/her head and heart.

~Because I now have a reason/goal for my writing. Before, my ambition was to write some great book that would be as memorable as "Anne of Green Gables" or "Pride and Prejudice." Wouldn't we all love that! lol! In truth, for most of us, that goal is unattainable. You have to be your own writer and find your own voice not try to mimic the voice of someone else. (Although, trying to write in the voice of another writer can be good practice as long as you aren't always using their voice in your own writing.)

Now, my goal has nothing to do with fame and everything to do with pleasing the Lord and reaching out to others. For my book, I wanted to write something clean that wasn't influenced by the world and packed full of worldly characters and unclean subject matter. Walk into any book store these days and you'll find shelves and shelves of romance and magic books filled with witches, sorcerers, kids who hate their parents, teenagers who run away or rebel in the name of love (Yes, I include Romeo and Juliet. They're such bad examples! And yes, I know not everyone agrees with this thought. It's just my opinion.), etc. My goal is to write something that has meaning to it. Something that has morals and characters with biblical attributes. That's not to say that the characters are all these "perfect" people. Quite the contrary. But the characters (most of them, at least.) are striving to be faithful servants unto the Lord and their actions are an example of that decision.

~*~

Even though I didn't finish any of my previous book attempts, I don't consider them to be failures. Each one tought me new things about my writing and showed me the right and wrong ways to go about writing a book. Each one allowed me to sharpen my writing skills. And each one was a stepping stone towards where my writing is today. :)

I shared all of this with you because it's good to look at other authors and writers and learn from them. If I share some of my past mistakes in writing, it may help you to see some you are currently struggling with and help you to fix them. :) I hope y'all found this helpful!

Blessings!
Jessica

Under construction

2010-02-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

My blog is currently getting a makeover. Bear with me as I try to work out the kinks!

Blessings!
Jessica

Writing on the weekends #12

2010-01-30T15:13:00.000-05:00

I've had a few people, who shall remain nameless, (you know who you are! lol!) complain that I haven't done a Writing on the Weekends in a long, long time. Part of the reason is that their has been a lot going on with my family lately and I haven't really given much thought to my poor, neglected writing blog. Since I had an idea for one today, I figured I would put one up for y'all!

If you're new to Writing on the Weekends, you can check the rules out here.

This weeks Writing prompt is the spark word : Lace

Have fun and don't forget to include the link to your post in the "Mr. Linky" below after you post your short story/poem on your blog!

2010 Book List

2010-01-21T10:09:00.013-05:00

While reflecting on this previous year, I noticed that I hadn't read nearly as many books as I had hoped to at the beginning of the year. I also realized that I was finding it continuously difficult to remember what books I had actually wanted to read. So, after Christmas, I sat myself down and made up a list of all the new books I and my siblings had gotten for Christmas as well as all the books around the house that I had yet to read that I wanted to crack open. :)

Let me tell you, there were a lot more than I thought! lol! And I didn't even include all of the biography and history books on our bookshelves in the hallway that I want to read!

Here is my book list for 2010. I doubt I will get them all read, but at least now I can remember what I wanted to read! lol! This isn't the full list either. This list is only 52 books but since some of the books listed are part of a series, I would actually be reading more books than what is listed. (If I can get them all read that is!)

Lamplighter books
1. The boy who never lost a chance
2. Charlie's Choice
3. Shipwrecked But Not Lost
4. Fireside Readings Vol. 1-3
5. Little King Davie
6. Buried in the Snow
7. Sir Knight of the Splendid Way
8. A Puzzling Pair
9. The Passage
10. The Battle
11. The Giant Killer
12. Mother's of Famous Men
13. The Inheritance
14. Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince
15. Willy's Trunk

G.A. Henty Books
16. The Coral Island
17. Wulf the Saxon
18. For the Temple - A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem
19. The Dragon and the Raven (or The Days of King Alfred)
20. The Young Carthaginian
21. In the Irish Brigade
22. Beric the Briton - A Story of the Roman Invasion
23. Winning His Spurs

Bethlehem Books
24. The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
25. If All the Swords in England
26. Red Falcons of Tremoine
27. Big John's Secret

Devotional/Womanhood
28. Passionate Housewives Desperate for God
29. Set Apart Femininity
30. Lies Young Women Believe

Fiction Books (Including Christian and Historical Fiction)
31. Little Women
32. Little Men
33. Joe's Boys
34. Sir Kendrick and the Castle of Bellione (Chuck Black - The Knights of Arrethtrae Series)
35. Kingdom's Dawn (Chuck Black - The Kingdom Series)
36. Hostage Lands (Douglas Bond)
37. The Princess Adelina: An Ancient Christian Tale of Beauty and Bravery
38. The Door in the Wall
39. The Bronze Bow
40. Pride and Prejudice
41. Emma
42. Sense and Sensibility
43. The Terestria Chronicles
44. Bridge to Terrabithia (I wouldn't normally read a book like this. However, I saw the movie and loved how the imagination's of the children was exhibited and decided to read it and see what it was like in book form.)

Poetry Books
45. Favorite Poems Old and New
46. Prose and Poetry
47. One Thousand Poems for Children

Writing Books
48. Writing for the Soul (Jerry B. Jenkins)
49. The Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction
50. A Novel Idea: Best Advice on Writing Inspirational Fiction (By Various Authors)
(I have more in this category that I want to read but I have to check if my library has them before I can read them! lol!)

History
51. 1,001 Things Everyone should know about the Civil War (Frank E. Vandiver)
52. John Adams (Janet and Geoff Benge)

(Like I said, I will be reading a lot of Biographies, I just didn't feel like listing them all!)

Well, there you have it! I think that's enough, don't you?! As you can see, I have a large variety of books. I like to challenge myself and expand my knowledge of things so I didn't want to simply read books in only one category. Just as a note... While I have listened to the Jane Austen books unabridged on tape several times, (and watched the movies) I have never sat down and read the books so I figured it was about time I did.

What are you hoping/planning to read this year? Are you trying to stretch yourself and push yourself in the area of reading?

Happy Reading!
Jessica

"Crafting Unforgettable Characters" By: K.M. Weiland

2010-01-06T08:52:00.001-05:00

K.M. Weiland is a new Christian writer I recently found through a friends blog. I have yet to read any of her books, but her blog "WordPlay" is exceptional. She recently wrote a free E-Book entitled " Crafting Unforgettable Characters" In order to get this free E-book, all you have to do is sign up for her mailing list in the left hand sidebar of her blog. I did it in a matter of minutes and have already glanced through my copy. Her list of in depth character trait questions is amazing! I have already made out my characters lists for my book but after reading through Weiland's lengthy, detailed list, I am thinking of going in and adding a lot of extra details to my characters!

Stop by K.M. Weiland's blog and get your free copy of her new E-book! The key to amazing characters is just a mouse click away!!!

Blessings!
Jessica

Background ideas

2009-12-26T13:43:00.001-05:00

Does anyone have any free blog background ideas. I created an awesome new header, but I can't seem to find a background that I like and that has the same feel as my header. I was looking for something similar to the current background but in a dark blue or black. Although, I am opened to other color schemes. Anybody have any ideas?

-Jessica

A Sledding Song

2009-12-26T10:43:00.001-05:00

A Sledding Song

Sing a song of winter,

Of frosty clouds in air!

Sing a song of snowflakes

Falling everywhere.

Sing a song of winter!

Sing a song of sleds!

