Challenge

    Hello everyone!  I was thinking that a challenge might be a good way to get our creative juices flowing at the beginning of 2014.  Alright, here it is:  I'm challenging y'all (and myself) to write a story off of a Bible verse.  What do I mean by that?  Simply, pick a verse and write a story that gets that verse across to the reader.  You can pick any verse you want.  If you can, try to have the story done by the end of January.  I realize that some of y'all are very busy (such as I am) and may have trouble getting it done by then.  If you can't, don't worry.  Just post it whenever you are finished.  Have fun!

A Mistake to Live For Part 1--The Flirt

I know this story is not any of your favorite styles nor is it my particular writing style so please, bear with me.

A Mistake to Live For

Part 1—The Flirt

“Eardel! Father is waiting!”

A young woman hurriedly slipped her dancing shoes on her feet and gave one last approving glance at her reflection in the mirror. Smoothing out her sparkling blue dress and readjusting her white shawl she turned quickly to her maid.

“How do I look?”

“Lovely M’Lady. I think you will be danced off your feet. Every man will want to dance with you”

The young woman smiled and turned her necklace so that is showed to better advantage.

“Well, hopefully only the handsome ones will ask me, they’re the ones I’m interested in. It would be rather awkward you know if that hideous old crow—I’ll not mention any names of course—were to ask me. I suppose I would have to dance with him. There would be no polite way to turn him down.”

“Yes M’Lady.”

“Eardel!” A slightly younger girl burst open the ornately carved door and stood in the open doorway looking reproachfully across the room. “Father is very impatient. He says we must go down now or else the Emperor might think we didn’t wish to attend the ball thrown in our honor.”

“Why don’t you and the old man go ahead and I’ll come when I am ready?”

“Eardel!”  The deeper voice floated down the passage way in a stern and commanding tone.

Eardel heaved a sigh and swept out of the room with a disparaging sniff at her sister.

“I’ll be surprised if you get more than two dances Ayson. That dress is so very unflattering on you.”

Ayson glared at her but by this time the girls’ father had caught up and she dared not throw a taunt back.

“Are you ready at last? It is very rude for a Parian diplomat to keep his host waiting Eardel.” Taking a daughter’s arm in each of his he turned and marched stiffly down the stairs and through several more palace passages before finally arriving at the grand ballroom. A young boy dressed in luxuriant clothes appeared and stood next to Eardel while they were waiting to be announced.

“Father,” Eardel leaned close so that no one else could hear, “You surely are not letting Jaydel come to the ball!”

“Of course! The Barivian Emperor invited the Parian diplomat and his family. That means all of us standing here Eardel. Even though there is no mother we are a family after all.” His tone told her that arguing was dangerous.

The large doors in front of them swung open and a servant intoned deeply in a language that Eardel only understood partly, “His Honor, Lord Aves, the diplomat of Parian. Her Ladyships, Lady Aves and Lady Ayson. Also Mr. Aves.”

Eardel knew that the first impression she gave would be the most lasting so pulling her shoulders back and showing all her teeth in a dazzling smile she tilted her head and swept onto the polished floor. The Emperor was there to great and introduce them and Eardel, being the lady of the family found herself immediately claimed by His Majesty for the first dance. It was only proper for them to open the ball together but she found herself resenting it anyway. The Emperor was an immensely boring partner and rather ugly. Eardel made no effort to enjoy the honor and was relieved when at the end of it he introduced her to a few ladies and promptly vanished. He wasn’t useful material for her to play with.

The ladies did their best but all were rather awkward around the young foreigner who could hardly speak a word of the Barivian language. One of the older ladies seemed especially preoccupied until slipping away for a moment she came back leading a much younger man by the arm.

“Lady Aves, this my son.” She faltered hesitantly in Parian.

“M’Lady.” The young man was very dark featured but as he bent and respectfully touched his lips to her gloved hand she decided he was unquestionably handsome. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“Likewise.” She tipped her head a little and let her hand linger in his a moment longer than necessary. “You speak wonderful Parian, sir. I declare it sounds absolutely enchanting with the slight accent you have. I do believe I could listen to it for hours!”

“I learned when I visited Paria about ten years ago. My father was a diplomat like yours and one year he took me with him.” He took two champagne filled glasses from a passing waiter and offered her one.

“Thank you. You must have met some people I know while on your trip.”

“Probably.” He turned his eyes full into hers, “But none so beautiful or charming as you.”

Eardel did her best to color at the unoriginal complement. At least he was trying and he certainly was handsome. Perhaps he would be a suitable plaything for the night.

“Do you find Barivia to your tastes?”

“Yes really I do. The people are all so pleasant,” she blocked out a mental image which would arise at this little fib, “and so very refined and genteel.”

“Perhaps you consider staying?” his eyes wondered towards the musicians tuning up in preparation for the next dance.

Now that was moving a bit fast so she decided to push him back down a peg. “Oh, I don’t know that there is anything I like well enough to keep me permanently but for a short visit it is absolutely wonderful.”

“Well, perhaps the people you mentioned earlier? Perhaps you might like some of them well enough to keep you here for a long time?”

