A Write Good Weekend

Okay, who doesn't have a good weekend when they don't have to attend school on Friday? Anyways, I got a lot done on my free day.
1. I got my first round of editing done on Just One of the Guys!
2. I went to a nice dinner with my family and some old friends.
3. I raided Barnes & Noble for some fresh reading material.

And Saturday was pretty great too! I went to a young writers' conference hosted at a local high school. It wasn't a huge, super organized event, but it was fun and it was nice. There were two local authors there who hosted the classes that the high school kids attended.

I learned a lot about writing warm-ups and rediscovered the key points to building a character. Dabbled in some poetry and some short, high-detail snippets. So I'm going to take some time and share the highlight activities with you.

Writing warm-up ideas:

1. Go through the classified ads. Look for cases where someone is posting an ad to find someone they met briefly. What details do they offer? Now try and create your own. How many unique details can you pinpoint to locate this person or item?
2. Read some thematic poetry. (We used a collection of muse poems.) What types of information and/or emotions are most common between each piece? Write your own and try to incorporate as many of those key elements as possible.
3. Divide your paper into two columns that run halfway down the page. Head one column: Famous People and the other Verb+ing Nouns. (Verb+ing Nouns are phrases such as: running with scissors, walking to a church, jousting with a samurai, etc.) Be as crazy and wacky as possible. Let nothing limit what you put in the lists. For example, Mickey Mouse counts as a famous person. Now, at the bottom of your page, start playing around with names and phrases. Write a paragraph or a short story using as many listed items as possible, or just focus on one person or action. What can you come up with?

Key points to character building:

1. Credibility. What makes your character reliable? What experiences have they had that make their actions believable? You can't have a rich guy from Boston show up in Texas and start talking in an authentic southern twang. Unless you have a really good reason for why. Maybe Mr. Boston got amnesia or was kidnapped at a young age. But remember, if you have to work too hard to justify something, then your reader isn't going to buy it- you've just lost your audience.
2. Purpose. Why is your character doing what he/she is? What drives them? Batman is a great example. Why does Bruce Wayne stalk the night as a superhero? Because his parents were murdered in a back alley robbery. He wants justice. In order to identify with a character, a reader must know what motivates the character. An air of mystery is fine- in the beginning. If a character's actions aren't justified, the reader will grow confused. If we didn't know why rich Mr. Wayne acted as Batman, we might put it down to playing god, arrogance, or boredom.
3. Complexity. What makes your character human? How is it possible to relate to your character? Superman and Harry Potter both work well here. Superman may not be a human, but he is human: there are times when he has to choose between his girl and the world. Harry Potter is the Chosen One, but he is still a typical teen: he has to go to school, deal with bullies, and has family issues. Mistakes and bad decisions are what make a character real. No one is absolutely perfect in real life- your character is no exception.

So what do you think? Try out some of the exercises and see what they do for you. Is your character credible, motivated, and complex?

Teen Seen Has Been Hijacked!

Everybody, duck and cover!

Gus has come down from Cynthia's Attic and taken over Teen Seen! And she's not leaving until people start reading! Go there now to find out what you can do to help the Quake authors regain their blog! Quick, Ms. Cunningham needs her character!

To get your own copy of Gus's first adventure, click here or go to Amazon.
To get a copy of Gus's most recent escapade, Curse of the Bayou, go to Quake or Amazon.

Please- we need your help!

Furry Friday

Thanks for visiting this most recent Furry Friday! This week features Alan's Maine coon cat, Artemis!

Age: 14 weeks

Gender: Female

Length: 8 inches, not including the tail- Artemis will keep growing until she is close to 5 years old!

Height: 6 inches at the shoulder

Weight: 2 lbs.

Origins: For Christmas, Alan was told that he could choose a kitten from one of the litters at the local animal shelter. As he walked by Artemis's enclosure, she reached out, snagged his jeans, and refused to let go. He has been hers ever since. Her name is a by-product of Alan being required to read Edith Hamilton's Mythology for his English class. Her coloring and attitude put him in mind of the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt.

Favorite Game(s): Artemis loves to wrestle and teeth on Alan. She is also fond of chasing the fish-shaped laser pointer he bought for her. Recently, Artemis has discovered her power of intimidation- and enjoys employing it against Tolkien whenever he comes for a visit. She is very proud of her canine mind-control powers.

More info: Artemis is an indoor-only cat, but whenever Alan is home they are attached at the hip. It often seems that Artemis is just a very small puppy the way she trails after her person. While she is suspicious of strangers, she will warm to them if they are patient and friendly to Alan.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Alan's fluffy companion. Next week, prepare to meet Matt's animal counter-part!

Algebra or Algeblah?

No, this is not a request for a spell-check. Those of you reading this are reading this at a time when I am either:
a. studying for my Algebra 2 test today,
b. taking the test while glaring at my calculator, or
c. recovering from the horrors of said test.

The Lolcat sez- I mean says- it all. Granted, Algebra is preferable to Geometry's painful proofs, but really. When am I ever going to need to know how to reduce a square root discriminate in a quadratic function while using imaginary numbers? See? It's a whole different language! And really, imaginary numbers? Hello- imaginary means that they don't exist- why do I need to know how to use them in equations? Humph! Math.... Sam agrees with me- Why does she need to know about quadratics, and parabolas, and imaginary numbers when all she wants to do is cook? Alex is of a different opinion- he loves solving numerical puzzles. The geek.