Sing a song of tumbling

Over heels and heads.

Up and down a hillside

When the moon is bright,

Sledding is a tiptop

Wintertime delight.

--Norman C. Schlichter

Tagged

2009-12-18T11:36:00.009-05:00

Thanks to Kathrine for tagging/awarding me. I haven't gotten one in a while so I had fun with this one!

Here are the directions...

1. copy the award into a blog post
2. thank the person who gave you the award
3. tell seven things about yourself that your readers may not know
4. declare seven bloggers as the new recipients
5. notify the winners with comments on their blogs

Here are my seven things you may not know about me... :)

1. I started to learn how to play guitar this week. I doubt that I will ever be a "Great Proficient" but it's fun none the less!

2. I have been singing in my church since I was 13 years old.

3. I started quilting this year.

4. I hated reading until I got into my second or third year of highschool. Thus I have only been reading for enjoyment for about five years.

5. I have journaled since I was eleven years old. (I think. It's been a while since I read my first journal. But, I was really little none the less!)

6. I used to hate wearing the color pink.

7. I have always had a very active imagination.

8. I love doing arts and crafts. I basically can do just about any craft that is currently available. Cross stitch, beading, knitting, crochet, quilling, card making, scrapbooking, covering and making my own journals, quilting, and probably more... I just can't think of them right now!

9. I love doing accents! :)

(Since I thought of two more, I gave you guys two bonus facts about me!)

I decided not to award/tag anyone since I think most everyone seems to have this one already. However, if you don't, go ahead and grab it and do it on your blog! It's loads of fun! :)

Blessings!
Jessica

New Snow

2009-12-14T11:39:00.000-05:00

New Snow

The pines are white-powdered,

Delicately tossed

With fairy filigrees

Of silver frost.

The top of the mountain

Is lost in a cloud,

While the world is silent

And the winds unloud.

Drink in the beauty,

The shadows... the glow...

The wonder of winter

And new white snow!

--Catharine Bryant Rowies

Winter Circus

2009-12-07T12:13:00.000-05:00

Winter Circus

There's a circus in the sky;

clowns in frills of fluffy white

merrily come tumbling by,

turning cartwheels left and right.

Tiny dancers whirl about

dressed in white from head to toe,

back and forth and in and out

through the tent of sky they go.

White-clad acrobats flip by

in a daring, breathless way...

there's a circus in the sky

every snowy winter day!

--Aileen Fisher

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:43:00.000-05:00

Some of the things I am thankful for this year are...

My Lord and Savior and all the blessing He showers over me everyday of my life
All of the new friends I have made through blogging
A House to live in
My Family
The gifts and Abilities that God has blessed me with that enable me to bless and serve others
God - The strong tower on which I can constantly lean upon and trust to uphold me in the midst of any storm.
A vehicle that my whole family fits into.
My dear sweet friend, Julia, who made me a beautiful new blog header to go with my background. What do y'all think of it?

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers

2009-11-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers

The breaking waves dashed high

On stern and rock-bound coast,

And the woods, against a stormy sky,

Their giant branches tossed;

And the heavy night hung dark

The hills and waters o'er,

When a Band of exiles moored their bark

On a wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes,

They, the true-hearted, came:

Not with the roll of the stirring drums,

And the trumpet that sings of fame;

Not as the flying come,

In silence and in fear;--

They shook the depths of the desert's gloom

With their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang,

And the stars heard, and the sea;

And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang

To the anthem of the free!

The ocean-eagle soared

From his nest by the white wave's foam,

And the rocking pines of the forest roared;

This was their welcome home!

There were men with hoary hair

Amidst that pilgrim band;

Why had they come to wither there,

Away from their childhood's land?

There was woman's fearless eye,

Lit by her deep love's truth;

There was manhood's brow, serenely high,

And the fiery heart of youth.

What sought they thus afar?

Bright jewels fo the mine?

The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?--

They sought a faith's pure shrine!

Aye, call it holy ground,

The soil where first they trod!

They left unstained what there they found--

Freedom to worship God!

-- Felicia Dorothea Hemans

Unknown Blessings

2009-11-22T09:06:00.001-05:00

"We give thanks for unknown blessings

already on their way."

-- Author Unkown

The First Thanksgiving

2009-11-19T07:39:00.000-05:00

The First Thanksgiving

So cold the first Thanksgiving came,

That they who kneeled on earth and stone

To thank the Lord in freedom's name

Were nearly frozen to the bone.

Peril was near, and midnight fear,

With desolate wind about the door,

But courage lit a candle flame

That warmed them to the core: --

Candle that burned so staunch and strong,

Courage that dared so dark a way,

They light the centuries, clear and strong,

On each Thanksgiving Day!

So bare the first Thanksgiving fell

That, counting all the scanty yield,

They who had sowed and reaped could tell

Their thanks for scarcely one good field;

Yet, strangers in a lonely land,

They thanked God for their harvesting,

And dreamed a dauntless dream, and planned

New sowing for the spring.

For candlelight no wind could shake,

For sowing rooted far and near,

For men and dreams like these, we make

Thanksgiving every year!

-- Nancy Byrd Turner

From the book: The Year Around (Poems for Children)

Turn Calamity into a Blessing

2009-11-17T08:05:00.000-05:00

"If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to happiness and all perfection, he must first tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing."

--William Law

The Thankful Heart

2009-11-14T08:26:00.000-05:00

"The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings"

--Henry Ward Beecher

3 Columns!

2009-11-12T12:03:00.000-05:00

I finally changed my blog over to three columns! And changed my background... again! ;) What do you think? (I'm still working on the header.)

Pilgrim Child

2009-11-09T09:00:00.004-05:00

If I were a Pilgrim Child

If I were a Pilgrim Child,

Dressed in white and gray,

I should catch a turkey wild

For Thanksgiving Day.

I should pick my cranberries

Fresh from out a bog,

And make a table of a stump

And sit upon a log.

An indian would be my guest

And wear a crimson feather,

And we should clasp our hands and say

Thanksgiving grace together.

But I was born in modern times

And shall not have this joy.

My cranberries will be delivered

By the grocery boy.

My turkey will be served upon

A shining silver platter.

It will not tast as wild game tastes

Though it will be much fatter;

And, oh, of all the guests that come

Not one of them will wear

Moccasins upon his feet

Or feathers in his hair!

--Rowena Bennett

From the Book: The Year Around (Poems for Children)

Writing on the Weekends # 11

2009-11-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

Wow! Has it really been two months since I last did one of these?! Boy, time sure does fly! I have been really busy for the last couple of weeks due to our car having been totaled. There are a lot of formalities involved and there is a lot of work to still be done. We are in the midst of trying to find a new vehicle and are currently borrowing my uncle's jeep (wich doesn't fit all of us.) But, I am thankful that God is providing for all of our needs and blessing us with much love and support from friends and family.

Sorry for such a gap in my posts! Thank you all for being so patient with me. I have, for the last two months, had a huge lack of interest in anything remotely pertaining to writing. I think, with all the blogs and things that I write on as well as working on my book made me kind of fizzle out for a while. I just needed a break from it all, but I'm back now and ready to get to work. :)

This weeks spark word is: Crisp

If you are new to "Writing on the weekend's" you can find the rules HERE.

Please remember to add the link to your post for this meme and not the link to your blog. Thank you for participating!

Roses Among Thorns

2009-11-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

"Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns."

