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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

41,128

That's how many words I have written for my book. It's 90 pages long so far (8.5x11). I remember in school I always had to write long papers and I remember being so stressed out about not being able to write enough words but I always had more than I needed...usually. I'll be honest, some papers were bulked up with excessive use of the word "that" :). I just love to write. I'm not a great speaker (not saying I'm a great writer either :p) but I do enjoy writing much more than speaking.

About two years ago I woke up from a really intense dream. Usually I have dreams but can't remember them or they were just silly dreams. This one was different. I woke up in a panic and felt very much in distress, weird. It took me a few minutes to really remember what I had been dreaming about but when I remembered I thought, 'hey, this would be a really good book'. It may have been the sleep talking but a few weeks later I decided to write it down. I couldn't get it out of my mind, I would carry around a little notebook to write down ideas and plot twists as I thought of them. Then I started typing it up. I made up characters' names and just started typing.

I'm sure many authors use a much different method and write an outline of events, but I'm too ADD for that, I just wrote whatever I felt like writing. Then I'd reread and rewrite parts. I have a general idea of where this is going but sometimes I start typing and I can't stop so I have to go through and check the continuity. One mistake I made was one of the girls didn't like mustard, then a few chapters later she ordered extra mustard...no bueno. Now she likes mustard in case you were wondering :).

I always thought they should hire me as a continuity person on TV and movies, I always hone in on the silly mistakes and can't stop thinking about them throughout the show...

I like that I get to decide what happens. In some books or movies I am mentally yelling at the characters to chose another option, to change their 'path' and live a happy life. Sometimes I don't want a dramatic plot twist, I want everyone to sit on clouds, eating rainbow lollypops, and singing covers of Elton John songs....granted I wouldn't really want to read boring books so I guess plot twists are good, unless they involve a certain red headed twin dying at the end of a certain series of books...good one J.K. good one.
I'm still bitter but I'm in counseling and will pull through somehow.

I digress. Again. ADD. Sorry.

My book doesn't have a title, you could call it title-less. Eventually it will have a title. There's a large probability I'll change character names and 'destiny's' but I reserve that right.

Would you like to read an expert? Of COURSE you would. OK I'll find a part to share.

Please be warned, you can click back on your browser at this point and save yourself from more random words. BTDUBS, this is copyrighted so I don't want to see no tomfoolery :) In honor of SOPA ;)

  ...My last obstacle was getting around the 8-foot high trees that lined the border between our two yards. I couldn’t go in the front the officer would see me. My only choice was to try to crawl under the dense bushes. I got down on my hands and knees and pushed my way through the thick trees. The branches snapped across my face and I could feel the knees of my jeans getting soaked through. It took a little maneuvering but I made it to the other side. I could see where the sliding glass door had once been; it was now sealed with thick plastic and bright blue tape. As I got closer to the door I reached into my backpack and pulled out the pocketknife I had stolen from Kyle’s room before I left. This knife had duel purposes; first I was hoping the broken door would still be broken and covered exactly how it was so I could cut through and be in no problem. The second reason was a little more nerve-wracking; I had to have a weapon to protect myself if anything went wrong. Someone could be here just like last night and I had to give myself a fighting chance. As I made my way across the yard I snapped the knife open, my hands were trembling so bad the knife fell to the grass. I picked it up and continued to the door. There were several layers of heavy plastic covering the door so it took a few minutes to cut a big enough slit for me to fit through. As I stepped through the plastic a terror ripped through my body, the last time I had been in this house was when I found the bodies of my dead parents. The fear gripped my whole body and I stopped just inside the kitchen. I couldn’t go upstairs where her body had been, couldn’t see the red stained carpet. Taylor, the mental image of my sister flashed through my head, I had to do it for Taylor. If we were going to stay together, I needed to do this. After steadying my breath I crossed the kitchen into the hallway, I rushed past the office door that, thankfully, was closed. I started climbing the stairs, each step I took brought me closer to the horror, the awful images crashing like waves through my thoughts...

This book is about two sisters who have to deal with finding their parents murdered and finding a way to stay together amidst turmoil and heartache. PS-the formatting didn't transfer over from Word so it's all one big paragraph. 

Only one person (hollla Michelle) has read this partially written book and she only read it when it was like 40 pages long but she said she liked it. It might be a situation like that ugly sweater your grandma gets you for Christmas that you just 'love' and wear the next time you see her then it goes in the donation pile....it's highly possible.

3 comments:

Andrea said...

You are so talented!! I love the book already and I totally have a connection with a book-writing club if you want in.

Nicole said...

ok, now I want to read the rest...

The Wilson Pratt Wilson Family said...

Amanda,
As you may know, I share your love for writing. Have you ever heard of nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month)? If you haven't, look into it. I think I may do it this year. You should join me! It would be nice to know someone who is just as crazy as me. It is in November, but brainstorming and such happens a couple months prior, I believe. There are a ton of really great resources involved. (Like editors and peers willing to read your writing and give feedback!) There are also groups that physically meet and write together. A friend I just met in my writing class has done it three years in a row and loves it. Seriously - look into it! I think it could be fun. I like what I've read so far! Keep it comin'!

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