Eardel giggled. He was moving so quickly but she sort of liked it. It was refreshing to have someone play with her this deeply.

“Oh, I don’t know.” She shrugged her shoulders and pulled the snowy shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

Seeing the action he politely offered his arm, “Are you cold? There is a cheery fire burning in the library, perhaps you would allow me to take you there?”

“Thank you. That would be nice. I am always afraid of catching cold and getting deathly sick like my mother did.”

As they passed out of the room she saw her sister, dancing on the arm of “The Old Crow”. Their eyes meeting Ayson scrunched up her nose at her as if to say, “If you don’t won’t a man with lots of money, I’ll take him.” Eardel tilted her chin a bit more and turned her eyes away. What did she care? Her sister might get the money but she would get an ugly old man with it. She turned to her companion and let him lead her across the large hall and through a smaller but still beautifully carved pair of doors. A bright fire immediately drew her and she hurried to it feeling the warmth relax her and make her feel a bit sleepy.

“Ah,” The voice behind her startled her; she had nearly forgotten her escort’s presence. “This is more like it. Now we can really talk.”

Turning around she found the doors shut with them inside, alone. Her heart began thumping loudly, this was moving very, very quickly and she wasn’t sure if she was okay with that.

Tip Tuesday

Welcome to the first Tip Tuesday of 2014!

Most of us fall short when it comes to using unusual words. We find ourselves writing words like "nice", "good", "happy" ect. These provided for mundane stories. Here are some alternative words to help you make your writing more interesting.

Nice: Enjoyable, pleasurable, thoughtful, courteous, lovely, likeable, pleasing, gracious, congenial, cordial, admirable, considerate.

Good: Excellent, amazing,wonderful, pleasant, marvelous, exceptional, fantastic, super, outstanding, terrific, splendid, stupendous.

Said: Commented, replied, remarked, declared, stated, exclaimed, shouted, whispered, announced, responded, boasted, explained.

To be continued in two weeks. 

I have found these to be very helpful as I am making myself go back and edit. I watch for the everyday words and decide if I would like to replace them with something unusual. This is not to say you should go get a dictionary and begin using difficult words most people are not familiar with. Make sure you know your audience and are writing for them. Don't write over their heads with flowery, impressive lingo but make your writing interesting, on their level.

Did any of you find this helpful?

Greatings of the New Year!

Lucy Pevensie

You are Lucy Pevensie a.k.a Queen Lucy of Narnia! You are willing, caring, and above all valiant! Most of the time you try handling big things by yourself but sometimes that's good because your proving to your elders that you are big enough to handle things yourself.. Most of the time..

Since you can't read the picture very well I will type it out: I am Sir Andrew, brave, trustworthy, and fiercely loyal. My friends are everything. I love having fun and a good adventure.

Elinor Dashwood!You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

I took a quiz once that told me I was Mycroft Holmes from the Sherlock Holmes books. Embarrassing as it is I think it is rather true. I tend to be smart, but very lazy with my knowledge, rarely putting it to use.

You are Robert, Earl of Grantham. Honest and old-fashioned, you’re primarily motivated by honor and duty. You’re so honorable, you’re actually willing to let a virtual stranger inherit all your worldly goods rather than risk breaking up your family’s legacy. Some people might call you a stick in the mud, but you can be extremely generous and forgiving toward those you feel have earned your loyalty

Radagast the Brown: You love things that grow and enjoy the company of animals more than that of other people. There is great wisdom in you but you have problems conveying that to others.

I'll admit I was rather taken back by the last one... isn't it funny though?

My New Year's writing goals are pretty simple, but not very easy. I want to get more faithful about thoroughly editing (a thing I absolutely hate!), work on my dialog, and prevent my stories from falling so flat in the middle.

Greetings, New Year!

Salutations everyone!  

My writing goals for 2014 are quite vague.  All I really wish to do is to write more stories, such as Those Eyes, that contain a strong biblical and (hopefully) an encouraging message. 

Now, as to the results to some of the character quizzes that I took.  First I must say that I enjoy taking quizzes from different websites that cover the same topic.  For example, I took a Narnia quiz, but I took two (or perhaps it was three) different ones.  Anyway, I think it makes things more interesting.  :)  Also, I quoted the websites (when they had something to be quoted) but replace "you" with "I" to make it more personal. ;)

First off, Narnia!


I am . . . Peter Pevensie!  I am brave, loyal and look out for people. I am a kind and caring leader and will pretty much always do the right thing. Sometimes however I may get slightly big headed and not listen to reason. Regardless of this I will always admit the error of my ways and in the end come out better and stronger for it.




I am also . . . Prince Caspian!  I have a sharp eye for injustice and a humble heart to improve the world around me. I never quite rely on myself to make changes; instead, I believe only teamwork can achieve them. As I grow in wisdom, I will learn to trust myself (eh . . . more like learn that God is the one to trust and depend on :D).


Now I will unveil a very interesting result I got from just one Lord of the Rings quiz.  I tied as three different characters, and I have no idea why (they didn't give me reasons for why I was like them).

