tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629481010062938852024-03-23T03:14:29.665-07:00Dimensions of My UniverseCassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-90384229481265593582016-03-27T10:00:00.000-07:002016-03-28T16:44:14.879-07:00A Recipe to a Very Happy Writer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Writers are interesting creatures. We sit for hours tapping the out stories of characters that we feel emotionally attached to, we stare at a screen or a page for hours when we hit writers block (and yet don't give up), and we gaze into the sky at nothing in particular and imagine what would happen if one of our characters would do X, Y, or Z in the next chapter of our work in progress.<br />
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Yep, we're interesting creatures and readers need people like us desperately or where would they be in a bookless world? (the tragedy of a bookless world! *sobs*)<br />
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"So how do you make a writer?" you ask. Well I'm glad you did because I've concocted a recipe that's sure to result in the happiest writer out there.<br />
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Onwards to the recipe! </div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><i>1/2 Cup</i> of Solitude</span></h3>
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Writers love their families! We also like some peace and quiet. If we can get the house or even a single room to ourselves without much interruption, somehow the stress of writing or editing a WHOLE novel doesn't feel nearly as heavy. Also, we can play our writing music without headphones which many writers appreciate.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><i>2 Tablespoons </i>of<i> </i>Writing Music</span></h3>
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Speaking of writing music, this is another one of those lovely things that writerly people adore. Whether it's got lyrics or is the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, beautiful music inspires our stories.<br />
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To make the writer extra happy, include a new soundtrack, or one that relates to their book genre specifically.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><i>1 Cup </i>of Tea or Coffee </span></h3>
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Let's be honest. This is pretty much how writers survive. Many of us are caffeine addicts. It's important to include this ingredient otherwise a happy writer may be a sleepy writer. </div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><i>3/4 Cup </i>of The Internet</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I couldn't really get away with writing this recipe without including the internet as one of the ingredients. I mean, writers probably spend at least a third of their 'writing time' on social media, or browsing book blogs. We need this time to 'muck around' on the interwebs though. It's partially where we get our inspiration and usually where we go to take a break from the craziness. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><i>1 Teaspoon </i>of Pinterest </span></h3>
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Many of us writers don't consider Pinterest a form of social media—we consider it inspiration! Too much Pinterest though results in a very unproductive writer so be sure not to add too much of this ingredient.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>2 Whole</i> New Books </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(for extra happiness, feel free to increase the amount)</span></div>
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Maybe we spend a lot of time writing books but there will never really be anything quite like getting lost in a book that's not your own. Writers, by nature, are also readers so when addressing this part of the recipe, be sure to think of them as a book fanatic.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><i>A Heaping Spoonful</i> of Sugar </span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;">(or salt...both make wonderful writers)</span></h3>
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Snacks are a must. Some of us like cake, some like chips, and others like a platter of veggies. Regardless, this ingredient is crucial. It gives us writers life and keeps us very happy for a long time (until we need a refill).<br />
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Mix all of these ingredients together and you're certain to come out with a very happy writer!<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let's Chat!</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Did I miss any ingredients? </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Should</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> some of the </span><span style="font-family: "times";">measurements</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times";"> be different? </span>Recipes<span style="font-family: "times";"> are made to be refined, wordlings, so lets turn this recipe into the ULTIMATE recipe. </span></span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let me know if you have suggestions in the comments below, or you can tweet me your ideas @cassia_schaar, or send me a </span>picture<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> of the missing ingredient on instagram @cassiaschaar using the hashtag: #ultimatewriterrecipe</span></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Keep on keeping on, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-89672966609873157772016-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:002016-03-29T20:40:54.958-07:00Beautiful People | Isaac's Addicted to Mountain Dew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What's up, Wordlings? How's the month of March treating you this far? Is writing going well? If it's not, let this be a prompt to open up that document or scribbler and continue working!<br />
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This month's Beautiful People came out a few weeks ago which means that there's still time for you to participate. If you're interested, just follow<span style="color: #cc0000;"> <a href="http://paperfury.com/beautiful-people-16-march/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">this link</span></a></span> and pick a character.<br />
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Speaking of characters, I'm currently in the middle of my secondary edits on "Living City" and have noticed that I haven't done too much work on one of my side characters, Isaac Ghassemi. He's the skeptic of the book and a fellow plane crash survivor of my main character, Kimerly. Ironically, I used to know more about him than any other character in the novel. Now I feel as though it's the exact opposite XD<br />
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Onwards to the questions!<br />
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What first inspired this character? Is there a person/actor you based them off?</h3>
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There very well may have been something or someone but I can't remember who or what it would have been for the life of me. Isaac's become his own person now which I think is an achievement of any writer. His appearance however is based off of a younger version of Avan Jogia with shorter hair. </div>
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Describe their daily routine.</h3>
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Before the plane crash, Isaac woke up and ate breakfast at the table while studying for any tests he had that day. At school he hangs out with his best friend Colton and Colton's girlfriend, Audrey as well as Audrey's twin sister, Rynn. Somewhere in the day, he'll have a can of Mountain Dew since he'll need a caffeine boost from staying up late the night before.</div>
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At the end of every decent weathered day, he and his friends hang out in a gazebo by a pond and do their homework or play cards. Most of his actual productive work time is done once everyone is fast asleep in his house and he has yet, another can of Mountain Dew. He's gotta stay awake somehow XD</div>
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Isaac doesn't really hold a part time job but his dad pays him to do some general office work on Saturday afternoons at his business.<br />
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It's a pretty chill life for the most part. The plane crash into Tholus kinda messes everything up.</div>
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If they joined your local high school, what clique would they fit into?</h3>
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Definitely the hyper-academics. He'd probably join the commerce club or the model UN club. I can see him in either. He'd probably try to run for some sort of high-up position in whatever club he joined too. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFalGyYxrxw0OOX4mb8m_2Dne58VHHbcOT9yz55MYnETM1blrZdQR4t8mRL-PXZY2N-QYEaTpU2nTt5dYJsPjzMtHhSvO8HytKNN36RgfecY2l7xJt-GwRFFCepVmbNvhYC-xBgY9KkDi/s1600/4bKhgfvHqqM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpFalGyYxrxw0OOX4mb8m_2Dne58VHHbcOT9yz55MYnETM1blrZdQR4t8mRL-PXZY2N-QYEaTpU2nTt5dYJsPjzMtHhSvO8HytKNN36RgfecY2l7xJt-GwRFFCepVmbNvhYC-xBgY9KkDi/s400/4bKhgfvHqqM.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Hey look! I found a short haired <br />version of Avan Jogia!</span></td></tr>
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Write a list of things they merely tolerate. Ex: certain people, foods, circumstances in their lives…</h3>
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<li>Arrogant people (which is slightly ironic since he's got a thin thread of arrogance himself) </li>
<li>Isaac likes to make calculated decisions so it bothers him when people in his student council jump to conclusions. </li>
<li>Broccoli</li>
<li>Parmesan cheese </li>
<li>When restaurants <i>don't</i> serve Mountain Dew</li>
<li>Friday nights when his sister and mom watch chick-flicks</li>
<li>School dances</li>
<li>Lastly (but not limited to), group presentations at school</li>
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How do they react in awkward silences?</h3>
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While he definitely feels the awkwardness, he doesn't usually do much for awhile.<br />
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First he'll observe the group and analyze the reason for the silence. After a mental (or visible) eye roll, if he can and feels the need to, Isaac will say something to break the silence—usually a question to get people talking about something else. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe5Ndyc6J0J7nHkOqvR7VzjBOMjYy7iw0PmbEhYE_MMRfQCvhiRdIUSgPLUZWNwuIm7ifIxuDOG44rpWBo8rGE7gCKwROOxQzRJM0FWQmurUMOwuBi3RUPi556zZnyMQ-QLWsp4KIQaEv/s1600/3c8353f4101b07e03fa57fe074138989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe5Ndyc6J0J7nHkOqvR7VzjBOMjYy7iw0PmbEhYE_MMRfQCvhiRdIUSgPLUZWNwuIm7ifIxuDOG44rpWBo8rGE7gCKwROOxQzRJM0FWQmurUMOwuBi3RUPi556zZnyMQ-QLWsp4KIQaEv/s400/3c8353f4101b07e03fa57fe074138989.jpg" width="286" /></a>
Can they swim? If so, how did they learn?</h3>
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Yep, Isaac can swim. His parents put him in swimming lessons at the local pool when he was really little and that's how he met his current best friend, Colton. They were pretty competitive, timing each other on laps and trying to finish the exercises before the other one. </div>
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What is one major event that helped shape who they are?</h3>
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When he was ten, Isaac's travelled to New York with his parents to visit family. While there, they visited the UN building and that sparked a little fire in him that grew over the years. His dream job is to be an ambassador for the UN so he's made an effort to be a part of the student council and also learn Arabic and Spanish.<br />
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What things do they value most in life?</h3>
His family and friends for sure. They mean the world to him. Also, a pursuit of knowledge is super important to him. In his opinion, knowledge is power and success so his schooling and his personal study of language is placed on a tall pedestal for him. He also values Mountain Dew XD It's his favourite kind of pop and he greatly appreciates it's caffeinated qualities ;)<br />
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Do they believe in giving other people second chances? Do they have any trust issues?</h3>
Nope. No second chances. At least not if they're a stranger. Friends and family are different. He doesn't have trust issues really, he just trusts himself more than he trusts people he doesn't know especially when it comes to decision making. I guess it's more of a pride issue than a trust issue.<br />
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Your character is having a rough day…what things do they do to make them happy again? Is there anyone they talk/interact with to get in a better mood?</h3>
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Colton and his other friends always know how to make him happy. A few rounds of cards at the gazebo or a trip for ice-cream, coffee or burgers will pick him up again. If something really bad has happened, he usually won't talk about it unless Colton forces it out of him which will them leave him admitting that yes, he does feel better. </div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Did you do Beautiful People this month? If you did, tell me a bit about your character! </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Keep up the writing, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-88271404365927199782016-03-12T10:00:00.000-08:002016-03-14T12:12:04.300-07:00Review | Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer<br />
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<i>“Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.</i><br />
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<i>One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.</i><br />
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<i>The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.</i><br />
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<i>When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.</i><br />
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<i>Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .”</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>(Summary from Goodreads)</b></span></div>
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I’ve actually never read any of the Rick Riordan books before this one *raises hands in surrender* I know, it’s terrible. For a crazy book lover like me, it’s hard to believe I’ve never even given Percy Jackson much of a thought. To be honest, I wasn’t even planning on reading “The Sword of Summer” until I received it as a gift from my boss at a work Christmas party. That was the moment that I knew I <i>needed</i> to read it. I had no excuse.<br />
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After only a few chapters, I was suppressing laughter while I was on the bus, quoting humorous lines and trying to convince people to read it so I could talk about it with them. Probably my favourite bit of humour involved Magnus Chase calling a fire giant “the High King Roasty Toasty”. That line was impossible to hold in laughter for and I got a few glances from strangers.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Here Are a Few of My Favourite Things</span></h4>
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(and by a few, I mean five)</h3>
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1) Probably my favourite aspect of the novel was the <b><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">world building.</span></b> I absolutely adored the travel between the different realms and the world tree had me in awe. Between the creatures and the social classes in Valhalla, I honestly felt like Rick Riordan transported me into a world I could believe in.<br />
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To make things better, In the back of the copy I have, there’s a full colour map of the World Tree that I gushed over for a good chunk of time.<br />
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2) The <b><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">mythology elements</span></b> piqued my interest. I know little to nothing about any sort of mythology whether it be Greek, Roman or in this case, Norse. I truly enjoyed learning more about the different mythological creatures and symbols. One of the things that drew me back to the book each day was the idea that I'd get to learn more about the different gods who's names I'd only heard in marvel movies. (By the way, Thor and Loki are <i>nothing</i> like you know)<br />
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3) <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>The ending</b></span> was super action packed! I couldn’t put the book down once the characters reached their final destination and the final moments left me a little bit breathless. Oh! I also almost cried. <i>Almost</i>. If you've known me for awhile, you'll know that that's a big deal for me ;)<br />
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4) <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>The characters.</b></span> All of them were so different. There was an elf that communicated through sign language, a trendy dwarf who wasn’t nearly as good at crafting as dwarves usually are, a muslim girl who’s head scarf was also used for camouflage and Magnus of course is an orphaned street-kid. Could you get a more diverse group? The great think about the diversity in the group was that it didn't feel forced and beyond that, a lot of stereotypes were shattered. I applaud Rick Riordan for that.<br />
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Following a band of underdogs had me cheering each and every one them on. Success seemed impossible but that’s what I loved most about this group.<br />
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5) <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>Magnus and I share a birthday!</b></span> January 13th for the win! I have to admit, it's definitely something that makes me love the book that much more ^_^<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Here Are a Few of My Not So Favourite Things</span></h4>
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1) <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>It was pretty long.</b></span> I know they needed to follow clues but I mostly just wanted them to get to that climax moment. I feel as though one of their stops could have been cut especially since sometimes I got the impression that a certain stop was placed only so a specific character could reveal their backstory. This bothered me a little...to put it mildly.<br />
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2) <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>Dialogue dumping:</b></span> it’s like info dumping but it’s just characters talking to each other about things that the author thinks the reader should know. I skimmed over a lot of these parts. I just wanted action—which was definitely there but it always was broken up by long talks about one of the character’s pasts.<br />
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3) There was so many conversations where we got to know the side characters that I never really felt like I got to know Magnus as deeply as I would've liked. Don't get me wrong, the voice in this story is fabulous. I can still hear Magnus's sass in my mind. Rather, <span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>I didn't feel like I was in his </b></span><i><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><b>heart</b></span> </i>all the time.<br />
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I love feeling what characters feel but with Magnus, it seemed as though I was distanced from him. It made it hard to get invested in the battles since I wasn't always sure that Magnus was worried about their situation even though he very well may have been.<br />
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The reason why I liked the ending so much was probably because I actually felt that Magnus was legitimately fearful—I knew I was in not only his head at that point, but his heart too.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">So should you read it?</span></h4>
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“The Sword of Summer” is a super easy read. I’d recommend it to any late elementary or junior high student (9-16) who loves Percy Jackson or even any junior high student who hasn’t read it but has always wanted to. If you’re older than 16 and hate excessive gore but love a good adventure story, if you don’t like jump scares and but still love books that excite you, this is the book for you. Anyone who loves a good dose of humour will also enjoy this book.<br />
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Overall, I’ll give “The Sword of Summer” <b><span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;">3.5 out of 5 stars</span></b> and yes, I'll likely be reading the next book.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">About the Author</span></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31wRDvAPH9B0v4KjcC7rDejiv8rnKMAT_ISFsgoIFSr0sBVljnJjNkKVr9eT3NfaT-k3qBvadtvnWTpCcfhnykdH_mDaGfEwOYUSuhFyoja9G5ZlVk4NLcHxNmZ-uo1qNMVuH1WCVbejo/s1600/6a00e54ed05fc28833017ee3e76cb4970d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31wRDvAPH9B0v4KjcC7rDejiv8rnKMAT_ISFsgoIFSr0sBVljnJjNkKVr9eT3NfaT-k3qBvadtvnWTpCcfhnykdH_mDaGfEwOYUSuhFyoja9G5ZlVk4NLcHxNmZ-uo1qNMVuH1WCVbejo/s320/6a00e54ed05fc28833017ee3e76cb4970d.jpg" width="240" /></a>“Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, the Heroes of Olympus, and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults.<br />
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For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. While teaching in San Antonio, Saint Mary’s Hall honored him with the school’s first Master Teacher Award.<br />
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While teaching full time, Riordan began writing mystery novels for grownups. His Tres Navarre series went on to win the top three national awards in the mystery genre – the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. Riordan turned to children's fiction when he started The Lightning Thief as a bedtime story for his oldest son.<br />
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Today over forty million copies of his Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus books are in print in the United States, and rights have been sold into more than 37 countries. Rick is also the author of The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, another #1 New York Times bestseller<br />
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Rick Riordan now writes full-time. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons”<br />
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have you read The Sword or Summer? If you have, what did you think of it? If you haven't, do you think you will in the future? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Keep on reading, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What's up, wordlings? So this summary is late but I wanted to write it the week after the conference so I could give you all the full scoop of what happened down in Florida. Also, I had a book review scheduled to go up last week while I was away but it didn't go up for some reason. That'll be ready for next week, guaranteed :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This month was a pretty crazy one but it left me feeling satisfied with the direction I'm headed and gave me a new drive to pursue my end goal. Besides that, everything that happened was super enjoyable and I've moved into March with a whole basket overflowing with memories.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Previously, In the Month of February...</span></h4>
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1) I tried to write and edit, I really did. However, I realized I had more school assignments than I had anticipated and so I poured my time into that for the first ten days of the month. I'm making up for it as we speak—write like the wind!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">2) Tori came up :D We spent ten days exploring the city and the mountains. Instead of rambling on about how awesome it was, I thought, I'd share some pictures instead :) </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi6V0gaNLNtIhFzIhnT6gLAI5PwoZLV1jOK9Hw_RUppH80m4A3Ide5xQ5jeGSM6yLclkgXZG52NwljoxwcTsoFWGCBd1Utyujq1koHLlJwZKmePCm2dauzatC-AIIIQ66951b1kClB3rB/s1600/selfies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRi6V0gaNLNtIhFzIhnT6gLAI5PwoZLV1jOK9Hw_RUppH80m4A3Ide5xQ5jeGSM6yLclkgXZG52NwljoxwcTsoFWGCBd1Utyujq1koHLlJwZKmePCm2dauzatC-AIIIQ66951b1kClB3rB/s640/selfies.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Our Valentines Day consisted of ice-cream and a photoshoot at a national park</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLKx6a9W3tSudGUuOZFtwIdRw1f9miSJLAABsGvMhQCR1Nuswhpxj8UNwktmi6DH9wlOJpS6ezqiHUpu5jhP21BWNcr27cq25fJ85Z1d9q-s9eEmzxKjFupjggUJdYfpzpXqueLcxJB4E/s1600/12715526_1089349377781810_8183675865049052493_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLKx6a9W3tSudGUuOZFtwIdRw1f9miSJLAABsGvMhQCR1Nuswhpxj8UNwktmi6DH9wlOJpS6ezqiHUpu5jhP21BWNcr27cq25fJ85Z1d9q-s9eEmzxKjFupjggUJdYfpzpXqueLcxJB4E/s640/12715526_1089349377781810_8183675865049052493_n.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">The ice throne at the ice castle! They played Narnia music too!</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistToWTs28Dhz6wYmnogEwANiX8kZYh-Evbf23V7b62nyyeVwTHUkVUjnoOja9qDZ8-zO2HPm2Ht26MSDmDl-cddHKiClveVCZicIDd9CZblBkyaDTKDYuHYHfEtnznO9bsyaQeT1gBaUy/s1600/12733365_1087933417923406_8744619468155086253_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistToWTs28Dhz6wYmnogEwANiX8kZYh-Evbf23V7b62nyyeVwTHUkVUjnoOja9qDZ8-zO2HPm2Ht26MSDmDl-cddHKiClveVCZicIDd9CZblBkyaDTKDYuHYHfEtnznO9bsyaQeT1gBaUy/s640/12733365_1087933417923406_8744619468155086253_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3idseXGtsPDReiWgrZARxqFxJVBcHO9fN4N5nNLPRo0bQO_ZBi8CDkYItTpKHDZFa7I5yN0CIEYnEFMYOutVZxfZuXNOefcMFQiKPRWZ8uKGn6cNY0POLi_yOttN3RZSNpNNoYnLlGLOm/s1600/Tellus+Centre+%25284%2529+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3idseXGtsPDReiWgrZARxqFxJVBcHO9fN4N5nNLPRo0bQO_ZBi8CDkYItTpKHDZFa7I5yN0CIEYnEFMYOutVZxfZuXNOefcMFQiKPRWZ8uKGn6cNY0POLi_yOttN3RZSNpNNoYnLlGLOm/s640/Tellus+Centre+%25284%2529+.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Our adventures at the science centre included giant rubber cubes, tony stark technology and a little plush red blood cell that now sits in my bookshelf as one of my writing pals</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyK2x04ZjipnuVXmBhXIcRdn0MwOBQVbyKEIGUNFi7uIJ93vdxUEqeP1bK663fd0nhbP-2ilNW2M78maQqd6i7UZdXuz4abnLM6KIUonwyA7zjrWb_wW5X_43WNzGCozUwcLzNxy81FA0/s1600/12742459_1088097994573615_3822376286762459832_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIyK2x04ZjipnuVXmBhXIcRdn0MwOBQVbyKEIGUNFi7uIJ93vdxUEqeP1bK663fd0nhbP-2ilNW2M78maQqd6i7UZdXuz4abnLM6KIUonwyA7zjrWb_wW5X_43WNzGCozUwcLzNxy81FA0/s640/12742459_1088097994573615_3822376286762459832_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Can't go ten days without at least <i>trying</i> to turn Tori into a slurpee addict like me!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2tPuIcQgmc1W-oteTrvCs_e2J8edN2GYeaDSLC1rsyJ-KgragaSBml_ZyTLtWFQTdfUGdvorTIRUSF5kUihQdhWHBqZmBqsLQsaCOOZsvx08MBp7bpyVLztRBZqjd3x7DDiJ5GGd322z/s1600/12717498_1092071307509617_3688095722797417397_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2tPuIcQgmc1W-oteTrvCs_e2J8edN2GYeaDSLC1rsyJ-KgragaSBml_ZyTLtWFQTdfUGdvorTIRUSF5kUihQdhWHBqZmBqsLQsaCOOZsvx08MBp7bpyVLztRBZqjd3x7DDiJ5GGd322z/s640/12717498_1092071307509617_3688095722797417397_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">We visited an antique book store!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AWL-Fh4dZYs-VYqrgVIrepovWsRucsOYtnZKTBAYRrbkBpkTyLnCJ1ZrJ8KA8sJjkXe6KVvHOw2RwIcW0nomRJBXdK65obDHMI-F4zuycNGidLEw6KgBXYn9pntPf5v844NTHcxSXBSB/s1600/Adventures+in+Banff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9AWL-Fh4dZYs-VYqrgVIrepovWsRucsOYtnZKTBAYRrbkBpkTyLnCJ1ZrJ8KA8sJjkXe6KVvHOw2RwIcW0nomRJBXdK65obDHMI-F4zuycNGidLEw6KgBXYn9pntPf5v844NTHcxSXBSB/s640/Adventures+in+Banff.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Our trip to Banff in the mountains</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0b7w4Aaqj25mJGHsuwKEAj2ofytKdvb8giKf7w1_-H2b1xTmc8izp4UBgxycuCsJ4XJxKwCYepVUJMLsmk_usro442CQEbSvTLqXG2yp9hxJWlnDsoBYDSupi3JWIyhjMb2ttljKpAiFD/s1600/Skoki%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0b7w4Aaqj25mJGHsuwKEAj2ofytKdvb8giKf7w1_-H2b1xTmc8izp4UBgxycuCsJ4XJxKwCYepVUJMLsmk_usro442CQEbSvTLqXG2yp9hxJWlnDsoBYDSupi3JWIyhjMb2ttljKpAiFD/s640/Skoki%2527s.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">We signed our names on the wall of the waffle house in Banff ^ ^ </span> </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn2RijSJpZXq2VqXW7WooMgmUiC0uIFi8_DYJpBc6NXFTqx8yME5HLBcCtNCw2l5Qawba1rYXZRBBxddthwEVv6ggTnaMb5lFOGZ7r7ZODkYDwGxqk9RaaX7LKo_40bMWuOZ6EEfCjbdH/s1600/12516730_957994454288874_1690036004_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOn2RijSJpZXq2VqXW7WooMgmUiC0uIFi8_DYJpBc6NXFTqx8yME5HLBcCtNCw2l5Qawba1rYXZRBBxddthwEVv6ggTnaMb5lFOGZ7r7ZODkYDwGxqk9RaaX7LKo_40bMWuOZ6EEfCjbdH/s640/12516730_957994454288874_1690036004_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Winter hiking to the frozen water fall</span></td></tr>
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3) I went to the Florida Christian Writer's Conference! If you follow my<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CassiaSchaar/"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">Facebook page</span></a> (which you totally should!), then you'll know of the long list of amazing things have happened while I was there.<br />
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My purpose in going down was to try to pick up an agent. It's pretty much impossible to get a contract on the spot but I <i>did</i> have two of the agents request a full manuscript from me! One of them wants a book proposal too which is really good news.<br />
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The next piece of good news is that I won an award! I got first place for my flash fiction piece, "Adrift". The award is a really sweet victory since that story in particular has been rejected in the past.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4QVCIHO3T_zr_fjNnNF54zm6eXSGjVnD1_oWK_i2toJL3ih-aoPynNnhP-XQbKWnsJ6SRW3ZEIs5PhWwR5vrKMnfBC1NVbUa4EA45sP7CrIP6YqQJEV9C-0lH-GHrmGasFRtB8vUiMJF/s1600/IMG_8482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC4QVCIHO3T_zr_fjNnNF54zm6eXSGjVnD1_oWK_i2toJL3ih-aoPynNnhP-XQbKWnsJ6SRW3ZEIs5PhWwR5vrKMnfBC1NVbUa4EA45sP7CrIP6YqQJEV9C-0lH-GHrmGasFRtB8vUiMJF/s640/IMG_8482.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">The winners from the teen track! Anna, Bethany, me, and Laura</span></td></tr>
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Beyond that, Focus on the Family has some new projects for me, Splickety wants to see my work in their magazine, and I was offered an opportunity to co-teach next year at the conference.<br />
