Vanessa

"Goodness and evil are not restrained by blood or being."

-- Vanessa Reese

This is a drawing I did of Vanessa, one of the main OCs in RFWW. Sorry for the really awful quality. My scanner hasn't been working right.

Love Always,

Kayla

It's Kind Of A Funny Story

Except it's not.  It's creepy as all get-out, actually.

So I went on forumspring the other day and I had a new question.  Whoever it was said something along the lines of "I don't know you, but you're really cute."  I told him/her that that was creepy.

They asked how, and I explained to them the concept of a random stranger speaking to you on the internet.

Then, this person was like, "Oh, well, I'm Greg."

GREG.

All I could think of was omfg--Greg Pearson.

Not okay.

He wanted to chat.  Of course I said no.

That was my freaky story of the week.  Until something worse happens.

Love Always,
Kayla

Wings Teaser

“I can’t do it,” said the Head Girl mournfully.  “I’ll just stay in here forever and eat parchment and soap.  And I won’t have to go to classes because you two can bring me my work, and—“

“Mae,” Emily King said firmly, her hands on her hips, “You are getting out of this bed, you’re going to fix your hair and put on your makeup and look stunning.  Then, you are going to march out of this dormitory and down to the Great Hall, and you will face him like a man.”

-- Chapter Eleven

Wings and Raindrops

HELMER:  No man sacrifices his honour for the one he loves.
NORA: A hundred thousand women have done so.
- A Doll House

All right, so I have about four pages of Chapter 11 of Secondhand Wings written.  Which is not a lot at all.  It's only about 1,600 words, and I plan on it being about 8 to 10 thousand.  However, My semester finally ended and now I'll have some time to write over Christmas break.

It includes:  Alicia/Oliver (well, hints at it, since she's only 11).  I know that pairing isn't in the summary or anything, but it's a definite for the plot of this story.  It won't last, obviously, since she does end up with George, but it's in the story either way.  ALSO, I don't know if I've said this yet or not, but Secondhand Wings takes place in the Sober Universe, meaning that it only includes what is in the books.  The things JRK has said (like George/Angelina) is NOT considered canon.

Also in this chapter is Mae realizing that things can never really go back to normal after her fight with Charlie, and there will be a lot of awkwardness as they try.  There is a Care of Magical Creatures camping trip that should be quite revealing!

Nasty!Snape, Jealous!George (also Oblivious!George to his own feelings), immaturity, jokes, general Fred and George-ness.

As for Raindrops, I know that a lot of you are sort of confused as to what exactly is going on with that story.  In the simplest of terms: I AM RE-WRITING IT.  Like, completely, totally, and absolutely.  I will continue to update with new chapters (very slowly, more than likely), but I am writing every day, it's just the beginning rather than the end.  I won't post the new version until it catches up to wherever the old one is.  When it does get released, I would definitely advise reading the new one, simply because it is SO much better than the old one.  Like, a thousand times better.  I know the characters, I know the plot, I know the major themes and ideas that I want to present.  It just makes writing easier.  The style is slightly different too, and I like this way a lot more.

Since the first version skipped over almost EVERYTHING in 5th year, I'm going back and actually writing the year.

Things to look forward to in the new Raindrops:

• Bellatrix as DADA professor
• Vanessa/Caradoc/Waverly triangle
• Auror!Greg Pearson (WHAT?)
• Cool!Peter
• A deeper continuing plot
• More Constance
• James not liking Lily (GASP) until some time into their 5th year
• Actual Jerk!James
• More Dorcas, Marlene, Edgar, Gideon, Fabian, Mary, Amos, Benjy, Reg, and Emmeline
• NEW characters include:
• Olivia Montague (a Hermione that never had a Harry and Ron to mellow her out)
• Amata Blane (that girl that no one wants to talk to because she is completely strange)
• Shay Fagan (has a relationship with a Marauder)
• Euan Ackerley (who eats parchment)
• Lois Li (love interest of another Marauder)
• Jacob Jones (older brother of Gwenog and a Quidditch fanatic)
• Spencer McKinnon (Marlene's older brother, possible relationship with a Gryffindor girl)
• Kingsley Shacklebolt (obviously not mine, but new to the story)
• Hamish Williamson (a rather useless Auror)
• Elvira (the Divination professor that actually predicts things with certain accuracy)
• Towler (the long-winded Magical Law professor with many odd habits)