I tied as Galadriel, Elrond, and Arwen.

 

Yeah.  Weird.  I suppose that is supposed to tell me that I am an elf at heart (ha!).  However, on (perhaps) a more realistic note, I also took a different Lord of the Rings quiz (probably the same one that Grace took) and ended up as Frodo (I'm not sure about that one either).  

Anyway, that's who I am supposedly like.  Hopefully you enjoyed that revelation (I probably should not mention the two other quizzes I took that said I was like Pippin (the silly Hobbit off of Lord of the Rings) and Bree (the talking horse from Narnia) *sheepish grin*).  Have a wonderful new year!

New Years Greetings

Howdy!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas celebrating Christ's birth and also a fantastic New Year's day!  I've never been one to make New Year's Resolutions, so unfortunately, I have none to share with you...  However, a goal for my writing is to finish a story I've been working on since 2012.

Here are the results of some character quizzes I took:
From Little House on the Prairie:  Charles Ingalls; "You are a strong and important person. Kind and loving with an answer for everything, but also firm and stubborn. You help anyone you can and bring home the bacon."

From the Chronicles of Narnia, I'm "Susan, who became Queen Susan the Gentle of Narnia. You have a deep sense of connection with other people's feelings, but you aren't always the first to take action; you

do when there's real urgency. While you don't always trust your own judgment, usually allowing others to take the lead, you never forget to look after those who are neglected."

From American Girl: "You are like Addy. In 1864 Addy and her mother escaped from a plantation in the south. Addy was brave and courageous during the escape to freedom. Once they were safe, her mother worked as a seamstress. Addy was always hopeful that someday her family would be all together again. Her dad and brother were sold to a different plantation and they left behind her grandparents and baby sister. Addy was very smart and loved to learn. She also liked to help others."

From Veggie Tales:  

From Adventures in Odyssey:

John Avery Whittaker

John Avery Whittaker, or "Whit" to his friends, is the incredibly friendly owner of the popular ice cream shop, Whit's End. Whit is a Christian, and proud of it. He is not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. His exhilirating inventions, (such as the Imagination Station, the Room of Consequence, etc.) are loved by children all ages. Whit is extremely good-natured, and a very good friend to have. All righty, there ya go.  Some rather interesting results; I don't know why I only got one girl result!

Have a wonderful Thursday!
-Josie 

Happy New Year!

Since I don't have anything complete to post, I thought it would be fun just to start the new year with something a little fun. Also it may help us get to know each other a little better :)

So here is what we are to do: First, think of some of your favorite books or movies. Then google who am I or character quizzes for a few of them. Take a few and post your results here. My results are posted below. 

Also, Hope thought we should share our sort of new year resolutions or goals for our writing. Here's mine: This year I want to complete writing a book I've been working on since the beginning of last semester. It would be my first finished book, so it will be a huge step for me. I don't know if I'll publish it or not but maybe someday. Presently it's titled My Nice, Normal Family, and is loosely based off of my family and some of my experiences. I'm basically the main character, making it very personal...so at times it's hard to write since I become very transparent through it. Since the main character is pretty much me, then the main character must also be similar to the following characters :)

Since the picture is hard to read, I'll paraphrase briefly: I'm Princess Aurora, happy, smart, and fun to be around. Also, I'm content with my life and often sing to express my feelings. Things tend to work out in my favor...as if I am surrounded by good fairies.

I might also mention that Aurora was raised in a house deep in the woods away from the rest of society. In other words, she was very sheltered, as am I in a way, being that I have been homeschooled.

From the Chronicles of Narnia, I'm "Susan, who became Queen Susan

the Gentle of Narnia. You have a deep sense

of connection with other people's feelings, but

you aren't always the first to take action; you

do when there's real urgency. While you don't

always trust your own judgment, usually

allowing others to take the lead, you never forget

to look after those who are neglected."

Frodo from the Lord of the Rings: "You're a bit of a wimp...but, if you must do something, you will overcome fears to do it. Even so, you are a caring person who likes to have friends. You don't look or think like you were born for greatness...but you never know!"

Addy Walker from the American Girl Books: "You stand up for what’s right and are pretty persistent when it comes to getting what you want. You value family more than most, and you don’t take much for granted. But just remember: curiosity killed the cat. There is such a thing as too much information."

Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales: "You're more serious then most of your friends and you tend to get a lot of the responsibilities put on you. You are kind character and you are passionate about spreading the news of God's love to kids."

This one is just for laughs. I'm not really a Star Wars fan, but I'm pretty familiar with it because of my brothers, so I went ahead and took a few quizzes. I ended up as Yoda 3 out of 4 times. Not exactly sure why... Yoda: "Wise and all knowing you are…yes. Tall, dark, and handsome? Not so much I'd say."

I also took a few Bible character quizzes, but I didn't think any of them were very well made. A few of my results were David, Abigail, and Ruth. I've also taken a Jane Austen character quiz, and almost always end up as Elizabeth Bennett or Elinor Dashwood. I didn't bother to put the descriptions up, though, because I didn't really think they were much like me.