Nine pages this morning on Magpie! :) Woo hoo! "Productive-Dena" has taken over my body :P Except one scene has practically no setting, and I'm thinking that part of the reason is that I feel more comfortable writing in the female POV and that one's all men. (As eBear pointed out, all my villains are male and my heroes female. Hmmm...). But it's just a first draft, and it's on the page, so I'll settle for that. For now :) But I'm up to 34,250 words, 137 pages. Yeah! I may actually reach an end on this thing at some point.
Finished reading The Golden Compass last night. I did not care for it. Fascinating world-building, to an extent, and excellent descriptions, but it was dark. I really wouldn't recommend it for children, and it was originally marketed as a YA book. The writing is fine - though I thought it started slowly - but I didn't find the protagonist particularly likeable. And there were times, especially towards the end, where I felt like the author had his own hidden agenda in telling the story, and it was a disturbing one. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the whole book felt off somehow.
Had quite a different experience with Diane Duane's Book of Night With Moon. Not a children's book, but one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to a teenager. Fascinating world-building with a deft touch, I especially liked how she'd introduce a term, say "heiff," which means composure grooming, by giving first "composure grooming" to remind the reader, then using "heiff" from there on out. Her protagonist was extremely likeable, the conflict set up quite well, and everything "made sense," ie, how she blended mythos, cats as wizards, and her use of dinosaurs, unfolded in a logical way that was completely solid. I was very impressed by the complexity of plot and characterization and hope someday to write something as good.
btw - this journal will be devoted to writing - specifically geared towards my YA audience - and I will be posting more personal entries at livejournal, www.livejournal.com/users/dlandon/, as soon as I can figure out how, exactly, to use it ;)
One hour till lunchtime! :)
- D
Finished reading The Golden Compass last night. I did not care for it. Fascinating world-building, to an extent, and excellent descriptions, but it was dark. I really wouldn't recommend it for children, and it was originally marketed as a YA book. The writing is fine - though I thought it started slowly - but I didn't find the protagonist particularly likeable. And there were times, especially towards the end, where I felt like the author had his own hidden agenda in telling the story, and it was a disturbing one. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the whole book felt off somehow.
Had quite a different experience with Diane Duane's Book of Night With Moon. Not a children's book, but one I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to a teenager. Fascinating world-building with a deft touch, I especially liked how she'd introduce a term, say "heiff," which means composure grooming, by giving first "composure grooming" to remind the reader, then using "heiff" from there on out. Her protagonist was extremely likeable, the conflict set up quite well, and everything "made sense," ie, how she blended mythos, cats as wizards, and her use of dinosaurs, unfolded in a logical way that was completely solid. I was very impressed by the complexity of plot and characterization and hope someday to write something as good.
btw - this journal will be devoted to writing - specifically geared towards my YA audience - and I will be posting more personal entries at livejournal, www.livejournal.com/users/dlandon/, as soon as I can figure out how, exactly, to use it ;)
One hour till lunchtime! :)
- D
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