Please Refer to the Following

I do love writing these posts. It's fun in a strange way to let everyone read my half-completed thoughts. But let's be real, one of the main reasons I keep this blog up is because it's a great way to have people start reading my writing. Because even if these posts entertain people (hopefully they do) it won't matter if my actual pieces aren't good. It's amazing to start to build archives of poetry and prose. I haven't updated the poetry section since fall semester of my freshman year because I've really drifted away from that type of writer. However, the prose sections have begun to expand as I write more and more. This blog really is my body of work and I want my posts to be a complement my writing- to give a behind the scenes look so to speak- but my prose really is the focus. So please refer to the tabs to the right of the home page and enjoy.

The Voices in My Head

I used to think that I was a visual person but I guess that was all in my head. (Sorry couldn't resist the pun.) In all seriousness, I thought that I was someone who needed to diagram everything and see everything out on paper. However, as I've been attempting to edit/add to Guardians the descriptions have been the hardest part. I'm a firm believer that everyone who reads a book sees something different. That's why when a book becomes a movie no one is completely satisfied because no set can compare to what people see inside their head. It's also hard to know how much description is enough to ground a reader in your setting and make them believe what your writing versus that point when it's too much. Even though it's important to set a scene too much description slows down the plot.
Even though I had decided that the first step in editing Guardians was to add more pieces, the adding was starting to feel like a chore. It was hard to see where I was going with everything and I had to force myself to write. That's when I realized that I shouldn't waste the year I spent learning how I function as a writer. I started working out of order and focusing on what I am good at: dialogue. It seems weird but even I can't quite visualize my characters- they're a bit hazy and I like it that way. I want people to be able to project their own version of Shana, Kalynn, Ben and Rafi when they read. However, I can literally hear their voices in my head when I write. A writer's voice is her most important tool and I truly think that a character's voice is their most defining feature. I had forgotten that when I first started writing I wrote huge chunks of dialogue and then linked everything together using descriptive scenes. I think that my character's voices seem real and relatable and that the dialogue flows at a good pace. It's fun to write, as if I'm eavesdropping on a conversation. For an example of dialogue (and a new piece of the story) check out the Guardians tab.