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Maybe it sounds cheesy but my favourite part about the trip was getting to reconnect with some of my favourite people, build relationships with new peoples and talk to so many amazing authors! I'm so inspired coming home from Florida :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOnkS7m-q1qLnVTonSUViyFMvjjELEWggD1maJM6ZwuiO9ixWHD_4vvFT3EpttmriD5wJtuY6Ri6VRCal-8n02q5QhRp7VCQcRpSlbIgEpb-HJC9QyJHeBbUCFM4gH4LT449wL9HdyP04/s1600/IMG_8483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOnkS7m-q1qLnVTonSUViyFMvjjELEWggD1maJM6ZwuiO9ixWHD_4vvFT3EpttmriD5wJtuY6Ri6VRCal-8n02q5QhRp7VCQcRpSlbIgEpb-HJC9QyJHeBbUCFM4gH4LT449wL9HdyP04/s640/IMG_8483.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Technically I met Ben Wolf last year but this year we actually had some great writerly talks</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNUyQYarReb70ncoKvjaHAxEFwLxJ4A5jcvE-UOm26ivnJOY5U3TmKoZFgDGZH2XgoBV7b3tYxg-ITME2twWfz2rT1pl-KE7_oyeRKG_D_UMrDtTUN9NPz7Bb2gPjGKT2tfn23KGAHePi/s1600/IMG_8485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNUyQYarReb70ncoKvjaHAxEFwLxJ4A5jcvE-UOm26ivnJOY5U3TmKoZFgDGZH2XgoBV7b3tYxg-ITME2twWfz2rT1pl-KE7_oyeRKG_D_UMrDtTUN9NPz7Bb2gPjGKT2tfn23KGAHePi/s640/IMG_8485.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">This sweet lady, Starr, was such an inspiration to me this year. I can't wait for her book to come out sometime in the future! It's gonna be amazing ^ ^ </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZbVv2UVFJNMvd8EDX47YaB4k-qEFhyymAOkqsSwq4wgUa6xZVmgw4bGUhcBRVc-fcyoSxfuPCAQNco6TRgRmlC1yEeLiAn3nCah40sb6AgFQS-2X2EuIAQiE0DQNhAjxtLuc0Lt-_oou/s1600/12788439_962490227172630_369885753_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVZbVv2UVFJNMvd8EDX47YaB4k-qEFhyymAOkqsSwq4wgUa6xZVmgw4bGUhcBRVc-fcyoSxfuPCAQNco6TRgRmlC1yEeLiAn3nCah40sb6AgFQS-2X2EuIAQiE0DQNhAjxtLuc0Lt-_oou/s640/12788439_962490227172630_369885753_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Me and my mentor, Bethany Jett :) </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tyEfEdXIXjCfnkwFqCpKm33PT648MY8SNqceNKa5X2bU7Wp79ZmSFVXJEac5C9861BLOoQuKepb-obnPJ09y4qKOqGu6XBh3SnA1EmfQ2VR5wL5ftUJhicUpSB3sRPu4eqKVCJHKClFW/s1600/IMG_8487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3tyEfEdXIXjCfnkwFqCpKm33PT648MY8SNqceNKa5X2bU7Wp79ZmSFVXJEac5C9861BLOoQuKepb-obnPJ09y4qKOqGu6XBh3SnA1EmfQ2VR5wL5ftUJhicUpSB3sRPu4eqKVCJHKClFW/s640/IMG_8487.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Amanda Davis lead the Teen Track this year and she did an amazing job! I'm so glad I got to know her better this year</span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">February's Monthly Media</span></h4>
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1) I re-watched most of "Your Lie in April" with Tori while she was here as well as the beginning of "Guilty Crown". We've agreed to webcam while we finish the both series together. We also watched "Spirited Away" which I really enjoyed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSuKvDwaJqJvtP_p27T9UZC3_z_PSQXzE4N27Zb3PaCOlI1nr2p82lYlKnKWYvbXbxNPr7CNkR0PmVNhTP90hKJMmjUkvRr4MIwuIntdjwoHU0j5OO70aFYDT-BsFnO2G8Mvad22PcmK3/s1600/A%252Bsea%252Bof%252Bfeels%252Bgotta%252Blove%252Bthis%252Bmovie_1dcd0b_4258426.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSuKvDwaJqJvtP_p27T9UZC3_z_PSQXzE4N27Zb3PaCOlI1nr2p82lYlKnKWYvbXbxNPr7CNkR0PmVNhTP90hKJMmjUkvRr4MIwuIntdjwoHU0j5OO70aFYDT-BsFnO2G8Mvad22PcmK3/s640/A%252Bsea%252Bof%252Bfeels%252Bgotta%252Blove%252Bthis%252Bmovie_1dcd0b_4258426.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">It was a marathon of feels</span></td></tr>
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2) When I found out that Tori hadn't seen "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty", I promptly sat her down, made popcorn, and played the DVD. To this day, it's probably my favourite movie of all time. If you haven't seen it, track it down! DVDs are cheap these days if you can't stream it so you have no excuse ;)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyKqDjDeH-rDSwT0bWLDdMHqrB_LpTA4xzxL_YnlstKQCvJOpUUSa4HM1tSonGJXeiBhuEx60NT4L75u-6qgFOrly3sYFrfckO2dDwOyJ2z0ZRCsTGiRcGpLG2UFBPULTSGGhqpl4Jksm/s640/tumblr_nwap4aemqu1uhgtaao1_1280.jpg" width="640" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">One of my favourite scenes</span></td></tr>
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3) While Tori was here, we went to go see "The 5th Wave". I wasn't a fan of the book for many reasons but the movie fixed a lot of the problems. I actually enjoyed watching the film and I'll probably see the next one when it comes out too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lxdhwXJNJHfj_5dTJI1m2WrlUinDklg_3gbngjRsPAJEr_AQ-JW8rxQGO2ogArH0RzTThn3hcn-ASmu7VGz17U9ewVzBRmPpsQ0lwsgQglECD_tOcrotmFYZke5CaCwqwu4vp3172nbp/s1600/5th+Wave+Movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="593" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5lxdhwXJNJHfj_5dTJI1m2WrlUinDklg_3gbngjRsPAJEr_AQ-JW8rxQGO2ogArH0RzTThn3hcn-ASmu7VGz17U9ewVzBRmPpsQ0lwsgQglECD_tOcrotmFYZke5CaCwqwu4vp3172nbp/s640/5th+Wave+Movie.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Well, it wasn't a trashy movie....get it? Cause there's a trash can? </span></td></tr>
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4) Unfortunately I wasn't able to read Gracekeepers as planned. Instead, I read a play for school and have started a novel for my literature class: "Station Eleven". It's a good story so far but I'm pretty early in yet so we'll see how it goes.<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Coming Soon to the Month of March...</span></h4>
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1) The rest of "Living City" is scheduled to be completely (well, at least the first draft) edited and I'll be able to write the second draft. This also means it's time for me to look for Beta readers. If anyone has tips on that, I'd be incredibly grateful ^_^<br />
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2) Flash fiction time! I've got my list of Splickety themes and I'm gonna start on them. I hope to have at least two written and polished but that's subjective to how many assignments I get this month too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVj73oDtDYlFLxNfaNrm-4EO3wWmZbhYfS5wn8pVlQgyVvM68XeoHGxo2-D3lCfjXG6X7hJP1sVZTpAt9le_vD1hvhYnf6fIxuFoDMl4RK5ivlVHDqw8g9GE4o5kwp6gxcY4puFxVRarN/s1600/We%2527re+Dead...+-+Imgur.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVj73oDtDYlFLxNfaNrm-4EO3wWmZbhYfS5wn8pVlQgyVvM68XeoHGxo2-D3lCfjXG6X7hJP1sVZTpAt9le_vD1hvhYnf6fIxuFoDMl4RK5ivlVHDqw8g9GE4o5kwp6gxcY4puFxVRarN/s640/We%2527re+Dead...+-+Imgur.gif" width="502" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">One of my classmates sent this to me after we handed in a major paper recently XD</span></td></tr>
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3) "Crec" is a hard project. If you've been following me for awhile (or even for the last three months), you'll know my progress on this one isn't as progressive as I'd like. I had the beginning critiqued at the the conference and I also have been working on the timelines of each of the characters. It's difficult, to say the least. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I have to start over. This is the last time, I swear! After this, I'll just have to fix things in the rewrite.<br />
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I'm not sure if I'll actually get to starting on it this month but if not, I'll be working on my timelines still so that I'll know what I'm doing when I <i>do</i> start it. </div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">March's Monthly Media</span></h4>
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1) Station Eleven will be read. Since it's for school, it kind of has to be XD I've been wanting to read it for awhile now, though, and I find it interesting that my prof wants to study a mainstream novel.<br />
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I have no proof to confirm this but from what I've heard, it's got similarities to that "Night Circus" book that's gotten popular in the last year. If you've read either book, let me know!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIm1_N32JYdAWa0meiGgPosI9nf5Xf9S7YeyZH-e-sILlpUTgLTt5bc85ZaCPeSdSD5KfGoedU_9n80ChETg9HyKEqoPg_jeT-QyeHW70sNeyw94ygAUp96zoPqbOiP8RhVO28qD8TXKq/s1600/51HGUeVaayL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIm1_N32JYdAWa0meiGgPosI9nf5Xf9S7YeyZH-e-sILlpUTgLTt5bc85ZaCPeSdSD5KfGoedU_9n80ChETg9HyKEqoPg_jeT-QyeHW70sNeyw94ygAUp96zoPqbOiP8RhVO28qD8TXKq/s400/51HGUeVaayL.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
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2) I'm re-watching "Heroes". For one thing, I love it. Also, I want to watch that new season that came out recently but feel the need to at least catch up on the first season to refresh myself with the premise and the characters (even though most of the characters have been excluded).<br />
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Another reason why I'm watching it is because I'm considering cosplaying as Claire Bennet when I go down to Realm Makers in July. They have a costume night and I feel like I could probably do Claire. It's a toss up between her and Tris from the first book/movie (I have long hair so...). Let me know in the comments as to who you think I should do!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdmEQ5O2WBg2i0KQfUcrzE7XryRq40KxAPtIzT-9l2nxP189Iu5njWktqHfeqg1cC_HSKkNIye9jbd62MSglY9x1hII7lcqBSFP1AHoY70X3Ohygf30EPRsU_AsuREbHyRDCgCD5O09m7/s1600/tris+and+claire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdmEQ5O2WBg2i0KQfUcrzE7XryRq40KxAPtIzT-9l2nxP189Iu5njWktqHfeqg1cC_HSKkNIye9jbd62MSglY9x1hII7lcqBSFP1AHoY70X3Ohygf30EPRsU_AsuREbHyRDCgCD5O09m7/s640/tris+and+claire.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So that was my month and also the plan for March :) I'm looking forward to how the opportunities that have been opened up to me will shape my year and ultimately, the path to my becoming of a writer.<br />
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See ya all in the comments!<br />
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What were some of the highlights from your month? Have any goals for next month?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Keep up the awesomeness, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D6503310341701307785%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D5%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ln3rw4Ly7HM%2FVtvFfmdkeTI%2FAAAAAAAACEw%2FglpT-mdzBHM%2Fs640%2Ftris%252Band%252Bclaire.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 12247px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D6503310341701307785%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D5%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ln3rw4Ly7HM%2FVtvFfmdkeTI%2FAAAAAAAACEw%2FglpT-mdzBHM%2Fs640%2Ftris%252Band%252Bclaire.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 12247px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-12973168844043784482016-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:002016-02-22T17:11:15.554-08:008 Essential Items to Pack When Attending a Writer's Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy weekend, Wordlings!<br />
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This Tuesday I'll be boarding a plane to Florida to pitch my novel :D I'm both nervous and excited; this will be a huge step in my writing journey.<br />
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Last year, I wrote a post title, <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/03/why-you-should-attend-writers-conference.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Why You Should Attend a Writer's Conference"</span></a>. This year, as I'm packing, I decided to write a post of the absolute essential items that you MUST pack when attending a writer's conference—cause last year I forgot a few of these things. <span style="font-size: x-small;">Oops</span>.<br />
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Onwards to the list!<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">1: Notebooks and Pens (plural) </span></h4>
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Obviously, you'll need them for taking notes from all the wonderful speakers that you're gonna learn SO much from, but they have more purpose than just that! </div>
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Since you're surrounded by other writers and are engaged in writing atmosphere, you're gonna be bombarded with plot bunnies: notebooks are the best way to trap those little suckers. </div>
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Lastly, when pitching to agents or editors, taking notes is uber important. Since you're already doing SO much at the conference, even with a steel-trap memory you're probably gonna forget most of what they say. Writing things down in a notebook is a great way to prevent that. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">2: USB Stick</span></h4>
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Sometimes there's little groups of people that will do critiquing sessions or maybe someone that you meet just wants to take a look at your work. I don't trust the internet at conference centres. It's hit and miss and you're definitely not going to be the only one trying to use it (if it's available). </div>
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*like a TV infomercial announcer* But with a USB stick, you'll never <i>not</i> have a way to share your masterpieces!<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">3: Books! </span></h4>
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Simply because you can't leave the house for a week without at least two books ^ ^. If you have a longer commute like I do and have to board a plane, books will keep you company ;) </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">4: Business Cards, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Sample Pages, One Sheets and Author Bios (The Whole Package)</span></h4>
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Especially if you're pitching any sort of your work, printing business cards is a great investment. Hand them out to author's you meet or the editors/agents you have appointments with. Another great use for them is that you can give them to your new friends so they can contact you and/or follow your blog when they get home.<br />
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The one sheets and such is more for if you actually plan on pitching a novel. I didn't need them last year but this year I'm creating little folders to give to all the people I pitch to. It gives them something to take home with them and remember your work by. It also says something about you as a writer.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">5: A Traveler's Coffee Mug and/or A Water Bottle</span></h4>
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Late nights and early mornings: two things you can be sre to encounter when attending a writer's conference. Besides all the writing buddies you're bound to make, caffeine becomes your bestest friend. Usually the cafeteria/hotel has tea and coffee that you can fill your mug with so you can carry it with you all day. </div>
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Water is your second bestest friend. I don't know if it's because it's hot and humid in Florida and I'm not used to it or something but I got really dehydrated when I was at the conference last year! I didn't bring a water bottle which I sincerely regretted and am definitely not forgetting this year.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">6: Authorly Attire </span></h4>
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Even if the conference says they have casual attire, putting a few extra minutes into your appearance is a good idea—especially if you're trying to get picked up. My view of a conference is that it's essentially an extended time period where you're pitching yourself <i>as well as</i> your book. </div>
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Since there's editors and agents walking around the place, you never know when you'll randomly have a conversation with someone who may be interesting in helping you along your writing journey. I want to look the part if that happens ^ ^ </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">7: Money for the Bookstore</span></h4>
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Often times there's a bookstore with books from the authors that are there and sometimes also writerly merch :3 The bonus points for buying books here is that A) they're usually cheaper and B) YOU CAN GET THEM SIGNED! :D I did this last year with Bryan Davis' "Reapers" ^ ^<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cH_gWjAj9RBEdenalozC7zKXfWSTV6f88y7FIX95od8XJzbVYuE666x221svHm3mOO76MQW_xz-OmVMFCpcY_-1X0WUkmdyAL6qLiUeM3mnktAiEu58jJyfDcyaB7lIINWKo4IlBJwPL/s1600/12418041_1130111177008526_7205231270672089717_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6cH_gWjAj9RBEdenalozC7zKXfWSTV6f88y7FIX95od8XJzbVYuE666x221svHm3mOO76MQW_xz-OmVMFCpcY_-1X0WUkmdyAL6qLiUeM3mnktAiEu58jJyfDcyaB7lIINWKo4IlBJwPL/s640/12418041_1130111177008526_7205231270672089717_n.jpg" width="408" /></a></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">8: Extension Cord</span></h4>
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You're gonna be using your laptop a lot but there's no guarantee that you'll get to sit near an outlet all the time to charge it. Carrying an extension cord will fix this problem and ensure that you don't run into that panicked feeling you get when your computer notifies you that you only have 2% battery left during the middle of class.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJob8Qu_Zr-o5-gl-tX_WEY2uVO5EybSjYUFq42CMlTtWQvmBIzBsXYgb1hNPyKwgbBoQ1f7lajRGTI48IgvpQGi-JYQQUlnmM2P6XJTylrJd1fT7oIA1muGYaDNsmsldmZuNC-bd5xt8/s1600/seor-gif-i-know-that-feel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJob8Qu_Zr-o5-gl-tX_WEY2uVO5EybSjYUFq42CMlTtWQvmBIzBsXYgb1hNPyKwgbBoQ1f7lajRGTI48IgvpQGi-JYQQUlnmM2P6XJTylrJd1fT7oIA1muGYaDNsmsldmZuNC-bd5xt8/s400/seor-gif-i-know-that-feel.gif" width="397" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Have you been to a writing conference? Did I miss anything form the list?</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Write on, Wordlings!</span></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-16679946692317419752016-02-14T10:00:00.000-08:002016-02-24T11:26:24.321-08:00Beautiful People Valentines Edition | Why Can't Characters Admit Their Feelings?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykGxxiQj5DFnVHkRW5qwew2gEKeehJhPXAT8-7JzVn2b1maJH0HN4KYOEUjuRNpRNdWNw2fdKJnJ8tzeZNJfnboYZ7WqmF0RKGEylkA2cJR3h5aQBOzyRMDM_koZGPLWCd-G_eQlPtxzh/s1600/12659809_733120423455969_138222172_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiykGxxiQj5DFnVHkRW5qwew2gEKeehJhPXAT8-7JzVn2b1maJH0HN4KYOEUjuRNpRNdWNw2fdKJnJ8tzeZNJfnboYZ7WqmF0RKGEylkA2cJR3h5aQBOzyRMDM_koZGPLWCd-G_eQlPtxzh/s400/12659809_733120423455969_138222172_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Happy Valentines Day, wordlings! Even if you're not in a relationship, this is a time to appreciate your favourite fictional couples. And if you are in a relationship then you get double the love ^ ^<br />
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While Valentines Day isn't my favourite holiday, I love thinking about my characters that are together—or the ones I <i>want</i> to get together in a later book ;) This month, Cait @ Paperfury is giving all of us an opportunity to do just that with the Valentine's edition of the <a href="http://paperfury.com/beautiful-people-15/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful People link up</span></a>. It took me a solid few weeks to decide who to do (there's an apparent lack of romance in my novels), but I finally decided on Corson and Theron who are an unofficial couple from my novel, Crec. I'll explain the unofficial part below.<br />
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Onwards to the questions!<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
How did they first meet?</h3>
Corson and Theron first met when they were in school together as kids. Living in Lowground (the slums of Crec), the run down school didn't have the means to operate on a large scale. This meant that all kids, no matter what the grade level, were combined into a few classes.<br />
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During Corson's first week of school at the age of eleven, she took notice of Theron's ability to defend himself. She wanted him to teach her but was too shy to ask. Instead, she sat down against a tree Theron was sitting against and asked him what he was thinking about. Their first conversation was about their favourite foods, colours and seasons. What else do you expect from eleven and twelve year old kids though? ;)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOYfQppF1Dy9he86TYmEFWYAEboFNtX6s40LhhuFYrJHCckLm1_CmdH54frt0GBRelkOFOcYlDIHhZjVeOeDTxax2RDw7Bf53V_HyjauF3KH_Wity4XTK4TjPjzGYFVLSOitQ5v2rrAmv/s1600/Corson+and+Theron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSOYfQppF1Dy9he86TYmEFWYAEboFNtX6s40LhhuFYrJHCckLm1_CmdH54frt0GBRelkOFOcYlDIHhZjVeOeDTxax2RDw7Bf53V_HyjauF3KH_Wity4XTK4TjPjzGYFVLSOitQ5v2rrAmv/s640/Corson+and+Theron.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">This is them ^.^ </span></td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What were their first impressions of each other?</h3>
Theron thought Corson was nice but a little annoying. He's definitely NOT a people person so having a random girl who had just started school that week approach him was a little weird for him. At first he thought that maybe she was trying to get food or money or something out of him. It took a little bit for him to lose the suspicious attitude.<br />
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On the other hand, Corson basically thought Theron was the best thing since sliced bread. She's the one who approached him, after all. I guess you could say she's always had a crush on him ever since she saw his wicked cool self defence moves.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
How long have they been a couple?</h3>
This is where I explain the unofficial couple thing...<br />
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There was never a time when either of them asked the other one out or when they discussed being in a relationship. They've never even kissed. *communal gasp* It's more like they have this shared silent understanding that they both want to be there for each other forever. If we want to put a time on it though, they've been friends for five years.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
How committed/loyal are they to each other? Would they break up over a secret or a disagreement? </h3>
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As I mentioned above, they're not officially dating so they can't really break up. Even if they were to get into a disagreement, Corson would probably say she was done with the relationship in the heat of the moment but then come back the next day and they'd both apologize and get over it. They're extremely loyal to each other despite their many differences.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHXeQWnTzFbtDubxNGA0cDzIOInwCcsJcPc4G-mcX2TrP59NSgbTMXCAxf-LfB6shjWFJI-FsFcaX42OWE1BQDfVxiIECf4CV1WBwRjKMeHi_E4Srt1Ju3hKe22htw5sNkk8LtCgn5pvS/s1600/7e855277a50c5d1d75e4ebe39a638eedf6624af4ce7dc2f7ce846a0be9dc34e4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHXeQWnTzFbtDubxNGA0cDzIOInwCcsJcPc4G-mcX2TrP59NSgbTMXCAxf-LfB6shjWFJI-FsFcaX42OWE1BQDfVxiIECf4CV1WBwRjKMeHi_E4Srt1Ju3hKe22htw5sNkk8LtCgn5pvS/s320/7e855277a50c5d1d75e4ebe39a638eedf6624af4ce7dc2f7ce846a0be9dc34e4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Could stress drive them apart? Would they die for each other?</h3>
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Depends on the type of stress. It would have to be a serious strain on their deep rooted friendship. Either one of them would have to basically go through enough that their personality changes dramatically or something.</div>
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And yes, they would die for each other but they've agreed not to. Lowground isn't a great place to live. The military that runs it can be brutal. Theron made Corson promise him one day that she would never put her life on the line for him. She agreed on one condition: that he would never put his life on the line for her. This being said, it's never had to be tested. That's what writing is all about though, isn't it? Authors love pushing the limits of their characters ;) Can I get a 'here, here' from all my author buddies? </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
List 5 “food quirks” they know about each other. (Ex: how they take their coffee, if they’re allergic to something, etc….and feel free to mention other non-food quirks!)</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMiri4ZBWBbpQ-o8LPC3XMWASNYZh9HP8bDjowUKxKr0nF2SwriByXTHABTVzKk2i5QWevJOubPn26NRP8KtWTtEXvQH4PkX9C2E6jxl0O1ve8oL4-qNw11iEPn3fgrN-BmM7XQV3LvG8/s1600/tumblr_m74f8m1SMZ1qhelx5o1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMiri4ZBWBbpQ-o8LPC3XMWASNYZh9HP8bDjowUKxKr0nF2SwriByXTHABTVzKk2i5QWevJOubPn26NRP8KtWTtEXvQH4PkX9C2E6jxl0O1ve8oL4-qNw11iEPn3fgrN-BmM7XQV3LvG8/s320/tumblr_m74f8m1SMZ1qhelx5o1_500.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">A slightly younger Corson (minus the pink hair)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-size: large;"><i>Corson</i> </span></div>
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1) Takes her pine tea with half a spoon of sugar and a little bit of honey if she can afford it. </div>
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2) She eats sandwiches "backwards" according to Theron. By this I mean she doesn't eat starting from that top rounded part of the bread, she starts from the bottom flat part. </div>
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3) If someone is serving her food or tea, she sucks on the tip of her spoon while she's waiting.</div>
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4) She's allergic to nuts. She won't die if she eats them—she will get hives though. </div>
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5) When she can find some, her favourite fruit is blueberries. She likes pairing it with goat cheese too. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3DRyU1o187hpL6dDifGDuzwnfQPK9bFUiUUiE4d2LoI6uNU4dCB1bLaeJyXoIdBINIQbuvV9wX1BQEa2ny1OXMj2ZfOxUdhnkLcik1eC8q1Rzt1_OecGhHa8w1rj06GtJS_aIsVDfr8G/s1600/Dayo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq3DRyU1o187hpL6dDifGDuzwnfQPK9bFUiUUiE4d2LoI6uNU4dCB1bLaeJyXoIdBINIQbuvV9wX1BQEa2ny1OXMj2ZfOxUdhnkLcik1eC8q1Rzt1_OecGhHa8w1rj06GtJS_aIsVDfr8G/s320/Dayo.jpg" width="276" /></a><i style="color: #8e7cc3;"><span style="font-size: large;">Theron</span></i></div>
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1) He likes bitter tasting stuff. For example, he eats the orange peels of the oranges. </div>
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2) If there's one thing he won't eat, it's chives. Lots of people grow chives in Lowground but he's just not a fan. </div>
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3) Despite not ever adding sugar to his tea or coffee, he always takes a spoon with it and stirs it absentmindedly—especially if he's in conversation with someone. </div>
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4) If somebody doesn't finish all the food on their plate, he'll usually regard them with less respect for the rest of the day. </div>
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5) He's more of a snacker than a big meal eater. He'd rather eat five or six smaller snacks than three meals. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Does anyone disapprove of their relationship?</h3>
Nah. No one really knows that they're together to begin with. <i>They</i> don't really know they're together XD Even if people did know, I don't think anyone would disapprove.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What would be an ideal date?</h3>
Well, if they would actually ADMIT TO LIKING EACH OTHER, they'd probably find a secluded rooftop or go into the forrest and have a picnic and just talk. They love talking with each other. There would also be blueberries involved since Corson adores those little blue spheres of goodness.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What are their personality dynamics? Similar? Contrasting? Do they fight a lot or mesh perfectly?</h3>
They've got a few similarities but otherwise they're very different from each other. For the most part, they just accept their differences but it's not uncommon that they disagree. In fact, it's <i>very</i> common.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What have been their best and worst moments together as a couple?</h3>
They're a pretty simple pair so to both of them, their best moments would be the ones where they can just escape their worries and talk all day. Both of them love taking trips to Fromshir or Haylock Canyon so any day that includes either of those places can be added into their best moment book.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTx223UIiaIfLn1jUWAPX1uA5aRHPN9ByjTQGdlvaoTnEnvBSl3LEd4JIwg5vzqzoF7u6IPMYzZQbNAT368C1JKZuVkGkqRxuMdWtdRTCkoE_2fHVhEKpxsd_wHNE48O7h46HHch-_Qeh/s1600/Wadi-Rum-07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTx223UIiaIfLn1jUWAPX1uA5aRHPN9ByjTQGdlvaoTnEnvBSl3LEd4JIwg5vzqzoF7u6IPMYzZQbNAT368C1JKZuVkGkqRxuMdWtdRTCkoE_2fHVhEKpxsd_wHNE48O7h46HHch-_Qeh/s640/Wadi-Rum-07.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">A photo that looks like Haylock Canyon</span></td></tr>
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As for their worst moments, they've had a few ugly fights especially since Theron's started talking about getting revenge for the death of his parents.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Where do they see themselves and their relationship in the next few years?</h3>
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Well they've recently joined Shadowfore—each with their own reasons but they joined together. Since Shadowfore doesn't allow romantic relationships between their Skaces (soldiers), they're kinda both at an understanding that they'll have to be just friends for awhile. </div>
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<h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Who are your favourite couples in your books? Did you do beautiful people this month?</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Write on, Wordlings!</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-cfydv4nBbA4%2FVr7RA7-ToJI%2FAAAAAAAAB6A%2FsC9raUck-nM%2Fs200%2F12659809_733120423455969_138222172_n.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 26px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 36px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Fsrc%3Dsidebar&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-cfydv4nBbA4%2FVr7RA7-ToJI%2FAAAAAAAAB6A%2FsC9raUck-nM%2Fs200%2F12659809_733120423455969_138222172_n.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 26px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 36px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-17993363043415695872016-02-06T10:00:00.000-08:002016-02-06T23:00:38.504-08:00From Textbook to Your Book | The Triangular Theory of HateHello, Wordlings!<br />
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This month I'm starting a series called "From Textbook to Your Book" (emphasis on the 'your' ;) ). As a student, I come across an entire....uh, herd?...of plot bunnies and story-research tidbits. University is a gem for that kind of thing!<br />
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One day while walking to my world history class, I had a lightbulb moment. What if I turned what I'm learning in school into applicable crash course writing lessons? So here we are!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHUGrDo70101Mg5RKIZO9ap97q6DKwaYdgyIG9cysCDBOoWPSipN5uCI3mCKudhwrcYIO5eP2wxVJGeY37G5XfSCEDYnYvBr3XpmeivRF4_uZ4B9-Z3LZFKqUrYv36mck4ctFsSoNHrJC/s1600/books-484766_1920.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFHUGrDo70101Mg5RKIZO9ap97q6DKwaYdgyIG9cysCDBOoWPSipN5uCI3mCKudhwrcYIO5eP2wxVJGeY37G5XfSCEDYnYvBr3XpmeivRF4_uZ4B9-Z3LZFKqUrYv36mck4ctFsSoNHrJC/s640/books-484766_1920.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Today's lesson: Psychology—how to make your characters hate each other (or figuring out why they already do) </h3>
