Hi, I'm back again. I know that at this point, I should be posting journal entries about what I noticed in twilight from the first ten chapters but It's been really, really, hard to do that considering all the exams and tests that I'm either studying for or making a study guide to study from. Right now, I'm supposed to be studying for a test I have on Tuesday in one of my classes but I've been studying for it for three weeks now and I'm ready to take it and move on.
If we don't take this test on tuesday about prenatal development and the feamle gential tract, I'm thinking about taking it on Wednesday after one of my classes is over with so I'll be able to study for the mid-term in my other classes (Which is the week of March 16th). I'll also be able to go back to my YA paranormal novel without feeling guility about studying for a test. I managed to write a little bit over the weekend but I feel like that's not enough for me since I'm almost finished with the third rewrite of chapter four and still can't write anything because of the test.
Sigh. I miss Columbia College Chicago. When I was majoring in Fiction writing, I did a lot of writing and recalling without having to worry about mid-terms or finals. I could write journal entries and stories that was pertaining to the passion I had ever since I was a little girl: Writing books. And if I just so happened to write something that was outside the normal range (Provided that I did all of my homework) then that was fine too. Now I can't even do that anymore. I miss the once a week classes too. The college I'm going to has classes twice a week and it's not even in my major. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to pass this semester woth flying colors.
Dominique
P.S. Happy Valentine's day
Monday, February 14, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Biggest Snowstorm of the Century, still working on Bandit, tests
Hi everyone, I haven't been blogging because of my busy life of classes, quizzes, homework, and tests at my community college in Chicago. Luckily, I was able to take two days off of my classes because of the blizzard of 2011. Although I don't have to think about studying until later on today (or tommorrow depending on my mood), the bad news out of all this was I had to shovel the 20.2-20.9 inches of snow that buried me inside my house which I'm not too happy about at all.
Yes, you heard right. 20.2 inches. I'm sore all over and never want to go through this horrible experience again.
While I was shoveling my front porch and sidewalk, I couldn't help but come up with some ideas for my next novel of the Truson S.E.T. series. I'm not going to go into too much detail about it because I don't want to give too much away but I know it will have something to do with two of my main characters becoming trapped in a huge snowstorm that can barely get out of.
That's it, that's all I'm saying.
I would love to stay and chit-chat about twilight and other stuff but that's going to have to wait until I get these quizzes out of the way. See ya.
Dominique
Yes, you heard right. 20.2 inches. I'm sore all over and never want to go through this horrible experience again.
While I was shoveling my front porch and sidewalk, I couldn't help but come up with some ideas for my next novel of the Truson S.E.T. series. I'm not going to go into too much detail about it because I don't want to give too much away but I know it will have something to do with two of my main characters becoming trapped in a huge snowstorm that can barely get out of.
That's it, that's all I'm saying.
I would love to stay and chit-chat about twilight and other stuff but that's going to have to wait until I get these quizzes out of the way. See ya.
Dominique
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sleepy and tired from school, still doing Bandit
Hi, everyone. I'm sorry but I'm afraid my entry will be short. Extremely Short. I started my first week of classes for Early Childhood Education at my local community college and I'm alreay swamped with schoolwork. I thought I could complete it all by Sunday but from the way things are looking, I'll be luckily to give half of it done by tomorrow. I thought I could get it all done so I can focus on my writing but even that's an uphill battle right now.
I don't know how I'm going to pursue my dreams, do homework, and do work-study all at the same time. I'm thinking about working part-time since I need the money to pay bills. The stress of it all makes me want to cry. I can't handle this pressure. I need a job NOW so I'll be able to be on my own. Maybe I need to talk to somsone about what I'm going through. I don't know. All I know is that I feel overwhelmed.
And this is just the first week of class...
Dominique
P.S. I'll probably post some more wrods from twilight whenever I'm free to do so.
