Please Pray

Hey guys! I know I posted before today, but I wanted to ask you to pray for my best friend, Anna's, grandfather. Something is really wrong with his brain and they don't know if he'll live. Anna doesn't blog much anymore, but you can find her at God's Girl. Thank you so much! I appreciate it! Anna and I have been best friends for awhile. I thank God for giving me her.

 There are times my world is crumbling
And the rain is crashing down
But everywhere you are, the sun comes out

Even when you're gone I feel you close
Always be the one I love the most...
In my heart, on my mind, you are underneath my skin
And anywhere, anytime, that you need anything,
Count me in

I'm dedicating this song to Anna. Thank you for your prayers!

I'm Back!

Hello! I am BACK from Super Summer, one of the best camps of all. It was amazing. But just a sec, I'll get into details in a minute.

Before anything else, I want to thank my dear blogging friends for posting on my blog!  You are awesome! Jessica and TW, I love you guys! You're both talented writers and great friends. I am honored to have you guest post on my blog:) As my first guest posters, you were wonderful. Scroll down to look at the guest posts that these amazing girls wrote.

Since I'm back, my dear readers, you're stuck with me then. Vacation ended. Sorry about that. Now I'm going to talk to you about Super Summer. This year, the theme was the 10/40 window, the part of the world with the most unreached people groups. And, like last year, it was unbelievable.

This was my second year doing it. I expected to make friends, worship so good it's crazy, and to get close to God. I did all of those things... and much more.

Things I learned at Super Summer:

• Whenever the Bible says "Therefore", it means, "before that." For example, in the Great Commission, Jesus says, "There, go to nations... etc." Right before that he said something that, "The world has been given to me."  See the connection? The actual verse says, "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore..."
• Though our 'dean' of our 'school' didn't address the subject of dating often, he did say that if you're dating someone without marriage as a goal, most likely, you're dating someone else's husband or wife.
• In my Women of Influence class, our teacher told us that in the culture, women in submission is seen as wrong and weak. However, our Lord, Jesus, submitted to the Father and he was still fully God.
• This is probably the most life-changing thing I learned. Explaining the Gospel is NOT hard. My mother's side of the family are mostly non-Christians. I always thought that if I tried to explain to them, I'd say it the wrong way. But as I learned last week, it's not difficult. Because really, God made it simple.

Here's a cool story. Since the theme was the 10/40 window, they naturally encouraged us to think about going to the window. Super Summer took place at Greenville College and some of the students were there for summer school. My pastor encouraged his students at Super Summer to witness to the Greenville students. One shared the Gospel with a Chinese student who lives in the 10/40 widow and had never heard the name of Jesus. God will bring those people to you if you open up your heart to it.

Though I great miss all my friends, I'm glad to be back. When you're a writer, it's extremely difficult when you have an idea for a blog post and can't post it! But I took a break for electric devices. That was nice.

Stay tune for most posts! It's good to be back!

Guest Post: Learning to Remember the Small Things

Hey, it's Jessica again!

  I thought that sense it had been a good couple of days that I better post again.  How are you lovely people doing?  I am preparing for a very busy summer.  I'm going with a friend tomorrow, then on Sunday I leave until Wednesday, then the next Monday I'm going to camp!  Add summer school, helping with VBS and enjoying summer in general, I'm a very busy gal! =)  I hope all of ya'll's summer is going good.  With this in mind I decided my topic should be about how to make sure we don't forget very important things in the middle of all the chaos of normal life.

     It is so easy to overlook the little, but very important things.  Sure, even when we are super busy, we remember to eat, and finish that last homework assignment, and to go to church.  But how often do we remember to slow down and play a board game with a little sibling?  Or go outside for a walk to pray and take pictures?  Or write that letter to a pen pal which has been sitting on your desk for (days, weeks, months)?  Sure the important things are important, and I'm certainly not saying to not do those things, but sometimes we do things that really don't need to be done.  For me, this is wasting time online.  I'm addicted, I admit.  But I'm slowly learning that yes, while keeping a blog is fun and amazing, and I love it, I don't need to spend every free minute on it.  Facebook will be fine without me.  My phone doesn't always need to be within arm's reach.