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Back when I first started up my blog, I wrote a post called <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/02/the-triangular-theory-of-love.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">"The Triangular Theory of Love"</span></a> where I covered the seven different types of relationships people—and characters—could have according to psychologist, Robert Sternberg.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAlTMEw16JLUAQTz_oTV8DlTVe6fvtATRQQWtx31uXQzUHbpeW7jvWj3-ka9KZZ5ytShMLmt_ZpCqTskatnsWlMwtSUdysXbTy1hEOI6206bOiVJHLLZBeLuIli-ODuSqWfBobqbmt1I4/s1600/medium_Types_of_Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAlTMEw16JLUAQTz_oTV8DlTVe6fvtATRQQWtx31uXQzUHbpeW7jvWj3-ka9KZZ5ytShMLmt_ZpCqTskatnsWlMwtSUdysXbTy1hEOI6206bOiVJHLLZBeLuIli-ODuSqWfBobqbmt1I4/s400/medium_Types_of_Love.jpg" width="391" /></a></div>
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This triangle was something I had randomly stumbled upon so when I was pre-reading for my psych class and came across his inverted version—the triangular theory of hate—I was pretty excited (I also felt pretty academically hipster).<br />
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As it turns out, it took awhile for hate to be discussed in psychology. In my text book, the subtitle is "Hate: A Neglected Topic". I don't really blame anyone though. True hate is a strong emotion. Maybe we joke about hating broccoli (for the record, I love those little trees of goodness!) but when it comes to something we <i>actually</i> hate, we probably won't admit it. <br />
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Despite this though, I think we can all agree that hate is a <i>strong</i> driving force in many novels that we read and also in the ones that we write.<br />
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Katniss hates the Capitol, Harry Potty and Voldemort both hate each other, Regina hates both Emma and Snow White in "Once Upon a Time", and the Loric hate the Mogadorians in the "Lorian Legacies" series. In my novel, "Crec", Ollie hates Shadowfore, the controlling force of the planet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXdK9rw5YV_ztE2AluHRYQ3Wx9_2shUOAS7ZhOfuRAqiNgBtUBi3uMPqxz_mtubxFnGgO37Z1Pkg-zyJ8NEJJK-_ZhWxaJbmedg0ss1rd2d8Ot5-HVU8RklbdxkMRyGt9zXd76Wz9ju1e/s1600/54012062ae236e0bcd1562c7cfafab52.jpg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXdK9rw5YV_ztE2AluHRYQ3Wx9_2shUOAS7ZhOfuRAqiNgBtUBi3uMPqxz_mtubxFnGgO37Z1Pkg-zyJ8NEJJK-_ZhWxaJbmedg0ss1rd2d8Ot5-HVU8RklbdxkMRyGt9zXd76Wz9ju1e/s400/54012062ae236e0bcd1562c7cfafab52.jpg.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hate drives all of these characters to do the things that they do. Many times, it leads to the climax of the story like it does in "Mockingjay", "Harry Potter", and "Once Upon a Time". It's a powerful force!<br />
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Just like the triangular theory of love, the triangle offers seven different types of hate all at different levels as seen below.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sESx4Xq_IgTwiCQCNzmyRXz_UWTb80dtMUqgR-FMNgzwj-_U8ASvaEEl1-JWN9oJl6ZgW42Bo4D6IZOwUDvkPttPsNchlDo7RreISilRPUFv5xKhXc5ATnGYa9hhUfWAeO_lKh6-28k8/s1600/Hate+Infographic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_sESx4Xq_IgTwiCQCNzmyRXz_UWTb80dtMUqgR-FMNgzwj-_U8ASvaEEl1-JWN9oJl6ZgW42Bo4D6IZOwUDvkPttPsNchlDo7RreISilRPUFv5xKhXc5ATnGYa9hhUfWAeO_lKh6-28k8/s640/Hate+Infographic.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">A visual for the triangular theory of hate</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So here's the breakdown:<br />
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Cool Hate<span style="font-size: x-small;">—just disgust</span>: "I have no desire to be anywhere close to this person"<br />
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Hot Hate<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">—just anger/fear</span>: "I absolutely despise this person" or "I'm positively afraid of this person"<br />
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Cold Hate<span style="font-size: x-small;">—just devaluation</span>: "This person has no place in this world."<br />
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Simmering Hate (Loathing)<span style="font-size: x-small;">—disgust + devaluation</span>: "These people are the scum of the world, I don't want to associate with them in any way shape or form."<br />
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Boiling Hate (Revulsion)<span style="font-size: x-small;">—disgust + anger/fear</span>: "Do you honestly think I want to be near them after what they've done?" (can be taken in the context of both fear and anger)<br />
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Seething Hate (Revilement)<span style="font-size: x-small;">—anger/fear + devaluation</span>: "Why do they even exist? They do nothing for this world." (can be taken in the context of both fear and anger)<br />
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Burning Hate (Need for Annihilation)<span style="font-size: x-small;">—disgust + anger/fear + devaluation</span>: "I will stop at nothing to rid them from the world. They don't deserve to exist."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuigqND4HTU5hyzcepUR16tkSlxyGHDiTrhH6z7kLsNkCYMuqEG1g0mZM5wonM24yB13D5oZH009WR_5xhLpzAbL-gTS5GywJoQGnBlDu3-uSoim6xKlnt8aYYrLo01rXqM7KSZJDG_0s7/s1600/chickenhateyou2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuigqND4HTU5hyzcepUR16tkSlxyGHDiTrhH6z7kLsNkCYMuqEG1g0mZM5wonM24yB13D5oZH009WR_5xhLpzAbL-gTS5GywJoQGnBlDu3-uSoim6xKlnt8aYYrLo01rXqM7KSZJDG_0s7/s320/chickenhateyou2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Hate is a dreary topic. Here's a cartoon to lighten the mood ^.^</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My textbook cites Sternberg by saying, "Groups and governments that 'teach' hatred of other groups are experts at portraying these groups as evil and worthy of distain . . . . we perceive them as "subhuman" and worthy of experimentation, like insects and pests"</blockquote>
Part of some of the types of hatred (specifically the strong types) is the belief that the person or group is better than the group that is hated.<br />
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So did Katniss think she was better than the Capitol? Not in a narcissistic way but morally and ethically? She certainly believed firmly that she knew how the districts should be treated. This thought led to her believe that the Capitol (and Snow) should be annihilated.<br />
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A lot of the information in my textbook deals with hatred of groups by groups. However when reading up more on the topic, I've discovered that the same principles can be applied to individual people. Instead of influence by a government, perhaps their influence is coming from what their friends' opinions are or their own research and experience.<br />
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Hopefully this post has offered some insight that you can use for your story! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments below :)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Who and what do your characters hate and why? Can you pinpoint a type of hate that applies to them?</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Write on, Wordlings!</span></i></div>
</i></h4>
<br />Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-34715315175814760812016-01-30T10:00:00.000-08:002016-01-30T10:00:03.421-08:00January | Make Way for Crazy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy weekend, Wordlings! </div>
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How's 2016 going for you? Did you start off the year well? Is it still going well?</div>
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I know for me, I'm pretty behind on my goals but at least they're still moving forward. I've never edited a full length novel before so this is new territory for me. Since I'm learning a lot though, I'd definitely say that the month has still been productive. After all, when is learning <i>not</i> productive? ;) </div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Onwards to the summary! </span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcwumPdAjc1kqZsQIc9wrWQ2rrvxfkGSuDX32MAE8Mfs42WCMn8kvUG-ES1pVUerXwszhJK8ZOa04opqGyh73ARyKEVUC0XZ6tXun3PNailmV990MZlXqszLYW_HxxgrDN1ZxLxJ2Ozxn/s1600/january.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcwumPdAjc1kqZsQIc9wrWQ2rrvxfkGSuDX32MAE8Mfs42WCMn8kvUG-ES1pVUerXwszhJK8ZOa04opqGyh73ARyKEVUC0XZ6tXun3PNailmV990MZlXqszLYW_HxxgrDN1ZxLxJ2Ozxn/s640/january.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Previously, In the Month of January....</span> </h4>
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1) I made good headway in editing the first draft of my novel, "Living City". However, I didn't finish the first read through like I had planned. I procrastinated during the first week and had assignments in the third and fourth week of the month; which lead me to only editing 15 out of 44 chapters. *dramatic sigh*<br />
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In my defence, I underestimated the work needed to be done on the first draft. Never do that, my little wordlings! First drafts need lots of attention! They're like small children: messing up a lot and needing your guidance to reach their full potential.<br />
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Despite the lack of advancement on my Alpha edits, I have high hopes to finish them in the next month (or by the middle of March at the absolute <i>latest</i>). Now that I know what to expect, I feel as though I can do better in the coming months.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMPvYzTPJc7dqQxfFExVcN3FpGmqpM3w0mH_AXJugZwc8CWZnvSqMQwoLXfuF1dVm17T39vbB_i6TrFbpogR13hbrFIuyXvgpJmQ03y7EKB-dagqw4jUmf_jo76xex0ezdstIZCoDmShR/s1600/you-can-do-this.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsMPvYzTPJc7dqQxfFExVcN3FpGmqpM3w0mH_AXJugZwc8CWZnvSqMQwoLXfuF1dVm17T39vbB_i6TrFbpogR13hbrFIuyXvgpJmQ03y7EKB-dagqw4jUmf_jo76xex0ezdstIZCoDmShR/s640/you-can-do-this.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Thank you, Haymitch! It's so kind you to say so. </span></td></tr>
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2) School started up again so I'm now in my second semester of University. Woot! My classes this term are an English literature analysis course, world history form the 1500s to present day (the plot bunnies have taken over this course!), and another Spanish class!<br />
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3) I've signed my first contract ever! As of this month, I'm a signed author (I goggled the definition to make sure it included writing articles). This calls for a celebration! *pops cork on sparkling pomegranate juice*<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToVabq1x_JJ7iwVxEFCzetc0T2bGxDnrXXpBucJZ8vbcGqbsYSfMIrrBEmTFHPbfxx_Xoq1cxsX_tS2SpmcbfKnAQB9zpkNrckrumMYT-heUdBVR-MPn3vDuxVni-Ezafd8wFs1rmVlug/s1600/7980590.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToVabq1x_JJ7iwVxEFCzetc0T2bGxDnrXXpBucJZ8vbcGqbsYSfMIrrBEmTFHPbfxx_Xoq1cxsX_tS2SpmcbfKnAQB9zpkNrckrumMYT-heUdBVR-MPn3vDuxVni-Ezafd8wFs1rmVlug/s640/7980590.gif" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
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1) I finished watching up to the end of season 4 of "Once Upon a Time" on Netflix. Oh my goodness that finale though....so much emotion! I can hardly wait for season 5 to be released! If you haven't seen the series, you gotta give it a shot. It's really good! From a writing standpoint, I've learned a lot about creating villains and backstories by watching that show. From a fan's perspective? Well...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxTM1nf2XgGNRiQaJcRI4yCappW_hrdg0MaC76mvBS9w39JZwMuX3DG-udUPj45TMzw1_TUbj5tCfWJOHNtNDPRlxkc02F9XapgNNFy8D9K3qMT4YZO__EiVhC8V3Y-qc2qUtXzTfBeSk/s1600/491304fcc12af6e17be099134f49bc20.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxTM1nf2XgGNRiQaJcRI4yCappW_hrdg0MaC76mvBS9w39JZwMuX3DG-udUPj45TMzw1_TUbj5tCfWJOHNtNDPRlxkc02F9XapgNNFy8D9K3qMT4YZO__EiVhC8V3Y-qc2qUtXzTfBeSk/s640/491304fcc12af6e17be099134f49bc20.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">This gif says it all. </span></td></tr>
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2) I went on a spontaneous book haul at the bookstore...twice. There was literally no reason for me to buy books other than the fact that I had money and happened to be in the store. But let's be honest here. You never need an excuse to buy new books! (especially when one of them is a leather bound book of Emily Dickinson's poetry)<br />
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3) Noragami Aragoto wrapped up this month. My friend, Kendall and I fangirled throughout the entire season and now have our fingers crossed that the third season comes out soon. I might have to just read the manga though XD The anticipation is killing me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4eQ3ErMsuC9RwdoiVGyDs-gG5vyM5oJoRLsbIFhC_Y_qcZsJ9v8wVOvKiXA3tGj0cvgUtMEw-AjJOiXx1u3lQay7i71lQrbogtG4Ssv99UjtCORkiwSQ_APHa7j3mV83uizYY_nENHuwR/s1600/5af554a4e9ed7f66ea334a26f1cc10e4.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4eQ3ErMsuC9RwdoiVGyDs-gG5vyM5oJoRLsbIFhC_Y_qcZsJ9v8wVOvKiXA3tGj0cvgUtMEw-AjJOiXx1u3lQay7i71lQrbogtG4Ssv99UjtCORkiwSQ_APHa7j3mV83uizYY_nENHuwR/s400/5af554a4e9ed7f66ea334a26f1cc10e4.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the Meantime, we started watching and have nearly finished Akame ga Kill. It's a little weird: hilarious at times, eyebrow raising at others. I wouldn't recommend it but I feel the need to finish it now XD<br />
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4) I read "The Sword of Summer" and really, enjoyed it! I hoped to have a review up this month but that will have to wait until February. I'll have it up soon though, I promise.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCmy1cyv5LwPAzHzeBhSvbg3ezIt3B_bRKhTnJsvJTyIeoFuKBD9tgTIxOimWW-ksTPkbP3Q7SAJh8SnjlaeGfSPeAvwHBHQZBJpxEJoiRI19saGk2MBEs93-0x8qzAt7rprSpCfG8pQX/s1600/Magnus+Chase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCmy1cyv5LwPAzHzeBhSvbg3ezIt3B_bRKhTnJsvJTyIeoFuKBD9tgTIxOimWW-ksTPkbP3Q7SAJh8SnjlaeGfSPeAvwHBHQZBJpxEJoiRI19saGk2MBEs93-0x8qzAt7rprSpCfG8pQX/s400/Magnus+Chase.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Coming Soon to the Month of February...</span></h4>
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1) February will be a crazy month for me! But crazy is my middle name, isn't it?<br />
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<i>Shhh, it's actually Taylor. (But Cassia Crazy Schaar sounds better)</i><br />
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The month will be pretty normal for the first ten days so I hope to get lots of writing and editing done in that time. If I'm at least three quarters of the way through my preliminary edits, I'll be elated.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J_0ygVjeBmI7Pc8ctcLTFssC0KgN8ztnyC4_FtmpNtouVHgtSY3AR1l9LwkF5Ep05kM-SrekqCWndbv9mugVVqwY1D63BENj9dgoRJcJznDoeElaOug9ys93sgkjFxoqrA9vfogRHxus/s1600/tumblr_inline_nu4arikl1s1t3a9o9_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J_0ygVjeBmI7Pc8ctcLTFssC0KgN8ztnyC4_FtmpNtouVHgtSY3AR1l9LwkF5Ep05kM-SrekqCWndbv9mugVVqwY1D63BENj9dgoRJcJznDoeElaOug9ys93sgkjFxoqrA9vfogRHxus/s400/tumblr_inline_nu4arikl1s1t3a9o9_500.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Alright. Here we go!</span></td></tr>
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2) As far as writing new stuff goes, I'll be working on Crec as much as I can. My word count goals will be seriously scaled back though—not to mention flexible. By the end of the month I hope to have Act 1 complete (for real this time) but it's not a priority with midterms and the next few items on my list *points down*. </div>
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3) On the 11th, a close friend of mine, Tori, will be flying from Georgia to stay with me for a few weeks. I'm beyond excited to see her! We'll have so many adventures and do a lot of writing together :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BaDdf_eMVds1H1uW9o0WPGChY7qdbQ0tnPtX0OjZe06RC7mWNbcgMW6W9ynraB_b_DCDpug3CLVWHF_EX__CU2fkKroTCrUxZk9HTUqpcWYw9Hplm2WN6Ozv8kw1D5xmRsFond5kRtLD/s1600/1972292_784674001620921_394493632076549385_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BaDdf_eMVds1H1uW9o0WPGChY7qdbQ0tnPtX0OjZe06RC7mWNbcgMW6W9ynraB_b_DCDpug3CLVWHF_EX__CU2fkKroTCrUxZk9HTUqpcWYw9Hplm2WN6Ozv8kw1D5xmRsFond5kRtLD/s640/1972292_784674001620921_394493632076549385_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Tori's in the centre. We'll get more picture this year ^.^</span></td></tr>
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4) The day after Tori leaves, I'm catching a plane bound for Florida where I'll be attending the Florida Christian Writer's Conference. There, I'm meeting with editors, agents and authors in hopes to get picked up or at least have some interest in my work :)<br />
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Also, I'll get to see my mentor, Bethany Jett :D I've been messaging her in the last few days. We're both counting down the days ^_^<br />
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<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Future Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
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1) When Tori comes up, I'll be watching "Spirited Away" and "Guilty Crown" as well as re-watching "Your Lie in April" and "5 Centimetres Per Second". We're sharing our favourite animes and Japanese movies with each other ;)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vm1gTbh5ouoAVUJV1zKObVVxcR9zcGdlBdNjlg4TXjv9gJsZ-4NINCH1yntpHRZhHdwqkCpG3c_5GcBqEBcLd-1aQu4bQ5aLrVnXMoJ_U7wbty-Gf-iqACMRBTBnyEkyVyUDNHhArXkF/s1600/egVtFP8.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vm1gTbh5ouoAVUJV1zKObVVxcR9zcGdlBdNjlg4TXjv9gJsZ-4NINCH1yntpHRZhHdwqkCpG3c_5GcBqEBcLd-1aQu4bQ5aLrVnXMoJ_U7wbty-Gf-iqACMRBTBnyEkyVyUDNHhArXkF/s400/egVtFP8.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Your Lie In April is the most beautiful anime I've ever seen.</span></td></tr>
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<div>
2) Another film we'll be watching is "The 5th Wave". To be honest, I really didn't care for the book but I have a feeling it at least has potential to make a good movie. I'll let you know when I find out. </div>
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<div>
3) My reading this month will consist of "The Gracekeepers" by Kristy Logan and if I get around to it, I'll read "The Giver" again. It's gonna be a busy month though so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for reading. There's always the plane ride though ;)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jNhUk-0v3c9LIWLDRCa_-s_FcaxpnlQblOcg3sbV62GoHIrpWB699pb_mUDtdLX2Y5npF_Yjs2kMlhzmoqNSehHI3vXQMwFL7g9HSZ2NniFkfM06AhTp0XRTfupI4hgdAaUga6I82gZd/s1600/51JwuE6mTPL._SX355_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jNhUk-0v3c9LIWLDRCa_-s_FcaxpnlQblOcg3sbV62GoHIrpWB699pb_mUDtdLX2Y5npF_Yjs2kMlhzmoqNSehHI3vXQMwFL7g9HSZ2NniFkfM06AhTp0XRTfupI4hgdAaUga6I82gZd/s400/51JwuE6mTPL._SX355_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Can we just pause and take a moment to admire this beautiful cover?</span></td></tr>
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<div>
<br />
So that's my month! Next month will be nuts but in the best way possible. I can't wait to tell you all about it!<br />
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What were some of the highlights from your month? Have any goals for next month?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Keep up the awesomeness, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-79323426232455793052016-01-23T10:00:00.000-08:002016-01-23T10:00:13.824-08:00How to Balance School, a Job, and All Your Writing EndeavoursSo I think I might be a little insane. I mean, not actually insane but when I take a look at my two packed day planers and scribbled in calendar on my wall, I have to question my sanity at least a little bit.<br />
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On occasion, I'll observe my somehow coordinated life and wonder how on earth I'm able to pour my heart and soul into a novel all while maintaining a part-time job and keeping decent grades as a full-time student in university. Oh and did I mention that I actually have a social life too?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewWSr-BC2Tfq4VR9SLshKmxJ3h1ZS_lGiDiS2sGAC4PZBtALWIdOpTY8EmxZ_2-wpPMhiWlrE82ikc8c95oR-p173ZnG6xqU2IljMjGlR1111h9KpKfptbdZafnzMvvJQrq5hAa-TiVyr/s1600/tumblr_m3dafcYd9Y1qapy9o.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewWSr-BC2Tfq4VR9SLshKmxJ3h1ZS_lGiDiS2sGAC4PZBtALWIdOpTY8EmxZ_2-wpPMhiWlrE82ikc8c95oR-p173ZnG6xqU2IljMjGlR1111h9KpKfptbdZafnzMvvJQrq5hAa-TiVyr/s400/tumblr_m3dafcYd9Y1qapy9o.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Yes, Loki. It most certainly is. </span></td></tr>
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I know I'm not the only student writer out there. In the Go Teen Writer's Community Facebook group that I've been a part of for about five years now, I'll occasionally come across a few questions that go something like this:<br />
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<i>Any tips for writing while in school? I just feel like I don't have a lot of time anymore.</i></blockquote>
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Last year, I was one of those people. I used to feel like a fish flopping on the beach whenever I even <i>thought</i> of writing during the week of an exam—and there's <i>always</i> an exam (or a paper).<br />
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However, after a lot of trial and error, I think I have it figured out and I want to share what I've learned with all of you.<br />
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So shall we get on with it? I think we shall. Onwards!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCpLQ3zDNb8MSZ9DWoytOhc3ZCMKZ1qf5SY0Bk1xAavQp7dQPlOhgDeeAkXYiDt7cdrZOzUYiMXiSPvtuP_MwPIKSEPA1aWbNTUyhHjJMzXsVYW5vIi3jIYG38rfow6eyzslX0iMMnQm-/s1600/how_to_balance-600x337.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCpLQ3zDNb8MSZ9DWoytOhc3ZCMKZ1qf5SY0Bk1xAavQp7dQPlOhgDeeAkXYiDt7cdrZOzUYiMXiSPvtuP_MwPIKSEPA1aWbNTUyhHjJMzXsVYW5vIi3jIYG38rfow6eyzslX0iMMnQm-/s640/how_to_balance-600x337.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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Figure out what's most important in your life</h4>
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Obviously, we can't do everything. Overcommitting is a big no-no when it comes to writing because often times, it's writing that's pushed aside when a schedule gets too full. </div>
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For me, I decided that writing and school were my priorities. I love my job but I chose to only work sixteen hours a week. When that still didn't give me enough time for me to write, I cut back on my classes. Many full-time students are taking five courses a semester—I'm taking three. Not only that but I crammed all of them into three days leaving Tuesdays and Thursdays open for my shifts at the bookstore, housework and writing. </div>
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Around midterms and finals, my focus shifts and I cut my word count goals in half. While I still try to write, it's not as high of a priority. </div>
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By figuring out what's important in your life, you'll be able to determine where writing can fit in and around all of life's crazy storms. You'll also be able to see if writing is really important enough to you to cut back in other areas of your life. If it's not, that's okay! Write when you can and don't stress over it :)</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
Set Goals</h4>
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Goals are a form of accountability. Meeting goals can also be an excuse to buy yourself new books ;)</div>
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Will your goal be daily, weekly or monthly? For me, I need weekly goals. Monthly ones don't have enough pressure whereas daily goals have too much. Do whatever works best for you and more importantly, follow through!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeVrhMuMlKENJfhy2bScRlrWdVRB3z_8K7eQ2djBdjX_jSBPtW3OJI0QKQQameDOLEbjDIcyiFNZkLWIgaAOPQ9phpN72mwPG6OrgNSMOyWQ4ggl5V-QLYy-vD1QPqoKMAJvfJ0s1qCic/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-22+at+9.01.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmeVrhMuMlKENJfhy2bScRlrWdVRB3z_8K7eQ2djBdjX_jSBPtW3OJI0QKQQameDOLEbjDIcyiFNZkLWIgaAOPQ9phpN72mwPG6OrgNSMOyWQ4ggl5V-QLYy-vD1QPqoKMAJvfJ0s1qCic/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-01-22+at+9.01.58+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">My colourful goal calendar for the month of January. It tracks the days that I'm in class (pinky-red) and the days that I work (blue) so that I can make reasonable goals. My school deadlines are in my day planner but I look at those too. </span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
Have Writing Buddies</h4>
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For me, having a writing buddy makes my writing goals seem a lot less daunting. If setting goals on your own doesn't work, grab a writing buddy. They'll keep you on track! </div>
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Writing buddies can also help out with character development and/or plot when you get stuck which will eliminate the dreaded writer's block. </div>
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Another bonus is that you have a word warring partner! Word warring is seriously the most amazing thing for getting in a lot of words and upping your word count. If you haven't tried it, you must! </div>
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Planning is mucho importante</h4>
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I'm not a planner. Some people have planning in their <i>blood</i>. It's part of their genetics to keep their life organized. Lists and charts and day-planners are a part of their identity. If that's you, this will make sense to you.</div>
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But that's not me—maybe that's not you either. </div>
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Despite not being a planner, I still force myself to stay freakishly organized. Between two planners and a calendar, I keep track of all my school, writing and contract deadlines, appointments, shifts at the bookstore and word count goals.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHe84hLaEskkDGkQHgbKqovJ2O5HmNXr8X3_FikLrQBAnSFnZpzRBKBZqn-mdQQ3qaRY_jCYwqeTVDvDnYolw2GCNz6PUgcllu6OMDaHeZH-AFBnsAy6Q0fxFrwMk7HfkDRo3pHXw1F4iY/s1600/IMG_0209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHe84hLaEskkDGkQHgbKqovJ2O5HmNXr8X3_FikLrQBAnSFnZpzRBKBZqn-mdQQ3qaRY_jCYwqeTVDvDnYolw2GCNz6PUgcllu6OMDaHeZH-AFBnsAy6Q0fxFrwMk7HfkDRo3pHXw1F4iY/s640/IMG_0209.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Some of my planning supplies. My weapons of choice ;) </span></td></tr>
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While you don't necessarily need to have planners or calendars, even sticking some things into your phone will be helpful. That's how I started out, at least.</div>
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If you want to get anywhere with writing, you need to <i>make</i> time for it; that means you need to know what you're doing in the rest of your day so that you can figure out when you can write. For me, that sometimes will mean waking up a little bit earlier to get in 500 words before catching the bus. Other times, I'll write 100 words while waiting for my professors to show up. It all depends on how the rest of the day looks.</div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
Give yourself some room to breath</h4>
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Attending school, holding a job and trying to get a novel published is a stressful combination. Your picture of giving yourself room to breath may be a little different than mine but regardless, it's important to find something that can offer you sanity. Here's a few ideas: </div>
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1) Read a few chapters in a book. Escaping to another world where you don't have to do homework is refreshing!</div>
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2) Write 250 words before you study. This will prevent the thought of still needing to write from looming over your head. </div>
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3) Go for coffee (or tea). Or treat yourself to anything before you plough into your workload. Coffee and tea fix everything ;)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZYLR3YQE-nXll3ttez8cbRYsozPpJgkVffiwfN7YsmNGG1gt-uC02eQn8HlT01JMwntxIdHwhQBFv9uvfnWzacwmx6CVjvjuiHlkKBH57YQ6HNB8FH4Gl6Y5j2L4OafGle7cQ4tneGAP/s1600/coffee_fixes_everything-511446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZYLR3YQE-nXll3ttez8cbRYsozPpJgkVffiwfN7YsmNGG1gt-uC02eQn8HlT01JMwntxIdHwhQBFv9uvfnWzacwmx6CVjvjuiHlkKBH57YQ6HNB8FH4Gl6Y5j2L4OafGle7cQ4tneGAP/s640/coffee_fixes_everything-511446.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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4) Have a friend over while you work. For me, I just like being in the company of people. It makes me work more efficiently and also makes me happier to do what I have to do. </div>
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5) Watch an episode on Netflix. Just one ;) Or you can use episodes as rewards for meeting checkpoints you set for yourself. </div>
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6) Take a day off. If it's looking like you just can't make that word count, don't worry about it! It's okay to take days off on occasion. It's definitely better than getting overwhelmed. </div>
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Feel like you can organize your life now? I hope so!<br />
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<i><span style="color: #d52a33; font-family: syncopate;"><span style="font-size: 20px;">Do you have any tips of balancing writing with the rest of your life? Let me know in the comments so I can add your advice to my arsenal of survival skills ;) </span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #d52a33; font-family: syncopate;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #d52a33; font-family: syncopate;"><span style="font-size: 20px;">Write on, Wordlings!</span></span></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-11536177476864893512016-01-08T11:00:00.000-08:002016-01-08T14:46:11.363-08:00Beautiful People | Maybe I'm Overly Ambitious<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtF2hbw7DBJKIdg3FHyjDBQkbP1enBTYzglHqreSthkaLI9me19P7M8066Lfnb42fXDEuiOALk8xmIOHV2674BDeawNMJ3yHKiae-_C5UUv65uI9JYvNHurBk2Gf8UJjubUMoqgLNZHVM/s1600/10928109_595959117172101_1450331761_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtF2hbw7DBJKIdg3FHyjDBQkbP1enBTYzglHqreSthkaLI9me19P7M8066Lfnb42fXDEuiOALk8xmIOHV2674BDeawNMJ3yHKiae-_C5UUv65uI9JYvNHurBk2Gf8UJjubUMoqgLNZHVM/s400/10928109_595959117172101_1450331761_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hola, Worldings! This is the time of year when a lot of people are getting into the spirit of setting goals. <a href="http://paperfury.com/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Cait @ Paperfury</span></a> is no different. Now that NaNoWriMo is over, so is Beautiful Books That means the regular Beautiful People posts have been resumed. This month, we're talking writing goals! I already touched on this in my <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2016/01/2015-ive-started-many-new-chapters.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">yearly summary</span></a> but the questions that Cait asks have gone into a little more depth so I figured I take a stab at it.<br />
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Let's get to it, shall we? Onwards!</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What were your writing achievements last year?</h3>
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I went expanded on this in my <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2016/01/2015-ive-started-many-new-chapters.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">yearly summary</span></a> so I'll stick to the basics. </div>
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My three largest achievements:</div>
