GUYS
WE'VE MOVED!
Make sure to continue to follow over at dawndaggerblog.wordpress.com
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
RANT: James Patterson and Writing Girls
Alright, so James Patterson (Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Confessions) is one of my favorite
authors, but his female main characters sorta make me mad sometimes.
Okay! So some girls are whiny, some are sporty, some are sarcastic, some are strong, and some are derps. Well, ALL of Patterson’s main girls are strong, sarcastic, hard, and not-boy crazy. Yes, I understand he’s trying to write to where the guys can read it as well (*cough*messeduponthesecondhalfofMaximumRidethereman*cough*), but their personalities are all the same!
So, I’m not one of those omg he’s such a jerk girls who rip the Nintendo guy’s head off for saying “girls are like cats. They talk to you, great. You talk to them, disaster.” (I mean, it’s true), but I will say that having all his main female characters the same is a little frustrating.
Like, I only know two people who have the same personality as them. You can have a girly or guy crazy girl and guys will still enjoy it. *Grabs brother* I have scientific evidence!
So, yeah. If you’re writing about girls, have their personalities different. Have the main characters different. Like, I have a quiet girl, an over enthusiastic girl, and an introvert. All different.
I am in no way saying “ACK DONT READ JAMES PATTSFON HESA MEANIEZ!” I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, he needs to get different main characters.
Do you want to see more posts from me? Make sure you follow my blog! Any questions or comments? Drop one below!
Love you!
Dawn Dagger
Song of the Day: Be My Escape by Relient K
Make sure you follow Jaylee Morgan for awesome blogs too!
Problems When Writing a Book and Solutions for Said Problems
We’ve all faced it. You sit down with your mechanical pencil, your notebook paper, and your comfort food. Maybe some music. Or coffee. Or a cat. Anyways! You sit down and-- Writer’s block. Well, how about we discuss a couple different problems when writing a book? YAY!
WHY ARE ALL THE CHARACTERS THE SAME?!
So, when you’re writing a book you don’t always catch the things you do when reading a book (sentences that really don’t need to exist, punctuation, that one thing you mentioned and later never
developed), and one of those things might just be what I found out recently.
 |
| Grace from Shadow |
Your characters are all the same.
Suuuuuuuure they have different names and personalities, but eventually you will find they have lots of similarities! (And then you’ll wonder how on earth you didn’t notice that.)
For example: I have a book called I am Ombre; Shadow (I am taking beta readers btw). It has a couple main and main side characters: Ombre, Grace, Scorch, Crimson, May, Albert, Holly, Keiko, Vivian, Vesuvia.
Only recently did I realize that most of them have curly hair. How did that even happen?!
Ombre, Crimson, Scorch, May, Vivian, and Vesuvia all have naturally curly hair, and Grace got hers permed. REALLY, DAWN?! How the heck did that even happen?!
 |
| Jess from Operation; Sweets |
Another one is their past. Ombre, Grace, Scorch, and Crimson (the latter two are brothers, FYI) ALL lived with their dad while mom was away/dead/not around. Like, their dads were different, granted, but STILL.
I mean, c’mon. I even have great advice from Cinda Chima Williams (The Warrior Heir, The Seven Realms Chronicals) to make a ‘Character Bible’. Said CB has a description of the character, name, and book- that way you keep them organized. (I now have an urge to see just how many characters have darn curly hair all-in-all…) Somehow, they still turned out a bit similar.
How do I keep repeating things?!
Another things I’ve noticed is that some things are often repeated in my stories. Scars, aunts, the word ‘Shadow’, a female main character, an angry character, and some reference to Greek Mythology all pop up constantly in my stories.
Like- I have an aunt that got kidnapped, another aunt that took care of the kid who got kidnapped (HOLD UP, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?! I’M FREAKING OUT, THIS IS NOT OKAY MAN!!!), an aunt who is an evil queen (same story ^), and a person you find is the aunt of the orphans… and, um… an aunt owned the house (same story ^).
That’s a lot of aunts, honestly. But… it’s only 3 out of, like, 68 stories of mine (I’m sure there are more aunts). Their names are as followed (so you know they’re not the exact same): Marcella, Rae, Taurdhiel, May, and No Name.
