Research

I love the sense of accomplishment I get from learning something new.  Information is fascinating.  The process that goes into gaining knowledge is also fun.  Last night my kids and I talked about research projects.  How to figure out what exactly you're trying to research and why.  What resources are available for your research. What information you want to share with others and how to present what you've learned. 

The process is similar to writing.  You have to decide on a subject that would be interesting to write about.  The subject also needs to be something you understand.  If you don't have first hand knowledge, then you'd better be prepared to research the heck out of it because if, for example, you write about riding a motorcycle and you've never ridden one, you can believe that all the motorcycle enthusiasts that read your story will see the holes a mile away.  Your characters need to be interesting enough that the reader wants to know more about them.  You need to give them enough depth that the reader cares about what happens to them.  The reader needs to be invested in the character.

Your plot needs to be complex enough to keep the reader reading, but not so complex and full of subplots that the reader is confused.  Your subplot should build and enhance your main plot, not detract from it.  Of course, since I haven't published anything, who am I to talk??  What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

School's back!

The kids started back to school yesterday.  They were all very excited.  New school supplies are so much fun.  Boxes of bright color crayons, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the cool, smooth feel of new notebook paper waiting for the first assignment.  New clothes, new shoes, new backpacks.  The rush of the early morning: packing lunches, grabbing breakfast, looking for homework, shoes, jackets.  Then when you get to school there is the anticipation of finding your old friends, looking for new ones, meeting your teachers.

I love school.  If I were independently wealthy I'd go back to school.  Maybe not full time, but just to keep learning new things.  I have such a long list of things I wish I knew.  I'd love to learn a language or two.  I wish I knew more about art.  Computer programming fascinates me.  I know a lot about software, but I'd love to learn about computer hardware.  And then, of course, there is writing.  I find myself torn on that subject.  I did a couple college writing courses.  They were interesting, but stifling.  Shouldn't my writing be the way I want it?  If I write an opinion paper, shouldn't it reflect my opinion?  I never understood professors that marked things "wrong" when I stated my opinion about a subject or article I read.  Perhaps this is why the world is so full of "lemmings" without an original thought in their heads?

Fan-fiction

My first foray back into writing was in the arms of fan-fiction.  I know this is a highly controversial subject, but personally, I think it should be taken as the highest form of flattery.  It means I fell so in love with your characters that I wanted to take them for a spin in my own creative world.  Of course, some may also interpret it as, I hated the way you wrote that SO much that I'm going to write it the way I think it should be.  I guess, in that respect, it may not be the highest form of flattery.  However, whichever way you look at it, your material is being read, analyzed, discussed, recommended, and loved.

Over the last nine months I've written several stories for fan-fiction.  It has been a good exercise for organizing my thoughts.  My stories included the FF characters and several of my own characters that I've come to love.  Now, my characters are going to come out and play as I begin work on my own novel.  Maybe someday I'll have my own FF followers.

Welcome to KK Sierra

Hi! Thanks for checking out KK Sierra. I hope you'll check back often to see what's new.

• Who:  A hard working single mother of three.
• What:  Trying to recapture the joy of weaving words and thoughts together into literary art.
• When:  Somewhere between the time the kids go to bed and my body collapses in exhaustion.
  
• Where:  The grand Pacific Northwest.
• Why:  I realized the last decade of my life has been solely devoted to the dreams and needs of others.  Once upon a time, when I was a young girl, all the potential in the universe belonged to me.  Through this effort I hope to recapture and focus that powerful energy into my dreams, spreading inspiration as I go.