I don't know how I'm going to pursue my dreams, do homework, and do work-study all at the same time. I'm thinking about working part-time since I need the money to pay bills. The stress of it all makes me want to cry. I can't handle this pressure. I need a job NOW so I'll be able to be on my own. Maybe I need to talk to somsone about what I'm going through. I don't know. All I know is that I feel overwhelmed.
And this is just the first week of class...
Dominique
P.S. I'll probably post some more wrods from twilight whenever I'm free to do so.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Working on Bandit, Twilight words, being a teacher's aide for special needs kids
Happy new year to all! I’m sorry I haven’t been in contact with this blog for the last couple of weeks but I’ve been busy. Not only am I still working on my YA paranormal romance ‘Bandit’, I’ve been trying for the last couple of weeks to enroll in classes full-time at my local community college for Early Childhood Education. Since I haven’t been able to find a job within the last two years of my life, I’ve decided to go back to school to be a paraprofessional (Teacher’s aide) for special needs kids. I’ve always wanted to work with children ever since I taught creative writing at a catholic school back in the summer of 2008. Since I’m going back to school two weeks from now, it’s going to be a lot harder for me to finish my novel.
But by all means, I don’t care what I have to do, it will get done.
Another thing I have been scaling back on is the research on Twilight. To tell you the truth, I’m sick of hearing the word twilight. Everywhere I turn, it seems like vampires have now taken hold on the whole YA genre altogether and I for once had about enough of it. It’s a brand new year which means it’s time to talk about brand new subjects within the YA and romance community. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the whole twilight saga thing as well but I think it’s time to move on, which is why I’m trying my very best to write down as much journal entries I can so I can post them here and get it over with. I’m at least halfway done with the first book and I can guarantee you that it will be a LOOOONG time before I post some more journal entries on new moon, eclipse, and breaking dawn. The next book I’m thinking about reviewing is Tangerine by Edward Bloor. I heard that a lot of agents want more YA novels from a boy’s POV (Or maybe that’s middle-grade, I’m not sure) and I think that Tangerine is a perfect example on how a boy character should be written.
Besides, I’ve always wanted to experiment with my writing when it comes to the opposite sex. The only problem is every time I try to write from a male’s POV, I always end up sounding too feminine! Then I wind up hating myself for trying it in the first place…
You get the picture.
Anyways, there’s nothing left for me to say except give you the next ten words I got from Twilight that I’m thinking about using (or have already used) in my manuscript. Enjoy!
Dominique
P.S. UPDATE: The same process I have been doing with chapter one of Bandit has worked for chapter two. I’m now working on the third and fourth rewrite of chapter three which equals twelve more chapters to go! WOOHOO!
Statuesque - resembling a statue, as in grace, pose, or dignity.
Surreptitiously - accomplished by a secret or improper names: Clandestine. Acting secretly or by stealth.
Meekly - of gentle and long-suffering disposition. Submissive; compliant; lacking spirit or backbone. Humble; lowly. Gentle; indulgent; kind; compassionate.
Opaque - Impervious to light; not translucent. Loosely, imperfectly transparent. Impervious to reason; unintelligent. Imperious to radiant heat, electric radiation etc. having no luster; dull. Unintelligible; obscure; dark; lying in shadow.
Warily - marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchfulness, especially in detecting and escaping danger.
Lapsed - to pass slowly or by degrees; slip; sink; to lapse into a coma. To deviate from virtue or truth; fall in duty or accuracy. To pass or elapse, as time. To become void, usually by disuse or neglect.
Suppress - To put an end or stop to; quell, crush as a rebellion. To stop or prohibit the activities of, as a rival political group; abolish. To withhold from knowledge or publication as a book, news, etc. To repress as a groan or sigh. To stop (a hemorrhage etc.)
Incredulously - Refusing belief; skeptical. Characterized by, caused by, or manifesting doubt. Incredible.
Saturated - Completely satisfied; replete; incapable of holding more of a substance or material; a saturated vapor.
Contemplating - To look at attentively; gaze at. To consider thoughtfully; ponder. To intend or plan. To treat of as contingent or possible. To meditate; muse.
