The Lucky 7 Meme!

So, I'm not crazy about blog awards––I love them, I think the idea is awesome, but as far as actually doing them, not so much. But Lyla tagged me in this "Lucky 7 Meme" one, which involves finding 7 lines from page 77 of your WIP. I was curious, so I found the lines. And since I did it anyway, I figured I would share it. I'm going to be cheatsy and not tag 7 other people, though. *cheatsy*

So! Here are the 7 lines from page 77 of Defiance:

"Broken. You are broken," Zierin's smug tone murmured in her head. "You let this happen, and it's gone and broken you."

"No," Lexa protested, stumbling to the ground and cradling her hand. "No, no, I'm not."

"Oh, but you are, Lexa love. Sure, I'll give you your defiance in the quiet of abandoned corners. But in front of anyone? You're like one of the humans' little lambs, going where you're told."

 She rubbed her skirt across her knuckles desperately, doing nothing but making them burn and spreading red everywhere.

Heh. The little voice in Lexa's head isn't being very nice.

Have a lovely day!

Twin Moment of the Day: Good weather is happifying!

On my Mind: To-do list I am avoiding

Listening to: Birdies outside. They are tweeting like CRAZY. (Hah. Tweeting.)

Grateful for: Spring Break!!

Wanting: Breakfast...*glances at clock* Make that lunch.

Writing: Defiance! (40,620)

Beginnings

After reading Matt's post about 2011, I was inspired.

In the beginning of 2011, February or March, I believe, I was checking out Miss Snark's First Victim for the first time in a few months, and I found an interesting link, leading to a teen writer's blog called Write On!. It looked sorta cool, I guessed. So I signed up for the forum. I had joined writer forums before, but it hadn't lasted. I would stick around for a month at most, and then I'd just peter out. But this one was people my age. I hoped I could actually make some acquaintances who would be fun to talk to about writing sometimes, and maybe even spur me to write more often than I did. (I have a serious confession: before 2011, yes, I did write. But in spurts. I would write for a few weeks, then I wouldn't for a few weeks. Or months, even. I wasn't fond of the pattern, but that's the way it was.)

I had no clue that Write On! would change everything.

(I couldn't resist the dramatic moment. It was just begging to be done.)

At first I was really cautious when talking to all the scary strangers at WO!, but as I relaxed and got to know them better, I realized they weren't scary. I even realized I was rather fond of them. I talked to them more and more––to the point where Mum got ticked at me a few times for spending so much time talking to my "weird internet friends" during the summer.

Of course, I'm glad I didn't listen to her for once, because these people were good for me. They encouraged me to write more than I have had before, and last summer I finished my first book. Finally, I had more than dozens of starts of stories. I had a completed story, in all its messy, tangled first draft glory. And as pleased as I was/am, I know it never would have happened without y WO! people encouraging me.

This year, I did my first NaNoWriMo, and the end saw the completion of my second novel. I started––and finished––my first semester of college. I got my first real job. I learned to knit on a whim. And half of those only happened because I found Write On!.

2011 has been a year of firsts and beginnings for me. I have to wonder what I would be doing instead if I hadn't decided to check out a blog I had forgotten about for a few months. If I hadn't clicked that link. Maybe I would have already been on my way to mastering Korean and an instrument(two things I have great interest in but sadly put on back burners often in favor of creating characters to talk to in leu of real friends), since I would have more time without all the writing and knitting I do now. Or maybe I would just be a lazy bum, reading and watching TV until I turn old and gray.

Either way, I wouldn't be me, and I rather like me. I like the stories I've created and thought up, and I like the people I've met in the last year.

2012 has some big shoes to fill if it hopes to be as great as 2011 was. I think it's already well on its way, with a visit to Maggie all planned for January. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year throws at me.

Any wonderful memories from the past year to share? Was 2011 a good year, or, as Matt asked, just another year?

Major *facepalm* & Writer Sadism

So some of you might have seen this over on Noveltee(n) already, but since it's pretty silent around here because of NaNo, I'm double-posting it. But, first...

I am a terrible person. O_O I have school, 4 exams to take in two months, a song(in Korean) to memorize, and novel to finish writing before the 30th, and guess what I go and do?! I get 8 books from the library.

Plus I can't for the life of me figure out how to make all the fonts in this post the same... O_o Today is not my brightest day, to say the least. [Maggie: Twin to the rescue! *fixes fonts*]

But I'll live. Probably.

Anyway! On to the next bit.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that writers are really just sadists.

Okay, maybe only some. But it is pretty common, when one overhears writers talking about their work, to hear the writer gleefully discussing maiming or emotionally scarring their characters, or killing people off, etc.

