Continuity

So, I was writing more of my book today in a coffee shop. Nice, right? Anyways, something dawned on me that made me realize that I need to re-write my work. only a few chapters, so it's not too bad. I sat there, thinking, and a book that I've been meaning to buy called How NOT to write a book came to mind. While I was thinking about the book, I started thinking about (obviously) how not to write a book. I decided that continuity is very important, and it made me notice a huge flaw in my writing. The flaw is that I like to give action and conversations first, and then description. Know why that's a problem? Because it causes the reader to get confused. Example: imagine a person. Any kind of person, but it must be a guy. Pick one, any one. Now imagine him in combat with another person. I'd venture a guess that you probably aren't thinking that the guy is holding a bowie knife, has on black cargo pants and a form-fitting gray tee, is pale as the belly of a fish, and has thin, wispy blond hair. And weighs a 100 lbs with near no muscle. I'd guess that you also didn't think that the guy he's facing is a well-built mass of muscle weighing in at 186 lbs and is only wearing combat pants. Now the fight is over. I'd say you aren't thinking skinny guy won. Without any damage to himself. And he never even needed the knife. That the room they're in has red walls with black trim, the floor a dark gray sparring floor with padding, and a huge sunroof. My point is that unless you're amazing at guessing features, or don't automatically guess what people and rooms look like, and what outcomes are, you had to change a lot about what you thought in just a few sentences. Which is good sometimes, but bad wen you don't get a description of important people until like 10 pages after you meet them. So, I must now go re-write to describe people before you get too attached to the person you have in your head whilst reading. Sorry guys! but, on the bright side, Chapter 1 should be done soon because I've already re-written most of it. Well, that's all for right now. Have a great day, thanks for reading, and as always,

Roses Are #FF0000

New Sight

Not much to report today. Wrote a little bit, that's all. Yesterday I went to get new glasses. My perscription went up a small bit, but that's not too bad. I actually was glad, because it made things a bit sharper. While I was there, I pointed out the fading coating on my lenses, and they told me they were defective so they replaced them with transitions in my new perscription for free, which was nice. Now I'm getting a pair of rx sunglasses instead, because I effectively have new glasses right now. They'll come in about two weeks, because the lenses are a special order. Ah well. I wish it were Thursday already. I hate Wednesdays. That, and I plan on seeing Lexa Thursday. Yay! Well, that's all.

Roses are #FF0000

Oh Noez!

Arrgh! Blogger deleted my Friday post! So, here goes my generic redux: See my theme:









Roses are #FF0000, my favourite colour is blue, and more blog to come tomorrow (now today).

Placeholder

So... I don't really have much to post about. And even though I'd like to post about my new award, I can't because I'm not at my comp. So this post is just a placeholder for what I'm planning to post, which I will replace this with in the morning. Got it? Great.

EDIT:

Here's the award! Thanks Lexa!

Writing!

Hey guys! I wrote some more of my book today, and did some more work on my theme. Tomorrow I plan on forcing myself to write more, and to write some music too. Maybe even practice my violin. I'm still having trouble deciding what tense and person I want my book to be in, but I think I've settled on first person present, because I want you to go on a journey with him, not go on those that he's already gone on. It leaves me open to shift to other characters and, if I so decide, even kill him off and switch characters, because there is no guarantee that he'll live (which there is when first person past tense). That makes things fun, and I hope it keeps people engaged and wanting to read more.

The Grand Lux Café

So I didn't do much today. Sat down to write some more of my book (yay!) and helped someone with their computer issues. Saturday, however, was a lot of fun.Here are the pics I promised, but due to the fact that I'm wary of posting photos of the Jr High, all you get to see is a picture of the most amazing fresh-made raspberry lemonade I have ever had the pleasure to drink:

The Arts Fridays - Themed

Hey guys! Not much work done this week, just a little bit of work on my itouch theme! A peek at the dock and some icons:



Any ideas would be great as far as icon designs go. Anywho, remember, as always:

Roses are #FF0000.

Yay!

NOTE: If I seem annoyed, it's because this post got deleted like 2 minutes before I finished it. This is a re-write.

Alright, I got an award! This award was presented to me by Lexa from Cardiac Outbursts, whose link you can find in my sidebar and among some of my other posts. Thanks Lexa!


Rules:
Thank the person who gave you this award. Share 7 things about yourself. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic! Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award

7 Things about myself:

1. I love the outdoors. Camping, climbing, sunrises, sunsets, hiking... It's all beautiful.


2. I love art! Music, literature, sketches, photographs, paintings. You name it.


3. I'm an avid gamer and a techie.


4. I enjoy martial arts and parkour not just because they are fun and keep me healthy, or because they offer protection, but because they give me greater control over my body.