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1) Getting myself picked up by Focus on the Family Clubhouse Magazine for an article I wrote</div>
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2) Going to the Florida Christian Writer's conference (I learned SO much there and I was never sure if I'd ever get to a conference like that)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlAJAzxEOWuLoFiWtnEVKWN1lGPlojDAxszv9AdduERcjoGz9XaPu5VBNewRMz5YhjewP032aoPyJ2iuz51dKSWOOPzTa1NOQlcX0H6L2mNbqyvZJGuTPDo9YY-M9z3Ywhacjp_irRDhz/s1600/11021217_850991101627853_7654084530325194173_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVlAJAzxEOWuLoFiWtnEVKWN1lGPlojDAxszv9AdduERcjoGz9XaPu5VBNewRMz5YhjewP032aoPyJ2iuz51dKSWOOPzTa1NOQlcX0H6L2mNbqyvZJGuTPDo9YY-M9z3Ywhacjp_irRDhz/s640/11021217_850991101627853_7654084530325194173_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">The awesome conference people. I'm in there somewhere XD</span></td></tr>
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3) I finished my first novel ever :D </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year</h3>
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Definitely polishing "Living City". I hope to have that done by the end of August—potentially sooner if an agent requests it (*crosses fingers that I can get an agent to begin with*). </div>
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I know this is going to take a lot of focus and effort—I'm already finding that it's a huge challenge to edit one book while trying to write another one that's in a separate genre—so I've go to buckle down and keep this schedule of mine. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year</h3>
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I love this question so much cause it's forcing me to think. Let's see....</div>
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1) Staying consistent with my writing. That whole "write everyday" thing that people talk about has been applied to my life and I want to keep it that way. </div>
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2) The beginnings of my novels. I know I can always edit them but I really wish I felt good about my beginnings while I write them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPaa3mCRoIg20EN71KmHXO0aVElogYFNBITQDnIAiBUpu7tDO17HkJ3mq0f2o35DHaQh-L_PGnuN57zojV4EcFTpBc78GSDgHa88uIju52EkwT0tyh5VoxkGHf-VuPw6abJL6arwKLp5L/s1600/anime-girl-writing.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPaa3mCRoIg20EN71KmHXO0aVElogYFNBITQDnIAiBUpu7tDO17HkJ3mq0f2o35DHaQh-L_PGnuN57zojV4EcFTpBc78GSDgHa88uIju52EkwT0tyh5VoxkGHf-VuPw6abJL6arwKLp5L/s320/anime-girl-writing.GIF" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Writing beginnings, I feel like this poor girl</span></td></tr>
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3) Character voices. Making each character distinct from one another and also making each POV character easily distinguishable between novels is something I want to master one day. </div>
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4) Emotion. I'm not a terribly emotional person and already I'm noticing that it's showing in my novel. The emotional reactions of many of the people isn't what it should be. I've got my trusty "Emotion Thesaurus" though. It shall be my guide ;)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktJYzN6hPaIb5cyiuZ53CluDJuGxpEfLXXcTK1ohNebFFdWP1EEgGsyplVCeL6-0CtSGRYmxiMvNVgnpM_PeMxfdZODKtjCnTzAtkNUhyBQSdcZKzRe2qkfX7X0w5_aoTDyJ6M8170BFN/s1600/bed52684f43b3a3df2e7086ded80780fd2d83680.jpeg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiktJYzN6hPaIb5cyiuZ53CluDJuGxpEfLXXcTK1ohNebFFdWP1EEgGsyplVCeL6-0CtSGRYmxiMvNVgnpM_PeMxfdZODKtjCnTzAtkNUhyBQSdcZKzRe2qkfX7X0w5_aoTDyJ6M8170BFN/s400/bed52684f43b3a3df2e7086ded80780fd2d83680.jpeg" width="280" /></a></div>
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5) My platform. By the end of the year, I want to master blogging and keeping up my Facebook page. By NaNo, I hope to include twitter into the mix. I also have plans to buy a domain and print business cards. It's a lot of work but I'm willing to put the time into it. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Are you participating in any writing challenges?</h3>
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Yep! Camp NaNo in April for "Crec" and NaNoWriMo in November for "Sunken Sky". I also may participate in Voice Week again. I did it in 2014 and it really changed the way I looked at writing defined voices. Since voices are a focus of mine this year, it's definitely worth the consideration.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?</h3>
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Currently I have seven Alpha readers. One of them who is both an Alpha and Beta reader is also my unofficial critique partner. As for expanding: yes, I DO have plans for that. I hope to get more Betas: male and female, writer and non-writer. This month I'll hunting for them since I have it in my schedule to send my manuscript out to them in February.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF7Ci7PPdFt6xMJ8YVCejviImpG4DVe81_wjvJdfZcN12sRl-zMUh4S2aVahuntEWn1sSEahrJThFrlu22mtXN2y0DPyOc1nxYaausV7j6SXJ437gAuan9jfxurVz6aBOXa1_FAOpuDY2/s1600/meme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTF7Ci7PPdFt6xMJ8YVCejviImpG4DVe81_wjvJdfZcN12sRl-zMUh4S2aVahuntEWn1sSEahrJThFrlu22mtXN2y0DPyOc1nxYaausV7j6SXJ437gAuan9jfxurVz6aBOXa1_FAOpuDY2/s400/meme.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research</h3>
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Yes I do! "The Emotion Thesaurus" for one, is great for research; "Now Write! Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror" is one I picked up from my book store specifically for the writing exercises at the end of each informative chapter; and "Blogging for Writers" is one that my sister got me for Christmas that has some great technical and market tips. I hope to read all three and write reviews for them right here. I'm looking forward to it ^ ^<br />
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<a href="http://nowwrite.net/sf-fantasy-horror/"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbSTp0KkjODMQ4DTRYZ5ccU9uXGmq_siJu-G6ky2l3ec4Q4WLN9lQYIuq_lwYIB0JGefyd0KoM0qiKNHHB1NYtOZE7z2kwHf6xxx0w1DgjW7rP0mAAJRZnb9SORh3sA-trApFminSPPwx/s640/hand-with-bookshelf-1024x768.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://nowwrite.net/sf-fantasy-horror/"> </a></div>
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Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?</h3>
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Hm....probably Masara Gold. I know a lot about her but I can't seem to write effectively in her voice. Maybe I don't know her as well as I think I do?<br />
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Since I'm working on "Crec" this year, I definitely need to get the hang of her. I'll be CCing (character chating) with her and use her in the writing exercises in the "Now Write!" book. Also, I have a few tips and tricks I'm gonna use on her.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIW-ErTLK7tida933k-FEAeXED_vdTmmMxIOzgAWDPfSt6vMvGhyphenhyphen14ubMWx05y2esOyv3PtOUGGGGeCzHa6m8JibdEUia9cn5FYY7pTmSxOUlVSk9G7FOoeCl4uUFREl1rHcbzh4xT5Op/s1600/36e24a683920f61230e1a17f9d87a834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIW-ErTLK7tida933k-FEAeXED_vdTmmMxIOzgAWDPfSt6vMvGhyphenhyphen14ubMWx05y2esOyv3PtOUGGGGeCzHa6m8JibdEUia9cn5FYY7pTmSxOUlVSk9G7FOoeCl4uUFREl1rHcbzh4xT5Op/s400/36e24a683920f61230e1a17f9d87a834.jpg" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">This picture of Masara's celebrity look alike reminds me of a scene I recently wrote :) </span></td></tr>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Do you plan to edit or query, and what’s your plan of attack?</h3>
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Edit, yes. I wrote my process down in last month's <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/12/beautiful-books-living-city-is.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful Books</span></a> post. As I mentioned above, I hope to have the whole thing polished by the end of August. Of course, this means that I'll need to edit every day until then. Bring it on.</div>
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As for querying, I'll be doing that in the summer if I don't get picked up by anyone at the conference in Florida. All I know about the queries is that I'll be looked for agents instead of going directly to a publishing house.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” What are the books that you want to see more of, and what “holes” do you think need filling in the literary world?</h3>
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I want to see more retellings of stories that aren't classified as a fairytale. For example, I've found a few for Frankenstein in my bookstore and I know there's one for the Nutcracker out there. Some retellings of Shakespeare plays would definitely hold my interest.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJeMrcbi7_5WtoRDiva0MjI_tgWKD1DRuf_c89e_-_HTAShUSWKogItd7Zig2HPmw4UZOfBcnLjiK-zPq-AGzS_gl6qMp-8JYJ9fmBLayS_dLwlCZGrG21pgQBXWPS0P7PLTgEURY0vcC/s1600/YA_Retellings_Shakespeare_Web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJeMrcbi7_5WtoRDiva0MjI_tgWKD1DRuf_c89e_-_HTAShUSWKogItd7Zig2HPmw4UZOfBcnLjiK-zPq-AGzS_gl6qMp-8JYJ9fmBLayS_dLwlCZGrG21pgQBXWPS0P7PLTgEURY0vcC/s640/YA_Retellings_Shakespeare_Web.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Excuse me while I check out a few of these from my library</span></td></tr>
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As for the holes, I thing YA need more mythology that's not written by Rick Riordan (which I love, don't get me wrong). Even adult fiction needs it. I want to see more of this ^ ^ I touched briefly on some other holes in my post, <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/12/7-reasons-why-every-aspiring-author.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">"7 Reasons Why Every Aspiring Author Should Work In a Bookstore"</span></a>. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
What do you hope to have achieved by the end of 2016?</h3>
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I go into more detail with this in my <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2016/01/2015-ive-started-many-new-chapters.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">yearly summary</span></a> post. Basically I have four main goals. </div>
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1) Prep for the conference in February (business cards, one sheets and all that jazz) </div>
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2) Polish "Living City" </div>
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3) Draft "Crec" </div>
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4) Draft "Sunken Sky" </div>
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I'm ambitious, I know ^ ^ I also know that I'm not the only one ;) But hey, this way I'll never run out of stuff to do this year! Three cheers for that!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHdptkDIlLLj1Xse2eu406Ab7TANFNGQcD_iTHLqM_9b7B0x6wxhm7GNxawf4FYSFVRQaG0ZFhh3-9cTRrJa6fZtzbL5-4AZttc-jV3VvcWMBIwhDPdEU-fOEgLi8IN43EkvqnykxdCtg/s1600/tumblr_myjfruuMSU1qz887do1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHdptkDIlLLj1Xse2eu406Ab7TANFNGQcD_iTHLqM_9b7B0x6wxhm7GNxawf4FYSFVRQaG0ZFhh3-9cTRrJa6fZtzbL5-4AZttc-jV3VvcWMBIwhDPdEU-fOEgLi8IN43EkvqnykxdCtg/s640/tumblr_myjfruuMSU1qz887do1_500.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Get it? <i>Three </i>cheers? :D </span></td></tr>
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<i>What are your writing goals this year? </i><br />
<i>Did you do Beautiful Books? Share a link with me in the comments and I'll stop by your blog!</i></div>
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<i style="color: #d52a33; font-family: Syncopate; font-size: 20px;"><i>Happy New Year, Wordlings! </i></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-83985148758936063842016-01-01T23:00:00.000-08:002016-01-02T10:35:03.926-08:002015 | I've Started Many New Chapters (Literally and Metaphorically)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy New Year, Wordlings! I apologize for the slight delay in posting this. I had intentions of writing on the 31st but I didn't consider how tired I would be after midnight. After that, I forgot to schedule a time for the post to publish. I've taken note for next year ;)<br />
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Instead of doing a monthly summary for December, I've decided to do a yearly summary and sum up 2015 month by month (December included)<br />
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This year has been massive for me. Though there were quite a few learning curves and a handful of disappointments there were also some major accomplishments. I'd love to tell you guys all about both aspects of my year so let's get straight to that. Onwards!<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">January</span></h4>
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I turned 18! My sister kindly reminded me that I was then halfway to 36. Thanks, sis. </div>
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This was a month that I focused a lot on poetry and flash fiction instead of my novel. At the time I was writing "Crec" and had reached a bit of a brain block so I readjusted my focus. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">February</span></h4>
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After a lot of hard work, I got my Green belt in karate! All I have standing in the way of my black is brown :D</div>
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I attended the Florida Christian Writer's Conference! This was my first time ever attending a large scale writing conference like this one and I can honestly say it was one of the most amazing experiences I could have had as a writer. I got to meet Bryan Davis, my writing friends from the inter-webs, my mentor, Bethany Jett and even got interest from three magazines in my poetry, flash fiction and articles. Next December I'll be published in Focus on the Family's Clubhouse magazine for kids aged 9-12 for an article I wrote :D </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoJVJ9eOZ59eGXtZYeei3nbl3eUGQCESITJpZC8Z0hfYbPZYFfawAJDFm5LAbCn_OmXph8I3HznHsGIybySQM1Vxrz6tJIMNIUdp1-tXCslBwUdyIANRaEnvoR-5hHEwgkeVaAaKPSQeo/s1600/IMG_0067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoJVJ9eOZ59eGXtZYeei3nbl3eUGQCESITJpZC8Z0hfYbPZYFfawAJDFm5LAbCn_OmXph8I3HznHsGIybySQM1Vxrz6tJIMNIUdp1-tXCslBwUdyIANRaEnvoR-5hHEwgkeVaAaKPSQeo/s640/IMG_0067.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Me, Bryan Davis and my two fabulous friends</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIa_RBsGpbofqmhLy2CWKGRBnxyOQEERLYnxjvukOr6pF7kCRzDbEi8Qq06sIiYyLcI5BzIGOIYas1LRrwC25SF8yqSODmnA7U0Aw92AVri8pxH6fRiytSpkVVD3ygyO-QxLg1c0c5AbgJ/s1600/IMG_0054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIa_RBsGpbofqmhLy2CWKGRBnxyOQEERLYnxjvukOr6pF7kCRzDbEi8Qq06sIiYyLcI5BzIGOIYas1LRrwC25SF8yqSODmnA7U0Aw92AVri8pxH6fRiytSpkVVD3ygyO-QxLg1c0c5AbgJ/s640/IMG_0054.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Me and Bethany Jett </span></td></tr>
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I started writing "Living City". At the time it had a different title, was a stand alone instead of a trilogy and half my cast was nameless but I really needed to shelve "Crec" and do something different. I realized that the story was just too big for me to write as a first novel. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">March/April</span></h4>
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Once again, I reached a point where I didn't know what to do with my novel writing. I began to question my ability to write a novel to begin with and turned back to what I find easiest: poetry. I wrote about four or five poems between March and April alone. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">May</span></h4>
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Still not sure if writing was something I wanted to do full-time, I focused on school and studying for the big Diploma exams in June. Also, I prepped for graduation as an executive member of the grad committee.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">June</span></h4>
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I graduated! It was so surreal to tell myself that I was done grade school forever. That month of may I took to study paid off and I graduated with no mark lower than an 80. Celebrating with my friends was loads of fun and I'll always regard my grad with fond memories. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46NQZVQOlxdPAakgbu-V3uDXUAIzHzpXH9C-Gmqbu-M4tql99rLRUZe4Y0Q9stzaCKw_GyxtEEasS2Uko30LibpmAc6JvdyFXirTSvyLrYWKF8CmWsvDePNm8h_IkILBKFjEzgl1rkmkl/s1600/10869738_10206777789588596_724382089594119864_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46NQZVQOlxdPAakgbu-V3uDXUAIzHzpXH9C-Gmqbu-M4tql99rLRUZe4Y0Q9stzaCKw_GyxtEEasS2Uko30LibpmAc6JvdyFXirTSvyLrYWKF8CmWsvDePNm8h_IkILBKFjEzgl1rkmkl/s640/10869738_10206777789588596_724382089594119864_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">One of my favourite grad photos :) </span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">July</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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This was both a month of success and disappointment for me. It started with a triple rejection. I lost my chance of being a Lifeguard, I was rejected for a flash fiction piece I submitted and found out that I didn't make it into the choir I auditioned for. </div>
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However, exactly two weeks later, my dream of working at a bookstore was fulfilled and I became an official employee of Indigo/Chapters bookstore :) </div>
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Also, I got accepted into MacEwan university for a Bachelor of Arts. </div>
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To top it all off, this was the month I found out that Focus on the Family wanted to publish me. A triple rejection was combatted with a triple acceptance. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2_4Olq2TMdEDvGuA0JDUyvSiqruPGolpuhQ8e40LeuqGbuvizjx6irT-5jJ3D3_8lMno8LrBm39rJ3SJB7PW44qxDPU25po6WWeK2HQYgdH1hjfIhHuZ5lpF8NanZKdAgOkE4NTAiDpn/s1600/12395296_923627084392278_1148943971_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH2_4Olq2TMdEDvGuA0JDUyvSiqruPGolpuhQ8e40LeuqGbuvizjx6irT-5jJ3D3_8lMno8LrBm39rJ3SJB7PW44qxDPU25po6WWeK2HQYgdH1hjfIhHuZ5lpF8NanZKdAgOkE4NTAiDpn/s400/12395296_923627084392278_1148943971_n.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Of course the only picture I could find of me at work is this one XD</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">August</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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I started working on "Living City" again. Still though, it had little direction and a floppy title. I wrote the rest of Act 1 in this time period though while experimenting with different ways to organize my storyline. </div>
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As you may remember I <i>attempted</i> to reboot my blog and failed. Look at me now though!</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">September</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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September 9th marked my first day of University. English easily became my favourite subject and I started learned Spanish with the intent of making it my second language. I really regret dropping French in junior high >_< </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVOCEMM7N-Yp4Wcp12JEvhfk5TSl7suAQrR3PpcJVtLcHfZcOfMRVgxup6JzL-UzgJaVitIlVwH_IcN4D5jjbqwrmE1Ftc5lJQMBFdD6_Q74JdFXfI9X29V1BxlPOhig7rgn5_n6uenGw/s1600/12394622_922873994467587_917099916_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLVOCEMM7N-Yp4Wcp12JEvhfk5TSl7suAQrR3PpcJVtLcHfZcOfMRVgxup6JzL-UzgJaVitIlVwH_IcN4D5jjbqwrmE1Ftc5lJQMBFdD6_Q74JdFXfI9X29V1BxlPOhig7rgn5_n6uenGw/s640/12394622_922873994467587_917099916_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">A photo I took of my university's main building</span></td></tr>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">October</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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I rebooted my blog for reals! With the help of my friend, Tori, we came up with a schedule technique which has worked surprisingly well for me. Also along these lines, I started up my Facebook page. </div>
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Speaking of rebooting things, I decided to sit down and actually <i>plot</i> my novel. "Living City" slowly took shape in front of me and seeing where I was going with my story encouraged me to start writing again—so I did. I promised myself my novel would be completed and I vowed to do so during NaNoWriMo. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">November</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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NaNoWriMo! Two weeks into my first ever NaNo, I completed the challenge and also finished my novel. The ending of the novel truly satisfied me. I look forward to going back to it this year to polish it up further.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMRfjgcLV3DCn9QsH5Jv9_C2M4LAal2Mx0FSISZj60RKKDAWAR03cVkUFKNe6cYsg1-6lK75OhPMgLNNDfsrXIiHOLgbbZdHSny-LA_uKwDc2KeGkrxEks-TycC4p-U6GqzcIUwYkQNAc/s1600/nano-2015-winner-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRMRfjgcLV3DCn9QsH5Jv9_C2M4LAal2Mx0FSISZj60RKKDAWAR03cVkUFKNe6cYsg1-6lK75OhPMgLNNDfsrXIiHOLgbbZdHSny-LA_uKwDc2KeGkrxEks-TycC4p-U6GqzcIUwYkQNAc/s640/nano-2015-winner-banner.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">December</span></h4>
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After months of studying and trying to balance school and blogging and writing, I finally finished my first semester of university! </div>
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Going into the Christmas season with a completed book, I became motivated to plot and start writing "Crec". I'm not very far in but I'm chipping away at it slowly but surely. </div>
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This was my first Christmas in Retail and I loved it :D The busy bookstore Christmas atmosphere turned out to be my cup of tea ^ ^ </div>
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Remember that special project I mentioned? Well now I can talk about it! For the weeks of advent, I was asked by my pastor to write a poem/monologue to be memorized and read in front of the congregation. Unfortunately the plans to have it read fell through. Instead, it was published in our newsletter. I'm still elated that I had the opportunity to write something that could be used to make people think and stir emotion in their heart. </div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">As For 2016...</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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I've made a list of things that I want to do or complete this year. I wouldn't call them resolutions as much as I would call them goals. For some reason 'resolution' seems so rigid to me. </div>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #674ea7;">Large Goals</span></h3>
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I've mentioned it before but I'll be going to Florida in February to pitch my novel ^ ^ So this month and next, I'll be prepping sample chapters, business cards, one sheets ect. I'll also be talking to myself in the mirror a lot ^ ^ </div>
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Now that "Living City" is writing, I hope to polish it to it's final draft by August. </div>
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By the end of May I hope to have "Crec" drafted. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SomSXrSFbwVyjfpuMxS1_lprPq-sA62uEwLFuhFJuEB7Fwm9T_UZvnXaOm3jZbT_4hflFZz0T1UtrnfFdpet9UmX9YcpMhYkKxZnbrg6mVamhmdSxe6FGSSfy9-8YFYHRP4dc6ssLeKf/s1600/Crec+Characters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_SomSXrSFbwVyjfpuMxS1_lprPq-sA62uEwLFuhFJuEB7Fwm9T_UZvnXaOm3jZbT_4hflFZz0T1UtrnfFdpet9UmX9YcpMhYkKxZnbrg6mVamhmdSxe6FGSSfy9-8YFYHRP4dc6ssLeKf/s640/Crec+Characters.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Four of my main Characters from Crec that I can't wait to introduce more!</span></td></tr>
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Also, "Sunken Sky" is my NaNo novel so I hope I can draft that one too. </div>
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Yeah, maybe my goals are lofty but if I don't give myself something big to work for, I'll probably slack off. I know if I put my mind to it, all of these things can be finished :) </div>
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<h3>
<span style="color: #674ea7;">Smaller Goals</span></h3>
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Write 750 words a day in one of my novels whether it be "Crec" or "Sunken Sky". If I can't write 750, I have to write at least 100. </div>
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Get organized! I have the planner, now I just have to fill it in!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHorJE7MqtvRG4acf-ugFkGX2WyxhtUcNWcjjR9a-MMcdSc-C0gVPWZe8Sf1-ZJqdpmbwWV8ae7u4Ls182wBWshEBdqxbe7dyh6MPSfwMhYtwrOafrlKoFpBxq7fpQjpg4IEKdT2pW_4w/s1600/Wandlust+Planner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTHorJE7MqtvRG4acf-ugFkGX2WyxhtUcNWcjjR9a-MMcdSc-C0gVPWZe8Sf1-ZJqdpmbwWV8ae7u4Ls182wBWshEBdqxbe7dyh6MPSfwMhYtwrOafrlKoFpBxq7fpQjpg4IEKdT2pW_4w/s400/Wandlust+Planner.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">My planner :D</span></td></tr>
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<div>
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<div>
Learn lots. Whether through rejections or blogs or advice given to me directions, I hope to learn a lot more about my craft and have the ability to pass it on. </div>
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Read at least 30 books. I'm a rather slow reader so I can't do that whole 100 books a year thing that some of you crazy people do ;) </div>
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So that's my review of the year and the plan for this upcoming one. Hopefully by the end of December I can look back on 2016 with the ability to check off all of these goals. </div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>What were your highlights of 2015? Have you made any goals for 2016?</i></span></span></h4>
Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-37905812311755953882015-12-25T10:00:00.000-08:002015-12-25T10:00:22.266-08:00Writing Holidays Into Your Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrt4BWKXNIC5fBQ_vjPieZtqkbii_F1UHHSMCCqAMOzB8jItwcyq3H4l8xyyo3ziSAecEQFmB_7EElLmFhPqkBbdAyfZYczM5u5ZjV9JxaanhGR4CXRNvj_TBCRVnAo_WId90hhAQrShk/s1600/light-640768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrt4BWKXNIC5fBQ_vjPieZtqkbii_F1UHHSMCCqAMOzB8jItwcyq3H4l8xyyo3ziSAecEQFmB_7EElLmFhPqkBbdAyfZYczM5u5ZjV9JxaanhGR4CXRNvj_TBCRVnAo_WId90hhAQrShk/s640/light-640768.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Merry Christmas, Wordlings! *showers everyone with snow and glitter and Christmas cheer* I love Christmas in case you can't tell ^ ^<br />
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We all love the holidays! If it's not Christmas that we love, there's another one that tops it. And if you don't love ANY holiday....well<i> </i>lets pretend you do because that's insanity ;)<br />
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On this very special holiday, I decided it would be appropriate to write about holidays in the stories we read and write. I'm in the mood after all :D Onwards! *runs through snow like puppy below*<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtqiNOsGuy_Q9BAbpwBsh670miLWNkMaRtyN3DdnqO90IZHmkCyX42o4mjErBrSkfc3guNM95y_HqOrRAH6s0M38Oh0ftSc8idKg8GKKuh6UVaGuXbVHp-TabJoP3dGkmL0xn-8xavLEt/s1600/071462583c0749f96dac327e8af1aab2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCtqiNOsGuy_Q9BAbpwBsh670miLWNkMaRtyN3DdnqO90IZHmkCyX42o4mjErBrSkfc3guNM95y_HqOrRAH6s0M38Oh0ftSc8idKg8GKKuh6UVaGuXbVHp-TabJoP3dGkmL0xn-8xavLEt/s1600/071462583c0749f96dac327e8af1aab2.gif" /></a></div>
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When we writers write a novel, world-building is one of those things that really defines the story. If I say, "The Maze Runner", you probably think of the Glade or the maze itself. When I say, "Harry Potter", you think Hogwarts. When I say "The Hobbit" you might envision the Shire. Places and the unique worlds in the stories we read (<i>especially</i> when it comes to speculative fiction) are elements that we CAN'T forget. I mean seriously, if you 'forgot' about District 12 when I say "The Hunger Games", you probably didn't read the book. Without the world of the story, I would argue that there would be no story at all.<br />
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<i>So how about those holidays you were mentioning, Cassia? </i><br />
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I'm glad you asked!<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Fictional Holidays </span></h4>
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In our society, Christmas is a pretty big holiday but that doesn't mean it will hold the same significance in <i>your</i> story world. Maybe Christmas is nothing more than a piece of history or maybe it never existed to begin with. Especially in the case of fantasy and science fiction novels, the holiday/holidays in the story world are probably straight from the author's imagination.<br />
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Think about some of the books I mentioned above. In "The Maze Runner", there's a sort of welcoming party after every new Greenie arrives; in "The Hunger Games" the Reaping starts the story and the rest of the novel REVOLVES around the twisted yearly 'celebration' of the Hunger Games. "Harry Potter" has Quidditch, "Divergent" has the choosing ceremony and the people of the "Chrysalids" killed deviations while they sung hymns.<br />
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When making up holidays, it's important thing to remember that they have to MEAN something in the story. If you make up a holiday but it doesn't show something about the character or the world, it probably isn't worth keeping.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZl_WQeLBc8_cfsTkvibT5pSvMsayV-0RkeyDfwtUskRoCXpfSRZvNV0LX54flfsIeJG0CXs5lRzqIkEmEqRVuDO8Bx0FDdjI1ufpJNj2rRkik0MUf6hFMrPUU2zhdFwrXQgxHfNfDsGN/s1600/Fiction+Holiday+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtZl_WQeLBc8_cfsTkvibT5pSvMsayV-0RkeyDfwtUskRoCXpfSRZvNV0LX54flfsIeJG0CXs5lRzqIkEmEqRVuDO8Bx0FDdjI1ufpJNj2rRkik0MUf6hFMrPUU2zhdFwrXQgxHfNfDsGN/s640/Fiction+Holiday+Collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Real Life holidays </span></h4>
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Whether it's a birthday, Christmas, or Halloween, holidays that we regard in the world as we know it can be just as effective story as the fictional ones can. If you're writing or reading historical, contemporary, mystery etc, the holidays that we're familiar with might be the most common.<br />
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The benefit of using a familiar holiday is just that it's just that: familiar. Your readers will know exactly what you're talking about and the tone of the holiday will set the tone of the scenes you write surrounding that holiday. You can even use it for irony. Maybe someone dies on Christmas eve or someone is reunited with their long lost brother on Halloween. There's loads of possibilities with the holidays we're familiar with!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rRXfD_5q5X5nwBUnGyiIwEGsC832TPZ-nEUyAgw5gjEU3q1JTbpLpZFjjfbQAaQcT3oHiKzj5dCeldp0CglHW5VGp79cVKr53Dt5fLr9GYCapCQkjkMlSDNA__FbLFcdnnlJf7akmKFv/s1600/giphy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rRXfD_5q5X5nwBUnGyiIwEGsC832TPZ-nEUyAgw5gjEU3q1JTbpLpZFjjfbQAaQcT3oHiKzj5dCeldp0CglHW5VGp79cVKr53Dt5fLr9GYCapCQkjkMlSDNA__FbLFcdnnlJf7akmKFv/s320/giphy.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">How Holidays Can Augment Your Story</span></h4>