But by all means, I don’t care what I have to do, it will get done.
Another thing I have been scaling back on is the research on Twilight. To tell you the truth, I’m sick of hearing the word twilight. Everywhere I turn, it seems like vampires have now taken hold on the whole YA genre altogether and I for once had about enough of it. It’s a brand new year which means it’s time to talk about brand new subjects within the YA and romance community. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the whole twilight saga thing as well but I think it’s time to move on, which is why I’m trying my very best to write down as much journal entries I can so I can post them here and get it over with. I’m at least halfway done with the first book and I can guarantee you that it will be a LOOOONG time before I post some more journal entries on new moon, eclipse, and breaking dawn. The next book I’m thinking about reviewing is Tangerine by Edward Bloor. I heard that a lot of agents want more YA novels from a boy’s POV (Or maybe that’s middle-grade, I’m not sure) and I think that Tangerine is a perfect example on how a boy character should be written.
Besides, I’ve always wanted to experiment with my writing when it comes to the opposite sex. The only problem is every time I try to write from a male’s POV, I always end up sounding too feminine! Then I wind up hating myself for trying it in the first place…
You get the picture.
Anyways, there’s nothing left for me to say except give you the next ten words I got from Twilight that I’m thinking about using (or have already used) in my manuscript. Enjoy!
Dominique
P.S. UPDATE: The same process I have been doing with chapter one of Bandit has worked for chapter two. I’m now working on the third and fourth rewrite of chapter three which equals twelve more chapters to go! WOOHOO!
Statuesque - resembling a statue, as in grace, pose, or dignity.
Surreptitiously - accomplished by a secret or improper names: Clandestine. Acting secretly or by stealth.
Meekly - of gentle and long-suffering disposition. Submissive; compliant; lacking spirit or backbone. Humble; lowly. Gentle; indulgent; kind; compassionate.
Opaque - Impervious to light; not translucent. Loosely, imperfectly transparent. Impervious to reason; unintelligent. Imperious to radiant heat, electric radiation etc. having no luster; dull. Unintelligible; obscure; dark; lying in shadow.
Warily - marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchfulness, especially in detecting and escaping danger.
Lapsed - to pass slowly or by degrees; slip; sink; to lapse into a coma. To deviate from virtue or truth; fall in duty or accuracy. To pass or elapse, as time. To become void, usually by disuse or neglect.
Suppress - To put an end or stop to; quell, crush as a rebellion. To stop or prohibit the activities of, as a rival political group; abolish. To withhold from knowledge or publication as a book, news, etc. To repress as a groan or sigh. To stop (a hemorrhage etc.)
Incredulously - Refusing belief; skeptical. Characterized by, caused by, or manifesting doubt. Incredible.
Saturated - Completely satisfied; replete; incapable of holding more of a substance or material; a saturated vapor.
Contemplating - To look at attentively; gaze at. To consider thoughtfully; ponder. To intend or plan. To treat of as contingent or possible. To meditate; muse.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
I did it with chapter one of Bandit, writing down new words from twilight
Hello everyone, Just came by to tell you the great news. A long time ago, I tried to rewrite my first novel called An Unlikely Reunion. I rewrote it so many times that by the time I finished it, I wanted to lock it in the closet and never take it out again (Yes, there were a few times where I might have been temepted but I still kept my word). As of today, I managed to write the third rewrite of the bandit, read it, correct any mistakes I made from the third rewrite into the fourth rewrite and no complaints!!! I even managed to let go of the fourth rewrite and go back to doing the third rewrite of chapter two!!!! YIPEEEEE! This means that I'm capable of writing and rewriting my work as I go! This means that I could have a faster first and second draft with every manuscript I do. I hope that this never ends!
Okay, enough of that.
I know there are people out there who's sick and tired of me talking about twilight but I've decided to add some words that I've learned from the first book to enchance my story in the bandit. I'm probably only going to do a few words until my next blog entry. Hope you enjoy!
