Hullo!

Heyyyyy it's Emilie again! Imma back to posting! And Patricia is starting to be the one that's NOT. WHO'S NOT POSTING NOW, HUH SHMARTYPANTS?

Anywho, I wanted to ask you a couple questions. And no, you're not in trouble.

Well, actually, they're not questions as much as they're just suggestions and requests.

FIRST REQUEST: Email us if you need help!!

I know we all kinda avoid doing stuff like that, but please, we're here to help. And no matter how dumb you think your story is, it doesn't take much to impress me. So if your story is like, "once upon a time there was a girl who died. The end." I'll be like, "WHAT IS THIS BRILLIANCE?" so it's really okay to email us. We really want to help you out.

SECOND REQUEST: Comment!!

We're looking for comments, peeps! So leave them so we can look at them! We totally swarmed that other person's comment like flies on honey! (Wait a minute, I thought flies ate dead stuff. And wouldn't it be bees swarming the honey? THIS LIFE DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE)

THIRD REQUEST: Actually, there's no third request. BUT I TRICKED YA!

So, thank you all for reading our blog, and good night! *vanishes in a puff of smoke*

Keep writing!
- Emilie

How to Improve Your Humor, So That It's Actually Funny

Hi, this is Emilie. I'm going to help you with your comical relief, humor,  and basically everything else that makes you laugh. Like when the eleventh Doctor is trying to get used to his tastebuds. I can't really help with that, it's already perfect.

The Doctor: "You're Scottish, fry something!"
**bacon is handed to him**
The Doctor: "Ooh, bacon. I love bacon. **tastes bacon** AGH THIS IS BACON ARE YOU TRYING TO POISON ME?"

Ahem...

Anywho, the name of this post is incredibly long, I know, but I hope you get my point. Humor makes you laugh. Obviously. But when it comes to making OTHER people laugh, well, then, this is where I come in. Here are some simple steps to make your writing funnier.

1. Say something unexpected.

When being unexpected, you:
- Say something very strange and maybe even creepy. "I don't usually panic, but when I do, I run around screaming with my head stuck in a lampshade."

- Say something that plays on a common annoyance or something that everybody knows well. In this excerpt from my friend's book, Finding the Flame, Sativa is answering the phone, but is watching out for any of her enemies. My friend (who's name is Kaylee Bowing) wrote that little part at the end because she finds that all telemarketers that call her ask if she wants whatever she's asking about in plaid. She was playing on that common nuisance to generate humor.  Sativa picked up the phone. "Hello? And if you're a soul-sucking telemarketer, I don't want any magical love stones, or anything with plaid."

When saying something no one expects, it generates a funny mental picture and makes almost anyone smile. You can't be too random, however, or people may think the line is cheesy. Balance out the unexpectedness and the context, so that you have a perfectly-crafted punchline that'll really make everyone smile.

2. Use lots of quirky metaphors and similes. 

When using metaphors, you:
- Try to create a funny and humorous mental picture. This is a excerpt from Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, when Percy says something surprising to Annabeth. She looked like I'd just said, "I need to eat a large, smelly boot." This is not exactly a metaphor, but it creates the mental picture of Percy eating a large smelly boot, which is both disgusting and hilarious. Another example is, for instance, if someone has just seen something disturbing, you could say, "He/She looked as if she'd/he'd just seen the result of a frog and a donkey having a baby." This might make you think of a nasty little brown hairy frog with two gigantic donkey ears making it impossible for it to hop around. Doesn't that make you want to laugh?

- Make it longer than usual, therefore avoiding a cliche. If someone said, "the peanut butter was as sticky as glue," that isn't funny. It's kind of annoying, actually, considering everyone on the planet uses that metaphor. Instead you could think of something ELSE that's sticky, like duct tape, and then think about what could make it even stickier. So, instead you could say, "the peanut butter was as sticky as a piece of duct tape that had just run a marathon." Again, it creates a very strange mental picture of a piece of duct tape with one of those elastic bands around the top of it inching along the track. In a similar way, instead of saying "My friend looked sad," you could say, "my friend looked like she'd just found a dead puppy in her bed." How sad would you be if you saw a dead puppy in your bed?