So, I hope you're looking forward to that!  As for Chapter 51, to be honest, I am TERRIFIED of writing it.  All I've ever done is write about Lily and James being almost there or not there at all.  I don't want the entire rest of the story to be anti-climactic because I can't do them justice.  But I do have a ton of ideas for the chapter (including Neal Harris's reaction to the whole disregard-the-script-and-change-the-ending-of-the-story bit, back to school, new DADA teacher who is FAR more competent then the others before him, the war coming to Hogwarts--not physically, but mentally--the magical population's reaction to the new werewolf law, and of course--LILY/JAMES).

This is an excerpt from the new Raindrops, Chapter One: Potter and Evans (there is another excerpt back in a post from like, October if you want to read it as well).

“I bumped into Evans.  Turns out she’s been made Prefect.”

 “Bloody hell,” Sirius groaned, shaking his head.  “We’ll have to watch ourselves this year with Prefect Prig on our case all the time.”

“She’s not that bad,” piped up Peter Pettigrew, speaking for the first time.  “She helped me out in Charms last year, she’s the only reason I passed the practical exam.”

Peter Pettigrew was Hermes reincarnate.  He had the slight figure and pointed features that the Greek god was alleged to have possessed, and was more of a trickster than even Peeves the Poltergeist.  He had an all-encompassing sense of humor that drew others to him, and he tried to always speak the best of people unless they truly deserved otherwise.

“You would say that,” James commented, amused.  Then, to Sirius, “How was your summer, mate?  I didn’t hear much from you.”

His best friend scoffed and blew dark hair from his eyes.  “My mum tried to redecorate my room, only to find that nothing would come off the walls.  She locked me in there for a few weeks because she thought it’d be a good punishment.”

“Was it?” asked Peter, a blonde eyebrow arched above his small blue eyes.

Sirius smirked.  “Punishment, are you kidding?  I got be away from the lot of them for all that time,” He leaned back in his seat, a faraway smile on his face.  “Couldn’t ask for a better summer at Grimmauld Place.”

Sirius Black.  Gryffindor.  Ladies’ man.  Prankster Extraordinaire.  That was all most people ever saw of him, and no one ever expected him to be anything more.  However, the people closest to him knew better.  They had seen the bruises and heard the Howlers that Sirius had received from his parents ever since he had been sorted into the House of the Brave years earlier.  They knew that he dreaded the summer, but suffered in silence, because Sirius Black was not someone who wanted pity.

In a few words, he was boisterous, but brooding, ambitious, but unmotivated, dependable, but impulsive, diplomatic, but utterly tactless.  Personality-wise, he was quite ambiguous.  And the girls of Hogwarts saw him as a mystery that they thought they would be the one to solve.

None of them would.

By his family, Sirius was expected to marry a pureblooded girl with decent looks and notable ancestral background.  By his friends, he was expected to fall for some half-decent slag somewhere down the road and lead a moderately happy life with her.  By the female population of Hogwarts, well, each of them expected him to fall for her.

None of them were right.

“What about you, Pete?” Sirius asked, closing his eyes again.  “Do anything exciting this summer?”

“Nothing in particular,” Peter answered leisurely.  “My mum was with the neighbors most of the time.  They’re Muggles, and they’ve got a son with one of those diseases that they don’t know how to cure, so she’s been bringing him soup and slipping Healing potions into it.  So I was alone and I mostly read up on…” he glanced at the door to make sure no one was listening-in. “Animagi.  There were some really interesting techniques we haven’t tried yet.” 

Peter Pettigrew was brilliant at magic.

In theory.