First ten words from chapters 1-3 of twilight:
Omnipresent - The quality of being everywhere present at the same time: ubiquity.
Verbose - Using or containing a wearisome and unnecessary number of words; wordy.
Scarcity - Scantiness, insufficiency; lack of necessities; dearth.
Permeable - To spread or diffuse through, to pass through the pore’s or interstices of, to penetrate something.
Scanty - Limited in extent; Small, close; cramped. Restricted in quantity or number; scarely sufficient. Sparing.
Pallid - Of a pale or wan appearance; feeble in color.
Nostalgically - Severe or poignant homesickness. Any longing for something far away or long ago.
Idling - Not occupied; doing nothing. Averse to labor; lazy. Affording leisure. Without effect; useless; unavailing; Mech. To Operate without transmitting power, usually, at reduced speed; said of motors and machines.
Gangly - Awkwardly tall and loosely built.
Prattled - To talk foolishly or like a child; prate. To utter in a foolish and a childish way; to prattle secrets. Childish speech; babble. Idle or foolish talk.
P.S. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Okay, enough of that.
I know there are people out there who's sick and tired of me talking about twilight but I've decided to add some words that I've learned from the first book to enchance my story in the bandit. I'm probably only going to do a few words until my next blog entry. Hope you enjoy!
First ten words from chapters 1-3 of twilight:
Omnipresent - The quality of being everywhere present at the same time: ubiquity.
Verbose - Using or containing a wearisome and unnecessary number of words; wordy.
Scarcity - Scantiness, insufficiency; lack of necessities; dearth.
Permeable - To spread or diffuse through, to pass through the pore’s or interstices of, to penetrate something.
Scanty - Limited in extent; Small, close; cramped. Restricted in quantity or number; scarely sufficient. Sparing.
Pallid - Of a pale or wan appearance; feeble in color.
Nostalgically - Severe or poignant homesickness. Any longing for something far away or long ago.
Idling - Not occupied; doing nothing. Averse to labor; lazy. Affording leisure. Without effect; useless; unavailing; Mech. To Operate without transmitting power, usually, at reduced speed; said of motors and machines.
Gangly - Awkwardly tall and loosely built.
Prattled - To talk foolishly or like a child; prate. To utter in a foolish and a childish way; to prattle secrets. Childish speech; babble. Idle or foolish talk.
P.S. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Title: YIPEEEE! Finished my first chapter of Bandit, Finished reading Tangerine
Hi all, Sorry I’ve been M.I.A. for the last couple of days. I just got finished reading this excellent book called Tangerine by Edward Bloor. It’s about a boy name Eric Fisher who moves to Tangerine Florida with his parents in order to start a brand new life in another town. But as soon as they get settled in, mysterious things starts to happen in Tangerine that Paul can’t figure out, including an incident that involves his older brother Erik and those mysterious glasses that he wears all the time in order to help him see…
I’m just going to leave it at that. It’s a really good book. I’ve decided not to give anything else away in case you want to read the book.
In other news, I’m very excited about what’s going on in my life right now. After trying to rewrite The Electric eel Bandit (and failing because of the story’s premise about underwater creatures and the whole human/shape shifter scenario) and months of being stuck on what to do next, I finally managed to write the first chapter (and third rewrite) of The Electric eel Bandit (A.K.A Bandit) and I LOVE it!!!!! It’s totally better than the first and second drafts and I’m constantly writing down all the stuff I need to work on after I finished the third draft.
In case you’re confused, here’s what I plan to do.
After I write the third draft of chapter one, I plan on going back to chapter one and rewriting it again (which would make a fourth draft for the story) but I’m only going to do this ONCE. If I rewrite the fourth draft and realize they’re something missing that I should have put in sooner, I’ll make a note of it and move on to chapter two. I plan on doing the same thing with chapter two, chapter three, four etc…until I reached chapter fifteen.
Third rewrite of Chapter One + rewrite = Fourth draft of Chapter One
Third rewrite of Chapter Two + rewrite = Fourth draft of Chapter Two
You see where I’m going with this?
