Some blog posts to read if you're lacking writer's inspiration.

I'm often in a writer's dump. It's never excruciatingly bad, but it's often on my doorstep. What helps me get out of it, and what helps me want to write rather than spoiling time on the elusive interwebs, are 1) a very good book 2) a very good movie and, finally, 3) a very good blog post.

Today I'm linking to some blog posts that inspire me to write. If you're suffering from inspiration, or suffering from motivation, I'm here. (And no, I'm not linking to a single blog post which says that you have to follow this and that rule. Writing = creating your own style and story. Writing is not following a rule book.) (Although getting ones grammar right is disastrously important and a vital key, but we're not talking about grammar on a nice birds-singing April day like this, for Pete's sake hello.)

Amy is 'famous' for her blog 'Yet another Period Drama Blog.' I love it a lot, but I also really love her old writing blog, 'The Quest for Stories.' She hasn't (sadly) posted on it for year(s), but whenever I visit it and read through the posts, the sidebar with all the quotes and pennish pictures... I always get a rush of inspiration.

~ Beautiful People: Frances Katharine Rochester // As I said, the entire blog in general has this inspiration-giving-scent to me, but particularly this post about one of her characters, makes me give a new wind of inspiration. And I LOOOVE the quote, "The words beard and goodlooking should never appear in the same sentence unless the word 'not' is between them." I kind of want to steal this character, but I won't. 

Emma, aka-the-girl-I'm-meeting-in-a-bit-more-than-only-a-month, has recently finished a novel. Aside from being stinkin' proud of her accomplishment and telling her to pleeease send it to me, and yes, it's allowed to be unedited, I have been very inspired by her two recent blog posts:

~ Meet my girl, this is June. // Emma wrote this post to celebrate the finish of her book, 'June Darling' (give me thy book title finding skills) but her diary entries and excitement made my blood scream, 'NAOMI WRITE NOW.'

~ Happy Writer. // This blog post gave me such a RUSH and a YEARNING to spend a whole day writing. (No time for that, I'm afraid.) Emma's way with words; the way she describes a writer's thoughts, and the way she describes a writer's yearning to write down stranger's stories and to follow the gust of one's imagination - gah, it really caught me. Read it.

Finally, my favourite one - a post I often return to, in fact - is zee following, written by Alexandra, who used to have the most charming blog, 'Of Trims and Frims and Furbelows' (I think that's the title). To my utter dismay, the blog has now be privated for several years, but I still miss it. Alexandra's way of writing and enthusiasm always gave me inspiration. But, thank goodness, her guest posts are still lying around! Here's one she wrote on 'Yet another Period Drama Blog.'

~ Random Writing Tips and Tidbits: Guest Post by Alexandra. // This post is filled with excellent tips (not rules; tips) and just blahh, it really inspires me. (And she tells me not to be afraid of the writer's block, which is awfully comforting.)

Now, shoo. Go and write. (Unless you have unlimited amounts of schoolwork to do, as is my sorry case.) (I hope you enjoyed these little links, anyhow!)

“Tomorrow they may wrap fishes in it—but I was a star for ONE WHOLE MINUTE!!”

Guest post by Jessica Prescott and Rosie McCann

Ahem.  

Are you wondering what that title could possibly be referring to?  

We’ll tell you in just a minute.  But first, we have to give a big thank-you to our dear old pal, Naomi, for letting us write this guest post—

“About what?” you ask.  

*coughs*  Um, yeah—about that—

So . . .  

GUYS, WE SAW NEWSIES THIS WEEKEND.  

LIKE, THE ACTUAL BROADWAY SHOW.  LIVE.  IN THE THEATER.  NO KIDDING.  

AND IT WAS AWWWWWWWWESOME!!!!!!!!  

We want to tell you the whole story from beginning to end.  We’ll take turns.  (Yes, we are very polite and we know how to take turns.  Ahem.)  From now on, Jessica’s thoughts will be in blue (like so), and Rosie’s thoughts will be in red (like so).  

Let’s begin, shall we? So. One night I was talking in a languid manner about some book or other to Jessica, when she said ‘Wait.’ So I waited. Turns out, she’d heard one of our younger sisters mentioning that NEWSIES WAS COMING TO OUR THEATRE!!!! I promptly lost my head and proceeded to feverishly grab the laptop next to me and google it. AND IT WAS TRUE!! I started screaming and gasping, “It’s true! They’re really coming! Jessica, look!!!” She came back into the room and was immediately greeted by more of my unintelligible gasping.