When I was younger, every character ever had a scar. Now, I still believe they all still have a scar, just not as visible. When I was younger, there was always a scar on the eye, the face, or large on the arm. Now, not so much.
The word ‘Shadow’ keeps coming up too. Shadow Hunters, ShadowClan, etc.
All my main characters except… *checks*... 7? All my main characters except seven are girls. That’s a little tiny bit sad.
Oh! And somehow there’s ALWAYS a reference to Greek Mythology unless it’s in another world (a statue, a comparison, the person cursing like “Holy Mother of the Gods of Olympus”.)
Do y’all have that problem?
Names Are My Own Worst Enemy
Honestly! Names of anything are probably the hardest part of writing. You have to name the characters (again, where the character bible comes in handy) and not name them the same thing, you have to name streets, towns, restaurants, lands, types of people, and just about everything else.
Sometimes I’ll forget what I was writing because I was trying to name someone!
I find fantasynamegenerator.com is a FANTASTIC name place for everything from rivers to elves to flowers. They have places, Fandom related, historical and types of names, and everything else. I SERIOUSLY love that sight, and it is my best friend. (This blog has not been endorsed by them, and FantasyNameGenerator.com does not know about this message.)
I often name characters because of what the name means, or because I made it up. I named a kid that was part starfish ‘Tasman’ because he was Australian and Tasman was a sea near Australia. I named a guy ‘Gar’ because I could (later to learn it was a real name). I also am planning on naming a character ‘Shead’ because my mom accidentally spelled ‘shed’ shead.
I might’ve also stolen a list of names from my best friend… *blushes*
Too Many Stories, Not Enough Time
Ever felt like that? If you’re anything like me (I don’t know if I’m hoping you’re not or not) you know exactly what that feels like. Every stupid little thing gives you inspiration, and then you have a story idea, and you obsess over a couple stories, and then have a million ideas flying around in other places.
See a glimpse of a t-shirt of what looks like a girl spray painting a wall? Now you have a
storyline about a girl living in the slums who risks everything to brighten it up by spray painting flowers on the buildings.
 |
| I am currently working on this |
Think you grandfather needs a girlfriend? Story idea!
Want to hug a fictional character? Instead of writing fanfiction, you end up creating an entire story, and the scene of you hugging the character like that never actually gets in the story!
Have a fanfiction character you roleplayed with and then suddenly you decide you have a story? STORY!
(These are all true stories. Concrete, a story I haven’t yet started, Fear the ShadowClan, Shadow.)
And songs. ZOMG (pronounced ‘zomg’) songs! They always make me write new stories!! (Icarus by Bastille, Robot by Nate DiRuzza, World So Cold by 12 Stones.)
But you can’t write all of these amazing stories because of more amazing stories, things to do, and books to read- right? And of course the internet and school.
Here’s some help!
Here’s some solid help you won’t find in other things! (Things. Wow Dawn. You’re a great literary person who can actually do things stuff.)
- Character Bible. Write the book, the character, and a simple description of the character. Then you’ll never have to make a mistake with their first or last names, their looks, or repeating names!
Ex.
Tomas “Valpamiucon”
|
Shaggy, black hair. Dark brown eyes. Latino. Rightful heir of Solash kingdom.
|
Connie, Tomas, and Rift
|
Queen Taurdheil
|
Evil queen of the Solash kingdom. Long, red hair, burning green eyes with orange flecks.
|
Connie, Tomas, and Rift
|
Prince Ruscion
|
Dark, sly son Prince of Solash kingdom. Bright red hair. Smouldering green eyes with orange flecks.
|
Connie, Tomas, and Rift
|
Captain Rushingfall
|
Captian of Solash royal guard, Rivuborne elf. Long, black hair and brilliant, sea blue eyes.
|
Connie, Tomas, and Rift
|
- If You Have An Idea, Write it Down. I know, I hate planning out stories, but seriously, this will save your life. If you have a mysterious object, write what it is. If you hint something, scribble it down and stick it somewhere so you don’t forget and hate yourself later (like I always do).