In case you’re wondering where the third rewrite came from, I had already completed and rewrote this novel one (There was the first draft and then I rewrote it which left the second draft for the novel) and now I’m in my third rewrite of the novel but by the time I’m finished, I will have the third and fourth rewrite of the novel DONE. Isn’t that amazing??? Although I’m excited about writing and rewriting my novel, I would strongly not recommend this to people who have not completed a manuscript. If you can handle writing and rewriting the first and second draft of your manuscript, then so be it. But if you write (and rewrite) the first and second drafts of chapter one to the point where you want to scream you might want to take a long-winded vacation…
I’m just saying…
Moving on, here is my system on how I plan to write my novel according to the page count:
Chapter One = twenty pages
Chapter Two = twenty pages
Chapter Three = twenty pages
Chapter Four = twenty pages
Chapter Five = twenty pages
Chapter six = twenty pages
Chapter Seven = twenty pages
Chapter Eight = twenty pages
Chapter nine = twenty pages
Chapter ten = twenty pages
The total of Chapter one through ten: two-hundred pages or 50,000 words when you divide it by 250 words per page.
This is one option for me if I want to make my novel shorter. Depending on the plot and characters of the novel, I could possibly go with this option. However, I think that what I’m writing about is much bigger than ten chapters could possibly hold. In that case, I’ll continue on with my list.
Chapter eleven = twenty pages
Chapter twelve = twenty pages
Chapter thirteen = twenty pages
Chapter fourteen = twenty pages
Chapter Fifteen = twenty pages
The total of Chapter one through fifteen: three-hundred pages or 75,000 words.
I’m stopping between two-hundred and three-hundred pages when it comes to this book more or less. No matter what the page count is between the numbers above, I know one rule I have decided not to follow until I’m well established in the publishing industry to pull it off: I WILL NOT write any YA novel that’s over four-hundred pages (Also known as over 100,000 words if you’re paying attention to word count). That’s what I did with my second draft and it ended up being a total mess. I can’t even look at it anymore. What was I thinking? In the end, I’d rather be safe then sorry. I stick to the word count like the literary agencies and publishers want so they’ll be able to read my fourth draft without having a question mark in their head on whether they should represent me or not.
Dominique
P.S. I finished my journal entry on chapters ten through twelve in my notebook Moved on to chapter thirteen. Don’t know when I’m going to be able to post them online but all I can say is that it’ll be soon…
I’m just going to leave it at that. It’s a really good book. I’ve decided not to give anything else away in case you want to read the book.
In other news, I’m very excited about what’s going on in my life right now. After trying to rewrite The Electric eel Bandit (and failing because of the story’s premise about underwater creatures and the whole human/shape shifter scenario) and months of being stuck on what to do next, I finally managed to write the first chapter (and third rewrite) of The Electric eel Bandit (A.K.A Bandit) and I LOVE it!!!!! It’s totally better than the first and second drafts and I’m constantly writing down all the stuff I need to work on after I finished the third draft.
In case you’re confused, here’s what I plan to do.
After I write the third draft of chapter one, I plan on going back to chapter one and rewriting it again (which would make a fourth draft for the story) but I’m only going to do this ONCE. If I rewrite the fourth draft and realize they’re something missing that I should have put in sooner, I’ll make a note of it and move on to chapter two. I plan on doing the same thing with chapter two, chapter three, four etc…until I reached chapter fifteen.
Third rewrite of Chapter One + rewrite = Fourth draft of Chapter One
Third rewrite of Chapter Two + rewrite = Fourth draft of Chapter Two
You see where I’m going with this?
