Cross Post: The Second Main Character in The Harvest: A Novel, Excerpt pp. 29-38 (single spaced)

I was going to write a long blog post about point of view.  I hopped ahead in my sharing and decided to post the second point of view, I am working on now, which is the other main character in The Harvest, the novel I'm drafting. (He is the only main Latino in this piece, but he is vastly disconnected from his roots.)

However, as I was debating what to write, I decided the third person point of view would be OK, as long as the characters were developed well and the setting was different, at the setting will necessarily will be because Ashley will be in the belly of the beast and Alan in the margins for a time.  Their pats will not cross for a long while.  In general, I find switching from first to third person to be tedious and cumbersome, at least in the novels I have read where authors do this switch, but I did it on accident anyway. In fact, I didn't realize I did it until I read over the draft this morning.  The past tense also bores me to no end, so both sections are in the present tense.

Like all of the posts I share, this is a draft, even though as I have written this novel numerous times.  It’s a fresh rewrite with echoes of past drafts, and I like it a lot better.  It's clunky and simplified, but I like where it is going.

This section focuses on the tattered revolutionaries that are not really all that effective, and Alan's awakening.  Let me know what you think.

(Keep reading to take a look-see at the novel excerpt)  http://www.barrioblues.com/un-blog-de-writing-musings/the-second-main-character-in-the-harvest-a-novel-excerpt-pp-29-38-single-spaced

Cross Post about Teaching and Writing: Drowning in Poetry and a Longer Novel Excerpt pp. 1-15

This morning, we all got up late, which is to say 6:45a.m. The kids both slept in my bed, and it was an unusually peaceful sleep, which should have equaled writing time this morning. However, I woke up at 2a.m. and started watching a so-so B movie called Cabbage Patch Town or some shit, and an anime show Blue Exorcist. After my favorite main character, an exorcist priest was killed, I turned off the laptop in a huff and went to bed: Why kill the best character in the show? Why, idiot writers? Sadly, I couldn't produce yesterday’s miracle of writing in the morning while tending to my daughter because she kept asking for random things to eat like an avocado and popsicles and failed to take a long morning nap.

I also decided to make an elaborate rice bowl breakfast with sautéed spinach and huevos rancheros. Then, I had to make an elaborate breakfast for my husband after he returned from dropping off my son at school. All this to say that I owe the novel some time today, at least the minimum 30 minutes.

(Click to keep reading.) http://www.barrioblues.com/un-blog-de-writing-musings/drowning-in-poetry-and-a-longer-novel-excerpt-pp-1-15

A Post about My Creative Writing Syllabus and My Writing Schedule and

Quick recap:  This blog focuses on my weekly reflections on what is working well or failing miserably in my creative writing class.  I haven’t taught it since 2008, and I am amped for this new year. 

Originally, when I was designing the syllabus, I told myself to cut the assignments in half.  However, since I recalled what I loved about writing, I remembered that when I took these classes in college both at undergraduate and graduate levels, I was more focused than ever on producing work.  In fact, I am one of those asshole writers that word vomits and produces masses amount of work in a short time, when I have time to write.  I want my students to develop that love of writing, no matter what their process is, and to experience a variety of writing.  

I am having my students write three short stories (including a piece of flash fiction) and 2 poems.  I am also requiring them read on a regular basis.  I chose an anthology edited by Junot Diaz, The Best American Short Stories and a poetry anthology, The Vintage Book of American Poetry edited by J.D. McClatchy.  Flash Fiction International is a supplementary text that I plan on scanning.  The main text is Bird by Bird by Anna Lamott.

The course is shaping up nicely, and the funny thing is that creating the syllabus went by quickly and didn’t feel like work at all.  I guess I needed a change, and also to align my writing and academic goals. 

That is all I have because I need to read fast with focus; I have this golden hour or half hour where my baby is asleep.   

Here is a link to my other blog.  I don't normally cross post, but I'm new to this writing regularly business, and my students will surely struggle with scheduling, too.

http://www.barrioblues.com/un-blog-de-writing-musings/struggling-to-set-a-new-writing-schedule

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Do Ebook Preorders Work? Part 2

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Do Ebook Preorders Work? Part 2: A few months ago I wrote a blog post about preorders . I experimented with three preorder titles, curious as to how they'd perform. He...

Abandoned Blogger Sites Are So Uncool

I was looking through all the Blogger posts, and my Live Journal account.

Abandoned sites are just so sad.  Equally as sad is not having anyone read your blogs.  Hmmm.

I suppose that is why the blogs should really be about the writer and not about some abstract Ideal Reader.  My Weebly helps me keep focused on my writing projects, and I get a fine sense of accomplishment when I post a blog entry every day. 

My hope is that this Blogger site will help me focus on teaching writing.  As a teacher, I rarely have time to reflect on what is working.  The plan isn't to rant about specific students, which is highly unprofessional, but to think about how assignments are going.  

My Live Journal account was basically a journal of how depressed and unfulfilled I get sometimes.  However, since I am doing what I love, I haven't been journaling for like two years.  Instead, I am spending my time reading and writing and teaching and raising my kids. 

So, to the point of this blog.  I am ordering the text books for my creative writing class next semester.  The Creative Writing books are all new to me, so this course will prove to be quite exciting!  In the other class, I am only adding one new book. 

That is all I have.  As soon as I start to read the textbooks, I hope to post weekly updates on ideas for the course. 

Finally Finished My Short Story Collection

 

Above is a draft of the book cover of my collection, which is currently being edited by Adam Gottlieb.  The artwork was painted by my little sister, Diana.  I like the simplicity and the color scheme.  

I am now moving onto my next project, a novel I am rewriting for a third time titled The Harvest.  I hope to have a full draft done over the holiday break.

If you want to read excerpts of both works, visit my other site dedicated to my writing:  http://www.barrioblues.com/

This Blogger site is going to be focused to my creative writing successes and challenges in the classroom.  I am teaching creative writing again next semester and hope to continue to do so in the following years.  Since it will be more of a reflective blog, and I don't want to retract from my already busy schedule, I will aim to post once a week, unless it's a quick post.  I want to improve my craft and really spend some time to think about how to improve what I do.

Zoé - Arrullo De Estrellas (Explicit)