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Holidays have a significant tie to the culture and world they come from and more importantly, the people. Whether made up, real or based on a one that's real, holidays will enhance both world building and character development if used correctly and at the right time of the story.<br />
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How does the society feel about the holiday? Does this line up with what the main character thinks or does it contrast? What does the holiday mean for the plot? How does the celebration define the world?<br />
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Answering these questions will make your fictional holiday really come to life in your novel.<br />
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If you're interested in learning a little more about this, one of my favourite blogs, Go Teen Writers has wrote about this back in July. <a href="http://goteenwriters.blogspot.ca/2015/07/holidays-in-fiction.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">You can read the post here! </span></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: #d52a33; font-family: Syncopate;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal;">Do you write Holidays into your novels or short stories? Have you read any books where the holiday was done really well? </span></span></i><br /><i style="color: #d52a33; font-family: Syncopate; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<i style="color: #d52a33; font-family: Syncopate; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Have a great Christmas, Wordlings!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4aCAcDHiBAZ95-kjjlJpIl2uHPnye-wktMIXFvLkQ3pI_1x_dpIaVM121T8rP8biyw_SHTZW-PAHbIJSUod2uoeTLuxLOTxzYs6Tml9zsHhLvIa_nYckA6q6rORoN45IZ7AXwTrhUksC/s1600/books-985939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt4aCAcDHiBAZ95-kjjlJpIl2uHPnye-wktMIXFvLkQ3pI_1x_dpIaVM121T8rP8biyw_SHTZW-PAHbIJSUod2uoeTLuxLOTxzYs6Tml9zsHhLvIa_nYckA6q6rORoN45IZ7AXwTrhUksC/s640/books-985939.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I started working at a bookstore this past summer because well, I adore books and bookish things. Also, as a writer I had it in my head that I could learn about the market. Little did I know that when it came to my authoring endeavours, there were many more benefits that I wasn't even remotely aware of.<br />
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One evening, I started talking with a coworker while the store was quiet. I was telling him about how this February I would be traveling to Florida to pitch my first novel. He asked me if I was nervous and I responded by saying, "A little, yeah."<br />
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"Don't be," he replied, "You literally pitch books to people every day and get paid for it."<br />
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I blinked. He was right. My <i>job</i> is to sell books and often times that means elevator pitching books that I've read myself or even ones I've only heard of or read the back cover of. Not only that but the people I'm pitching to are complete strangers. Sound familiar?<br />
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Our conversation got me thinking about all the reasons why this job was beyond perfect for me so I compiled a list.<br />
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Onwards!<br />
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
1</h4>
<div>
As I mentioned above, you pitch books daily! It's fantastic practice for pitching your own book. You learn what catches people's attention and what doesn't, you learn how to adjust pitching a single book based on the customer. Age and gender matter when it comes to pitching; different people will react differently. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEgYzOPi9fcF6he0Nji5UzUuWCLmPIZzZ3XBX3vEk4UA6jpjoR5Y-5NYKMkY170ZvvEMDDjV6WLJ8YgZTk5A2TzVibND2QvG96RXQqbRI6h-u3L_qbWQ0EhPQ9UUTdx3CiXlA_QC5VKQG/s1600/Elevator-Pitch7.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEgYzOPi9fcF6he0Nji5UzUuWCLmPIZzZ3XBX3vEk4UA6jpjoR5Y-5NYKMkY170ZvvEMDDjV6WLJ8YgZTk5A2TzVibND2QvG96RXQqbRI6h-u3L_qbWQ0EhPQ9UUTdx3CiXlA_QC5VKQG/s320/Elevator-Pitch7.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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2</h4>
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You learn all about the market. Not only can you see what kinds of books are actually on the shelves but you get to watch how the new releases change from month to month. Also you can observe what's selling and what's not. </div>
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There was one book in particular at the store I work at that had a ton of advertising. We all thought that the books would be flying off the shelf but we were completely wrong. I haven't seen a single customer with a copy of the book. </div>
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3</h4>
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Not only do you learn what's IN the market but you learn what's LACKING. Customers will come in looking for something specific to read and there will be nothing that matches their description in our system. Believe it or not, bookstores don't have every type of book out there. It just goes to show that there's still original ideas out there to be claimed! </div>
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Some things I've been asked for are secular teen romances without swearing or sex, teen historical fiction that ISN'T about the second world war, or adult mythology fiction (like an adult Percy Jackson). There's a high demand for these things, writers! Get on it before I do ;) </div>
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4</h4>
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You start to pick up on what type of people buy certain types of books. This is a massive lesson on audience. I've learned a whole lot about who I'll be selling my books too and let me tell you, I was a little off on what I was originally speculating. Plus, as an employee of the store, I get to talk to these people. It's like talking to your future audience and it's so cool! I get to ask them what they liked about certain books and what they didn't like about others. It's fabulous research. </div>
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5</h4>
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Plot bunnies! The cover art is enough to spur plot bunnies alone but even some cryptic back cover synopses have gotten the ideas flowing. I have a coworker who will try to guess what books are about based on title alone. It's an amazing way to get ideas for new stories in my opinion ^ ^ </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3JZG5fW_qLkGR6axvZEZ4IStA6yFR_lGvukgE4y_xAqrp0RmTCahPMF8ioWNtL1X7Aj4zwC6JV249NRaDORITRMMvcT_UnhVRzkC9y0FjGLBBFbC_902Gqa14czaWB1cCrvpeUa8NsjC/s1600/i7dy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3JZG5fW_qLkGR6axvZEZ4IStA6yFR_lGvukgE4y_xAqrp0RmTCahPMF8ioWNtL1X7Aj4zwC6JV249NRaDORITRMMvcT_UnhVRzkC9y0FjGLBBFbC_902Gqa14czaWB1cCrvpeUa8NsjC/s400/i7dy3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
6</h4>
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Marketing strategies are acquired. When new books come out or are reprinted, I get to witness firsthand which of the marketing strategies are best received by certain customers. It's kind of another way to look at your audience and generate some ideas about how you might approach advertising your story within a bookstore. </div>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
7</h4>
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Publishing houses are starting to become less of a mystery to me. I'm starting to piece together what genres certain houses like to publish. I'm also learning that there's many more houses out there than I thought. Hopefully one day I can be represented by one of those publishing houses and have one of my books on the shelves :D </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWXkrNquAY2Dly3A55gBF9KxFiihYCCZ6_cPjw7jU5ufHRVh9crpaMIXHQ0jIf5Ta-zurS7OnHY6QfjUkvjykXSEeHn0CdM2CCehZJsb-uBwfv8SCQiASFh4ORo4p6rxVcPdvI0_VSSxD/s1600/3de8a8de74e642745a574b6aad3eb8db.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWXkrNquAY2Dly3A55gBF9KxFiihYCCZ6_cPjw7jU5ufHRVh9crpaMIXHQ0jIf5Ta-zurS7OnHY6QfjUkvjykXSEeHn0CdM2CCehZJsb-uBwfv8SCQiASFh4ORo4p6rxVcPdvI0_VSSxD/s320/3de8a8de74e642745a574b6aad3eb8db.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Just a small handful of publishing houses I've come across</span></td></tr>
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<i>Do you work in a bookstore? If you do, do you have anything to add to my list? </i><br />
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<i><div style="text-align: center;">
Keep calm and write on, Wordlings!</div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-74623949880555852272015-12-11T10:00:00.000-08:002015-12-11T10:00:06.181-08:00Beautiful Books | Living City is Written....Now What? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFzO-k4n2FouZYYj7bygAWVxAl5WcCD6Q31miSaYDBHUx6ebW29A8kddyH6-id5iD61q_dHBg-l379htzp8dUZ6q6Ps3v6-RLDscDgcpvOzG6zk7m2vVY_ZldjhSFGq_D3iNnu8BTyLod/s1600/bb-redone.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFzO-k4n2FouZYYj7bygAWVxAl5WcCD6Q31miSaYDBHUx6ebW29A8kddyH6-id5iD61q_dHBg-l379htzp8dUZ6q6Ps3v6-RLDscDgcpvOzG6zk7m2vVY_ZldjhSFGq_D3iNnu8BTyLod/s200/bb-redone.png" width="200" /></a></div>
November is over and a few weeks behind us which means that NaNoWriMo is officially over. So my wordlings, did you win? Did you come close? Even if you didn't quite make it, the fact that you made the commitment to begin with is beyond commendable! *showers you with confetti sprinkles*<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now that December has come it's time for the third month of </span><span id="goog_452752824" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><a href="http://paperfury.com/" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Paperfury's</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> blog link-up</span><span id="goog_452752825" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Beautiful Books. This time it's about the aftermath (aka editing). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the first time I'm experiencing this process of writing. I'm feeling a mixture of pride and uncertainty and I stare a lot at the box my manuscript resides in. I haven't even touched the first draft so I'm expecting some more strong emotions to come about. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But anyway...o</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">nwards to the questions! </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how did the book turn out? Did anything defy your expectations?</b></div>
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On boy....it's a blind analysis since I haven't really read over much. I'm gonna be safe and say 6 or 7. It's a first draft after all and there are some things that I know need improvement. I got lazy for some scenes and breezed through them knowing I'd edit later. The story itself though? I'm very proud of that.<br />
<br />
There was quite a bit that defied my expectations, actually. Sometimes I'd be about to move onto a new scene and it would just feel wrong so I'd go with the flow, letting my characters guide me, when all of the sudden a new development twists the entire outline, forcing me to rethink some scenes I had originally planned. All of the defiances worked for the benefit of the story though so three cheers for that!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Comparative title time: what published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book? (Ex: Inkheart meets X-Men.)</b></div>
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I've always tried to figured this out but felt I never could....let's give it a shot though.<br />
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The Maze Runner (for the escape stuff) meets...Percy Jackson (for the mythos and ability stuff)? When I put it like that my story sounds rather cliche XD<br />
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I suppose that's what I get for coming up with the comparative title on the spot ;)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoYrgCq4w1-bhfxH7tyfAsu4mxFR-dfN6Vn0Z-EbQaJoof_iPiXDRurbegCQqbdnhNsb-yqPCg-6s6ZkJeO_ZKvRM9aPtlM4vCT1uv4gJpB7_W84CfUGpJXX_jTI1VMroT93TSLLU7Llz/s1600/Heroes-Peter-Petrelli-s-season-one-outfit-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoYrgCq4w1-bhfxH7tyfAsu4mxFR-dfN6Vn0Z-EbQaJoof_iPiXDRurbegCQqbdnhNsb-yqPCg-6s6ZkJeO_ZKvRM9aPtlM4vCT1uv4gJpB7_W84CfUGpJXX_jTI1VMroT93TSLLU7Llz/s400/Heroes-Peter-Petrelli-s-season-one-outfit-4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Maybe a splash of "Heroes" in there as well? </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Do you enjoy working with deadlines and pressure (aka NaNoWriMo)? Or do you prefer to write-as-you’re-inspired?</b></div>
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Deadlines and goals are much better for me. *inner adventurer screeches* Sorry, inner me! We can still spontaneously explore the world!<br />
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Without some sort of goal in sight that I can compare my progress to, absolutely nothing will get done. I'm the type that has to tell myself how many chapters I'll study for a final exam or in the case of writing, how many words I'll write by the end of the week.<br />
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I <i>will</i> write when I'm inspired but usually poetry will come out of that. If I want to make this author thing work, I need to write both when I want to and when I'd rather curl up and binge watch "Once Upon a Time" all day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmSKB4aND3TjxEwgtJhg7K1SzHDFTB_PQilEZbnETroNORH6hjpVUyL1o6Fws9oNImv6V4AyeeGpLskZYD1j2gIY2wQoHDTx5mEtuw50FXzmpK60bivQ7UIg5vICsXJteSjFTXIsk0X5_/s1600/kira-death-note-21955373-599-337.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmSKB4aND3TjxEwgtJhg7K1SzHDFTB_PQilEZbnETroNORH6hjpVUyL1o6Fws9oNImv6V4AyeeGpLskZYD1j2gIY2wQoHDTx5mEtuw50FXzmpK60bivQ7UIg5vICsXJteSjFTXIsk0X5_/s400/kira-death-note-21955373-599-337.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Plus, deadlines always make writing feel epic</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>How do you go about editing? Give us an insight into your editing process.</b></div>
Well I've never actually gone through the editing process but so far I've taken some steps and have a plan...<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step one: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Print off my full manuscript. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Two: </span></div>
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Box the manuscript and hide it for six weeks. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Three: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Send the first draft straight off the keys to my Alpha readers with guidelines for watching for continuity errors. For most, I send a list of questions to answer so I can get the feedback I need.</div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Four: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Read over the Alpha feedback once all or most of it has come it and make note of important or repeated comments in my feedback journal. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Five: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Once the six weeks have passed, I can open the box and take out the manuscript to edit. I edit best when I can scribble all over the margins and mark up every mistake—I like visual proof that I'm fixing mistakes. It's soothing XD </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Six: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Write draft two. </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Seven: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Send the second draft to selected Beta readers for micro edits. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Eight: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mark up a printed copy of draft two. (why do I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of money on ink and paper?) </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Nine: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Read the comments and write them down like I did with the Alpha reader comments. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step Ten: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Rewrite to form a third draft. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Step 11: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Reread the third draft and make any necessary changes ie. commas, spelling, word choice. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
That's the plan anyways....let's see how it goes. I've only gotten to step three so far. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt-fNCYLEOE3tuoQfwSA7G5BbVVcducah6cTx_lxmAM05HjwhgcFlSho_Yp4sFE4wQPLFT_ucbm9IVJJBYSp1N7iWYhjcX7C9tqPH9ScSSZyq80DNhn0fUpm1MWjlTUcHlLocyx12tMFQ/s1600/tumblr_m9010sXDqf1qdhag9o1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijt-fNCYLEOE3tuoQfwSA7G5BbVVcducah6cTx_lxmAM05HjwhgcFlSho_Yp4sFE4wQPLFT_ucbm9IVJJBYSp1N7iWYhjcX7C9tqPH9ScSSZyq80DNhn0fUpm1MWjlTUcHlLocyx12tMFQ/s400/tumblr_m9010sXDqf1qdhag9o1_500.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Bring on the rewrites! </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What aspect of your story needs the most work?</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
"Aspect". Thank you for not making it "aspects" XD<br />
<br />
The beginning for sure. I was a little unsure of where the story would go when I started so it needs a massive reworking. It's choppy and rushed and confusing. Pieces are great but the pieces don't flow yet. I need to make that happen.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What aspect of your story did you love the most?</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
The ending <3 <3<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUejzAA7gutbKpDjdmdpHmf6Ah59qgS0UK2ySikyULZf1YXxyOyzwL7VMDawhkCahmXJ_lL8WRnKWQm-LvkjspQw7mYO99i1SCWCv5HpwWRrQCSWrKFTCk1oExdJMy5bwqq7_PSYLKOKtl/s1600/valentine-charlie-brown.jpg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUejzAA7gutbKpDjdmdpHmf6Ah59qgS0UK2ySikyULZf1YXxyOyzwL7VMDawhkCahmXJ_lL8WRnKWQm-LvkjspQw7mYO99i1SCWCv5HpwWRrQCSWrKFTCk1oExdJMy5bwqq7_PSYLKOKtl/s400/valentine-charlie-brown.jpg.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I love my ending with a passion. It just fell into place and I wasn't expecting it to. It sets up the next book without being too much of a cliffhanger. I also really liked the build to the ending. There was a lot more action in it that I expected but I'm really glad so much of it got in there. As a reader, action is one of my favourite parts of a story.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Give us a brief run down on your main characters and how you think they turned out. Do you think they’ll need changes in edits?</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Well this should be fun!<br />
<br />
*Drags Kim to the stage* This is Kim. She's my main character and she's super determined...maybe too determined since it gets her into some trouble. Also, she's a little too independently wired for her own good. *pats her head* She needs to make friends.<br />
She turned out exactly as I hoped and better. As I wrote, I found out a lot about her. I do need to change her reactions to a few events and also must explore her backstory some more. She lead me astray a few times so there's some false info in her profile. *parents glares her* </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcBBHs3ASJWVR9SalDYMm_x6P_2YIJWMJMDDCO-EA-YCOGCwX4rv42mbe5pbmOSInMBVU-sYgr5JWlMulbcaqByQGop6zSS9lgoCWcwCkiFtl3UBhNJitwK23457mLcg3agQPhVvoqSwN/s1600/IU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcBBHs3ASJWVR9SalDYMm_x6P_2YIJWMJMDDCO-EA-YCOGCwX4rv42mbe5pbmOSInMBVU-sYgr5JWlMulbcaqByQGop6zSS9lgoCWcwCkiFtl3UBhNJitwK23457mLcg3agQPhVvoqSwN/s400/IU.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And this is Colton. *pulls Colton onto the stage* He's my caring British character who is definitely the most level headed of the group. He's kind of the only one who can actually talk Kim out of something since he's reasonable and knows how to tailor information to certain individuals. One thing that I kept running into with this one is that he sometimes acted a little too much like Matt in both speech and action. I'll need to watch for that in my edits.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToAXt4CHBJkdRR8i7zZ3Qtkc6xp6YfWACgfIvkiprhMy_cSRs_VxVf8ypS22tntL6vbW5cO5EEmms1TDh2g6qHdfVFw9u8EA-EGxb7r7vfzcnxZYizJYlWPRGX0y4_baYWq3wtCKiGUiW/s1600/8d74c76266cba37de0abe83f04962162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToAXt4CHBJkdRR8i7zZ3Qtkc6xp6YfWACgfIvkiprhMy_cSRs_VxVf8ypS22tntL6vbW5cO5EEmms1TDh2g6qHdfVFw9u8EA-EGxb7r7vfzcnxZYizJYlWPRGX0y4_baYWq3wtCKiGUiW/s400/8d74c76266cba37de0abe83f04962162.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Lastly, I'll introduce you to Matt. *yanks him to the stage with Colton and Kim* He's not exactly the most charming of people but he's pretty helpfully so we've decided to keep him around, haven't we Kim? Colton?<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Matt surprised me though, proving he has a heart for those suffering from injustice. It's a good thing this isn't a revolution story or he'd probably get himself killed.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So those are the main three for this book. *hugs them all* </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What are your plans for this novel once you finish editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self-publishing? Hiding it in a dark hole forever?</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Edits and beta readers for sure. Beyond that, I'm going to be prepping all January to pull together a fabulous pitch—one sheets, first five pages etc. In February I'll be travelling to Florida to pitch it to agents and editors *fingers crossed*. If that doesn't work, I'll start querying and hit up some more conferences. I'm determined to be published. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ItC6saHZ0XBOg9S-fG0PHODmfGSm-vWdh4VC33e2W14Y51Ceva0efY3MEI4HUV8TUhRyIN-qJ7Ht6XiFtrSEYrzfKOniKk4OIFeLajs7ytgiSPwstS8P7JseX8tDae36Gp4Qck_m8H65/s1600/1443545168216.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ItC6saHZ0XBOg9S-fG0PHODmfGSm-vWdh4VC33e2W14Y51Ceva0efY3MEI4HUV8TUhRyIN-qJ7Ht6XiFtrSEYrzfKOniKk4OIFeLajs7ytgiSPwstS8P7JseX8tDae36Gp4Qck_m8H65/s400/1443545168216.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Share a favourite snippet!</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Oh boy...this is hard. Most of my favourite snippets are at the end and they're full of spoilers. I do like this piece though: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Kim looked back at the phone and rolled the turtle charm between her finger and thumb. "What're all these phones from?" </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Matt reached into the box and pulled out one with a black protective case. "Wrecks." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kim's eyes darted to him. "Like…"</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"It's a museum of stuff from Up There. What did you expect?" </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Well I knew it would be like this but…all this stuff. It feels so personal to hold." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Matt sighed. "I know what you mean. Whoever owned this phone, it's a piece of their life." He flipped the device over in the palm of his opposite hand. "You can tell a lot about a person based on what they owned you know." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kim glanced at him. "What do you mean?" </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Well, this person has a protective case around an old phone. The case is black and clunky. Obviously they didn't really care about trends. Functionality was more important to them." He nodded to the phone in Kim's hand. "Whoever had that phone was obviously a girl, probably liked the colour green and maybe went to Hawaii or something." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Kim looked at the phone. "I never would have thought of any of that." </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Matt dropped the phone in the box. "Yeah well you pick up on it when you're surrounded by this stuff.""</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>What are your writing goals and plans for 2016?</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As I mentioned above, there's that trip to Florida. I hope to finish "Living City" to it's final draft and have the first draft of "Crec" written. If I'm lucky, I'll even have "Sunken Sky", Tholus's second book started. I'm super excited for 2016. It'll be a new era in my writing universe :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtz28jEkhJPcW_rAXMr4IZzqZTs9cCNuCCsa-ng3K1Ml4RUI9Mq-q559lrZvHhyUc-CSBVCg3IHe67bNBpfof-vsjmavcJnQaYwrw9K92jLYKqBstWNsW8jVtmvUSAKIgmoRXrlvQyOiqS/s1600/im_ready_game_of_thrones.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtz28jEkhJPcW_rAXMr4IZzqZTs9cCNuCCsa-ng3K1Ml4RUI9Mq-q559lrZvHhyUc-CSBVCg3IHe67bNBpfof-vsjmavcJnQaYwrw9K92jLYKqBstWNsW8jVtmvUSAKIgmoRXrlvQyOiqS/s400/im_ready_game_of_thrones.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">2016, here I come</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So that's the link up for this month. If you missed last month's post where I talked about the process of writing "Living City", <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/11/beautiful-books-process-of-writing.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">click here</span></a> and if you want to learn more about the story itself, </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/10/beautiful-books-tholas-trilogy-book-1.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">follow this linky here.</span></a> </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>How was NaNo this year? </i><br />
<i>Did you do Beautiful People? Share a link with me so I can read about your novel too :) </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Write on, Wordlings! </i></div>
</i></h4>
</div>
Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-66139148717827877052015-12-04T10:00:00.000-08:002015-12-04T10:00:09.896-08:00Sweater Weather Tag | A Canadian Girl Reminiscing About Warmer Weather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg172yneqAyS7SJfhL0TtzYt3vnXXFqi2QY7iz29B2BpNtycGG400vYlS4KRqo2_7FjW-9O-fCmq2WswdqyzU_m5PGwSw65KsOnsT9aQI5ShlyxTyLqT0v7wwdU0gk4OlZHCCgU9sw-6whG/s1600/sparkler-677774.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg172yneqAyS7SJfhL0TtzYt3vnXXFqi2QY7iz29B2BpNtycGG400vYlS4KRqo2_7FjW-9O-fCmq2WswdqyzU_m5PGwSw65KsOnsT9aQI5ShlyxTyLqT0v7wwdU0gk4OlZHCCgU9sw-6whG/s640/sparkler-677774.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
I got tagged by my friend Tori at Stori Tori's Blog recently. Sometimes I postpone tags for some reason but since this one is seasonal, I felt a little more pressure to do it XD Bonus points for not having to rack my brain for new facts about myself like I normally have to for tags ;)<br />
<br />
So this is more of a fall tag but I decided to do it anyways. It makes me think back to a time when there wasn't snow on the ground and when I could walk to the bus with a hoodie instead of a ski jacket. *sighs* Nostalgic, isn't it?<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7;">Onwards to the Questions!</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
<h3>
What's your favourite candle scent?</h3>
It's funny that this question came up since I recently just discovered the answer to this while building the candle display at Chapters. It's a tossup between Gilded Amberleaf candle, Cranberry and Wild-Rose or Mulberry. All three are amazing.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? </h3>
It depends on the day. If I drink coffee it's in the form of an Iced Cap from Tims but I love tea in the mornings and my friend Kendall and I make some pretty wicked hot chocolate.<br />
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<h3>
What's the best fall memory you have? </h3>
Oh gosh...how do I pick just one of these? I think the best one was back when I was in junior high. I went to a family friend's birthday party out on a farm. The weather was perfect, the fall colours were bright, we had a bonfire where we roasted hotdogs, attempted (and failed XD) to pop popcorn over the fire and made s'mores.<br />
The best part of the evening though was when we all got a hold of a bunch of golf carts and dirt-bikes and played cops and robbers throughout the entire property. Cops got the golf carts and robbers go the dirt-bikes. One image I still have printed in my mind is coming around the corner of a barn and seeing two golf carts speeding through a wheat field until one of them ran out of gas at the furthest possible point from the house. The guys had to push it back XD<br />
*sighs* That's a good memory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnC9AeTRHWBMplwSYpR0QJOuc9CCQVUmR1yzCZE61cD1ZPM5m0S1x814INvr0zgerVPrqBPJgt6LLuOOITXM0pERp5boPO5ho3YV8sWVGMY8GpUWcYvrV77waz8sZr2KAWdP6jGw2lXZ8/s1600/c7235dd85a7b0b395bc0591833079a89.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfnC9AeTRHWBMplwSYpR0QJOuc9CCQVUmR1yzCZE61cD1ZPM5m0S1x814INvr0zgerVPrqBPJgt6LLuOOITXM0pERp5boPO5ho3YV8sWVGMY8GpUWcYvrV77waz8sZr2KAWdP6jGw2lXZ8/s400/c7235dd85a7b0b395bc0591833079a89.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h3>
What's the best fragrance for fall?</h3>
I love the smell of a bonfire and I love how the smell lingers in my hair and on my clothes. I also love the smell of dying leaves. Those two things combined make the best fragrance ever.<br />
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<h3>
Favourite Thanksgiving food?</h3>
Well I had Thanksgiving back in October cause I'm a Canadian and all that but that doesn't change the fact that my all time favourite food from the holiday is stuffing. When there's leftover stuffing in the fridge, I'll just eat that with a little bit of gravy drizzled on top.<br />
I'm making myself hungry...<br />
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<h3>
What is autumn weather like where you live? </h3>
Welp. It doesn't last long, that's for sure. It's pretty warm for awhile and then it slowly cools down before dropping into the freezing temperature complete with wind and snow. This year was warmer than most but we still got snow in November.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzEIhy_0A6TwwWXGI5E_lOgA91jivZPkFz8D_nLbpFAyP_3JWprJ6i2CpQqW9JoHEZraDyAGcFOIi1ruYBFEVNrJabvMEO8SbgryxjGgpNo-xFQOa9VIi0orkWQODQRb5LAro4fk_K71I/s1600/12305935_912418895513097_642493127_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTzEIhy_0A6TwwWXGI5E_lOgA91jivZPkFz8D_nLbpFAyP_3JWprJ6i2CpQqW9JoHEZraDyAGcFOIi1ruYBFEVNrJabvMEO8SbgryxjGgpNo-xFQOa9VIi0orkWQODQRb5LAro4fk_K71I/s400/12305935_912418895513097_642493127_n.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">This was the day of the first snowfall a few weeks ago. It snowed for another 24 hours following this photo.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
Most worn sweater?</h3>
I have this one knitted sweater that's black and white with a fuzzy hood and it has oversized buttons and button loops. I just got it this year from my mom and I love it :)<br />
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<h3>
Football games or jumping in leaf piles? </h3>
You know....I'll have to go with football games—assuming it's just a group of friends and family playing in a park. I love leaves but I hate finding them in my clothes for weeks after I play in them.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Skinny jeans or leggings? </h3>
They tie for me. If I had to pick though, I'd pick jeans.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Combat boots or Uggs? </h3>
