Change of location.  Explained in the first post.

Let's travel. :)

Here you go.  This exercise is titled "Character Through Dialogue."  It is a look at a character specifically through dialogue with someone else.  There is no action, no exposition.  It's harder than you think to leave it out.  But I was pleasantly surprised with this exercise.  I learned some very interesting things about Jules.  Here, Jules is talking to Dorothy, her grandmother.  It is not the entire conversation.  I stopped writing after 10 minutes.   Timewise, this takes place during Mirror Mirror.  However, I do not plan on including it in the story.  Enjoy!

NOTICE: "This material is copyrighted, unedited raw first draft, probably buggy, possibly not even going to be in the final book. Do not quote or repost anywhere or in any format. Thanks."

Julia? It’s Nana.

Oh, hey, Nana.  I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.

I know, dear.  I was just calling to see how things are with you.  I haven’t heard from you in a while.

Sorry, Nana.  Things have been pretty busy at work, with the grant proposals due.  Plus, we’re talking about next year’s projects.

I’m sure you’ve got your hands full.  You always did like to stay busy, just like Gerald.

He wasn’t really home enough to know that.

Oh, sure he was traveling a lot for his job.  But, Julia, he never took much time to simply relax.  You’re just like him, like that.  Neither of you stop to really take a good look at where you are, you just keep pressing forward.

Nana…

Oh, I know, you don’t want  to be compared to your Gramps.  You just need to face it, dear, you’re related to him whether you like it or not, and some things just run in the family.

Whether I like it or not.  Yeah.  Listen, Nana—

Oh, I almost forgot.  Your aunt Emily called me the other day.  You know that beautiful genealogy chart Elizabeth made?  It was a few years ago, but Emily asked me to see if you wouldn’t mind letting her have it for a bit.  I know how you are about letting go of her things, dear, but she wants to see about making copies of it and giving everyone a copy.  Elizabeth made it look so beautiful, with her calligraphy.

I…I’ll look for it, Nana, just as soon as the month is over.  I need to focus on these proposals right now.  Aunt Emily will understand, I hope, but I’ll find it and bring it when I visit next.

Oh, you’re coming to see me?  Wonderful!  I haven’t seen you since…I suppose it was right after Elizabeth’s funeral.  It’ll be so good to have you home.  When are you coming, dear?  I’ll mark it on the calendar.  I want to be sure not to schedule anything.  Oh, and I’ll call your cousin and let her know, too.  Joleen has been asking about you quite a bit.  She sure seems to miss you. 

It's late, I know.  No excuse, really, since I was off from work yesterday.  Unless, getting lost in the world of Zelda counts as a good excuse...

I'll get it up as soon as possible.

I'm editing and reworking what I've written so far in Mirror Mirror, so I won't be posting anything new for a couple of snippets. If a revision is different enough to merit being reposted (which, it might be), then you may see it. But for last week and for this Friday, I'm going to post something not from my novella, but directly related to it. With help from Holly Lisle's Create a Character Clinic, I'm gotten to know Jules better. So, I'm going to post something here that I wrote for the character building exercises.

This snippet is for the exercise "Character through Exposition." The point is to describe Jules without using any dialogue or action. You get to see the larger picture of what goes on in her head. She's not a perfect woman (since a "perfect character" would require a "perfect woman" to write it, I suppose that's an inherently impossible task anyway) and she has some deeply ingrained issues as a result of past and recent traumas.

NOTICE: "This material is copyrighted, unedited raw first draft, probably buggy, possibly not even going to be in the final book. Do not quote or repost anywhere or in any format. Thanks."

Julia Marie Manning is a woman who is successful in her career—and pretty much nothing else. She is a demonbane-born and bred to hunt down demons who prey on mankind. It’s her destiny, and she resents that. It’s passed down in the family, but unlike most of her family line before her, she was never trained to do what she does. Instead, she’s got some mildly helpful notes from her grandfather, but it’s mostly learning as you go. It’s a necessary part of life, and one she can’t run away from.