3. Comical wording.

When wording things comically, you:
- Use funny words. Try to make something that someone says into a funny sentence by switching words around or using different punctuation. Read this little scene:

I looked over at Drew, who was tugging at the bars wildly. "Stop," I said. "It's not going to do anything. We're trapped."
"Well we have to get out!" Drew panted.
"Well, yeah!" I said.

Okay, you get the picture. Apparently you and a guy named Drew are stuck somewhere. If you want comic relief, you could say:

I looked over at Drew, who was tugging at the bars wildly. "Stop," I said. "It's not going to do anything. We're trapped."
"Well we have to get out!" Drew panted.
I snorted. "Well, duh."

Okay, that sounds much funnier. You know why? Because I used the word snorted. That kind of word always makes people laugh. It's just that kind of word. It sounds funny. Another selection of funny words is: Chortled, giggled, snickered, and wailed.

~  ~  ~

Hopefully I have officially enlightened you on how to make your story more funny! I might make a second part to this, so leave a comment below to tell me if you think that's a good idea. But now...

Keep writing!
- Emilie

Perfect characters aren't legit.

Okay... so I was thinking. (I do that a lot). And my thoughts were all about our blog... and writing problems that I run into. (Well, they were also on my algebra homework, which I was doing... Hey, I love multitasking...)
And I figured that the NUMBER 1 PROBLEM that I run into with my characters... IS... Making them seem 'real'. Now, I know that we did a post on 'Making your scene real' and all that rot... BUUTTTTTT. I realized that I didn't really talk about characters that much.
So.......... HERE WE GO.

Hello, readers! It's Patricia on this lovely day, and I am going to be talking about making your characters seem realistic.
Here are a few questions that you can ask yourselves...

1. Does your character experience real life emotions? Sadness, depression, frustration, confusion, anxiety... blah, blah, blah... Because I know, as an author, that if I don't try reallllllly harddddd to make my characters seem TRULY going through those emotions, than they seem HAPPAHAPPAHAPPAHY all the time. A way that I 'live' through my characters, or see life through their perspective is keep a journal written by them. I know that I have already said this, but it relates to the topic at hand. It REALLLLY HELPS. 

2. If your characters do, than are they feeling this way in an unrealistic amount? Like, all the time?
Are they too moody? Well, you probably want to know how to fix it... Just change the adjectives describing the person... Or their attributes... Or... Etc.

3. Does everything just work out fine and dandy all the time. Your answer should be: NO. 

Whale... Hopes this helps you. And please ignore Emilie... She hadn't been on for weeks... XD. Sooo yeah. Feel da burn, Emilie, Hun. Haha! I just rhymed!!!

Ah, well. We all know who the funniest one is... XD. 

~~

Keep writing!

<3

Patricia Rane 

A couple of random thoughts for you.

Heeeey, guys.......... It's Patricia, again. Yeah. Emilie is NOT dead, which is good, since (MOST OF THE TIME), she has awesome ideas, and adds productive stuff to our blog. MOST. OF. DE. TIME. Can you tell that we really love each other...? Cuz, I certainly can!
Anywho... (SOS, Patricia! You're supposed to be blogging!).

So, this blog post has several points I want to make with you... So let's get started!

First of all, I want to let you know of some other notable, and awesome sites you can turn to, if you get totally annoyed and upset with us for being silly, and not staying on track. And.... They... Are... (see what I mean...?) *drumroll* (did I ever tell you about the time that Emilie got run over by a cow...?) :

http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com

http://towritetheway.blogspot.com

These are two WONDERFUL sites for you to look at, so please do! ('nuff said. I don't want to start sobbing about how wonderful they are, and get all blubbery on my computer.) But, seriously. **sobs**. They are so wonderful. Just take 2 seconds-- (if you have a super-duper fast, highspeed browser that takes nanoseconds to loadddd.) -- and look at them.

Second of all, I want to talk length. Yup. One of the most commonly asked questions in the authoring world is: How long should my novel be?
Weeelll... this might not satisfy you... but: THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER.

Your novel should be as long as you want it, and if the publisher doesn't like it, then... well... PFFT. SORRY FOR BUSTING YOUR BUBBLE, MR. PUBLISHING-PANTS, BUT YOU DONT DESERVE MY BOOK. (!!!)