“Relax,” she said.

Then, “How much is it?” she said.  

Yep, I’m afraid I really said that.  ;)  

RELAX?? Sorry, but that was not humanly possible at that moment. I kept screaming. I couldn’t help it, though I sure our family thought I’d gone loony! I mean to say. Relax? :P Nope.  

Soooooo. Despite my fumbling, I was able to find out pretty quick that the lowest priced tickets were $35 each. What? But we couldn’t back down now. We decided to ask our Dad to go with us. And so – Jessica went intrepidly downstairs to Open Negotiations. Just kidding.

So, I went and told Mom and Dad about it in what Rosie calls a “thoroughly reasonable and self-contained manner.”  (Thank you for the good press, m’dear.  Much appreciated.)  Long story short, I offered to pay for about three-quarters of the ticket price if Dad would go with us—because, after all, you can’t ask your Dad to pay $90 or whatever to go see a show that he’s never even heard of and doesn’t know if he’ll enjoy.  Not right, Jeeves.  And Dad said, OK, that’s a deal; so Rosie and I ran back upstairs to order tickets online.  And then we went to bed (although whether we went to sleep immediately is another matter altogether).  

Annnnnddddd . . . two weeks later, it was SHOW TIME!!!! *shivers with excitement and squee-ness*  

When the overture began AHHHHH THE THRILLS. “Now . . . Is . . . The . . . Time . . . To . . . SEIZE . . . THE . . . DAY . . .”  

The spotlights went on and there was Jack (JACK!!! I had to stop myself from screaming. Understandable, I’m sure :P) and Crutchie up on the top of Jack’s “penthouse.” Ach, the chills when Jack started singing “Santa Fe”!! Joey Barreiro was a WONDERFUL Jack. His voice was amazing, and just the passion and emotion he displayed . . . !!! And then at the end of the song, when he puts his arm around Crutchie and sings “Don’t you know that we’s a family? Would I let you down? No way!”, it was just – awwwwww the FEELS! AND IT’S JUST THE FIRST SCENE. Like What Even. I couldn’t believe how emotional I felt :P Gah.

Yeah.  Can we just take a minute here to reflect on the sheer awesomeness that was Joey Barreiro’s Jack Kelly?  He was just SO COOL.  He’s a real Italian New Yorker, which of course is absolutely perfect for this show ‘cause it’s all about New York City.  His accent is perfect, his looks are perfect, and he’s just got this fantastic, hard-hitting passion and intensity, but in a really direct and down-to-earth and almost “practical” sort of way . . . So yeah.  He’s a great Jack.  I think he’s my new personal favorite, honestly.  (And all the Jeremy Jordan fans rise up in a body and throw rotten tomatoes at me.  And I smile serenely and say, “Sorry, guys, I know Jeremy is awesome, BUT YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING TILL YOU’VE SEEN JOEY.”)

The scene where Jack, Davey, and Les have to run away from Synder (you know, the guy who runs that awful so-called orphanage, “The Refuge”) is really cool. Davey and Les had just offered to take Jack home with them and have dinner, and Jack is like “Uh, that’s real nice, Davey, but – no thanks – I just – um – remembered I have to meet a guy – he’s probably wondering where I am . . .” Jack’s kind of trying to put up a tough-guy front, ‘cause he doesn’t want anyone to know how lonely he actually is. By the way, when Davey says “You could meet our folks” and Jack says “You’ve got folks?”, it’s just soooo sad . . . Then Snyder spots them and they run away into the theatre. Medda Larkin is there, and she yells at them something along the lines of “no naughty boys in the theatre at this hour.” And Jack says, “Not even me?” and he goes down and hugs her. It’s so sweet! She is such a wise and loving person, a kind of mother figure to Jack :)  

And now we come to . . . “The World Will Know.”  ALL DA FEELS.  

