Journal Entry #5



(How I wish I looked while writing)

 

(How I actually look while writing)

I'm reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban for the second or third time. I'm less than a hundred pages into it and I already look forward to coming home, curling up on my bed and just delving right in. Actually, I take it to work with me so it gives me something to do while I wait for my bus. There's also something comforting about taking a book with you wherever you go. It's almost like a safeguard, but I think I just like knowing it's there, stowed away in my backpack. The weight of it is comforting.
One thing I notice a lot when I read blog posts about how to be a better writer or how o make characters better or something along those lines, one example that constantly comes up is J.K. Rowling. Whether it's her tenacity, her will power, or, more often than not, her characters themselves, there is always something to glean from her. But what I've become tired of hearing is to try and make my characters as rounded, dynamic, deep, and genuine as the ones in Harry Potter. As if it's that easy. The place I'm at right now in my writing -not in a story, but in my writing- is that no one can duplicate characters like Severus Snape, the Marauders, Harry... Faramir, Samwise, Sauron... Screwtape, Edmond, Eustace. These characters have become as real to us as characters can be. We feel we know them intimately. But I would ask that no one expect such incredible skill on my part, because I can't just twitch my nose and add more layers to characters. Do you want to know the reason I procrastinate? Why it takes me so long to write even a single paragraph? Because me knowing my characters as intimately as knowing Harry or Sam is probably more important to me than the actual story. In developing these... people, there grows an affectionate bond. I love them and I care how they react to something, how they process things, how they respond, on more than a physical level or with words, but how their mind wraps around the information and puzzles over it. 
I get the feeling I overthink the whole "writing thing" quite a bit. I read a quote the other day that said something like, "If I waited for perfection, I would never write." Still, you can feel if a character does something, well, out of character. A ding goes off in your mind and that action or sentence stays in your mind until it's explained later on.
Sorry, I'm not sure where this post went. My goal was to explain that I am no J.K. Rowling, that she is one of those beautiful people who have blessed readers with her wonderful talent and imagination. But that doesn't mean I won't try to show my characters as more than just princesses, pirates, Hunters, and Seers.

-Grace

Journal Entry #4

You know what I was just thinking about? How no matter what you see an actor in, you will always associate them with that one character, usually the first you ever saw them portray. No matter what happens in their life, they will always be that one character.
For me, although I can't look at him now without seeing Professor Lupin, David Thewlis will forever be King Einon from DragonHeart.
Charlie Sheen, bad rep and all, will always be Aramis from The Three Musketeers.
Leonardo DiCaprio will always be King Louis XIV/Philippe from The Man in the Iron Mask.
Kiefer Sutherland will probably be a toss-up for me. Although he's iconic in my house for being Jack Bauer, he will probably also hold a spot as Athos from The Three Musketeers.
What about you? When you see certain actors and actresses, are there specific roles you always picture them in?

-Grace

Jounral Entry #3

(Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks)

 
How many Nicholas Sparks books have been adapted into movies? And of that number, how many have at least one person who dies in it?
I rewatched the trailer for The Longest Ride yesterday, and apart from a serious flashback to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, the movie actually looks really good. But I couldn't help asking myself, "Who's gonna die in this one?"
If you don't see my point, let's take a moment to look at Nicholas Sparks's novels-turned-movies:

• The Notebook -They both die in the end.
• The Lucky One -The husband dies.
• Safe Haven -The ex-husband dies.
• The Last Song -The dad dies.

Suffice to say that while I still do want to see The Longest Ride, I'm hesitant because I know someone's going to be offed by the end of it.
But as I was thinking about all of this, I couldn't help comparing it to other books-turned movies, or either entertainment medium in general.
Let's have another look, shall we?