-- Anonymous

November Poem

2009-11-02T10:26:00.004-05:00

November

November comes,
And November goes
With the last red berries
And the first white snows,

With night coming early
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.

-- Elizabeth Coatsworth

From the book: The Year Around (Poems for Children)

A New Look and Update

2009-10-21T12:44:00.000-04:00

Hi to all my readers out there. It's been a while since I wrote. I hadn't even realized it until I went to change my blog background. I just thought I would come on and let you all know that I am still alive. lol! The past two weeks have been packed with drama at my house. My grandmother visited and during that time my mom got into an accident and got rear-ended in my grandmother's car. The damage wasn't that bad thankfully and no one was hurt. The big event that was packed with drama, however, was when my family and I were awakened at 3:50 AM. by a crash. We all thought that there was a seven car pile up outside our house, that is how loud it was. Come to find out the police had been chasing a stolen vehicle which had skidded and flipped through our yard, smashed up our one and only vehicle, then continued flipping down our driveway across the street and into our neighbors yard. Praise God no one was injured and they were able to catch the people responsible. So, that is one of the many reasons I have not written in a while. I will try to get a few things up for y'all to read soon. In the meantime... What do you think of my blog's new look?

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Mickey's Christmas Carol Giveaway!

2009-09-30T12:21:00.000-04:00

"My Wee View" is having a giveaway of the 'Mickey's Christmas Carol' movie. Go here to enter!

-Jessica

Go Ahead!

2009-09-25T08:45:00.001-04:00

Kind of an intriguing title, don't you think? I wanted to share with my readers something that I did in my writing this week.

Some of you may not know that I am writing a Christian Fiction book. While I won't be sharing it with all of you over the internet, I am willing to share my journey with you. :)

This week, I did something new with my book. It can best be described as a story board. This concept is something that producers and directors use with movies. Since I basically have all of my book already mapped out in my head, something that I has never happened with any of my other attempts at books, I decided to go through and write out the basics of what I want to happen in each of my chapters. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that you should write ahead of yourself! The reason I did this was so that I didn't have to continue to log all of my ideas for future chapters in my head. I already had all of my chapters mapped out in an outline, but now I have actually gone through and written a more detailed description of the basis of what will happen in each one.

Don't take this the wrong way by thinking that my story is now set in stone. I left myself plenty of room for changes and there are also still some things that I have not figured out.

One thing that this did for me, was to map out my vision. As I went through and re-read what I had written, ideas popped into my head of feelings and events that should happen with my characters that I hadn't thought of before. Also, it gave me the opportunity to see the basic flow of my story and see if there was anything that felt out of place or unnatural. In a sense, it was sort of a small pre-first draft.

Let me give you an example...

Lets say you are writing a book about a twenty year old Jewish man immigrating to NYC during the great depression. Here is what a future chapter short draft might look like...

Chapter eight

Micah finds himself working two jobs in the slums of New York. At night, he works as a street cleaner and in the day, he works at a small book shop. He earns five dollars a day. He misses his family more than the average immigrant due to the fact that his father disinherited him before he left Germany. He sends a letter to his family once a week with some money so they know how he is, but never receives a reply. Micah struggles with feelings of fear and doubt. Was coming to New York really a good idea? Every night, he is afraid of being robbed or beat up as he goes about cleaning the streets. Due to his long hours, Micah has made few friends. He feels lonely and cut off from the world. While many people are struggling to make ends meet and pay their bills, Micah struggles more with his inner thoughts and feelings. All of this has made him have a stronger dependence on God. Micah finds a small missions outreach and joins the cause. He gets permission to hand out pamphlets at his day job and also helps by volunteering with the young people who come to the mission house. While doing this, he meets a like minded Jewish man whom he becomes close friends with.

So, does that make sense? At least part of the chapter has already been mapped out. So, as you write your book, at each new chapter, you can read what you wrote and see more clearly what your vision is. What is and still needs to happen with your characters and the plot of your story. It makes for a much clearer thinking process because you have your basic idea mapped out. If you change something in your story, you can better see how it affects the rest of the plot.

I know this doesn't work for every person that enjoys writing. For one thing, we don't always have our entire story mapped out chapter by chapter. lol! But, if you do, this can be a great way to remember certain details about future events in your book that you haven't gotten around to writing yet. Lets face it, it can take a long time to write a book. In the meantime, you don't want to forget the ideas you have. If your notes are right there at the bottom of your manuscript, It's easier to stay on track. :)

Happy Writing!
-Jessica

Heart Strings

2009-09-19T08:48:00.001-04:00

For some reason, I recently thought good and hard about the subject of a readers emotions as they read through a book. The most important thing in writing, I think, is the reactions of a reader. A writer should want to draw out certain emotions from his/her audience; just as the director of a movie would do.

When you go to the movies, you are drawn in by the characters. You sympathize with them, you feel hurt with them; you feel their fear, anger, jealousy, suffering, heartache, exhaustion, adrenalin, etc. In truth, You go on the journey with the characters and are, for a moment, the characters themselves. Thus the reason we, as an audience, often cry, laugh, and get excited when watching a movie or reading a book. We become attached to the main characters as if they were good friends of ours.

Just as an example to better explain what I mean, a few years back I read a book called "Though none go with me" By Jerry B. Jenkins. I wouldn't normally read a book like this but for some reason, the cover design itself intrigued me. The book was, in a nutshell, about a woman who's husband gets alzheimers disease. I'm not the kind of girl that cries during sappy movies and books. Yet this book had me bawling for the whole second half of it! To this day, I still remember the entire story and everything that happened to the characters along the way; almost as if it were my own memory. I could literally tell you everything about it. If I was to think about it now for more than a few minutes, I would probably start crying again, just at the memory.

As readers, we often place ourselves into the books we read. We become the hero or heroine. I could easily start crying over this book again, not because the characters were real life people, but because the situation was something that has happened to many couples in real life. All that I have to do is imagine how I would feel if my husband (For the future, that is.) couldn't remember who I was.

I think that a truly good writer is one that can evoke certain emotions into his/her audience. To pinpoint an exact moment like... the day a character sang at his/her kindergarten talent show, or when a character gets handed his/her highschool diploma; the moment two characters say "I do" at their wedding, or find out that their mother or father has died; and then not only share the feelings of the characters and the thoughts going through their heads, but also make the audience feel the exact same way. In a sense, grabbing a readers heart strings.

Maybe it's just me that does this with books and movies. LOL! Some of you are probably saying to yourselves..."Is this girl mad?!" But I doubt that you haven't done this yourself to some extent. Don't tell me that you have never had a brother, sister, or friend jump out at you from behind a corner. Your stomache jumps, your throat tightens up, and you catch your breath in fear. That action evokes emotions in you. You usually freak out when someone jumps out from behind a corner because it isn't expected. It's the same thing with a movie or book. Does that make sense?

So, when we write, we need to always keep in mind what our audience is going through; not just the characters. We should know exactly what we want them to feel and think and write in a way that makes them feel accordingly.

Lets consider a few classical books as an example.

Anne of Green Gables : The moment that Anne smacks the slate over Gilbert's head after he calls her "carrots."
- This emotion is anger; followed by a slight regret for her actions. Anne is angry because she is vain about the way she looks. She hates her red hair. The idea that an annoying boy would call her a name that pricks at her pride is infuriating. As an audience, we think..."ha ha! Right on! He got what was coming to him!" or "That was a bit rash, she didn't need to go to such extreme measures." Also, here, gilbert displays a sense of remorse for his actions which makes the audience think that he is not all that bad and maybe didn't really deserve to have a slate thrown over his head.

