Another Movie Trailer

Ok, so remember when I reviewed The Hunger Games?

It's going to be a movie! The trailer has been out for a few months now, but I thought I would post it anyway. Enjoy!

~Elizabeth

It's Here!!!!!

The trailer for The Hobbit is officially here!!!!! *Can you tell I'm just a bit excited??*

Tell me what you think!

~Elizabeth

The purpose of a plot

So this week as I was going over the book I am writing with Liz, I started to notice how important plot is. I started my book with a reletively undeveloped plot. I knew the basic parts of my work and that seemed to be enough. I tossed most if my writing from then. I was writing without purpose. Eventually, as my characters developed, I started to see where they wanted to go. For example, my one character, Ryan was supposed to be a secret admirer who stayed in the shadows. When my *ahem* friends insisted that I kill Ryan, he insisted that he wanted to live. He then decided that he was such a nice guy that I needed a brand new character to fall for him. Interestingly enough, it filled some of my plot holes to add a new person. So I gained some new purpose for my characters. If you are writing something this week, pay attention to the plot and the purpose in the plot.

Awesome Contest!

Scribbles and Ink Stains is having a contest! And it's going on throughout the whole month of January.

Basically, the theme is on first impressions.

 And here's the picture for it if you want to put it on your blog/website. 

Entries must be clean, with good spelling, and under 200 words. It can be in either story or poem format.  

But what are you still here for? Click here for more information! 

~Elizabeth

New Years Resolutions

I love them, yet at the same time I hate them.

I find that, quite often, people set up goals for themselves that are to huge to be done in a year.

Take weight loss, for example. This is by far one of the most popular resolutions out there, and it doesn't help that society pushes the fact that only people that are as skinny as a rail are beautiful.

I think it's perfectly alright--wonderful, even--to make a resolution saying, "This year, I'm going to take care of myself. Try to eat healthier. Exercise more. Actually brush my teeth twice a day and wash my face."

If New Years motivates you to do great things, then that's amazing! But if what you say is, "This year, I'm going to loose so-and-so much weight," , then you are likely to get overwhelmed within the first week.

My advice--strive to do great things, but don't make a resolution that you know you can't keep. Or, if you do want to do something really big (my big resolution is to finish my book), than have that be your main one. Focus one thing that you want above all of your other resolutions--then stick to it.

And then, once you have your list, surround yourselves with people with similar goals. Pick people that are going through the same thing--ones that will encourage you and build you up when all you feel like doing is giving up. Then, do the opposite; encourage others in your group when they need it.

Take my list last year, for example. I wanted to do all sorts of things--learn two instruments, be able to speak two languages (English aside). . . .and some other ones that I honestly forget. Because I had such an extensive list, none of the things I wanted to do actually got done.

But my list this year is much more reasonable.

Start learning a language. Learn one instrument. Finish my book. These are things that I know, if I work hard at them, I can do.

I'm not telling you not to make big goals--trust me, I'm not. All I'm saying is this: Work your way up, and before you know it, you'll be as tall as a skyscraper.

~Elizabeth

Names Tip

I have always had a hard time coming up with fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi names for people in my characters. I can come up with a simple name easily, but it's when I want them to sound special that I run into trouble. I want it to sound different yet somewhat sophisticated, and pronounceable--definitely pronounceable.  


A few days ago, I found a method that has actually worked very well for me. What I do is, instead of using a common name or making one up, I use popular names from other countries.


They work well, because they're different from the American names I am used to, so they have that nice "unique" feel to them.


For example, here are a few of the most popular names for 2011 in a few other countries that sound cool:


Australia: Lachlan (,boy, 7th) 


Brazil: Giovanna (girl, 5th), Manuela (girl, 7th), Rafaela (girl, 8th), Miguel (boy, 3rd), Matheus (boy, 5th), Guilherme (boy, 7th), Felipe (boy, 10th) 


France: Inès (girl, 5th), Manon (girl, 7th), Enzo (boy, 2nd), Raphaël (boy, 6th), Yanis (boy, 8th) 


These are all I'm going to post today, just to give you a hint as to what's out there. I hope this helped you! 