He excelled in History and Astronomy and was decent in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, but when it came to actually performing spells, he seemed to have some sort of block.  He did not know the reason, for none of his friends seemed to have any problems with magic on the whole, but they helped him out as best they could, so he never complained. 

“Excellent,” said Sirius.

“The next full moon is on the twentieth,” James informed them.  “If we work every night, maybe we can make it.  I know I’m getting really close.”

Peter nodded in agreement. “And as soon as we do that, we can really get to working on the map.”

Sirius and James grinned at him, all three boys hoping for their most exciting year yet.

And, let the record show, it would be just that.

The Peter stuff is probably controversial to all of those who hate his guts, however, the way I see it, James, Remus, and Sirius all liked him a good deal.  They were friends with him and they trusted him.  There had to be something good there, it just eventually wore away.

Anyway, let me know what you think about all of this.  Sorry for the uber-long post!

Love Always,

Kayla

To IvyFlight

"Too much happiness? No such thing." -- J. Kociuba

I wasn't entirely sure where to put this, so I decided just to make a post.  It could benefit anyone to read, but It's mostly directed at Ivy.

I really liked your first four bullet points, because they really said something about who your character is, you know?  I can see her, even though I don't really know what she looks like.

After that, however, you really get into her relationship with Falcon, and after that, a lot of things are centered around what he thinks of her and what she does.  That's not really the point of this character exercise.  This is  to help you figure out who she is as an individual.  You have to be somebody before other people will become your friend, and you definitely have to know who you are before you fall in love.  Does that make sense?  Of course it's fine to say that she meets him and whatnot, and I'm sure that he's effected her thoughts and beliefs over time, but don't worry about that.  Forget all of the other characters, forget everything about the story that isn't absolutely relevant to who Nameless is as a person.  Think about who she would be if there was no Falcon, just her.  Who is she?  What does she want from life?  Why does she want it?  What's driven her to love history and want to go beyond her knowledge and see everything?

I really like her strengths, but her weaknesses... eh.  To me, weaknesses are something that is going to truly hinder the character's goal.  It's something that they are going to have to truly work to overcome in order to succeed.  That's what makes a good story.  Don't you think it would be more interesting if she had her own beliefs, but was completely unable to see any other side but her own?

Everybody has a real, hindering weakness.  In books and in real life.  My own personal weakness is being too introverted.  I can never trust people with the things that really mean something to me.  There isn't a reason for it, necessarily.  It's just me, and it's something that I have to work on every day.  Find something like that for your character.  Something that they are going to have to beat.  Because that's at the heart of all the great stories.

The quirks were good.  They made me laugh. (:

And I love the quote.  Quotable people are the best.  Haha.

Thanks for sending me what you have!  I really think that your story sounds awesome so far, and I hope that I was able to help in some small way.

Love Always,
Kayla

I Love Ron

"Did I tell you I've invented a broomstick that'll reach Jupiter?"

This is the shirt I made for the Deathly Hallows Premiere!  My friends and I all had different characters. (:  Just thought I would share this with you.  It was pretty great.

Love Always,

Kayla

"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house. And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going."

Some Really Good Advice

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost

I didn't write this. Nick did.  It's just some general advice--I was talking to him about my story.  It pretty much speaks for itself:

Look, stories aren't supposed to just magically appear (pun by accident). We have to create them with are own minds, and even if we plan, the journey is gonna change some things. I originally knew a plan of Summer With Potter (Go read it! ♥PL). Then I introduced Selina, and Sirius became much more important, and suddenly it wasn't just a Lily/James story. It was MY story, something that had just happened when I was writing. I put myself into it, with my own humor, not someone else's. It was supposed to be longer, but when does length matter? When does anything matter except the story? The words don't, the people don't (usually), but what we receive from that story is what matters. If Jo changed Harry's name to James II, and made it six years instead of seven, or shortened some parts off, I doubt people would love it less.