I recently read a novella that was 61 pages. It was AMAZING. I recently read an 870 paged book. It was AMAZING. Just be thorough in what you want to say, and don't leave out descriptions. Descriptions will fill in the empty space for you.


Thirdly, some advice. Be yourself in your writing. Don't be other people. If I write, strictly using Rick Riordan's style, than I wouldn't be being Patricia Rane. I would be being Rick Riordan (And I would probably get into trouble for plagerism.) While I use Riordan's style, and many other's, as well, I have my own twist to things.

And, lastly: DONT BE AFRAID TO EXPAND.
I'll be sitting at my desk writing, and get an idea for another story... it happens. It really does.
If you're not 'feeling it' anymore, or think that you can't finish it because your writing is flawed, here is a list of stuff you can try:

• Try changing POV. A new character's perspective might put a fresh view on things.
• Add a new character.
• Write down your other ideas on notecards so that you can focus on completing your original work.
• If you want, begin those new ideas. The birth of a new story always helps to make things positive!
• Take a break.

Hope this advice helps!

~ ~

Keep writing!

<3

Patricia Rane

How to keep it going.

Yokay... So lets get down to the point. This is the picture: You have this million-dollar idea, and you decide to write it. You get fifty pages and are on top of the world. Then you get another million-dollar idea... and you write that one too. But that original one ends up sitting in your computer file gathering dust. You love your first idea, but you've got more passion for the second... Besides, fifty pages is waaayyy too short to be a novel, and you're not even almost done with it... What should you do?

 

Relax. Very simple task, right? I mean, an author's best friend is inspiration. Without it, you wouldn't even have your million-dollar ideas, in the first place. SOOOOOOOO. Moral of the story? I have come up with a solution to all of your problems... and unless you have no clue how to type on a computer, or write on paper, you won't have to consume all your time, and wreak havoc on your grades; bringing your parents and teachers swooping down like angry vultures to devour your story. Yeah.

 

I've come up with a daily checklist for you...

 

• Come up with a writing goal. If you just buckle down and write 1,000 words a day, you could have your first draft completed in 1-2 months. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
• Keep your space clean. Like they say, a clean desk is a clean mind.
• Keep a journal written by your character. If you write when you're feeling emotional, from your character's POV, then you, most likely will get to know your character better. If you keep a journal, with them feeling your emotions, than they (to your readers) will seem more humanistic. Meaning, that if you see them from a different perspective, and write with those ideas, then the audience won't get the idea that your character is perfect. You don't want your characters to be perfect. If they are perfect, than it won't be realistic. There are some exceptions, and very good ones, at that. Hermione Granger, from, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", by J.K. Rowling. But, she is only that way in the first part of the book. She is the straight A know-it-all, who does nothing but read, and get answers right.  Later on, she becomes one of the most important characters in the whole, entire book series. The second example is from the multiple books by Stephanie Morill. In her books, the snobbish, bratty characters are the perfect ones. The ones who wear fifty pounds of makeup, wake up with perfect hair, and wear skinny jeans all the time. They are the outwardly flawless ones, but are very twisted on the inside. I'm so sorry. That just turned into a pep talk. Oh well... every tip counts, right?
• Turn off the social media!!! Can we all agree that FaceBook, Twitter, Email, Pinterest, Instagram, and other media sites suck up a lot of our daily lives? I mean, come on, people... this is the 21st century. They are like dementors (another Harry Potter reference.). They suck away at your time. Time that you could be writing... See what I'm getting at?
• Use whatever time you like the best. If you're a night owl, and get the urge to write before bed, do so. If you are a morning person, get up an hour early. If you like writing whenever, do that. Now, as a student at VPSA, I know that homework ALWAYS comes first. No ifs, whens, buts, or whys. But if I find that I have ten minutes before class, I write. It all adds up.

That's pretty much it... if you have any questions, email me: raneandgraye@gmail.com

Keep writing!

<3

Patricia Rane
P.s. One of my favorite quotes is: "One hundred words a day keep writers block away." --Anonymous.

Heroes By Day (By Emilie Graye) - Chapter One and Prologue

Here is the prologue and first chapter of the book I'm writing!! :D I thought you might enjoy reading it, so you can see my writing style and maybe understand more about what I say in my psycho blog posts.

