STARRING ~ Inspired by Avril Lavigne's Keep Holding On

I heard this song on Glee -- I knew it before from Avril's album -- but I'd been writing in my note book and I realised I was noting down the lyrics.

I didn't catch all the lyrics at the right time. I copied down couplets and phrases as I heard them.

Long before I had finished writing down the lyrics -- in a list down the side of the page -- I knew I was planning a story about friends. Small boys who find themselves in the bleakest kind of danger. 

On their own, each one of them would have failed. 

Skilled and impulsively confident and pessimistic and overly cautious.

Rowland and Lucas were not alone.

You're not alone, together we stand
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold and it feels like the end
There's no place to go, you know I won't give in
No, I won't give in

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you

There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

So far away, I wish you were here
Before it's too late this could all disappear
Before the door's closed and it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend
I'll fight and defend, yeah, yeah

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you

There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Hear me when I say when I say, I believe
Nothing's gonna change, nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you

There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Keep holding on
Keep holding on

There's nothing you could say, nothing you could do
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through

Which song has inspired you?

Shelley's Latest Competition STARRING

Shelley Watters is holding a competition.

Judith Engracia

All you have to do is post the first 250 words of your manuscript for a chance to win a 10-page critique!

       The guest agent for the competition is Judith Engracia of Liza Dawson and Associates. 

Judith is building her client list and looking for all types of fiction, especially middle grade, young adult, urban fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal romance.

 

 

Title: STARRING

Genre: MG Magical realism

Word Count 30,000 words

Lucas Orme is a Twink, accepted at Tallin School because he has a glimmer of magical ability. It is bad enough to know you are failing, but Lucas knows it's worse to not remember and the Twinks who fail to meet the standards are wiped. Lucas passes a test, mostly by accident but he and his friend, Rowland, are accused of Starring - forcing magical ability to develop, by using magic - and the punishment for the crime is fiery.

STARRING 

Mist from the river lay low and soupy, but not as thick as usual. It was well past midnight. Moonlight illuminated the grounds outside. It shone in at the first floor landing and pinned Lucas in its spotlight when he transferred his weight onto the top step and the whole world creaked.

The night staff desk was suddenly silent. The shushing sound he made wasn’t a wish or some well-worked magic: Lucas cursed. He whispered it a lot. Frozen - one foot hovering between steps - Lucas waited. Matron's snore began again, painful and high, like air escaping from the mouth of a stretched balloon. Lucas placed his foot as close to the wall as he could. He grinned. He risked the next couple steps more quickly.

"You won't be able to get out," a voice whispered, "the doors are charmed at night." In the shadow that fell over the first set of Quarters, Rowland, the Class Captain, leaned against the wall.

Lucas' heart flipped from anticipation to disappointment.

“Why?” Rowland moved in to the moonlight, “It’s not like your par–”

 "I hate it here," said Lucas. Crumpling onto the step, he grabbed his bag and squeezed the air out of it.

Rowland held one palm to the landing behind him, put an index finger to his lips and said, "Shh!"

Lucas felt his fine hairs rise. The sound from his bag went from strangled to silent. Lucas jumped back to his feet again. "See?" he whispered loudly, "That's what I'm talking about. I hate it here."

I would love to read your thoughts on this wip. Thank you. :D

WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING, I'M WITH THE MESSENGER :D

YES, THERE BE DRAGONS

I learned something new today. Although, it might have been something I already knew but I hadn’t realised it. 

I was reading Orson Scott Card’s advice on writing Science Fiction when he mentioned, almost in passing, that for the purposes of good fiction, the character with the highest status does not make the best protagonist.

Queens and starship commanders are constrained by the duties of the office so they cannot act unpredictably.

One mess of JT-Kirk’s-demotion-for-dereliction-of-duty later, I realised I had learned a powerful lesson: the big players plot and the lesser ones get to actively pursue the quest and make the story.

