Hi everyone,
I'd like you to meet Jessica Therrien, author of Oppression. We did something that we call the "Jessica Swap" and switched blogs for the day. So here is some information and her and her books, along with some great writing tips.
Jessica Therrien is the author of the young adult paranormal fiction series Children of the Gods. Book one in the series, Oppression, was published by ZOVA Books in February of 2012. Aside from her Children of the Gods series, Jessica’s work can also be found in a published collection of flash fiction stories called Campaigner Challenges 2011. Out of over 350 submissions her story, The Soulless, won first place for people’s choice and fourth place in the judging round of Rachael Harrie’s Writing Campaign Challenge. Her story, Saved, is also available as part of the anthology. Jessica spent most of her life in the small town of Chilcoot, California, high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In this town of nearly 100 residents, with no street lights or grocery stores, there was little to do but find ways to be creative. Her mother, the local English teacher, inspired her to do all things artistic, and ultimately instilled in her a love for language. In 2003, Jessica attended California State University Long Beach where her passion for language found her studying Chinese, and in 2005 she moved to Taiwan to study abroad. From 2005 to 2006 Jessica was fully immersed in the Chinese language as she attended National Taiwan University, and in 2008 she graduated from San Diego State University magna cum laude. Jessica currently lives in Chula Vista with her husband, and is working on book two in her Children of the Gods series. |
Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules. |
Hello! I’m Jessica Therrien, author of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1). Thanks so much to the other Jessica AKA owner of this blog/best-selling author/awesome lady for having me on for this guest post! We’re sort of taking over each other’s websites for today. Super fun, right? Just think of it as a Jessica swap…
I was asked to talk about something all of us writers get emails about…tips on writing. So, for today’s post I’ve developed a little “Rules on Writing” checklist.
Rules on Writing
1. There are no rules.
Haha! Okay, so there are some (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.) but in terms of writing style…the how, the when, the what…that’s up to you. No writer’s process is the same.
2. Write when you’re inspired. Don’t wait.
This is my biggest, most important, rule. If I get an idea or the scenes/dialogue start to pop into my head in that perfect way, I stop what I’m doing and write. Even if it’s on a napkin or a receipt in my black-hole of a purse. As long as you get it out, it doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re writing on. Capturing that piece of magic is key. You can fix/edit/transpose it later.
3. Let the characters decide what happens.
I’ve tried to outline (and hey…maybe outlining really works well for you…that’s good) but my creative brain doesn’t like to stay on the straight and narrow. Sometimes I’ll be writing the scene I planned to write, and something feels forced or wrong, like it’s what I want to happen, no necessarily what’s supposed to happen. Sometimes the universe has other plans for your characters. Let them go where they want. A lot of the time it’s a lot more interesting than you’d expect.
4. Use real life.
The best way I’ve found to create “real” characters are to base them on people I know…at least at first. Once I have a basis for the character, they start to evolve on their own and grow into who they are. For me, the best way to make a scene or a character genuine is to use pieces of my memory to create well-rounded fiction.
*Also, it’s important to know why your characters make the decisions they do, so don’t be afraid to explore their past, even if those scenes or writing exercises don’t make it into your manuscript. They help mold the character’s personality.
5. Write the scenes you’re excited about.
When I first started writing, I used to think writing in order was the “right” way to write. I also thought it was the easiest. That actually turned out to be wrong for me. I write COMPLETELY out of order. I write whichever scene I’m excited about, and in the end, each scene is the best it can be because it was written with passion instead of force. You don’t want to force yourself to write a scene just because it’s next…that’s a really good way to stifle the process and run into writer’s block (at least that’s what happens with me).
So there you have it. Five fun rules on writing that are in no way actual rules, but more tips or fun-facts about the way I do things. I hope you enjoyed them! Here is the link to the other Jessica’s post on my blog: http://jessicatherrien.com/.
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