I love my Uggs but for fall, I'll pick Combat boots. There's not much time that I actually get to wear them since the snow comes so quickly.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSK0140hVSfrEJtgFH4kkQv0v-hjXCrTpBMN04OjGiEfrIEoJtBI5BfFo1Bcg0uag_bRzbvQdG3BLBE00wMjfwQOMakYa7OQ4OaSS3-1aFhG9aT425fIx_-NkOQNs2ARbcUYP3sCz7U59V/s1600/tumblr_mjf1c8tAdm1rdpxozo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSK0140hVSfrEJtgFH4kkQv0v-hjXCrTpBMN04OjGiEfrIEoJtBI5BfFo1Bcg0uag_bRzbvQdG3BLBE00wMjfwQOMakYa7OQ4OaSS3-1aFhG9aT425fIx_-NkOQNs2ARbcUYP3sCz7U59V/s400/tumblr_mjf1c8tAdm1rdpxozo1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Also, something about combat boots reminds me of going on an adventure</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h3>
Is Pumpkin Spice worth the hype? </h3>
I'm going to be totally honest—I've never had pumpkin spice before. I've heard mixed opinions and prefer to stick to my Caramel Brulée lattes ;)<br />
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<h3>
Favourite fall TV show?</h3>
Well I don't really watch TV. I'm about to catch up on Heroes Reborn though. Otherwise....does Good Mythical Morning count?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aphqPQ2zixrQNNUe66YWer35ZIu3gSdJ3wl9YG93DzXhnTfxlwQBMPCdQxMiQFb4W2abI9UGpBlLLD1O1bVGafKmtlIzP5KRnnFmfvOv-WNkLSeUD9p2ngWEYIqI_5GtVC4AfJzg7UdU/s1600/anigif_enhanced-14081-1404171108-17.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aphqPQ2zixrQNNUe66YWer35ZIu3gSdJ3wl9YG93DzXhnTfxlwQBMPCdQxMiQFb4W2abI9UGpBlLLD1O1bVGafKmtlIzP5KRnnFmfvOv-WNkLSeUD9p2ngWEYIqI_5GtVC4AfJzg7UdU/s640/anigif_enhanced-14081-1404171108-17.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">If you've never seen them, look them up immediately XD They're literally my favourite YouTubers ever</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
What song really gets you into the fall spirit? </h3>
<div>
Bloom by The Paper Kites :) Or Featherstone or St. Clarity....The Paper Kites have such a wonderful earthy sound *melts*</div>
<div>
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<br /></div>
<h3>
Hats or scarves? </h3>
Hats! I love hats. I adore scarves too but hats are my preference.<br />
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<h3>
What's your #1 favorite thing about fall? </h3>
<div>
So many things. The smell of the dying leaves, the wind in my hair as I walk down the path behind my house in the evening, the fact that the trees match the colour of the setting sky, the sound of the leaves as they rustle across a barren strip of pavement, the quiet mornings, the still nights...<br />
Well that got rather poetic XD<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ciqQqVTioAxnzhyphenhyphenU3VgQpv_Gz4ah3o7Jc09b4sOKg1tpaAqy7lDVt0R0JdPkUBfhS8k8D1ly2HciW2to7uvEMuwNZH-URrmCPRDnLcpoXpHxrrc4WWo5-UlRiKFTAfbO42I4tSmonDTJ/s1600/54ebb11bd5f9b_-_leavesrolling.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ciqQqVTioAxnzhyphenhyphenU3VgQpv_Gz4ah3o7Jc09b4sOKg1tpaAqy7lDVt0R0JdPkUBfhS8k8D1ly2HciW2to7uvEMuwNZH-URrmCPRDnLcpoXpHxrrc4WWo5-UlRiKFTAfbO42I4tSmonDTJ/s400/54ebb11bd5f9b_-_leavesrolling.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">I can hear the sound now ^ ^ </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h4>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">The 5 Nominees (Tag, you're it!) </span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Since it's getting to be more Christmasy (at least where I am) you can always change the questions to be about winter and Christmas instead of fall and Thanksgiving (it's still sweater weather, after all ;) ) It's up to you though! </span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Victoria Nightsky @<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <a href="https://victoriam00.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">A Gathering of Dreams</span></a></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Kat Cho @ <a href="http://readiculousblog.blogspot.ca/2015/11/beautiful-books-2-writing-process.html"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Readiculous Blog</span></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Leah Oxendine @ <a href="http://apassionatafortheking.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Barefoot Rebel Hippie</span></a></div>
<div>
<br />
Tracey Dyck @ <a href="http://traceydyck.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Adventure Awaits</span></a></div>
<div>
<br />
Anna @ <a href="https://foxesandfangs.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Foxes and Fangs</span></a><br />
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<h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;">
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</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Do you have anything you look forward to when fall comes around? Any favourite memories?</i></span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Enjoy the season, Wordlings! </i></div>
</span></h4>
</div>
<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2716577236458839566%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Fvideo_object.png&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 1822px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2716577236458839566%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2Fimg2.blogblog.com%2Fimg%2Fvideo_object.png&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 193px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 1822px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-27165772364588395662015-11-27T10:00:00.000-08:002015-11-27T10:00:00.756-08:00November | A Month for Celebration and Firework Gifs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uyMAnKMgQXMguV5ijYJbNlTrVU1gU14ann6PrbCDt4LMmZ9f2aNlkajkU-8UOg65rx0fgyu5zZMwbV2f7eJ97PX1mT4cNAr6aWwz9Kljwo6Ums7zayjsEtwLwLo5yg2dYM4O3NLHMhx7/s1600/november+picutres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uyMAnKMgQXMguV5ijYJbNlTrVU1gU14ann6PrbCDt4LMmZ9f2aNlkajkU-8UOg65rx0fgyu5zZMwbV2f7eJ97PX1mT4cNAr6aWwz9Kljwo6Ums7zayjsEtwLwLo5yg2dYM4O3NLHMhx7/s400/november+picutres.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Happy, almost the month of Christmas, Wordlings!<br />
How was NaNo for all of you who participated? How's university for all my fellow students? For everyone who attempted both, I feel you're exhaustion.<br />
Despite the crazy month, November was actually insanely productive for me and even more rewarding. I'm on a writing high right now which I hope to ride all the way into the new year like a majestic horse (or a motorcycle—we'll see how it goes).<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Onwards to the summary! </span></h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">My Victories</span> </h4>
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1) I won NaNoWriMo! Woohoo!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj6PvDeeRXw1k8kT6mf1Y25rzkkkRhZdGgzdp3e67UtvS8BslknuYaIgFa2MPOyNJjjdp6vhErebLaTx7l95RZ7SX22WA0oNQcJ7fyVUPK5zNVy9pomQ76xrmyaWnHIC8jdhSWG9xvJBj/s1600/tumblr_lec86lMf9e1qf00qf.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj6PvDeeRXw1k8kT6mf1Y25rzkkkRhZdGgzdp3e67UtvS8BslknuYaIgFa2MPOyNJjjdp6vhErebLaTx7l95RZ7SX22WA0oNQcJ7fyVUPK5zNVy9pomQ76xrmyaWnHIC8jdhSWG9xvJBj/s320/tumblr_lec86lMf9e1qf00qf.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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I officially won on the 18th by sprinting and writing 5k in one day which was pretty tough since that was a school day for me; not to mention that the coming Friday I had two midterms and I paper due. It just goes to show though that it's always possible to find a time to write. On the day I finished, I literally wrote every second I got the chance.<br />
Considering this was my first year of NaNo, I'd say that I did pretty darn well :)<br />
<br />
2) Remember that secret project I mentioned? Well I completed that too!<br />
I've only been able to tell a few friends about it so far but I assure you, I'll mentioned it next month since that's when it's been presented.<br />
Currently the project is going through a few people for editing and I'll be attending a meeting regarding it's presentation in the next month. I'm beyond blessed to have this opportunity and can't wait to see how it comes together.<br />
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3) Guess who bought herself a daily agenda? This girl! I'm using it specifically for the sake of writing so that my blog and my novels don't fall behind. While it may not seem like a victory, for a procrastinator, it totally is! I'm actually putting money into scheduling and that's a pretty big deal ^ ^<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWFW9pgK9iufyWkLmd0OzaH8GDYP0AgoyQkMpvmt5H8jRuEg033UxGuI-ZQzCo9G5kFyU4DIZ_nb4jymCujaVypr1c1T18H9gpaW6tAPpmp2zT9nI1dh2YjclzV5kbqQ_PKOMZr56SDNw/s1600/Wandlust+Planner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGWFW9pgK9iufyWkLmd0OzaH8GDYP0AgoyQkMpvmt5H8jRuEg033UxGuI-ZQzCo9G5kFyU4DIZ_nb4jymCujaVypr1c1T18H9gpaW6tAPpmp2zT9nI1dh2YjclzV5kbqQ_PKOMZr56SDNw/s400/Wandlust+Planner.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Isn't it cute? And it has little spots to write monthly goals! It's perfect. </span></td></tr>
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4) Probably the biggest victory of all is that I finished the first draft of "Living City" at 95,310 words :D<br />
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This is the first full draft I've actually completed so it's a massive accomplishment and is probably the reason I'm on a writing high right now ^ ^<br />
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<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span></div>
1) I finished watching Red Data Girl. It's not one I'd recommend to people unless they've run out of decent animes to watch. It was a neat concept but I think there was a lot that needed to be explained that wasn't. Unless of course I just wasn't paying attention XD<br />
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2) I'm in the process of reading "The Power of Ten" still. NaNo made it difficult for me to read. Hopefully I can catch up on my reading in December when I finish finals.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTrVmP_pwNQeeqbn2waq8PgyZk5dQa7ufKzXLqAwP-zbGecqBCpb-lO7bVEhZSVVoJnZVrZMk0AZJl32sNW7IXH3O0AjnEnrIXPy5Lz_laV3Ovu3264crBrrDdSeqYStksETSN5NVJNRR/s1600/Fate+of+Ten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVTrVmP_pwNQeeqbn2waq8PgyZk5dQa7ufKzXLqAwP-zbGecqBCpb-lO7bVEhZSVVoJnZVrZMk0AZJl32sNW7IXH3O0AjnEnrIXPy5Lz_laV3Ovu3264crBrrDdSeqYStksETSN5NVJNRR/s400/Fate+of+Ten.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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3) Currently, I'm following "Norigami Aragato", the second season "Norigami". My friend, Kendall and I are watching it together every week and I love it ^ ^ I'm a huge fan of Norigami and my OTP resides in this anime. There's a lot of squealing and hugging and re-watching clips ^ ^<br />
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<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Upcoming Battles</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
1) After much debate, I've decided that December will be the month to begin working on the first book of my Crec series. Many people have told me that a change of headspace will be good for me while I wait six very long weeks to beginning my macro edit on "Living City".<br />
So I'm in for some plotting and more writing!<br />
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<br />
I'm genuinely excited to get back to a story. I feel a little like a lost child in Walmart now that I'm not actively working on a project!<br />
I've begun a little bit of plotting and am finding this story already to be more of a challenge. I'm up for it though. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
2) The completion of the secret project with the meetings and such that I mentioned above will be a battle. Not because I don't want to do it but because it's a project that means a lot to me. I don't want to get so caught up in it that I forget it's meaning. </div>
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<div>
3) Final exams. I need to start studying for those right about now....<br />
While my course load isn't a large as most people's I know for a fact that the whole writing thing may pose as a distraction to the whole studying notion. Hopefully I can push my novels aside long enough to care about my GPA.<br />
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<h4>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Future Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
</div>
<div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
1) Finishing "The Fate of Ten" for sure!<br />
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<div>
2) At the bookstore I work at, Chapters, the staff all got a book for an early Christmas gift. I got Rick Riodan's new book, "The Sword of Summer". Do you know how excited I am to read this thing!? So freakishly excited! I'll definitely be writing a review for it either in late December or early January.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCmy1cyv5LwPAzHzeBhSvbg3ezIt3B_bRKhTnJsvJTyIeoFuKBD9tgTIxOimWW-ksTPkbP3Q7SAJh8SnjlaeGfSPeAvwHBHQZBJpxEJoiRI19saGk2MBEs93-0x8qzAt7rprSpCfG8pQX/s1600/Magnus+Chase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCmy1cyv5LwPAzHzeBhSvbg3ezIt3B_bRKhTnJsvJTyIeoFuKBD9tgTIxOimWW-ksTPkbP3Q7SAJh8SnjlaeGfSPeAvwHBHQZBJpxEJoiRI19saGk2MBEs93-0x8qzAt7rprSpCfG8pQX/s400/Magnus+Chase.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Can we take a moment to admire this amazing cover? Sometimes I just stare at it...no lie XD</span></td></tr>
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<br />
While not a lot happened this month, the stuff that did happen turned out to be pretty big and definitely worthy of all the fireworks! I'm beyond excited to take on the next month and then after that, the next year and the year after that and—well let's just start with December for now ;)</div>
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Thank you to all my readers and a special thanks to the commenters who make my day :) </div>
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I hope you all had a great month and that you're next month is great too! </div>
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<h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynhPxkvGqTDECx_6Svmmx9LK8TAmJdrc9v2ZMQec6FuTXguD2NSHlO6UV2yNocly_ua9EDqu9NThkiGQb39vs51h8nE28VcKcy9HRw2Kg0Fieeleye-ROm5NwLgDM1P7cu5qiyfeBdUWV/s1600/tumblr_n9672yRBhf1t5c6u6o1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynhPxkvGqTDECx_6Svmmx9LK8TAmJdrc9v2ZMQec6FuTXguD2NSHlO6UV2yNocly_ua9EDqu9NThkiGQb39vs51h8nE28VcKcy9HRw2Kg0Fieeleye-ROm5NwLgDM1P7cu5qiyfeBdUWV/s400/tumblr_n9672yRBhf1t5c6u6o1_500.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">One last set of fireworks just because this month rocked!</span></td></tr>
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<h4>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What were some of the highlights from your month? Have any goals for next month?</span></i></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></i><i>Keep being awesome, Wordlings! </i></span></h4>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2716577236458839566%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D2%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F--sKte3n6PJ0%2FVjUI81lnpaI%2FAAAAAAAABp8%2FPOf4pfzPDlw%2Fs400%2Fnovember%252Bpicutres.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2716577236458839566%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D2%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F--sKte3n6PJ0%2FVjUI81lnpaI%2FAAAAAAAABp8%2FPOf4pfzPDlw%2Fs400%2Fnovember%252Bpicutres.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-55280562759701833532015-11-20T10:00:00.000-08:002015-12-11T09:47:00.603-08:00Beautiful Books | The Process of Writing "Living City"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFzO-k4n2FouZYYj7bygAWVxAl5WcCD6Q31miSaYDBHUx6ebW29A8kddyH6-id5iD61q_dHBg-l379htzp8dUZ6q6Ps3v6-RLDscDgcpvOzG6zk7m2vVY_ZldjhSFGq_D3iNnu8BTyLod/s1600/bb-redone.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFzO-k4n2FouZYYj7bygAWVxAl5WcCD6Q31miSaYDBHUx6ebW29A8kddyH6-id5iD61q_dHBg-l379htzp8dUZ6q6Ps3v6-RLDscDgcpvOzG6zk7m2vVY_ZldjhSFGq_D3iNnu8BTyLod/s200/bb-redone.png" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hello, Wordlings! It's the second month in </span><span id="goog_452752824" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><a href="http://paperfury.com/" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Paperfury's</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> blog link-up</span><span id="goog_452752825" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Beautiful Books and this time it's all about the process of writing the books was slave over in this crazy month some of us refer to as NaNoWrMo. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of which, I've won NaNo! I completed it on the eighteenth and on that same say, I also finished the first draft of the novel at just over 95k. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This post now seems incredibly fitting since it will kind of be like I'm looking back on my writing process as well as looking forward to what writing the next book will be like. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So let's get to it. Onwards to the questions! </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is the book turning out how you thought it would be, or is it defying your expectations? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As of the completion of the first draft, it's defied my expectations but in the best way possible. I definitely thought it would have a slightly different tone to it and I imagined a lot of the scenes to turn out differently than they did—some scenes just sort of happened, too! It will obviously need some editing but overall, I'm super happy with what I've written.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdK46tI2m4WGZdDRSmIb4cAOZkbFMf60Iw_2zJ-EZE0_x0IjvZXS0WwaCUV30vtV4jPsk226T0M5BXD1bnSWedX0iAHPQ4Ar7EZJCqakGnn6HbOaKgYW0PorUrlZAL5hyFnBm1ATtn8Ky/s1600/tumblr_n0hwiwBdMT1rvzdzso1_500.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdK46tI2m4WGZdDRSmIb4cAOZkbFMf60Iw_2zJ-EZE0_x0IjvZXS0WwaCUV30vtV4jPsk226T0M5BXD1bnSWedX0iAHPQ4Ar7EZJCqakGnn6HbOaKgYW0PorUrlZAL5hyFnBm1ATtn8Ky/s400/tumblr_n0hwiwBdMT1rvzdzso1_500.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Super, duper happy. How could I not? <br />This is my first ever completed draft!</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">My first paragraph is only one sentence but here it is: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> “Kyla, you’re late.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are you a plotter or a pantser? Have you ever tried both methods and how did it turn out?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm kinda a mix between the two so a plantser I suppose. I can't seem to do just one. I've tried just planning and I became stressed and suffocated by my own outline. I need be able to let the story flow. At the same time, whenever I tried just pantsing, my <i>lack </i>planning lead me straight to some pretty big moments of writer's block. The combination gives me direction without holding me back.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you reward yourself with after meeting a goal?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Web-camming sessions with my friend, Tori, new music, watching anime with another one of my friends, Kendall, watching some Good Mythical Morning or buying myself a slurpee. Sometimes I'll combine a few :) To reward myself for bigger goals, I might buy myself lunch or a bigger slurpee ;) </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfJKYEakpjBJAn3SN9draqBAmSBGPoaETDWJ2HwpE8s6eIxRNbTDQ7h1e4tNPeYhCvNqMqBeKF5SE8geAs9leMMPKF6C4EhFoS_4GC06-RhITKF8TfI143zePTtdiBKLRFMTbdkWNViza/s1600/12079160_898140100274310_5712413992041713517_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFfJKYEakpjBJAn3SN9draqBAmSBGPoaETDWJ2HwpE8s6eIxRNbTDQ7h1e4tNPeYhCvNqMqBeKF5SE8geAs9leMMPKF6C4EhFoS_4GC06-RhITKF8TfI143zePTtdiBKLRFMTbdkWNViza/s400/12079160_898140100274310_5712413992041713517_n.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A slurpee my sister brought me as a reward. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span><br />
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<b><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What do you look for in a name? Do you have themes and where do you find your names?</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Assuming this question means the name of my characters, I look for ease of pronunciation, if it's similar to any other characters I have in that book, if it fits the time period and genre of the novel and generally if I think it feels right. I don't usually have themes for names but I often gravitate todays 'A's and 'J's for some reason...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I usually find my names just by surfing around the internet. If I like a name, I put it in my document I've called 'Name Bank'. When I need a new name, I'll go through it and see if anything stands out. I think I have about 400 names in there by now. I'll never run out! </span></div>
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<div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What is your favourite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I love writing the end. I love bringing things full circle, tiring up lose ends and having my characters ask more questions. There's something incredible about writing the end of a story. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrwfMp5yj93wkxT2yHG9gyVNA5ii9VCv6V-taT2E5arLArUBqUHPYDqXg9Ispvam_siFBGiCzKNJT795K4aVIBkqc6-rZWK53Eddb22O-bBd-_hoa2qZ7Lp2wADVnYxcWKln8t3RlQdsK/s1600/Kimerly+Hayes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrwfMp5yj93wkxT2yHG9gyVNA5ii9VCv6V-taT2E5arLArUBqUHPYDqXg9Ispvam_siFBGiCzKNJT795K4aVIBkqc6-rZWK53Eddb22O-bBd-_hoa2qZ7Lp2wADVnYxcWKln8t3RlQdsK/s320/Kimerly+Hayes.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Kim using her ability</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who’s your current favourite character in your novel?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kim, my protagonist is still my favourite. It could be a biased answer though since I'm writing from her point of view and have basically spent the last while living inside her head. She's got a clever sense of humour, is a little impatient and is definitely determined. I love her ^ ^ </span><br />
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<b><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What kind of things have you researched for this project, and how do you go about researching? (What’s the weirdest thing you’ve researched?!)</span></b></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I've researched a lot about the Bermuda Triangle. I've watched documentaries and read articles about people who claim weird things have happened to them around the triangle and about the Atlantis conspiracies. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Basically my researching is composed of a simple google search which then leads me to more google searches, YouTube videos and pictures. I don't usually write a lot down. Instead, I'll bookmark sources. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The weirdest thing I've researched for this project...hm...I researched a lot on drug tolerance and overdosing. You may not think so but I'd even say that researching the conspiracy theories was pretty high up on the list. It lead me to learning about a lot of pretty strange stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I also researched what a dead body looks like for one of my writer friends....*coughs* moving on.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you write better alone or with others? Do you share your work or prefer to keep it to yourself?</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I write best alone. The movement of people around me is distracting. I'm working on it though. I've managed to generate words on the bus to school which is a total plus. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ironically though, all my highest word counts come from warring with friends. Then again, those wars are over the internet so maybe that doesn't count. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I share snippets but I like to keep it to myself. When a draft is finished though, I'll let a few people read it. I won't make the story completely public though until it's published or I've polished it enough for it to be published. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Music is a must. I listened to a lot of HDSoundi on YouTube and "The Scorch Trials" soundtrack for this novel. As for snacks, I like to eat grape tomatoes and bell peppers will I write. For drinks I for a slurpee if I'm rewarding myself or tea and sometimes Coke if it's early but I still need a caffeine boost. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Time of day has jumped all over the place. It used to be eight and then it was three in the afternoon and then eleven at night. I think it depends on my current sleep pattern and the wakefulness of my muse XD </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIeRECZiX-Aq9-OHPpeS0puZ3B8Ifzb-lh2A_V20A_zUJC-wHP-A1lmvaX1iHT20kYdx6qOEY0eGqRdGFa3xfXVqiPpoZKc43uxQ-N0TUOFcTHXK54HO5BuxNFpdIuvSFayeW3KHQSxJ2/s1600/12283211_911014768986843_1839160694_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEIeRECZiX-Aq9-OHPpeS0puZ3B8Ifzb-lh2A_V20A_zUJC-wHP-A1lmvaX1iHT20kYdx6qOEY0eGqRdGFa3xfXVqiPpoZKc43uxQ-N0TUOFcTHXK54HO5BuxNFpdIuvSFayeW3KHQSxJ2/s400/12283211_911014768986843_1839160694_n.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This is my living room where I make my home while writing. Here you can see the remnants of a reward, my journal, my fuzzy blue blanket, my blue English binder from school and my backpack because I'm also trying to balance that right now, and a glass of Coke over ice because it's just one of those times XD</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So that's the link up for this month. If you missed last month's post where I talked about "Living City", </span><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/10/beautiful-books-tholas-trilogy-book-1.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">click</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/10/beautiful-books-tholas-trilogy-book-1.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> here</span></a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll be doing one of these next month too so make sure you follow me on my </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/CassiaSchaar/" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Facebook</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, </span><a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/dimensions-my-universe-13219633" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Bloglovin'</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> or subscribe to me with your blogger account or email so you don't miss it :) </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">How's NaNo going for everyone? Do you have a few quirky things about your writing process?</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keep on keeping on, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a></div>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=562948101006293885" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-63514285783937436222015-11-13T10:28:00.000-08:002015-11-13T10:28:30.990-08:00The 777 Tag | Excepts From My Novels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowQdH5Iriugp_3HA52HqVTuxFo1E351HYTVg1YW-FjFd8n_AMyFhCPzcdmPSQ0GBPd7hkU0i_8eXui6UBGA2DPlfkHDx2Koneo2tu4flZS9xyRworVyqEWw_u88ua44ufh-WRVTLmO02T/s1600/pearson-creative-writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowQdH5Iriugp_3HA52HqVTuxFo1E351HYTVg1YW-FjFd8n_AMyFhCPzcdmPSQ0GBPd7hkU0i_8eXui6UBGA2DPlfkHDx2Koneo2tu4flZS9xyRworVyqEWw_u88ua44ufh-WRVTLmO02T/s400/pearson-creative-writing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This week's post was supposed to be Beautiful Books with with university, I never got around to putting it together. So instead, I'm going a tag! Beautiful Books will be next week :)<br />
I got tagged in this way back in May by my good friend, Tori at <a href="http://storitorigrace.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Stori Tori's Blog</span></a> and was recently reminded to do it. With NaNo going, I thought it would be a fitting time to do it.<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">How it Works</span></h4>
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It's easy! All you have to do is go to the seventh page in your work in progress (whether it's editing or writing), scroll to the seventh line and then post the next seven lines. After that, you tag seven bloggers to do the same thing. </div>
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Since I have two works on the go, I'm gonna share an excerpt from both. I wrote this part of "Crec" last year so I'm a little hesitant to share this but why not, right? </div>
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"Living City" is my NaNoWriMo novel that I'm working on currently. So far, so good, everyone! I'm surviving :D </div>
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Onwards to the excerpts! We'll start with "Crec" so that we finish with the better except ;) </div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">"Crec"</span></h4>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“There.” Piper handed her the loose end of the rope. “Do you want me to thread your grigri too?” </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Masara shook her head and took the rope. She could take it from here. She wouldn't let Piper do everything for her. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Piper thrust some gloves into Masara’s line of sight. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Masara pulled them on. “Thanks.”</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>She tugged at the rope connecting her to the support beam. It would hold her, right?</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">To learn more about "Crec", head over to the Writing Dimension *points to the top bar*, or check out Masara's <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/06/beautiful-people-masara.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful People 1</span></a>, <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/07/beautiful-people-masara-2.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful People 2</span></a>, <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/08/beautiful-people-masara-3.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful People 3</span></a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Living City"</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The chilling memory of the crash came rushing back. She gasped, her body lurching. Panic as cold as the water itself gripped her entire being. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“It’s...it’s okay,” Andrew’s familiar voice breathed heavily. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A rolling wave lifted them up and dropped them back down. Kim’s stomach sunk. She caught her breath. This would be it, would it? She would drown out here and her body would never be found just like in all those stupid documentaries she watched before the plane ride. </i></span></div>
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If you'd like to know more about "Living City" or the characters in them, head over to the Writing Dimension or you can check out Louis's (the antagonist) <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/09/beautiful-people-louis.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful People</span></a>, Matt's (a main character) <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/04/interview-with-matt-dome.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">character interview</span></a> or my recent <span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2015/10/beautiful-books-tholas-trilogy-book-1.html"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Beautiful Books</span></a> </span>post. </div>