~ ~ ~

Prologue

Buildings crashed to the ground in New York City, as an evil laugh filled the air. People were screaming and running as a gigantic iron robot smashed through the streets.

Its eyes shot lasers, cutting down lampposts and cracking monuments. Choppers filled the skies, and police cars dotted the city. “We need the heroes!” someone shrieked as their car got smashed with the robot’s foot.

The evil laugh sounded again, from inside the robot. “Nothing can stop the powerful Grenagade!” the voice sneered. “Gonna call on your puny heroes to save you?” 

The robot’s head turned, laser eyes zapping the base of an apartment building that was in its way and making it tumble to the ground. 

The robot halted in the middle of the street, and a door opened in its chest. A metal staircase unfolded, and someone walked out.

His red, laser-like eyes glinted from behind his black mask, and his torn cape billowed around him. He was dressed in all black, but gears ground where his chest should have been. He twisted his black beard as he looked around. “Behold, the mighty Grenagade,” he said, voice louder than it should have been. Pictures were snapped, and people were gathering. “I come to challenge any heroes to fight me.” He chuckled evilly, red eyes glowing. “If they are strong enough.” Then he raised his voice. “They have twenty-four hours, or they’ll see New York City destroyed!” He laughed maniacally and entered his robot again.

~ ~ ~ 

“There’s a new one up in New York,” Lu Turner said to her friend across the cafeteria table in her school. “Name’s Grenagade.” She looked at her phone, at the email she had gotten. Her friend’s face was surprisingly normal; he looked as if this wasn’t very interesting news. 

Lu continued scrolling though the email. “Half robot, likes destroying stuff with a robot he calls “Crusher”… typical…” she looked up at him. “So, what do you say?”

“I’m not going all the way up to New York,” he said, leaning back on his chair. His food was cold however, so that meant that he was at least a little interested.

“Chris, come on,” she said, putting down her phone. Her electric blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “We haven’t had a nemesis in a long time!”

“I’m telling you, even if we drove the whole way there, we wouldn’t get there in twenty-four hours. It would be too late.”

“It’s never to late for heroes, Chris London. You should know that.”

He peered at her before saying, “Fine, whatever. But let’s hurry. I want to get back, just in case this is a distraction.”

So, they both went home after school. Excited, and a little worried. Their parents didn’t usually like them going off and saving the day… since they always wanted to do it themselves.

“Mom, I’m home!” Lu called when she got home, plopping her backpack next to her shoes. “I have to talk to you about something.”

“If it’s about Grenagade, you can’t go,” she called back from upstairs.

“But he looks fun!”

“Being a hero isn’t about having fun,” she said, walking down the stairs. Her pretty gray eyes sparkled, but Lu knew that you shouldn’t let that fool you. She could pack a lot of power in one of her tornadoes.

“Mom…” Lu sighed. “You’re planning to go defeat him yourself, aren’t you?”

“Well, maybe…”

“Why can’t you give me a turn?!” Lu yelled, exasperated. “I like helping you, Mom. A lot! Besides, Chris is already gonna go.”

She shrugged. “I’m sorry dear,” she said, “but he just looks a little to dangerous for you.”

“I’m going, Mom. I need to. It’s my job! I’m not a superhero just to stand around doing nothing. We have about twenty-two hours before he completely destroys New York City. Don’t you think you might need at least a little help?”

She bit her lip. “I’ll have to talk about it with your father,” she said.

“Fine, go ahead,” she grumbled. “I’ll be up in my room, planning for the battle.”

I never said you could…” her Mom started, but she had disappeared. “Lu, I told you not to do that when I’m talking to you!” she said. “Come back down here this instant.”

Lu was muttering to herself when she came back down the stairs. “I thought we were done talking,” she said.

“No, we weren’t,” Mrs. Turner said, sternly. Her hands were on her hips and her eyes were swirling with rainclouds. “I never said you could go. And I never said you were allowed to use your power.”

“It’s not a big deal, Mom, really!” she said. “I just…”

“Used your power. Running at the speed of light can be pretty conspicuous.”

“No one can see me when I do it,” she said. “Besides, we’re inside. It’s not like anyone’s peering through our windows.”

