How to Stay focused With Your WIP

This post is probably going to be very similar to my 'How to avoid Plot Bunnies' post, but this is actually just... staying focused on your work. Which people (including me) have a hard time doing!

I have written one rough draft, and when I started writing the second draft, I got bored and decided to work on something else. DO NOT DO THIS PLEASE!! Your book is going to be amazing when you finish it!! You just have to hang in there until the end.

When I got bored, I started working on a new rough draft. I had been developing the main character for this book for close to two years, and because of that, I had a ton of energy going into the writing stage. I'm in chapter nine out of twelve and I still have a ton of energy to get this book like... done. Like, put up on Amazon. So here are some things I have found that have helped me stay focused on my project.

Develop Your Characters till They Seem Real!

In my project, The Power Within my main character, Georgia, is a shy introvert who doesn't want to do anything that will get her in trouble or anything at all for that matter. Me being the extrovert it was very very VERY hard to write the character without cringing and wishing that I was more introverted. So, I did what any good writer would do, I started to develop my character Georgia with the help of my best friend. We did roleplay type situations for close to two years and in the end, all I have gotten out of the character are comments like this from my writing teacher:

"You have done a really good job getting into the head of your MC. I especially like her narrative voice."

For an outgoing extrovert, this is the best comment I could have gotten on my MC and it encouraged me to keep going, which brings me to my second point,

Helpful Compliments!

Everyone always feels good when someone compliments their work. I know I do! And when I get complimented on my writing I want to keep going. I just love knowing people's reactions and I love getting that positive feedback. This isn't really helpful for you as a writer to stay focused, but I know that it will help other writers stay focused. So, take maybe thirty minutes out of your day and read a chapter of somebody's work! critique it if you want to, or just say, "This chapter was so good!!" Who knows, maybe they'll do the same thing for you. Or if you want a guarantee real read from your work, Just ask if people wanna critique swap. We're all stuck at home right now anyway, it's not like we have anywhere to be.

Pinterest Pages

Now. I love Pinterest. probably more than I should. and I have a Pinterest board for ALL of my characters, and I find that every time I end up pinning a gazillion pins to one board I get very excited about that character and just want to write about them. I'm not saying you should spend three hours on Pinterest pinning pins to a board looking for inspiration. It may work for some people more than others, but if you're one of those people that likes Pinterest, I highly suggest you do this for like five minutes sporadically throughout the day.

Playlists

I was never really a playlist person up until about a month ago, but ever since I created a playlist for my book, I enjoy writing so much more. Every time I start writing in my rough draft I open up my Spotify and press play on my playlist that I have organized. and I have found that I write better and I actually enjoy writing more when I do that.

Don't forget to take a break

Writing is exhausting. So when you find that you're having a hard time staying focused... take a break. it's okay! But just be sure that you don't take to long a break because who knows how long you'll end up not writing when you do that. 

I hope that some of these tips help you all! I'm not an expert, but I can help as best as I can

<3

Summer Workshop 101 for newbies.

Summer Workshop 101 for newbies

(advice from someone who's only gone once)

It is finally that time of year where everyone in the OYAN universe is hyping up for that one week in Olathe Kansas that teenagers from all over the world (like 300 of them) save up hundreds of dollars just to be a part of.

That's right folks. It the Summer Workshop.


^^^^
(actual footage from one Summer Workshop that I wasn't a part of.)

ANYHOO
I had the privilege of going to Summer Workshop 2019: Theme park.
It was an amazing week for me, but... there were some things that I wasn't ready for and that I wish someone had prepared me for. So I am here to help you newbies brace yourselves for what to expect.
BUT
also give you tips on what to bring and just help you out with a bunch of stuff.
So, here we go.

To those OYANers that have made friends on the forum and can't wait to see them in real life at Summer Workshop

When you make friends with people on the forum and you find out they're going to Summer Workshop, naturally, you freak out. You think, "Oh my soul!!! I am going to spend a week with all my friends from Summer Workshop!!!"
Maybe you are! Maybe you find your squad and hang out with them all week long.
But there are other people at Summer Workshop that probably want to hang out with them too, so don't feel left out when they want to hang out with someone else for the morning, or afternoon or evening.
Also, if you think that you're going to do something with someone... and they don't know about it, don't be surprised if they have something planned out with someone else.
Plan. things. out. with. people. ahead. of. time.
There isn't a lot of time to do everything you want, so make a list of things that you would like to get done before the week is over.
Another thing is, there are so many people there, you probably won't be able to meet everyone you want to because the campus is so big and again, you don't have a lot of time.
One thing I don't want to do is discourage you. If you read this and find yourself discouraged, or suddenly really scared that your plans aren't going to go your way. Don't be discouraged.
Even if you do find yourself alone at some point, find someone that looks like they're alone.
It does wonders!!
Last year I saw a guy sitting all by himself during lunch and I made it a point to reach out to him.
and you know what? He was a pretty awesome dude! We had an amazing conversation that I wouldn't have had if I didn't go up to him and talk to him.
So, if you see someone that looks alone, talk to them! Invite them to sit down with you in the cafeteria or the main auditorium, you might make a new best friend!

