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Fictional Worlds - May 2010

The End of Dear Diary

May 31st 2010 16:43
Today is both the last day of May and the last day of the Dear Diary workshop. Now you have to decide how to end your Dear Diary project. Do you want your character to get sick of writing a diary, or do you want them to have filled their notebook? Do you want their diary to end because a certain trauma has ended, or do you want it to continue, even if you aren't writing it? More importantly, do you want to continue it to a logical ending point in its story, or is it ready to be put down?

How you end your Dear Diary project is as dependent on your character as it is on you. Maybe your character has been writing journals for years, and ends each one in a specific way. Maybe your character isn't ready to stop writing yet. Maybe your character wanted it to be over and done with last week and is glad to see it over.

Ask your character how they would like to end their diary, and the words should pour from the soul.
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Burning the Candle at Both Ends

May 26th 2010 12:19


I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to write, party, chill with my friends, and go to school and get homework done. This is why I didn't post yesterday, and why this post has very little substance.

I'm taking today off to try and relax and hopefully get some other stuff done. Thanks for your understanding.

The photo above can be found here.
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It's Holiday Time

May 24th 2010 12:51
fireworks


Today is Victoria Day here in Canada, which doesn't celebrate my grandmother (which is really too bad; she needs a holiday) but celebrates the Sovereign's Birthday, and recognizes the greatness of Queen Victoria. Now, I'm not usually one to really care for or pay attention to royalty, but I'm not complaining about a day off school.

What does this have to do with writing, or with the Dear Diary project?

Well, today I'd like you to write about a holiday. It can be Victoria day or any holiday you like, whatever fits your story. If it's a holiday from another world, this can be a fascinating exercise in which you learn both about your character and about your world. There are a million possibilities here.

So find out if it's a holiday for your character today-and if it isn't, ask them what they think of holidays (you should probably pick a holiday to ask about) and let them fill you in. Let the words flow from them to you to the computer.

Happy Victoria Day everyone, may it be a productive one for all of us.

*Picture taken from Bob Jagendorf's Photostream
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Links on Dream Diaries and the Winner of the D.J. MacHale Books

May 21st 2010 12:09
I've been running around all over the place lately, and it's been hard to do much of anything around here or on my personal website. I have found you a couple links about dear diaries to consider, and at the end of this post I will announce the winner of the D. J. MacHale books.

~How to Sleep Better Using a Dream Diary is an interesting article about keeping a Dream Diary. I don't know if it really does help with the sleeping-but it's probably worth a shot


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The Place of Dreams in a Diary

May 20th 2010 12:46
Dreams are one of the most widely spread and least understood experiences of humanity. We all have them, though some of us don't remember them. Almost none of us understand them. They're a mystery of life.

Your character probably dreams too, unless he or she is an android. And they probably remember their dreams once in a while. A diary is a safe place to think on paper about those dreams. A place where no one will judge your character for their crazy dreams, and nobody can make fun of what they dream about, no matter how ridiculous it seems


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The Darkness

May 19th 2010 12:29
It is dark here, and it is cold. I know I am alone. And I am weak. There seems to be nothing here but me. Every once in a while I’ll hear a voice, but I think it's just me going crazy. I've been locked up here long enough for that.

The Council met me in a great clearing, where neither humans nor elves could find us and disturb us, and it is there where I made my last stand. First I asked them if they would agree to peace with me; I told them my people were slaughtered, and I must give up the fight to help them struggle through this time. Loki laughed and asked me if I thought them fools to believe such things; I had no answer for him


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Short Writing Exercise

May 18th 2010 12:43
We are now halfway through the month, and thus halfway through our Dear Diary projects. While I have personally fallen behind, I'm hoping that most of you have succeeded in writing every day.

Today, I'd like to distract you from your Dear Diary project to do an unrelated writing exercise


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A Couple Links

May 14th 2010 12:26
It's been a long, exhausting week. A lot of friends are going through a lot of stress, and between helping them out and trying to attend school, I've had very little time to do much of anything over the last few days. I've-barely-managed to find a couple of interesting articles for you to read over the weekend.

~Creative Journaling Topic Ideas is an article on Suite101 with different ideas for journal entries. If you're looking for inspiration for your introspective Dear Diary this week, you can find plenty of interesting thoughts here


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A Brief Note and a Poem

May 13th 2010 12:59
Not much for me to say today. Last night I went out and spent some time with friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was cold and wet but I was too happy to care, seeing everyone after so long. I wrote some amazing poetry in my own journal, and I'm about to start writing the Demon's entry for today.

