Hello Old Friends

So it has been a while I know. I am horrible at keeping up with things like this. perhaps that is why a career as a writer scares me so much. However, the New Year is approaching us and I have a goal for myself that I WILL meet. I will enter 5 writing contests. I will also participate in NANOWRIMO. This is my goal, and my first contest deadline is January 10th. I can do this!!!

Getting distracted

SO for my Summer class, I was assigned "Death of a Salesman" to answer my life question: 'Can I do what I want for a living?' Well this play answers it and doesn't answer ti in about 50 billion ways. SO i have been researching and dissecting it for the last week or so.

On my writing, I have been doing some. I promise. Though I have shifted gears. Yes I started the play based on the book I was writing. But I also started another play. Yes my mind wanders a lot. Anyway this play is about how a young woman's life is changed by her weekly interactions with a homeless man. It is based on my true life experiences. I think it could be good. But it is giving me trouble.

I first approached it as a One Act, but One Acts are so hard to write, I though of expanding it, but adding another character or two, since prior to this I was going to only have the girl and the homeless man. Well I have 3 scenes written but all on the first idea... now I just have to delve in, re-dissect it and add and subtract accordingly. Oh joy...

A play...

So everyone, I might be shifting gears. Ever since i started this class which focuses on plays, and actually it's crossed my mind a few times before then I have been playing with the idea to make my story a play. I was encouraged more along these lines when talking to my Mom who said I should be a playwright or screenwriter because I write great dialogue. I was also inspired yesterday when I learned my professor for my awesome summer class has a play opening in Boston this week. And upon further review he is actually a very important up and coming playwright.
I am also having more ideas and think I know how to write it as a play. Though instaed of spanning her whole life I would have it only as Sarah as a little girl and have 4 characters this way it's be easy to produce... the wheels are spinning...

STuck

I have to admit I haven't looked at my actual writing in a few days. The details and research kind of have me scared. I think I just need a good organization method. I need more notes perhaps. I think I'll claim a notebook and a folder/drawer just for this project. i think I'll continue to write entries for my book but there more info I have about the period and the environment Sarah would have grown up in the more realistic and affective my writing will be. This is based on a true story, so it needs to be accurate...

http://reviews.ebay.com/1950s-Dick-and-Jane-Basic-Readers-A-Reference-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000002149580


I meant to post that in my last entry. It's reviews on the readers from the 50's.

I'm not quite sure how to continue with my book at this point. I know I need to do research. but how much and how do I know what I need to research? I'm not sure. Also, what is the best way to keep track of my storyline and facts that i will need to have secure. For instance, names, dates, things of that sort. I feel like I need to stop, step back and take inventory, what do i already have, what do i need and what doesn't fit... man I'll never get this thing written...

50's Readers

Found some info on what they were reading in the 50's. Man am I glad I wasn't a kid then.


Thanks Mom for putting me in the right direction!

Class

Had my first class of my Summer's English class. It's studying dramatic literature and my professor is awesome. I was told he is inspiring and I can see why. Even his syllabus is full of writing to be envious of. he is witty, sarcastic and best of all, passionate. It'll be a lot of work, for instance i have to read Sophocles' "Oedipus" by Thursday. Well re-read it since I read it n high school, but I want to read it again, I think I'll get more out of it!
I think this class is just what I need to encourage me to keep up with my writing.
Here's to 6 weeks of reading lots of plays!!!

Research

So, as I sit at my desk job, that I have 5 days a week, 4 hours at a time, writing a bit here and there. I realize I am a bit disheveled. I have a good grasp on my character from filling out a character analysis the other day, that I found online. However I do not have a good grasp on the decade it takes place in. Now my book actually spans a good 70 years. But the meat of the story and where we really get to know the main character all take place in the 50's. It starts with the character (Sarah) as an 8 year old girl in 1953. Now, I have her birthday in May, and I was going to start her in the 4th grade at age 9 in September of '53. However, what books are they reading? No idea.
I think before I continue writing myself into a hole, I'm going to get some research on the time period, see what major events could effect my character's life, and ask a few resources I have that would know better than I.
Creating another world is a lot of work, especially when it has to be so long. And my style of writing I'm using for this book (journal entries) does not make it any easier...

First Post

Okay. So, at the beginning of this year I began a writing project. My goal is to make it a published book, a successful one would be nice. Now I will not be posting my full story on this blog, as I would like to keep it my own. However I will jot down my process. Perhaps some problems I am having and most importantly hopefully this will keep me on track.
Comments and encouragement and advice welcome. If I slack off, feel free to urge me on, but be nice, I am sensitive.

Here we go!

Brief description of how I am writing this book.
The story is told by the main character thorugh her journal. It starts when she is 8 years old and goes through out her life. The journals are being read by the main character's daughter after her mother's funeral. the daughter learns about her Mother's life through these journals and follows her mother's journey.
I have skipped around in years, I have a rough ending, but have a lot to fill in.

Current number of pages: 20 (Word doc, single spaced)
Brief outline and character analysis done.
Goal for today: To get 5 journal entries done and bring the girl to 16. Current age is 12-13.