In case you’re wondering where the third rewrite came from, I had already completed and rewrote this novel one (There was the first draft and then I rewrote it which left the second draft for the novel) and now I’m in my third rewrite of the novel but by the time I’m finished, I will have the third and fourth rewrite of the novel DONE. Isn’t that amazing??? Although I’m excited about writing and rewriting my novel, I would strongly not recommend this to people who have not completed a manuscript. If you can handle writing and rewriting the first and second draft of your manuscript, then so be it. But if you write (and rewrite) the first and second drafts of chapter one to the point where you want to scream you might want to take a long-winded vacation…
I’m just saying…
Moving on, here is my system on how I plan to write my novel according to the page count:
Chapter One = twenty pages
Chapter Two = twenty pages
Chapter Three = twenty pages
Chapter Four = twenty pages
Chapter Five = twenty pages
Chapter six = twenty pages
Chapter Seven = twenty pages
Chapter Eight = twenty pages
Chapter nine = twenty pages
Chapter ten = twenty pages
The total of Chapter one through ten: two-hundred pages or 50,000 words when you divide it by 250 words per page.
This is one option for me if I want to make my novel shorter. Depending on the plot and characters of the novel, I could possibly go with this option. However, I think that what I’m writing about is much bigger than ten chapters could possibly hold. In that case, I’ll continue on with my list.
Chapter eleven = twenty pages
Chapter twelve = twenty pages
Chapter thirteen = twenty pages
Chapter fourteen = twenty pages
Chapter Fifteen = twenty pages
The total of Chapter one through fifteen: three-hundred pages or 75,000 words.
I’m stopping between two-hundred and three-hundred pages when it comes to this book more or less. No matter what the page count is between the numbers above, I know one rule I have decided not to follow until I’m well established in the publishing industry to pull it off: I WILL NOT write any YA novel that’s over four-hundred pages (Also known as over 100,000 words if you’re paying attention to word count). That’s what I did with my second draft and it ended up being a total mess. I can’t even look at it anymore. What was I thinking? In the end, I’d rather be safe then sorry. I stick to the word count like the literary agencies and publishers want so they’ll be able to read my fourth draft without having a question mark in their head on whether they should represent me or not.
Dominique
P.S. I finished my journal entry on chapters ten through twelve in my notebook Moved on to chapter thirteen. Don’t know when I’m going to be able to post them online but all I can say is that it’ll be soon…
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Thing about contests, need to do a journal entry on Twilight
Well, I entered into the knight agency contest today. I had hopes that I would be able to be in the contest but the first 129 comments came in two mintues after seven 'o' clock so I ended up being screwed. I thought I had hope when Deirdre Knight said that they would randomly draw eight people who signed into the comment section between seven and seven-thirty (In eastern time, it's between eight and eight-thirty since New York is an hour ahead of where I live) but I just looked on their website and found out I was not one of the eight people selected for the contest.
Bummer.
Even though I'm sad that I wasn't chosen for this contest, this has taught me a very valuable leasson when it comes to publishing contests: If you really want to be considered for literary representation or for a publisher to read your work, do things the old fashioned way. Send in a query letter, wait about a month or two for a response (or more depending on the agency or publisher) and if it's not the results that you want, keep trying. So far, I've entered three contests that I somehow knew I was going to win. Those contests were:
YA novel Discovery Contest
Medical Fastrack contest (A contest sponsored by Harlequin medical romance team for first novels)
The knight Agency: Speed Dating with Deidre Knight
So far, I've lost in all three contests and don't plan on entering in any more contests...EVER. Like I said before, I'm going to do things the old fashioned way. At least I know I'll get some sort of response from that person at that time (Good or bad). Oh well, back to square one again. Despite what happened today, I'm still not giving up on my writing dreams.
Dominique
Bummer.
Even though I'm sad that I wasn't chosen for this contest, this has taught me a very valuable leasson when it comes to publishing contests: If you really want to be considered for literary representation or for a publisher to read your work, do things the old fashioned way. Send in a query letter, wait about a month or two for a response (or more depending on the agency or publisher) and if it's not the results that you want, keep trying. So far, I've entered three contests that I somehow knew I was going to win. Those contests were:
YA novel Discovery Contest
Medical Fastrack contest (A contest sponsored by Harlequin medical romance team for first novels)
The knight Agency: Speed Dating with Deidre Knight
So far, I've lost in all three contests and don't plan on entering in any more contests...EVER. Like I said before, I'm going to do things the old fashioned way. At least I know I'll get some sort of response from that person at that time (Good or bad). Oh well, back to square one again. Despite what happened today, I'm still not giving up on my writing dreams.