This scene was just soooooooo well done—but hey, is that any surprise?  ALL their scenes were well-done.  You can just feel the newsies’ shock and anger and desperation, really, when they find out the price has been raised.  They know they can’t afford it, but they feel trapped—they’re all like, “What do we do now?”  And when Jack is like, “We STRIKE!!!”—well, suffice it to say that we got thrills.  Lots of them.  Only, it’s not so simple as that, because you can’t just “go on strike” and hope to win if you’re a bunch of rag-tag orphans with no money.  Or . . . can you?  ;)

Well, long story short, Jack and Davey manage to rally the other newsies to defy Pulitzer and go on strike—it’s so cool how those two work together, by the way.  Jack is the “boss,” definitely, and he’s the one with all the charisma and fire, but Davey is the one with the “brains” who knows how to make a logical argument and convince people . . . and there are moments in this scene where Jack is kind of “at a loss” and fumbling for the right words, but Davey steps in and says it for him.  Gah.  I LOVE DAVEY.  And then they all start dancing and singing and it’s EPIC.  I have no words, folks.  None.  

Oh, and I especially love the part where they sing “The world says ‘no’—WELL, THE KIDS DO TOO!!!”  They all line up, close together, right at the front of the stage and they’re looking up at the audience and they’re just so MAD that you can’t see how it’s possible they could ever lose.  They look about ready to take on the entire universe.  

But when no one else is showing up to help them, (it’s so heartbreaking, btw, when Jack calls to Specs “Can you see anybody else coming?” and Specs gives him a mournful thumbs-down), all the newsies are kind of frantic. They have to live. If they don’t sell papers, they can’t eat! They start to talk about giving in to Pulitzer. Jack doesn’t know what to say, and he turns desperately to Davey. “You tell them, Davey.”

“Now is the time to seize the day . . .” Davey goes back and forth among the newsies, trying to rally them. When he sings, “Courage cannot erase our fears – courage is when we face our fears”, a thrill just ran through me and I wanted to jump up and sing with him. It was such a GREAT MOMENT, guys!

And then when three boys show up and pick up stacks of newspapers!! THE TENSION! But Jack just looks them in the eye. “I know someone put you up to this, boys. But you gotta strike! It’s not just about us. This is for every kid in every sweatshop and every factory and every alleyway in New York!” They hesitate for one long second, while the audience holds their breath – then one kid shouts “I’m with you!” That’s the turning point . . . and its soooo awesome.

NOW IS THE TIME TO SEIZE THE DAY!!!!

THAT IS SUCH A GREAT SONG, YOU GUYS.  But, of course, it can’t last long—it’s followed by a fight with the Delanceys and Pulitzer’s other guys, and the newsies lose, badly—and, worst of all, Crutchie gets taken away to “The Refuge.”  NO!  NOT MY BABY!  LEAVE HIM ALONE!   But they take him away, and Jack is about frantic . . . and he goes back to his rooftop and sings “Santa Fe.”  It’s just . . . heartbreaking.  I tell ya, guys, that Joey Barreiro is Something Else.  He pours everything he has into that one song and it is INCREDIBLE.  So much emotion.  There’s even one part where he turns away from the audience and leans on the railing, just sobbing . . . Like a kid—a hurt, lonely kid.  Which is what he really is, for all he tries to put on a “tough guy” front.  Sheesh.  Jack, I LOVE YOU.  

Sheesh is right. You all know I am physically unable to actually cry over books, plays or movies (sorry, it’s not like I don’t want to!!) but when Jack sang “Santa Fe” I had tears in my eyes. The stage was all blurry. The other song that did that to me was Crutchie’s new song, “Letter From The Refuge”. On that song, I was soooo afraid that I was just going to start sobbing right in-theatre. It is ABSOLUTLELY HEARTBREAKING!! Crutchie’s in bed, all over blood from the beating Synder gave him. It’s a small cramped bed, that he’s sharing with another fellow . . . He writes a letter to Jack. “Guess I wasn’t much help yesterday . . .” (Just – I’m going to break down thinking about it, especially when the guy in the bed hits him “Otha people are tryin’ t’get some sleep here!”) And he signs his letter, “Your friend . . . your best friend . . . your brother, Crutchie.” His voice is just literally trembling with emotion. And I am shaking in my seat. And can barely see for the tears.

“King of New York” was awesome, too—a lot more cheerful, obviously :D  And here I’d like to pause to give a special shout-out to one of the best members of the entire cast:  Race, played by Benjamin Cook.  He’s absolutely HILARIOUS—stole every single scene he was in.  He’s got this really strong, really high tenor voice (high for a guy’s, I mean) and the BEST facial expressions and just soooooooo much humor.  When he flings out his arms and yells, “Cut out your moanin’ and let’s all pause to drink in the moment . . . I’M FAMOUS!!!!”  And then, of course, we get into one of the most rollicking songs in the whole show—“Ya don’t need money when you’re famous—they gives ya whatever ya want, gratis!”  I just loved it.  

