Ch-ch-ch-changes

I've been calling my next WIP a rewrite.

It's a book I've written and rewritten so many times over the last almost decade of my life. The story has changed, the characters have morphed into different versions of themselves, the story has taken on many different forms. At its core, though, it's always been the same story: girl leaves boy, girl wants boy back, boy is engaged to another girl. *cue super-hot best man*

Well...that plot has been discarded.

No longer is this version a "rewrite."

It's a brand-spanking-new book.

The bones are similar to the thousand previous drafts: Character names (though they've all got new last names), the town and its residents, a few of the events. But everything else? Oh, so different.

As I was writing my last book for NaNoWriMo last year, I discovered something about myself. I was funny. I liked my characters to be funny. Not so much on the angst. Every version of the first book was laden with angst. They were all angst cookies frosted with the gallons of tears my characters cried.

Well, no more.

My hero has made the biggest transformation. In every draft, he's been this sexy, brooding guy with a Mysterious Past and a perma-smirk. Basically, he was this guy:

Hot, right? Of course he's hot! That's Ian Smolderhotter. Hold on...I've lost my train of thought...

Oh, yeah. Out with the Ian, in with a new face. No longer is my Jack a broody, moody, smirky, too-serious dude. Nope. He's lighter now. Funny. And so adorable (still sexy, though. Don't worry). Still, I know what you're thinking. HOW COULD YOU REPLACE IAN SOMERHALDER WITH SOME NEW DUDE? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW HOT HE IS?

I DO know how hot he is. He's just not JACK, people! I'm gonna need you to calm down.

Are we calm now? Okay.

My new Jack looks a lot like this guy:

Look at that smile! Doesn't he look all kinds of charming and adorable, all while still being super sexy? I told you not to worry. Also, I'm pretty sure that Mr. Smolderhotter will get his book. I'm thinking Jack has a hot older brother...

So, yeah. Lots of changes with this book. I am no longer thinking of it as a "rewrite." This is an all new book. And I am so ridiculously excited to start writing it!

The Movie Bloghop

What's this? Two blog posts in one week? I must be ill, right?

Nah. I just stumbled across this very cool bloghop this morning and, even though it is happening RIGHT NOW, I couldn't resist. It's just too fun.

The Movie Bloghop, hosted by Kyra Lennon at Write Here, Write Now and Rachel Schieffelbein at Writing on the Wall, is just what it sounds like. You write a post about who you'd cast in the movie version of your current Work-in-Progress. Awesome, right?

My current WIP is about Tierney, a late-20-something woman who finds out her ex-fiance is marrying someone else. Well, what's a girl to do but get him back, right? Only she didn't count on the sexy best man standing in her way.

The lead role of Tierney is played to perfection by the lovely Katharine McPhee:

Jack, the too-sexy and all-knowing best man, is Ian Somerhalder AKA OMG THE HOTTEST GUY EVER!:

Wes, Tierney's ex-fiance and all-around good (though slightly boring) guy, is James Van Der Beek:

Wes's fiancee, Sam, the bubbly, perfect blonde, is Kellie Pickler:

There you have it. The cast of beautiful people that are playing out this story in my head -- er, on the big screen.

As for the music, this is a vital part of my process. I will listen to the same song on repeat until I finish writing a particular scene. I've got a huge playlist, but I'll narrow it down to a couple, just for you.

Run - Matt Nathanson, Jennifer Nettles


I Hate You, Don't Leave Me - Demi Lovato


Had It All - Katharine McPhee


Come Clean - Tristan Prettyman


Make sure you check out the other posts in this bloghop. How can you resist? It's such a fun idea!

So, who would you cast in a movie version of YOUR WIP?

Part of the Process

A few days ago, I sat down at my desk determined to write. Get that damn Chapter Four revised once and for all. Write an all new Chapter Five. Get Words Down.

What I did instead could easily be called procrastination by some. I prefer to call it Part of the Process.

I spent the next forty-five minutes Googling pictures of my characters and various elements of the story. Then, I downloaded a simple collage program and proceeded to mesh all these pictures together in pictorial representations of my story.

Here are the results:

If you're curious about the cast, they are:
Katharine McPhee as Tierney
Ian Somerhalder as Jack
Paul Walker as Wes
Julianne Hough as Sam
Isla Fisher as Macy

Though I didn't get any words written that day, I did end up with a clearer view of the story I've been trying to tell and its characters.

So, tell me: what's YOUR process? Have you tried collage before? Was this pure procrastination? Isn't Ian Somerhalder dreamy?