But I'm thinking it's not actually the hurting the characters that the writer delights in (okay, maybe a little) but rather what the hurting will lead to. As S.E. Sinkhorn says over on her blog*:

"Try it. Take away something your character loves dearly. Cut away their family. Steal their significant other. Annihilate their best friend. Destroy their freakin' world. Then let them change. Let them grow. Let them become someone with a different outlook on the same past. Let them be stronger for it. And let the story continue."

What doesn't kill your characters  make them stronger. If you kill the character's whole family, they will probably be devastated. If you throw their life in a mud puddle and stomp on it with soccer cleats, they will suffer. But they will get over it, and become better characters. Because that is what people do.

So really, it is a truth not-so-universally acknowledged, that writers love their characters so flipping much that they are willing to put them through the pain that will make them better, stronger people.

*Nooo, I didn't just choose a blog topic that would fit that link because that link is about Doctor Who, why do you ask?

Twin Moment of the Day: Well, it's not really a TM, but I did get "Between Shades of Gray" from the library.

On my Mind: Where is all my time?!

Listening to: "I Dreamed a Dream" by Ruthie Henshall from Les Miserables

Grateful for: Very little homework

Wanting to: Eat. Sleep. Read. Write. Get one of Hermione's hourglass things that makes me be in two places at once.

Writing: Defiance (NaNo novel--27k!)

Caught Between Two Worlds

Ah, that title sounds tragic.

It's not.

Let me explain! Don't just run off. Goodness.

I started college classes, right? I'm doing them through dual enrollment (also known as dual credit).

So far, I'd say the classes are wonderful. I really would. They're fun and I like my professors, for the most part.

...Problem is, I'm only 16. I've never been crazy social, and that age difference (Yes, at its least it's an overwhelming 2 years *eye roll*) between me and all of my classmates is... daunting, despite it not being that much of a gap. Basically, I don't talk to people, and I just feel totally out of place.

At the end of the day, I don't feel in place with people closer to my age, either. Most of the time my friends are a little older than me... and so this year they all went off to college. I'm one of a few people that is neither college-age nor junior high-age. And it's lonely.

But! I have all sorts of wonderful people online. *cough* Twin, Canadian, Taryn, TEO, etc. *cough* So it's not tragic. It's just a fact. I'm sort of caught between two worlds. And I don't actually mind.

Anyone else feel like they're caught between two worlds, because of age/school, or otherwise?

In other news, the writing is... not going as fabulously as one could hope. Classes started this week, so I was oomph-less at the end of the days. But I'm already getting into a groove, so that should change. I still love my story. *hugs*

Aaand tell me how you're writing is going!! ^_^

Twin Moment of the Day... Neither of us like or understand American football's existence.

On My Mind... Why aren't my Jedi mind powers bringing the rain clouds to East Texas? Why??

Listening to... nothing, unless you count a squeaky fan.

Grateful for... AC. So much. So much love for the AC. *coos at it*

Wanting to... eat some picante sauce-cream cheese dip. It's basically yummy incarnate. ^^

Writing... Selfish (:

Describing Yourself

For whatever reason I've been filling out a number of "About Me"s the past few days. It lead me to think about the art (because it really is an art!) of About Me writing. It can be ridiculously hard to write a one-liner about yourself. Or even a whole paragraph.

Maybe that's just me. Maybe it's easy for you. Maybe it's something you never thought about.

For me, it isn't too hard anymore. It was the first time I ever wrote one (for Facebook). I just sat there staring and tweaking and then tweaking some more. Nowadays, I know myself much better, and I've had a some practice. I can quickly give you a mini-411 on me.

Hi. I'm Lizzy*. I like to write, read, dance, take pictures, and play guitar. I'm learning French. I love tea, chocolate and music. Email me sometime!

That took me about a minute to type, and just a second longer to make italic. *smile* Now, I could fuss with it plenty (I'm not just learning French-- I LOVE it!), but the fact remains that I have the skill of quickly filling someone in on myself. If that is a skill. It's something I think we as authors -- and perhaps just as people in general -- should learn how to do. Particularly authors. Especially authors.

So it's your turn. In the comments, trying to take as little time and thought as possible, give me a quick 411. I'm interested to see if you struggle or not. And if it REALLY bugs you, you can tweak it beneath your original. But I want to see the quick 411 first.

Three. Two. One. GO!

*Lizzy isn't my real name. So technically, I lied.

Best Part of Today: The banana smoothie I made.
Currently Craving: A good, long day on the lake. In a motorboat. 
Music Pick: "Make A Move" by Icon For Hire
I'm Reading: "Stravaganza: City of Masks" by Mary Hoffman
WATM: To Save Them (5,876 words)