Inspiration!

Some people find it hard to come up with a new plot for a new book. Others are super creative who can pop out a new idea in seconds and start writing.

I, however, am in the middle. Some days, I just can't think of a good plot. Other days, I find an idea I really like and manage to write 2000 words in an hour.

For those of you who can never find inspiration, might I give a list? Over the past few years (okay, that's a lie. For the past year) I've found quite a few things that inspire me to write. They include:

• Music
• Reading
• TV shows
• Anime
• Movies
• Pictures
• History

I have had at least one idea sprout from one of those things. Anime inspired Deception and X-Men: First Class helped me get ideas for the story; World History inspired Day One; a picture inspired Transparency and Burns; music inspired an older work, Dusty Skies. Find your favorite song and really listen to it. You just might come up with an idea. Heck, even countries have inspired me.

What inspires you? I really believe I can be inspired by anything: I came up with an idea because of roadkill on the side of the road, in front of a field. How sad it that?

-Dylan

I am crazy. Just a little, though.

Since reading five books at one time plus writing five different stories at once isn't at all strange. But it is the truth.  And I can most likely tell you a little bit about each of the five books I'm reading without getting them mixed up. I think this fact makes up for the fact that I'm a super slow reader. (Nice little random fact there.)

So far, I'm a forth of the way through Blood Red Road by Moira Young. (Which you need to read. I have yet to find any big problems besides the odd style and some grammar stuff.) Almost a forth of the way through Lord of the Flies by William Golding. (For school. Not too great, since the main characters are evil little boys. Besides Piggy. Poor Piggy.) And barely into Divergent by Veronica Roth (it isn't that bad, except the writing needs improvement. Passive voice present tense irks me, and then the lack of contractions plus the whole bunch of telling makes me think of a beginning writer (inkpop status)), Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan (the first chapter is rather pointless and filled with telling, but I'm going to read past it anyways), and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (which I started at the end of the school year last year. Been a while, but I'm pretty sure of what's going on in the story). (Have I mentioned I'm rather good with remembering books? That's a bit of a lie, though.)

And then I'm mostly working on rewrites for Deception, which will be in inkpop's Top 5 at the beginning of next month (at the moment, it'll be #1). Then I'm posting Day One at the end of this month/beginning of next month.

I'm keeping myself rather busy with school and all, but still managing to get a full night's sleep. I just need to make sure I don't get injured at band.

Are you good with reading multiple books at once? How about writing? Or am I the only crazy out there?

-Dylan

(P.S. Be expecting some reviews some time in the middle of next month, if not sooner.)

It's been quite a while...

Marching band + school + history homework + writing = busy Kelly

My blog is being neglected, which isn't surprising when I get up at 5:50 in the morning  (Monday-Friday), then come home around 4pm, do my homework until 5pm, (on Mondays) go back to school from 6-9pm, and then try to get some sort of writing done before my self-set bedtime of 9pm. Lots of things for me to do during the week. I even have homework on the weekends.

But enough about the majority of that equation, let's talking about my latest projects!

The first thing would be that Rush is now titled Deception. I find that this new title fits much better. Another fact about Deception is that it's being completely rewritten and is currently ranked at 7 on inkpop. Unless it goes up two more ranks this month, it'll be hitting the Top 5 in October, which means I need to finish my rewrites for the story. So far, only the first chapter is rewritten, and I'm finding that I like this version better.

Next is the two ideas I've written pitches to. The first is a dystopia set during the events that lead to the dystopic world. The other is a paranormal that might have some romance.

Day One

The world will fall, but God will save it.

Olive is blamed for the end of the world after reading a single sentence.   No one knows she did it, except for a group of teens following a young man calling himself “God”.  His plans for the United States involve Olive, leaving her to choose between the chaotic streets or his side.

Around her, she watches the world crumble, not knowing what to do.  Only one solution comes to mind: do whatever God tells her.  She fears her position in this new monarchy, believing that the divine right excuse won’t last long.

A few weeks pass before her threat appears—a single man who leads a group of rioters, ones who know the lies for what they are.   

Hitting inkpop on October 1st, 2011

Fright Nights

Once the night sets in, the real games begin.

Alex and her friends are the jokesters in Amity Heights.  But when their recent joke results with an outbreak between human and monster, there reason something’s wrong.

 

The humans and monsters lived years with each other, the humans always knowing that the man they walk alongside could be a werewolf when the full moon comes out. A peace once rested among these people, but when outbreaks of dead humans rattle the city, attention lands on the creatures of the night.

 

Alex, her distant cousin Troy, and her five-hundred-year-old vampire friend, James, are only three pawns in the wars to come.  Both humans and creatures turn against each other, waiting for the others to fall.

 

With no one to trust, the trio of friends relies on the help of each other more than ever. Until one of them changes sides.

Might hit inkpop on January 15th, 2012

I've also got another idea, but it doesn't have a pitch just yet. It's mostly likely that this project (entitled Trapped) will be my NaNoWriMo project. 

And now that I've typed this up, I believe I shall return to rewriting Deception. I want it completely rewritten before the end of the month, just in case it slips into the Top 5 and stays there. Plus, it'd be nice to just be able to edit for next month, instead of rewrite and then edit.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

So...

This is really a random post, since it's been a while.

First off, I've started school once again. (Go class of 2014! ... not really.) And I've had homework from the first day. Add marching band to that (waking up before 6am and Monday night rehearsals from 6pm-9pm) and I'm a busy child with not much time to write.

But, on the second day of school, and I had a new idea for a dystopia. It came to me while studying the Roman and Greek politics in World History. So, I decided to start writing it once Chemistry came around (because my Chem teacher is boring). The next day, more ideas came from studying came when we studied the first monotheistic religions. Amazing how school can influence writing, huh?

As a result, I now have a story (titled Day One) that involves a girl living in America a few years from now. America's economy currently suffers from many things, resulting with everyone moving to "cheaper" places. The story starts with the main character finding a note that eventually leads to her being said to have started "the end of the world". (Yes, this story revolves around the events leading to a dystopia.) The more religious part comes in when a young man having deemed himself "God" forced the main character to lead the new world. And, that's all I've got/willing to share as of right now.

That's one new idea that I plan to finish before the end of the year. The other new idea I have is a paranormal story (might have some romance) that was inspired by a picture I found on deviantART. That has yet to be developed, but I know a bit of what will happen.

So ... who of my little followers has gone back to school? New idea maybe? Where do you get inspiration from?

Hope your writing days go well!

-Dylan

P.S. The new blog title was inspired partially by my current English assignment: write an essay about your literary history. Yay for me.