What I'm Reading: I just finished VIXEN by Jillian Larkin. While I enjoyed the period details and the plot, I found some of the slang a little overused, and I didn't think there was enough distinction between the three girls who were the main characters.
Next on my Prohibition Reading List is LUCK OF THE BUTTONS by Anne Ylvisaker.
It is MG, and I have only gotten to the second chapter so far but I am loving the main character and the storytelling.
What I am Writing: Still researching and outlining for my next project. Sigh. I miss drafting. But I know if I don't do this front-end work I would just stare blankly at a blinking cursor during writing time, and that isn't any fun either.
What Works for Me: I tried something new this time around that I thought I would share with you guys. I wanted to get a firm grip on my MC girl's personality, mostly because it is quite different from my own. She is scientific and logical, yet not afraid to break rules. She is shy a lot of the time, and enjoys time alone. I wanted to know what other kinds of personality traits often accompany these, and so I took a free personality quiz online as my character. It was fun answering the questions for Amelia, and it made me think hard about what choices she would make in different situations. At the end, the site gave me a whole slew of information about this type of personality in relationships, in stress, etc. I liked it so much I did it again as my boy MC. There are a lot of these tests out there, but here is the one I used.
What Else is Going On: We took our Camper (named Lennie) and our two children on the last camping trip of the season last weekend. The kids had a great time riding bikes and fishing. I have often wondered (while packing for days for a one night camping trip) what is the magic of camping? I think the reason we love it is because it forces us to stay in close quarters for several hours at a time! No phones, no computers, no TVs (ok, we do have a TV in the camper, but we rarely use it.) Good old Family Time with a capital FT!
From the sounds of it, we're at a similar place in our writing process. I'm researching a bunch right now too, and getting really antsy to get writing. Like you, I know that wouldn't be wise without building a good foundation up front. I've been puttering away at character sketches too, so thanks for the personality test link! I'm going to go do one right now. Have a great week! :D
ReplyDeleteAw, your kiddos are so darn cute! We didn't get any camping in this summer and I'm a little bummed about it. But we do tent camping so on the other hand, all that work is always daunting! I LOVE your idea of doing a personality test as the MC! That is so awesome! I am going to give that a try. Thanks for the tip. :)
ReplyDeleteThat camping trip sounds like fun :-) And I love your idea of the personality test ...For the release day party of One Dream Only, I´ve just created a personality test and that was lots of fun! Have a wonderful week!
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