     Sometimes we just need to take a step back and think about what we spend our time on.  The internet?  On the phone?  Even writing?  These are all good things, but in moderation.  What if I spend 1/2 the amount of time on the internet, and I started cooking more.  What if I cleared up my time at night so I could do school then and save the afternoon for photography and playing games?  And sometime we don't even need to change our schedule.  Maybe you aren't busy enough.  Take up a new hobby.  Learn a new skill.  Spend some time with your siblings.

   Sometimes our lives get into ruts because we do the same thing over and over.  Take a minute, step back, and look around.  Is your mom stressed because of all the work on her shoulders?  Take some of it for her.  Is your brother grumpy because no one will play with him?  Take the time to go to his level and do something together.  

We don't need to make changes in big ways.  Small things matter too. 

And you might just find out in the end that those things that seemed small may have in fact been the truly big things.

~Jessica <3

Guest Post: Advocate for Orphans

Hey! I’m TW Wright, or Abrielle Lindsay, whichever you would like to call me is absolutely fine! =)

I am a writer and I usually live in Papua, Indonesia (NOT PNG). I blog at a bunch of different places, but the most frequent place is my blog Indonesia Around Me. I have five siblings and a dog (though my girlie is still in Papua). Another little thing about me is that I want to help orphans.

So this is what my post is going to be about. Orphans.

I’ve been reading a blog called Teens Interceding for Orphans—but for short we just call it TIO—for several months and have been inspired to help orphans.

Leah Good, author of TIO, gave me a book called Silent Tears. I read it and was intrigued from the very start. I learned a lot about orphans from that book.

After I finished Silent Tears, Leah had a guest post on her blog. Actually, she had three. But all about the same thing.

A 14 year old homeschooled girl helped two little boys find a home.

As soon as I finished the articles, I knew that I should do something too.

And I still plan to. I’m going to. And I’m going to do it soon. Real soon.

But that’s not the only thing I’m saying.

I’m saying that YOU can do something as well. You can find a child that needs a home and post about that child on your blog. You can advocate for that child.

We may be teens, but we can do big things for God.

I encourage you to read McKennaugh’s posts about how she helped find Viktor and Yuri a home.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Thank you Sarah for letting me post! =)

~TW Wright (or Abrielle Lindsay)~

Guest Post: Funny

Hey Guys!

My name is Jessica and I blog over at (Almost) Perfectly Pink: http://homeschooledauthor.blogspot.com/

 I couldn't decided for the life of me what to blog about.  I wrote about 3 blogs posts but they always turned into something that I thought I better save for my own blog.  So finally I decided to tell some jokes and post something funny.  After all, who doesn't like a good laugh and hopefully I will have something a little more creative next time.  Sarah told me that I could post as much as I liked, but it probably only be a couple of times.  I don't know if any other guest posters are scheduled, so if you plan on doing a guest post, can you comment so that I know and that I don't interupt your posting schedule.  Thanks. =)

  Alright, and now for the posts.  I hope you enjoy. =)

      My husband and I had just finished tucking our 5 young ones into bed one evening when we heard sobbing coming from 3-year-old Billy's room.  Rushing to his side, we found him crying hysterically.  He had accidentally swallowed a penny and was sure he was going to die.  No amount of talking could change his mind.  Desperate to calm him, my husband palmed a penny that he happened to have in his pocket and pretended to pull if from Billy's ear.  Billy was delighted.  In a flash, he snatched it from my husband's hand, swallowed in and demanded cheerfully, "Do it again, Dad!"

       After fifty years of wondering why he didn't look like his younger sister or brother, the man finally got up the courage to ask his mother if he was adopted.  "Yes, you were, son."  His mother said as she started to cry.  "But it didn't work out and they brought you back."

 

  "Doctor, I think my wife is getting hard of hearing."

  "I'll have my nurse make an appointment for her, but in the meantime, there's a simple, informal test to can run to give us an idea of how bad the problem is.  Start out about 40 feet from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone say something and see if she hears you.  If not, go to 30 feet, 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

    That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he is in the living room.  In a normal tone he asks, "Honey, what's for supper?"

     No response.

     So the husband moves to the other end of the room and repeats, "Honey, what's for supper?"

     Still no response.

     Next he moves into the dining room.  "Honey, what's for supper?"

     No response, so he walks to the kitchen door and repeats his question.  Finally, after still no response, he walks right up behind her and asks, 

    "Honey, what's for supper?"

    "For the fifth time, Harry, CHICKEN!"

 

  I was pondering a baseball.  I was wondering, "Why is it getting bigger and bigger?"  

    Then it hit me.