I was really, really looking forward to hearing “Brooklyn’s Here,” because it’s my favorite song in the entire show—and Spot Conlon and his boys certainly did not disappoint me there :)  It was way, way, WAY more exciting than just listening to it on the soundtrack.  SO.  MUCH.  ENERGY.  And it comes at a really low point in the story, too, when Pulitzer’s just about broken Jack’s spirit and everything is horrible . . . and then, all of a sudden, we have the cavalry coming over the hill :)  “Now them soakers is in for a soakin’ . . . What a sad way to end a career . . . They’s a joke, but if they think we’s joking . . .”  YES YES YES.   

Then comes “Something To Believe In”, which, by the way, was Dad’s favorite song. I loved it too.

“Guys like me don’t end up with girls like you.” And when they start singing. “The world finds ways to sting you . . . and then decides to bring you SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN” - I can’t even begin to describe how it affected me. There is so much emotion!!! Jack finally has someone!! “For sure?” “For sure.”

They are so sweet!

“And if you weren’t an heiress, and if your father wasn’t after my head . . .”

“You’re not really scared of my father.”

“No. But I’m pretty scared of you.” Awwww . . .

“I have something to believe in . . . Now that I know you believed in me.” AND THEY KISS. All da FEELS, peoples!!!!!

AND THEN THE ENDING SCENE.  THE ENDING SCENE, THOUGH.  When Pulitzer finally, finally gives in.  And when Jack goes out on the balcony and yells, “Newsies of New York—WE WON!!!!!!!” and they all start cheering—I JUST CANNOT TAKE IT.  It’s too much.  And then Crutchie comes back from the Refuge—and Jack hugs him—and Katherine and the other newsies convince Jack to stay with them instead of heading off to Santa Fe—and he and Katherine kiss again—AND ALL THE NEWSIES ARE CHEERING LIKE MAD . . . GAAAHHHH.  Okay.  I have no words.  You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was amazing.  I wasn’t crying, but my heart was pounding like crazy.  

When they came out for their bows, too . . . Only, being the Newsies, they don’t just walk out calmly.  They dance onstage and do cartwheels and spins and backflips and everything—and you better believe the audience is cheering.  (I was, too ;) )  It was epic.  And when Jack came on, last of all—well, I pretty much lost it.  I just started screaming “JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!”  I’m sure I sounded like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert—but hey, I don’t care, these guys are better than Justin Bieber and they deserve some fangirling, too.  

Man, the EMOTIONS. It was over. IT WAS OVER. I was sad that it had ended. And I couldn’t believe that we’d actually seen it. The whole thing. But at the same time, I was just OVERFLOWING with happiness to see Jack and Crutchie reunited, and Katherine at Jack’s side. Ach, I can’t even. FINALLY, Jack is happy. The newsies have WON. And Pulitzer is in his proper place. The FEELS, I mean to say, what? I just couldn’t stop screaming. And I didn’t care :P

Let’s give it up for the NEWSIES OF NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn’t agree more, Rosie.  And remember, all of you:  “Now is the time to seize the day . . .”  (You’re welcome.)  

Thanks again, Naomi—we had a blast!  And thanks to all of you who actually managed to sit through that ;)  

Thank you girls for writing this. I'm so jealous, I can't even.

Two Guest Posts (and an Edward Ferras gif.)

Hello, dear people. I hope your December has started off nicely. (December is my favourite month and I have decided to make the best of this one. I'm going to listen to millions of soundtracks, and eat sugary stuff, and journal in red and green ink. I'm so freeeeeeeeeekin excited about Christmas it's not even funny hello.)

Anyway, this is just to say that I've written two Lucy Maud Montgomery-related guest posts for my friend Eva, for her LMM week! Do go and check them out, if you haven't yet. Here's one about Jane of Lantern Hill, and here's one about Maud's life.

Must buzz off now; I have work to do, and a book to write, and Sense and Sensiblity to re-read. Have a lovely day.

Wait, I have something to tell you. Very quickly.

