Our First Guest Poster of the New Blog!

Yeah! It's been awhile since we've had a guest poster, and I sent the word out to a few places, and now we have our first! Everyone, please help me welcome Alice!

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So I've noticed a lot of things in the making of original characters. 

To most fanfiction writers, original characters are known as 'OCs', and to others, 'MCs'. 

And a lot, and I mean a lot, of original story writers have their OCs... In an unnatural manner. 

They seem too perfect to be true; having extremely contradictory personality traits, having flawless looks, being über-powerful...

They just don't have flaws of any kind.

Etcetera. Makes you a bit sick in the stomach, eh?

Right. These OCs are known as 'Mary-Sues'. They aren't well-liked in the fanfiction world- I dunno about the original fiction world. 

And I don't like them either. It outwardly shows that the OC creator hasn't given much research or effort into making the character. 

Yeah, there aren't any set rules, but there are guidelines that most good authors use. 

As a veteran story writer, I've asked well-reputed OC makers for advice. Here's what they generally say:

Make the character's personality and past make sense.

No one wants to read a story about a girl/boy whose personality keeps switching around[1]. It makes the reader confused. 

And give the character depth. Give them a PLAUSIBLE reason as to how and why they act that way. By plausible, I mean don't make your character's family all be murdered by a fire, and the aftermath is that your character is happy and fun. 

Also, give them flaws. Not everyone is perfect. 

Their pasts shouldn't be unrealistically tragic. I see this a lot in OCs in an attempt to 'de-Sueify' them. It doesn't. And if the past is that way, try and make the aftermath make sense. 

And that's all! It's that easy. 

And to make things easier, there's a plethora of Mary-Sue tests on the Internet that help. There are also character guides for every fandom (search a writing website like Wattpad, it may show up) all over the Internet. 

Especially on Quizilla. There are a lot of helpful (and not-so-helpful) guides there. A user there that I learned from is TuttiFrutti999[2], who made a lot of hilarious and extensive guides on the making of plots and OCs. 

And also, talk to the OC creators. They help lots! Believe me. 

Anything else? Comments, questions, observations?

Google them- most likely, they'll come up! 

Well, hope this helped with your (if you're an OC maker) OCs!

Alice out♥

N O T E S;

[1] Unless, of course, your character has Multi Personality Disorder. 

[ 2 ] She actually isn't on Quizilla anymore. Her guides are still there though, and if anyone wants to read them- they're here. They're a bit full of swearing, though. Not for the young.

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Wonderful post! Thank you, Alice. You can find her tumblr here. If anyone wants to guest post and/or has any questions, you can email us at random_bloggers43@yahoo.com.

Thanks, and happy blogging!

-Costello

75th Post and Guest Blogger!!

Yay! Today is our 75th post! Wow, so much time has gone by. I remember when this first started, when dear Ollie just showed some of her pictures on the forums on NaNo, and I suggested that we make a blog (well, she make a blog and I guest post) and look where we are now! I seriously hope we don't get into any fights. Can't afford that... So, today we have our 75th post, and our dear friend Mikey gets the honor of guest posting! So, put your hands together in a warm, NaNo welcome for Mikey!
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Ever wonder what could happen if your work, whether you take pictures or write stories, became widely available and was seen or read by millions of people? I do.


OK, let’s face it… There are thousands of us out here snapping away at the real world or inventing new ones on paper every day, all over the world. Chances are that our works will be noticed and enjoyed by only a precious few. But that doesn’t mean your work isn’t exceptional. In fact, some of histories most beloved photographers and writers never dreamed that their works would eventually become National Treasures.

John Muir is one such example. He was a Scottish-born American Naturalist, best known for his amazing photographic images of the Sierra Nevadan and other spectacular scenes of the Western Wilderness. In perfect harmony, he used his creative writing skills to describe what he saw and bring his photography to life!

Eventually, with years of experience under his belt, John Muir was able to inspire our Nations leaders to take action for the preservation of Americas forests and wild lands.

And then there is Samuel Clemons. Most of us know him as “Mark Twain”. As a young man fresh out on his own, he got a job at his brother’s newspaper and worked as a typesetter. Occasionally, his brother would have him write articles for publication in the paper. After a time, Samuel became really good at writing and started reporting full time.