 

I hope you liked them!

In Christ, 

   Jessica Joy <3

    

Defying Gravity (and An Announcement)

Hello peoples! A quick announcement is in order. This week, I've been volunteering as a song leader for a choir camp held at a Baptist church! Today is the big musical. That's why I haven't been posting. Sorry about that.

Monday, I will be on my way to Greenvile College where Super Summer is held! It's this AWESOME camp where you focus on Jesus and I'm so excited. I won't be back till this Saturday. So I'm handing off my blog to some friends of mine. By the way, if you were interested in guest posting, please email me by tomorrow so I can send you an invitation! I'm thrilled to have my friends guest post and I will be back soon.

 I had to share this song. It's from the Broadway Musical "WICKED" and it's by the extremely talented Idina Menzel, voice of Elsa. The funny thing is, this song reminds me of "Let it Go" in so many ways. I love it so much!

I'm through accepting limits
'Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!

See you soon!

 

The Little Memories (a Father's Day Post)

Okay, so this weekend is Father's Day weekend.  Of course, I was mistaken and thought that Father's Day was next weekend. So as one of my late presents, I'm writing a post dedicated to my dad, who deserves much more than this.

Truly, there are countless things I could write about my dad. But today, I decided to write about little things because little things can often be more thoughtful than the big things. Sometimes we overlook the little things.

My dad is a Little League coach. He's been coaching since my brother was very young. Since then, our whole family have a strong love for baseball that will never leave us. In fact, one of my most favorite times of the year is Little League season.

Just recently, I was sitting at the top bleacher like I usually do, watching the game. This particular game was very completive. During the time my team was on defense, I heard many fans from the other side yelling things like, "Step into the pitch!" It was definitely a tedious game and I was nervous. Through it all though, I heard my dad yelling to his players, "Play catch!" in a relaxed tone. It was funny, but at the same time, I marveled. Because while I was uptight, wondering if this guy was going to get a hit, Dad just focused on something simple.

Dad is my math teacher for three semesters, at least. Because of him, I don't see math as something too hard and boring. He makes math fun. We even have an original math handshake that we do after class, in the order of operations. Sometimes, afterwards, we talk about the events of the day. I share what's on my mind and he tells me of who he talked to about Jesus that day. We laugh and tell our thoughts. Though we won't be doing math next semester, I will always treasure the memories of us together, at the table, at nine o'clock, talking.

Dad is a Christian. I've had the pleasure of meeting many strong Christians in my life time, but no one speaks to me like my dad does. My earliest memories of him are the nights when he'd call us all into the living room and do Bible study. We would sing a song and learn God's word. Explaining to us about God's word, he gave me a deeper understanding of the Bible.

He and my mom work together as a team, homeschooling us. They keep each other calm when they need it most. Of course, they're not perfect, but they're always willing to work through it, no matter what. Dad's not perfect, but I love him even more for that. Amazingly, he shows me that everyone will mess up, but God can forgive any mess that we make.

Just last night, we were in the backyard roasting marshmallows. Because of the weird happenings of the day, I was stressed out. Dad asked me if I wanted to dance under the stars. At first, we slowed danced and he whispered a original song in my ear. (My dad is quite the songwriter. I knew he was feeling creative that night because the song had more than two sentences) Then, he sang a crazy song, doing weird dances and making me laugh, like always. It was small, but I loved it all the same. That's what I love about my dad. He makes me realize that the little things are often the best memories.

I messed up a lot too, but no matter how disobedient I am, Dad and I always make up. He is a writer as well and encourages me in my writing, always wanting what's best for me. I love Jesus for putting me together with such an God-fearing, merciful and awesome dad. He makes me laugh even when I'm mad at him. He's sociable, loving to meet new people and share Jesus to them. Above all, he has helped me through my walk with the Lord. I hope we can make many more memories together, but I know I will never forget what we have already made.

Writing: A Gift

A few years ago, I wrote my first book. I say that because it was my first story over 100 pages and it was the best book I'd written yet, which isn't saying much. Also, it was one of the first modern day stories I'd ever written. Before that, I was writing fairytales. The story opened up much more ideas and possibilities to me.

The theme of it was forgiveness. I'd always seen forgiveness as one of the most beautiful things on earth. Forgiveness could bring peace, melt anger, and make the most unlikely of friendships. Jesus had forgiven me and that helped me see the beauty of forgiveness.