The edit of Phoenix Falling has slowed almost to a halt, I'm liable to drown in homework any day now, and my other fiction projects have stalled massively, but my poetry journal is filling up pretty quickly. I'm tired, frustrated, sick of school, sick of mornings, but I'm soldiering on. I love to write, and I'll keep doing it until the day I die


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The Demon: A Breaking Kingdom

May 12th 2010 12:43
The last three days I have written nothing. My days were spent training my daughter, my nights spent planning with the generals of my last army. They strike against the Elves, the Drakor, and Appollinia tomorrow. I know they will fail. I have seen their low spirits. I have seen the armies all around that they must fight.

My preparations have been meticulous. I have given my daughter leadership of my paradise. Even if I am not killed by the Council, I know I will be left in such a pathetic state that I will barely be able to rule myself, let alone paradise. I’ll be broken, just like my kingdom


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My Personal Blog

May 11th 2010 12:39
Those of you hoping to get to know me better might be happy to hear that I've decided on a very basic posting schedule on my personal blog.

You can expect posts there three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, full of everything from my school essays to political rants to (maybe) pictures of my cat


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The Beginning of Week Two

May 10th 2010 12:28
For the last week you've been writing a Dear Diary Project for your chosen character, and by this point you might already be much more familiar with them. I know that this week of diary entries has been very enlightening as to the nature of the Demon. We're coming into the second week of the Dear Diary workshop now, and I hope you're all looking forward to continuing your Dear Diary Project.

Over the course of this week, consider all the things your character might think that they would never say out loud. Maybe your character really wants to smash their boss's teeth in, but for obvious reasons can't do it. Or it could be that your character is falling in love and is afraid to tell the other person for fear it won't be returned


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A Couple of Journaling Links

May 7th 2010 12:57
Here are a couple links related to journaling:

~Journaling Pages is a section of a website about creativity and healing focused on journaling. This includes great prompts for your introspective Dear Diary posts


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Dear Diary: Preparation (The Demon)

May 6th 2010 12:01
I've always said that writing is for whimps like the Phoenix, yet here I am. They’re going to come for me soon, the Gods and Goddesses of the Council. And they will try to destroy everything that I am.

This journal must exist so that my words do not lie forgotten, so that the truth of my mission is known to all. This journal will be my legacy if I am defeated


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The Place of Poetry in Journalling

May 5th 2010 12:00
About two months ago, my grandmother bought me a wonderful new notebook to write my poems in. Upon receiving it, I decided to start a poetry journal. It's amazing both as a poet and as a writer-nobody's looking, so I can just write what I feel, and the feelings flow so much better in poetry. It's been a wonderful experiment so far, and it's journalling I can stick with.

What does that have to do with the Dear Diary workshop? It might not have anything to do with your personal project, but if your character is a poet, it's an interesting thing to explore. Your character might write their journal in poetry form, or they might just write the occasional poem. They might even-especially in a more modern era-have part of or maybe all of a poem they like written by somebody else


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Q&A With D.J. MacHale and Book Giveaway

May 4th 2010 12:11
DJ MacHale, Author


About a week ago I reviewed Morpheus Road: The Light here and started a book giveaway. Today I'm posting a Q&A between me and D.J. MacHale


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Introspective Dear Diary

May 3rd 2010 12:43
Your goal during this workshop is to write a diary entry for each day of the week to your chosen word count goal. Once a week try writing an introspective journal entry. Start it with a favourite quote of the character's or a deep thought, and let them tell you why the quote or thought interests them and what they think about it.

Let them tell you their story, don't try to tell it for them


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Your First Dear Diary Entry

May 1st 2010 12:24
In word count or page count competitions like Nanowrimo and Script Frenzy, on the first day you usually want to get as far ahead of the mandatory word count as possible. Since the Dear Diary project is not about word count but rather about writing every day, and getting to know your character, that's not your goal today.

Before you write your first Dear Diary entry, you need to decide what part of your character's life you're writing about, and whether or not your character has been journaling for a number of years. If your character is journalling for the first time, they're probably going to mention that in their first entry. When I start a journal of my own, the first page is usually an introduction to who I am. Your character might start the same way


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