What I'm trying to say is, you have the ending. And you have the basic plot and the "big" events. Ignore everything else, just let the story take shape itself. You might just skip some events to create better ones, you might add some, delete some, possibly create ANOTHER character. Life changes. You think Jo began the entire series knowing the plan? She knew the beginning and the end. she just needed the middle. And everyone knows the middle is always in the midst of change. Let the story write itself. When you're writing it, don't take anything back, don't add anything. JUST WRITE. I don't get why some people don't understand that to make a great story, all you have to do is write to your best ability with all your soul. POUR everything into this, and you won't be disappointed.Writing. . . well it's just Life. . . or something like that. Everything good (at least in my opinion) I've written has a small, or large, imprint of me in it. Love the story, and it will love you back.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Love Always,

Kayla

Writing Tips: #2 Creating A Character

I know that you have probably begun reading this with pre-conceived characters in mind.

Forget them. 

Now, once you've done that, grab a pen and a notebook (yes, I want you to use PENS AND PAPER).

We may begin.

When an author first decides to create a character, they usually begin by thinking of said character's name and appearance.  We're not going to worry about that.  At least, not much.  Why?  Because that isn't important in the grand scheme of things.  

Instead, we're starting with a blank piece of paper and your imagination.

So, you must first know at least the general setting for your story.  Is it down town New York?  A farm in the middle of nowhere?  Are you writing fanfiction?  Is your setting Hogwarts?

Okay, so if you already have your plot in mind, take a moment to think about how this character is going to affect that plot.  If you have no plot, hopefully it will sprout from this character.

First, on your blank piece of paper, start writing--anything that comes to mind about this person that you are creating that is NOT appearance.  Is the character an extrovert?  Is he arrogant?  Is she shy?  Write out the basics. What does he/she like to do in their free time?  Do they secretly love another character?

Once you've got a good idea of basic personality traits, answer this question:  What does the character want?  Does he want to study law?  Does she want to drop out of school?  Maybe he wants to sail to a foreign land or she wants to become a mermaid.  Whatever it is, that is going to shape the rest of the character.

After goals, write about habits and quirks.  Does he tap his foot whenever he's impatient?  Does she crack her knuckles when she's bored?  Don't, however, get too hung up on these things, otherwise they will come off as over-done in your story.

Give a brief family background.  His mom is a surgeon.  Her dad is a pilot.  He has six younger brothers.  She is an only child. Etc.

Then you want your strengths and weaknesses.  These are very important, and when writing your story, STICK TO THEM.  Of course, the whole point of your story might be so-and-so overcoming their fear of public-speaking, and that's different, but for the majority, make sure that you hold true to who the character is.

Talk about their beliefs.  He's a Buddhist.  She's an animal rights activist.  Their beliefs are important, because they often determine characters' actions even more than their goals do.  Does this character fight for their beliefs?  Or are they an agnostic?

Finally, do a brief likes/dislikes list.  But don't force it.  Don't force anything.  Just close your eyes for a moment and think to yourself: Who is it that I'm writing?  Allow your character to tell you rather than you trying to mold the character.

Do you have an idea of who they are?  Okay, go back over what you've written and decide is this person realistic?

What is ideal is balance. Do their strengths and weaknesses even out?  Is her goal something that a person of her skill and background would be able to accomplish? 

Make ABSOLUTELY sure that your character is NOT good at everything.  Maybe they are excellent at art, but terrible at sports.  Things MUST be somewhat equal or the character will be flat and uninteresting.

If you are going to create a character with a certain stereotype (cheerleader, geek, drama queen, etc.) make sure that you give them their own personality.  Think Peyton Sawyer from One Tree Hill.  She looks the part of cheerleader, but she is really into art and music underneath.  Don't make them so stereotypical that they have no actual thoughts and feelings.

Let me know whether or not this did you any good.  I can always do numerous posts on characterization.  Also, let me know what other kinds of writing tips you want to see. 

This is one of the characters in the Dominique story that I'm working on.  I hope the example is helpful . (:

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Love Always,

Kayla