“I never said you were going to go,” Mrs. Turner repeated.

“Fine, I heard you the first time.” She ran so fast up the stairs she was only a blur, and Mrs. Turner sighed. Then she turned and walked into the kitchen, picking up the phone and dialing Mr. Turner’s number.

Upstairs, Lu had dialed on her phone Chris’ number.

“Yo,” he answered.

“Hey, Chris? I need a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Can you hitch me a ride? Say, in a couple hours?”

Chapter One

“This is a bad idea,” Chris groaned as he started his parent’s car. “I’m driving without a license.”

The crickets chirped loudly and the moon was bright. It was around ten o’clock, and their parents were asleep. 

“That’s what’s dangerous about this plan?” Lu asked him, incredulous. 

“Dur, maybe,” he replied sarcastically. “Which one is the acceleration again?”

“Chris!”

“Geez, I’m joking...” he began muttering to himself as he pulled out of the driveway. 

He drove nervously, humming to himself and tapping the wheel. Pathetically they inched down the street. Slowly, they began to drive more smoothly, and Chris leaned back. 

“Chris, you aren’t holding the wheel!” Lu exclaimed.

He laughed a little, then pointed to the wheel that was moving on its own. “I can make unliving things alive, remember?”

She crossed her arms. “You made the car have a brain?” she asked disbelievingly.

“Hey, at least he knows where we want to go,” he said, reclining his seat and closing his eyes.

“He?” Lu asked him. “How do you know which gender it is? Can it talk to you?”

“I dunno, it just sounds right.”

Lu shook her head and turned to look out of the window. Lights streaked across the blackened scene. 

“How long till we get to New York City?” she asked after a while. 

“We’re kind of close,” he said. “I think I’m naming him Julian.”

“What, the car?” she asked. “Pfft, whatever. Stay focused, Chris. Do you have your suit?”

“I’m wearing it right now,” he said. 

“I’m wearing mine too.We never know what to expect, right?” She glanced at him. “How many hours do we have?”

“About... like, fifteen?”

“Okay, well, I guess that’s enough,” she murmured. 

“Honestly, this Grenagade sounds a little lame...”

“Gigantic rampaging robots with laser eyes? Guy with a bunch of gears instead of a heart and lungs?””

Chris bit his lip, brown hair getting into his eyes like it usually did. He looked up at the ceiling of the car while Julian nearly crashed the car into the back of another one, before swerving to an empty lane. “Okay, so the guy has a couple weird problems, but like, he doesn’t sound too bad. Remember, that one villain? The guy with the spiky hair and the Italian accent and the––”

“Okay, yeah, I thought you promised not to bring that guy up,” Lu said.

“Oops, sorry...”

~ ~ ~

It wasn’t that hard to locate Grenagade and Crusher because of the collapsing buildings and the screaming people. Sirens wailed as they got out of the car and looked up at the big black robot moving through the city. They shut the doors, still staring up at Crusher.

“Let’s do this,” Lu said.

He nodded. They had taken off the clothes they were wearing over their suits in the car. Chris was now dressed in a bright cherry red outfit with yellow lightning bolts all over it. He slipped on a black mask and looked over at Lu, who was outfitted in a electric blue suit with a flames running down her legs. 

“Okay, so here’s the plan,” he said. “I fly up to Crusher’s head and make a bunch of lampposts start attacking him. You do... something.”

“Yeah, great plan, can’t wait to get killed,” she groaned, but let Chris use his rocket-boots to fly up towards the robot.

He landed on its head, stomping. “Hey, rust-bucket, got a brain in there?” he called, then after he had gotten Crusher’s attention, he pointed at a lamppost with a black-gloved hand. “Animan-Zap!” He yelled, and a bolt of light shot from his pointer. It hit the lamppost and slowly the lamppost rose out of the ground on two legs. Arms sprouted out of the sides, and it charged towards the robot.

Lu laughed to see Chris flying ahead of an army of lampposts. “You look so heroic!” She called.

“Shut up!” he called back. “I’m in the middle of saving the day!”

Just then all the speakers dotting the streets shrieked, and a evil voice said, “Oh, look! It’s the lamppost brigade!”

“Grenagade,” Lu hissed, walking towards the robot.