Soon afterwards, I wrote another book. For some odd reason, the central idea revolved around forgiveness. Even now, most of my books have something to with forgiveness one way or another. Of course, that's not a bad thing. One day,  my best friend, who I read all my stories to, asked, "Why are all of your stories about forgiveness?"

I really didn't have an answer to that. To be honest, I hadn't given it much thought. I simply thought forgiveness was amazing and I liked to write about amazing things. Back then, I didn't realize the main reason I write about the subject. Now I do.

Because I struggle with it, a lot. Though I see it as a great thing, often times I can't do it.Why? Other than I'm sinner, negative words are easily remembered and extremely hard to forget, if that's even possible. It's probably the worst thing about negative words.

Memories haunt me. Hurtful words come back to me at the worst of times. Not only that, but I lied. I tell people I forgive them and act like it's okay, when I secretly can't bring myself to do it.  That hindered me from succeeding to forgive. It was only recently when I realized the true reason why I always wrote about forgiveness. Because especially then, I was still trying to forgive.

And the sad thing is, I still am sometimes.

But God gives me forgiveness. He gives me grace and mercy, despite my many sins and mess-ups. It's why he gave me writing, to show me the beauty of forgiveness, to teach me how to forgive.

I couldn't be more grateful to Him because of that. To me, writing is more than a hobby, job, or even a lifestyle. Truly, it's a gift, not a talent. It's a gift from God.

So tell me, how is a writing a gift to you?

Guest Posters, anyone?

Hi! For the next few weeks, Ellie and I have camps and will be very busy. So I was wondering... would anyone like to do a guest post? You can post about anything you want. (music, hobbies, writing, or just stuff about you) We would appreciate it! Comment below if you're interested!

Warm hugs for all,
Sarah and Bernie

Sunflower Award:)

Bernie and I were nominated by His Princess at Growin' Up Country for the Sunflower Award! Thanks His Princess! Be sure to check out her blog:)

1. Favorite book?
Right now it's  The Mark of Athena by Rick Riodarn, but of all time it's The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins.
2. If you could play any character in any book or movie who would you be?
Hmm... probably Tauriel in the Hobbit 2. She's not my favorite character, but I'd get to be beside Leoglas!
3. Most disliked Hollywood figure?
Most Hollywood figures I pity more than I dislike, but probably Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga. The reason why is they do weird things for no reason other than to draw attention to themselves.
4. Pit fire or BBQ?
BBQ, although I'm not sure I understand the difference... lol.
5. Least favorite school subject?
I like all my subjects,  but I would have to say Phonics from first and second grade. That was awful.
6. What time is it?
11:11, lol.
7. If you had five minutes to get out of your house before it collapsed, what three things would you grab?
My flash drive, my books, and my music.
8. Sweet tea or lemon aid?
I love both, but I would have to say sweet tea. McDonalds makes really good tea:)
9. Favorite Summer food?
Ice Cream, though I call that an all year around food.

Here are my questions:
1. What song makes you want to punch the radio because you hate it so much?
2. What is your pet peeve?
3. Frozen or Tangled?
4. Favorite character from a story you've written?
5. Elves, hobbits, or dwarfs? (Hopefully, the answer is obvious)
6. Favorite animated movie?
7. Celebrity you would most like to meet?
8. Favorite Psalm?
9. In your opinion, what is your least favorite movie based on a book?

I nominate:
Elisabeth Sullivan from  Reflections of the Heart
Maddie Jay from The Wonderful World of My Life
 Natasha from Savoring Each Moment
Julia from Running Through the Stars
Mary from Mary's Moments
Bernie from Uniquely You
Rachel from You and I
TW Wright from Indonesia around Me
Anna from God's Girl

Sorry, I can't think of anyone else to nominate.  Thanks again, His Princeness for nominating us!:) Ellie's answers will probably come in her blog.

In Christ,
Sarah

Sticking to Your Story

Have this ever happened to you?

You're going on with life as it is and suddenly... bam! This amazing, wonderful story idea comes to you! If you're an writer, this is one of the best feelings: Getting a story idea you love! The feeling of excitement bubbles inside of you. So you brainstorm. And you write.

At first, it's great. Since you love the story, everything flows. Naturally, it comes from your brain to paper. A few chapters into your masterpiece, that's when it begins. It's probably the most common cause of story death.