Summer Workshop Expectations
If you are anything like me, you are going to have a lot of expectations about how the week is going to go.
my advice?
Don't have expectations.
you don't know what you're going to expect at Summer Workshop so just don't have expectations.
I honestly thought it was going to be the best week of my life.
I had high hopes... and those hopes were crushed.
I thought I was going to hang out with my best friends all week and just have a blast with them.
But... that's not how it worked at all.
They all met up with other friends of theirs and I really didn't have a lot of time to spend with any of them.
And it was super disappointing!!!!
So yes, don't go with high hopes and expectations.

there are some things you can expect though:
1. Hugs
from everyone
2. Clapping 
(i won't specify where)
3. Random Weirdness
from OYANers and Mrs. S
4. People asking your forum name
5. Clothespins from who knows where
6. Kind Notes <33
7. Cool Cosplays
8. Kansas Heat
9. Inside Jokes
10. just general amazingness 

Sessions
Ah yes. The long, one hour sessions that happen every morning and every evening.
They. are. amazing.
When you get there you are going to get a small notebook with session titles and who is speaking.
You can't go to every session (sadly) but bring a highlighter and highlight the ones that you think would help you in your writing journey the most.
they give you a notepad so you can take notes, but bring a notebook just because ;)

Critique Groups
One of the best things about Summer Workshop is the critique groups. They run from 1:30 to 4:30 every day starting Tuesday and let me tell you. They are so. much. fun. If you think that three hours is a long time.
You are dead wrong.
When you are done every day, you are going to wish you could stay longer.
Here are just some tips for things you can do and bring to make your critique group the bomb.com
 1. Bring snacks!
Everyone loves Oreos and Hershey's kisses the most (just don't bring anything with peanuts. ever.)
2. when critiquing, say more positive things than negative things.
when you say positive things, it really encourages the writer to like their work. Yes, point out the stuff they need to fix, but make sure to compliment on it too!

Mentor appointments
Now, every year you can purchase a mentor appointment.
I say purchase, but it is completely free (while slots last)
When you get a mentor appointment you get fifteen minutes with one of the special speakers of your choice to just... ask questions.
You can ask for advice, or you can even give them an excerpt from your novel for them to read and critique.
Last year I signed up to be with Stephanie Morril, and it was amazing the stuff I learned in just fifteen minutes.
If you don't want a mentor appointment, that is fine, but I highly highly recommend you get one.


Stuff to bring
Now, I will get into the stuff that You should bring (if you want to come totally prepared)
1. Sharpies 
Bring alllllll kinds of colors. For signing your notebook, and/or drawing on other people. (super duper fun)
2. Clothespins
This is optional, but I highly recommend you pack some so you can sneak them on people.
3. pens or pencils
for taking notes.
4. extra notebook
 yes, they give you one at the beginning of the week but bring an extra one because why not.
5. Backpack or something to carry all your stuff in
It's really hard carrying your notebook, and sharpies and pens and excerpts with just your hands (that sounded bad) so bring something to carry all that stuff for you!
6. blanket, or some means to keep warm in the dorms
I don't know how it is in the boys' dorms, but the girls' dorms are generally pretty cold, and the blanket they give you isn't the thickest thing in the world, so if you want to stay warm during the night bring another blanket just in case.
7. Toiletries 
This includes shampoo, body wash, conditioner and you know all the stuff that you need when you take a shower.
8. Water bottle
The Kansas heat is merciless in June, so please please PLEASE stay hydrated. We don't want anyone passing out this year or any year.

The End
Well, that about wraps up this post for Summer Workshop.
For all you newbies that are going, I hope you enjoy yourselves, and you guys have a fantastic week
thank you for reading this long post.
leave a comment down below about what you are looking forward to the most at Summer workshop!

How to write shy and quiet characters

So, haha, I've been all over the country and haven't had any time to write, but I am here now!! And today I am going to hopefully help you how to write a shy and quiet character.

Now, I am better at the more snarky kind of characters, but I have had experience with some shy characters and here are some tips that have helped me when it comes to writing these kinds of charries.