- Read Books with a Similar Voice to that of Your Character. This has helped to no extent. If you’re having a cocky, sarcastic voiced character- read Percy Jackson, Maximum Ride, or something of the sort. If the setting is more fantasy prone, read Princess Academy, East, or something along those lines. This will help shape your voice, and also will give you some nice dialogue ideas!
I love you, and hope y’all enjoyed it! UNTIL NEXT TIME!!
Dawn Dagger
Song of the Day: Icarus by Bastille.
(Just by the way, when I say ‘today’ in any of these posts, that usually means way back when on that day. At this point it’s been a week since I’ve written this post and I haven’t updated it yet. :P)
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
RANT: The Walking Dead and it's Shipping
Alright, so, if you know me, I’m a sucker for The Walking Dead (so is my good friend, Jaylee Morgan). I have five Walking Dead posters (most of them with Daryl on it, :3), a Walking Dead Lego set, multiple Walking Dead fanfictions, and I’m still trying to get a shirt. OH! And I got this.
Well, okay. I’ve been watching Walking Dead since about season 3 came out (my parents then dragged me kicking and screaming into watching the first two episodes, and from then on I became the human embodiment of zombie obsession), and have been waiting and watching since.
Walking Dead’s priority when it comes to shipping is ALL outa whack.
I have shipped Daryl and Carol since SEASON ONE! SIX SEASONS! It’s clear they like each other! I don’t even need to have shipped Gleggie (GlennXMaggie), because it was like ‘ALRIGHT! WE’RE A COUPLE!’. I shipped Richonne (Rick and Michonne) for only a couple episodes and then suddenly-
‘WE’RE A COUPLE, THANKS FOR APPROVING CARL!’
But the ship since the beginning of the show, does that become a thing? NO. No, Carol gets kissed by a freaking recycling bin full of used and discarded toes!!! (Ehem, brother’s joke. Tobin, a bin of recycled toes.
Unless…
Unless it isn’t pronounced Toebin, and it’s pronounced TAWbin.
Um…)
Yeah, now everyone wants Toebin dead. Huffington Post calls it his ‘kiss of death’. I hope he dies soon. And then Carol will realize how much she actually loves Daryl and how she can’t live without him.
Yeah.
And about Bethyl (BethXDaryl). I can understand it, but she’s a little young compared to him (I’m one to be talking). I think their relationship was more of a sister/brother thing than a lover thing. She made Daryl feel, made him care, made him feel like he was an important and responsible human being. Daryl, in return, provided protection, and a smile, and listening ear, and someone who understood.
Yeah.
I think I’m done. ;P
The Significance of the Pomegranate in "The Well"
In this very first episode featuring The Kingdom and King Ezekiel they make a couple references to the pomegranate. When first meeting the King, Carol turns down his offer of a pomegranate because she found the seeds ‘too much trouble’. King Ezekiel mentioned the oddness of a sweet fruit surrounded by a bitter shell. At the end of the episode, Carol is in a house close to the Kingdom but not in the Kingdom when King Ezekiel visits her with a pomegranate in his hands, saying “You’ve got to try one of these”.
When he first mentioned the pomegranate and tried to get her to eat one, I was instantly put off due to Greek Mythology. In Greek Mythology, if you eat an entire pomegranate or a certain amount of seeds in the Underworld you are stuck there forever.
The pomegranate, first, symbolizes Carol. With the tough, bitter shell it represents who she sees herself as and what face she puts out. She wants everyone to think she is tough and bitter, and is convinced of it herself. But, we all know she has a soft and sweet inside that we’ve seen before (taking care of the kids, putting herself out to save her fellow group mates, etc). King Ezekiel said it was such a funny thing that the pomegranate was a sweet fruit with a bitter outside- the fruit itself symbolizes Carol.
Also, the fruit symbolizes staying, like with the Greek myths. In the very beginning, Carol wouldn’t eat the fruit. She refused. She did not want to stay in the Kingdom. But, by the end of the episode she had ‘gone and not go’, and had a house. She was staying. By King Ezekiel visiting her and saying “You’ve got to try one of these” we can infer that she eats the fruit and is staying.
I love the symbolism in the Walking Dead.
Also, King Ezekiel is the best character ever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)