I just rewatched Sense and Sensibility 2008, and GUYS it's official. This is my favourite Sense and Sensibility. Although Mrs Jennings and the Palmers and Marianne and Mr Whilloughby are all, in my opinion, much better in the classic 1995 version, I think everything else in better in here. I just LOVE this Elinor, and OH I LOVE THIS EDWARD SO MUCH. No, not just because he's Dan Stevens, really not. HE'S JUST SPLENDID. I cried and cried when they kissed. Also, all the characters and the lines and the plot twists are in there, and it's three episodes. Nawh, I just love it.)

I LOVE HIM. My favourite JA hero after Mr Knightley. It's OFFICIAL. :-)

(Although what's up with those dusty strawberries in Colonel Brandon's piano room?!!!! And Miss Grey's dress at the ball?!! What da. (And also, there are far too many shots of shells.) But never mind.)

REALLY must go now. Schoolwork is rather boring, but at least I have Thomas Newman soundtracks and drinks. I'm everlastingly thankful to be homeschooled.

Don't forget to check out the guest posts!

Why Persuasion is my favourite JA novel // A Guest Post by Rachel

Rachel - otherwise known as Hamlette for most people - is here with a guest post for you all! She blogs regularly at her book blog and her movies-and-other-stuff blog; I always enjoy what she writes. :-) Thank you so much for writing for me, Rachel!

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My favorite Jane Austen novel is Persuasion, and has been since I first read it as a teen.  I'd previously read three of her other books, but I didn't love any of them, and I was starting to wonder why I didn't understand how Jane Austen was awesome.  Then I got to Persuasion, somewhere around the age of 18, and I understood at last.   I loved the characters, the themes, the overall story -- but mostly Anne Elliot herself.

Anne's problems stem from being too agreeable and too helpful, and since those are traits I actually value, I instantly wanted to befriend her, fictionally speaking.  And wanting to be fictional friends with characters is a pretty big thing for me -- it's what makes me love a book versus just liking it.  When you add in a guy like Captain Frederick Wentworth, who has spent all these years trying to stop loving Anne and failing utterly... well, it's almost impossible for this to not be my favorite.

Like I said, the characters aren't all that draws me to Persuasion.  I also love the themes Austen explores, themes like second chances, duty versus desire, and the importance of understanding one's self.  And I'm especially fond of how Austen explores the idea that it's far more dangerous to persuade yourself of something untrue than to allow others to persuade you.

For years, I had assumed the title referred to Anne Elliot allowing Lady Russell to persuade her not to marry Frederick Wentworth. But after my most recent re-read, I've realized it refers more to how Anne and Wentworth both persuaded themselves regarding that previous relationship.  Anne persuaded herself that she was acting for Wentworth's good when she gave him up, that their marriage would have damaged his career.  Wentworth, angry and heartbroken, persuaded himself that Anne was weak and timid.  He then spent eight years persuading himself he had forgotten her, only to discover that he could neither stop loving her nor forget her.  

If Anne and Captain Wentworth had not worked so hard to delude themselves, perhaps they could have spent the previous eight years happily together, rather than lonely and apart.  On the other hand, over those years they had both learned what life alone was like, and now will very likely value being together all the more.  Either way, I love their story and learn something new from Persuasion every time I re-read it.

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What do you think of Persuasion?

Thanks, Hamlette!

Jane Austen Musicals // A Guest Post by Emma Jane!

I'm very honoured indeed to grace my blog with a well-written post by my very best of friends, Emma. She's has a name to be jealous of. Emma. And Jane. I mean. It doesn't get more Jane Austen-like than THAT. :-) You can find Emma's blog here. (It's my favourite. Just saying.)

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 Hello, friends! *waves*  It’s me, your local musical theatre expert, a.k.a Naomi’s nutty best friend, a.k.a. Emma Jane. Big thank-you to Naomi for letting me guest post! You’re a darling. :-)

    

    Jane Austen’s legacy has lived on for over two hundred years, invading modern pop culture even now. Her books are still as popular as ever (among intelligent people, that is) and they still crank out movie adaptations of her works about every five years (which continue to spark controversy, sarcasm and snarky debate among her rabid fans, of which there are many). You can buy Jane Austen’s face on everything from tote bags and refrigerator magnets to Christmas tree ornaments, coffee mugs, pretty much anything you can think of. Point made -- Jane Austen is out there, everywhere. That’s why it’s hardly surprising that Jane Austen’s timeless stories have made their way into the glittering world of Musical Theatre.

    (You know what I always say -- if you look hard enough, you can find a musical version of anything. This theory was made law upon the discovery that there’s a musical of Secondhand Lions. JUST NO. Sometimes people are a little too creative for their own good.)

