Villains!

I'm loving the new villain, so far. My problem is that, in getting to know where he came from and the things he went through when he was a teen, I am feeling a lot of sympathy for him. I know that's a good thing, but I'm feeling sympathy for both of my villains. This could make portraying them as villains very difficult. And even worse than that, it could make killing them off more difficult than ever! :(

I need to get more of their back story down, get to know them better, and come up with a major conflict. Then I need to come up with at least three conflicts that will take place within the major conflict.

Most of what I did today was search for photos. I needed a model for my master villain, and I've found him! I've done a lot of photo editing, too.

Oh, and I wrote my new villain's first character journal entry. That was a great experience! When I write my character journal entries, I write them very organically, which only means that I don't plan them out or use an outline. I think of an event I want to happen in the entry, then I just go with it. In this way, I can just let my creativity take over. I don't over think things. I just lose myself in the writing. It's a lot of fun, actually. :)

I've got a lot of work to do, but I am soooo loving this! :D

Finally, Another Day For Writing!

Yesterday was a good day. We stayed up until 1:30 on New Year's Eve, so we slept in pretty late. I didn't get any writing done yesterday, but we did some shopping. I bought three pairs of jeans and a shirt at J.C. Penney during their 70% off sale. We looked around at Sears, but I didn't find anything I liked at good prices, so we headed out. On the way, we stopped at Waldenbooks. The store is moving, so they had steep discounts on everything. They cheated me on the cards, which were all supposed to be 2 for $1. I only bought nine, but they charged me about $24 for those. However, I got the 2010 Writer's Market for about $17-$18...a $30 value! :D I also got a wall calendar, a 2010 U.S. Atlas, and a small Moleskine notebook (an $11.95 value for about $6-$7). We also stopped at Vitamin World and I got some instant Ginseng tea. I've been looking for this stuff at Walmart, but they never have it. Now I know where to get it. :)

Then we went to Walmart, where I found three more shirts. I also stocked up on Emergen-C vitamin C fizzy drinks. I had a coupon for $6 off of two, so I bought the pink lemonade and acai berry. We also picked up some groceries, but our main grocery trip will be tomorrow. Jeff has to work today, and it was getting late by the time we got there, so he wanted to get home. We bought a huge ham sub ring and some chips for dinner. Tonight, I'll be fixing steaks and baked potatoes.

So, I'll be working on some new character journal entries today. I need to find a model for my new master villain. And I'm doing laundry. I can't wait to start wearing my new clothes! :)

Anyway, as usual, I've got to hurry up so I can get off here and get to writing. I want to look through the new Writer's Market a little bit, too.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Lois

Beautiful, Sunny Day Here Today!

Our New Year's was great! The lasagna turned out excellent, and so did the garlic bread. :) We heard from my sister and my dad and step-mom. While my mom was on the phone with my dad and step-mom, Jeff and I looked out the window and watched some distant fireworks. I guess they had some going on in Fort Smith. We could see them from our house, so that was pretty awesome! :D

We watched Cold Mountain, which was good (but would have been a lot better without the nudity).

I wrote a character journal yesterday. It was over 2k words, but I'm not sure of the exact word count. I'd like to write more later today, but first Jeff and I are planning on doing a little shopping. I need a couple of new outfits.

I'd like to do some more reading, too.

Tomorrow we'll do our grocery shopping. I may not get to do any "real" writing until Sunday. :(

Anyway, I hope all of you have a great New Year's Day! :D

Lois

Happy Early January 1st!

I know this is a bit early, but I wanted to wish you all a very happy New Year! 2009 was great, but 2010 will be greater!!! :D

I'm Convincing!!!!!