But she doesn’t like it. She’s lost most of her family. All she’s got left is a biological mother she barely knows, and a doting grandmother who seems perfectly clueless about the Manning secret. Jules lost her grandfather to a demon-a destiny she doesn’t want to share, her sister to a crazy evil cultist, her parents to a fire-started by a demon out to destroy her family. As far as Jules is concerned, the only thing certain about being a demonbane is that you lose everyone you love. She keeps friends and romantic interests at arms length. Even if they could get pas the whole demon-slaying thing, their odds of living to a ripe old age weren’t good. Happiness just isn’t in the cards for Jules, or so she believes. She’s suffered trauma after trauma. She blames her grandfather for not teaching her and training her. She blames herself for not getting to Liz in time to save her. And she blames God for all the suffering.

But Jules has a lot to learn about herself, about other people, and about God. She relies on people as little as possible, and never involves them. She gets to the bottom on her own, no matter the cost. As long as everyone stays safe, she figures that it’s a price worth paying. She will sacrifice everything she is and everything she has before admitting that others could help her and maybe not get dead.

I hit a wall.  Not writer's block or anything like that.  An actual wall that make me step back and say, "crap."

This wall is called characterization and I realized that Jules was lacking it.  So I've been doing some exercises to give her more character and I've learned some surprising things about Jules.  I asked her some questions, and she gave me some honest, insightful answers.  Answers that give her a complexity that she lacked.  So I'm reworking Jules.

I'll also be reworking the story.  Since I'm not pressed for a deadline (which I didn't meet anyway), I'm going to write the story as it should be.  This is a story that is deeply internal, so it should be written in first person.  I've never done much writing from that POV, so it will be a learning exercise.  I'll be going back to the beginning and reworking the story, from first person POV.  I'll also be adding description, which was also sorely lacking.

I've set a goal for 20,000 words for Mirror, Mirror.  It may be more, it may be less.  This is a novella, which means longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel.  This story is one of three that will someday be a collected book.  It is one of three stories that focuses on an issue I feel strongly about, as well as being a story that  is deeply character driven.

However, once I finish Mirror Mirror, I'll be moving on to the novel that begins it all: Demonbane.  This novel is set before Mirror MIrror.  You may think I'm writing this backwards, but not really.  I know what happens in Demonbane, and those events affect Jules in Mirror Mirror.  But by getting into Jules' head and creating her into the very real but very fictional woman that she is, I can see where to start her in Demonbane, where she needs to grow.  Demonbane is the beginning, but there's much more after that, I can promise you.

1. I'M DONE.  I finished my Christmas shopping on Monday.  Everything is wrapped and under the tree.  Now, I just need to get all my baking stuff so I can bake cookies and make monkey balls.

2. I FINISHED the Purpose Driven Life.  It took me about 50 days instead of the prescribed 40, but I finished it Monday night.  I learned a lot from it, and will need to revisit it on a regular basis.  Now, I'm reading a book by a favorite Christian writer, and reading my Bible regularly.

3.  "Mirror, Mirror" is officially on hold till after the holidays.  There's just no time to write, between work and everything else.  However, I will still unofficially work on it, through the outlining of scenes, and using my new-fangled voice recorder that was a gift from Amy and her husband.  I can now record my thoughts during driving and stuff, instead of frantically trying to write while simultaneously steering my car.

4. I requested to be an advance reader for Erin Hunter's first book of the new series The Seekers.  I got my Christmas wish, lol.  Amy gave me the package last night and I about hit the ceiling with excitement.  I have to review by January 1st-not a problem.  Unfortuantely, I left it at Applebee's last night.  I called, and they couldn't find it.  I stopped as soon as they opened, and there it was, wedged between the booth and the wall.  But, it is back in my hands!  Woo!

I leave Sunday to spend the holidays with family.  This is the first year since my parents' divorce that I am really looking forward to Christmas.

I've done very little writing in the past two weeks, due mostly to working overtime at work.  The time that I have at home, has been spent doing things that must be done (except, apparently, dishes), and vegetating.  I need time AND motivation to write, and lately, it's only one or the other.