     

    When I decided to write about JA musicals for a guest post, the only one I really knew anything about was the Pride and Prejudice written by Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs, and that’s because Laura Osnes starred as Lizzy in the opening production. ;-) (I’m a very devoted Laura fan, by the way.) When I started looking into the show more, I found that there are actually about four or five P&P musicals! Whew. And believe it or not, there have been musicals written for every one of Jane Austen’s six major novels. None of them have made a very big splash on Broadway -- most of them never made it to Broadway -- but they’re out there, just the same!

        Pride and Prejudice remains the most widely-known of Jane Austen’s novels, and so it’s fitting that the musical is the most popular as well. A general Google search revealed that there are about five different musical versions, but who knows how many there really are. There aren’t many videos of any version to be found on Youtube, but it looks like the most famous is the concert version from 2008 with Laura Osnes, and since I’m not about to pay any attention to any version that doesn’t have Laura Osnes in it, that’s the one I’m going to focus on. ;-P

    Pride and Prejudice: A Musical Play opened October 21, 2008 in Rochester, NY. (Fun fact: Rochester is only about three hours from where I live. I COULD HAVE GONE TO SEE IT. Although I doubt my nine-year-old self would have particularly enjoyed it…) It was a concert, and not a fully-staged production, which I take to mean from the less than abundant photographic evidence existing that it was basically just a bunch of people in costume singing on the stage while an orchestra played in the background. (Picture the Les Miz anniversary concerts.) Laura Osnes played Elizabeth Bennet, and Colin Donnell played Mr. Darcy.

    From what I’ve gathered, the character of Jane Austen narrates a lot of the show, with the other characters voicing their thoughts to themselves (Tevye-from-Fiddler-on-the-Roof-style). On the recordings I’ve listened to, I reaaaaally do not like the Jane Austen lady -- she seems much too abbrasive and her voice is lower than I would imagine Jane Austen’s. Laura Osnes and Colin Donnell are both excellent singers and while they’re not ideal  as Lizzy and Darcy, they seem to play the parts well.

     Most of the music is so-so -- nothing extremely brilliant. I could make the remark that a lot of the songs follow the same general tune. ;-P  There are a few very beautiful melodies throughout, though, including my favorite -- “Had I Been In Love”, which Lizzy sings after realizing  how blind she’s been about Darcy all this time.

   As far as an adaptation of the book, I can’t really say how close the musical sticks because I have the disadvantage of not having seen the whole show. ;-/ For the most part the music seems to reflect fittingly the different aspects of the story, the characters’ perspectives and feelings, though I think they could have taken better advantage of Jane Austen’s classic wit. Parts of the music are a little too silly, if you ask me. There are some songs in the show I can’t even listen to because they’re so -- how shall I say it? -- gaggy, if you will. (Like the one Mrs. Bennet sings about her nerves, and Lydia’s swooning over redcoats. That’s just too much for me.) However, there’s a very romantic feel to the music, which I like. It makes you sigh and go, “Ahhh….isn’t that pretty?”

    As a musical, it’s not particularly epic, and it’s not musically stunning, but it’s a sweet little show with some pretty tunes that would be enjoyable to watch. You can find the whole soundtrack here. ‘The Portrait Song’, ‘He Thinks/She Thinks’, and ‘Had I Been In Love’ are my favorites. :-)

The other Jane Austen musicals are very little-known, and not many videos of them exist. But here are some pictures, to give you a little idea…

Sense and Sensibility

    The proposal…..awwwwwww. :-)

   
 Emma

    

I don’t know about you, but that looks pretty weird to me!

I think a musical of a Jane Austen book could be a good idea, but I’d rather just stick to the movies. 

What do you think? 

Did you know Jane Austen’s books have been made into musicals? 

Have you seen any?

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Thank you, Emma, for a lovely post!

Mr Charles Dickens is here today with some tips for your stories

Today I am very honoured to introduce Mr Charles Dickens and have him write a guest post on my blog. I know, I know, I normally don't invite male people onto my blog, but please - this guy is so welcome. Although I must say, I think you all know him already - there's really no need to introduce him, right? But just in case you don't know him, he's a novelist and he has a beard. Slightly older than most of us, therefore making him very wise. A very experienced novelist, I might add. In fact, so experienced that I asked him to share some tips.

