After NaNoWriMo
Well, I finished Ivy Inquisitive at 44,114 words! That comes out to twenty-eight chapters. I’m pretty proud of myself. I have written significantly more words during this NaNo than I did last year (43,448 by November 30th at 11:59 PM!) … which is always a good thing. I’m hoping that next year I’ll be able to do […]
NaNoWriMo: Day 20
Hello All! Well, I’m 1/3 of the way through the month. I haven’t finished my writing for tonight, but so far I’m at 27,274 words which is a little ahead but I want to get two or three days ahead because I won’t be at home for the last couple days of November. The story […]
NaNoWriMo: Day 16
Well, it’s Day 16 … and I’ve run across a problem. I knew that my outline wasn’t complete! There’s a character in Ivy Inquisitive whose mother dies … and somehow she needs to feel as if her mother’s death was her fault and stew over it for the rest of her life. I have literally been […]
NaNoWriMo: Day 14
Hello Everyone! It’s a cloudy but beautiful (due to the orange, yellow, and red trees and suddenly bright green grass) in Oregon! 🙂 November may sound gloomy to some, but it’s quite perky here, especially when the deep blue sky peeps through … not yet today, but we must be hopeful. So, I’m up to 17,469 as […]
The Last Week of NaNo Prep
I don’t know how it is for you, but for me outlining in the technical sense of outlining is nearly impossible! I can do it for already-existent works, but I can’t make an outline out of the swirling plotline (or lines) in my head! November 1st will be this coming Sunday and I haven’t gotten […]
Michael O’Halloran by Gene Stratton Porter
Michael “Mickey” O’Halloran is a newspaper boy living in the big city during early World War One. Since his mother died several years back, Mickey has been an orphan, but because of his mother’s teachings has taken care of himself and avoided going to the orphanage. Mickey is supporting himself very well … but one day he […]
At the Foot of the Rainbow by Gene Stratton Porter
Dannie Macnoun lives in Rainbow Bottom, a valley with a trickling creek full of fish, on a small farm next to that of Jimmy Malone his life long friend’s. Fifteen years ago, Dannie sent Jimmy to the girl he loved on his behalf to convince Mary to be his wife. But Jimmy was the one […]
Christianity in The Dressmaker’s Secret
“If it’s at all possible, Lord Jesus, couldn’t you have Mummy tell me something – anything – about my father?” The first draft of The Dressmaker’s Secret contained almost no mentions of God … which is pretty lame consider the fact that I decided when I started writing novels that I was going to do […]
The Magic Garden by Gene Stratton-Porter
Amaryllis Minton’s parents got divorced when she is five years old, cutting her family in two. Her father gets custody of her ten year old brother, Peter, while the former Mrs. Minton is in charge of Amaryllis. Mrs. Minton soon goes off to Europe to have a good time, leaving her daughter with the unloving servants. Amaryllis, […]
Review: A Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter
Adam Bates and his wife have sixteen children; seven boys and nine girls. When his sons turn twenty-one, Mr. Bates buys them a farm. When his daughters grow up, they are given nothing except the right to leave the terrible atmosphere they grew up in to teach school. Kate, the youngest, is not allowed to […]
Character Plotting
I can’t give you any sage advice on developing characters … I’m not exactly an expert writer! … but I’ll give you a bit of insight on how I do it. A note: this is for if you have the plot and not the character. If you had less idea as to how the plot […]
Those Unneccessary Characters ….
When you write a book, you’ll like as not create several characters that are just unnecessary to the plot. You’ll put a lot into them; developing backstories, personalities, pages and pages of hard work. And then … you’ll find that those characters are more hinder than a help to your novel! I had several of these […]
