Linda Nelson

Currently I am taking part in an online YA writing workshop. Tonight’s topic is Passive/Aggressive Behavior

Discussion:

Depict a character that is of a passive aggressive with pint up energy. Do they vehemently go into a rage when they just cannot take it anymore or do they hide from their obstacles by becoming vacant?

Oh, this would be my character Karla in my Wings of Ashes series.

Her mom never really pays attention to her except to criticize her and find fault with her. As far as Karla is concerned she hasn’t done anything wrong and does not deserve any blame. She sees herself as a victim of which ever circumstance she is involved with.

She never speaks out for fear of rocking the boat even when friendships are concerned. She is more likely to end up in an abusive relationship due to her denial of her self-worth. She appears to be a kind and caring individual but deep inside she harbors strong anger issues that she has learned to suppress.

Her friendship with Carol shows her Passive/aggressive behavior when she knows that Carol is shoplifting but refuses to say anything about it. And when she thinks about introducing Carol to her old friends, Sarah and Jody, she is hesitant due to the fact she is afraid they will voice their disapproval of the type of person Carol could be, even though they know nothing about her.

There is a new question; will Karla eventually lash out at anyone when her suppressed anger comes to a boil? Will there ever be a heated confrontation between Karla and Carol over the trouble Karla gets into because she lacks the desire to stand up and say No?

Could a possible fight break out at the jail when Karla reaches her boiling point when she discovers her home phone has been disconnected and she can’t call home to get bailed out of jail?

This will add another chapter to the end of Road Salt – Woot!

So far I love this online workshop and most likely I will be signing up for others in the coming weeks. I also have a strong feeling I will be joining the YARWA chapter too.

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s topic.

It’s Sunday already?

I feel like I missed the weekend somehow. If this keeps up I just might miss Christmas too.

Not!

I like Christmas. It has always been one of my favorite holidays and not because I get presents. I’m the giver. I have always loved to find a way, somehow, to surprise my family members with the gifts that I find for them.

I’m also the one who tends to the Christmas stockings, decorates the tree, and dismantles the tree when the holiday is over.

This year we went out and cut our own tree down, a first for me. We did get a really nice tree, one of the nicest trees I have ever had. It is almost 7 feet tall and is wide and full at the bottom. And, we bought it local.

I’ll show you our tree later on this week when I dig out the camera. I tried taking a photo with my cellphone but it doesn’t do the tree justice. So, you’ll all have to wait…

We had our first measurable snowfall yesterday into this morning. I think we had an inch of snow before it turned to freezing rain.

Today it warmed up and all the snow is gone. We will be seeing 50’s for the rest of the week.

NaNo Update:

No, of course I did not make my word count goal for NaNo. I didn’t really try this year. But I did finish the first draft of Road Salt and I am happy with the way the ending came out. It is a little dark and dreary, not like a romance is supposed to be but this is not really a romance even if it does have some romance elements built in to it. This is a story about drug addiction and the downward spiral associated with it.

So far I do not feel it is an entertaining read either. I have a lot of detail that needs to be hashed out during the edit process.

Which leads me to the next topic…

ROW80 Update:

I did make some progress this week. I began the first edit of Road Salt. Two, almost three chapters are done with 1k words added to the wip.

I think I am writing slower due to the more serious nature of the story. I want to get it right and make sure the story line is as credible as possible.

Drug addiction is a serious matter unto its self.

I did something else this week too and I will let you know how it goes. I signed up for an online workshop for YA authors. The topic is about criminal behavior in teens. Hopefully this two week workshop gives me some great tips on completing Road Salt. I have never taken an online course before.

Check the linky for other ROWers and cheer them on too with their works in progress —à
ROW80 Linky List

Oh, and for those of you who are curious about Road Salt you can take a free view of the first draft. It can be found here on Smashwords.com –à
Road Salt – first draft in eBook format of your choice. No I have not uploaded the edits yet. I may do this after the first or second edit. I’m not sure yet.

But if you want to comment on the story you can send them to my email address: lnelson_547@comcast.net

I would love any critic help I can get for this serious YA story, it would be most appreciated. I used to use autonomy but there was too much spam on the site with everyone saying read mine, no read mine and so on. I mean I don’t mind critiquing on someone else’s wip but when they begin begging you to read and star their work and then threaten you if you don’t change something in your own to their liking I have to draw the line.

Isn’t critiquing about giving someone suggestions on how to do it better?

I had one person do that to me too. He said if I didn’t change the way I wrote a certain line right away he was going to give me a one star review. I don’t think that is what critiquing is all about. You don’t threaten a person. That’s not how you make friends. Needless to say I refused to change the sentence to his wording and he did give me the one star. It was all uncalled for.

So I don’t visit Authonomy anymore. Bullying does not work for me.