“Oh, you’re here too, Streak!” Grenagade taunted. “Too scared to stay apart from your boyfriend?”

“Loser,” Chris muttered as he ordered the lampposts to halt and joined up with Lu. “Hey, we’re gonna defeat you!” he called. “Thought I might give you a heads-up, before you, you know, go crying to mommy and all.”

“Ooh, I’m so scared,” Grenagade jeered.

Lu’s belt flashed to existence on her waist. It had two glowing red knives, about a foot long, in them. She drew them, one for each hand, then the next thing she knew they had passed clean through the robots legs, and she was on the other side to catch them. Then she appeared next to Chris again.

The robot twisted, then the whole thing dropped down to its knees. The legs were immobilized. Lu felt like Grenagade wasn’t even trying.

“I’m not finished with you,” Grenagade announced, and the whole robot sprouted spider legs and a spider jaw. The legs folded into its body, along with the arms, and an abdomen grew out of the iron. Its eight eyes shot lasers at the two heroes, but Lu grabbed Chris and ran out of the way. 

Crusher scuttled around, legs making holes in the pavement. It shot lasers again, but Chris’ lamppost friends threw the spider off balance by ramming into each of its legs, and the lasers crisped a mailbox behind them.

“What do we do now?” Chris asked, sounding breathless.

“What about we run!?” she said, grabbing him and running. Chris used his rockets to stay off the ground, so they she could pull him along. They streaked down one street and swerved around a corner with the sound like a race car.

“I just got an idea,” he said as they ducked behind a trashcan. They heard Grenagade laugh something about fleeing from far away, and the spider’s scuttling could be detected from within the noise of sirens and choppers.

“What is it, then?” she asked.

“How about I make a whole building come alive?”

“No thanks. Unless it’s a bank. Then we could say the economy was turning against us, or something witty like that.”

“That would be really funny.”

“I was just joking,” Lu said, starting to get annoyed. “So, what are we going to do? You know you don’t have enough Animan-Zap for something big like that after that thing with the lampposts.”

He shrugged. “It was just an idea, you know. Do you have anything better?”

“We need more supers.”

“Where are we gonna get more? You’re the only super I know.”

“Well, let’s just hope some more come.”

As if on cue, a blast of pink light lit up the sky and came hurtling down towards the ground like a comet and she heard someone yell, “Slash attack!”

A ninja warrior, or something, shot down from the sky and landed on the spiders head, spinning a double-edge sword. Her eyes were glowing white, without irises, behind her black mask. Her whole suit was pink, and she had short pink boots and gloves. She was slender and graceful as she did flips down Crusher’s body.

“Let’s go help her!” Chris said, then he flew up towards the robot. Lu sighed and raced after him.

Grenagade was cursing his robot into the speakers as Crusher turned aimlessly around and around, trying to find the intruder. The pink girl stabbed into the metal with her sword, twisting it and making a grinding sound. She turned her head towards Chris and Lu. “Slash attack!” she yelled, white eyes glowing. She continued flipping and stabbing, seemingly knowing where Crusher was most vulnerable.

Chris and Lu exchanged glances. “Are you a hero?”

The girl turned towards them, curling her lip and revealing surprisingly long and sharp teeth. “Yes. Slash.”

“I’m assuming her name is Slash,” Chris murmured to Lu out of the side of his mouth.

“Yeah, me too.” Lu drew her knives quickly as the robot jolted beneath her feet. Chris was hovering and didn’t move, but he looked startled. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Robot failing!” Slash exclaimed. “System shutting down! Yarrr!” She jumped nimbly off to the roof of a building as the whole robot twisted sideways and collapsed. People started to gather around the fallen robot. 

“Hey, thanks for helping us,” Chris said. “We couldn’t have done it alone.”

“Slash hate robot!” she shrieked.

“She meant ‘you’re welcome’,” Lu assured her friend, who just shrugged.

Just then the loud speakers flared again. “ARGH!” Grenagade yelled. “I will be back, super-losers! And when I do, you cannot stop me!” The head opened up and a small spaceship flew out, into the sky.

“He’s getting away!” Chris yelled, starting to fly up to chase him, but Lu pulled him gently down. “Give it a rest,” she said. “It’s too late to go after him.”