Dominique
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Taking my time researching Twilight, Entering into a contest at the Knight Agency
Hi, you guys. I know it's been awhile since I've written a real blog. I've just been so busy and my head has been filled with so many ideas that I haven't had time to write much of anything. Anyways, I've been taking notes and reaserching Twilight lately and even though it's taking a little longer than expected (I'm halfway done with it, it's just that the book is sooooo long!) I'm still writing journal entries on what I've noticed every time I read three chapters at a time (I would read three chapters then take notes on what I noticed). But I have to admit that my research of what Stephanie Meyers is doing in the middle portion of Twilight is kind of boring.
I kept talking about the scenery and dialogue for the last two (or three) journal entries since I've read it until I can't talk about it anymore so I'm deciding to change it up by talking about her techiniques she used in the chapters into writing excercises I could do in order to improve my writing of The Electric eel Bandit (Which I'm thinking about changing it to 'Bandit' since the first title seem to scare some literary agents away). I'm also thinking about posting some of my journal entries on my blog so that people can get a better idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to what I observed in twilight and share it with everyone else too.
In other news, I've been reading some newsletters from my inbox and there was one newsletter that caught my attention this week from the knight agency (You can find it on their website here under the newsletter section of the website). It was an article from Lucienne Driver titled 'beginnings' and offered great advice on how to start your novel in a way to make your readers go 'hmmmm'(I especially like the part about using dialogue to get your readers attention). This article gave me several ideas on how to rewrite the beginning of the 'bandit'. I liked this article so much that I decided to print it out and keep it into my writer profile to use in the future. (Although I have to admit that I need to put all of my writing articles in order but I'll talk about that later). In addition to that, I also read a good article on what they are thankful for this holiday season as well as what they want to see when looking at manuscripts. You should really check it out.
Finally, There is a contest on their blog on submitting a manuscript for consideration here by none other than Deidre Knight. I think it's a good idea for anyone who might be interested. I'm thinking about sending one in myself ('Addicted') just to see where it takes me. I should get started on it right now since I'll probably be exhausted by the time I'm finished with it.
Until we meet again
Dominique
I kept talking about the scenery and dialogue for the last two (or three) journal entries since I've read it until I can't talk about it anymore so I'm deciding to change it up by talking about her techiniques she used in the chapters into writing excercises I could do in order to improve my writing of The Electric eel Bandit (Which I'm thinking about changing it to 'Bandit' since the first title seem to scare some literary agents away). I'm also thinking about posting some of my journal entries on my blog so that people can get a better idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to what I observed in twilight and share it with everyone else too.
In other news, I've been reading some newsletters from my inbox and there was one newsletter that caught my attention this week from the knight agency (You can find it on their website here under the newsletter section of the website). It was an article from Lucienne Driver titled 'beginnings' and offered great advice on how to start your novel in a way to make your readers go 'hmmmm'(I especially like the part about using dialogue to get your readers attention). This article gave me several ideas on how to rewrite the beginning of the 'bandit'. I liked this article so much that I decided to print it out and keep it into my writer profile to use in the future. (Although I have to admit that I need to put all of my writing articles in order but I'll talk about that later). In addition to that, I also read a good article on what they are thankful for this holiday season as well as what they want to see when looking at manuscripts. You should really check it out.
Finally, There is a contest on their blog on submitting a manuscript for consideration here by none other than Deidre Knight. I think it's a good idea for anyone who might be interested. I'm thinking about sending one in myself ('Addicted') just to see where it takes me. I should get started on it right now since I'll probably be exhausted by the time I'm finished with it.