50% of the way through STARRING, I know where I'm going next :D

LOOK CAREFULLY, I THINK MY INSPIRATION IS SHOWING ;)

GAMEL'S ORDET

In the mountain peaks at the top of the world, the rebel group of dragon lords, The Ormr, gather to discuss what grounds exist to challenge the action of The Dreake. The most powerful and ancient dragons, The Dreake, are unsatisfied: the ice sheets they created have failed to wipe the last stain of human existence from the face of their world - The Jorde. 

While The Dreake are preparing to unleash the power that slumbers inside all vulka,The Ormr seek the grounds to overthrow them and prevent the cataclysmic destruction of all half-life : the human, the frail of fur and feather and the Unsanne. 

The Orme ally themselves to Ulver Wulven, littermate to Kraftig, Prince of Wolves. Ulver agrees to discover if the tale suppressed by the Dragon Lords contains a dangerous truth: that The Dellege have more than the base qualities that mark half-life from The Living, because unless the legend of Gamel’s Ordet, is true, The Dreake will bring about the clouding and life on Jorde will never be the same again.

Clinging to the ways of the old world, the last of The Dellege scrape a meagre existence and walk the edge of extinction. 

Vite had spoken for The Dellege, in the days when The Dreake would listen. Ulver is sent to bring Vite to The Ormr for testing. 

When Ulver is trapped in a snare, Dictate says he must end his life or do what he must to escape. To his shame, Ulver is rescued by a Dellege spawn. Ulver is bound to the boy, Storm, by his honour… even if the thin, white mutt refuses to see it. Using might and mist, Ulver brings Storm with him on his quest.

The Vite of Ulver’s father’s day, is no more. Blood of her blood, Kreille, the daughter of her daughter, agrees to go for the testing, in her stead. 

In the Storm and Kreille, Ulver sees the that impossible is true. 

As the days of Utbrudd approach, Ulver hurries to present Storm and Kreille before The Dreaken Court to prove that there is truth in Gamel’s Ordet: the two legged Dellege are sanne spirited. In their suppression of the legend, The Dreake have knowingly ignored Dictate and their lives are forfeit.

With Ulver, Storm and Kreille know they are racing into danger but the future of the world, and the survival of more than their species, is at stake.

Do you know what you are writing next?

OAKLEY HALL'S 15 WRITIN' RULES

Oakley Hall wrote and he taught others how to take the stories they created and turn them into novels.

His rules are a blueprint for a waste-free manuscript.

I have come a long way since I started learning how to write so some of the rules made me nod, some made me think and one made me duck under the desk to check my shoe laces ;)

OAKLEY HALL'S RULES FOR WRITING FICTION

1. Write every day

2. Observe and listen

3. Employ all the senses

4. Use strong verbs

5. Detail!

6. A specific always beats an abstraction

7. Describe people and places in terms of motion

8. Anglo-Saxon words are usually more effective than Romance-language-based words

9. Fiction is dramatisation:

point-of-view

sense impressions

detail

action

dialogue

10. In dialogue keep speeches short

11. Look for likenesses, parallels, contrasts, antitheses and reversals

12. Beware the use of the habitual case (would), the passive voice and the word ``there.''

13. Plotting is compulsion versus obstacles

14. In the second draft start deleting adverbs

15. Borrow widely, steal wisely 

Westerns have been noticeably absent from my TBR list:

I can only remember reading three:

All the Pretty Horses ~ Cormac McCarthy 

Shane ~ Jack Shaefer

Call of the Wild ~ Jack London

(No. Cold Mountain slipped into the lost and hasn't been found again -- I know it's around here somewhere ;) )

I'm going to start at the Oakley Hall's beginning: I'm looking for a copy of Warlock. And I have a hankering to read True Grit by Charles Portis ;)

Are you looking for a challenging new genre?

INSPIRATION FROM SCIENCE Florence + The Machine - Strangeness & Charm

Florence Welch, of the band “Florence and The Machine” has been working on new material, including a new song called, 'Strangeness And Charm.'

Her inspiration came from a science lesson that her dad taught her.

"I was having a conversation with my father and he was talking about this thing – strangeness and charm," Welch explained. "It's actually the name of the two smallest particles that there are when you split the atom, so I wrote a song around it. Isn't that a nice thing for scientists to call them though? – it's so unscientific and human." The NME reports.