Little Women : The moment that Laurie proposes to Jo.
- We feel for two characters here. We understand how Jo feels. Laurie is her chum. She doesn't love him like that but at the same time, she doesn't want to hurt him and risk loosing him as a friend. We feel bad for Laurie because we know how much Jo means to him and we too don't want him to be hurt. In this scenario, we hurt for the characters. We know Laurie's proposal will be turned down and we feel sorry for the both of them and the pain that this will cause. The emotion here is sympathy.

Pride and Prejudice : The moment After both Jane and Elizabeth have become engaged.
- The emotion here is obvious, I think. Joy and rapture! Yahoo! They finally got married and everything has turned out right in the end.

Peter Pan : The moment Tinkerbell dies to save Peter.
- We feel sad here. Peter is so foolish to not trust Tink and believe her when she says his medicine is poisoned by hook. When she drinks it to save Peters life, even after he has banished her, we feel sorry for Tink and mad at Peter for not listening to her.

So any time that you write, remember to consider your audience. Even if it is just your own family, your writing should arouse in them some sort of emotion or feeling that they can take away. Write with meaning and purpose. Don't waist a single inch of paper. :)

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Custom Earring Giveaway!

2009-09-15T11:28:00.001-04:00

A very good friend of mine, Julia from the blog "Julia's Journal", is having a giveaway to celebrate her 200th post. She is giving away a custom set of earrings made especially for the winner! She can make earrings for girls with or without pierced ears which is a big plus! You can learn more about this giveaway by going Here.

God Bless!
Jessica

Bag Giveaway

2009-09-15T11:18:00.001-04:00

Lindsay, a very sweet young lady from the blog "Content in Christ", is having a bag giveaway! Go here to find out more about it!

Writing on the Weekends #10

2009-08-29T12:02:00.003-04:00

If you are new to this meme, you can find my rules Here.

Last weeks "Writing on the Weekends" brought about some great short stories and poems. So, this week I decided to do another spark word.

Spark Word: The Old Opera House

Please remember to add the link to your post for this meme and not the link to your blog. Thank you for participating!

In Christ,
Jessica

5 Minutes for Mom giveaway's

2009-08-24T12:55:00.003-04:00

"5 Minutes for Mom" is having a whole bunch of great looking giveaway's! Come Here to check them out!

-Jessica

Writing on the weekends #9

2009-08-15T06:00:00.003-04:00

Here we are yet again! I am so excited to share with you another writing prompt!

If you are new to this meme, you can find the rules and more about it here.

This week for Writing on the Weekends, I will give you a spark word and you can write anything that "Sparks" your fancy! Whatever it makes you think of or inspires in you to write about. It can be a poem, a short story, the sharing of an old memory, whatever you want.

Spark Word: Frayed Ribbons

I can't wait to see what you all come up with and see all the ideas for stories and things that this brings out in you! Have fun writing!

Please remember to put in the link to your actual writing post and not the address to your blog. Thank you!

In Christ,
Jessica

Sorry For The Lack Of A Post!

2009-08-08T20:28:00.005-04:00

Today was supposed to be the next "Writing On The Weekends" post. I am so sorry that I didn't get it up for you all. Normally, I write the post earlier in the week and then schedule it to come up on it's own. Unfortunately, this week, I was very sick with a sore throat and sinus/head cold. I was sick from Tuesday all the way to today and am still getting over it slightly. I ended up using more than a whole box of tissue if that tells you anything. lol!

So, what I am going to do is, post the "WOTW" posts on the 15th and the 29th of this month. That way, I will be able to participate too. I don't really even have the brain power to come up with a writing prompt for you guys write now. I completely forgot all about it. I hope that this doesn't inconvenience any of you. Sorry for not getting it up for you guys. I hope you all have a great week of writing despite my lack of posting!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Photo contest results!

2009-08-05T15:53:00.003-04:00

Hello to all my readers out there!
I have some exciting news! I won second place in Lauren Ann's photo contest and will be receiving a blog makeover! I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

A Novel Idea

2009-08-04T11:27:00.004-04:00

This morning, While blog jumping, I came across a pretty good looking book about writing from a Christian standpoint. It is called "A Novel Idea: Best Advice On Writing Inspirational Fiction." It comes out in November, so it's not on the shelves yet, thus I don't have a review for y'all. It is a book on different writing tips and things from different Christian authors like...

* Jerry B. Jenkins
* Francine Rivers
* Karen Kingsbury
* Randy Alcorn
* Terry Blackstock
* Robin Jones Gunn
* Angela Hunt
*... And more!

Not sure exactly how good it is. Because, Like I said, it isn't out on the shelves yet and because many of the author's write romance novel's, Which as many of you may already know that I no longer read due to some convictions I have on the subject. But, I thought I would share this with y'all so that when it comes out, you would know about it and could check it out if you wanted to. There is nothing better to get a person in a writing mood than to read a book on the subject! I love reading books about writing. It's always nice to find new and unique ideas for writing prompts/exercises, and to get great new tips! Go Here to check it out! There isn't much on it yet because... well, no one has actually read it yet. But it looks pretty good! If my library gets a copy, I will get it out and read it and post a review sometime later on this year.

In Christ,
Jessica

The Lost - "WOTW" #8 - Jessica

2009-07-31T15:51:00.018-04:00

This weeks writing prompt was to write something containing the word lost. Here is what I came up with.

The Lost
By: Jessica

Lost.
We stumble along in the dark.
Not knowing where to turn.

Our hearts long
For just one thread of hope.

Searching, grasping
Our fingers meet only
The emptiness of air.

Hot tears of grief
stream down our faces
overwhelming us.

We are slowly suffocating
In a sea of people.

At last,
It becomes too much
For a person to bear.

Yet, light appears
In the most trying times.

When all hope is lost,
we see a haven up ahead.

Knocking,
The door is opened to us.

We have finally found
Refuge.

A place has been
Prepared for us.

We are Home at last.

So, what do you think it is about? Can you figure it out? I hope you enjoyed reading this. I wasn't at all having any ideas for this weeks writing prompt. When all of a sudden, as I was listening to a classical song, I had all of these ideas and sentences run into my head. So really, it wasn't me at all. God gave me the ideas. I hope you all liked it!

To God be the Glory!
-Jessica

Blog giveaway!

2009-07-29T08:31:00.003-04:00

Rachel found this great blog giveaway. It is a really pretty quilt! Come and check it out here!

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Blog Giveaways!

2009-07-27T08:29:00.005-04:00

Hello all!
I just wanted to let you know about a great opportunity to win some amazing giveaways! My sister and I are hosting a week full of giveaways called "The Summer Blast Giveaway!" We will be giving something away every day this week! You can Go Here to check it out each day and enter. Have fun and I hope to see you there! The giveaway week will be from the 27-31 of July.

Many Blessings,
Jessica

P.S. Just so you know, you need to check out the rules in order to enter. We do have some formalities that you need to know about. Like how you can enter and the rules concerning people outside the U.S.A.
{A link is embedded in each giveaway post so that you can go and see the rules. All that you have to do is click on it.}

Writing on the weekends # 8

2009-07-25T01:00:00.002-04:00

If you are new to "Writing on the Weekends" you can find the rules for this meme by clicking Here.