(The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling)

• The Fault in Our Stars -Gus dies.
• Jurassic Park (the novel) -John Hammond dies.
• The Little Mermaid (the book) -She dies.
• The Hunger Games -EVERYONE dies.
• The Lunar Chronicles -Garrett, Grandmere, and Dr. Erland die.
• Dracula -Dead-ish.
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -Jadis dies.
• Pretty Little Liars (the first book) -Toby dies.
• Little Women -Beth dies.
• The Jungle Book -the one wolf dies.
• 80% of Grimm's Fairy Tales -People be dead. Very, very dead.
• 90% of Disney films -Someone (usually one or both parents) dies.

I guess this is a long-standing a tradition in storytelling: someone has to die. From oral cautionary tales to Big Hero 6. Even I'm guilty of offing people in my stories. I wonder if it's supposed to be more of an art-imitating-life kind of thing. It may be that the character or characters represented a symbol or a specific person to the writer, like Hedwig from Harry Potter representing Harry's innocence. It could very well be that the death of each character tries to show how the protagonist deals with death, and how they try and recover from it.
What do you think? When you read about a death, or see it in a movie, how does it effect you/the character/the story/the environment?

-Grace

Journal Entry #2

I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while, an idea for a Halloweeny ghost-type story. Although the only thing categorizing it as "Halloweeny" would be the ghosts, I don't think I would want to shoot for the horror genre. Ghosts would just be a significant presence in the story. What I'm thinking is that the ghost of a person will reflect what they were actually like on the inside, not what they physically looked like. For instance, an abusive husband or boyfriend would have these exaggerated sunken eyes and gnarled joints to reflect his true nature: someone evil, someone repulsive and scary and dangerous. In real life he would have looked nothing like that. Or, say, a man or woman in a hit-and-run whose ghost form reflects a sort of tattered appearance, but with soft hands and gentle features, because that person always went out of their way to help people, even at his or her own expense.
I don't know what the actual story could be. I don't think people are often hit with the entire story at once. It's more like stringing together bits of ideas that come like ribbons on the wind, until they create a whole chain of ideas that become a story.
What do you think of the concept? Ghosts that reflect a person's true nature. Would someone finally see them? Why? Have they always been there and are now fading away? What if the ghosts are for those who need to seek repentance, and the fact that there are less and less of them perhaps means either more people are finding salvation before they die or that salvation is becoming harder to attain.
Discuss.

-Grace

Journal Entry #1

So last night I was lying in bed thinking about what I wanted to write. Normally that's not how it goes -I think about my stories all day, pine for the time to write, browse Pinterest or YouTube for a few hours, think about how much writing I should have gotten in, read my Bible, and then fall asleep.
But last night I had that wonderful spark of tenacity urging me to write something. But I needed help. A prompt. Thankfully I had kept my textbook from my Creative Writing course last year, and it's filled with some of the most beautiful writing prompts. As I scanned it, I noticed the first prompt was about keeping a journal. The objective was to write in it three to five times a week, whatever was in my head at the time. Lists, poems, list poems, excerpts, questions, lyrics, etc. The journal collects and culminates over the semester, ending in  a grade and a hearty "Great job!" I have no real set end date at this time, so we'll just role with it. Anyway, last night I was about to write my first new journal entry when I realized... isn't that what the blog is for?
All this to say, yeah, I going to start using my blog for my journal entries. Hopefully it will spur me to finish some of the other tags on this blog I've meant to finish, like the Darker Human Nature. I had a great one lined up and then just lost my momentum. Oh well. Guess I'll get to that tomorrow or Friday.
So here it is, my "first" journal entry until... I finish a book.
Wish me luck!
This could take a while.

-Grace

Backlash for Stephenie Meyer

 

 



Let me just take this moment to apologize. Yes, this is going to be one of those kind of posts. The kind where I voice my opinion on a controversial topic. I know I'm going to get some hate for this, but it's something I've been thinking about. Don't worry. Next time I'll be back to my procrastinating, story-posting, YouTubing, Pinteresting self.

