I really really really need to read The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. From time to time, I stalk...I mean...view author's websites/blogs just to see if they have any advice on how to finish a novel and all that jazz. By the way, if anyone needs some help writing their YA novel, she has a lot of links to websites that can help you with whatever you need help with. But anyways, she posted a deleted excerpt from City of Glass and it was phenomenal. (I've used that word twice today) I mean, the romance between Jace and Clary wow! And ooh I am literally jumping up and down because I still have money and I can buy it!
And for more good news, I finished the first draft of Chapter 1 for Metamorphosis! Yeah, I did that like last week but I'm just now getting to blog about it. It's solid but I already know what changes I want to make. Someone who critiqued it for me, said that I started off rough but as it progressed it got really strong. Which is good, because I know that I'm a good writer, I just suck at writing beginnings. (sorry for being acute arrogance but it's good to pat yourself on the back every once and a while)
I have the urge to add/take away a few things in Chapter 1 but I know if I submerge myself in editing now, I'll never finish this novel. So I'll just take notes on what I need to do and do it later. (yeah, like I'm sticking to that strategy)
The one weird thing about characters is, you don't have control of them. Even though you thought of them, once you constantly think about them, they start becoming real people. Writers are more like schizophrenics. We talk to/listen to/ hear our characters because it's important that we get the facts straight. Or else they'll send you to that special Hell....Writer's Block.
But anyways, my male counterpart, the amazing, glorious, self-centered, strict Guardian, Alec Lane a.k.a Vacilis, made his way into the first chapter, when I wasn't planning on introducing him till the third chapter. I mean, at the time, I didn't know how I was going to tie him into the story because he is a very very important character. He's also a love interest for Marsa, even though
she has a boyfriend or had...but you didn't hear that from me.
In this chapter, Alec ends up trying to choke Marsa to death in the hallway. Creepy, right? I thought it was ridiculous and we argued (Alec and I, that is) about why he did that. He's crazy but no, he's a nice guy once you get to know him or read about him.
I should be doing homework right now. I really should but I just don't feel like it. I definitely have to start this Civics Essay tomorrow. Or maybe, if I'm not tired, I might start it a few moments from now.
Speaking of deleted scenes, I have one! It was the beginning of Chapter 2 but I wrote it when I was half-alive and Marsa was screaming in my ears. We have a similar way of speaking but she's more sarcastic than I am. I think, she's probably the first character that I made up that is remniscent of me. But I laugh everytime I read this part and I'm just sorry it couldn't make the cut.
There were no windows or walls or floors. I was just floating into an abyss of empty blue sky. The clouds were white canvases and just beyond them were lights. Bright, endless lights. I stared at them, wondering if this was the tunnel that you went down before you died.
"Ah, she's up."
Was that the voice of God? I turned my head slightly, only to be met with two blue eyes and a wide smile. It was Nurse Jenny. She was a short old lady who looked and smelled like a grandmother. A sigh of relief left my lips. I wasn't dead. It smelled like antiseptic and it was extremely cold. As I rubbed my arms, the paper from the gurney crinkled underneath.
Everything started to come back to me in little snapshots. I remembered walking into Mr. Heder's class and then running out. My stomach was hurting and I was throwing up but I just couldn't remember what happened after that. When I tried to sit up, Nurse Jenny placed her hands on my shoulders, trying to keep me down.
"Marsa, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be moving so much," she said.
"I don't feel dizzy or...." and there he was. Standing there, like a statue of pure ease, was Alec. I remembered what happened now. He tried to kill me. He was choking me in the hallway, with this crazed look in his eyes. A look that was there now, except, instead of a smirk, he wore a snare that seemed to engulf his entire face.
"What is he doing here?" I asked, trying to shrug away from Nurse Jenny's hold. She looked at me as if I had just lost my mind. Did she not know that this guy, this psychopath, had just tried to kill me? Or was he holding her hostage? I gulped, waiting for an answer to my seemingly pointless question. He was obviously in here because the police would probably shoot him if he were to let us go.
"He's the one who found you passed out in the hallway. He brought you here," she replied.
I looked at her, wondering why she was lying to me. But her voice was lined with sincerity and she didn't stutter, so maybe this was what happened or...or maybe Alec brainwashed her.
"Yeah, you were pretty much out of it. You kept trying to hit me."
That look was still painted on his face, but his apparent anger was absent in his voice. He was a really good actor. But everyone would soon know what kind of game he was playing.
"Oh, so was I supposed to let you choke me to death?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You tried to kill me. That's what I'm talking about. You didn't tell Nurse Jenny that, now did you?"
"Dear, he only brought you to the infirmary. He didn't try to kill you..." Nurse Jenny started.
"You know what he tried to do to me in the hallway."
You gotta love Marsa.
(if you don't I'll cry and she'll shoot you. True story.)