What a whirlwind it has been this past week. I have been so busy that I almost forgot to write this up for y'all! lol!

I recently asked Arianna if she would be interested in making up some writing prompts for "Writing on the Weekends." She sent me an e-mail full of really fun and neat looking writing prompts. So, I thought I would share one of them with you all today!

Here is the writing prompt for this week...

Lost
Have you ever Wandered off and gotten lost? What happened? Was it the actual physical state of being lost such as being lost in a city or forest or is it a spiritual state of being lost and not knowing God? What are some of the ways your character finds his/her way back home? Does one of your characters enjoy being lost and is not in any hurry to return home? Write a short story, poem, essay, etc. using the word lost and share it with us! :)

Just as a note really quickly...
Last week a few of you put your names into the link before you wrote your post. I just wanted to make an opened statement and say that you shouldn't be putting your name in until you have actually written the writing prompt of the week. When you put in your link, it should be of the exact post that your writing for the writing prompt is contained in. If you link simply to your blog, then a few months/years down the road if someone wants to read what you wrote they will come up with your blog instead of the actual post. Does that make sense? So, please only put the link to your post in the URL box, not your actual blog address that way in later months people will be able to easily read the post that contains your writing instead of having to sift through all of your other blog posts.

Well, there you have it! I can't wait to do this one and see what y'all come up with! It is such an interesting and creative writing prompt. Thanks Ena for sharing your ideas!

Happy Writing!
Jessica

Others

2009-07-17T12:09:00.005-04:00

I have always loved this poem. It is a great reminder that we should always be living for others instead of ourselves. In fact, I love it so much, I may commit it to memory sometime in the near future!

Others

Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self forgetful way,
that even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for others.

Others, Lord, yes, others,
Let this my motto be:
Help me to live for others,
That I may live like thee.

Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true,
And know that all I'd do for You
Must need be done for others.

Let "self" be crucified and slain
And buried deep: and all in vain
May efforts be to rise again,
Unless to live for others.

-Charles D. Meigs

Many Blessings!
Jessica

Mr. Nobody

2009-07-14T08:02:00.003-04:00

Have you ever had that instance in your family where tracks of mud go through the kitchen or water was spilled on the floor in front of the sink and no one seems to know who did it so they can come and clean it up? we certainly have experienced that in my family. In times like this, my mom likes to say that "Mr. Nobody" did it. She has said this since I was little. Every time the door was left opened and we all shout "It wasn't me" mom would say, "So, it was Mr. Nobody that did it!"

Today I found this fun and sweet poem that is about just this type of thing. When events happen that no one can own up to having done because they don't know who did it, "Mr. Nobody" gets all the credit!

Mr. Nobody

(Author Unknown)

I know a funny little man,
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody's house!
There's no one ever sees his face,
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.

'Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar,
He pulls the buttons from our shirts,
And scatters pins afar;
That squeaking door will always
squeak
For, Prithee, don't you see,
We leave the oiling to be done
By Mr. Nobody.

He puts damp wood upon the fire,
That kettles cannot boil;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he?
There's no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.

The finger-marks upon the door
By none of us are made;
We never leave the blinds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade.
The ink we never spill, the boots
That lying round you see
Are not our boots; they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.

I hope you enjoyed reading that! I was overjoyed when I found it in a new poetry book my parents just got. I am finding all sorts of treasures in it. It is called "One Thousand Poems for Children". Yup, I plan to read all one thousand of them! I can't wait to dive in! I hope you are having a wonderful summer!

Many Blessings,
Jessica

Writing on the Weekends #7

2009-07-11T01:00:00.013-04:00

I am really excited to see what comes out of your writing for this weeks "Writing on the Weekends." I found this image at "The Graphics Fairy". She puts up Vintage images every day for you to use with whatever you want. I just love her blog and really enjoy looking at all of her great images.

Here are the rules for this meme. Even if you already know them, take a look again because I have changed them and added some things. Just so you know what I accept.

Here is your Writing Prompt! Have fun!

Using the image below, write anything you want. A short story, A poem, etc. Have fun with this and use your imagination! (You can click the picture to see a larger image of it!)

Happy Writing!
Jessica

How To Tell That A Family Member Love's Writing

2009-07-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

The other day, I was thinking over this idea and decided to write up a funny little list of things that show your family you love writing. I hope you enjoy these. I certainly had a blast writing them all up!

How To Tell That A Family Member Love's Writing...

1. They have confiscated all of the writing/literary books in your house.

2. You find random scraps of paper all over the house with lines of their writing that read similar to... "The child looked longingly at the bright sugar candies in the shop window." or "Story idea - Family during the great depression. Living in slums. No father."

3. Not only do they know what a thesaurus is, but they also know how to use one.

4. They never seem to have a scrap of paper when they need it.

5. They constantly have spouts of genius but if they don't write it down right away, they forget the ideas they had.

6. They actually use the dictionary.

7. They talk to themselves a lot.

8. They will often use out of the ordinary words like "grecian", "envelop", and "degradation."

9. They despise spelling, grammar, and punctuation more than the average person.

10. They know the difference between a synonym, antonym, homonym, and idiom.

11. They know what writer's block is and have experienced it on numerous occasions.

12. They have access to a rhyming dictionary and know how to use it even if they don't actually enjoy writing poetry.

LOL! I hope you enjoyed reading those! How many of them actually were true of you?

Blessings,
Jessica

Writing on the Weekends - Rules

2009-07-10T15:09:00.009-04:00

For those of you that are new with this, here is how it will work...

I will post the second and fourth Saturday of each month a writing prompt. This will help you to get your imagination flowing and help you to generate ideas for your own personal writing. Each week a prompt is posted you can do the assignment and post it on your blog with one of the "Writing on the Weekends" pictures and a link to my blog so other people can come and check it out.

Here are the rules...

1. Have fun! This is to get your imagination going not to make you feel obligated to write.

2.There is no age limit.

3. Don't compare what you write with what other people write. Everyone has different strengths and weakness' and different styles of writing. Also people are at different levels of maturity due to the fact that there is no age limit.

4. Post what you write onto your blog anytime during the following two weeks after the writing prompt is posted.

5. Include one of the "Writing on the Weekends" pictures in your post (if you can).

6. Link to me.

7. You don't have to do it every week. Sometimes you may be brimming with ideas and things to write. You will probably have some of the assignments that will spark your imagination more than others.
Though, I would suggest trying to do as many as possible. It's good to write when you don't feel like writing.

8. Add a link to your post in the Mr. Linkie widget. This way, everyone can see what you wrote and enjoy your beautiful writing skills as well as give you tips on how you can improve or praise you for your hard work!

9. Though I think most of the people currently following me are Christians, I want to state right here that foul language and inappropriate subject matter is not acceptable. I will be reading every blog that does this (provided you put in a link) and if there is anything that I do not feel is appropriate, I will be giving you a warning about it. If you continue to put in things that are not appropriate for young eyes, I will not allow you to add your links. If I have to, I will make you all put your links in the comments again and I will sift through them myself.
Though, I don't believe we will be having any problems with this, I wanted to state it now. I hope and pray that I never have any problems with this.

Things that are unacceptable to write about for this blog meme...

1. Dating/ungodly romances.
2. Anything with cussing and foul language.
3. Magic/witchcraft/Vampires. (This includes fanciful creatures such as unicorns and dragons.
4. Detailed descriptions of violence. (such as the details of a battle, etc. We really don't want to read about anything like that, please.)

