Twist Tie

Over the summer I stepped back from Guardians for a bit. It was good and gave me a chance to focus on other pieces. But as you can see from my past two posts I'm back full throttle. It's amazing what a sense of surety can do. Somehow, I know that I'm going to be able to get everything done. These past few years have also given me more insight into the writing process. So when I decide to do something crazy, like tweak the plot drastically, I can handle it. Believe it or not I haven't written anything that relates to my new plot development. It's easier to let the idea sit in my mind and cook for a bit and then when I know that everything is concrete enough I'll start writing.

In the meantime I'm just plugging ahead with chapter one. Working chronologically has been helpful in this case because it provides me with a blueprint for what I'm supposed to be doing. Normally it's more fun to jump around to whatever I feel like writing but in this case it's better to stay grounded and keep going forward.

Now to jump topics a bit...

Right now I'm working on Ben and Rafi's story before they even discover Cornerstone and get transported to this alternative, magical universe. It's completely normal and it's been interesting for me to write something that reads as realistic fiction instead of fantasy. This writing is more real in some ways because I can't use magic to move the pace along, I just have to rely on my character's emotions. Of course, I love adding the magic in. To me, fantasy is exciting because it allows you get lost in another world and only after realize that everything relates to your life. But I guess it's also important to figure out how to write when I'm in the real world.

So here's an excerpt about hot chocolate and parents

Mom was waiting for him inside with a cup of cocoa. The good, the bad, the stressful, every occasion had to be marked with hot chocolate, Ben thought not unappreciatively.
She hadn't forgotten the whipped cream or marshmallows either. "How did it go?"
The marshmallows came off first. Ben chewed them slowly. The the whipped cream disappeared with a swipe of the spoon his mother had knowingly left for him. After a gulp of cocoa he shrugged.