The topic of the Twilight Saga arose in a discussion with my brother the other day. He is ardently against anything casting Twilight in a positive light. He wondered what the appeal to the books was. I said it was probably the prospect of eternal youth. He smirked and said eternal teenage angst was more likely. It's hard to carry on an argument with my brother because he is usually -and I say this with the utmost respect and delicacy- so convinced in his argument that it is almost impossible to make him see something in a different light. It didn't occur to him that he was at one point an angsty teenager as well. But his response made me ponder the many postings I've seen that have placed Twilight in a category of cheesy books with underwhelming, unrealistic characters.
It's true, Meyer is no Tolkien.
But guess what? She wrote four books. Four whole books. And a novella. All for a single series. That's more books than most people have written. Every writer, novice or seasoned, knows that writing itself is hard. Sitting yourself down and putting pen to paper or curser to screen and then staying there is one of the hardest things a writer must do. But Stephenie Meyer, like all the blessed authors we know and love, did this.
But just because someone wrote a book doesn't mean every element in that book is going to be pristine. I suppose that's one thing my brother and I can agree on in regards to the subject. Yes, now that I look on Twilight now, I can see flaws that I didn't notice before. But the same could be said about The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments, or Pretty Little Liars. I also see more backlash for Twilight than I do for Fifty Shades of Grey, which seems pretty messed up.
Stephenie Meyer found the will to sit down and write a bunch of books carrying on a universe that she enjoyed living in. She fleshed out characters, introduced us to new places, put a spin on mythology, and taught us some three-dollar vocabulary. You know James Patterson only writes a rough draft of his books? The co-author whose name is in the smaller-embossed font did most of the leg-work. Ever wonder why no one ever asks him for writing advice?
Stephenie Meyer did the work. She reaped some benefits. And some people don't like what she wrote. Get over it.

-Grace

Blame Web Development

It feels like a vital piece of me has been missing. For over two weeks there's been this significantly empty space, something lacking.
I miss it.
My laptop.
Several months ago it started acting weird. I blame the Web Development course I was trying to take, which had me download certain software in order to check the pages I was making for any errors. I ended up withdrawing from the course because the professor was teaching about three other classes in addition to mine, and he didn't have time to answer my questions before the assignments were due. Which meant deleting the software so it wasn't taking up extra memory. Well I don't know what I did, but as soon as I pressed "Delete," tings started going wrong.
I started getting these annoying pop-ups that would say there was an error on the webpage (they usually came up when I was on YouTube or just a site with a lot of multimedia content on it).
I also noticed more frequent reports about viruses and nasty little web-bugs. Then I noticed the fan was really loud and laboring a lot more than it usually was. Cut to me taking about the bottom half of my laptop just to blow into the fan for ten minutes trying to dislodge some of the dirt caked onto the blades.
The final straw was when the audio on streamed videos just stopped working. No matter how I tried to adjust the settings, either with YouTube or my computer panel, nothing was working. Luckily my dad works with a guy who majored in this stuff in college. He's been in possession of my laptop for over two weeks now.
On the upside, it has forced me to focus on other things. Not that my writing has taken off or anything, but I'm spending a dash more time outside or with my sketchbook.
Thankfully there have been other computers to check my email and such, so I haven't been completely cut off. I'm discovering some new blogs and YouTubers, such as Byron Talbott, a chef, and Rachel Talbott, who vlogs about beauty products and health. And they're Christians! WIN!!!
And this is how I'm spending my summer.
Have any of you guys had computer problems like that? Any suggestions?
Who are some of your favorite bloggers/vloggers?

-Grace

PS: I've also gotten myself a little Inkitt page. Inkitt is a website for writers where they can post their stuff and all the copyrights remain with them. People can post reviews or enter to win contests... Pretty sweet stuff. I've posted two stories, different and much longer than the snippets I've posted here. If you want, check it out!
http://inkitt.com (my username is graceyee)

http://www.byrontalbott.com/
https://instagram.com/byrontalbott/
https://twitter.com/byrontalbott
https://www.youtube.com/user/ByronTalbott
http://racheltalbott.com/
https://instagram.com/racheltalbott/
https://twitter.com/racheltalbott
https://www.youtube.com/user/CheckInTheMirror