How to write young adult stories in 3 simple steps

Photo by Michelle Spence

1. Make sure the teenagers are human. Don’t base them off of stereotypes. They have needs, wants, desires, and flaws like everyone else in the world.
2. Don’t write more than you need to. That goes for all types of writing. Don’t over-tell to the point where it’s overwhelming, but don’t under-tell to the point where it’s confusing. Try to find that perfect medium.
3. Trust the reader. Trust them to know what you’re talking about. If you're telling too much, you don’t trust them enough to let them figure out what’s going on. And if you’re not saying enough, you trust the reader too much, when in reality, they’re probably very confused.

And now the weather:

The Fault In Our Stars by Troye Sivan

~ Stacy N.

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Another job, better rewards

Creativity is hard. It’s like a job where you have to constantly be working in order to get the results that you want. But after a while, it gets a bit better still never any easier or any harder. However, it’s all worth it in the end. So work hard and try to create something even if it’s just one sentence, one line, one beat, one note with a silly idea, etc. It’s still better than nothing.

And now the weather:
Classical Music Mashup by a variety of classical artists

~ Stacy N.

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Words in its many different forms

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March madness, full of little sleep and a lot of tests. By now calming down because third term just ended, and fourth term is about to begin at exactly 8:30 am tomorrow. Which gives me some time to write about this month’s TCWT prompt:

“What are your thoughts on reading or writing books in non-novel formats? Are there any you’ve particularly enjoyed?”

If you asked me what non-novel formats that I’ve written in my eighteen year lifetime, I will give you a list. And on that list will contain a variety of items like blog posts, personal essays, short stories, six word stories, poetry, a script, a failed web diary for a character of mine, and more. It’s certainly not everything under the word-filled sun, but it’s enough for you to get that I’m a pretty curious writer who’s willing to try almost anything.

Now if you asked me which non-novel format that I enjoy writing the most, the obvious answer would be short stories. Because the characters just come to me, not bothering to go through the questionnaire process. The time length usually doesn’t take days and weeks for me to sift through. And it’s easier to finish writing than most of my novels. Plus, there isn’t much of a structure to it, like villanelles and sonnets, other than the typical beginning, middle, and end.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t like writing in other non-novel formats, like poetry, personal essays, six word stories, and informal essays*. But after writing a lot of poetry in my literary writing class, it’s becoming a bit tedious. While personal essays are mainly for school and looking good for colleges and scholarships, depriving me of the personal part of the essay.  However, I do admit that six word stories are fun yet hard to write, because I’ve never really been a concise writer. And writing informal essays usually takes me hours to complete. But it’s worth it, after trying to find a way to piece all the little puzzle pieces of my mind together in a more or less clear way.

*When I talk about informal essays, I mean essays that address a certain topic that isn’t my life, and uses first and second person pronouns. An example of informal essays would be the monthly critiques of Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens that I have to do for English.

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Now, let’s move onto reading non-novel formats, because that’s the fun part. Especially if it adds some deeper meaning to the book, history lesson, or television show that I’m currently reading, learning, or watching. Which happens a lot (aka all the time) in English class. In eleventh grade, before my teacher made us read any of the assigned novels, he would make us read short stories and poetry that relate to the time period of that novel. For example, when we were about to start modernism, he made us read one of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants”.

This was a particularly frustrating story to read because the characters are intentionally vague about what they’re talking about. Which fits the title of the story, because they’re talking about the white elephant in the room. So it makes you feel like you’re intruding on something private. And it isn’t until a lot of guessing that you later find out that the white elephant is abortion.

And it was clear from the start that they were talking about a white elephant, because the setting continually mentions the hills as being white. Which ties back to the title, “Hills Like White Elephants”. The setting also ties to how modernism uses setting as a symbol, a lot, especially seen in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (the book we read for that unit).

