Friday, January 15

Posted by Laurel Garver on Friday, January 15, 2010 12 comments
I think I've got this work deadline licked, and I'm slowly emerging from a scholarly mumbo-jumbo haze. Wow, has it ever colored my most recent blog posts. You're all probably wondering how I could write anything a teenager would want to read, based on the shift in voice here.

All I can say is be careful what you read while you're writing. You can only read so much on Deleuze and his ilk without it seriously warping your mind. But that's what I get paid for: tackling the crazy run-ons with three sets of em dashes, colons and quotes within quotes. I can spot MLA style transgressions at 50 paces. And I write really nice rejection letters.

As a reward for my hard work, I'm going to start writing something fun this weekend, something I've never tried before. And just in time for Courtney Reese's "Love at first sight blogfest"! (If you haven't signed up yet, go do it now!) Donna at First Novels Club has piqued my interest in trying out male POV. I might try a tense shift, too, from present (my usual) to past.

Who's with me? Shall we make the blogfest more fun by adding personal challenges? Anyone want to try a new POV? How about a new genre?

Addendum:
Kristi Faith is playing Mad Libs today. If you need a laugh, go see what she did with my list of random words.
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12 comments:

  1. Yes! I challenged myself with Frankie's No Kiss Blogfest and wrote in present tense for the first time in my life. It was soooooo fun!! I'll have to think about what new challenge to go for with the Love at First site fest :-)

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  2. It just so happens that I plan on posting, for the Love at First Sight, from my new wip which has a male protag AND is in past tense.....

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  3. I love this idea!! Although I've written from both male and female POV. I tend to write in present tense, so perhaps I'll give past tense a try. But that hardly seems sporting. Hmmm...I'll have to think of something.

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  4. Sara: New genre maybe? Something you're read but never written? Eager to hear how you'll challenge yourself.

    Elle: Ooh! Cool! Historical European boy falls in love. Can't wait to read it.

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  5. Carol: Maybe a historic rather than contemporary character? Or...how about A new SF race of beings? Tell us about love on Argonath Plixar! (Yes, I just made that up.) I think you are just the creative soul to pull that off.

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  6. Oh, dear. You didn't just issue a challenge, did you? You know what happens when you do that to me, right? The last challenge you gave me ended up as a 10,000-word story about gender confusion, date rape, and tequila, remember.

    Oh, fine. I'll write from female POV. What tense? I've used past and present thus far. Future? Is that even possible? I'll leave it up to you. :)

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  7. Oh, Simon, you know I just adore feeding you writing prompts.

    Sure, write female POV. Hmm. How about a gal who's visually impaired? Yeah. Can you give us love at first "not sight"? That would set your entry apart.

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  8. Oh, no, you di-int. *facepalm

    That'll teach me to leave it up to you! But hell, you know I dig a challenge. Scent, touch, hearing, and taste, here we come!

    *facepalmagain

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  9. Way to go, Laurel! I can't wait to see what Simon comes up with. Fun, fun, fun! :-)

    Thanks for the Kristi tip.

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  10. Alright, I'm going YA or Sci-Fi.

    I'm leading toward YA.

    Now I need a plot and a hook! (You can feel free to prompt me, too.)

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  11. Shannon: I have far more ideas than the time or interest in writing them, so it's fun to share. I don't *mean* to torture Simon, but he digs in to hard assignments so well and always knocks my socks off.

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  12. Amber: You got it, friend.

    Give us a YA scene set in a HS theatre (I believe this is an environment you know). The heroine is auditioning for a play (you pick the play) and must read with a boy she *thinks* she knows, but his performance during the audition changes her opinion, and she is smitten.

    Ready, set, go!

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