Samuel Clemons had found his niche’. Something he did very well. So, he headed west to write about America and the people who lived here. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” was the first of his stories to reach a nation-wide audience. Then of course, there came “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn”.

Remember: There was no Internet or the World Wide Web back then. Imagine how difficult it must have been to get your work published for all to behold. We have a huge advantage at our fingertips. With websites like “Blogger”, “Flicker”, “Photobucket” and “NaNoWriMo” (National Novel Writing Month), it’s easier than it’s ever been to put your favorite pieces of work out there just to see what happens!

As Writers we describe with words what we see, think and imagine.

As Photographers we capture those images that best describe the moment or the beauty of what we see or feel. Writing and photography can be very similar in some ways. They can also enhance each other as no dance of creativity can.

Take an amazing picture sometime, anytime of anything! Then, write the story of what you captured in that image. I’ll bet you a “dime to a dozen donuts”, that picture you took really is “worth a thousand words”.
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Wow, that was really inspirational. I hope that got you thinking! Have a good one, everybody, and get writing!
-Cos

Guest Blogger Friday!

Today's another one! This wonderful Friday, we have my good friend Sudsy (Soap6644 on NaNo). He agreed to write a blog post for me! I'm glad he did, because it's really good. So, everyone, please give a round of applause to... Sudsy!
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Writing. Writing is an escape from reality. No matter how bad things get in the real world, you have your own world that you can retreat into. You can make this world perfect, or worse than the worst moment in our history.


This world has its own problems. These often represent problems in the present world, and the author is expressing their opinion in a way that grabs at the attention of the reader. There never was a good story without a problem of some sort. The characters must have some sort of challenge to overcome. These challenges come in infinite varieties, a common one is war.

Another thing is perspective. Using war as an example, you can have a vast number of perspectives. From a soldier on the front lines to a peasant who's life is affected very slightly, everyone has an interesting tale to tell!

This world, to me at least, is somewhere to which I can, and often do, escape to. It's just so amazing and fun to be in charge of your own little world, and I always want to expand mine!
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I thought that was very good. But now, I must dash off, I'm at my mom's work for the day because at my school, we get days off to go and do something, like go to a museum or job shadow someone of anything like that. I'm using her work computer because her laptop won't connect to the Internet, so I have to go, 'cause she's gotta get back to work. Have a good day everyone!
-Cos

Tadaaa! Guest Blogger... And 50th post! I Just Realized!

Yeah! I saw on my dashboard thingy that I have 49 posts, and today is the 50th! I should really start paying more attention to these sorts of things.... So! Our guest blogger today (in a very long while) has the special... privilege! Yes, that's the word. The privilege to be the 50th poster! So, everyone, please give a warm welcome to... Zuzu! Or, just Zu. :)
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To all you NaNoers I know, hi! And thanks Cossy!
One day, we all tell ourselves, we will either make writing a big part of our lives as adults or we’ll wish the urge to stare at a computer screen for hours on end will go away. We are sleep deprived people who live in our minds. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re a writer, when you’re not thinking about anything else your mind is on auto-wander straight to your novel. You’re watching TV and your character is yelling at you for being cruel in their story or in Chatzy at midnight. We can’t help it. But in any case we’re lucky our parents are supportive—or at least willing—of the late nights, the questions, and everything else that entails…
If you really care about your writing, and about the adventures your characters go on, then you have been irreversibly sucked into the void. It might let us go when we have attend college, get jobs, all those things that line us up for the real world. But for now we are writers, and whatever else our individual lives make us. Writing isn’t quite like an addiction; not everyone likes it. We all have our friends who, like us, really like writing, those that are okay with it, and those who despise words on paper altogether. No, it’s not something that you can control for the time being. It is an enormous part of who we are as people.
That said, never take your work too seriously: If you like it, too bad if no one else does. You write what you like. Something glorious: Freedom! Poetic License! And another great thing about writing is that you can say things—directly or just hinting—that you feel like you just can’t IRL.
Truly, characters can be your best friends! However ridiculous this may seem, they actually make fun buddies outside of their novel. You go on a walk, talk to them, you run out to the mail, race them. It’s a good way to get to know them better. Not to mention that if you’re stuck, just write! Free-write! They’ll get you out of trouble eventually. And you create the world they live in, the adventures they go on. It’s something really awesome about writing; you can momentarily live in the world of your imagination. We have them for a reason! Of course, there is in fact a more respected, more active world out there, ‘tis true. But if we weren’t here, where would the world of books be?
Something I struggle with, and notice in a few people’s novels, is that as the story progresses, the different personalities become more and more similar. One of my favorite things about reading a good book is that all the characters contrast nicely and are so vivid. I always get so caught up in the plot that I forget about that. Something I like doing is studying people. I don’t mean being like a stalker, but if you walk past so many different people in a city or when you’re stuck with them on a train, it’s great to see how they act or look. And it’s AWESOME if you can find someone that looks like one of your charries. There are so many other people that you have never seen before and will probably never see again, and they all have their own lives. Real, believable characters are supposed to have their own lives, just like we do.
And finally, where do we get inspiration from? It’s a fine question. Some things just come, others we get from the feeling of a certain place or from the weather. Even if you never go anywhere with it, write down whatever comes to you. Even if you think it’s a lame idea, it is an idea, and it came from your imagination. Trust your writers’ mind; it’s different from everyone else’s.
Well, thanks for listening to me guys! See you around here, NaNo or Chatzy!
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That was fantabulous! Don't you all agree? Thank you so much Zu! And congrats on being the 50th poster! :) Have an excellent weekend everyone, and I have a special post lined up for Sunday. Thank you all!
-Cossy

