Stream of Consciousness Writing

Stream of consciousness writing is absolutely fascinating. You put pencil to paper and just write every word that comes to mind, paying no attention to grammar, spelling, or even coherence. It's a near seamless transition from brain to paper; true mind to hand writing.

I've done this a couple of times, although I find it a fight to not think about grammar and such. The editing book I'm currently reading, Revision and Self-Editing from the Write Great Fiction series, suggests a similar technique to get into your characters' heads; it's sort of like the Write or Die tactic that I first learned of during NaNoWriMo (I learned a LOT during NaNo; it was like a crash course in the butt-in-chair-hands-on-keyboard technique and everything even remotely related).

While I was waiting for my sister to get out of class today, I sat in my car and started brainstorming. I've currently sworn off writing fiction until school lets out, but I'm allowed to brainstorm. The reason my brain was suddenly overflowing with ideas? In history, whilst discussing the 50s, my teacher mentioned an author. I can't remember his name now, or the name of his book, but he wrote a book entirely using the stream of consciousness method. Wow.

My teacher had us listen to an audio of the author reading it, and I was mesmerized. It was an endless stream of babble, and I was scrabbling to try to find meaning in it as the guy threw out phrases like "God is Pooh Bear" and "the utter darkness that is death."

But, for some reason I can't fathom, it got my mind working. All through the rest of history class my brain was frozen on a phrase I'd heard. But in my mind, it had stopped being a phrase by the author and had become the title of a nameless project I'd been working on for months. Sitting there, the project took off in a dozen different directions at once, all under the heading of this new title.

This is one more thing to add to my to-do list for summer - practice stream of consciousness writing!

Skinned - by Robin Wasserman

I read the book Skinned by Robin Wasserman last night (and part of this morning). It’s a novel set in the future, about a girl whose body was destroyed in a car crash. But her mind was downloaded into a computer and they put that into a synthetic body. Theoretically, she’d still be her same old self. Excepting all the stuff where nobody likes these downloaded people, or Mechs, as they were called.

The girl, Lia, is alienated by her friends. Her sister hates her. Her father regrets making the decision to have her “saved.” A Mech can’t die. They back up their minds and night and if anything happens to their mechanical body, their mind can simply be downloaded into a new one. Mechs don’t feel pain like ordinary people. They’re perfect, and most humans hate them for that.

I thought the novel was pretty good. The beginning was intriguing. It hit a lull at about chapter two and continued quite a ways into it. Towards the end, however, it got really good. At the very end, I was floored. How could the author just leave it like that? Then I realized it was just the first book of a trilogy. I’m looking forward to reading the other books.

Skinned was the fifth Robin Wasserman book I’ve read. I read the Chasing Yesterday Trilogy, which was YA but came off a lot like juvenile to me. I also read Hacking Harvard, which I absolutely loved. I recommend that to anybody who either doesn’t mind or can get past the language. A lot of language.

I’d give Skinned three out of four stars. The positives: great beginning, great plot, great description and setting. The negatives: some dull writing, non-endearing characters, over-used “after the world was bombed…” plot piece.

I finally got my book!

I've been sick for a couple of days (during spring break no less) but on Thursday I finally managed to get up and walk around without running into any walls :) And I got my proof copy from Createspace!

Seven Things...

Here is a list of seven books that everybody should read.

1. The Name of this Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch - it's the first book in the Secrets Series. I think it's YA but pretty much anybody can read it.

2. The Angel Experiment by James Patterson - excellent cast of characters, fight scenes, and flying kids. YA

3. Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by...um, I forgot - my favorite book ever, containing invisible dragons and a girl masquerading as a boy. YA.

4. A Voice In the Wind by Francine Rivers - the first of the Mark of the Lion series. Once again, excellent characters. Christian Romance, I think.

5. Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock - DJ is one of my all-time favorite novel characters. She lives on a dairy farm, which she basically runs by herself, and she wants to play football. YA

6. Firestorm by I have no idea - first book in the Caretaker Trilogy. Has a very interesting style of writing. For the older end of YA.

7. Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw - I had to read this for school. It's historical fiction. I absolutely loved it; five out of five stars. I guess it's YA.

Catching You Up

I am learning the song “Moonlight Sonata” on the piano. The worst thing about it is it makes my hands hurt because I have to stretch across eight keys. Maybe I’m getting the fingering wrong or something but it hurts.

Anyhow, I’m still busy editing Ling Of Fire, although not every day like I should. I have to keep editing more chapters of Firefly Dancer, because I have to send a chapter to AmyKate and KateKale, my two editors. So far I’ve gotten mostly good reports from them, just notations on my grammar. It was never my best subject in school. That was reading. I remember my Mom used to have me read traffic signs when I was little. That seems like forever ago.

Yesterday we had to do yardwork, which was a drag. And today it rained. I really wanted to go swimming. The pool at the Y has a great water slide.

Last Saturday me, my two sisters, and Mom went to a book fair. I got a bunch of horse books and I met this really cool girl. She’s fourteen and a level nine in gymnastics (I’m level six). She’s into photography. I used to be, until all the batteries for my camera died. I really need to find my rechargeable ones.

I have to go edit now. I figured I’d better post something on here. Tomorrow we’re going to the library and maybe I’ll just write something on paper, and then post it tomorrow.