Now in my senior year of high school, my English teacher is making my class read various essays, to help us understand the books that we were reading. And some dealt with nineteenth century attitudes towards race, which made my stomach churn, threatening to make me vomit at what I was reading. However, this helped me better understand Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness. Other essays talked about Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment. And another one was about “The Composition, Publication, and Reception of Our Mutual Friend”, which was by Robert L. Patten.

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(The Boofer Lady is one of the
illustrations found in Our Mutual Friend)

Speaking of Our Mutual Friend, it’s by Charles Dickens. And back in his time, he would publish his books in monthly serials. Which was basically much one literary comic book** put out each month, for so and so months till that whole book was finished. And for Our Mutual Friend, he would publish roughly thirty-two pages each month from May 1864 to November 1865. And each monthly dealt with a variety of subjects from social commentary about the poor to the harmful effects of money. Which Dickens deftly writes about, by using a variety of techniques, like word choice and occasionally going into second person. Easily twisting my emotions and thoughts into this giant tangled web filled with frustration for certain characters and a small hope for others.

**It was more words than illustrations.

Now, I could continue on talking about other kinds of non-novel formats, like how it’s frustrating to read Shakespeare’s plays because of the confusing language. Or how I used to read a lot of graphic novels and manga when I was growing up, particularly Babymouse and Kitchen Princess. Because the pictures were well drawn, food was involved, and it had a good story to it. Or how beautiful some poems are because it’s about the experience, with no special meaning added to it.

But then there would be no ending.  And as L. Frank Baum once said, “Everything has to come to an end, sometime.”

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the other lovely bloggers who are also participating in the blog chain:

6th – http://ch1con.tumblr.com

7th – http://www.kirabudge.weebly.com/

8th – http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/

9th – http://rcubedreadsreviews.blogspot.com/

10th – http://ramblingsofaravis.wordpress.com/

11th – http://arielkalati.blogspot.com/

12th – http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/

13th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

14th – http://abookishflower.wordpress.com/

15th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

16th – http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/

17th – http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/

18th – http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

19th – http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com.au/

20th – http://allisonthewriter.wordpress.com/

21st – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

22nd – http://from-stacy.blogspot.com/ [You’re currently here]

23rd – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

24th – https://introspectioncreative.wordpress.com/

25th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

26th – http://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/

27th – https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ 

[They'll announce the topic for next month’s chain.]

And now the weather:
Clint Eastwood by Electronic Swing Orchestra

~ Stacy N.

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Do you hear that?

If you came into my room and saw me writing, you would hear either one of two things: silence or music. Oftentimes it will be silent. The only sound will be the clickety-clacking of my keyboard.  However, there are plenty of times when music is in the air. When it’s hanging out in the background, spurring me to write and write and write.
That music can come from Pandora, ranging from pop to rock to instrumental. Or it can come from the instrumental playlists on 8tracks. Or it can come from my phone, where the music is either too poppy, too rocky, too alternative, or too something. Hell, it could be all the music found on my tumblr.
In the end, the music is inspirational, exciting, sad, happy, or so full of messages about love. And all of that inspired me to start making playlists for my own characters and stories.

List of all the songs mentioned in this post

The first playlist that I've ever created was for Eliza Vuong, a character from my Camp Nanowrimo 2013 story, Everybody Talks (but me). She's a young girl who has her own web diary, for those who are willing to listen.

Songs:

Nanowrimo 2013, The Shadow & her Lover, is a book about Peter and Eliza falling in love. This  playlist describes their relationship from beginning to end.

Songs:

This playlist describes parts of Rain and Beth's relationship. They're from my novel, Immortality Doesn't Exist.

Songs: 

The last playlist that I've created was for my Nanowrimo 2014 book of aus, You Again. I was trying to capture the feelings between the three couples, Rain and Eliza, Lana and Parker, and Eliza and Peter.  

Missing from this playlist: Coffee Shop (demo) by Chad Sugg because it is nowhere to be found on youtube. However it could be found on spotify.