The fire from the excitement of a new idea starts to go out. Three or four chapters into it, you stop writing. There might be no other cause, expect the fresh feeling isn't there anymore.

No author can deny writing a first draft is a hard thing to do. You have to come up with ideas, worry about the length, all while trying to stay true to the basic writing rules. Show, don't tell, etc.

When you think about it, what keeps the story alive in your brain? What makes you push through in the long hours of writing time?

Motivation.

If you just sat there and let the fire go out, it's not going to hesitate to fade. That's why you have to keep yourself motivated. It is difficult, I know, especially when you really want to get to the exciting part. Sometimes, actually writing is a piece of cake compared to actually completing your first draft.

Do what you have to do to keep yourself motivated. Use the best parts that you haven't gotten to yet. Remember, if you don't write, you're never going to get the scenes you want to write. That's what motivated me during my many first draft writing sessions.

Create a Pinterest board, or look at an old board you made. I recently got Pinterest and it's helping me consider the outward appearance of characters. Too often, I would forget about that.

 My personal favorite is making a  music playlist! It's easy to do on Spotify, plus free. Just think of songs that would go perfectly in your book's soundtrack. Listen to the song. Picture the scene in your head. This is seriously fun!

This might be the most important. Eliminate all distractions. Translation: Turn off the Internet. I can't count how many minutes I've wasted on Pinterest, or Instagram, or even my blog, when I could have been writing. What is more worth it in the end? Writing or checking social networks? I need to think of that question. Reward yourself when you're done writing.

It's more painful when you're really into the story and the flame starts to go out again. Take a break. Work on another story. I have been taking a break with my most recent book to get some fresh air. If all else fails, consider the time. It might not be the right time to write the story. That's what I'm thinking about right now.

Relax. Writing is fun, not stressful. It's a time to express your feelings, your words. Don't sweat. Remember, this is your first draft. It's going to be far from perfect, but it's worth it. It shapes your voice, helps you grow, even if you don't publish it. Stick to your story! I wish you the best of luck.

When you write a story, what's a few ways you stay motivated? Do you think about music while you write or picture songs going on with your story? What songs? Comment!

Happy summer!

Monday Minutes Challenge

Here's my entry for the Monday Minutes Challenge! I'm starting with the sentence: Everyone told me not to blame myself, but I knew, deep down, I could have prevented it. 181 words.

It wasn’t my fault.

Jenny told me so. And the doctors. Plus, Coral’s grandparents.  I wasn’t the one driving. It was pitch black out there, not to mention her lights had been going out. There was nothing I could have done.

Their assurance didn’t make me feel better. Even if I did believe it, I still would’ve felt hopeless, like I was being sucked into a black pit. My parents said it’ll be hard. The first days would be like this. But I will get better. Someday.

I should believe them when they told me I wasn’t to blame, that I would get better. After all, I always trusted them.  Before this, I hated being sad. Now that’s all I am. Just when I think I can convince myself that it wasn’t my fault, a voice inside reminds me of the truth. It’s three little words, yet it echoes in my mind.

“They don’t know.”

 Nothing matters once I hear that. Nothing ever will. Everyone told me not to blame myself, but I knew, deep down, I could have prevented it.

 

Thanks for reading!

In Christ,

Sarah

The Mark of Athena (review)

I must admit, I wasn't too excited to read The Mark of Athena after finding out something about The House of Hades (the next book), but it surprised me.

Title: The Mark of Athena, book 3 in the Heroes of Olympus series.

Author: Rich Riordan

Genre: YA Fiction, Action, Roman/Greek mythology

Plot: Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can’t blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon masthead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving demand: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader, but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side.

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare.... (taken from Goodreads)

What I liked:
Getting to see the seven demigods together was an interesting experience. They didn't click perfectly. At times, they fought over stupid things. In the end, though, they learned to trust each other, despite their many differences. I loved how the author made each one of their powers unique and special. Working their powers together made it more effective.

Annabeth and Percy were great. This was the first time I saw them together as a couple. Okay, they weren't perfect and they got too touchy. Unlike the other couples in the book though, I knew without a doubt that were in love and would do anything for each other. Even though they weren't alike, I saw how that made them an even better match. Nothing was forceful either. It all came naturally. Percy talked about wanting to get married and start a family with her, a manly thing to do. He never forced anything with her or tried to speed things up. Still, he wanted her. Their love wasn't influenced by getting physical.

