Writing a Little Every Day!

Blocked Writing

2010-11-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

So I've been wait-listed in my online class until there are enough students to enroll in the "Extended Getting Started in Writing" class. I guess it's a good thing since I haven't exactly found a lot of motivation to keep writing. It's been more than a week since my last post, but in the between time I've been reading some really great writing by Kresley Cole. I really enjoy her Immortals After Dark Series. Paranormal Romance is one of my favorite genres to read.

I would love to be able to create characters and scenes like she does. The last book that I read was the one where Cadeon & Holly get together. Some of the action scenes are amazing and I love the part where Cadeon is teaching Holly self defense and offensive moves. She really makes you believe that Cadeon is a skilled warrior.

Hopefully I'll learn more about how to do that in the class that I'll be taking. I'm beginning to believe that this writing gig is tougher than it appears at first glance.

A place to hideout...

2010-10-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

The shed and barn were probably the best bet for hiding out in. She felt that the shed looked as though it hadn't been used in a really long time. The roofing looked rough and some boards were missing and worn. After taking a quick look around, she darted for the door.

It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the dark, dank inside of the shed to know that it was perfect. There were some old tools towards the back that she could use to defend herself if needed and there was a second door in the back in case she needed to escape. Two small windows let in only a small amount of light because of how dirty they were and the best part was the partial loft that still looked sturdy enough to support some weight.

While she could sleep up on the loft, the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to stay on the ground floor just in case. She didn't want to get trapped or have to jump out of some window from that height. She decided to bed down in a corner and try to catch some sleep.

She was so tired from running through the night that she didn't care that the floor was hard and the boards were rough against her back. It felt nice just to be inside and off her feet for a moment. After a few minutes of arranging her legs in a comfortable position, she started to drift off to sleep.

The continuation of the story....

2010-10-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

So I was all ready to write more to continue what I started yesterday until my husband happened to read what little I had posted. His first impression was - if this girl is running for her life barefoot - why the heck would she take time to consider the slithering, crawling bugs under the leaves? His next thought was that if it was so cold outside then the bugs and crawly things wouldn't even be out and she wouldn't have to worry about them anyways.

So much for setting the "stage" as it were. Maybe I'm no good at this, but I'd like to argue that, I, being a girl, would be thinking just that - even if I was running for my life because, hey, you never know if you'll get that deadly spider bite. I wasn't a girl scout and was raised as a town girl. My husband, being the farm boy that he is, probably knows a whole lot more than I do about creepy, crawly things. That being said, I guess we now must know that our character was evidently not a wilderness girl, nor was she a girl scout. So the story continues...

The leaves were slightly wet yet from the previous night’s dew which caused her to slip and stumble at times as she stepped over old tree roots and hidden rocks. She was stubbing her toes and the bottoms of her feet were becoming so sore that every step required conscious thought in how to place her feet so that she didn’t injure herself.

Finally she saw the woods were starting to thin out and she could see what resembled a fence in the distance. All she wanted to find was some small place that she could take refuge for the day. A place, preferably with more than one door, that she could plan an escape route in case she was found.

As she came to the fence, she almost cheered at the sight of the grass. The grass certainly made the going easier and quicker. She was trying to stay cautious and still make some time getting across the semi-open field. As she came around a thin stand of trees, she spotted a small shed, a barn and old dilapidated farm house. There didn’t appear to be any signs of life…

The Challenging Beginning....

2010-10-18T19:14:00.000-07:00

So, I've always written a little bit here and there. I read like it's going out of style - thank goodness for the Kindle! And, I have just enrolled in a "Getting Started in Writing" course through Writer's Digest University. With those steps down, now I need to make sure that I write every day. Here goes day 1 and a little bit of fiction... Hopefully my writing will improve as I continue working.

The crisp fall day began with a hint of fog and a glimmer of the sun dancing through the trees. The light and airy heights were a direct contrast to the darker, heavier depths below. Underneath the branches and the few remaining leaves there was just enough light to cast shadows along the forest floor. Just enough light to make you wonder what was crawling and slithering beneath the leaves and dead grasses.

That made being barefoot so much scarier. What she wouldn't have given for a pair of shoes, slippers or even socks. The ground was starting to harden with the winter frost creeping in. The earth radiated coldness right through her bones and all the way up to her hips. And there she was struggling to convince herself to continue the journey.

But quitting wasn’t an option. And it wasn’t because she had some great moral code, some unstoppable personal willpower. To stop was to commit suicide. Stopping was certain death. If they didn’t catch up with her, at the very least she would drift off and die of hypothermia. Worse yet, she might get bitten or stung by some creature. No, she had to go on, shoes or not…