Songs:

This blog post was part of the Teens Can Write Too Blog Chain. Where the prompt for February is:

How does music relate to your writing?

This was a surprisingly fun prompt to write about. Because I like music and I like relating that to my writing.
If you're curious about the blog chain and want to find out more information go here: https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/blog-chain/

And don't forget to go check out the other lovely bloggers participating in the blog chain:

6) http://jasperlindell.blogspot.com/ & 

http://vergeofexisting.wordpress.com/

7) http://novelexemplar.wordpress.com/

8) http://www.juliathewritergirl.com/

9) http://www.freeasagirlwithwings.wordpress.com/

10) https://ramblingsofaravis.wordpress.com/

11) http://butterfliesoftheimagination.wordpress.com/ &

 http://www.pamelanicolewrites.com/

12) http://randommorbidinsanity.blogspot.com/

13) http://miriamjoywrites.com/ &

 http://whileishouldbedoingprecal.weebly.com/

14) http://kirabudge.weebly.com/

15) http://lillianmwoodall.wordpress.com/ &

 http://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

16) http://theedfiles.blogspot.com/ &

 http://fantasiesofapockethuman.blogspot.com/

17) http://irisbloomsblog.wordpress.com/ &

 http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

18) http://semilegacy.blogspot.com/ &

 http://from-stacy.blogspot.com/ [You're currently here]

19) http://horsfeathersblog.wordpress.com/

20) https://clockworkdesires.wordpress.com/

21) https://stayandwatchthestars.wordpress.com/ &

 http://arielkalati.blogspot.com/

22) http://loonyliterate.com/ &

 http://www.mirrormadeofwords.wordpress.com/

23) http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

24) http://themagicviolinist.blogspot.com/ &

 http://allisonthewriter.wordpress.com/

25) http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

26) http://awritersfaith.blogspot.com/ &

 http://thelonglifeofalifelongfangirl.wordpress.com/

27) http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/ &

 http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

28) https://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/
[They’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain.]

~ Stacy N.

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Beautiful People: Love is in the Air

Text reads: beautiful people for writers

hosted by www.paperfury.com 
& www.furtherup-and-furtherin.blogspot.com

Beautiful People is a monthly blog meme hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further in. Every month they post 10 questions for you to answer about your characters.

In honor of Valentine's day, this month's blog meme will be about your favorite couple from your story.

This is the first time that I've done Beautiful People by Cait and Sky. And even though I follow other bloggers who do the meme, I've never really gotten around to it, till now.

After playing eeny, meeny, miny, moe a few times to choose which of my three favorite couples I will write about today, it ended up failing. Because I simply couldn't choose one. So the three couples I'll write about today will be Rain and Beth from Immortality Doesn't Exist, Lana and Parker from Shh, Silence is Golden, and Eliza and Peter from The Shadow & her Lover. 

And now without further ado, here are the questions.

1. How long have they been a couple?
Rain and Beth eventually start dating between the second and third book for the Immortality Doesn’t Exist series, and that lasts for a few weeks before Beth dies.
While Lana and Parker have been dating for a few months before Shh, Silence is Golden starts. However, it’s a secret relationship that only lasts in the night.
And Eliza and Peter start dating somewhere along the course of their story, The Shadow & her Lover.

2. How did they first meet?
Beth was falling down a hole and ends up in Rain’s basement.  Because Beth was trying to escape the burning, golden dust that makes up the whole sky.
Lana and Parker met through some mutual friends of theirs.
And Eliza and Peter meet in a park. Peter showing off his fencing skills as usual, while Eliza is reading a book.

3. What were their first thoughts of each other? (Love at first sight or “you’re freakishly annoying”?)
Rain’s first thought of Beth was, what the hell is a strange girl doing in my basement? Where did she come from and how? While Beth’s first thought was, who is she? She’s kind of cute.
Lana and Parker immediately hated each other when they first met. Because Lana seemed like a know-it-all and Parker was the overly religious guy who spouted irrelevant bible verses that didn't fit in with the conversation at all.
While Eliza and Peter were immediately enchanted with each other.