So, one of the things I've found is that: Not all shy characters stay shy forever.

Surely this character has a friend or a relative that they are comfortable talking to, and if they don't at the beginning of their story SURELY someone has to come along to try and pull them out of their shell eventually right?! I mean, if they are super shy we, as the audience, are never gonna get to hear the voice of this character because they don't trust anyone to talk to. Now, my character Georgia is pretty shy, and when people talk to her that she has never met before, she is pretty quiet and will basically only give very short answers to their questions (if they ask her any) She won't exactly smile unless she feels comfortable, and she definitely won't start any conversations, which brings us to our second point!

Most shy characters will not start any conversations

If a shy character is approached by a person that they don't really feel comfortable with they will. not. initiate. the. conversation.
From what I've found, they like to listen more than talk so just be aware of that too. Trust me I forget this rule a lot and them people are like, "bruh, she wouldn't do that."
:D
Blushing
Blushing doesn't just come from thinking about the person you really like or love. Blushing also comes when you're embarrassed. Now, just be aware that this tip isn't just for shy characters, I just see it more often in shy characters.
If a character says something wrong or hears people laughing behind them and thinks they're laughing at them, 9 out of 10 times they'll blush without even thinking about it.

This post isn't very long but I hope it helps y'all in some ways!

How to write Rebellious Sarcastic characters

Some of my favorite characters to write are my sarcastic, witty, annoying characters that just make everyone say, "I love him/her but I hate him/her at the same time!"

These are my kind of characters. 

  

Now, every person has a character personality that they're good at writing that some aren't good at writing. Some may be good at flirtatious characters, or scared quiet characters, while others are just the opposite! In the couple years that I've been writing, I've found that it gets annoying trying to write these characters when you don't know how to express those emotions or have anyone express them to you. So, I can't write the flirty characters, but I can write rebels, and so I'm going to help you start in the right direction of writing these.

Step one: face-claim. 

If you have a good face-claim that looks and feels like a rebel, then you'll feel obligated to toss in a rebellious spirit into that character. 

You can't have a character that looks like this: 

Act like a character that should look like this:

Face claim (In my opinion) is one way to help your rebel take flight. The best part is, you can name your character literally anything and will be cool. because if you have a super sweet name, and a not-so-sweet personality, it's gonna be fantastic.

Step two: Aesthetics/quotes

If you just scroll through city aesthetics or snarky quotes it'll help you get a basis for what your character's personality will be like. 

Just a few to start out with:

(your character may not ride a motorcycle or do graffiti, but I just said it was a start)

Step three: Actually developing the character

Why read a blog post about writing a sarcastic rebellious character if you're never gonna actually write him/her?? If you have a good backstory for the character, write it out as a test run! It'll help you start out with the development phase, and if you still need help with stuff, grab a friend and have them ask the characters random questions to put the characters brain to the test. You can go on for as long as you want until you feel like your character is ready to be plugged into his/her appropriate story.

Step four: character dialogue/ facial expressions

Character dialogue and expression is VERY important with these characters because thats how you show how bratty they are when you can't see or hear them in person.

Each character has their own way of answering a question, and most of the time it depends on the character themselves, but with your now rebellious character, they should be able to answer with different attitude than most characters. 

If I were to ask my character Alex and Georgia (both from The Power Within) The question: "What is your opinion on school?" They would both give me very different answers.

Georgia would be more like, "It's... Fine? I guess???"

But ALEX on the other hand would be much more blunt with her answer which would probably something like: "Psh, it's stupid." (Her answer would be soooo much longer than that because she has a very strong opinion about it, but I gave you the short answer because I wouldn't want to bore y'all.)

If I were to ask them both that same question and tell them to only give me facial expressions to answer me, Georgia would most likely just give me a helpless look and a shrug while Alex would roll her eyes ever so dramatically and wish she could talk.

In the end, it's all up to you, but these are just some helpful pointers to get you send in the right direction. (At least I hope it was helpful :P)

Language in books and my thoughts about it

          Hey guys!! Sorry, I've been sick the last couple of weeks and I'm finally feeling up to writing again! Sorry about such a long break. 

          So I wanted to talk about language in books. I am not allowed to read books with language in them, and that gets really annoying at times because I see all these people talking about books that look super amazing and that I am legitimately interested in, and when I ask if they have language in them, I feel like 9 out of 10 times the answer is always yes.  

           This gets really old because I would love to read those books, but now I can't. 

         So, now I'm here to tell you why I don't believe language needs to be in books.

