Crack Down

I've been pretty lax on these dang posts. It's a little annoying. I just get so caught up in everything else that blogging disappears on me. So, I've decided a schedule. Every Tuesday and Thursday from now on, there'll be a post. Can't guarantee anything other than that. :P

Back in January I made a goal to finish the first draft of my manuscript by my birthday. Seven months later, and a month and a half to go, I'm still working on it. I'm 21k in, a lovely little feat, and finishing up the 5th chapter. So, in order to keep this goal I've got to buckle down and write around 10k each week. Definitely doable. If I can concentrate.

My inner Snape will be doing this with my imagination for the next six weeks. 

I am determined to get my first draft finished! I'll be able to join the ranks of people who've finished their MS~ And that will be amazing.

Also, have you all seen the last Harry Potter? It was worthy of sending off the best movie series I've ever seen. And once I get my copy of Deathly Hallows returned to me, I will be commemorating by reading the entire series for the undisclosed-th amount. :)

Hopefully the lot of you enjoyed it to! What other movies have you guys seen recently, or want to see that haven't come out yet? Or any must-see movie recs? I've been wanting to expand my movie knowledge.

Y is for Yuck, Youthfulness and YAY!

First off, OMG YAY THE HARRY POTTER TRAILER IS OUT. ONLY TWO MONTHS AND FIFTEEN DAYS UNTIL IT COMES OUT! I'M SO EXCITED~~~!


Now that that's over with... Majority of us are YA writers, I'm sure, and I know that one of the biggest worries that any YA writer (really, I an include MG with this too--kinda) is having a voice that is too old. You can't expect a 16 year old (or a 12 year old) to have a  24-+ year old's voice! (Just picked a random age with the last bit there.) Even those super mature, "old-souls" have moments that are completely and utterly teenaged. So, how do we achieve a MC that sounds young--and not the type of young that adults think is young.

We all remember being a teen and having our parents use general assumptions of how teens are against us. (I know mine did). I would've never read a book that sounded like that when I was in high school. We have to treat our MC's voice the way a model does their face. The younger it is, the better. (In this genre!)


Informal speech, contractions, a bunch of slang--some ways we can make our voice young, but they don't always work. How do you make your MC's voice sound like a teenager?

Also, just for my own curiosity, what are some things that when you read them, they just make you disgusted? Bodily functions? Gore? Bad spelling? Horrible grammar? Excessive swearing??