The ending was frustrating, but it was very sweet. Everyone sacerficed themselves for each other. Annabeth's perspective was featured in this story, which was awesome.

What could've been better:
Other than Percy and Annabeth, the romances got in the way of things. The small bit of the love triangle annoyed me because a few characters weren't focusing on the main, more important problem. Instead, some of the conflict wouldn't have happened if they stopped worrying about whether their crush liked them or the other guy. It was like, "Wrong time, people!"

Piper and Jason were... okay. I didn't buy Hazel and Frank. Of course, I liked who they were as individual people, but not so much as couples because it just didn't seem like they were in love. The thing was, Leo had feelings with Hazel, who was dating Frank. Frank was obviously jealous of him, but we never got to see Hazel's side of the story since she wasn't one of the four perspectives.

This problem wasn't as bad as it was in other books in the series, but the perspectives weren't unique. Most of them sounded the same. I could tell when Leo was talking but the rest of them didn't have enough originality. I remember Jason sounding a lot like Percy in The Lost Hero. This book was narrated by four very different people. So it wasn't that bad, but it sounded the same at times.

Annabeth and Percy did accidently fall asleep together. They were talking in the middle of the night and fell asleep cuddling, not laying down. That was unnessscary, but they somewhat got punished afterwards. It didn't have to be included.

Content: Quite a few kisses and violence. Plus, the thing I mentioned in the paragraph above.

Conclusion: I liked the Mark of Athena a lot more than I though I would. It was exciting, never boring, and had good messages about teamwork and frienship. The sexual content got out of hand, but that was as bad as things got. Still, I don't see how this is better than the Percy Jackson series, which was cleaner. 

I have to talk to my dad about reading The House of Hades, but hopefully, I will read it. Though the series does not live up to the awesomeness of the series before it, I have to say it's a great series.

THANK YOU!!!)

I just want to do a quick post to thank everyone who has done the Warm Hugs tag! I'm so glad you guys like my idea. I love reading your answers and seeing who you tag. Every time I see someone do the Warm Hugs Tag, I get really excited. This is so awesome!;)

So whether you were tagged by me or someone else, THANK YOU! You have made my day and week! It's okay to use the picture. Maybe, if you have time, link it back to my blog, but it's totally fine. Also, I want to thank Olaf. I have to admit, when I saw the guy that played him being interviewed on Disney Channel, I thought, "Oh great. Another babyish thing that Disney expects us to like." But then, I watched Frozen and it was like, "OH MY GOSH! HE IS THE CUTEST THING EVER!"

So once again, thank you!

Warm hugs for all,
Sarah

Writing Struggles: Part 1

I decided to take a break from Monday Minutes Challenge. The reason is because I'm juggling myself between a lot of ideas right now. So I decided to write a post about my writing struggles.

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I'm a planner. A lot of people I know aren't, but I am. Usually,  I know everything about the characters and their relationships with others before I start writing. Knowing how it's going to end is a priority before I start a book. Once I got most of it plotted out in my head, I start plotting the next book. And the next. Yes, I am definately a planner.

You might think that makes the job easier. Sometimes it does, but there's always a catch. My stories must be character driven. While I plot, I focus too much on my characters and forget my conflict details. This was a sci-fi novel, the first one I attempted. So the conflict wasn't like others I'd written.

 With my newest story, I knew the characters like I knew my best friends. I started the first draft and I adored my characters. But there were conflict details I just couldn't figure out. Reluctantly, I put it away and started on a  new story. That didn't work out too well. The sci-fi story came back and realized I had to go back to my other story. Being a planner, I couldn't do that until I knew exactly what the conflict was.

In the midst of my problem, a friend and I had a long, detailed conversation about Jane Austen. (Yes, I'm a nerd) She told me how Jane Austen wrote her books in letters as a first draft. Then she wrote them in a book!

Light bulb! I've enjoyed writing letters anyway. Later, I wrote a letter in my main character's perspective, explaining everything that happened in my book. Since it wasn't going to be published, I didn't have to worry about wording or errors. As long as it made sense, it was fine.

Once I finished that, I started my book again. I kept some scenes from my original draft, but most of it was new stuff. I'm 21,000's into the thing. It needs help, believe me. But this time, I know what's going on. I know what's going to happen. For a planner, that's a great feeling.

 Are you a planner or a pantser? What are your writing struggles? When they get in the way of things, what do you do about them! Post a comment below! I'd love to hear them!