Suprise Guest Blogger!

Hey everyone, Costello here. No, I'm not the guest blogger. I'm part of this blog, duh. :) No, but to fill in for today, we have an extra guest blogger! This girl was very nice to whip up a quick blog post at the last minute. So, ladies and gentlemen... Jay!

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Hey it's Jay from http://sweetsgalore.blogspot.com/. And Cos has asked me to fill in today for Olive. Because of stuff....
And well I don't have much to talk about, but maybe a random poem of mine. And I shall call this one Goodbye?

Rose has a purple heart
You have a dart
Six people only know
The tragedy that show
It was into the night
Before it started getting new
An apple lay on the floor
As the ball drew to a close
Death is near
I can hear it from my ear
And I must say goodbye
As she starts to share a lullaby
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Thank you, Jay. You're awesome! Have a good day everyone!
-Cos and Jay

Jack Renegade Here!

Hi, everybody...Jack Renegade here. Um, I'm the guest blogger for Cossy and Olive.


I enjoy photography, but there's two reasons why I don't do it often; one, I'm not very good at it, and two, I don't have that much time on my hands to do it.

I prefer taking photos of either nature or animals. They're just so much more interesting than humans...here's some pictures of my dog and my cat. Oh, and some bumblebees.

Yeaaaahhh...my German Shepherd, as you can probably tell, doesn't like pictures. She thinks you're going to shoot her or something.

Anyway...back on topic. I don't rely on editing my photos to make them look good, or waiting for just the right moment to take the photo. I rely on perspective.

For instance, the pictures of the red rose and the stinging nettle below.

With the rose, it was a complicated procedure...I had to lie down in the beauty bark where my mom plants the roses, arch my head back, and snap the photo. XP Yeaaahhh. Did you know that beauty bark is sharp? I do.

The nettle was easier. I just got into a half-crouch and shot the photo. But to me, the hard work pays off in the end, because it's fun to look at your photos and feel smug about what a good job you did. XD

Soooo....

Yeah.

That's about it.

Jack Renegade, signing out.

Everdeen Here!

Hi! I’m Rose and I’m guest bloging for Olive and Cossy today! I’m going to tell you about my favorite photo editor. It’s called Picnik.com, after you finish reading this go check it out. The first thing you need to do is pick a picture (Really? No way. I never would have guessed that one). I’m going to use this one for now.

This is one of those pictures that I love how it turned out but I wasn’t posing him or anything. I love those. The only thing I’ve done to it here is cropped it in. Now I’m going to show you how to do my favorite effect, cross process. This is what it looks like after just regular cross processing.