Hydrogen in our veins, it cannot hold itself, my blood is pouring

And the pressure in our bodies that echoes up above it is exploding

And our particles that burn it all because they are for each other

And although we stick together it seems that we are stranging one another

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love

See it on me love

See it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

An atom to atom oh can you feel it on me love

A pattern to pattern oh can you see it on me love

Atom to atom oh what's the matter with me love

Strangeness and Charm

It started from your arms and it's a catalyct

You're a chemical that burns there's nothing like this

It's the purest element but it's so volatile

An equation heaven sent, and you'll forever inject

Strangeness and Charm

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love

See it on me love

See it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

An atom to atom oh can you feel it on me love and

A pattern to pattern oh can you see it on me love

Atom to atom oh what's the matter with me love

Strangeness and Charm

It started from your arms and it's a catalyst

You're a chemical that burns there's nothing like this

It's the purest element but it's so volatile

An equation heaven sent and you'll forever inject

Strangeness and Charm x10

It started from your arms and it's a catalyst

You're a chemical that burns there's nothing like this

It's the purest element and it's so volatile

An equation heaven sent and you'll forever inject

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love

See it on me love

See it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

Feel it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

See it on me love

See it on me love

See it on me love

(Strangeness and Charm)

Oh, Oh, Down, Down down down x4


That was a case of 'you never where your inspirations may come from,' so I'm going to pay more attention;)

THE POWERFUL THREES OF WRITING

Wondering what I wanted to say, I tripped over a post on a Lighthouse Writing Tips Blog. Only the internet knows what I put in my give-me-inspiration-please request, but it turned up a post that was originally written in 2008 by Kathy Krajco but it was about a post she had read on Pat Bertram’s Blog. (Did you spot the subliminal three?;)

I'd never thought about the quality of threes, but what I read made a lot of sense.

WRITING IN THREES

• To use the power of three in a mystery: give one clue to tantalise; two to suggest a direction of discovery; three to create a pattern.
• To use the power of three in a story: create tension, develop it, release it.
• To use the power of three in description: combine three attributes.

Three is a balanced number, it creates a series, a sequence, a path of cause and effect in the most economical way.

THREE QUESTIONS

Selling works using three emotive questions that are related to each other – they say the fourth question breaks the spell

Do you fail to reach your writing goal, even though you have allocated sufficient time during the day?

Is your perfect story falling short even after you have read 100 books in your chosen genre?

Are you seeking the adulation of an agent to get your novel “out there” into print?

You need: hard work; perseverance and hard work ;)

THE THREE ESSENTIALS:

creativity of approach

originality of concept

writing in simple sentence

I'm unashamedly hurrying today, but keeping everything in triplicate. ;)

I'm digging through my manuscript - again - one word at a time.

Are you having fun? 

SIX SENTENCES FOR SUNDAY - ENCOUNTERS

These sentences come from ENCOUNTERS - MG Sci-fi. 

Fion doesn't remember much (not even her name) and she is determined not to tell the one thing she does know. 

CHAPTER 7

DIGGING FOR TRUTHS

Suffocating darkness filled the space around her. Even with her eyes wide-open there was not enough light to see by. Strapped into the metallic chair she could not rock, she could be anchored in a cell or somewhere much larger.  She strained to hear any sound that would warn her some one was there, until high-pitched whistles of protest - deep inside - hurt her ears. But this was the good part, once a door opened, things would get worse. 

     The air grew colder and the small hairs on her forearms pulled up in protest. 

Any thoughts or comments would be most welcome.

My weekend fun ended when someone reversed into the passenger door of my car. My son's car door. I felt Fion's kind of dark. 

REMARKABLY SIMPLE ADVICE - On... Writing ;)

Sonia Simone, on her bog Remarkable Communication, has very wise advice. She makes me grin and learn at the same time: this is a great skill.