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As for the 7 bloggers, I always hate being selective about this so instead, anyone reading is welcome to take the challenge! Just comment below and let me know if you're gonna do it cause I'd love to read what you're writing :) </div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How's NaNo going for everyone? Any excerpts (7th line or not) that you'd like to share?</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">See you all next week, Wordlings!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2902813835447943431%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D2%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-gCZ3tnBAQuM%2FVjRSyARY07I%2FAAAAAAAABpE%2F9d58Su4ygS4%2Fs400%2Fpearson-creative-writing.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D2902813835447943431%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D2%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-gCZ3tnBAQuM%2FVjRSyARY07I%2FAAAAAAAABpE%2F9d58Su4ygS4%2Fs400%2Fpearson-creative-writing.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 153px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-89432623988099131042015-11-06T10:00:00.000-08:002015-11-07T15:16:37.250-08:006 'Must Haves' to Survive NaNoWriMo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Alright folks, the month is upon us! NaNoWriMo is only in it's early stages but if you're anything like <br />
me, you're already feeling the effects of marathon writing. In the midst of work, all my classes and the looming assignments before the final exam rush, I've discovered a bunch of things that have been helping me survive the beautiful chaos we writers willingly through ourselves into.<br />
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1) Writing Music</h3>
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An absolute must. I went out and bought myself a $25 iTunes card so I could stock up on some great writing music to motivate myself. If you're on a budget, Youtube has some fabulous playlists for full movie scores or just a big jumble of epic, emotional or wondrous instrumentals.<br />
If you haven't already discovered them, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MarK1Ira/featured"><span style="color: #cc0000;">HDSounDI</span></a> has some of my favourite writing playlists on the internet. Check them out if you're looking for some new tracks!<br />
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2) Notebooks and Pencils/Pens</h3>
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Sometimes I'm in the middle of a scene and suddenly I have an idea to write down. Could be a piece of dialogue, a title for a future chapter or a reason why character X did action Y. Whatever it is, I like to have my notebook and a pencil next to me while I write so I don't miss any of my strokes of genius. For those of you that have scrivener or another writing program, I'd suggest having a file open specifically for your random ideas. Keeping organized during this time is super important.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtOn06WxbEDD7EuXCua_21yrfl7nliibJ_9YZm1UgcdmJQJVIAGbgnQ-xUHdDPhvVJAt1rH2crHHTWwjeKWxYwTHSCuGYUpOZWDPViyE_DwyQZv6Rni62ZIGS1O63hqVJxh8Oje2m016x/s1600/20151106_010824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOtOn06WxbEDD7EuXCua_21yrfl7nliibJ_9YZm1UgcdmJQJVIAGbgnQ-xUHdDPhvVJAt1rH2crHHTWwjeKWxYwTHSCuGYUpOZWDPViyE_DwyQZv6Rni62ZIGS1O63hqVJxh8Oje2m016x/s400/20151106_010824.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Three of my favourite writing journals</span></td></tr>
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3) A Writing Buddy</h3>
For me this is an absolute must. I'd trade writing music for a buddy during these weeks. Why? Word wars! One of my best friends, Tori, and I can easily get three thousand words in about two hours. It makes NaNo much less daunting to have a buddy to do it with. Plus it's a lot more fun to do with a friend. This is only the first time I've done NaNo but I can't imagine doing it without a buddy. I've already got of 15k words in this first week! I credit that to having a buddy to war with every night.<br />
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4) Caffeine</h3>
While NaNo has been productive and I don't stay up super late every night, there have been a couple nights were I stay up just a tad past my bedtime trying to push for extra words. Other times I'll use caffeine to boost me when I've had a long day at school or work and haven't started chipping away at my word count. (or still have a long way to go)<br />
For those of you that write in the wee hours of the morning, I suggest green tea; and if you're Canadian, Iced Caps from Timmies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: small;">Three of my favourite writerly mugs :) </span></td></tr>
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5) A Fuzzy Blanket</h3>
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I'm not sure why but I can't seem to write well without setting myself up on the couch by the fireplace with my blue fuzzy blanket. I think this says something about getting comfortable before you sit down to write like the wind. If you have a spot in the house or even out of the house that you find helps you to write, I encourage you take advantage of that space. Writing is always easier when you're comfortable or in a creative atmosphere.</div>
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6) Sanity Items</h3>
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I'm realizing that NaNo has the potential to be consuming and stressful. Somehow I'm managing and it made me wonder as to why that may be. </div>
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The first one is music. Not writing music, just music by artists that I enjoy listening to. Of Monster and Men, Florence and the Machine, and Imagine Dragons are a few groups I listen to when I'm not writing. </div>
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I've found that taking walks when it's nice out is also refreshing. Getting a little fresh air into my system often helps with writers block. </div>
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Friends are great too. I'm making sure that I go for coffee with someone or see a friend outside my own house at least once a week during NaNo. It ensures that my mind isn't <i>only</i> thinking about my writing (or homework for that mater!)</div>
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Lastly, when in doubt, watch an episode on Netflix. It's always a great way to just escape the world of writing for forty minutes. After that though, it's back to writing!<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How's NaNo going for you? Do you have any survival tips for NaNo? </span></i></div>
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<i>Good luck on NaNo, Wordlings! And if you aren't participating, have a great November :)</i></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D8943262398809913104%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-BaPTVWDxocM%2FVi7817QuSRI%2FAAAAAAAABm8%2FLqVy5Yv6WGM%2Fs640%2FNaNo-2015-Participant-Banner.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogger.com%2Fblogger.g%3FblogID%3D562948101006293885%23editor%2Ftarget%3Dpost%3BpostID%3D8943262398809913104%3BonPublishedMenu%3Dposts%3BonClosedMenu%3Dposts%3BpostNum%3D0%3Bsrc%3Dpostname&media=https%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-BaPTVWDxocM%2FVi7817QuSRI%2FAAAAAAAABm8%2FLqVy5Yv6WGM%2Fs640%2FNaNo-2015-Participant-Banner.jpg&xm=h&xv=sa1.37.01&xuid=7zXDU79Zxy54&description=" style="background-color: transparent; background-image: url(data:image/png; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: none; height: 20px; left: 42px; opacity: 0.85; position: absolute; top: 18px; width: 40px; z-index: 8675309;"></a>Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-29028138354479434312015-10-30T10:00:00.000-07:002015-11-25T09:55:34.550-08:00October | I've Become Motivated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtQQA0EFI2wSYcVq8RA3xtaPqaAYsXRVc_2x9xKtIStv2_hg7PNLLLUGXDV7D4CV66Ua71rsScaaGkVE9fFobaNGChFyR1JJSIRw_9ZkHIngA1gxyIznYIRMSpiZhPfTsBz8QNqQqfJhH/s1600/october+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQtQQA0EFI2wSYcVq8RA3xtaPqaAYsXRVc_2x9xKtIStv2_hg7PNLLLUGXDV7D4CV66Ua71rsScaaGkVE9fFobaNGChFyR1JJSIRw_9ZkHIngA1gxyIznYIRMSpiZhPfTsBz8QNqQqfJhH/s400/october+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Never before have I done a monthly summary but one of my writer friends (who you may know as <a href="http://storitorigrace.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Stori Tori</span></a>) encouraged me to start doing them. So here I am, tapping away at my keyboard about the busiest, most productive, most game changing month I've had in my writing life in a <i>long </i>time. I owe a lot of it to Tori so a huge thanks to her! *lots of cheering*</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhcO2T7pSRvUQ6h7a_JOiD-hXRRe1h0M65GziemTWzAeu-fR5_F7iVHg1CMlIsHtjg4_N4l67r38HSRfmew4MZjGEHvEKF8nODBA24VwaMfF3lYuAEdLV76LfuGyJkB8sP15cxej50u8W/s1600/cheering_minions.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhcO2T7pSRvUQ6h7a_JOiD-hXRRe1h0M65GziemTWzAeu-fR5_F7iVHg1CMlIsHtjg4_N4l67r38HSRfmew4MZjGEHvEKF8nODBA24VwaMfF3lYuAEdLV76LfuGyJkB8sP15cxej50u8W/s400/cheering_minions.gif" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Onwards to the summary! </span></h3>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">My Victories</span> </h4>
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1) I made a commitment to my writing unlike any commitment I've made before: 10k words a week, people!<br />
So far those words have been dedicated to my novel but in the future, they'll be counting towards other things.<br />
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2) I rebooted my blog and vowed to keep a schedule. My wonderful friend who the minions are cheering for is keeping me accountable. I hope that once I get into the swing of things I'll be able to write posts without a weekly remind from my phone XD<br />
Also, in the realm of blogs, I've remodelled mine in case you haven't noticed :) What do you think?<br />
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3) I've booked flights and reserved a spot at the Florida Christian Writer's Conference! I'm so excited to go this year for a few reasons. One: I get to see all my writer friends from last year and two: I'm pitching my book to publishers and editors :D :D :D<br />
While I'm nervous, I think the excited butterflies are stronger ;) This is a dream I've had since before kindergarten and I've finally built up the courage and confidence to put myself out there. (and the extra writing practice certainly didn't hurt anyone) Florida, here I come!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_e3GcGFxWK7snSaKICCNvLPcwtkpc3bCGSDIlawxFgrsJVz6u483h7h9sqnGzZqQdfA4gllI_BNnGoO2Me0X2Wn2G5prGic7eNEKHuy9fEkrPthGyk2iURvfBUOJ791-hHZ3_LXAOvzZ/s1600/11021217_850991101627853_7654084530325194173_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_e3GcGFxWK7snSaKICCNvLPcwtkpc3bCGSDIlawxFgrsJVz6u483h7h9sqnGzZqQdfA4gllI_BNnGoO2Me0X2Wn2G5prGic7eNEKHuy9fEkrPthGyk2iURvfBUOJ791-hHZ3_LXAOvzZ/s400/11021217_850991101627853_7654084530325194173_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">The amazing people I got to write with last year</span></td></tr>
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4) Through countless conversations with my wonderful friend —who apparently I can't stop talking about!—and my mom, I've started a very basic pre-marketing strategy for this coming February when I head to the conference. One of those things has been starting a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CassiaSchaar"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Facebook page</span></a>. :D<br />
If you're a follower here, I'd love to see you over there too! It means that I get to interact with you and get to know you better. Plus I'll be posting lots of geeky and writerly material :)<br />
There's already over 100 likes so you'll be among friends!<br />
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5) I've named the books in the Tholus Trilogy! Book 1 is "The Living City", book 2 will be "The Sunken Sky" and book 3 will be "The Buried Core". However I am considering dropping the "The". From a reader's point of view, what do you think? Does the "The" catch your attention or turn you away from the title?<br />
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6) I attended my first ever Webinar hosted by Michael Hyatt. It was called "Your Platform Roadmap" and it was incredibly informative. Since I'm working on my platform right now, the information I got really helped. My notebook was well used today :)<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
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1) I final saw "The Scorch Trials"! While it was pretty different from the book, they did quite a few smart things. As a stand alone movie, it was fantastic. If you're only following the movies and haven't seen this one, I encourage you to go.<br />
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2) I re-watched my current favourite anime: Psycho-Pass. A lot of my writing was done to the soundtrack too :)<br />
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3) I reread "Scorpia Rising" by Anthony Horowitz. He was my favourite author in junior high. Since I work in a bookstore, I thought it would be good to review some of my favourite kid's books. It makes recommendations easier.<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Upcoming Battles</span></h4>
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1) Nano begins on Sunday so I've got a lot of writing to do—a lot. 50K total for the month of November to be exact. If I thought 10K a week was ambitious, this is even more so. I'll be writing 2K every day so I can stay ahead. You know—cause a university GPA is a thing I need to care about too. No big deal.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOAbATOX95k2WPSBFWyBGjixyNp7dB3hAaaV45uQYOqaXvdt6xEv-1cutgn4RvR83vErzqFSJtfCkjcqXs7AaiHlGUMqxZcgIWoFkIpEASmIRHyNVxGCDKGNsnSfr1nsvKjmrT5GVGG6R/s1600/NaNo-2015-Participant-Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOAbATOX95k2WPSBFWyBGjixyNp7dB3hAaaV45uQYOqaXvdt6xEv-1cutgn4RvR83vErzqFSJtfCkjcqXs7AaiHlGUMqxZcgIWoFkIpEASmIRHyNVxGCDKGNsnSfr1nsvKjmrT5GVGG6R/s400/NaNo-2015-Participant-Banner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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2) Speaking of school, I'll be wrapping up my first university semester. *starts to throw grad hat in the air, record scratches* No? Not yet? Okay, fine...seven semesters to go still. </div>
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3) I'll be working on a very special project that I have no idea if I'm allowed to make public yet. I'll have to ask so I can find out if it's mentionable for next month's summary. </div>
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4) If all goes well, the hope is that I can plan "The Sunken Sky" or start reworking "Crec: Book 1". But you know, finals, and NaNo, and the special project might turn this into a battle I'll have to face in December. </div>
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Regardless, it's on my mind and I'm looking forward to taking it on :) </div>
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5) Maybe the biggest battle of all will be surviving the start of Christmas Season at Chapters (the bookstore I work in)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn6-zzeErl2E653kqowNkF-x1KvkFV7ysyiV0xeYxs9-Wp5_1skb-FZFw5nLAXEb0hqsf9Vj-d2V82MjeOYn6EkVGPHADqmI1BVqXzi1uHNqIRHO4Gyk0SDUBYd08J1krzBqRVO1sLPDW/s1600/46268-Brace-Yourselves-Christmas-Music-Is-Coming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOn6-zzeErl2E653kqowNkF-x1KvkFV7ysyiV0xeYxs9-Wp5_1skb-FZFw5nLAXEb0hqsf9Vj-d2V82MjeOYn6EkVGPHADqmI1BVqXzi1uHNqIRHO4Gyk0SDUBYd08J1krzBqRVO1sLPDW/s320/46268-Brace-Yourselves-Christmas-Music-Is-Coming.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'm totally kidding. I love Christmas and Christmas music. But something tells me a loop track will get on my nerves. I think I might be one of the only ones in my store who's looking forward to the Christmas season at work. Likely cause I'm a greenie ;) (three cheers to anyone who got that reference) </div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Future Nerd Stuff</span></h4>
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1) I'll be starting to read "The Fate of Ten" by Pittacus Lore. I bought it right when it came out but haven't read it yet. It's staring at me from my bookshelf. Every time someone comes through the till at Chapters with it, I always comment about how it's a great series. Usually my praise is accompanied by weird looks...mostly cause the readers are teenaged boys. Come on! A female adult can read about aliens too!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyBlXduwORGVxsQGzPzy0eoGvTS9r6V72TIr2GdYu8oCgf3wx9xQnZCpVZdqvDbgX0SGQsiJUgaSOVEi4bUi5LE-1ND8IHs3RFb4zFsmc4yK_Zvg-txl4CMwNgEVbbqnk7WvqNqxdyoJ0/s1600/24488476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAyBlXduwORGVxsQGzPzy0eoGvTS9r6V72TIr2GdYu8oCgf3wx9xQnZCpVZdqvDbgX0SGQsiJUgaSOVEi4bUi5LE-1ND8IHs3RFb4zFsmc4yK_Zvg-txl4CMwNgEVbbqnk7WvqNqxdyoJ0/s320/24488476.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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2) I'll be finishing the anime "Red Data Girl". It's pretty good so far but also pretty typical XD The art is nice though. </div>
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3) I think I'm gonna continue with "Pretty Little Liars". Yeah I know...it's stereotyped as a 'white girl show'. I actually enjoy it though. It's got some good mystery elements in it that I take note of for writing. The kissing scenes—and for that matter, everything romantic in the show—have me rolling my eyes though and I just skip the next thirty seconds. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">My favourite character, Spencer, being all epic</span></td></tr>
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So that's my month! I'm pretty happy with the productivity if I do say so myself. Thank you to all my readers and a special thanks to the commenters who make my day :) </div>
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I hope you all had a great month and that you're next month is great too! </div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">What were some of the highlights from your month? Have any goals for next month?</span></i></div>
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<i>Keep up the awesomeness, Wordlings! </i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-87873350233666115072015-10-23T10:00:00.000-07:002015-10-28T15:45:50.477-07:00Archetypes | The Many Heroes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqFFTrf9AqcY9vw4ExUnKFpmoOvoFFFTqAvkwDc-CP0CGYMv0r3xpQXUvVZScob-e7yKJXWdIZApqmrpro3OPoo-6l_vi22NXOTfwWeOmwCM0IehtYY0IDswa8bScGjwvGqLtNve4e6xk/s1600/the-last-samurai-218905.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvqFFTrf9AqcY9vw4ExUnKFpmoOvoFFFTqAvkwDc-CP0CGYMv0r3xpQXUvVZScob-e7yKJXWdIZApqmrpro3OPoo-6l_vi22NXOTfwWeOmwCM0IehtYY0IDswa8bScGjwvGqLtNve4e6xk/s1600/the-last-samurai-218905.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been awhile since I wrote about <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/search/label/Archetypes"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Archetypes</span></a>...a long while. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With NaNo coming up, I know a lot of people are in the middle of planning their novels—unless you're a brave Pantser in which I applaud you *claps*—and so I thought I would bring back the archetypes in order to help some of you along. Even if you know your story inside and out already, I encourage you to see if you can spot your character among the archetypes below. *points down*</span><br />
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Keep in mind that archetypes aren't cliches, they're patterns that naturally occur in stories. When I write, I often include archetypes without even knowing it and that's not a bad thing! To get a little more background on what an archetype is, <a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/02/archetypes-heros-journey-part-1.html"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">follow this link</span></a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">That being said, make sure that as a writer you're still being creative. Look for your character to fit into an archetype rather than looking for an archetype that can become a character.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">The Warrior</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The warrior is often characterized as someone who faces physical obstacles and faces external forces. The forces don't have to be human—they can be monsters or even extreme conditions like snow storms or crossing a sheer ledge in the pouring rain. The warrior isn't the underdog—he/she is already trained or is born with the abilities that will theoretically help him/her to achieve their goal—they're the 'chosen one'. That doesn't mean it's easy going for them though. Think James Bond or "The Last Samurai".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pretty self explanatory. The lover is motivated by love. Prince charming is probably the most obvious of heroes we could choose for this one but personally I think that any character who's motivated by love for their family can also be classified as a lover. Maybe other archetypes will fit them better but who said you can have more than one ;) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Scapegoat</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seems like an odd type of hero right? This hero will stir up a lot of feels with your readers though. Why? They endure suffering all for the sake of other people. Usually it's for a large group of people—think of a rebel who's trying to stop the oppressive king from hurting his villagers. He endures public torture, humiliation and death threats all while trying to save the people. See? FEELS! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Transcendent Hero</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also know as the tragic hero. The only reason why we get to call this hero 'the transcendent' is because they have a groundbreaking, heavenly light shining, light bulb momenting, discovery or piece of wisdom at the end of the novel...and their lives. Usually they die. Yep. More feels. *sobs* </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This hero has a fatal flaw that results in their downfall throughout the novel. Think of Hamlet. Or Macbeth. Or Romeo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Alright, let's just go with all Shakespearean tragedy heroes. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Romantic/The Gothic</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Different from the lover but sometimes this character is also propelled by their love. This hero has a undeniable dark side to their moon. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm gonna use our dear Dr. Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's novel, "Frankenstein", as an example. He's definitely the protagonist in the novel—well some would argue that—but as the novel goes in, it gets harder and harder to defend him and his so called 'humanity'. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Also, DEATH NOTE!!! *clears throat* That is all. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Apocalyptic Hero</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This hero faces the destruction of society as their main apposing force. This isn't a <i>post-</i>apocalyptic hero so Katniss doesn't count. This hero is in the midst of the destruction. Cassie from "The 5th Wave" would be closer to matching this description.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">Anti-Hero</span></h4>
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This hero is a failure for a living. Was that a little harsh? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">However this hero isn't the anti-hero you're thinking of. They're coming up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, this hero is usually humorous and while he/she has a goal, no one actually expects him/her to succeed. Think of Forrest Gump. He's an underdog, you can't help but laugh at certain things he says or does but in the end, you only want him to find the reach the top. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">Defiant Anti-Hero</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyone seen Code Geass? Defiant Anti-Heros like Lelouche go against society's model for what it means to be a hero. Depending on what your story world is like, this hero could be almost anyone. Robin Hood comes to mind and then so does Tally from "Uglies".</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Unbalanced Hero</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There's always that one hero who's a little bit crazy. They're unstable emotionally or psychologically and despite their quest, they <i>usually</i> can't break from it. Hamlet fits into this one pretty darn well. Also, Roderick from "The Fall of the House of Usher" is <i>definitely</i> unbalanced. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Denied</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The protagonist here has some sort of status or 'otherness' that makes their heroism possible. Maybe they work for the government of a corrupt society so they have inside information? Or maybe they're the opposite. Maybe they're an outcast and so no one expects them to be the hero they turn out to be. This hero could also have some sort of ability. Think of the show, "Heroes". If it weren't for the abilities of the characters in the show, they wouldn't have been able to save New York.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: inherit;">The Superheroic</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cue the "Superman" theme song! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This one is rather easy to understand. Your hero here doesn't belong to society. They're set apart because of their ability. However, society needs them. If it weren't for this hero, New York would be destroyed—again—and everyone would die in a blazing inferno of Smaug fire...not necessarily in that order. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seriously though...could you imagine Smaug in New York? </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">There you have it! What hero is your protagonist? And as a fun bonus question, if your villain was the protagonist, what type of hero would they be? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Write on, Wordlings! </span></i></div>
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Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-75843491766578799852015-10-16T10:00:00.000-07:002015-10-16T19:49:49.285-07:00Beautiful Books | The Tholus Trilogy: Book 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Guess what everyone? Beautiful Books is back! And by back I mean it's back on the </span><a href="http://paperfury.com/" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Paperfury</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> blog (an all time favourite blog of mine). I haven't done Beautiful Books yet but I'm really excited to!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This time of year they halt Beautiful People and doing Beautiful Books for the sake of all people doing Nanowrimo and even for those people who're just writing and want to talk about their work of art.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm participating in Nano for the first time this year as an attempt to become more disciplined with writing. For one thing, I need to have a book ready to pitch this February as I'll be making my first attempt at publication of a novel!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My amazing friend, Victoria from <a href="http://storitorigrace.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">StoriTori</span></a> has been helping me with every procrastinator's worst nightmare—*whispers* scheduling. One of those things on the schedule is blogging more frequently. Beautiful Books will help me with that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm choosing to do the first book, which is currently unnamed, from my Tholus (the 'h' is silent) Trilogy. It used to be called "The Dome" but because of confusion with Stephan King's "Under the Dome", I had to get creative ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />But enough of that. Onwards to the questions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I came up with the idea while sitting at the kitchen island with </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">my mom and my friend, Kendall. I was staring at the picture over there *points to picture* and said out loud, "How cool would it be to write a story about a flooded city? Or a city that's about to be completely flooded? What if all the people have to escape before it floods?" The questions came from a recent article I read about underwater hotels that were in development. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I shelved the idea since I was working on another project but brought it back the next week when I entered a novel writing contest. Even though I pulled out halfway through, the time I spent on it was enough to solidify a premise. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been about three years since that happened. Now the idea is being revisited for a makeover and complete drafting :D</span></div>
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<b>Why are you excited to write this novel?</b></div>
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The Bermuda Triangle and other pseudoscientific conspiracies have always fascinated me. To fictionally explain one of them makes me a little giddy. I can't wait to complete my own explanation of why the planes and boats keep disappearing. Plus, my characters have been staring at me for some time now, begging me to write their story. *glances at them*</div>
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<b>What is your novel about, and what is the title?</b></div>
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As I mentioned above, my novel is about the Bermuda Triangle. Kimerly Hayes, my MC, boards a plane bound for Bermuda that's pulled down into the ocean. There she discovers a city—not Atlantis, but Tholus—where superhuman abilities are part of how the city functions. However Kim isn't interested in abilities or underwater cities. She wants to go home. As she searches for a way out, she uncovers secrets and conspiracies about Tholas's history and very existence that threaten her life and the lives of ever citizen. </div>
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Three cheers for coming up with that description in five minutes. Not too shabby, eh? </div>
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As for the title, it's currently title-less. Thanks a lot Stephan King. *shakes fist at him* Oh well. More creative brainwork for me. </div>
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<b>Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!)</b></div>