4. What do they do that most annoys each other?
Beth is often annoyed when Rain shape-shifts, because she’s jealous that Rain has cooler powers. While Rain is annoyed by Beth’s stubborn nature.
Lana gets easily ticked off when Parker starts to randomly spout irrelevant bible verses and how easily he forgets about her during the day. While Parker isn’t very happy about the fact that Lana easily dismisses their kisses as meaning something more.
Eliza is annoyed that Peter isn’t willing to do something more, when they’re making out. Little remembering that he’s an asexual. While Peter is more annoyed with Eliza’s many glasses of wine that she drinks in a week.

5. Are their personalities opposite or similar?
Rain and Beth have very few things in common. Other than being paranormals, Beth is the spoiled, annoying child while Rain is the perfect, selfless child. But both have that need to be wanted.
Lana and Parker are surprisingly more alike than they originally thought. They’re both ambiverts, manipulative, vengeful, and very afraid of losing their loved ones.
Peter and Eliza are almost complete opposites of each other. Peter is the adventurous, charming, asexual, space pirate. While Eliza is the sensible, introverted, horny, bookworm, who’s often dreaming of a more exciting life for herself.

6. How would their lives be different without each other?
Beth would still be a “normal” human being, going to school and hanging out with friends, and just living a normal human life. While Rain would have married her best friend Lynn and live a perfectly normal Bionovian life.
Parker would have continued to go onto missions for the government, eventually dying one mysterious morning. While Lana would have been learning how to talk and fall for Ethan.
Peter would still continue working for Eliza’s mom, hooking up with a few people here and there. Eventually running away again. While Eliza would still stay at home and read and read and read.

7. Are they ever embarrassed of each other?
Rain and Beth: yes.
Lana and Parker: yes.
Eliza and Peter: yes.
The key to not being embarrassed of your loved one is to accept their flaws and eccentricities, which they all learn throughout the course of their story.

8. Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?
Other than Rain’s parents, everyone else is pretty accepting about Beth’s and Rain’s relationship.
A few of Lana’s friends would have disapproved of her relationship with Parker, if they ever found out.
And while everyone else is pretty accepting about Eliza’s and Peter’s relationship, Eliza’s mom stands in the way.

9. Do they see their relationship as long-term/leading to marriage?
Unfortunately for Beth and Rain, no. Because Beth dies and turns into dark, smoggy form that has a vague shape of her old body, which isn’t a ghost.
Lana and Parker also doesn’t work out because Lana dies somewhere along the storyline.
However, Eliza and Peter do end up staying in a long-term relationship that ends with marriage. After having twin boys.

10. If they could plan the “perfect outing” together, where would they go?
Beth and Rain would go to a bright, green, beautiful garden with the sun shining just right and the birds singing just so.
Lana and Parker would go to a sandy beach house.
While Eliza and Peter would go to France’s countryside.

And now the weather:
- Mercy by Duffy

~ Stacy N.

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Camp Nanowrimo update #1

13439/50000

Status: On track.
Chapter: Five
Character's POV that I'm writing about right now: Echo, Lana, Ethan aka Etho.
Bits and pieces from the story: (They're slightly edited)

While, sweet little Ethan just held me tighter, quietly listening through it all. ~ Echo.

I tilt my head a little bit more, confused. "Gallery? Why would I be going to the gallery?" ~ Lana

Darn, I’m screwed, I think to myself, while I stand up taller awaiting orders. ~ Ethan

.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Words they seem to just flow through my fingers these days. Only they come at a slow pace because the internet keeps on distracting me like this picture.

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Eventually I freak out because a bit too much time (an hour or two?) passes by, and I've only written a hundred or so words. But as they say during Nanowrimo time, just keep on writing, just keep writing, just keep writing (in tune to the just keep swimming song on Finding Nemo.)