I wrote 4,359 words yesterday...not counting blogs, e-mails, chat and the character sheet I still had left to do. Most of what I wrote was in my master villain's character journal. :) I had one of my readers confused, which was actually a good sign that I was doing my job. He is a very complex character, and he doesn't always remember his (very distant) past the way it actually happened. It's his journal, in his voice, so his entries are colored by his personality. What my reader read made her feel uncomfortable (not in a vulgar way or anything like that), and I assured her that was how she should feel. :)

Another reader told me I'd done a great job (and she loves the model I've chosen for my villain)!

And still another said that she thinks I've found my niche! :D

As excited as I get over my new stories, I don't think I've ever been as excited over any as I am about this one...and I've still only worked on back story. :) I've been compiling all the character sheets and character journal entries into one large PDF file.

Anyway, on to non-writing related subjects: tonight, I'll be making lasagna and garlic bread. Yummy. :) I doubt that Jeff and I will stay up to ring in the new year, since he has to work tomorrow (I think...if not, maybe we will stay up).

I need to call the jury duty number after five today to see if I'm still needed. Hopefully, I won't be.

Well, I need to fix a small pot of decaf and finish catching up on here.

Have a great day! :D

Lois

Character Development Is An Ongoing Process

I was pretty busy yesterday. I wrote three character journals. One was for my master villain. The other two were for supporting characters who are important to the story. I also created character sheets for two of those three characters. I'll work on the third one after I get off here. All in all, I wrote about 4,175 words (more when you consider my blogging/ commenting and the two brief chats last night before I went offline).

We had a little snow last night, but it turned to rain at some point. Good thing I wasn't expecting any snowy precipitation. ;) I didn't go to Sweet Bay because of the weather forecast. Even though I wasn't expecting any snowy precipitation, I was expecting the bridge to be slippery, so we stayed home. I hope next week is nicer!

We watched the "new" Star Trek movie last night. I've been a Star Trek fan since I was a youngster, watching Star Trek repeats on TV. This movie, while different in a lot of ways, was excellent! They added lots of humor, great special effects and an interesting storyline. I'm glad I put it on my Christmas list. ;)

I'm not sure if we'll be going out at all today. I'd like to get a new outfit or two, but we haven't yet decided when we'll do that.

I've got to go. Have a great day! :D

Lois

Big News, Writing News, Weather News!

First of all, some non-writing related news I never mentioned the other day. I talked to Leah and her boyfriend on Christmas evening and they announced that they're getting married! :D Leah wants me to design the invitations, thank you cards, place cards and table cards. Whew! It's a good thing I have until Spring 2011! :P I have to come up with a good layout, graphics and text/ calligraphy. I'll have to start practicing. ;)

And on to writing-related news, thanks to P. and M., I've come up with two new characters (both supporting) and some ideas for them, as well as for the master villain. I'll be writing character journal entries for them, beginning today. :)

I am really, really looking forward to fleshing them out and coming up with the master plot, as well as sub plots. It will be a lot of work, but in the end (as M. said last night), it will be well worth it. :D

We have a winter weather advisory from 6:00 tonight until 10:00 tomorrow morning:

Hazardous Weather...

• An Upper Level System Currently Moving Out Of Northern Mexico
Into Southwest Texas Will Begin To Affect Eastern Oklahoma Late
This Afternoon Into Early Evening. Precipitation Will Spread
Northeastward Across The Entire Area Overnight... Ending
Wednesday From West To East.

• From 1 To 2 Inches Of Snow Accumulation Is Expected From 6 PM
This Evening To 10 AM CST Wednesday.

Impacts...
• Roads In The Advisory Area May Become Slick And Hazardous...
Especially On Bridges And Overpasses And Non-Treated Surfaces.

Precautionary/Preparedness Actions...
• Use Extra Caution If Driving. Attempt To Stay On Treated
Roadways. Expect Travel Delays.

I may end up staying home instead of going to Sweet Bay. :( Oh well, there's always next Tuesday...

And on that note, I'd better hurry up on here. I'm running late today because I've been texting with Leah. Now I've got to get to work! :)

Have a great day, everyone! :D

Lois