 It doesn't get your point across any better 
Have you ever heard a person swear or curse and just thought, "Why did that word even need to be in that sentence? Was it really necessary?"

you might be like, "Kate! What about this character that swears like a sailor!? It's vital to his character, he isn't the same without his swearing!!" Well, what's wrong with just saying, He swore? or replacing it with an even milder word than your using already? In my book A Case of Revenge, it has characters that swear on occasion but I don't write out swear words because I don't believe that it's relevant to the story. Some of the best selling novels like Hunger Games, Mysterious Benedict Society, and many others don't have language in them and they are some of the best books in History! (And if you haven't read those books they are excellent and I highly recommend them)

Now, I'm sure people will probably hate and probably spam me with a lot of questions on this topic because this is a tricky topic to talk about. Some people don't have a problem with writing or reading language in their books, and you know what? That's great! People are entitled to their own opinions, but are your opinions going against what God's word says? I'm glad that you can read those kinds books without having to worry about anything, but there are some people out there in the world (aka, me) who can't read books with profanity because we believe that it isn't pleasing to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." If you write language in your books do you think you are pleasing the Lord with your writing? Another good verse that is good on this topic is Ephesians 4:29 says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." 

If you do write language in your novels is it edifying your readers? Most importantly is it edifying God?

I hope y'all will think about these questions. I am going on vaction this next week so I won't be able to write for a couple weeks, but as soon as I come back I'll be sure to write something up as soon as possible!!

-Kate

Plot Bunnies. What to do When you get Them, and how to Avoid Them at all Costs.

          Now some of you may not know what I'm talking about, but plot bunnies are those cool new story ideas you get in your head while your working on the previous story idea that you had just an hour ago.

           It's an endless cycle of pain and misery and all you can think about is, "WHY CAN'T I JUST HAVE ONE STORY IDEA AND STICK WITH IT!?"
          The problem is, there is always going to be more than one story idea, you just need some self-discipline to put that idea on hold until the project you are currently working in is finished, or close to being finished. (says the person who is trying to juggle three stories at a time :') ) And if you love the idea so much that you just don't wanna forget it, have a writing journal of some kind and write down the idea's you get.
          Unfortunately, another downside to having a plot bunny is that you lose interest in your current project and think that this new idea is so much cooler! Now, it may not be that way for some people, but for the people, it does happen, and it stinks! You just gotta push yourself to finish what you have first before you go on something new. It helps to listen to music that makes you think about your WIP because music is awesome and it somehow cures everything. just kidding, but listening to music really does help!
          Another thing is Pinterest boards. If you have quotes and aesthetics for a character you'll feel like that character is the coolest thing ever, and you'll feel like you know that character more. I have a Pinterest board for every one of my characters because I feel like I know them more. Each of my characters has different aesthetics and quotes because they're all different in some way or another, and if you love a character, you'll love the story they're in. (I know from personal experience)
           Collages! I love doing collages because they're just so pleasing to see, and you get to know the character more when you make them! If you don't know what colleges are here are some ones that I have made just so you can get a feel for what they are.

          Ooooh, fun right?? Now, I use Pixlr.com to make collages on my computer, and I use an app called Pic collage on my mobile device. They both have their own pros and cons, but I personally like Pic collage more because you can add up to twenty pictures in it.
          Now, we should probably get to the "How to avoid them" part, and you basically do everything I just said. Listen to music that is related to your WIP, Pinterest, collages, and you can even draw your characters if you're good at that kind of thing.
           *hands you a sword* good luck my friend, I wish you well on your writing journey and hope that you're not totally bombarded by plot bunnies.
         

Introduction

             Now, I've never witting a blog before. I don't if I'm doing it right and I don't know if I'll be consistent with posts either, but I've wanted to give this a shot for a long time now, and now I have done it!
                 

          This post is pretty much so you can just get to know me so you're not like, "Who in the world is this crazy person and why am I here in the first place?"  My name is Kate Sinclair, I am sixteen years old and I am a missionary kid to Cameroon Africa. I have three other siblings and some wonderful parents that God has blessed me with. (My mom is the one who encouraged me to start this up after I had been debating to in the first place (thanks mom!!)) I am a Christian. I love Disney, and Dreamworks and just movies in general. I love music, especially music soundtracks and soft piano music.
            I am an aspiring author, I currently have three WIP's, maybe I'll finish them, maybe I won't. I depend on if I'm in that writing mood. and I love finding quotes and making collages for my beloved characters for those WIP's. 
            I'm going to talk about a lot of things on this blog. Mostly writing tips and advice, but I will talk about things going on in life... and other things I'll think on in the future :D
           So that is all for now!  My other posts should be longer than this, but I just wanted to say a couple of things about myself before I got into full swing!