Journal Report #5

Hello! I did a lot more writing than reading this week. A lot more. I don't have anything to say about anything I've read, because I haven't really read anything in the last week. Well, I did finish the Hourglass Door trilogy by Lisa Mangum, and that was everything I hoped it would be, but I hesitate to talk about it as it was the third book and I don't want to spoil anything.

As for my writing: the middle grade story is coming along. The problem with my character Jeremy is that he doesn't think he has weaknesses and I tell the story from his perspective. He thinks he's smarter, cooler, and overall more awesome than anyone else but I have to show that he's not. I don't want to change him, though; I kind of love my cocky little thief (oops, retrieval specialist). So this is what I did. I rewrote the ending so his nemesis, a girl detective, helps him out for the greater good and now he's in her debt. Therefore, Jeremy doesn't hold all the cards for once.

I've also been revising a novel I'm working on. It's YA fantasy. Today I had a huge chunk of time so I revised five chapters. It went well, so I feel like I'm flying. Give it a couple days and I'll be back to earth. This is the same novel I've mentioned in past journal posts. I've written another novel, but that one's in the begging-for-publication stage.

As to the YA fantasy, I've cut a bit out and replaced it with better scenes. For example, I had a scene where my secondary character's mom played a big role. In rereading the scene, I saw that the mom's part was unnecessary and actually complicated my character too much. So I took her out but had to fill in the gaps where she held the plot together. A lot of writing later, I have a scene with more action and a better depiction of my teenage characters. It's too long to post here, otherwise I would.

Thanks for reading, all of you who do.