I’ve been steering away from book and blog tags since slowing my blogging pace to once a week. But after Sarah J. Higbee nominated me for the This Is My Genre, Tell Me Yours Book Tag, I couldn’t resist picking this one up. (Thanks, Sarah!) So, let’s have some fun with this today – and I bet NO ONE can guess what genre I’ve picked. đ
Still combing through the blog tags and awards I was recently nominated for, and today it’s Liebster Award time. Thank you for the nomination, Phoenix Grey! đ
Here are the rules for this version of the Liebster Award:
So, Rules #1, 2, and 6 are done already. (I hope it’s OK that I’m skipping around…?) Now let’s go on to Phoenix’s questions!
After compiling a list of my favorite literary heroines back in March, it’s only fair to devote a post to their male counterparts. Except that, well, I forgot about it for a while, until Sarah J. Higbee recently shared her own list. Thank you for the reminder, Sarah!
Featuring the same number of heroes here as I did with heroines proved tough. It’s not that I don’t like or admire male protagonists. I just happen to be drawn more to stories with female leads. But once I took a close look at my bookshelves, the eleven male characters I eventually picked started jumping out at me. (Not literally, but you know what I mean.) And I’ll admit, some of them won’t surprise you at all. đ
Here they are, in alphabetical order: Continue reading
A big thank-you to KL Caley @ New2Writing for nominating me for the Liebster Award Challenge! This honor gives bloggers the opportunity to share more about themselves and then to “pay it forward” to other bloggers whose sites they enjoy. This version of the Liebster doesn’t seem to have a restriction on the number of followers for eligible nominees (whereas the Liebster Award received here did), so everyone is game this time around. đ
Here are the rules for this version of the Liebster Award Challenge:
So, let’s start with KL’s questions!
Fellow writer and blogger Michelle @ The Writing Hufflepuff is holding a special Book Awards contest. I don’t know if this is something she does annually or if it’s brand new, but I thought I’d join in and share my picks for as many categories as possible.
Normally I’d share the rules and encourage other bloggers to participate. But considering tomorrow (Sunday, March 29th, 2015) is the deadline for nominations and I’m squeaking these in at the last minute…. Oops? *blushes*
Anyways, here are my nominations for The Writing Hufflepuff’s 2015 Book Awards:
One of the recent Top Ten Tuesday topics sponsored by The Broke and The Bookish was “10 Favorite Literary Heroines.” After reading several lists by bloggers I follow, I thought I’d share my own. Though as you can tell from the title, I couldn’t stop at ten. đ
A number of things intrigued me as I worked on this list. Each character’s story, circumstances, personality, and set of struggles is unique. Despite those differences, these heroines share some common traits. See if you can pick out those similarities as you read along. (You might not even need to read the books to figure them out!)
Here are my eleven favorite literary heroines, listed in alphabetical order: Continue reading
When two characters use similar traits or functions in opposite ways, they’re known as “mirror characters.” These pairs are a great way of creating conflict or relationships – and, oddly enough, a frequent source of literary themes. In the latest Theme: A Storyâs Soul article at DIY MFA, we discover how mirror characters can help illustrate theme, using examples from Kristin Cashore’s Fire and Sara Litchfield’s The Night Butterflies. And, if you read closely enough, you’ll see how both examples mirror one another. đ
Click here to read “How Mirror Characters Can Illustrate Literary Themes.”
Got any questions or suggestions for Theme: A Storyâs Soul? Feel free to comment below or tweet me at @SaraL_Writer with the hashtag #AStorysSoul.
On February 20, 2015, 1000 Voices For Compassion will take to the blogosphere and share their thoughts and stories about compassion in all its forms (love, kindness, understanding, empathy, mercy, etc.). Many of these “Voices” are also posting articles on the subject in advance of the big day. Since I’d been debating between two ideas I like equally, I decided, “Why not pursue both, and make one the lead-in article?” đ
As an avid reader and a novelist-in-progress, some of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned have come from literature. So, for my lead-in to #1000Speak, I’m doing a literary “exploration” of compassion that aligns with my DIY MFA column “Theme: A Story’s Soul.” Below are some acts of compassion from books I’ve read over the years. As you read the examples, think about what you can learn from each character, as well as the impact their decisions or actions may have on other characters, their world, and the story’s audience. Maybe you’ll want to add some of these books to your wishlist if you haven’t read them yet. Either way, I hope you’ll find this sampling of literary compassion as inspiring as I do.
NOTE: Some of the following examples contain spoilers (either major and minor) that are necessary for discussing the topic at hand. Continue reading
Chapters Completed: 18
Chapters In Progress: 4
Chapters Not Started: 12
âChronicling The Craftâ is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what Iâve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a âchapter tickerâ at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / âwritercopterâ method to write the novel. Todayâs installment celebrates the book reaching 70,000 words in length.
Wow. Has it really been less than one month since the novel passed 65,000 words? It feels like itâs too soon to write this article for 70,000, especially with the non-writing commitments Iâve had the past few weeks. (Then again, when are summers not a busy time of year?) I even combed through the current draft chapter by chapter with the word counter after finishing Saturdayâs session, just to make sure the math wasnât off somewhere on my Excel tracking sheet. It wasnât. So I sit here now, convinced Iâm wearing bemusement on my face because thatâs 1000% (yes, one-thousand percent) how I feel: baffled yet flutteringly happy.
Hereâs what Iâve worked on since the previous Chronicle:Â Continue reading
Chapters In Progress:Â 9
Chapters Completed:Â 9
January 2014 was a kind of “calm after the storm” month. After a hectic holiday season, the past few weeks have been pleasantly uneventful. I’ve enjoyed the downtime not only because it’s allowed me to breathe and unwind, but also because it’s given me time each weekend to write. Yay!
Maintaing such a positive attitude isn’t easy, though. The past few writing sessions have been a struggle. Even though I had already planned a particular scene, I’ve almost given myself headaches trying to write down what I see in my mind. When that happens, my initial reaction is a twinge of disappointment: wishing I could have written more words, wishing I could have gotten farther along in that scene. But then I remind myself, “A writing session is a writing session. No matter how many words you put down, it’s an accomplishment to dedicate time and energy to this kind of project.” This reassurance works every time; I feel better about myself and my craft, and all the more motivated for the next sit-down.
Which explains why the 40,000-word mark snuck up on me. I thought I still had a couple hundred words more to go, and then I checked my writing stats. đ So, here’s what’s happened since the previous Chronicle: Continue reading
Sara Letourneau 