Writing Day

I attended my very first writing day at the Mustard Seed Retreat July 26. When I first got there, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

The retreat and yard surrounding it are lovely. It’s an old farmhouse with beautiful flowerbeds around it. Lots of cats and kittens roam around and really like to get attention. A red barn is outside and Miss Pam (the lady in charge) said that she holds classes out there.

Inside the retreat is just as nice as the outside. There is a small kitchen, where candy, fruit and drinks are kept for the writers. Miss Pam has three different rooms set aside for writing. One it a library and has a shelf of books and a whiteboard. Emily and I had a good time doing some character development on the whiteboard near the end of the day.

I arrived at 10 AM. Miss Pam greeted me at the door and showed me around the house. Reagan  had already arrived and Emily texted me to say she was on her way. I met two of the other writers who were there that day and settled myself on the couch in the library. It was such a quiet environment that it was actually a little hard for me to concentrate the first 15 minutes or so. I’m used to being at home with my siblings running around and playing, so it was definitely a switch.

Before lunch (around 2 PM) I managed to get about 1,000 words written using my new idea for ‘Freedoms Bonds’ (look for a post on that in the near future). During lunch, the 6 writers sat around and chatted.

Reagan and I got some brainstorming done for a futuristic, dystopian, sci-fi idea we had. I’m not going to say too much about the idea though. I decided, for now at least, that all of you who read my blog (all 8 of you :P) will be kept in suspense.

A huge storm blew in around 3:00 and we got a little distracted. At least, the four females who were there did. One girl left after lunch, so there were only five of us at that point. It was raining so hard that sheets of water were pouring down the windows. The internet access went out, followed shortly by the electric. The electric only stayed out for 5 minutes. I don’t know about the internet.

No,this isn't the storm. I just thought this was an interesting picture.

Starting around 4:45, I started to lose any ability to focus. I think that’s when the coffee kicked in. It was either the coffee or the tiredness from the fair week. Either way,  Emily and I were struggling to find any semblance of focus. So what do writers do when having focusing issues? Character development, of course!

We used Emily’s medieval character and my futuristic character and started it on the whiteboard. For some reason, my character was a grouch. Maybe it was just because I don’t know a whole lot about her yet. The two of us had quite a lot of fun, since some of the things my character (Alexis) mentioned, were things that Emily’s character (Kesiah) had never heard of before. Take nail polish for example. Alexis was complaining that her nail polish chipped and Kesiah couldn’t figure out what she was talking about and why her nails were an unnatural color.

Overall, I absolutely loved being able to go somewhere and just write for a day. I wrote 2500+ words, edited and read both Em and Reagan’s chapters, brainstormed with Reagan and character developed with Emily. I’m anticipating the next writing day very much.

Freedom's Bonds - Jedrec's Tale

My first novel is called Freedom's Bonds. It's about a hidden princess named Kacia who has to take back the throne of her country. Yes, it's pretty cliche, but fun to write. I started a branch off of that story from the Love Characters perspective. Here is part of Chapter 1:

Chapter 1:

     The house erupted into one big ball of flame. I jumped back, pulling my sister along with me. She clung to my side, sobbing hysterically. The house crashed in on itself and continued to burn. Looking around, I saw that the other houses in our village had met the same fate.

     People stood outside their doors, sobbing for the loved ones lost inside. The Lipatovian soldiers surrounded the village, many of them laughing at the doom that had befallen the villagers. Anger boiled inside me and I struggled not to lash out at the nearest soldier. Images of me beating him to a pulp raced through my brain as I took a deep breath to calm my anger.

     “Jedrec…what is going to happen to us?” my sister, Daria, asked me.

     I looked down at her and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.” I answered truthfully.

     This wasn’t the answer either of us wanted to hear, but we both accepted it, knowing it was true. The soldiers around the village started to come closer and closer to the center of town, where everyone had gathered after their houses caught on fire.

     Grabbing Daria’s hand, I put her behind me. As the soldiers got closer, one marched ahead of the others and started to speak.

     “You have been shown the power of the king of Lipatov,” he intoned.

     Some king, I thought, What sort of king kills his own subjects?

     “Since you have nowhere to go, the king will let you reside in the labor fields. You will have food and a shelter, but you will be required to work for it. If you refuse to go, you will be killed instantly,” he finished.

     A new wave of angry feelings swept through me. They were forcing us to work there! Knowing that there wasn’t any place for us to go, since they had burned it down, the king no doubt felt that he was doing us a favor. I let go of Daria’s hand and stepped forward.

     “What are you doing, boy?” snarled the soldier.

     “You can’t force us to work in the fields. We have nowhere to go because you burnt it down. You’re not doing us any favors. That horrible king of yours just needs a good excuse to get us there.”

     The soldier bristled and walked towards me. Eyes glinting, he stood directly in front of me. He seemed like a giant when compared to my slim and rather short twelve year old frame. I could smell the alcohol on his breath as he hovered over me, glaring with more hatred than I thought possible.

     “You speak well for one so young,” he said. “But there will be no arguing. All of you will work in the labor fields, or it is instant death. Is that clear?”

     My only response was a glare. I felt a tug on my arm and looked back to see Daria. She frantically tried to get me to back down from the soldier. I yanked my arm away and got as close to the soldier as I dared.

     “I will go, but only because I could not leave my sister alone. Otherwise, I would rather die than work for your king,” I spat.