Super Saturday-Not;But

Here's a few things I saw online today...thought they looked alright.

-Owner's Don't Knock

Not: She read the letter after she opened it.

But: She opened the letter and read it.

Not: He spoke softly and gently.

But: He whispered.

Not: They began to speak

But: They spoke...

Not: "Please don't do it," she cried, and fell sobbing to her knees.
But: Her grip on his arm tightened and her voice grew raspy. "Please don't do it."

Not: After lunch, she decided to go for a long walk.

But: After lunch, she went for a long walk.

Word Wednesday

Don't have much time so I thought I'd do a few more thesaurus words.

-Owner's Don't Knock

1. Skinny-bony/lanky/skin-and-bones/twiggy
2. Hello-bonjour/good morning/hey/what's up
3. Good bye-farewell/adieu/on the rocks/split
4. Pretty-adorable/alluring/foxy/charming

DUMratatatatatatatatat

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

And may you all get that set of pencils you've been praying for.

-Stoss Cue

Fun Friday

I really liked Wednesday's idea with giving you guys other words to describe things so I thought I'd go ahead and do a bit more today.

Merry Christmas!

-Owner's Don't Knock

1. Sad-woebegone/bitter/gloomy/glum/heavyhearted
2. Happy-chipper/upbeat/vivacious/hearty/perky
3. Smart-apt/genius/sharp/slick/clever
4. Stupid-foolish/dull/sluggish/half-witted/thick
5. Frightened-appall/make blood run cold/daunt/horrify/unnerve

Word Wednesday

Just a bit o' fun tonight. Thought I'd share some things from thesaurus.com

-Owner's Don't Knock

1. Ugly-appalling/beastly/dis-figured/uncomely
2. Fat-beefy/jelly-belly/bulky/whalelike
3. Nasty-grubby/horrid/revolting/vile
4. Poor-bad-off/dirt poor/stone broke/empty-handed
5. Noise-babble/bang/uproar/pandemonium

God Bless Us, Everyone!

Hello all! Can you believe it? Its been seven months two days ago, since Abbi and I first started Authors Anonymous. We have really enjoyed doing this and getting to know you guys. As this year comes to a close I'd like to share a few things with you all:

As most (if not all) of you know, I am a Mormon. And as this Christmas season has come to a head I have had a chance to play a ton of Christmas songs for our congregation. I love Christmas music and it really lifts me up. I can truly feel my Savior's love when I play those songs that tell about the angels singing to the shepherds. I really would have liked to have been one of the angels singing to praise the Christ child. To let the world know that the Savior of all man kind had been born! That would have indeed been a blessing.

But I will have to settle with singing (in my not so angelic voice) here from the church benches and hope he can hear me!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hold your families tight and remember; Christmas isn't what you make of it, but what it makes of you.

-Stoss Cue

Don't you just love this picture? It's probably the most touching Mary and Jesus painting I've ever seen!

*Sob*

So well...hmm...how do I say that I've just tossed out my entire plot line and OE because of a short story I wrote? Oh, like that? Weeeellll....so yep that's what I did! I think that it's a important step for me to take, it will make my story tons better but still I'm a little teary and not a little terrified...

Back to the drawing board - again - oh well...

Have any of you had to deal with something similar in your creations?

-Stoss Cue

Hehe....

This will make your head hurt but if you're brave enough to follow...


The following conversation has been rated a R for Ridiculous. User discretion advised.


Any errors, be they grammar, spelling, or incorrect verb usage, are all protected under the Authors Clause of 59.

On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 6:23 PM, Abbi Pope wrote:

Hey Shayla! I haven't talked to you in a while. I've got a bit done with my book...it'd help if we had another sleepover though ;)
I'm trying to keep the blog running, if you can post something (I know you're busy) that'd be great!
Anywho...miss you bunches girly! Hope to hear from you soon.
xx Abbigayle Rashae

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 8:32 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

Well, DMACC is having  ashort story writing contest that I'm entering. I'm in the process of writing it, it's a short story based around K'mar and his start as a Muse. When I finish it I'll send it to you for feedback.
I'll try and post something. I have some books that I should do a review on.
I can for sure post on Friday, right now is finals week and I have to work up my Spanish, and get this
stinkin story done by Friday. AGHHH!!!!!
It's good, it means I'll actually finish a story but right now it seeme impossible!
You'll get the story in a couple hours hopefully....
I miss seeing you too! I'd have liked your thoughts on this story!
Love you lots girl!

P.S my copy of Cobbogoth is getting here on Monday!!!!!! 

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Abbi Pope wrote:

Ahhh! Good luck on your story! Andd...the cover for that book is SO amazing! You're going to absolutely LOVE reading it! We really should do another sleepover soon :)

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

Hah! I'll see what I can do date wise. This weekend won't work
since I have a jazz thing and I think that I might have something
next week...I'll have to see.
Story's finished! Now i just have to go and revise it... : P
I love her cover too, I con't wait!!!

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Abbi Pope  wrote:

Sweet, we'll see if we can't set something up!
Can't wait to hear your story(:

On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 10:24 PM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

Well here it is...and remember! The best friends are the ones who
tell you when you stink!
I'll appreciate any ideas you have. I've been staring at it for four days
and I'm at the point where I couldn't describe my own nose if I had to.
So what makes sense to me will probably not make sense to you.

Hope you love Nolan as much as I do! I wish I could have given him
more space, but I had a twenty page limit...
The title will probably change, the one I have there is just to make it
look more complete.
Ughh!!!!!!!! I finished it!!!!!! I think I'll go cry somewhere... :)

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 5:36 PM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

DONT READ THAT DRAFT!!!!! Scratch that! Just talked to my grandpa
 and I've gotten some awesome ideas. But they entitle a new story.
You may read the one I've sent you only when two things have happened:
(1. I have entered the contest with my new story.
(2. I tell you it's ok.