So if you're freaking out about having no words written for Camp Nanowrimo...

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Also...

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So it's a good thing that my notebook for my Camp Nanowrimo novel is sitting next to me. Despite my kind of messy handwriting, it has proven itself useful so far. 

Also words are nice, don't you think? You can say anything you want to say, make whatever you want that disregards the rules of reality, and well do anything you want, and it's yours because you're the one that is writing it. 

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And if you continue writing it, ignoring the negative parts about it, and finish your first draft. Then you're well on your way towards the middle, which is the editing/rewriting part of it. And then eventually you get through the middle and you are done with it. However, that's not the end because there are certainly more editing to come if you are thinking about publishing it. 

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And as for me, well I should stop being uncertain about my novel and just write it. I should just let my novel lead me to wherever it should go. After all, the fun novels are best written when you don't have a clue about where it goes. 

However, for the moment I would like to finish season two of Doctor Who with my new penguin friend, David. Who is named after the actor that plays the tenth doctor, David Tennant. 

I would also like to sleep but I doubt I'll get that soon. So I'll settle for a picture form for the moment. 

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Have an amazing day/night. 

Love, 

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A school made for writers ~

How to torture/kill in the saddest ways your favourite characters - with Suzanne Collins.
How to be a complete troll about your plot - with Rick Riordan.
How to be the most cruel, harsh, sadist and violent writer on Earth - with Michael Grant.
How to give your characters the most revolting and traumatic past - with J. K. Rowling.
How to ascend from a funcking fanfiction writer to a fucking best-seller writer - with Cassandra Clare.
How to have the most crazy, deep and lush metaphors (which don't need exactly to have meaning or sense) - with Tahereh Mafi.
How to have the mad and non-sense ideas to books, but make them best-sellers - with Scott Westerfeld.
How to be a boss - with Neil Gaiman.
How to be C. S. Lewis - with C. S. Lewis.
How to make the funcking reader cry a fucking ocean in three words - with Nicholas Sparks.
How to have the best and most creative narrative of the books - with Markus Zusak.
How to imagine a whole new universe, creatures and even a new language - with J. R. R. Tolkien.
How to write teenage stories without being disgusting - with Meg Cabot.
How to write p... never mind. - with E. L. James.
How to have the weirdest ass plots with the most psycho characters and still win hundreds of awards and have a continuous flow of revenue from said books like a boss. - with Stephen King.
How to write a fictional novel while still using real life facts - with Kathy Reichs
How to create characters so human that you believe they are real - with John Green.
How to break everyone's hearts with your first book and then put the pieces back together with the second - with Gayle Forman.
How to ruin the love life of your reader giving fake hopes - with Becca FitzPatrick.
How to write a series and have it become a hit TV show with millions of fans worldwide a decade later - with L. J. Smith.
How to make a perfect character relationship and fuck it up in six chapters - with Estevan Vega.
How to kill everyone and still keep your readers interested - George R.R. Martin.
How to be shit and pretend you are good - with Stephenie Meyer.
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My schedule = Lots of homework considering that I want nearly every one of them as my teacher. Thankfully no math will be involved. 

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Why I write

Some reasons:
(images found here).

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Did you know?

That a...

• Micro-fiction is 100 words. 
• Flash fiction is 100 - 1,000 words
• Short story is 1,000 -7,500 words
• Novelette is 7,500 - 20,000 words
• Novella is 20,000 - 50,000 words
• Novel is 50,000 - 110,000 words
• Epics and Sequels are 110,000+ words

Source: http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/wordcount.html

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Maybe this is a tip?

In writing of course since this is in a way a writing blog.

