I just spent Spring Break in a way I can be proud of. It's kind of rare for me to be able to say that, maybe because I like to indulge in my favorite wastes of time, maybe because I'm hard on myself. But this Spring Break I made a list, and I made goal charts for myself and each of my kids and we accomplished everything- all of the fun stuff and all of the make-yourself-a-better-person stuff. I feel pretty great. Unfortunately, you have to prioritize and my blog has been falling by the way side a little.
I've spent this morning reading, (which could probably be defined as one of my favorite wastes of time, or... research for my career) and I am giddy over the book I'm reading, so I'll take advantage and use the adrenaline to update my blog!
My brilliant cousin, Emily made my whole life better by recommending this book to me. I read a handful of books I like, clicking on my bedside lamp and reading for an hour here or there before the book starts to fall out of my hands as my eyes start to fall shut. A handful of books in a row, somtimes a few handfuls, and then I find one that I can't put down. It's smarter somehow. It's more intriguing somehow. I'll attempt to tell you a couple of the things that stand out about this one.
I think the storytelling part of writing should come naturally. You have to be creative, and you have to have a really great idea. You can pour that thing out on paper without much hesitation, and you probably should. THEN you have to consider the rules. That's the point I'm at with the novel I'm writing. I've come to realize that you aren't doing your story justice without the rules. Your story deserves to be backed up by the kind of writing that let's people get to your story the best way they can. They need to feel it. They need to experience it. The rules are there to help them do that.
Here is a description of my favorite guy in Divergent. "His eyes are so deep-set that his eyelashes touch the skin under his eyebrows, and they are dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color." I've never heard a color described this way! I like that the author describes it, but also leaves it to your imagination and preference. What is a "dreaming, sleeping, waiting" blue to you? I'll bet it's a pretty fabulous blue.
Early on in the book, I was bordering on frustration because I was so eager for what I wanted to happen and it wasn't happening! Only a subtle hint of it was happening. Just enough to give me hope without me knowing for sure that things would go that way. When things did start to progress in the way I was hoping, it was that much better! I didn't realize the power of making the reader wait and wonder. The payoff is an emotional rush!
So that's what I've been up to! ...And it makes me pretty darn happy! Gotta go now, as soon as I get the kindergartener on the bus I can apply my brown eyes, currently an eager, single-minded, hungry shade of brown, back on the pages of my book.