I have to add one more thing before Charles starts the actually post - Dickens style of blog-writing differs enormously from his novel-writing. Just in case you might get confused. :-P (But he will never use any smileys. Of any kind. Not even the classic ":-)" - He flatly refuses.)

So here is Mr Charles Dickens with some tips to brilliant stories...

This is me. I do beg your pardon for the serious expression on my face. I had only written 100 words that day and was extremely disappointed with myself and not in the spirit to be cheerful.

Dear readers, I am touched indeed to hear that people value my opinions! Here are some things/issues your stories are better of with than without...

Long messy hair-styles
I know this starts very random, my dear readers, but I advise you strongly to place on top of your beloved character's heads, some original pieces of hair. For less-well-off characters, I like the spider-web look; the shaggy dishevelled hair - they accentuate so well the face that the character is poor. Of course, the character could in reality easily and quickly cut it off or brush it with their fingers - but nay, forget about tidying it. Your poor characters need spider-web hair. Otherwise they aren't poor enough. They have to look poor - they have to look kind of creepy-poor. It's a fantastic way to accentuate their poverty.
Some examples are illustrated in the pictures below.

Loads of poor people suffering greatly
If you want a moving book - a book that will lie long in the hearts of nations - you need to bring some grim truth into it. Poverty, guillotines, war, murder, spanking, weird illnesses are some good examples. Put at least two of these grim, sad issues into your novel - no, perhaps two isn't even enough. You just need to put the grim truth in your books - shock people, shock them. Shocking people makes them remember your stories.
Of course, now and then you're allowed to write a humerous book. But even then it is important to put in some sad issues. In my story, 'The Pickwick Papers' - a book supposed to make people laugh, not to make them shocked or cry - I didn't forget this tip. When I placed Mr Pickwick in the prison, I showed my readers that life isn't just humour - it is sad. So long story short, my dear readers, put quite a fair amount of poor people in your book - make them suffer greatly.

Some very PERFECT characters
I strongly approve of drastically different characters. In my novels I try to have at least one character personifying the idea perfection of a human being. Lucy Manette and her husband in 'A Tale of Two Cities' are two lovely people - role models. In 'Martin Chuzzlewit' I have darling Mary - there really is nothing wrong with her - and of course, the perfectly good Tom Pinch. You need a few perfect characters - people have told me some of my characters are too good, maddeningly good - but I disagree! Your stories need GOOD characters. Characters that deserve not an ounce of wrong, characters that people want to see happy.

(Note from Naomi: I love these people so much! *sniffle*)

At least one character who is evil - and by evil I mean cooking evil
By contrast, you also need villains. In my opinion, a book is not a good one unless there is a deliciously creepy and evil villain inside. Not all villains have to be equally bad, I'm not saying that, but in my opinion my best books are the ones with the meanest villains. Blandois in 'Little Dorrit' is the villain I am most proud of, I have to say. I loathe him; everyone loathes him; everyone loves to loathe him; no-one feels bad to loathe him because there's not a breath in him that even hints goodness. These are the kind of people every book MUST contain.

(Note from Naomi: This isn't a note. It's just a big SHUDDER. :-O)

Weird names
Mr Pancks, Mr Squeers, Mr Winkle, Mr Snodgrass, Barnaby Rudge, Jeremiah Flintwinch, Mr Bumble... be original! When names are quirky and different, they will remain long in the brains of your readers. I understand of course, if you find it hard to come up with original names. I dare say our beloved Jane Austen had that problem. So here are some examples for you if you find it hard to think of them: Mr Pimpledomps, Mr Zark, Mr Trospetter, Mr Yomerick. Just have fun.

People that are so weird that they don't look like people
As I said before, one has to be original.
Make your character original, my dear readers, and they will stick in the minds of people! Give people one eye! Give them a huge bunch of spider-web hair! Give them a monocle that makes their eyebrows arch up for miles! Give them white powdered faces! Give them dust in their hair! Make them spooky! Make your readers' hearts pound hard! They might say you go over the top sometimes, but in the end people will love your books and they will never get enough of them.
Don't want to boast, but it worked with me.

Thank you, Mr Dickens, for writing for me! I hope you all enjoyed the post - I certainly did. Mr Dickens, I hope you will come back to Wonderland Creek more often in the future. (He just said, 'No thank you, one post was more than enough - he prefers writing his novels. But he says he enjoyed it anyway, just for once.)