Slightly inappropriate for the next pic

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Writer quotes

The quotes can be found here.
"Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the internet." Anonymous


"My writing is full of lives I might have led. A writer imagines what could have happened, not what really happened." Joyce Carol Oates


"Don't annoy the writer. They may put you in a book and kill you." Anonymous


"If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad." Lord Byron


"Writing is thinking on paper." William Zinsser


"You must write the book in order to have written the book." Megan Crane


“I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions." James A Michener (1907-1997) Author

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Something funny and true

This is a kind of true picture. Minus the fact that my imaginary friends are used in my novels, and I call them my characters, but I guess I can call them my imaginary 'friends' (Depends on which one of the characters are my friend. The others are...)

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And here's the rest of the tips

I don't have much to do, so why not post up the rest of the tips from Sparklife?

5. Get Rhino Tough
You’re ugly. You look like a spastic puppet when you run. Your hair is dumb and you smell like sandwiches.

If you are shedding a tear after reading that, you are not ready to be a writer. Writers must build up a tolerance to negative comments and rejection or else they will implode. Never take it personally. (I enjoy negative comments, but I’m also crazy.)

6. Write every day. 
There’s no trick to this. Just do it. Every day. Even Christmas.

7. Ask for advice.
Send emails to the places you’d like to work and DON’T ask for a job. Instead, ask for advice. Editors are hounded by writers looking for work, and they tend to ignore the requests, but requests for advice are different. These requests will get their attention, and they are likely to respond. You won’t instantly get a job by doing this, but you will get valuable information about the specific type of writing job that interests you. Bonus tips: Keep the email short! Three sentences are all you get. And don’t you dare try to be funny, because it will always come across as desperate and sad. Be sincere and professional.

8. Be humble.
In New York City, there are 8 million people, and 8.5 million writers. You are not special. Your precious words are not made of treasured silk and whispers. So many writers think they have finally found the best way to say, “Love is strange,” and act as if we should all be thankful that their words exist. PUH-leeeze! You will have plenty of time to build a crazy ego once you’ve been published and are a millionaire. Until then, stop acting like tool box and take off that scarf! It's summer!

9. Be happy! 
Do you know Kim Schifino, the drummer of the band Matt and Kim? Watch her drum. She is the happiest drummer of all time. She’s played these songs countless times and yet she’s still having fun. This is how you should feel about writing. When you sit at the keyboard, that same smile should appear on your face. If you don’t feel this enthusiastic, quit and become a chimney sweep.

10. Read this book. 
There are 7,000,003 books out there about writing. You only need this one:

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

11. Wear less purple.

This is our favorite group of words ever published on the internet. That is all.


XD The last one is so random

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Some writing tips

I can give you a million websites, that has a bunch of writing tips. All going to say the same thing in their own weird little way. But I found this is pretty good, it's from SparkLife, and I find it helpful. Well  here are some of the tips.
The rest of the tips are right here if you were wondering.

1. Do not follow any rules. 
There is no correct way to enter the writing world. Ask ten different writers how they got started, and you’ll get ten different responses. Some may have gone to journalism school, but most have not. I took only two or three writing courses at school, including Business Writing and the mandatory and utterly horrible Composition 101. And yet, without any experience or even a writing degree, at the end of my senior year I was offered a freelance gig at a national magazine with a circulation of 1.2 million. A year later, I was hired as an associate editor. No one told me how to do it. I just sent out silly writing samples that took me a few days to write. Meanwhile, my friends who all slaved away at writing workshops and literature camp hated me because I was getting paid to write despite the fact that I had never used a semicolon correctly. (I use them to replace the letter O. Is that wr;ng?)

2. Go to college.
Contrary to my last statement, college is important. Few, if any, media outlets will even look at writing clips from someone who has only a high school degree. Go to college. But…

3. Major in anything you dang well want to.
I never studied creative writing. You can major in anything and still become a writer. I majored in broadcasting. A writing degree may help, but I wouldn’t recommend it. And my reasons are three.