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I have a pretty large cast so I'll just focus on the five main protagonists and one of my antagonists.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaLPtJ2RI5e9os3dqSMSd0ZtAFkooHpiKDgnEazk8Uq04KzJafDV8g_VK4VrTYIRn2bGQmzvHNJ9MT1YDygbhC8WftDJtzTnkEC0Bv93DL7gQJzYaKRKmWge2jeWyaud0qDvMmA5T43S8d/s1600/fafb93bccba6e6b595bc7f8c39322600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaLPtJ2RI5e9os3dqSMSd0ZtAFkooHpiKDgnEazk8Uq04KzJafDV8g_VK4VrTYIRn2bGQmzvHNJ9MT1YDygbhC8WftDJtzTnkEC0Bv93DL7gQJzYaKRKmWge2jeWyaud0qDvMmA5T43S8d/s320/fafb93bccba6e6b595bc7f8c39322600.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Kimerly—Quick-witted</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUGt5Jx4oPq-1GZttswTwAWNPIlqexiPfir7c7PNcg9qOuVk_HsTixLCL6Olyt8yfxLkhTXEcIkiTmBWEhRabMDFEnqnfuFS3bmkD9nAMhk7-_r9sfm7TJcAUbel6FMj8dYhjwicaeouP/s1600/Matt+Layden+%2528The+Dome%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUGt5Jx4oPq-1GZttswTwAWNPIlqexiPfir7c7PNcg9qOuVk_HsTixLCL6Olyt8yfxLkhTXEcIkiTmBWEhRabMDFEnqnfuFS3bmkD9nAMhk7-_r9sfm7TJcAUbel6FMj8dYhjwicaeouP/s320/Matt+Layden+%2528The+Dome%2529.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Matt—Assertive (</span><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/04/interview-with-matt-dome.html"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">His Character Interview</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Isaac (he has shorter hair though)—Skeptical </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7P_4qULiaIri_rmnoo3_UVIsZw0RJcahylj2LaH-5wKj-tek3nh0jvFyx4rgBK22aOeKvEzIeQWR0-5o2Xz-TqNbHVjgcZu42d_wWmynuOSOlYrtl_tr7KYudX1yLnS1GS4aqFBkSItZ/s1600/8d74c76266cba37de0abe83f04962162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7P_4qULiaIri_rmnoo3_UVIsZw0RJcahylj2LaH-5wKj-tek3nh0jvFyx4rgBK22aOeKvEzIeQWR0-5o2Xz-TqNbHVjgcZu42d_wWmynuOSOlYrtl_tr7KYudX1yLnS1GS4aqFBkSItZ/s320/8d74c76266cba37de0abe83f04962162.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Colton—Level-headed</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvCDEXXH58POvlAMl4uhrlmsLM8-ac1sM85-rQkT99ObobWg-ysEhtnjUG0ETTOjBvAy23N6tToVlpnGgXKrJlbDkyNmmXUvmb5MwtR0f67iBfpD95oLSaC-_SmTlwWMZDcKhN9d1FwjI/s1600/Rynn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvCDEXXH58POvlAMl4uhrlmsLM8-ac1sM85-rQkT99ObobWg-ysEhtnjUG0ETTOjBvAy23N6tToVlpnGgXKrJlbDkyNmmXUvmb5MwtR0f67iBfpD95oLSaC-_SmTlwWMZDcKhN9d1FwjI/s320/Rynn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Rynn—Observant</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzRPwvQtGkYZ_hC0cYx4OpxQs1gkoGYB03x3tFC7wqT9d6xLsskiSjMB13NO3S04BTPTW3mIsdXbf3Kc1ZfeX-1qoKD_j3d6XvdsJ7jylslYn0KZngwMkM6O7YL4SBzeQTs3ljfkSWxI4/s1600/Louis+Taylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzRPwvQtGkYZ_hC0cYx4OpxQs1gkoGYB03x3tFC7wqT9d6xLsskiSjMB13NO3S04BTPTW3mIsdXbf3Kc1ZfeX-1qoKD_j3d6XvdsJ7jylslYn0KZngwMkM6O7YL4SBzeQTs3ljfkSWxI4/s320/Louis+Taylor.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">Louis—Apathetic (</span><a href="http://dimensionsofmyuniverse.blogspot.ca/2014/09/beautiful-people-louis.html"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">His Beautiful People Post</span></a><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: large;">)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTBVr0SN4C4-9cQXFsIMiDsS6xd_5vnCD5VoFtwFXDD_8JIOUs13VmiDNNFk49XoNd6n0IaplgGc-PV07bRsRhseUNUlADAZLl8oGoGTV95uSm_bDjxf0vKsveiJRXyTJXmUzhVj4vDYP/s1600/Erik.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTBVr0SN4C4-9cQXFsIMiDsS6xd_5vnCD5VoFtwFXDD_8JIOUs13VmiDNNFk49XoNd6n0IaplgGc-PV07bRsRhseUNUlADAZLl8oGoGTV95uSm_bDjxf0vKsveiJRXyTJXmUzhVj4vDYP/s320/Erik.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Meet Erik</span></td></tr>
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<b>Which character(s) do you think will be your favourite to write? Tell us about them!</b></div>
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I love Kim. She's my POV character and I love her. She's got a little bit of sarcastic sass that makes her interior monologues really fun to write. I also love her inner journey and can't wait to see her blossom as a person. </div>
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Louis is my next favourite to write about. He's my twisted scientist. Any of my friends would agree that twisted is a good word to describe him. Despite his...experiments, he's somehow a character you can't help but love. </div>
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Lastly, there's Erik. He's not super important in the first book but I can't wait to introduce him. He's another villain of mine who has a mansion in the forrest. He works in the museum and is infatuated with art from 'Up There' (land). </div>
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<b>What is your protagonist’s goal, and what stands in the way?</b><br />
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Kim wants to go home. However first she needs to find out if that's even possible. </div>
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Because she skips class to find out some important tidbits, she gets in trouble with Louis and also the Council. </div>
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Internally, she has some confidence issues. While she covers them up with her pride, her lack of self-confidence often gets in her way and prevents her from finding things out that could help her. </div>
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On top of that, she's not the most sociable person. This is a pretty big obstacle since getting out of Tholas isn't a one man job.</div>
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<b>Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!)</b><br />
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Tholas is positioned at the bottom of the ocean in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. It's protected by a large dome that has a city, lake and forrest that loops in a ring around the edge of the dome.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_GxraGAqlFxIr-qZaugSBVbuoBDlQ-Vw4yj-S9RF32TpWupNzRwsVDde7ThPFNqCzKpmfpTQ02CXMOVlVQMqOhXaoL5938DSqa1I6f__4mniLGag8tRjVpxgb2DuT8AqAh8mVGhkMMve/s1600/The+City+%2528The+Dome%2529+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh_GxraGAqlFxIr-qZaugSBVbuoBDlQ-Vw4yj-S9RF32TpWupNzRwsVDde7ThPFNqCzKpmfpTQ02CXMOVlVQMqOhXaoL5938DSqa1I6f__4mniLGag8tRjVpxgb2DuT8AqAh8mVGhkMMve/s320/The+City+%2528The+Dome%2529+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">City skyline I modled Tholas after</span></td></tr>
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<b>What is the most important relationship your character has?</b><br />
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This is an interesting question. I think I'd have to say the one she has with her parents. While you never see them in the book, she thinks about them a lot in interior monologue. When she thinks of going home, she often thinks of her parents. It's a driving force in her journey. </div>
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<b style="text-align: center;">How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?</b></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Kim isn't totally sure of herself yet but she's beginning to gain a bit of boldness. She's also got a group of friends around her that she's starting to love. She wants to protect them and would risk her life trying to save them. Also, her independence is still there but she now has learned to lean on others too. </span></div>
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<b>What themes are in your book? How do you want your readers to feel when the story is over?</b><br />
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Still trying to figure this one out. I think it will come more to me as I write. So far my thematic ideas are friendship and trust, how society and people masks their flaws, fear vs. love as a driving force, the dangers of curiosity, and where and how a person finds their worth. </div>
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Some of those themes are themes for the whole trilogy and they'll be more prevalent in the sequels than in the first book.<br />
I want my readers to be left thinking but I'm still trying to figure out what type of thinking. </div>
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<b>BONUS! Tell us your 3 best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.</b><br />
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1. Write</div>
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2. Write</div>
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3. Don't stop writing</div>
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Even 500 words is good. And also, word war! Find some writer buddies to word war with. </div>
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As a university student, I squeeze in 250 words on the bus to school and 250 back. Then if I try to get up to 1k or 2k depending on homework.</div>
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<i>Write on, fellow writers! We got this! If you did Beautiful Books, let me know! If not, feel free to tell me about your novel in the comments below. I'd love to here about it :) </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgiNYxA79TjFeV1U-HbfphVTyUgxjpf8cZxzWdmUiFDuXgubo7uK3h5K9r2XAn2LS7wuis3vCuoC1QEFh2TRAB3nKI6ftdRDH9ddG1wwmgPKHhjtupSMNO8F-ybBSAPavI8fByTrTAKFS/s1600/summer-writing-school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgiNYxA79TjFeV1U-HbfphVTyUgxjpf8cZxzWdmUiFDuXgubo7uK3h5K9r2XAn2LS7wuis3vCuoC1QEFh2TRAB3nKI6ftdRDH9ddG1wwmgPKHhjtupSMNO8F-ybBSAPavI8fByTrTAKFS/s320/summer-writing-school.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey guys! My timed post thing didn't work so once again, this is a delayed post. I really need to figure this thing out....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyways, this week marked a lot of exciting events but I still got my writing time it. One of those things is a job interview with a bookstore. A writer's dream, right? Fingers crossed that I get the job :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, good news! I will be published next year in "Focus on the Family Adventures in Odyssey Clubhouse" magazine for my article in the Truth Pursuer section. Woot, woot! I can't wait to see my work in print in a big time magazine like this one. I'm super pumped ^.^</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One more piece of good news is that I got into university. I'll be studying psychology for four years in an undergraduate degree. You can bet I'll be posting what I learn here! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Weekly Resource</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Every heard of the Emotion Thesaurus? It's exactly as it sounds. It's a database of <i>tons</i> of human emotions and includes the physical, mental, internal, acute/prolonged, and suppressed responses to each emotion. It also includes a list of which emotion the once listed can lead to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While writing, I looked up a lot of different emotions to help me with description and internal monologue. It's so much more useful that I ever expected—a brilliantly written book to say the least. If you've seen this book around and have wondered if you should get it, let me be the one to tell you: get the book!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-emotion-thesaurus-angela-ackerman/1111400756" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_eI6Hhj3GHazdTEUk7-2TqRbRtt7Yzu9MN16daPjNoy_wdDe_4hBSn89C-Dus_uqRPnHzfsvr9Z0PzbkzQQhyAXTcA2_FgOHq77L533wjI0RDaKuY8G74UN3BJdTw-7ChlqdY7cADiH1i/s320/13554235.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Find it on <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Emotion-Thesaurus-Character-Expression/dp/1475004958"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Amazon</span></a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-emotion-thesaurus-angela-ackerman/1111400756"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Barnes and Nobles</span></a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;"> Weekly Writing Music</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The scenes I wrote this week were a mixure of mysterious and intense atmospheres so I chose to listen to the Insurgent soundtrack by Joseph Trapanese. My favourite track this week is "Dauntless Arrive". It sparked a lot of very intense moments. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Weekly Progress</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Not as productive as I would like but I'm moving forward and that's all that matters :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Current Word Count: 5,154</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Onwards to the next week!</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Any update on your summer goals? </span></i></div>
Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-12707239233746842172015-08-01T12:35:00.001-07:002015-08-01T12:35:38.742-07:00The Infinity Dreams Award<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMrFiUC2XzpODE4Nl9yUeXEMzQmNc99np37QMgR3uc1z2NzWYOnYSnDvXBukYnQMjLM-8xdhyphenhyphenSBR9U7TqBz0R_TQ7gt_3tcdQ40y42IBco9IkhvLX3vGw9Jh6twM6vzXmVNgAus6l6VAD/s1600/infinitydreamsaward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMrFiUC2XzpODE4Nl9yUeXEMzQmNc99np37QMgR3uc1z2NzWYOnYSnDvXBukYnQMjLM-8xdhyphenhyphenSBR9U7TqBz0R_TQ7gt_3tcdQ40y42IBco9IkhvLX3vGw9Jh6twM6vzXmVNgAus6l6VAD/s1600/infinitydreamsaward.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So I went onto my blog today and saw that my timed post didn't work -_- So anyways, here's what was supposed to be yesterday's post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Before I begin I'd like to thank Annika Smith @ <a href="http://writerandproud.blogspot.ca/2015/05/the-infinity-dreams-award.html"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Writer and Proud</span></a> for the nomination :) I love reading her comments and was flattered to find out that she nominated me for this. Also, it's super fun to do this kind of things!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Rules:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Thank and follow the blog that nominated you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Tell us eleven facts about yourself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Answer the questions that were set for you to answer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Nominate 11 bloggers and set questions for them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Onwards to the facts and questions! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">11 Facts About Me</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. I'm a sucker for soft clothing. If I find a soft shirt in a store, I will immediately try it on and hope it fits. If I'm rubbing my belly, I'm not hungry...I'm just petting my shirt XD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. My ideal temperature in the summer is 22°C (71°F). </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's best when there's a light breeze. </span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yes...I'm a little particular about my weather....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. My favourite home-cooked meal is my mom's meatloaf. It's so freakishly good....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My sister doesn't like it for some reason though so we only get it when she's not home or something. I will never become a vegetarian for this reason alone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. When I was in high-school, I sang in my school choir. We made it all the way to nationals and got a silver rating when we had only been together for two years! I never want to forget what it felt like to sing and dance on that stage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. It's on my girly bucket list to get kissed on a ferris wheel. *crowd gasp* I know, right? This long-boarding, karate loving, doesn't wear much makeup girl actually wants to get kissed one day o.O Shocks even me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. A secret dream of mine has been to act as a Disney Character in one of the parks. I would love to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I have the hair and eyes for it too ^ ^ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. I'm a huge fan of the night sky. I have an app on my phone that tracks the northern lights and tells me my percentage of seeing them every night. I also will watch for upcoming meteor showers and eclipses :) </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGO4uqRauOJQ8ZxnJZeczqcEPySSewZXPyhafgpJiM7IJumIrA3reY9LVEs455qPbWmNIrVFYLhLwL68sh-wnw4zzZhGUqeI8fRfOO9pNOnCwK8QRmNKD2wwFCpIu0mtBNrqvLptK23cmI/s1600/IMG_9564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGO4uqRauOJQ8ZxnJZeczqcEPySSewZXPyhafgpJiM7IJumIrA3reY9LVEs455qPbWmNIrVFYLhLwL68sh-wnw4zzZhGUqeI8fRfOO9pNOnCwK8QRmNKD2wwFCpIu0mtBNrqvLptK23cmI/s400/IMG_9564.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">A self portrait I took back in May 2015</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">8. I play the ukulele! :D </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">9. I have a thing for a avacado. Put in in a salad, on a burger, on toast and most definitely when it's turned into guacamole--I will immediately like you more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">10. When I was a kid, I used to think that my toys came to life when I was sleeping. (and I hadn't even seen Toy Story!) My sister and I would set our toys up and try to memorize what they looked like before we went to bed. Then in the morning, we would see if they changed positions. XD</span></div>
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11. I love hiking! Especially in the mountains where the hikes are harder but more rewarding. :)</div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">11 Questions From Annika</span></h4>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. What is the strangest food you've ever eaten? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't really eat a lot of strange food. I'm very open to trying new foods but I don't know if I'd call them strange. Maybe I need to get out more XD Once I had this juice made out of rose petals though....that was really weird. It was also way to sweet for my liking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2. If you had to turn into some sort of plant, what would you choose?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I would be a huge tree! Like a redwood or something. Call me crazy but I find trees very majestic. I admire them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>3. A coconut and a pineapple are arguing over who is better. Write out their argument (do they focus on looks, usefulness, tastiness, etc?).</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Coconut: How dare you call me nutty!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pineapple: How dar you call me prickly!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Coconut: I can produce a healthy drink. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pineapple: I'm hated by less people. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Banana: Girls, girls....you're both a<i>peel</i>ing fruits. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>4. What is the most irrational fear that you've ever had?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm afraid of many insects to this day. I really don't have a reason to for a lot of them too...</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuaXfLDTdOpjEa_rCOOI1zwBTzCRmhYrEkuR56SbRVrdS5YJ0b0tum02JbY0EQHqpdgl_Lzio-qmXLrEovdFtdxL7neGG9BfUlgcvc-1uTCJvtFn1dpVmAwbA6lwIOOd0vDi4CGDneF9r/s1600/pluto-illo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuaXfLDTdOpjEa_rCOOI1zwBTzCRmhYrEkuR56SbRVrdS5YJ0b0tum02JbY0EQHqpdgl_Lzio-qmXLrEovdFtdxL7neGG9BfUlgcvc-1uTCJvtFn1dpVmAwbA6lwIOOd0vDi4CGDneF9r/s320/pluto-illo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">Pluto has a special place in my heart.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>5. Which is your favorite planet?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pluto because it's distant but not separated from the solar system. It's misunderstood and lonely but it has a way of still existing beautifully despite being a misfit. Also, you should listen to the song by Sleeping At Last called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ImNZPhnDxc"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Pluto</span></a>". I guess it's partially the reason why I chose it XD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>6. Why would you make a good President of the United States?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Because I'm a Canadian ;) Free polar bears and maple syrup for everyone! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>7. What is the longest book you ever read? Tell me about it.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't really remember what the longest book I've read is. I know Insurgent was pretty thick. Maybe it was just because it was a hardcover though. I really enjoyed my experience reading it—even more so than Divergent (call me crazy if you'd like). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Maybe it was because I read while camping one summer. After intense or emotional scenes I would bike around the lake and then come back and continue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>8. Have you ever received flowers? What kind and from who?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I have! I got a bouquet of 18 roses on my 18th birthday from my dad :) He wanted to be the first to give me roses which I thought was very special. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0FJfoJ6ROJetTYGMAcrpX2DEOoK_ZYttyuaX6DcmFm3HO4WVdeGa9ZiPYhzuK2GcYiJjHy-x8rTphmc0H68DSiuHKn_Sr0QSdCR7-XNYF8-hY87xyY-tYQbCSVVNz-7CpfK_N2XQJX4i/s1600/VeggieDanceOff04.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0FJfoJ6ROJetTYGMAcrpX2DEOoK_ZYttyuaX6DcmFm3HO4WVdeGa9ZiPYhzuK2GcYiJjHy-x8rTphmc0H68DSiuHKn_Sr0QSdCR7-XNYF8-hY87xyY-tYQbCSVVNz-7CpfK_N2XQJX4i/s1600/VeggieDanceOff04.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-size: small;">This was another classic moment ^.^</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>9. Did you ever watch Veggie Tales, and if you did, what was your favorite part?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Veggie Tales was a part of my childhood! My favourite part was anything with Junior. Junior was my favourite character. I also remembered loving the Christmas episode with the toys in the small village. My favourite line was, "Why couldn't we do something safe like mousetrap? You roll the dice, you move your mice...nobody gets hurt!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>10. Tell us a few facts about your first crush.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">My first crush was a friend in kindergarten named Curtis. I thought he was so cool because he played soccer and had an plastic electric car XD </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>11. Would you prefer a lightsaber or Excalibur?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Excalibur all the way! No argument there ^.^</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">11 Questions for the Nominees</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. Do you prefer land or sea? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. What's one food that you always refuse to eat? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. What's the most played song in your iTunes library? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Flight or invisibility? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. If you could live in any country other than your own, what country would you choose? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6. A wizard tells you that he needs your help. You're going on an adventure! What weapon do you choose? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">7. What's your earliest childhood memory? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">8. Is there a certain type of foreign food (ie. Thai, Korean, South African) that you really like? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">9. Would you rather it rain all day or be hot and sunny all day for the rest of your life? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">10. What's a book or movie character that you identify with? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">11. Who's your biggest role model? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Nominees</span></h4>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1) <a href="http://apassionatafortheking.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Leah @ Apassionata</span></a></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />2) <a href="http://heathermauthor.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Heather @ My Writing Desk</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">3) </span><u><a href="http://ramblingsbybethany.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Bethany @ The Ramblings of a Young Author</span></a></u></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />4) <a href="http://emilyrachellewrites.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Emily @ Emily Rachellle Writes</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5) <a href="http://storitorigrace.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Tori @ Stori Tori's Blog</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">6) </span><u style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://semilegacy.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Heather @ Sometimes I'm a Story</span></a></u></div>
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />7) <a href="http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Lily @ Lily's Notes in the Margin</span></a></span><br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />8) <a href="http://inklinedwriters.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Sarah @ Inklined</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">9) </span><a href="http://rachelssecretscribblings.blogspot.ca/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Rachel @ Secret Scribblings</span></a></span><br />
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I'm sorry I don't have eleven...I'm not social enough I guess XD </div>
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Stay tuned for Sunday's writing update and don't forget to check out last week's update where I have a link to a cool writing resource :) </div>
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<i>Continue having a great summer everyone! Stay cool!</i></div>
Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-562948101006293885.post-31547433518951509742015-07-26T18:02:00.000-07:002015-10-31T00:38:32.731-07:00Staycation Writing Retreat Week 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgiNYxA79TjFeV1U-HbfphVTyUgxjpf8cZxzWdmUiFDuXgubo7uK3h5K9r2XAn2LS7wuis3vCuoC1QEFh2TRAB3nKI6ftdRDH9ddG1wwmgPKHhjtupSMNO8F-ybBSAPavI8fByTrTAKFS/s1600/summer-writing-school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbgiNYxA79TjFeV1U-HbfphVTyUgxjpf8cZxzWdmUiFDuXgubo7uK3h5K9r2XAn2LS7wuis3vCuoC1QEFh2TRAB3nKI6ftdRDH9ddG1wwmgPKHhjtupSMNO8F-ybBSAPavI8fByTrTAKFS/s400/summer-writing-school.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Hey guys! Week one of my writing retreat has completed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was a little harder to write this week since I was doing a lot of things that were away from my laptop. Most notably, I got to go to a berry farm and pick saskatoons in which my boyfriend and I made jam this week. I've never made jam before so it was a huge learning curve. My breakfasts are now ten times better than before though :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Weekly Resource</span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">While I <i>was</i> on my laptop this week, I did less writing and more planning. I've always prided myself as a "pantser" until this now. Turns out I might be more of a planner....or at minimum, a "plantser". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I follower of the Go Teen Writer's blog and a member of the Facebook community. At the beginning of the week I read Jill Williamson's post titled, <span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><a href="http://goteenwriters.blogspot.ca/2015/07/how-to-describe-place.html"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">"How to Describe a Place"</span></a>. </span>Being a person that finds it difficult to keep track of all the little details of people and places when I write, her suggestion to make checklists was revolutionary. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Around the same, I was telling one of my best friends and writing buddies, Tori about my struggle to find direction in my writing. She suggested writing short scene descriptions before every scene. I loved this idea as well. Big picture outlines aren't really my thing—but this? This seemed manageable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Both Tori's suggestion and Jill Williamson's suggestion lead me to a big time lightbulb moment. Why not combine both ideas? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I spent a solid hour and a bit building a template on my computer and then spent a few days planning up to chapter four using my new template. I couldn't believe how help it was. My writing life became so much easier and my confidence level went up a bit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I decided to share the template here for anyone who thinks they could use it. Whether you need direction like me or are in need of a new planning document or even if you're unsure how to start your book and only want to use it for the first chapter, I would recommend it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1xfsvZQ3ha0JueUZwPTuninHW1lFpf97Nv-UsC2WkfM4/viewform?usp=send_form"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Click here to fill out the form and I'll have it email to you within the next twenty four hours.</span></a> </span>(I tried to make a link for you using google drive but it wouldn't work for some reason :p)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When you open it, save it as a template into your word processor and then you can easily access a new document any time. I hope you find it as useful as I have!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkiZyve20JMdVwkBENwdPoe06wChuiZkACegMkNxg01IsMVHct6pATwLZk-WaweqL1Ra7GKb9FN0Hm0SkZeJt4y-P65RrXBQ_WsD7QsiTXPHJfgaQbSU6NUcpqMK9_n3W8eLOkEWos7q0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-07-26+at+1.53.11+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSkiZyve20JMdVwkBENwdPoe06wChuiZkACegMkNxg01IsMVHct6pATwLZk-WaweqL1Ra7GKb9FN0Hm0SkZeJt4y-P65RrXBQ_WsD7QsiTXPHJfgaQbSU6NUcpqMK9_n3W8eLOkEWos7q0/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-07-26+at+1.53.11+PM.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The blank template</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPHLOm67C6pkd7j9jDPg_BnjuJe0qLdlUGcDz9-sW2nkehBSVpkOehEgMM2R_w2X20-xCHg84C6nCvoP4LkssROLJtGLmYI9aP47xyci2gajbbCae3SqluywY-AcMi5Lw3EQKtmMPgNgQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-07-26+at+1.51.44+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPHLOm67C6pkd7j9jDPg_BnjuJe0qLdlUGcDz9-sW2nkehBSVpkOehEgMM2R_w2X20-xCHg84C6nCvoP4LkssROLJtGLmYI9aP47xyci2gajbbCae3SqluywY-AcMi5Lw3EQKtmMPgNgQ/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-07-26+at+1.51.44+PM.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">My template filled out for the first scene of my book</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;"> Weekly Writing Music</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Since I was planning, I didn't end up listening to soundtracks like I normally do. Instead, I listened to an album by Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest called "Sylva". They don't write for movies but some of their songs (particularly the one I shared) sounds like trailer music. It's more jazzy than what I normally listen to but it was a really nice change. Listen to it below!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BoF7ZzMUrgA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BoF7ZzMUrgA?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #8e7cc3; font-family: inherit;">Weekly Progress</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As I said above, I did more planning that actual writing. The planning also had me going back to deleting a whole chapter that I realized I didn't actually want.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Current Word Count: 2,790</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite the low number, I now have a direction in my novel and can't wait to follow my scene planners this week. That number will be higher next Sunday. Guaranteed. </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">How are your summer goals going? Have you been doing much reading and writing? </span></i></div>
<br />Cassia Schaar http://www.blogger.com/profile/04836274182415901787noreply@blogger.com2