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 5:58 PM, Abbi Pope wrote:
Haha, it's ok. I haven't read it yet.

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 6:29 PM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

Hehe. I'll be a zombie next you hear from me. I don't plan on
sleeping for the next two days...

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Abbi Pope  wrote:

Dudee..I can NEVER sleep.
So, I'm with you.

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:46 PM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

lucky you!
I'm leving on bark chocolate righte now..

On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 8:49 PM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

I mean... I'm living on Dark chocolate right now.
  
 On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 11:01 PM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

Six pages of 20 done. I also realized that frozen green beans are the way to go
if you need a healthy, keep you awake snack. I just have to make sure I don't
get a brain freeze.

My goal. Stay up until this gets done. If I have to miss seminary I will!
This is a scary possessed author side of me that I didn't know I had...

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 12:05 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

It's me again! I'm onto page 8 and think I'm doing about two pages an hour....I need to write an additional twelve so I'm looking at finishing at 6 am or so. then I have to read over it and revise it. Make it work and flow. Perhaps you will have woken up by then and will have a chance to read all of these.

I need something to do every hour that takes my mind off reading so I am going to write you, do twelve sit-ups or pushups, use the restroom and drink water. I ate all of my beans
and quite honestly cannot eat anymore *They started getting soggy =P* . Maybe I'll break down and eat the leftover chocolate...

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 1:09 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:
I've gotten a little faster. I am two lines away from getting onto page 12!
things are looking up and my story is really starting to get going.
I think I will have to go and rewrite parts of the beginning but the end is in site! *so niave...*

Twelve situps, a bottle refill, and a potty stop. Another hour has passed!

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 2:06 AM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

I'm so close! finishing 13, and then on to 14! I think the way this thing is playing out though I might be done before pg. 20. woudn't that be nice?

time for a break and then back to the drawing board!

(no chocolate yet! I just might make it the whole night! ) *I didn't do that either...*

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 3:06 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

I'm doing it Abbi! I think that I have almost finished, another hour or so and the book is done! I might be well on my way to revising before 6.
To be honest, the only reason I've made it this long is because I'm sending these
stinking mensajes (as the mexicans call them) to you. It makes me feel like
I have someone to be obligated to...does that even make sense?
Idk...I have to remember to not use txt lingo in my story from time to time,
a couple lol's and 2maros about made their way in.

I'll be back in an hour!

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 4:04 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

What do you know? Its 4 and Im still awake!
Almost done...K'mar's creaming the bad guy as I type...
:) I love pandora! It has made tonight/day so much easier!

On Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 5:06 AM, Shayla Danielson  wrote:

Done! but I have an alternate ending in mind so I'm writing that up now.
I've made it all night! I think that I'll probably sleep from seven to 11, then study for spanish, excercise and go to band. Then fail my spanish finals (not really :) ). come home work on revising the book...
I'm going to die tonight. *I didn't die....but I really wanted to, especially at midnight Thursday night, reworking that ending!!!*

On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 8:39 AM, Shayla Danielson wrote:

So I didn't fail my spanish final...but I didn't finish my book either...Mom and Dad found my battered corpse at 5:30 am, and promptly sent it to its crypt. I slept tell 11...dead to the world. I don't even remember taking a shower that day. I even skipped karate testing and worked on that book. Then Friday (the ninth) I worked on it until I finished it at 12, left for school, then came back and worked on it with my grandpa (who kindly kept my sleepdeprived mind on track). We had it finished ready to go an hour before the deadline. I sent it, only upon reading through it (outloud) realized that I had a couple corrections that still needed making! AGHHHHH!!!!!! Always, always, ALWAYS read your stuff outloud, it's the only way you'll pick up those small details you miss when reading. Also giving yourself more then 36 hours wouldn't be a bad idea...

I told you this would hurt...


- Stoss Cue

Mindful Monday

Just a little bit of everything. Tips, quotes, etc. Hope you've enjoyed the last few posts!

-Owner's Don't Knock

-I’ve seen some writers avoid “said” as if trying to impress us with their array of synonyms. These days, “said” is the preferred verb to use in dialogue; most editors will reject a manuscript which uses too many “said” alternatives. It’s almost always better to use “said”, a neutral verb, and let the dialogue itself convey the tone.

-What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. ~ Samuel Johnson

-We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. ~ Ernest Hemingway

-Write what you need to write, not what is currently popular or what you think will sell.

-My first rule was given to me by T.H. White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt.

Super Saturday-Basics Of Creative Writing

Some more good tips from the same site I've found the ones for the last two posts on. Also, I've been trying to post more so you guys could have regular advice rolling in to help you out.

-Owner's Don't Knock

Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.

Start as close to the end as possible.

Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them—in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Fanciful Friday Part Two

I loved these tips as well! There's also never such a thing as too much advice, I mean, well, it gets to a point. But little helpful hints here or there have never hurt anyone. I hope that these along with the other things Shayla & I post have helped you in some way or another. Could you do me a favor and say if you've tried anything we've posted or if you've got a sure-fire way to jump-start your writing? Thank you so much everyone!

-Owner's Don't Knock

Write.

Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.

Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.

Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.

Laugh at your own jokes.

The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

Fanciful Friday

I found these tips online today and thought they were worth sharing.

-Owner's Don't Knock

When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.

When an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.

Don’t romanticise your “vocation.” You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no “writer's lifestyle.” All that matters is what you leave on the page.

Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can’t do aren’t worth doing. Don’t mask self-doubt with contempt.

Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.

Avoid cliques, gangs, groups. The presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the Internet.

Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.

Don’t confuse honours with achievement.

Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand—but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.