G is for Great Lines

The thing I love about books (and movies) is that there is some of the most brilliant dialogue ever. Want proof?



And if you like the movie, The Princess Bride is an awesome book, too.

F is for Funnies

E is for Edits

D is for Details

Photo by Sylvia Duckworth (cc)

A spiders web begins with a frame. It works, creating the structure as it goes along, but it knows what will strengthen it is the detail.

It travels round and round. Spinning it's thread into the image it needs, but knowing the truth can't be seen until the end.

But it still works. detail after detail. If it falters, it doesn't give up. It rests and returns to work.

We spin our story in the knowledge that it could fall apart at any moment, but we work. We push on with the fine thread of our plot, layering it with the detail we need. Until the day we step back and (hopefully) reveal something beautiful.

The structure holds it together, but it's all in the details that catch the reader in our story webs.

C is for CPs

There was a time when my world was dark. I wrote, I read, but I couldn't see.

The words tumbled onto the page, but didn't always like what they'd become. They wanted to be heard. They wanted to take wings and fly. But they couldn't do it alone.

Neither could I.

One day an email came and my words were discovered.
My new friend saw a spark, something she believed in. I knew. My words knew.

With her friendship, support and general awesomeness, I grew (and continue to grow) in ways I never could have imagined. I am stronger because she believes in me.
Then we met other friends. We were introduced to other words who wanted to be nurtured, shaped, loved. We wanted to grow. We wanted to share. We wanted to be better. And we knew we could do it together.

Now my world is full of light. I write and I read. The darkness may cast its shadow, but I know where my light is to guide me: the girls from Operation Awesome and Renae.

My friends. My rocks. My lights.

My critique partners.

<3

B is for Believing

    Every time a child says, "I don't believe in fairies," there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.

Children have an amazing ability to believe. They read Dumbo and believe he can fly. That there are mermaids living under the sea. That animals can talk. And if you wish on a star your dreams come true. 

Then children grow up. 

We know an elephant can't really fly. We don't believe in magic, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny or Santa. We learn to look for the logical explanation behind something we don't understand. Sometimes we even stop believing in our own dreams.

As a writer, I like to think the only thing that can hold us back is the ability to believe. I need to believe in the words I weave, the worlds I create, and the characters who live there. Because (even though I know they aren't real) I have to believe in my characters. If I don't why would a reader? 

And maybe, when I write, I'm still that child who believes. 

So I'll clap for the fairies... just in case. 

A is for Adventures!

Today is the start of the Blogging From A-Z Challenge 2011.

When you are young you can't go many places without your parents. Sure, there is the moment you climb on some shoes, unlock the door and toddle off down the drive with an apple in your hand,* but most adventures are out of reach.

Except in books.

This is where our first adventures begin. We play hide and seek with Spot.

We can travel Around The World In Eighty Days.

Live in the jungle with Tarzan.

Or visit Moomin Valley.

As we grow up, our books grow with us. We travel, learn about the world. What we read can become a way to learn or escape.

A book can take you on an adventure anywhere you want to go. You just need to open the cover to begin.

Where will you go today when you read?

*Yes that was me. My mum tells me I was found at the end of the road by our neighbour, brought home and a deadbolt was put on the door. It did not stop my adventures, but that's another story :)

P.S. It is also Mystery Agent Contest day over on Operation Awesome.