I may think of more rules and things later if I have new ideas or problems begin to arise in areas that I did not forsee. These rules may be changed/upgraded in future.

These are based on my own convictions about what is wholesome and godly. Please do not argue with me and post rude and ungodly comments to me about this subject. It is possible to write good things without including any of this content in your material. I appreciate and am glad for your participation!

Blessings,
Jessica

Writing on the Weekends

2009-07-08T14:37:00.003-04:00

I have reached a decision about my "Writing on the Weekends" writing prompts. I will be doing it the second and fourth Saturday of each month. Then I don't feel as swamped but I will still be able to do it and you all won't have to be doing it every week either but could have a break. Then you would also have two weeks to write instead of one. (Which would give you all more time to think up ideas and more time to write.)

Thank you all for your impute! I will also be doing what Arianna Suggested. Giving you all prompts from time to time that are called "Spark Words". ( I found this on another blog.) Basically the idea is that I would give you all just a word or a phrase and then you write whatever you want. Whatever that word inspires within you to write. Pretty neat huh?!

So, This Saturday will be the first "WOTW" post since this changed schedule. I will try harder from now on to get these posts up for all of you to enjoy and be inspired by. I will also be trying to write more often myself. My sister and I worked out a computer schedule so hopefully my writing will be more frequent.

Many Blessing to you All!
-Jessica

In The Still of the Night

2009-07-06T07:22:00.018-04:00

I wrote this poem up last night while waiting for Rachel to come to bed. I hope you enjoy it. It is a free verse and is just about how I was feeling at the time through imagery. I hope you enjoy it!

In the Still of the Night

By: Jessica

Night.
The time
When all is silent.

Animals
Have turned in
For the night.

A soft breeze
Floats
Over tired meadows.

The brook,
Which was bubbly this morning,
Now lays noiselessly
At the edge of the woods.

The flower's
Have curled
Up in their petals
As they await the light of dawn.

A loan cricket
Sings forth his sweet lullaby
As the eyes of babes droop
In mother's arms.

The warm glow of lamps
Shines through
The windows of houses.

All
Is at peace
In this small
Part of the world.

With the silence comes
Reflection; thoughts
Of the days events and
The mystery of tomorrow.

Covers cuddle gently round us and
We fall asleep to the
Calm nothingness of the
Night.

(Please do not copy my works without permission. Thank you!)

The "Perfect" Character

2009-07-01T09:49:00.004-04:00

An old writing pitfall of mine is best known as a "Flawless Character." I am sure many of you have never experienced this in your writing; but for those of you that have or are doing this without knowing it, I want you to know that you are not in this boat alone.

For many years I wrote my characters as "Perfect." As in... they never did anything wrong, they never made bad decisions, they didn't have any character flaws such as anger, jealousy, or pride. When I was younger, I didn't even know I was doing this. No wonder my characters were boring! They were completely unrealistic to life!

Let me just say, that a flawless character can be overcome. Believe me! You can do it! One of the biggest things that has helped me to overcome the desire to make my characters flawless is the exercise of doing a background on my characters. After the usual, age, gender, and outward appearance have been made up and written down, I always make myself write out a category for my characters' flaws. Sometimes it pains me to do it. After all, I know my character. I want them to succeed. But it is important to remember that without things to overcome, including their own downfalls, a character doesn't have an opportunity to grow and learn.

Now, this may seem funny to some of you. After all, a character having room to grow is somewhat of a silly notion. They aren't really real. They are only make believe. This is often the thinking of people that don't understand writing. But, truth be told, a character is very real to it's writer. Sometimes because it was based on a close friend or relative and sometimes because the character is literally real to it's writer. Like if you wrote a character that was a symbol of your ideal friend. You would want them to succeed and that character would be close to your heart because it was something so similar to your dreams in your own life.

From a readers point of view, we want the character to be real to us. We want to feel with them things like excitement, anger, jealousy, fear, independence, determination, and so much more. If our character's have no flaws, there is nothing for us to relate with; nothing for them to learn and overcome; and nothing worth reading.

The only way the word perfect should be said of a character is if the flaw is the perfection. If the character has an overwhelming desire for things to always be in order or the character believes the delusion in their own pride that they are, in fact, perfect in every way.

So, next time you sit down to write, even if it is just a short story, remember to give your characters flaws. Flaws help us to relate and grow with the characters as they go on their journeys through the story.

Blessings,
Jessica

What are your thoughts?

2009-06-28T13:56:00.005-04:00

Hello all!
For some time now, I have been struggling to both think of and get time enough to write up a post for "Writing on the Weekends." When I do put up this writing prompt, there doesn't really seem to be a whole lot of interest. What are your thoughts? I am thinking that it might be better to just stop doing it and only write up posts on the other stuff like writing tips and things I am learning, books I am reading, etc. Is it worth it to all of you to actually do the writing prompts every week? Or maybe I should cut it down and do one a month? If no one really has time or is really interested in actually doing them, then there isn't really any point in my trying to squeeze it into my week. So, let me know what you all think. Honestly. I will not get hurt feelings. I promise! :)
I also have taken into account that people are more busy in the summer. Let me know your thoughts. Is it something you all are actually interested in?

Writing on the weekends #6

2009-06-13T06:00:00.005-04:00

My goodness! It's been a long time since I did this for you guys! Sorry, I have been so busy, that a lot of the time, I don't even get on computer long enough to write up a post containing this weeks writing prompt. Thank you all for being so patient and not getting annoyed with me!

Here is this weeks writing prompt...

Write a character profile/background on a character that has so many flaws it's funny. Also write up a short scenario about this character and what they would do in a certain situation.

Example: A character that is a klutz, has allergies, and continues to refer to themselves in the third person. Then you could write a short story/example about what this character would do at a movie theater or a carnival etc. and the repercussions of their character flaws.

Have fun!
-Jessica

What do you think?

2009-06-10T09:24:00.007-04:00

I got sick and tired of my previous background. I needed some color. More than just brown and green. So, after searching for a while, I came up with this. What do you think? I am also planning on adding a header and re-doing my blog button. I was going to wait until Amanda from "TDP" was done my blog background, header, button, etc. But I found I couldn't wait another day. I was sick of my old background and needed a change. I was hoping for something a bit more... flowery?... but this is a nice temporary one. Hope you all like it! It is a bit bright. Let me know if it blinds you!

In Christ,
Jessica

Update

2009-06-06T10:33:00.004-04:00

It's funny how things work. Lately, both my writing and this blog have been greatly overlooked and shoved to the back of my mind. Spring and summer truly are the busiest times of the year. I am continuing to slowly write the first draft of my book. I can see now how silly it was of me to make the new years resolution to finish my first draft by the end of the year. I am still working on the first three chapters! I can't even begin to share how amazed I am that the year is half over already. Time sure does fly! I have been so busy with my other two blogs that I write on and doing stuff around the house, having my grandmother visit and working on little things like slowly cutting out my quilt squares and reading books that I haven't had the time to come on here and write.

I have also sorely neglected to do the "Writing on the Weekends" for all of you. I am sorry about that! This year is proving to be more jam packed than I had originally anticipated. Please bare with me! I will try and get some new things posted soon.

God Bless,
Jessica

I've been featured!

