Bullying

I'm coming to a place in my book where I need to bully the "good guys". I'm having hard time facing that. After dealing with bullying as a kid and then going through my son being bullied for 3 years... I'm having a hard time. BUT, I need to, or else what's the whole point of writing a book about bullying and surviving bullying and winning over bullies?
Give me strength!

Names... What's in a name?

I have enjoyed coming up with names for my middle grade book for boys. I thought I was doing really well. Then I told my daughter a few of the names and she really hated one name. The one name I used to include my son as a character (you know, almost) or to be an homage to him. I will not change my mind on it, but my daughter got sooo mad about it.
I will continue this later....in-laws got here.

Tell me...

How hard is it to pick a bad guy for your book. If it's based on this world... who is the biggest bad guy in the world? What kind of big bad guy would want to get rid of all the other big bad guys?
Plus, the cold war is over, so he can't be Russian. Iraq stuff is too scary for a kid's book so he can't be from the Middle East. I was thinking maybe North Korea? But, they aren't quite the scary super power yet. Iran is getting there with their "peaceful" nuclear program... but that's scary middle east stuff.

Hmmm... lot's of thinking to do still.

Also, is the big bad guy getting rid of all the other bad guys in the world so he can be the ONLY big bad guy? Or does he think he's right or good because he's getting rid of the other big bad guys in the world? Or even scarier, is the big bad guy.... a woman!????

Think. Think. Think.
Seriously, let me know what you think.

Or at the very least, IF you read this blog, please leave a little comment so I know who does read this. K? thanks.

It's all been done...you just have to have an original take on an old subject.

I've been reading the book Libyrinth. It's about a girl who grows up in a library and books talk to her.
Recently I found an idea notebook of mine. I was flipping through it and found a book idea written in it: A girl grows up in a Library and books talk to her.

Oh well.

It's all been done. huh.

Also, recently I found out that my best friend T. who is a 13 year old boy with Aspergers and I came up with similar ideas for books. I think both could work separately as books, OR we could work together to make one book...

My son and I are working together on a book about Bullies. I think it would be therapeutic for both of us. I'm writing it in a notebook with SHARKS on the front!
Hmmm, maybe I SHOULD be writing books for 11 year old boys... I seem to think like them.
All grossness and bluntness and ACTION! None of that Deep thought or prose.
: )

More writing lessons.

More lessons from the book What If:
Consider what has happened to your character before the first sentence happens.
Think about the history of your characters and story and how they affect those people.
That's easy for me.
Next lesson:
Write two sentences to start your book.
Now write sentence pairs for opposite subjects.
Birth sentence pairs, Death sentence pairs, etc.
That was fun.
Now write two sentence pairs for subjects that AREN'T complete opposites, like for spring and summer.
That was fun too.

I'm finding that I'm GREAT at ideas and some details, but getting lots and lots of words on a page is hard. duh, right? I have TONS of ideas for books... but, getting right down to writing lots of words to describe that idea in more detail.... hmmm, maybe that's why poetry is so easy for me?
Well, that's why I'm practicing my writing skills!
(Hey, if ANYONE reads this blog, please leave me a little comment.)

Thanks for the book!

My friend Pixiechick_SW gave me a writing exercise book for my birthday titled, What If?
I'm taking it slowly and really doing the exercises.
The first lesson is to write a First Line to a book every day. And while doing that remember that a story takes place with a past and a future... a first line is really an introduction to the middle.
I end up writing the first few lines to a book. It's been fun.
I'll move on to the next lesson soon.

My story is rambling around in my head

I have a basic premise for my first novel. I have a beginning and a middle but the end is a little fuzzy. My husband keeps adding in his thoughts and it changes the story a bit or at least it changes my thoughts about the story.
HOW to write the story is what I'm trying to figure out.
Back and forth from chapter to chapter? Like, one chapter it's one scene and another chapter is another scene and back and forth?
Or write it in a linear way? Even though it's not exactly a linear story...
I have a point to the story, but, does it have to end in sorrow? Can't it end happily?
I'm not sure it CAN end happily... darnit.
I just need some time to sit at the computer and type type type. I'm sure I can rely on some flow of my conscious and subconscious. I've been thinking about this story so much that I've started waking up SAYING to myself what some item needs to be in the story.
I also have quite a bit more research to do about ADD and my hometown and my past.
So, here I go. Just need to make myself sit down and type.

I think I might have ADD... because I am having such a hard time sitting down and doing one thing. I am even having a hard time sitting still Unless I'm exhausted.
I'm going to ask about it at my next doctor's appointment in a week. I hope she has an open mind. I'm tired of doctors that don't believe me.

I read pixiechick_SW's new book coming out in 2010 called, Palace Beautiful and it was a wonderful book. Really Wonderful! Of course, I can't compare her with me at all because she's written at least 3 or more books and this is my first one and we definitely write in different genres. I'm happy I got to read it before it comes out... and I will be buying a copy in 2010 and I will have her sign it. : )