Creating Hanson

The Blog of some crazy writer and her crazy novel(s)

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Hanson

ashleyraelogan:

My name’s Ashley Logan and this is a catalogue of the rawest first drafts of these chapters. You’re seeing them first here, but it won’t be the last you’re going to see them. Next time they’ll be written between two hard covers of a book.

Okay you guys. Many of you know I’m working on a set of novels. Well. I’ve decided to write the entire book BEFORE editing anything. 

I wanted to share with you the raw first draft versions of my first novel, because, well, I’m really grateful for all you followers and wanted to share my journey with all of you. 

So here’s a blog I’ve created so I can do just that!

I’ll post the chapters as I finish them and make a new page for each so you don’t have to scroll through the archive to find the starting point. 

The ask to this blog is open for any feedback if you feel so inclined. 

Enjoy!

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Manatees Can't Type: korbinnian: kortniisakuriboh: I can almost guarantee that Google...

korbinnian:

kortniisakuriboh:

I can almost guarantee that Google thinks I’m a psychopath. My last three searches were “Is it possible to slit your own throat?” “Does ripping skin make a sound?” and “How long would it take for someone to bleed out through their forearm?”.

But I’m not…

I’m a writer.

I agree. haha. I’ve been needing to look up how long someone has before they die if they’re internally bleeding. Also, how long it takes for them to die if the bleeding takes place in their skull vs in their abdomen. 

(via ashleyraelogan)

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I wrote a new prologue to Hanson! This one’s gonna stick. For real this time. Let me know what you think? Please?

“Some people are born great, while others have greatness thrust upon them.” Teddy Roosevelt said that: at least he did in that museum movie.

For a really old guy, he’s actually kind of smart.

Some people grow up being great while everyone else just stumbles around, hoping for something fantastic to happen to them. Of course, there are also people like me. People who exceed just “great”.

My name is Jori Washburn and I am great. I’m rich, I’m well-liked, and I’m drop dead gorgeous. What’s not to love? What’s not to envy? What else is there in life?

Everyone in my high school looks up to me. Not counting those who don’t, because those who don’t look up to me don’t count. They’re nobodies. I don’t care about nobodies. Not when I’m a somebody.

Life is perfect.

I am perfect.

And nothing is ever going to change.

Filed under Hanson Jori Jori Washburn Ashley Rae Prologue Writing Novel

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Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (via alegrias-me)

(via ashleyraelogan)

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the0fool asked: so any tips for a new comer when it come to written books

Okay. I’m gonna quote Kurt Vonnegut for this because he’s a beautiful genius. Every quote in bold is his. Not mine.

Research. Lots of research. Though that can also be a bad thing. Cut back on the research. 

Hmm. 

Tips…

Write. A lot. Write all the time. Even if it’s not just your story. 

Just like on stage, your characters always need a purpose. A want. A direction. You can’t cross the stage in a play unless you have a reason to go over there. Even if it’s just pacing. So. You can’t make your characters go to this one place where they happen to find this one thing behind that other thing. Give them a reason to go over there and look behind that thing. (I’m really just saying to create reason and direction.)

Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

Some people are plot driven. Some are character driven. I am character driven so, quite literally, my characters dictate what goes on in my story. What happens, where they end up, and how it unfolds is very much up to them. I just write about what happens. I don’t create it. They do. 

But.

If you’re doing the Fools Journey than you might be working on a more plot driven basis. Where you need the fool to go to certain places and meet certain people. 

Make sure you have a beginning middle and end. Like a roller coaster, we should be on our toes just before the very end. (Okay, so maybe you wouldn’t be on your toes if it were a REAL roller coaster. You might get decapitated or something.) Give the reader that feeling where you’re at the peak of the hill(?) and there’s no where to go but down. There is no turning back. Even if they wanted to get off the ride (or put the book down) it’s much too late and they just have to push onward until the end. 

Alternate between chapters with tension, action, and conversation. The conversation being chapters where things are chill and laid back. Maybe it’s character development. Maybe it’s plot development. Tension is when the readers sense something coming. Or the Fool is preparing for something. Maybe one of the other major arcana tell him something he doesn’t want to hear, or something he is afraid to face. Then the action would be sorta a big deal. It doesn’t necessarily mean sword fights and life or death situations. (Death… hehe.) Action could just be him going after something something with an understanding and determination. Excitement. CONFLICT, PAIN, DRAMA!

Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

What else… 

Umm…

Tips…

Don’t make any perfect characters. Perfection doesn’t exist. Not even in me. Sad, but true. 

One last thing. This is your story. Your book. Love it. And I mean really love it. Don’t just take it on a few dates and flirt with it. Love your story. 

And make it for you! And you only! Don’t write in a way that you think I’ll like. Or Mr. Professor Man will like. Write it so that you like it and are proud of it and it’s exactly the kind of thing you’d like to read in your spare time. 

Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.



I think that’s about it. I can’t think of anything else. Just maybe carry around a pen and something to write with (napkins work) so when you get inspired and gain a great idea, you can write it down and not forget it. 

Here’s where I got the Kurt Vonnegut stuff…

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the0fool asked: i been reading so much of this is become like a epic pre book to an epic book <3

Why thank ya! I would write more for this blog, but I’ve been focusing on my fantasy novel lately. I have another blog for that too! Though it doesn’t have a name so the blog is just labeled as my stories. 

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/ashleyloganstories

And it only has one post… and no background… 

I need to fix that. 

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Exciting news!!!

Okay. So. I’ve been working on the Hanson series for almost three and a half years now. That’s a long time. The series consists of five novels from the points of view of five different spies. 

NOW. 

I’m taking a humanities class and there is an assignment to make a one hundred page book by the end of the semester. It can be anything. Any kind of book. Any size. As long as it’s one hundred pages. 

Of course I was the one to ask if we could go over…

AND WE CAN!

So. With any luck. I am going to try to complete the first Hanson book AND get a grade for it. I always work better with a deadline. I’ve had the outline for this book written up for sometime now, and I think the characters are developed enough to write the first one. There are still a few missing bits of my knowledge for their backgrounds, but none of that comes up until the later books when things start to get more intense. (The fourth and fifth books are my favorite.)

BUT!

I’M GOING TO BE WRITING HANSON!

Actually writing. haha. Not talking about writing, blogging about writing, or spending my time doing character sketch after character sketch (even though I LOVE all those little short stories that come out of them). No, this time there will be actual progress.

HAZZAH!