Creative Writing: Blog #4

This writing is about two characters named Leah and Laney. These two characters are bestfriends and for there 21st birthday they are going to Las Vegas. On there way they hit many different milestones. Over time they overcome these milestones and make there dream vacation one to remember. 

Laney and Leah Take on Las Vegas

The wind breezed through my hair as the country music blasted out of the brand new speakers of our jet black jeep.  After years of begging, my best friend and I got permission from our parents, also known as the bosses of us, to go to Las Vegas for one whole week. It was freedom at last. I threw my dirty blonde hair up in a messy bun trying to keep it from blinding my eyes, as I was responsible for getting us there safely. The desert surrounded us; it was behind us, in front of us, to the left and right of us. Bump after bump, our jeep was bouncing up and down as we cruised down the never-ending dirt road. Our jet black car quickly turned to brown as dust covered every part of it as possible. This was our week, no parents, no school, nothing; we were off to Las Vegas celebrating our 21^st birthday.

“We are F R E E!” I cheered at the top of my lungs, trying to keep the car steering in the right direction at the same time.

“BFFs take on Las Vegas!!” Leah screamed and flipped her bleach, blonde hair onto her sun-kissed skin. Excitement filled the jeep as we finally approached the last two hours of our trip.

Not a thing could go wrong, this was our dream vacation. We finally got enough money after working our butts off the past two summers, and let me tell you, that was not very fun. Every day available, I worked from sunrise to sundown at my grandpa’s farm doing all the dirty work.  The sight of Las Vegas was almost in reach and all that crossed my mind was finally being able to make this dream of mine and Leah’s a reality.

“One hour and thirty minutes until you reach your destination.” The girly monotone and very robotic voice of the Magellan gave us reminders every hour of how much time we had to go, as If we didn’t already know!

“Almost there,” Screeched Leah while twiddling her thumbs and playing with her long curly hair.

“So close!” I hollered so loud my hometown could probably hear me.

“Maybe if I speed up a little bit, we could get there faster,” I mumbled under my breath, really hoping Leah didn’t hear me because who knows what her response would be, considering she was the “perfect” little angel in everyone else’s eyes.

“Laney Elizabeth! Do not even think about speeding. That is against the law, do not do it!” Laney went on lecturing me and I listened knowing she just wanted the best for me and a speeding ticket was not in my interest.

We continued down the unpaved road as our car continued to bounce up and down as we hit every little bump. I looked over at Leah as she was gazing at the sight of pure brown because the desert was the only thing that lay ahead of us. One more hour was all that crossed my mind until I felt the car slowing down.

“Leah…. The car is slowing down?” I gasped in a panic mode, not knowing what was going on.

“Well, is your foot on the pedal?” Leah questioned me as she raised only one brow.

“Yes, Leah, look,” I slammed my foot on the petal and we did not move, not even one inch.

We both looked around until we realized one thing, probably the most important thing to do on a car trip. My eyes met hers and we screamed,  “WE FORGOT TO GET GAS! THE CAR IS ON EMPTY!”

“Leah, why didn’t you tell me?” I was quick to blame.

“You were the one driving,” Tears filled Leah’s ocean blue eyes.

Lucky us, sitting in a car with no gas, having both of our phones in hand that added no value. There was zero service in the desert. Tears dripped down Leah’s tan skin and I sat back in my chair in despair.

“Its’ going to be alright. I promise,” My arm was around her neck and I gave her a tight hug, trying to be supportive during a time it wasn’t very easy to be.

Only time could tell how we would get ourselves out of this situation.

            “Leah, wake up! Look, do you see what I see?” I murmured trying not to frighten Leah as she was catching up on her “Beauty sleep”.

            “It’s a truck. Hurry put your thumbs up. This is our chance!” Leah shouted into the distance, hoping the massive white truck would see us.

            Leaping up and down, left and right, we threw our thumbs in the air screaming and shouting. I stood on top of the black jeep and my high southern voice filled the desert atmosphere.

            “OVER HERE! HELP!”

            “He’s coming over here,” Leah’s eyes widened almost as big as bug eyes do.  

            “Hello, ladies.” Replied the truck driver as he grinned showing his missing two front teeth. His piercing blue eyes took my attention away from the fact that he was missing his two front teeth.

            “What do ya’ll need?” He questioned as I glanced at his t-shirt, which had a name tag that read “Hi, my name is Bob.”

            “Well long story short, we were on our way to Las Vegas when our car broke down, right here, in the middle of nowhere.”  I explained talking at 1000 words per minute, nervous for what his response would be.

