Venom in my Veins

Ok, I admit it. I am HOOKED on the Twilight Series. I devoured the first three books. New Moon was especially painful to get into, but I persevered and don't regret it. But, wait, hear me out...I don't love it like the OTHERS love it. I love it for it's research value. Stephanie Meyer has reached an unbelievable number of humans and probably moved some vampires as well, but HOW, is what I want to know.

I am not going to herald her as a literary genius; neither am I going to trash her writing. But I will say, that she has roped me into her emotional legacy. She has motivated me to continue creating my own emotional novel. I don't want to copy or mimick her, but I am happy to say, I am learning a lot.

The craft of writing is interpretive, I think. Or maybe it's the art that is. I don't know for sure, but I do know that we are supposed to read and learn from our own genre. Twilight is the epitomy of my genre, except I don't write about vampires or werewolves. I DO write about intense emotional relationships, though. And though I don't always like everything about the books, I am glad I chose to read them.

I have been inspired. I have venom in my veins that will keep me up late at night, thirsty for my next kill and maybe even younger too! Ahhh, to write is to dream, is it not?

Revising..or REWRITING?

It has begun. Last month I revised chapter one of Just a Girl. I needed to rethink my focus and open up with stronger narrative. I was very excited and proud of the outcome. And then came chapter two. UGH! Where to begin? How to make this work?

For weeks, I put it off. I stared at the comments and suggestions I had been given. I ultimately decided my novel was crap, junk, not worthy of fixing. And then, I found inspiration....yes, my friends....I finally caved and read Twilight by Stephanie Meyers and loved it. But my love for it was more than just the fan fare we have all heard. I loved the way she used emotion and passion to carry you through the story. THAT is what I want to do. THAT is how I write. And now, I can see THAT it is possible. I'm not saying I want to copy her...oh no...that's not me at all, but I can learn from her-both what to do and what to avoid.

And so, last week, I started again. But this time, I am not revising my book. I am rewriting it. Why? Because I need to! Well, at least I need to think of it that way because it helps me to feel less overwhelmed. It's crazy, I know, but changing one word changes my attitude. I feel less pressure to rewrite it at this point, even though I'm not changing the actual story line.

And so, I am off to steal a few minutes here and few hours there to rewrite my novel. Wish me luck; I'm gonna need it!