5. I enjoy logic because it offers me control over my mind, and to some extent my emotions, but if you've read my blog, you know my emotions still get out of hand.


6. I'm a musician and a writer, but you probably already know that.


7. I have another blog, but I post there rarely.

Now to pass this along to 15 recently discovered blogs (sorry Lexa, can't nominate you):

I don't follow/read 15 blogspot blogs, so I'll post the ones I do (which is 2).

• Chris over at the Loft, for his inspirational, thought-provoking, and biblically-founded stories/truths. Thanks man.


• April over at Young with a Purpose, for many of the same reasons, and yet with a much different perspective. However, she doesn't post much.

Penny For My Thoughts?

So, Not much went on today, although I did start practicing my martial arts again at home. I'm rusty. I've been doing stretches to try and get my flexibility back up, and I hope my neighbors don't mind the fighting noises I make. Also, I needed my first jump today, and looked like an idiot at an intersection. See, the car was working just fine, and then I got to my destination. I was told I didn't need to be there, and wouldn't you know it my battery had died on me! I got a jump, my mom called and yelled at me (she thinks it's my fault, even though she's the one who never replaced the battery in like 5 years), I got nervous, and then I came up on a camera intersection. The little guy on the side still said walk, so I still had time to go through my green light, right? Wrong. As soon as I hit the crosswalk, the light skips from green to red, causing my already nervous self to panic and hit the brakes. I stop in the middle of the intersection, decide "I'm already through, I have to go" and luckily didn't get a picture taken of me, thank goodness. It was still annoying though. Other than that, though, nothing happened. I'm still figuring out what to do for this Fridays Arts, and have a lunch/dinner thing to go to on Saturday with a bunch of 8th graders, which should be fun (I'm a jr high leader at a youth group, if you're wondering). Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your night, thanks for reading, and remember;

Roses are #FF0000.

The Pieces To An Unknown Puzzle

For reference: I'm not on a 48-hour posting schedule. I'm doing in by day of the week, not literal day. Now that that's out of the way, time to get to the actual post!

So, not much really happened today. I went to class, played some fallout, outlined some stuff for Aurora. I've got so many pieces to a story, a character who, in my mind, already exists. To me, his world is real. His values are relateable, his character, tangible. In my mind, I have his story, his old life. But, try as I might, I might as well be him when devining his future. I must manufacture it for him, but I also must keep his future within the confines of his world, even though I created it. I like where each turn could take him, and yet I don't yet know which turns he will take. Do all novelists feel this way? I hope so, because then that would give me hope for my book. As it stands, I have the pieces to a puzzle, but have no idea what it makes an image of, and what pieces should be used for this first book (did I mention I want it to be a series?).

Roses are #FF0000.

The Arts... Saturday?

Sorry guys. I was hanging out all day with some friends yesterday, so I got home on Saturday, and realized I forgot to post my work! So, hoping for forgiveness, here it is:

I also did some more work on my itouch theme, but blogger won't let me upload .zip files. Feel free to use any of the work I post from here on out for your own use, I just would like my due.

Next, I want to apologize for my non-regular blogging schedule. I kind of fell into a pit, where I told myself that I should only post worthwhile or profound stuff, and that led me to not really blog. As opposed to the release writing gives, I had just made a new strain. This strain is something I hope to relieve, and this mindset something that I seek to change by participating in the spring blog-fest. Who knows, maybe I'll even get more of my book done just because I'll be more in the habit of writing! Well, that's all I had to say for today. Roses are #FF0000, and remember: your blog is yours. Don't worry about the readers, worry about your writing. Readers will come if they wish.

Blogfest Challenge!

I am now embarking on a new blogging challenge! Here it is:

***OFFICIAL CHALLENGE GUIDELINES***

• During the months of March, April and May you must post at least one entry every other day.
• It doesn't matter how you blog or what you blog about, all that matters is that you blog.
• Branch out. Don't just post the same old entries over and over. This is a challenge, after all, so challenge yourself! Try new styles! See what happens!
• Try to find at least one new blog to follow. Meet other bloggers. Network with them. Make new friends!
• Feel free to leave a comment letting me know you're participating! I would love to see what you're up to!
• I made a button especially for the challenge, and you can find it in my sidebar. You certainly don't have to add it to you site, but it would definitely earn you brownie points.

Does that count as a post? I'll say so. Anywho, look forward to The Arts Friday's tomorrow!

Art

So, I'm not even close to being done with my image for Friday. So, I'll post it (the unfinished work) below, but as I said, I'm nowhere close to being done. Take note, this is the end of hour four of work. Drawing with a quill is harder than I thought. Sorry about the ink splotches, It's hard to control the ink flow on curves. Well, here you go:

 

I estimate another 10 to 15 hours of work because it's quill work, but if it was a pen I'd be done in two.
Ah well.

