Beginnings #3

          As an arms dealer, Ray had heard the sound thousands of times.  But never from behind or in the dark. 'Click.' He had known that his long streak of luck would end eventually, but he had hoped to leave town long before then. His heart felt as if it were beating through his chest, and his palms began to sweat as his entire body began to shake.
          A voice from behind commanded him," Drop the bag!" Ray dropped the bag as he was instructed and peered over his shoulder to see who was commanding him. In the shadows stood a large male figure and in his hand he held a small pistol that reflected the small light that entered the narrow alleyway. "Turn your gaze away from me," commanded the voice.
         "Who are you?" asked Ray as he turned his eyes away from the man in the shadows. "Once my clients hear about what you are doing there will be blood to pay."
         There was silence for a few moments. Then the man replied, "If that is what you believe, then you have just condemned yourself. Now get on your knees."

Beginnings #2

In Class the last two days we were given the first paragraph of a story and told to create something, anything, with it. The first day I turned what would obviously have been an excerpt from a love story, "It was too gentle to call a chill, but if you know California’s subtle seasons the air was unmistakably fall. Eddie looked out over the penthouse balcony at the boats in the marina and the fading pastels over the point. He smelled the Plumeria on his hands. For a moment—just long enough that when he looked up the sunset had deepened, and then it was gone—he wished he hadn’t pushed her." into a tragedy. I twisted the words of the first paragraph into a literal translation of "pushing her" and threw her off of the penthouse balcony. It had honestly began as a joke, but I started wondering how he would have been brought to the point of such a horrendous act and I concluded that  would elude to a series of torments would have befallen Eddie by the hands of the girl he loved. I didn't progress more than two paragraphs but I remembered how relaxing it could feel to just tell a story. I hope to get back to work on my masterpiece soon. I haven't touched it since I attempted my first draft of the third chapter during spring break and I have been longing to return to it.

RTR: Raising a Moral Child

How is it that children are brought up to be moral and caring citizens? In the article published by New York Times a number of studies were examined and brought to a few conclusions. The first was that children learn a large portion of their morality from both of their parents when they are young. It is believed that positive reinforcement of good character qualities teaches kids to develop those qualities. It is also believed that when a child does something wrong that it is best to express disappointment and explaining the reason for the punishment.

Update on Novel

As of right now I am molding the continents in which the events will occur. I went through several drafts this weekend and finally settled on my eight draft. I have placed three countries on the map, but I don't fully know how to use the two main countries and the elvish tribes in the development of my plot. I have thought about starting a few wars and basing the rest of the story on how my characters survive and help the dispute both develop and be resolved. So far the history that I have established is how both countries on the island were created. I am also in the middle of my second chapter in which the second main character Dakisuma has remained in his captivity for three years.

The Crossroads Between Should and Must

In life there are two paths, the one others thin you SHOULD take because it will give you a long and prosperous life (At least they think it will), and the life you MUST take to find real joy in life. The problem is that it is hard to choose must over should because it is surrounded in  the darkness of uncertainty. We think that it is better to get a high paying job that drains away our life because we need to pay bills and rent, butin reality that's just a way to survive not a way to live. 

No one ever said that life was going to be easy, but choosing the 'easy' way out only leads to a dead end. In my field of choice it's nearly impossible to write a story so good that you can make your entire living through writing, but I don't have to. I'm not choosing to be a story teller to become rich and prestigious, I'm doing it because that's been my dream  since childhood. I love adventure stories and I don't want to let anything stand in my way. I have a long road ahead of me, as well as a giant mess of trials and tribulation, but to let that squash my dreams is to admit defeat. There is no way in hell I am going to admit defeat.

Look at My Brain

At school I learn basic skills like reading and writing, but that's not really where I do the majority of my learning. Most of my learning has come from first hand experience, practice, failure, and better yet success. As you may already know I am writing a novel as my master piece for Dr. Preston's course, but that's still only one side of who I am. A large portion of my education came from my experiences as a Boy Scout of America.I can set and reach my goals, for instance in 2012 I biked over 50 miles in just 8 hours( talk about tiring tasks!) and three days before the start of my senior year I hiked 20 miles. It took me years to earn it, but I was able to earn my Eagle Scout Rank earlier this year.

In my writing I have already gone through four drafts of my novel. The first was horrid. There was little to no dialog between the characters and the dialog that did exist felt forced or mechanical. Nothing seemed to fit right, like forcing s few pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to fit and realizing that it looks nothing like the image that is supposed to exist in the completed puzzle. The second was similar to the first, but slightly smoother. I still didn't really 'know' my characters, but it was a good skeleton for the third and fourth drafts. I kept trying with my third draft and I am still trying with my fourth (which is much better than any previous version FYI). Constant revision and improvement is making my story more interesting and enjoyable, and though it is a large thorn in my side at times I'm slowly becoming pleased with my results.

S, Wonderful

Last night I made a break through in my story development. For some time now I have been stuck on the second chapter of my novel. I went through three drafts before I was able to get inside the mind of my character. though I have not yet completed this chapter I have found a way to further progress in my story.