Getting that is very simple, when you go to picnik just click upload photo and upload one from your computer. Or you can upload one from photobucket, picasa, flickr, myspace or facebook by scrolling down below the upload a photo button. Either way it will take you to the edit tab (there’s a row of tabs near the top of your screen) here you can straighten or rotate your photo, if you camera was crooked when you took the picture. There’s also auto-fix but I don’t like that. You can also crop, resize, get rid of red-eye, colors you can use to change the saturation, and change the exposure if your picture came out to light or to dark. When you’re done with these things you get to move onto the fun stuff. Click on the Create tab. Now there’s another row of things below those tabs, you’ll be under featured. These are seasonal features and you can always find them again under the seasonal tab. Right now we’re going to go to effects, the next one over. There’s a lot of fun stuff here, but right now we’re going to find cross process. The first section is called basics, it has black and white, sepia etc. The next section is camera, that’s fun but we want the next section, color. Cross Process is the last effect in that section, click on it and boom! You’ve been cross-processed! But maybe it’s too much, that’s where that little slider thing called fade comes in. It fades the effect into your original. Here’s an example. This is my photo with the fade at 50.

Cool right? Once you get it where you want it, click apply. That leaves you free to do other edits to it. If you decided you don’t want it after all just click cancel. There are a lot of fun things in effects, Heat Map:

Adjustable Threshold:

And lot’s of others, I demand you check them all out later. But now I’m going to real quick tell you about doing text. You’ll see that text is the next over after effects, there’s a box at the top. That’s where you type what you want. Than select a font from the list and click add. This will add it in white, and probably the wrong size too, to your picture. Use the box around the words to change size, and the editing box that popped up to change color and fade. There are a lot of really great fonts so have fun!

Once your done editing your picture click on the save and share tab at the top of your page. You can save you picture to your computer, twitter, or anywhere you uploaded from. You can also email it.
I hope this long somewhat rambling post helped you! And if you have any questions about picnik you can either PM me on NaNo YWP, if you’re on there (I know a lot if not all of you are), my username is Everdeen. Or you can tell Cos or Olive, they know how to contact me. I’ll try to help but I’m not a professional either, so I can’t promise anything. Now go have fun with your pictures!

Kalc Here!

On Thursday morning, I realised that I had a blog post to write. So here is your blog post. Enjoy it before I throw lemon cake. (Then, enjoy the cake.)

Anyway, so now I'm completely blank on what to write. I used a camera for a very long time. The only problem? It's a video camera. So I wondered what I was doing here on a photography blog. Then I realised, it's the same concept.

To get a good photo is the same as getting a good video. You need high-quality camera, you need to make sure the light doesn't retract or reflect much, you need to find the best shooting position.

So now this post is going to be about lighting because that's the only thing I can actually write about.

Lighting
The best lighting I find is natural. For some reason, it seems to work best. It makes stuff stand out, and it brings out natural colour and stuff.

Example: (taken with webcam 'cause I'm lazy)

Compare this one(natural lighting) to this one(artificial lighting)
Yes, I know, they're two different images, but you can see the difference

I hoped that, er, helped! (even though this is a bit random.)
Bye!
Kalculator/Kalk/Kalc/Zena Amicus/Kalcy/Lemon cake ninja llama/

Guest blogger #1

Photograph:  a picture painted by the sun without instruction in art.  ~Ambrose Bierce
Hello it’s Mockingjay aka sweets1018 here from http://sweetsgalore.blogspot.com/ . And today I am here to give a photo or two that I took from my webcam, since I don’t really have a camera. And also a poem about photography. *Sighs* well here it goes.
Photos
A piece
A memory
Stuck forever
In time
Feelings of
Nostalgia
Arouse in
Waves
Inside
Of me
Tears
Or
Smiles
Start to play
As I
Remember
This time
Of place
That has
You.

And here's the two photos. And let's just say I'm not that good of a photographer.

A dog eyes view.
(Not edited)
And this is obviously edited.

And a tip that I can give you is, don't give up! If someone tells you, that you suck, don't let that stop you. Just keep going, there is a reason why you do enjoy it so much.