Finished.

I set a goal for myself. Just a little one, but a worthy one. I've been converting my EMMA story from Third person POV to First. I know. VERY tedious. But I've been working my way through it these past couple of weeks. Saturday night I realized I was halfway through, and I decided to just GET IT DONE, by last night. I set a goal.

And guess what I did, at exactly 11:52 pm last night? I finished the transition! It's done! WOO!

Now it's time for another goal. I need to go page by page, paragraph by paragraph, and make it SOUND like we're in the head of a 14-year old. A precocious, brainiac 14-year old, mind you, but still, she isn't perfect. She talks like a 14-year old sometimes. She acts like a 14-year old. And she definitely whines like one. ;-)

But she's funny. And spunky. And things happen to her, that make her grow. Isn't that always how the character goes? Flawed character+opposition=growth. I know, I'm being very formulaic, but I'm writing for KIDS. They're a little more forgiving. Just a little.

Dark and Dreary. YEAH! (NOT.)

From reading my "free version" of Lunch Weekly yesterday, I noticed a pattern. All the YA sales were about "dystopian" societies and settings. Is Dystopia going to be the new Vampires next year? I wonder. It's a logical step. Vampires are dark and depressing. Dystopia is dark and depressing.

Well, I'm a "light" girl! Give me happiness and romance and Brady Bunch endings anytime! I have maintained this point before, but the life of a teen is depressing enough, why READ about gloom and doom as an escape?

It makes zero sense to me. THEN AGAIN (being devil's advocate, here) I was a happy teen. An anomaly, if you will. I was never an "affected" teen, or a depressed teen, just your garden variety self-confidence/self consciousness issues.

Maybe that's why I can't appreciate "dark" YA. Then again, I was an avid Stephen King fan, as a teen. I read everything of his I could get my hands on. His raw, gritty view of life made sense to me. So, I guess, in a way, I can see the appeal of "dark."

Interesting.

I Edited!!!

Stayed up late last night editing my EMMA story again. This makes two days in a row. Woo!

I have to say, I am LOVING my mac. I have no desire to go on the PC again! I am amazed at this sudden change in me. I was a TOTAL "PC" before, and now, I'd never go back! I love the ease of use, and the applications are AWESOME. It is truly a computer for an artist/writer!

Okay, Mac commercial over. But I organized all my writing files and I've been hard at work at the 3rd-to First Person conversion. I figure I'll just change it all over, and then go back and make it Emma's voice. Luckily she's a precocious 13-year old, and I have a precocious 12-year old, so I can sort of get her voice right, because I "hear" it 24/7. Literally! But my daughter is my best beta reader. SHE'S my audience. And she's honest. If she really likes something, she tells me. And if she doesn't, she tells me. I got lucky with her!

Chronic Tension Headache #5 this week is now flaring up, so I'd better take something, or I won't be any good at anything today. I fully intend to get a bunch of pages knocked out! Woo!

PERFECTION.

Needless to say, I laughed my aspergums off!

And The Winner Is....

EMMA! Well, the story I decided was worth editing, anyway. I stayed up until midnight last night, editing and tweaking the first couple of chapters. I am really liking her voice in First person, so I guess I will keep it. Lucky for me she's a genius, and she can describe things vividly and get the message across. She's a spunky thing. Kinda reminds me of me, when I was her age. Minus the genius level IQ, of course.

I'm looking forward to more editing today! It's so fun to get lost in Emma's world! Oh, and did I mention she Time travels regularly??

;-)

AT LAST!!!!

My house is clean and organized and up for sale, and now that has freed up my time so I can get on with the EDITING I've been wanting to do!

Can I just say, when it was literally impossible to do anything writing related (other than a quick blog post in the mornings) THAT'S when my writing itch started flaring up, wanting to be scratched. My characters were talking to me. I found myself thinking about them, and their worlds. And yes, I'm still stuck on how to get EMMA in third person while making it sound as dynamic as it does in First...that is a dilemma I need to figure out.

But now I have the TIME!!! A few hours a day, at least! I am so excited!!!