~Elizabeth

My Favorite Things

Well, first off I would like to wish you all Merry Christmas!

My family is one that gets very excited about the approach of Christmas. So excited, in fact, that we make up what the days before are. A couple of years ago, my mom came up with the idea that the day before Christmas Eve must be Christmas Adam, because Adam came before Eve.

So now, instead of saying that it is four days until Christmas, we say that it's only two days until Christmas Adam (somehow that makes it feel like Christmas is closer). *Just so you know, tomorrow is Christmas Fish*. 


All jokes aside, Christmas is amazing.

Yet, what surprises me most is that the actual day of Christmas is my least favorite part of it. For me, it's the Christmas caroling and Christmas pageants, the cookie baking and time spent shopping with family, picking out and decorating a tree, going to a Christmas Eve service. . . Not all, I'll admit, but most of the things on my list tend to go along with glorifying God.

With Christmas caroling, you get to not only sing songs praising Him, but it's also an amazing opportunity to show God's love to those you sing to. With Christmas pageants, you get to re-tell the story of Christ's birth. With cookie baking, you are taking time aside to spend with your family to make cookies to give away (of course, we all know that not all of them wind up being given to someone ;) ) , time spent shopping normally involves putting others before yourself and picking out something they would like as opposed to just getting something for yourself. Picking out a tree can also be glorifying God--marveling at His creation.

Then, when you go to a Christmas Eve service, you sing classic Christmas songs like Silent Night and Away in a Manger, Come all Ye Faithful. . . You hear the pastor discuss Christ's birth--and though it is a message that a lot of people have heard to many times to count, still leaves the same effect.

Christ--God's Son--coming into this world.

Not because He had to, but because He wanted to. He wanted a way to be closer to His people--He wanted to sanctify them and make them pure.

He came because He loves us.

And, unfortunately, that isn't exactly what I think about on Christmas Day. I think about all of the things I got, I get angry about the things I didn't. I get impatient when at the family events because they are taking too long to get to the gifts.

Then, at the end of the day, I look at the mess my house has become. Wrapping paper everywhere,  gifts thrown this way and that, and I let out a sigh.

Gifts will pass away--they will break, get lost, get left somewhere, thrown out, get burnt. . . Because they weren't meant to last forever.

Yet what Christ did for us--that is something that was meant to last forever. Literally.

I would put the Christmas story on this post (Luke 1-2), but it's already getting quite lengthy. . .But I will encourage you to check it out. It's a story thousands of years in the making.


~Elizabeth

Contest

Today, I would like to inform you of a cool writing contest going on right now. Vision Forum is doing a 2012 Catalog Story Contest called Women and Children First.  

You can choose either of the following pictures:

You can do as many entries as you like--but there is a $5 fee per entry.

After you have chosen your photo, you write the story behind it. It has to be more than 100 words, although it cannot exceed 1,200.

Those under 18 are welcome to enter with parental permission. The deadline is December 31st.

For more information, click on the link above.

~Elizabeth

Writing Tip

I was working on my book the other day, and I realized something that just might change how I write for the rest oft life.

POV.

I found that, by changing the perspective, it made it a lot easier to write. In fact, I change it often within each chapter.

It makes it new and exciting. . . Not to mention the fact that it adds a LOT of length.

What makes it easier for you to continue writing?

~Elizabeth

Contest Winner!

I would've announced this on Monday, but my internet stopped working. :(

Anyway, to the announcement!

The winner is....

Aylin Brandt!! Congratulations!!!

If all of the judges could email me ( yawhowrite@gmail.com ), then I'll send you her book.

And, again, Aylin, congratulations! Writing 30,000 words in a month is something to be proud of!

~Elizabeth