Monday, October 27, 2014

October #wipmadness – Week 4

It’s the final check-in for the October edition of #wipmadness. And Friday is Halloween!!! You know what that means:
CANDY!!!

Nothing is sweeter than a handful (or two) of your favorite bite-size candy bar. Nothing except perhaps for writing that sentence or paragraph that makes you think, “I’m awesome. This story is awesome. Watch out world, here I come.” 

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday of mine, and not because of the free candy. I like seeing all the kids dressed up in costumes. For one day, everyone can dress up and experience being someone else for the night and collect candy or other goodies for doing so. In this way, Halloween is very much like the experience of reading (and writing) a book: you get to experience what life is like for someone else.

As writers, we get to step in the shoes of characters all the time and experience another’s life, struggles, and moments of joy and despair. As writers, we may like to think we know everything about our characters and what they might do in certain situations, but sometimes our own creations teach us something. Our math geek might confess she’s been flunking her algebra quizzes or our sports star might admit he really hates the sport and would rather play in the marching band. Their revelations might lead us to the story that we didn’t realize was possible, but that is the story that the character wants to tell. Sometimes we have to listen to a character to know what story is the right one.

Has this happened to you before? Have your characters balked at the story you’re writing and revealed something new about themselves and turned the story into something new?

Also as a Halloween treat, consider the following questions for one of your characters (or for you):

What was your favorite Halloween character as a kid?
Are you dressing up this year? If so, what are you going as?
What do you think makes the best costumes?

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for:

The winner of write bracelet giveaway is:

Kim B!!!!!

Congratulations, Kim!

Please send me your mailing address to my email: chris hingley 17 at gmail dot com.

Jenn can adjust the length of the bracelet for you and add the clasp of your choice.

Anyway it’s been a pleasure and an honor to be your host for the past two months of #wipmadness. Maybe I’ll stick around for another month if Denise can’t find another host, but for sure I’ll be commenting at check-ins.


Hope you all have a great Halloween, and even great writing sessions!

5 comments:

  1. I will do my very best to host in November. Thanks so much for taking on the last two months, Chris! I really had fun checking in here!

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  2. I just wrote a nice long comment, but it was eaten. Trying again... ;)

    My characters definitely surprise me at times. The middle grade verse novel I recently finished actually started out as a contemporary YA. So, the surprise wasn't really a plot surprise, but rather a "you've got the age and voice of the character all wrong" surprise! Funny how the writing really clicked into gear once I got that figured out, haha.

    Thanks so much for hosting, Chris. I've been a bit delinquent -- I wrote NOTHING this week. A very full week, culminating with the Surrey writers' conference Thursday-Sunday. Getting back on track now, though, thanks in large part to the huge infusion of learning and inspiration from the conference!

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  3. Thanks for hosting us over these past couple months, Chris. You've set an example of consistency for all of us although I admit I haven't followed your example all that well lately, writing on my WIP in fits and starts. As much progress as I've made, I seem to have deleted even more. But that's supposed to make a story better in the end, isn't it? Heh! Here's hoping.

    See you all at Denise's in November. :)

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  4. Omg! I won!!!!! Love that bracelet by the way!

    I loved Halloween as a kid. It was the best holiday ever. My mom and her friend Dee used to load all us kids up in the van and go to the other side of town where they gave the best candy.

    My favorite costume had to be dressing as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I went to a vintage shop in Downtown Sac where I was fitted for it. Very fun!

    As a teacher I always had fun activities using candy and other treats to help with math, reading, science, and history.

    On my writing, I've been attacking the hard copy of my current project. Almost done with this round. I plan to write the sequel to Crossed Out for Nanowrimo and then return to my revision in Dec/Jan.

    Thanks again!

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  5. I personally wouldn't be tooo worried about what the whorizontal world thot about me, dear; I'd be much! more! concerned about what Jesus shall say at our General Judgment. You maaay not like me, yet, I’m not out to please you. Lemme gonna wanna tella youse Who (grrr - New Joisey accent):

    Not sure if we're on the same page if you saw what I saw… Greetings, earthling. Because I was an actual NDE on the outskirts of the Great Beyond at 15 yet wasn’t allowed in, lemme share with you what I actually know Seventh-Heaven’s Big-Bang’s gonna be like for us if ya believe: meet this ultra-bombastic, ex-mortal-Upstairs for the most extra-blatant, guhroovaliciousness (-Austin POW!ers), pleasure-beyond-measure, Ultra-Yummy, Reality-Firepower-Addiction in the Great Beyond for a BIG-ol, kick-ass, party-hardy, robust-N-risqué, eternal-real-McCoy-warp-drive you DO NOT wanna miss the sink-your-teeth-in-the-rrrock’nNsmmmokin’-hot-deal: PLEASE KEEP HANDS/FEET INSIDE THE WIDE UNTIL WE MADE A CIRCUMFERENCE OF NEVER-ENDING-POSSIBILITIES. Yes, we’ll have a high-flying, immense-impression to be an outstanding-red-marker! For God, anything and everything and more! is possible!! Meet me Upstairs, puh-leeeze. Do that for us. Cya soon, girl…

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