Sighing, Chris flew both of them down to the ground, where people were clapping and cheering, and Slash just jumped and alighted as lightly as a cat onto the pavement. They signed a couple autographs, until they made it back to their car, which was shocking one of the few things in the square that was still intact. Remains of buildings laid everywhere and they had to go around some pieces to get to it. Julian whirred happily when they approached, making the wheels turn sideways.

Lu turned to Chris. “Ready to go?”

“Yup. Is it okay if… Slash comes with us?”

“Sure, I guess. Where is she?”

“Right here!” Slash yelled, voice coming from the top of the car. “Yarrr! Me hate robot! Me hate robot!”

“Come on, Slash, get into the car,” Chris called. She swung around the top of the car through the open door and slid gracefully into the seat. She shut the door, laying her double-edges sword on her lap. Her hot pink outfit glowed slightly. Her white eyes glowed even more. To Lu, she was kind of creepy.

As they drove away, they took off their masks. “That was fun, I guess,” Lu sighed as she leaned back on her seat. 

“Seriously? We hardly did anything,” Chris said. “Slash did everything.”

A unfamiliar voice said from the back, “no, I think you helped weaken him.”

They both looked, startled, into the back seat, and saw Slash had changed from a crazed, white-eyed superhero into a regular, blonde-haired girl in a pink suit. Her eyes still glowed pure white, Lu noticed. “What is it? Do I have my shirt on backwards?” she asked, sounding defensive.

“...Nothing,” Lu said, a little weirded out, but trying not to show it. “So… Slash. Where ya from?”

“Lexitron,” she said matter-of-factly. “My planet is not far from Earth, actually. But it is a dangerous place. I came to Earth when I was just a little kid.”

“Oh, so, you’re like an alien?” Chris asked slowly.

“Yes.” Slash sounded offended.

“It’s fine,” he said quickly. “I’m just trying to clarify the facts… and stuff.”

“My name is Faye Spentan,” she said. “That is my cover-up name, anyway. And you are?”

“I’m Lu Turner,” Lu explained. “This is Chris London. His real name is Christopher, but he doesn’t really like it all that much.”

“Yeah, Chris works for me,” he said.

“We’re heading home. I’m sure my mom will let you stay at my house, or something,” Lu said. “Just do me a favor and don’t say anything about fighting Grenagade and all. We weren’t really, ya know, supposed to be doing it.”

Faye nodded. “I won’t say a word.”

“Where do you live?” Chris asked, sounding curious.

“Nowhere,” she replied. “I just wander… I don’t really live anywhere.”

“What about Lexitron?”

“I don’t go there anymore,” she said quickly. “No one should go there. The danger there is….” she shuddered.

Lu was a little speechless by her reply, then she said, “Oh… uh, okay. Sorry, I was just wondering.”

“It’s fine,” Faye said quietly.

They were silent the rest of the way home, and Chris quietly pulled up in front of Lu’s house. The sky was lightening, and Lu knew she would have to hurry just in case her parents woke up, or something like that.

“Bye, Chris,” she whispered. “Oh, and… Julian.”

Julian honked a little, then Chris drove down the street and out of sight. Faye casually twirled her sword. “This is where you live?”

“Yup. Come on, and be quiet,” Lu replied, and they both tiptoed to the porch.

The Turners were asleep when they both got in Lu’s bed and went to sleep, so Lu knew that they would never know that she had been out.

But she was wrong.

The Characteratron! - And no, Emilie is not dead. Hem hem...

Hi, everyone!! I BE BACK! Yay! I didn't get abducted by aliens! Sorry about my absence, I've just been uber-busy, and stuff… I know, it's not a good excuse. But hey, what can I say? School can only be destroyed in the fire from which is was forged, and I ain't got that fire!
     Anywhodiddle, today we're going to be creating characters with my all-new, totally-professional, Characteratron! Take notes.

Robotic Voice: "Welcome, Guest. Please identify which gender you want your character."

Okay, I just decided to name the Characteratron Grady, which happens to be the same name as my ratbird. But anyway, you will pick your gender as Step One. This part is literally the hardest part in the entire sequence. You have to know what exactly your characters serve for as a role in your story. Why are they existent? Are they just fat on the edges? Should you pull a socially-insecure-teenager and trim them off? You have to know why you are creating them. Say you picked a girl.

