Writer's Sketchbook 12

    I've been waiting and waiting to finish writing Chapter 3 of Powerful just so I could post this character sketch.  As someone who doesn't consider myself a romantic, Husband of Mine always gets a good laugh at how I insist that my stories have a love interest.  For Jen, there was Prince Alan.  For Moxi, there was Taynen.  For Rose, Dahlia, and Ella, there were Phillippe, Florian, and Henrie.
    For Crown Princess Kylanore of Tykra, there was Crown Prince Luzigo of Laeto.  What can I say?  Romance is the best subplot to include in any YA novel.
    (Bonus points to anyone who can name the character in the picture that gave me the inspiration!)

Crown Prince Luzigo (Luzi) Laetore

LTUE

    I apologize for spamming everyone with news about my adventures at Physical Therapy.  I know some of you care, and some of you are like, "Hey, Alyson, I thought this was a writing blog.  Where's the writing?"  Well, that's why I figured I'd give a bonus blog post this week!  Which I guess really isn't a bonus when all I've been doing is not talking about writing.
    Anyway, this post is titled LTUE, and if you're anything like me, you're like, "What the heck does that stand for?"  Well, I'll tell you!  It stands for Life, The Universe, and Everything.  And if you're anything like me, you're still totally lost and probably going to ignore me and google LTUE.  I'll save you the trouble by posting the LTUE website link here.

Bruised and Beaten

    I went back to Physical Therapy today.  I'm still not doing great, but he said there is definite improvement.
    I've been dealing with this for 6 years, which is why it's taking so long to notice any improvement.  He's trying to tear through six years worth of scar tissue, not to mention the inexplicable bone growths on both of my fibulas.  For now, we're just trying to get me to the point where I can safely run on the treadmill so he can analyze what is causing the pain.
    I was feeling some pain in my left calf today, and my right leg was feeling overall exhausted.  He asked me lots of questions to judge if things are getting any better.  I'll be totally honest, I'm starting to not be optimistic about Physical Therapy solving this problem, but his reassurance that he's noticed improvement helped ease my stress a little.  I'm still not confident, but I'm feeling slightly more patient.  After asking me questions and deeming me unable to run on the treadmill still, he gave me another deep tissue massage.
    Massage is not an accurate term.  He's basically grinding my muscles with what he likes to call, "glorified butter knives".  Usually I leave with very red and sore calves, and occasionally I'll get a little bruised, but it goes away quickly.  
    This is how I left today:

Another Update

    I went back to Physical Therapy yesterday.  There's good news and bad news.  My left leg has improved tremendously.  My right leg has not improved at all.  This means I'm still restricted mostly to the couch.  I've burned through almost everything on Netflix and Hulu.  I watched every Avengers movie over the weekend (minus Thor because his story is not well presented).  I'm halfway through the Star Wars Saga (because Husband of Mine is never free to watch them with me).  
    The only thing I haven't done is write.  I've been making excuses like this:

    After posting my revamped Ch. 1 of Powerful on Scribophile, it received some amazing feedback.  The concept of the story seems to capture a lot more attention than Rose did.  This is what someone said about it-

An Update and a Question

    I figured I'd write a short little post to update my readers about what is going on in my life.
    First, I am having some problems with my legs.  I've been in pain off and on for the past 6 years due to some old track or gymnastics injury.  Every time I try to run, the pain comes back.  I've had a hard time sleeping for a while, and I've had a hard time focusing on my writing.  Usually running helps clear my head so I am able to do things, like write and sleep, however, the pain has gotten worse over the past few months.  I finally went to the doctor for it, and a physical therapist, and was diagnosed with two types of tendonitis.  In addition to that, x rays revealed benign lesions in both my fibulas.  Around those lesions, my body built up 2-3 times the amount of bone I should have to prevent a break.  Currently, I'm not allowed to use my legs for anything other than walking.  I go back to the physical therapist on Monday, and hopefully I'll have another update then.
    In the meantime, I've got a cuddle bug to keep me company.

    Now, for the point of the post-

Be Hardcore, Advice from Shannon Hale

    In case you don't remember my post from about a month ago, my favorite author is Shannon Hale. I follow her blog, squeetus, and occasionally she posts some really helpful and insightful posts about being a writer. The other posts are usually updates about her work and life (she has twin daughters who have been quite the handful over the past few years).
    Recently she wrote a post called Advice to a new novelist: be hardcore.  It talks about someone who sent their manuscript into several agencies, but because the market is oversaturated with dystopian fiction, it isn't in the agency's best interest to publish another one. While most enjoyed reading The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. and the movie adaptations are still popular, the overwhelming amount of modern dystopian literature has filled the average desire to read that genre. 

Tips to Finish

    So for the past month I've been seriously struggling with my writing.  I've done a lot of work on my writing, but I haven't really written anything.  I've outlined and outlined and outlined, and I've done so many character sketches that I've run out of characters to sketch.  But I haven't written anything.  I can't get past this wall in my writing.
    I'm overthinking everything.  I want every little detail to be worked out before it gets put on paper and seen by people.  My work has to be perfect, so it's not getting done.  Nothing is being written.
    I found this article.  It's called, Get It Written.  It's got 6 steps to make it to the end of the story, and basically it's all aimed directly at me.

Writer's Sketchbook 11

    Today I'm going to work more on the outline for Powerful, and I'm going to start the new first chapter this week too.  Yay!  This is exciting. I really need to get this whole thing outlined soon.
    As I've been working on these character sketches, especially the one I'm posting today, I've clarified quite a bit of the plot.  I've figured out how to tie up about 97% of the story.  Now I just have to finish my last character sketch (maybe 2, depending on how important the other character becomes) and figure out the last 3% of the story line.
    Anyway, here's another character sketch of someone who became fairly important to the story as I wrote this sketch.

Brinlea Tykranne

Writer's Sketchbook 10

    I've got another character to introduce!  This one was a lot more difficult to map out than Kylanore was, and will probably change a lot as the story is fleshed out.  This character is one that plays a very important role in the story, yet his role can't be singled down into one description.  And the story revolves around him as much as it revolves around Kyla.  It's complicated.  Anyway, here he is!

Prince Elion (Eli) Tykranne