2009-06-03T09:33:00.002-04:00

Hello all! I have been featured on Arianna's blog. She interviewed me about my writing. Go Here to check it out. I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope you enjoy reading it and learning a little bit more about me and why I enjoy writing.

In Christ,
Jessica

Vintage Earrings Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-03T08:24:00.000-04:00

Go Here to see the tutorial and giveaways!

This is so neat and the earrings look nice too! Go and check them out. The directions for how to enter are at the bottom of the post after the tutorial. I am not a fan of everything on this sight, but most of it is pretty good even if I myself wouldn't wear them for various reasons. So far, I have not seen anything that was immodest. Just things that are fun and cute but that aren't really my style. I am hoping to win the Pink set!

In Christ,
Jessica

"Basket of Flowers" blog Giveaway!

2009-05-09T15:52:00.003-04:00

Laura at "A Basket of Flowers" is having a blog giveaway. Come here to check it out!

An Earring Giveaway!

2009-05-05T08:13:00.004-04:00

Hannah is having an earring giveaway! Come here to see it! She has made three sets of some beautiful earrings. I can't wait to find out who wins!

In Christ,
Jessica

Spring Morning

2009-04-30T06:00:00.007-04:00

Here is a free verse poem I wrote up yesterday. I sort of wrote it spur of the moment so, it could be a bit squiggy in some places. I hope you all enjoy it!

Spring Morning
By: Jessica

A vase of
Freshly cut lilacs
Adorn her desk

Birds chirp merrily
in the tree
Outside her window

Water droplets
sleep soundlessly
On green leafy pillows

Flowers dance
In a slow, lazy Waltz
With the wind

Gray, misty clouds
Hover
overhead

The deep, rich bark
Drinks in the fresh water
From a light, spring rain

A new smell of peppermint
Travels through the opened window
Kissing the curtains as it passes

A small girl
Sighs with contentment
as a smile creeps across her gentle face

Spring
has come
At last

Have a blessed day!
-Jessica

News Articles - A Fun Writing Activity

2009-04-28T11:12:00.042-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while since I actually posted anything worth commenting about. However, that's about to change! A long while back, I did a fun writing prompt with Arianna. We had a lot of fun doing it even though we were feeling a lack of creativity at the time. I meant to put up a post about it directly after we had finished, but unfortunately, I hit a snag. See, something happened as I copied and pasted things over into the post which made the html get completely messed up somehow. Thus, I didn't post it right away out of pure frustration. Then, I didn't post it because I forgot and when I did remember, I didn't have the time. Isn't that the way it always works! LOL. So, here it is finally! Sorry it took so long for me to get it up. I hope that you all enjoy it! I am sharing these with Ena's permission. Partly just for laughs and partly to show you how much a writing buddy can help you to improve your writing skills and make writing more fun and interesting.

Here is what we did...
Each of us wrote out about five news headlines. We tried to show variety by making some of them funny and some of them serious. Next, we sent each other the headlines we had written. Then, each of us picked out two of our favorite headlines that the other one had sent us and wrote pretend newspaper articles for each of them. Then, we sent a copy of what we had written to each other. It was a lot of fun to read what the other had written for the headlines we made up!

I hope you enjoy reading these!
News articles Written by: Arianna
(Headlines written by :Jessica)

In this first one, Arianna made up a fake newspaper name for herself.

Balloon Accident! Grandfather gets lost at sea when hot air balloon drifts from Ocean City's shoreline!

By: Tami Spell

85-year old, Aaron Manning was lost at sea on a hot air balloon trip, March 26. When strong winds started blowing in Monterrey, California, the balloon became out of control, and Aaron and the hot air balloon worker, Joseph Keith lost control and were whisked away to the sea.

"I was stuck in city traffic, and the next thing I know a big red and yellow balloon goes right over my head and out to the sea." ,says witness, Sally Anderson.

Three hours later, the gusts of wind were even stronger, and the coast guard was sent to find the two missing persons. Just as it was getting dark, they found Aaron and Joseph hanging onto the basket of the balloon as the waves carried them farther and farther away from Ocean City. The balloon was ruined and will never be used again, but Aaron and Joseph remained unharmed, although very wet.

"My poor baby is destroyed beyond compare." cried Joseph Keith. But grandpa Manning, eyes dancing with excitement said, "That was a thrill! Lets do it again!"

Dress your best for Cinderella's Royal Ball! Now at all Disney Parks! Call 1-888-LostMyShoe for your tickets. While supplies last.

Do you want to dance with Prince Charming, or exchange beauty tips with Ariel? Then come to Disney's Cinderella's Royal Ball! But there's no time to wait, because anxious princes and princesses have already bought all but six tickets to the ball!

If you want to be one of the lucky girl's or boys, and choose out your luxurious tux and gown from Sleeping Beauty's Boutique located at Enchanted Forest, Wave Your Wand Rd. and don't forget to get a bite to eat before the big event at Be Our Guest Cafe, where Lumiere and Mrs. Potts will personally serve you. See you there, and save me a dance!

News articles written by: Jessica
(Headlines written by: Arianna)

Weirdest Clothing Fashions of the Year!

There have been several sightings of weird clothing this year. America wants to know "What were they thinking when they wore...?" We had interviews with a few of the worst cases of clothing meltdowns in 2008. Here is what they said.

Katie Myers (A.K.A. The Bubble Wrap Girl.)

What inspired you to dress yourself in bubble wrap?
"Well, I wanted to do something that would stand out. You know, make me different from everyone else. I saw this box of bubble wrap from my dad's work and thought... Hey, that's it! So, I used duct tape and made myself a whole suit. I went to school like that and ever since, I have been one of the most popular kids in school. It's great!

We had a chat with Katie's mom, also. Here is what she said.

"Everyone may think that Katie did it because of fashion. But the truth is, she kept getting hurt in gym class. She finally got so sick of the bruises that she was coming home with that she just wrapped herself up in bubble wrap one day and went to school like that. It must be working because she hasn't complained since."

Danny Thatcher (A.K.A. Paper Clip Boy)

At the beginning of 2008, Danny Thatcher came up with a pair of magnetic for a birthday party gag. Here is what he said.

What gave you the idea for magnetic pants?

"At first, It all started out as a prank on one of my buddies. I loaned him a pair of my 'pants' for the day. He ended up calling me about an hour later saying that he was stuck to the outside of some bus. It was so funny! I ended up laughing so hard that I was rolling on the floor! Then, all of a sudden, all of my friends were asking me to make them a pair and also make some for them to give to friends for birthday gifts. The next thing I know, I company comes to me with a contract and asking me to write a book on magnetic pants party games. It was weird seeing all these grown men try out my magnetic pants in our backyard. They all ended up getting stuck to our swing-set! It was too funny for words!"

So, there you have it folks! Some of the years wackiest clothing flops. We will share two more such stories in our next column. Until then, try not to have any of your own freaky fashion meltdowns!

Signed,
Ted Tux

from: "Do, No, Don't Wear That!" Magazine.

New Pacific Island Discovered by Stranded Plane Crash Survivors!

We've all seen it in the movies and on TV. Some helpless people get stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, destined to eat bananas and coconuts for perhaps the rest of their lives. We probably don't give it a second thought. We think... "They're stranded. Big deal!" We all know they will be rescued in the end!

But for Amanda Harris, Jack Waltman, Mike Garner, and Penny Sanderson, the movie became a reality. In May of '08, the four were lost after an airliner crashed near the Pacific Islands. They were missing for eight weeks. When they got back, all they wanted was a hot bath and their privacy.

