Word Association - Exercise # 4

Okay, time for the next exercise brought to you by the Goddess of Photoshop herself, VP!!! *round of applause*

same exercise as last time but the word is now PRETTY, which is actually a really hard word becuase it is so simple. What is pretty? It's less the beautiful or gorgeous, but more then plain and simple so where exactly does pretty lay? (that might be bad grammar, I need a red pen ;D)

Madeline walked through the garden she had discovered. She stepped carefully to avoid crushing the flowers of low lying bushes. Never in her life had she seen a place so lush with life. Everywhere she looked where plants of every size and shape blending together in such a way as to suggest someone other then mother nature had carefully planned this place. Who would put a garden in the middle of the forest, she bent down to smell on of the fragrant peonies that grew around a particularly large oak tree. It's like a place of worship, but instead of God someone is worshiping nature itself. She continued to explore, walking around the width of the oak until she came to a small clearing. The clearing itself was perfectly circular with a short flat stone set in the middle like some kind of alter. Madeline walked closer and gasped. There was a naked man in that clearing!! He was doing a strange dance around the stone alter, muttering to himself as he moved, completely oblivious to being discovered.

Word Association - Exercise # 3

The internet crapped out on me last night, so no post for yesterday...whoops! I will catch up later today!

Here is the exercise that I am going to be working on for the next few days, it's based on one of my favorite things: word association!! YAY!

Writing Exercise: Take a word: scary, weird, ugly, etc. And then tell what it looks like. What does scary look like? Weird? Ugly? Don't say the baby was ugly (and you know, we've all seen one ugly baby in our lifetimes), describe it. Don't say the man acted weird -- tell us how he acted. SHOW us him in action.

Word for today: Docile, brought to you by the lovely and talented Hailey Edwards. Anyone reading this should go read her first two books available at Liquid Silver Books, as they are fabulous and full of adventure and excitement! Also she is the only author I have ever heard of to write about Phoenixes, one of the best mythical creatures known to man, so what are you waiting for!!! go read!! DO IT NOW!!

Elizabeth sat in an antique Louis XIV chair, her hands folded neatly in her lap. She kept her head down, refusing to look at her surroundings. They didn't matter, she would be moved again soon. She hadn't stayed in one place for more then a few hours in the last few days. Her long blonde hair was falling in her face, almost hiding her from view. Footsteps sounded behind her but she kept her eye focused on the gingham, dress she had been instructed to wear. She buried her hands in the full skirt and crossed her legs at the ankles. She made herself as small as possible, praying he wouldn't notice her.
"Don't worry baby, we'll be home soon" a deceptively soft voice said behind her. A large, masculine hand came down on her shoulder and she struggled not to flinch. Flinching made him mad. His hand lifted to stroke her hair back from her forehead. "Good, baby. I knew you would learn to accept my touch in time." he continued to stroke her as he spoke, "Very soon, precious baby, we will be home and safe. Soon we can be together forever, no one will ever come between us again."

okay creepy right, but docile is not something that I would do without being forced. More word exercises tomorrow!!

Excercise # Two

The reason that this is an above 18 blog is because I want to write romance, which means I have to practice writing sex without being embarrassed about it, one of my favorite books Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Cruise, talks about how you can't write sex while being a lady, the same way you can't have sex and try to be a lady...and trying to do so just leaves everyone unsatisfied, because all the best sec is more then a little dirty, but I digress...Today's exercise is going to focus on something I did a little while. Here we go!!

Okay so this one comes from the writing class that I took last month...The assignment:Pick three words you use all the time in a sex scene. If you've never written a sex scene, then three words you see used all the time.Now write a sex scene (or part, I know some scenes can be pages!) WITHOUT using those three words.

Here is my original scene:

He looked up at Cassie, beginning to regret giving her free reign over his body. She had stepped into the bedroom wearing an almost see through white chemise. Her every move had been so slow and deliberate, he was forced to fight the urge to beg. She had then approached his naked body, touching his chest just enough to send arcs of lighting through his body. Now she was rubbing him with fragrant oils, skimming close to but never touching his cock. The smell of cinnamon combined with her natural fragrance of vanilla, making his head rush as his body begged.
“Cassie, please,” he began, only to be cut off sharply.
“My way Phoenix, you always take me to fast. This time we go slow until I get my fill of your muscles, your skin, every part of you that I have never had time to explore.”

okay, there is a lot wrong with that scene...first it is all passive and that is a no no, second my POV isn't fabulous so I need to tighten that up and well the whole thing was written in about 5 minutes, so it just needs to be looked over, okay here are the revisions...hopefully better but I will have to look at it tomorrow to be sure :D enjoy!

Phoenix pulled at the restraints biting into his wrists, doubting his sanity as he lay naked on his queen size bed. He must have been crazy to promise Cassie complete control over his body, fulfilling his promise was surely going to kill him. He shook as her hands smoothed slick oil down his chest, leaving behind a strange tingling sensation.

“What is in that oil? It feels strange. Are you sure it’s safe?” his trepidation seeped into his voice. Giving up control was much harder to do then he had ever anticipated. Not being able to touch was driving him insane, skyrocketing his other senses and making him more aware of his surroundings. He could smell the candles she had lit, cinnamon and vanilla, mixing with the natural scent of woman that wafted from her skin. He could feel the silk of her negligee brushing the insides of his thighs making his cock jerk. His head rushed, as he saw her lips bend closer to that thick ridge, only to turn at the last second and kiss his hipbone instead.

“Cassie, please,” he began, only to be cut off sharply.

