Tag: creative writing

Posted in updates, Writing

At Long Last

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

This is a bit late but better late than never. Recently, life got in the way with moving furniture and getting the new place situated. However, today I like to say that everything has been moved with only the exception of a box spring for the bed. Other than that, we’re officially moved in.

This past week, I’ve been working on character development in Crimson Queen. I haven’t mentioned that story in a while but I have been working on it bit by bit. My focus, I’m ashamed to admit, has been all over the place since getting a new place. However, now that that is over and done with, I can focus more on what I like to do. For my female lead, Lucinda, specifically, I needed to change her personality a bit.

Previously, it was more geared toward rejecting ‘female’ tasks like sewing and all that but I realized that that outlook on life wasn’t working out. Instead, I changed her dreams, so to speak. Lucinda wants a family but she also wants to follow in her father’s footsteps of mastering the way of a sword. In this way, Lucinda became a more 3-D character as oppose to being a ‘cliche’.

I will still continue to tweak her a bit to stay true to her character but I think I’m on the right path. At least, I hope I am. Plus, since ending Camp NaNoWriMo earlier this year, I have the majority of the store already in the third arc. After some more revision, Crimson Queen should be finished soon. Fingers crossed.

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Competition

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Then stop looking.”

“Jasmine, this is no time for you to pretend you’re fine.”

“I’m not pretending.”

Anna sighed and joined Jasmine by the kitchen sink. “Girl, come on. You were vomiting this morning. Do you really think I wouldn’t notice?”

“It’s nothing to worry about.” Jasmine grabbed the only cup in the sink and started washing it.

“I know this competition is really important to you – ”

“Yeah, it is.”

“-but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your health. I’m sure your parents will underst-”

Jasmine swirled around. “No, they won’t. Okay? I can’t just drop out. Just don’t worry about it. Go back to your room and ignore everyone like you usually do.”

Anna opened her mouth then closed it. “Fine,” she forced out. Her throat tightened.

She walked up to Jasmine and touched her arm. “But if you feel sick or anything, call me. I’ll come pick you up.”

Jasmine shrugged her hand off. “Don’t bother. I won’t feel sick.”

 

Posted in Resources, Writing

Of Research and Progression

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

It’s been a hectic but productive week. In the midst of moving, I have managed to get some writing and homework done. I call that productive.

Other than the boiling heat in Houston, it’s being going well. I manged to get a post published on Monday. Wednesday’s post wasn’t the greatest but I thought it was an interesting brain teaser.

This week I found an interesting blog called Query Shark. From what I have seen so far, after some regulations, people can have their query critiqued. I’ve seen many examples and comments on query letters. While I haven’t exactly gone in there and really looked around, I’m liking what I’m seeing.

I definitely need to go back to my query letter and take a look at it again. I think it woukd be safe to say that I’m having condensing all the summary. I’ve taken a look at a lot of summaries and urbs but I can’t seem to get a hang of it. I do got my one sentence summary though.

Here’s to more research and revision.

Posted in Writing, Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt – Warning Label

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

If we were all forced to wear a warning label, what would yours say?

Handle with care.

Found this online, thought it was interesting.

P.S. Dropping in, moving into a new place not fun.

Posted in Writing

Character Creation – part 1

Posted on by Kassandra Carrillo

Sometimes a character pops into my head before the actual story. There might be a small scene around the character but nothing is concrete. I don’t plan for this to happen, it just does.

So, what do I do when I have an idea of a character? For starters, I tend to know the character’s sex. I don’t know the character’s gender until way later.

Next, I think about what kind of world would this character live in? Futuristic? Fantasy? Modern day?

Once, I decide that, I look at the situation they are in. Do they struggle to pay for basic essentials? Are they on the run? Are they a gun for hire? Maybe they are a detective/ investigator.

If I can’t think of an answer, I mix and match. Would this character fit in an urban setting? Would it make sense if they were on the run? Nothing is is ever concrete at the beginning. Characters are like clay. They can be modeled as many times as they need to.

As the character takes shape, pieces tend to fall into place. A character now has a sword and a gun. The only place they drink their coffee is from a run down shop on a corner of a not so nice street. For character creation, I think it’s helpful to start with the little things.

What would their room look like? It’s a clean? Messy? Undisturbed? Do they use mouth wash? What snacks do they eat? Do they drink too much coffee? What does a normal day for them look like? What kind of clothes do they wear? Where do they buy their clothes?

There are a lot of character creating questionnaires out there and I’ve found some of them very useful. However, I don’t always need to use them. Sure it’s important to know if your character has any family, siblings, a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a pet, but I found that somethings, character creation gets bog down with those sorts of questions.

At times, it feels like a job to me and it’s no longer fun. The character just slips from my mind and it never goes anywhere. I like to mull it over a bit. Keep it a secret if you will before putting it down on paper.