However, we know how much our readers love to be touched by the stories of other people's lives. So, we managed to get an exclusive interview with three of the four survivors. Here is what they had to say.

Amanda: It was hard at first. We weren't sure what to do. But, we started making plans. We built a shelter, got together some food, tried our hand at catching fish which we failed miserably at, and almost had a run in with a few poisonous snakes.

Mike: It was like being trapped in Gilligan's Island. Only, at the end of the day, we couldn't go home at the end of the day like the actors did and sleep in our own beds. We started having to do the whole boy-scout thing. Collecting stuff to eat and watching out for wild animals and things. Jack was our main boy-scout. He's so athletic that he managed to catch us a some fish after a while and got really good at climbing the trees to get us fruit to eat. I tried once but I ended up spraining my ankle. After that, I just let Jack get the fruit.

Jack: So, here we were on this island, not knowing where we were or how far from civilization, and one day, this ship drives on by. We managed to get their attention and get home safe.

When did you find out that the island you were on was a new discovery?

Amanda: Not until after a few weeks of our being back home. It was really neat! I saw it on the news. There were our faces plastered all over my TV screen. I sat down and watched for a little bit; curious about what they were going to say. And suddenly, they announce that we discovered this new island and that they are naming it "Survivor Island" after us. I thought it was pretty neat!

What was it like taking care of a little one? Did any of you have any experience with children?

Jack: No, none of us had any experience with kids before the crash. Amanda got along the best with little Penny, so us guys just kind of let Amanda take care of her while we went and collected food and firewood. It worked out just right. And Amanda didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, since we have been home, we have gotten together a few times and Amanda and Penny are always inseparable. Penny just goes right up and sits in Amanda's lap. It's so adorable.

And there you have it folks! The exclusive story of the survivors of the '08 plane crash. Feel free to write to us us at www.survivorisland.com with any questions or comments you have.

Well, I hope that you all enjoyed these! I know I had fun writing them. I know the second one of mine is kind of boring, but I had zip creativity when I wrote it. I hope you all have a great week!

Happy writing!
Jessica

Contest Results

2009-04-21T07:11:00.015-04:00

Some of you may remember that I entered both a photography and short story contest. Well, on the not so good news... I didn't win either one.

Now for the good news... The short story that won was absolutely excellent! I loved it so much that I cried. That is saying a lot because I rarely feel a need to cry over something. I will sometimes be greatly moved by something but not so much so that I start to cry. Here is a link to her story. I advise you to go and read it. It is much shorter than mine was so it won't take too long to read. Just a few minutes at most. But it's message is so powerful and heart wrenching. I hope you all enjoy it.

(Note: I am not at all upset that I didn't win either one of the contests. I had a lot of fun doing them and it was a really great learning experience. I won't be under as much pressure next time I do one because I have already done one now and will know what I am doing.)

If you guys want, I will post my story sometime later this week/month.

Have a great week of writing!
Jessica

finally, a post!

2009-04-13T07:43:00.010-04:00

Sorry ya'll! I know it has been a while since I posted anything about actual writing on here. The main reason for this is that these past few weeks have been so crazy busy that I haven't had time to write anything and so have had no inspiration for anything I could share with you guys.

Hopefully that will change but I doubt it. The weeks ahead look as though they will be more busy, not less. LOL! I'll just have to excerpt myself and make myself go the extra mile. Otherwise, it might end up that again, I wouldn't write on here for weeks!

Some of the things that happened this week that made it impossible for me to post were...

1. My birthday
2. Preparation for the new blog "Meditations of His Love"
3. Easter
4. Sewing/copying patterns

I will try to write something a little more interesting sometime this week.

Have a wonderful day!

In Christ,
Jessica

Coming Soon!

2009-04-09T06:30:00.009-04:00

I have been working on a new blog with a couple of my blogging buddies and my sister Rachel. The blog is called "Meditations of His Love." It will officially come up and be opened for viewing on April 20th. I am so excited for you all to read this blog! It will be sort of a devotional theme. Each one of the writer's will be sharing impute and knowledge from both their daily devotionals and from studies that we will be doing as a group on certain biblical subjects like Submission and Prayer. We hope that this will open up doors for ministering and reaching out to other like minded Christians and that it will give us both the opportunity to bless others and be blessed ourselves. We also hope that it will be an encouragement to young people who struggle with reading their Bible's on a daily basis and doing devotionals.

Here is the blog address. Come and check it out on April 20th when our first blog post will be up for reading! (Note: We currently are still under construction so if you go and view it now, it won't be set up yet.)

Writing on the weekends

2009-04-04T15:09:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I know I skipped out on doing this last week due to a busy schedule. Sorry to say that I am going to have to do it again. I am not really feeling well today, despite the beautiful weather, and have zip ideas because my week has again been pretty busy. Both with a bunch of crafts and with sending off my story for the competition. I also have some things I need to catch up on that I haven't really been able to do since our internet has cut out a lot this past week. So, for now, I am not doing a writing on the weekends post for this week and I will probably skip next week as well because of my birthday and Easter.

So, even though I didn't give y'all a writing prompt, I hope you have a great week of writing!

God Bless!
Jessica

A Spring Poem

2009-04-01T09:45:00.004-04:00

Song in Spring

As I went walking
The road from town,
I gazed at Heaven
By looking down.

Buttercups, daisies,
And dandelions,
Lifted up vistas
Of long-sought Zions.

And patches of violets
I could spy
Were busy marrying
Earth with sky.

Until I felt,
On days like this,
Spring was rehearsing
Genesis.

-Louis Ginsberg

from the book: The Year Around-Poems For Children

Writing on the Weekends

2009-03-28T06:16:00.002-04:00

Well, this week I am going to do something different. I am not going to post anything for you guys to write this week.

The reason for this is that I have been so busy, that I didn't have the time this week to even write anything for last weeks writing prompt and that I didn't have time to think of a new prompt for this week.

So, I figured, I would give y'all a break and allow you to have the opportunity to do any of the other writing prompts from the past couple of weeks that you might have missed because of being to busy and not having enough time.

God Bless!
Jessica

The Finishing Touches

2009-03-25T12:52:00.005-04:00

Lately in between all of my sewing and reading and blogging and chores and dinners... etc, I have been putting the finishing touches and corrections into my short story before I send it off for the story competition. I already went through and edited it myself and now my older sister Rachel is reading through it for me and giving me pointers and tips as well as helping me to correct all of my grammar and spelling mistakes. So, I haven't really been writing lately because I have been very busy.

Apparently, I am not the only one that is busy these days. A lot of the other blogs I follow are currently in a lull right now because their writers are so busy. I think we are all in anticipation for spring to come into full swing also. Thus, we have less creativity when it comes to writing blog posts. LOL!

So, just wanted to write in with an update. No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! LOL! I have just been pretty busy with some other things outside of my blogging.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day!

In Christ,
Jessica

Writing on the Weekends #5

2009-03-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

Ok, we are on week five of the "writing on the weekends."

As far as I know, no one did last weeks writing prompt. (including myself because I was really busy. though hopefully I can do last weeks and this weeks sometime soon.)

Here is this weeks writing prompt...

- Write a silly home remedy for baldness, splinters, a common cold, cholera, etc.

This one looks like it will be a lot of fun! If you want, you can make up more than one home remedy. I think I might do that!

Have fun writing!
Jessica