Until we meet again
Dominique
Monday, November 1, 2010
Letting my writing lead to whereever it takes me, still doing twilight
Hello, long time no writing. I have to get better at this. I'm still trying to figure out ways to make my blog sound less boring so I can search for some people to read my blog. I'm not being too serious on a project right now because my head is filled with crazy ideas in many different genres so I'm going to let my ideas take me to wherever it wants to go. I'm going to try and get better at this but again, no guarantees.
Dominique
Dominique
Monday, September 13, 2010
Made up my mind (again), Changing it back to YA and going into screenplays
Hi, everyone. I’m so happy to be back. I have to admit that I was sick for awhile but now, I’ve come back and I’m hoping that I could come up with some new ideas about how to get people to read my blog. One of my ideas that I read from a website is to read and review books and that’s what I’m going to start doing. I’m already reviewing TWILIGHT but like I said before, I don’t want to use some of the quotes in her book if it’s in violation of her book rights. So far, I have journal entries (Two) that deals with what she’s doing in terms of pacing, plotting, dialogue, POV etc. and I think it would make a good journal entry but again, I don’t want to violate her rights. Anyways, I’m still reading and researching TWILIGHT and I’m about to reread another book called GOT FANGS by Katie Maxwell that I bought a long time ago so I could take notes on it.
In other news, I’m sticking to my original plan (after much thought and consideration and my latest rejection letter in the romance department) to finish up my manuscript of THE ELECTRIC EEL BANDIT. I have to admit that it’s going really well and I’m starting to like this version better than my second draft. There will be a few changes with it however and one of them being that the manuscript will be strictly between two-hundred and three-hundred pages PERIOD. No if, and or buts about it. After this rewrite, if the agents still doesn’t show any interest in my work, I might have to send it to some small presses (Milkweed editions, Flux etc…) and see if they like my work more than the agents do. Oh well, I can’t be here for too long. I have to get back to work.
Dominique
P.S. I have also decided that an addition to being a YA/Children’s author, I’m thinking about writing a few screenplays as well and becoming a screenwriter. I have wanted to do this for awhile but tried to ignore what I’ve been feeling in my heart all along. Now, the only thing I have to do is act on it. I’ll have more about this later on down the line. For now, I have to get back to writing.
In other news, I’m sticking to my original plan (after much thought and consideration and my latest rejection letter in the romance department) to finish up my manuscript of THE ELECTRIC EEL BANDIT. I have to admit that it’s going really well and I’m starting to like this version better than my second draft. There will be a few changes with it however and one of them being that the manuscript will be strictly between two-hundred and three-hundred pages PERIOD. No if, and or buts about it. After this rewrite, if the agents still doesn’t show any interest in my work, I might have to send it to some small presses (Milkweed editions, Flux etc…) and see if they like my work more than the agents do. Oh well, I can’t be here for too long. I have to get back to work.
Dominique
P.S. I have also decided that an addition to being a YA/Children’s author, I’m thinking about writing a few screenplays as well and becoming a screenwriter. I have wanted to do this for awhile but tried to ignore what I’ve been feeling in my heart all along. Now, the only thing I have to do is act on it. I’ll have more about this later on down the line. For now, I have to get back to writing.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Changing my YA into category romance... Sent off submission to contest
Hi everybody
I'm not going to be long, I have work to do. I recently sent off a partial to a contest that mills and boon sponsored back in July for Medical submissions and I went for it. They received my submission and said they were going to give me a response by the end of August. I'm also thinking about rewriting my YA novel (again) into a paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne. I think it may have a better fit for them since the literary agents keep rejecting my idea. More information soon!
Sincerely,
Dominique Gibson
I'm not going to be long, I have work to do. I recently sent off a partial to a contest that mills and boon sponsored back in July for Medical submissions and I went for it. They received my submission and said they were going to give me a response by the end of August. I'm also thinking about rewriting my YA novel (again) into a paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne. I think it may have a better fit for them since the literary agents keep rejecting my idea. More information soon!
Sincerely,
Dominique Gibson
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