1. Sentences can only do one thing at a time.

Have you ever heard a four-year-old run out of breath before she can finish her thought? I edit a lot of sentences that work the same way. You need a noun, you need a verb, you might need an object. Give some serious thought to stopping right there.

Sentences are building blocks, not bungee cords; they’re not meant to be stretched to the limit. I’m not saying you necessarily want a Hemingway-esque series of clipped short sentences, but most writers benefit from dividing their longest sentences into shorter, more muscular ones.

Born in Ireland and raised by Irish parents, the idea that sentences should be short and precise was the hardest lesson to learn. When I started writing, I believed all the best sentences had to have at least three clauses ;)

"Unless one is a genius, it is best to aim at being intelligible."
Anthony Hope Hawkins

ENCOUNTERS - DO YOU WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL WITH ETHAN?

Stephen King? I need some advice on writing.

For my current work on ENCOUNTERS, I need to describe a school. 

I know schools, I’ve been steeped in them, up to my neck.When I visualised the school I was downed by details. 

I love description, perhaps a little bit too much.

When deciding what to include, I went back to Stephen King, "On Writing" and started reading at page 201.

“Thin description leaves the reader bewildered and near-sighted . Over description buries him in details and images.” 

I need to find a happy medium.

Stephen King says find a few, well chosen details:

•  dark corners
• dust
• scratched graffiti everywhere the pen and painted tags haven’t got to yet 
• jagged, kicked in locker doors
• cigarette smell masking the stench of stale urine in the toilets

The blotchy walls and the peeling metal window frames had been the school’s best face, Saxebergh Secondary School saved the worst for behind its locked door. Ethan had reduced his enhanced perception to the basic human senses but these were acute enough. Past the Headteacher’s office, the ghosts of scrawled black tags greyed the cream walls but the graffiti gouged into the plaster had proved even harder to remove. One of the damaged lockers, door folded into a jagged, non-mathematical shape, had the same number as the ticket he'd been given in the office. Further along the corridor cigarette smoke rolled over smell of stale urine that pointed out the location of the toilets. And, in the dark well under the staircase, two badge-wearing prefects were discussing their homework with the thin boy they'd pinned against the wall. 

I want this school to be the Carrie White of the county's educational institutions.

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SCHOOL WITH A LITTLE INSPIRATION FROM A NOVEL?

Learning from lyrics MUSE - Time is running out (Live)

I think I'm drowning

asphyxiated
I wanna break this spell
that you've created

you're something beautiful
a contradiction
I wanna play the game
I want the friction

You will be the death of me
You will be the death of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom
bound and restricted
I tried to give you up
but I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped - sense of elation
you'd never dream of
breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
ooooohh

You will suck the life out of me

Bury it
I won't let you bury it
I won't let you smother it
I won't let you murder it

Our time is running out
Our time is running out
You can't push it underground
You can't stop it screaming out
How did it come to this?
ooooohh

Negative and destructive but addictive too, I read these lyrics as being the end of a relationship. Time is limited but clinging  to the shreds that are left is not a choice for him. He is fighting to preserve what he thought he had.

The promotional video appears to show the intimate relationship as a metaphor for a larger one between individuals and those who govern. 

I like to see it as my determination to write and be published.

MESSAGES - Passing information between two characters who cannot meet

Xerxes assembled an army.

Demaratus, a Greek who had been expelled from his homeland still felt some loyalty to Greece, so he decided to send a message to warn the Spartans.

As the danger of discovery was great, he scraped the wax off a pair of wooden, folding tablets. He wrote on the wood underneath then covered the message over with wax again.

The blank tablets reached the destination without an explanation.

No one could guess the secret of the blank tablets, until Cleomenes, the wife of Leonides, devined that if they scraped the wax off, they would find something written on the wood underneath.

The message was revealed and the information was passed to the Greeks.

As a result of this warning, the Greeks began to arm themselves.

I have been considering how messages could be passed between characters who could not meet. We don’t have that many wax tablets around. 

Concealing messages underneath something else is manageable and could build tension effectively.

HOW WOULD YOU SEND A SECRET MESSAGE?

With thanks to Random House's The Code Book