While I fully plan to continue writing, no fears there, it's a timing thing.  And with Christmas coming up, well...time is an issue.  So look for "Mirror, Mirror" snippets to be few, and probably posted on days other than Friday.

Not that I'm sure if anyone reads this.  I could be talking into a very big, very white, very empty room.

But if anybody does peek in and read my snippets, please feel free to leave comments. :)

...will be late, obviously.  I've been far too busy.  My apologies, I'll get it up as soon as I can.

Changed Juliann to Julia--the "ann" and the end was much too similar to the "ann" in Manning.  I cut out a portion of dialogue to keep this relatively short.

NOTICE: "This material is copyrighted, unedited raw first draft, probably buggy, possibly not even going to be in the final book. Do not quote or repost anywhere or in any format. Thanks."

            “You said you were going to call,” Juliann said when she opened the door to find Detective Aaron Ritter on the other side.

            “I changed my mind after I saw the body.  Can I come in?”

            “If I say no, are you going to get a warrant?”

            “If I have to,” he said, giving her one of his disarming grins.

[clipped]        

            “Alright, tell me exactly what happened,” he told her, after downing half his pop.

            Juliann told him everything she could, leaving out anything in reference to what she sensed from the woman or the body.  He jotted down some notes as she spoke, but mostly just listened.  He tapped his pen on his lips, and Juliann knew him well enough to know that meant there was more.

            “What’s going on, Aaron?”

            “You know I can’t tell you that, Jules.  It’s on ongoing investigation.”

            “Since when has that stopped you?”

            “It’s for your own good,” he said, and she successfully resisted the urge to deck him.  She hated that phrase.  “This investigation…well, it’s a little weird.”

            “Come on, Aaron, dish it.  I’m just a spectator, and you know it.”

            Trouble snorted.

            “Spectator, right.”  She tugged his tail.

            “Well…” he considered.  “Well, this is the third body we’ve found in two weeks.”

            “Third?” she said, honestly startled.

            “Yeah, all the same thing.  Male, early to late twenties, completely drained.  If I were a superstitious sort, I’d think it was some sort of vampire.  But even that wouldn’t be right, since they’re supposed to drink blood.”

            “Not just blood, but every bodily fluid?”

            “Every single one.  I’ve seen a lot of autopsies, but these are definitely the creepiest.”

            “No idea of the cause?”

            “Not a mark on the bodies.  But at least you saw a woman.  That helps.  I think.”

            “Glad I could help.  Is there anything else I can tell you?  It’s late and I need to be at the Center pretty early.”

            “No, that’s it.  Thanks, Jules.  I’ll give you a call later this week and give you an update.”           “I appreciate that, Aaron.”  She opened the door for him. “Get some rest. Good night.”  He hesitated in the doorway as if to say something.

            “Good night,” was all he said.

Writing is going well, though at my current rate, I'll reach 50,000 words in about...oh, 5 months. LOL  But my story is progressing nicely.  I even finished a scene that I was having trouble with.  I just finished Act One tonight (no, it's not a play, but I've organized my story into the classical 3-act structure), and I feel mostly good about it.  I already know of some serious revisions I'll make, but that comes later.  I want to finish the thing first.  Oh, and to clarify, it's not really a novel.  It's not going to be long enough to be classified as that.  More like a novella.  And it's actually taking place after the first novel, which I haven't written yet.  But I'm okay with that.  It gives me readers something to look forward to learn about.  Anyway, I feel good about the story and the message. 

My iPod needs serviced.  I'll have to put the repair request in on Monday.  Thanks to Amers though, I have an iPod to use in the meaning.  I'd go nuts with access to my music, especially when driving to visit my family.

Work is going well, though we've had a slew of firings lately.  It's disappointing, because the situation could have been easily prevented.  Some good people are gone.  The moral of the story: even good people do stupid things.

I'm about halfway through The Purpose-Driven Life, a 40-day devotional that has really opened my eyes and expanded my relationship with God and my outlook on life.  Right now, I'm mostly focusing on that, working and writing.  Toss in a smattering of friends and Christmas preparations, and you have my life.  A good mix right now, I think.