Not that I'm bitter or anything, because based on what I want to do (other than be a fabulously famous author) I might need to know that x is equal to negative b plus or minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a! All you math geeks out there should be able to follow- for those of you not yet in Algebra, it's the quadratic formula and it can be sung to "Pop Goes the Weasel." And then it gets stuck in your head... LOL

However, math does come in handy and quadratics are mostly fun-they actually make loops on the graph! Sorry, me and Sam are so ADD. Anyways, its only when you start tossing in weird stuff like the axis of symmetry and imaginary numbers that things start to get more annoying than alluring.

So have fun, study hard, and wish me luck on my test! And don't forget to come on over tomorrow and meet Alan's furry pal!

Who's Who Wednesday

Welcome to Triple W Numero 3! Get ready for the low-down on Alan Mackes!

Age: 15 1/2 (only 1 month younger than Sam)

Description: Alan has short, curly brown hair and slightly dorky wire-frame glasses. His height is right around equal to Sam's, slightly short for a boy, but not by much. Alan's standard street clothes are a regular t-shirt and a pair of almost-but-not-quite beat up jeans. His worn-out sneakers and Letterman's jacket complete the look.

Driving Status: Alan can drive, just not legally. He's been to lazy to take the permit test and catches a lot of grief for it.

Favorite Class(es): Woodshop and Band- where he practices his woodshop talents on the lockers, equipment, etc.

Instrument: Trumpet. He shares a band locker with Sam and her piccolo and flute. Although sharing may not be the best word... the locker makes a convenient 2nd closet...

After-School Activities: Marching band, marching band, and marching band repair. If marching season's over, then he's always helping the other school groups build things for various events. (Think stage sets, props, pep rally displays, etc.)

Hobbies: Alan is always building or fixing something- or planning how/when to fix something. When he isn't marching on the field, he's usually on the sidelines fixing the drum major's podium, the golf cart, the trailer, the sound system, whatever. Lego bricks have always been of a build-able and collectible interest to Alan. He is also a major sci-fi and fantasy nerd. Star Wars trivia and vampire fascination practically ooze from his pores.

Weekend Stuff: If Alan isn't busy with band or the rest of the crew, he's probably watching re-runs on the Sci-Fi channel. Or weird history shows on History Channel. Or Mythbusters on Discovery. Or... Well, the list is endless. Alan usally has some sort of mechanical project going on in the middle of the backyard or is assembling some weird little gadget on the dining room table... Hang on, Sam wants to say something- "Seriously. If Alan didn't know the rest of the gang, he'd never leave that house but for school and the hardware store! He's just techno-crazy. And to hear him go on about Darth Vader..."

Thank you, Sam for that errm- nice message. Check back next week to meet Matt and don't forget to stop by on Friday to meet Alan's fuzzbomb companion!

Marching Orders...

No, it's not what you think. It's just that time of year again when my band directors are busy finalizing the music arrangements for our new marching show in the fall. This year has consisted of a battle between classical sixteenth-note craziness Henry V and amazingly cool theme songs in Video Game Suite. Hmm... not much of a choice says the high school students. There is a choice! shouts the band director. That much classical isn't very march-able says the second-tier band staff. Needless, to say, I'm very much in favor of the Video Game Suite.

You see, it isn't just Atari "beeps" and Pong "bloops". It's music. Good, solid music that is feasible for a marching field. (20 beat-long 16th and 32nd note runs are not!) First movement is the Halo Theme (from "Halo Suite") by Marty O'Donnell. Second movement is from Civilization IV: Coronation and Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin. And all of this is wrapped up by the epically awesome Kingdom Hearts by Yoko Shimanura. The whole she-bang is arranged by Ralph Ford. And it sends chills up and down my spine whenever I hear it. I just know this is the piece for my band. Problem is, the piece is almost 3 minutes too long for the limited time we have on the field.

So, today we were trying to figure out which measures (units of music) to cut from the music without comprimising the integrity of the arrangement itself. You can listen to a professional recording of the whole arrangement here. Tell me what you think. What you like, what you don't. It's pretty much a shoe-in for the show, but I'd like to know your opinion, since the whole point is to entertain the audience. (Please remember, we high-schoolers are far from being pros, will be marching on a field, and have only 7-7.5 minutes. So give a lil' grace.)

And tomorrow, don't forget to look out for Alan's Triple W interview!

Furry Friday!

Welcome back to Furry Friday. Today we will travel to Colby Ryan's bedroom to meet his not-so-furry companion Firecracker

Age: 1 year

Gender: Male

Length: 2 1/2 inches

Weight: ??? how do you weigh a fish?

Origins: Firecracker the fish is of humble origins... Colby picked him out at the local pet store after heavy negotiations with his mother. (Seems Mrs. Ryans isn't too fond of pet mess.) Luckily, Colby convinced his mother that fish just don't make a mess.

Favorite Game(s): None. He's a fish.

Habits: Firecracker has a habit of flaring out his tail in warning whenever Colby's door opens, someone taps the glass, or Tolkien gets too nosy. As Colby is fond of saying, he makes an excellent silent alarm system.

Thank you for tuning in to our second Furry Friday. Next week, meet Alan's beastly buddy. And don't forget the next Who's Who Wednesday, featuring Alan himself!