A. A good editor will identify talent regardless of your education background.
B. Some (not all) writing courses are detrimental to young writers because they are taught by angry, out-of-touch, lifelong losers. No one taught me how to write funny articles. If I handed my stories to an English professor, she would rip them to shreds and shout, “The semicolon is not an O!” And yet, here I am getting paid for my words. Weird, right? [Waves to all angry English teachers in the world.]
C. A book of poetry written by an English major? Yawn. A book of poetry written by a physical education major? Well, now I’m interested.

4. Read everything.
This is a no-brainer, but let me stress the importance of reading a wide variety of books. Sticking with one genre or one author is not allowed! You must branch out. Read the weirdest, stupidest, and worst books you can find. Much can be learned by reading ridiculous literature. To help find dumb books, play Dan’s Used Book Game.

Step One: Visit a used book store with your friends.
Step Two: Each person finds a bizarre and goofy book on the shelves. Use pre-set rules, such as, “The book cover must be green and feature a wolf.”
Step Three: Buy the books.
Step Four: Stand in a circle outside the store. Make everyone trades books by handing the book to the person on their left. That person MUST read the book handed to him, or else he loses.
Step Five: Laugh and eat cheese fries.
Step Six: Write up hilarious book reports to prove that you’ve read the book. You can also set up point values for things you find in the books. (Like murmurs.)

This is a fun game, and I guarantee you will learn more about writing by reading awful books than you will by reading War and Peace eight times.

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Last minute writing prompts

Eeek, sorry for the last minute post. School has been taking a lot out of me. I tripped over my chihuahua three times -_- Got hit with a ball in gym four times, mainly by a yellow basketball. Then after school, I read before doing my homework. Which took a bit out of me, then I started to go onto nano, a bit and read some more before going on here.
Well that was boring, *Yawns* I think I might go in early. Oh and for you curious bookworms I'm reading
Water Keep by J. Scott Savage (my main one where I bring to school)
Dust City by Robert Paul Weston  
et (means and in french)
Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (School's book of the month. Candy here I come ;) )

And it's so far so good. The last one it's pretty funny with cool drawings, like the Wimpy Kid books. The other two have good fantasy features.
*Facepalm* I'm rambling, I'm suppose to be writing writing prompts not books.  Well here it is. (P.S some of them are from my stories from aschoolstoryaday.blogspot.com)

1. You are a paranormal that's going to be starting the revolution. What is the revolution about and why?
2. Write about something that happens in your most boring class. Make it as crazy if you want.
3. Write a letter to your teacher explaining why you're not allowed to do homework. 
4. Write about something insane that has happened in your life
5. Write about something that has the famous quote, Live, Love, Laugh 
6. Write about sleeping. 

My mind is a bit tired, and a bit centered around school, as you can see. And also if you want you can e-mail them to me at ~New email account~ thehungergamesmockingjay@gmail.com. And I will post them on this blog. 

The other one (this) shall be used only for people who wants to guest post. Since I don't want to have spammers get to it. 

Well bonne nuit, or au revoir if it isn't night in your country right now. 

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Dots! .........

Okay the title was totally random, but no it didn't have to do with anything with dots. I'm a bit/ possibly a lot hyper. All day my siblings and I just went to five random places, and we mostly had sugary foods. Cotton candy, fried mini doughnuts, fondue, and of course ice cream. And no we didn't have dibs. Okay, I think I remembered for what I wanted to say. Sorry for the lack of posts this past week (and really dancing on the conveyor belt thing at the supermarket? [Sorry again, there was something random on the T.V]) I had school, and homework, mostly math. Which I don't like :/
And on Friday I mostly took a three hour nap to make up for my lack of sleep, and writing on my novel, which I hadn't had the chance to do in a while. Something random, was when we were checking out the jewelry at the art festival, I saw a couple of turquoise necklaces, and I swear my MC Beth from Immortality Doesn't Exist, started to freak out. It almost felt like she was going to jump out of my head and just take it. What is it with her and the color turquoise, I shall never know ;)
Well enough of my day, what about yours? Go ahead and comment on it.
And here's a picture on the 12 1/2 writing rules, which I'm sure you may have seen before.

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