Robotic Voice: "You have picked: Girl. Please insert name personality."

Now we decide their personality. This girl will be name Eralia Warner, (and you can't steal this name btw because I'm already using it in a story XD SUCKAAASSSS) But anywho, this girl is named Eralia. Now for her personality… well, she's the hero in this story, so I'm going to make her sacrifical, kind, a little too headstrong… **imputes data**

**bleep bloop bling-blong KABOOSH shwim-shwim POW** Robotic Voice: "Eralia Warner: Sacrifical, Kind, a Little Too Headstrong. Please insert looks."

Eralia is a hero, right? So, Ms. Warner shouldn't look goth, or scary. She should have… blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and maybe like, a red streak in her hair.

**bloopy-blam-blam-shing!**

SHE'S BEING CREATED!!

**blingblingblingblingblingblingblingblingblingblingblingblingREADY!**

It's alive. ALIVE!! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!

ahem.

Haha, okay, so I probably didn't HAVE to use Grady (thanks, big guy!) but I wanted to illustrate the important factors that must be considered in making a character. You can't just plop them in there. You have to be able to develop them in a tight situation (running for their lives, being overheard in a conversation, vague prologue… etc.) They have to look like their personalities, which is a way to develop them. Also, you have to make a unique fact about them. I. E: Eralia's dad was killed mysteriously. She misses him and nostalgically puts her hair up in a bun because her dad always liked it that way.

I like being random, but still, that was a good example. Making your characters have personal touches makes them more personal. And you'll end up feeling sorry for poor little orphan Eralia Warner who's hair is always up in a bun.

Well, keep writing!
- Emilie

A Simple Guide To Simple Editing... Patricia style.

A simple guide to simple editing.

 

1.    In dialogue, when one character directly addresses another, put a comma before their name. Ex. “Hello, Grace. How are you?” This enables your reader to detect that the character is talking to another character, rather than about. Here is an example where the rule applies, but not in a direct address. “My friend, Grace, likes the color blue. It might be her favorite.”

2.    End-mark punctuation. Periods, exclamation points, and question marks always cause some confusion. Generally, and usually, the end mark goes on the inside of the quotation marks. Ex. He looked up from his lunch, and saw a flock of birds flying overhead. “My, my,” he mused. “It is getting late in the year.”

In that example, I showed you two commonly confused methods. The first one, the end mark was outside the quotes. And that’s because I interrupted the quote to describe who, how, and what about was speaking. The second set was just finishing the first. Since it is the second part, we already know who, how, and what about the person is talking.

 

3.    Commas. Commas are very helpful tools that help us add meaning to our writing. They are also used to imply voice inflection. A comma signifies a pause. A break in thought, and slight tone change, or an interruption. Ex. “Well,” she paused. “I don’t know,” she said slowly.

Commas are used for items in a series. Ex. “That is a lot of expensive art supplies for a third grader,” Mrs. Morris mused. “Crayons, colored pencils, a pastel set, markers, drawing pencils, and shading tools.”

Commas are supposed to be used when using multiple words to describe something. Ex. “Helen was the most beautiful, prized, loved, and adored woman in the world. And the Spartans were willing to do anything, and everything to get her back safely.”

 

4.    Outlining your plot.

Now, this is probably the most VITAL thing to do, if you want to remain happy in your editing. I started out writing without a plot, or writing out who my characters were. Bad. Idea. That editing experience was almost enough to make me stop writing. For good. Aren’t we thankful that it didn’t? I had to trash, basically, my whole idea, for lack of plotting my story line. And it wasn’t because my ideas weren’t good. Heckles, no. It was a great idea. It was very creative, and quite easy to work with… (till Mr. Editing came along). The problem was this: Me, not plotting, or planning anything, resulted in hundreds of writing errors. Like, I would say that something was going to happen, and then it never did. When I finished the first draft… (it was really, really short, and not worth publishing, even after editing.) And read back through it. I was so disappointed.

So. Life lesson, and moral of the story? Plot. Your. Whole. Story. I. Don’t. Care. How. Long. It. Takes. What is Nike’s motto? JUST DO IT.  

 

Keep Writing!

<3

Patricia Rane