Simple Pleasures

I stood outside, listening to the Melody Of Resolution from the Crisis Core ost. As I stood there, listening to piano and violin playing together, weaving a melody, with my head thrown back and eyes shut tight, under the faux-sunset effect caused by city lights, I felt peace. A peace that made me forget the chill, and wish I could stand there forever, just enjoying it. It felt more a chore to open my eyes and walk inside after that simple pleasure than any other thing that I've ever had to do. I don't know how you can find this, but I hope you can. Brilliant joy in simple things. Just let it come. Enjoy the simplicity. Roses are #FF0000.

The Arts Fridays!

Hey Guys! As part of something to try and get me started blogging on a more regular basis, I've started The Arts Fridays! Every Friday, I'm going to post something that I've been working on that pertains to The Arts. Stuff like original music, sketches, stories, things like that. I started working on a picture for today, but I forgot that as opposed to the 2 hours that I thought it would take, it's probably going to take more like 10 to 15. I forgot how long those pictures can take! I'll post it as soon as I'm done (At the very least I promise to post it by next Friday), but for now have a look at some older work, like the intro to Aurora, a sidebar that I drew, and some sketches! Oh, and let's all say thanks to Lexa for being the inspiration to this new trend! And now, here comes the art!:

Now to Aurora:

The sun rises on what promises to be a beautiful day. The soft chirping of birds floats through the crisp morning air as people about the city slowly rise from their sleep and connect to the Channel in preparation for the new day.

Time passes, the world goes on. At least, that’s what I’ve always been told. But how can the world recover from this?

Connecting to their favorite news station, the denizens of the city prepare to receive their morning news feed. Reports of the current state of affairs pour into them, are read over, then filed away for reflection on their commute to work. All that you would expect to be in a newscast is there: stock reports, weather, the current political status, crimes, and all else. This is what they receive: the economy was never better. Stocks are up, there are no crimes to speak of. The weather will be beautiful, as is usual for this time of the year, and the traffic is light. An almost perfect, and extremely charming, city.

The year is 2127. Over the past 100 years or so the world has seen immense technological advancements. The Channel is by far the biggest advancement of all, and some would even say the best. The Channel is a universally accessible media source, full of other sub sources, with which one can search for information, contact people, send messages, hold digital meetings somewhat akin to old video conferences, and many other things, like get the mandatory morning news feed. All this is thanks to a chip implanted in us at birth, so that we are never without access to information.

The standard news feed is interrupted and replaced by an emergency broadcast. Something about a man trying to disrupt the integrity of the Channel, trying to bring it offline. They say not to worry, the Maintainers are fixed on him and trying to bring him into custody. A picture floats up, representing a man in his prime, with dark brown hair, shallow cheeks, and a casual demeanor that could lead you to believe that this man is harmless. His only true distinguishing feature, and perhaps the most unsetteling thing about this man, are his heterochromatic blue and green eyes, which throw a sharp contrast to the rest of his face, a chilling effect. They're calling him Cethin, the night stalker. A warning goes out to be on the lookout for this man, and to immediately inform the Maintainers if you see him.

The Maintainers. These are the people whose sole duty is to monitor the connections made in the Channel, making sure all stays in order. The government champions these men and women as society’s watchmen, looking out for the people and their safety, weeding out those that will cause harm. I was one of them, a lead Maintainer. Now I am marked as this Cethin, out to destroy all the good that the Channel does. And this is true. I stand alone in my fight to bring down the Channel, because only I realize what others don’t: that the Channel is simply a means to control the minds of the masses, placing them squarely in the palm of the government and their whims. I am Ryan Elior Kennedy, also known as Aurora, and I am about to usher in the dawn.

Update?

Long time no blog. Sorry guys. Not much has been going on. I'll soon be posting a new worship song on my reflections blog though. And should (finally, it's been like half a year) be done with chapters 1-3 of Aurora. Yay! I have too many hobbies. Oh well. Nothing on the love front. Nothing on the like front either. Meh. Can't wait to get Heavy Rain! It's a great demo, will be a great game.

Camp went well. Not too much happened there for those that the weekend was targeted to, in my opinion, but I'm praying.

Green zone looks like a good movie. Matt Damon + guns = blockbuster. End of story. Uh, what else... Hm. Well, what's probably best is to ask this: what do you want to hear about? And don't just say whatever [I] want to write about. I wanna hear it! So either post a comment, or pose it as a question on my formspring page, formspring.me/DarkAurora

Well, Roses Are #FF0000, and this custom is getting hard to keep going. I'm feeling normal? What's a "normal" color? Eh. Roses Are #FF0000. Deal.