“My way Phoenix, you always take me to fast. This time we go slowly until I get my fill of your muscles, your skin, every part of you that I have never had time to explore.”

His vision swam at her words, and he struggled to keep control over his body. There was no way he was going to come early and ruin her play, even if it did kill him in the process.

LSB Writer's Workshop

BTW, this is where I have been taking classes:
Writer’s Workshop
Liquid Silver Books is offering six writer workshops scheduled for 2009. These workshops are open to all writers, unpublished or seasoned veteran with any publisher*. All workshops will be held at Liquid Silver Books forum, Silver Net (SiN). If you’re not already a member, please be sure to join** prior to the day of the workshopWorkshop
Schedule:
Self-Editing: A Necessary Evil - Rachel Fox, LSB Terran Realm Senior Editor March 28th – Time TBD Sign up opens March 1st. Due by 23rd.
POV: Chronic Tennis Neck - Terri Schaefer, LSB Editorial Director May 30th – Time TBD Sign up opens May 1st. Due by 25th
The VS: Active vs. Passive/Show vs. Tell - Tina Burns, LSB Publisher July 25th – Time TBD Sign up opens July 1st. Due by July 20th
Time: Manage it for your Writing - Terri Schaefer, LSB Editorial Director September 26th – Time TBD Sign up opens Sept 1st. Due by Sept 21st
Dialogue: To Tag or Not to Tag - Rachel Fox, LSB Terran Realm Senior EditorNovember 21st – Time TBD Sign up opens Nov 1st. Due by Nov 16th
How do I sign up?
First step would be to join the forum, Silver Net. Then email me, mailto:tina@liquidsilverbooks.com with the title of the workshop in the subject line. In the email please include your Name, Author name (if you have one), email address and publishing experience.
What if I don’t sign up before the deadline?
I made deadlines so we’ll know prior to the workshop the head count of people participating, but if you were unable to email prior to the deadline, go ahead and send me an email including the information requested above. We’ll do our best to fit you in.
What if I’m out of town or can’t make one of the workshops?
All workshops are being held on Silver Net, so the teachings and comments will be available at any time, you’ll just miss out on the participation aspect.
What do the asterisks mean in the intro paragraph?
Good question…
*While we welcome authors from any publisher to participate, please keep in mind that some of the techniques and philosophies we teach could be specific to Liquid Silver Books, not the industry as a whole.
**In order to post on the forum, you must be logged in as a member. Please make sure you enter a valid email address when you sign up, this will ensure your registration completes. One thing we do require is that you enter your birthdate, this is a legal requirement in the US to comply with COPPA. The purpose is to prevent children under-13 from accessing the board.

A tip for people who are likely to return: tick the “Remember Me” box when logging on and don’t log out when leaving. This will have you auto-login next time you visit SiN.

*~*permission to forward*~*

Writing Exercise One

Time for today's exercise! YAY! This comes from this article about one of the precepts of creative writing: Show don't Tell, which is surprisingly difficult. In general, we are taught to remove ourselves from our writing and just presents the facts...especially former poly-sci majors like myself, who got reeemed for including any opinion not solidly based in fact and supported by at least three other people far more important then ourselves.

In that form of writing though, removing yourself from the actual story preserves objectivity and allows for a clearer view of the "big picture" in creative writing this same mentality is the kiss of death. In order to write a real story that will connect to others, you have to connect to yourself without comfortable barriers of fact to insulate. I think this is why writers talk like their characters are real friends, albeit imaginary ones, because they have to feel what their characters are going through on a very real level, one which I have NOT mastered. So onto practice!

Writing Exercise: Take this phrase: "It was hot." Rewrite it without the word
was. Better yet, don't even use the word hot. Think of all the things you can
use to describe heat. Make a list, if you want. Write a few sentences that SHOW
the weather is hot.

She stopped to perch on a sun-baked rock protruding from the earth, yanking the canteen from her waist as she did. She gulped water that tasted much closer to ambrosia and plotted her next move. Wildcats had been spotted in the area and she had to protect her cattle and horses from becoming dinner, but it was almost noon and the flat plains provided no relief from the high sun. She mopped sweat off of her forehead with the kerchief in her back pocket and decided to find some shade and wait until the sun sank a little lower in the sky before she resumed trying to kill herself looking for cats that had probably already gone on their way.

Beginings

Alright, I have been doing a lot of reading and even taking a few classes and the more I do the more sure I am about this:

I want to write

I am not sure that I want to make my living as a writer, but I am pretty sure that if I don't find a way to get these characters out of my head and in to the general populace, at least some of them will forcibly drill their way from my brain....they are a violent bunch I know, but what can you do.

Anyway, in all my reading and talking and dithering one thing keep coming out, if I want to write I need to write EVERY DAY, no matter what I have got to write and practice or my words are never going to see a page, much less a whole book. Kinda, a giant catch-22 right? Enter this blog, I need a place to practice and I need a place to get used to people at large being able to see what I write and judge it for themselves. So what is this going to be?

WELL.....essentially I will be writing, doing exercises designed to make me a better writer, research related to what I want to write and short stories and scenes meant to exercise and strengthen my creative muscles. Theoretically I will be doing this everyday...that is at least the intent, but I have never been good with resolutions so we will see how I do without adult supervision.

So welcome, and please bear with me. I know some of this is bound to suck and I doubt it will be terrible interesting to anyone but me and maybe a few nice friends who will at least pretend to be interested :D but I do appreciate criticism and would love to hear what others think!!