            “Lucky you, because I am on my way there right now. Time is running low so grab your stuff and set it on your lap. This is going to be a tight truck ride, but I will do my best to get you there safely.” He turned and wobbled his large body into the distance, leaving Leah and I with not much assurance.

            Thank the Lord, was all I could think. I shot a glance at Leah who I could tell from her facial expressions was not too sure about this either. We hopped in the truck; first went Bob, Leah, and then me. The engine roared and we were once again on our way to Las Vegas!

            Occasionally, Leah and I would exchange awkward glances as we felt very uneasy in this truck with an absolute stranger, but we were willing to do whatever it took to get us there. I spent most of the truck ride gazing out the petite window, into the crystal blue sky.

            “You have arrived at your destination.” I woke up in a panic by a deep voice of an old man; it was Bob letting us know we could now exit the white truck. I sat my head up from Leah’s shoulder, leaving a small circle of slobber hoping she wouldn’t notice.

            “Thank you so much,” Leah and I hollered in unison as we walked towards the hotel that we were staying at, named The Mirage. The doors to enter the stunning hotel were made up of all glass and were around twice my height. We made our way in through the lobby in awe of how elegant the hotel was. We let out giggle after giggle, so excited to have finally reached the lucky city of Las Vegas.            

“How may I help you?” Questioned the tall, blonde headed lady working the one of the many check in desks.

            “Can we have a room for two please?” I quickly responded, out of breath.

            “Grab your luggage and the elevators are on your next left.” She handed us both our room keys and walked away helping the next person in line.

            “We are finnnnnallly here! Let’s go into the city and have some fun! “Leah giggled in a somewhat uncomfortable voice. She shot me a wink as she opened up the huge wooden door to our room, 808.

            “Um. Uh, Leah, Our, uh, luggage is with the, uh, truck driver.” I stuttered trying to get these words across before I broke down into tears after a long day of being in several different cars. The tears came and I broke down sobbing for what felt like forever. My makeup smeared all over my face, bright red from embarrassment. I twirled the curls of my dirty blonde hair and went straight to the bed filled with fluffy white sheets.  

            Trying not to look at Leah was difficult because when I did the sight of disappointment covered her face. I threw my phone down furiously. The clock struck only four o’clock, but not having any luggage made it difficult to do anything. 

            “You’re being dramatic” Leah exclaimed frustrated.

            “We have no luggage, we have no car, we have no drivers license with our id, we have absolutely nothing,” Tears filled my eyes as I laid my head on the pillow before I blinked my eyes shut.

            “Just look at this situation for the better. We are In Las Vegas. Lets go have some fun. That is why we are here.” Leah whispered into my ear hoping I was listening to her.

            I jumped up out of bed, opened the door, and off we went into the city light up by thousands of lights. Maybe we will find the truck with our luggage, or maybe we will win the lottery. Who knows, these are all maybes but nothing was stopping us from trying. This was our trip, our time to have fun, and we refused to let anything interfere.

I believe this represents characters very well. I think it does a good job of giving the reader a very vivid vision of what the characters would look like in real life. It also gives a good description of how they would act when they are around eachother and also around others. The use of dialogue helps give a sense of personality to the two characters. Overall the charcters were well devoloped by using a lot of detail. 

           

            

Blog Number Three (Character)

This is a short scene from the TV series gossip girl. Serena is curious to find out the truth behind a book that Dan wrote using her as one of the main characters. I believe this short clip gives you a glimpse about Serena as a character. It shows you how she has a demanding side to her and is always looking for the truth and the reason behind things and how she does not stop until she finds out. Me, as a person, can relate to this character very well which makes this show very enjoyable to watch. I always want to the know the truth and the reason behind things and don't like to be left hanging and wondering, Being able to relate to a character makes reading a story or watching a TV series/movies a lot more enjoyable.

Blog Number Two (Specificity)

Specificity- This is a quick scene from the movie The Blind Side. This movie is about a homeless boy that a family adopted and turned his life around. In this scene it shows how little Michael had before becoming apart of this family and how surprised but appreciative he was for what he was given.

I like this specific scene because because it has good message behind it how we should not take things for granted and it opens peoples eyes that are handed everything and do not have to work for anything. The characters are very developing and always changing which makes the movie very enjoyable. Michael Oher starts off as a homeless person on the side of the street and ends up becoming very successful in football and life thanks to a family that adopted them from the streets. You can see how the mom and Michael both come from very different lives. Just this scene allows you to infer a lot about Michael Ohers previous life.

The Fall That Broke An Arm

Always listening to what someone tells you to do might wind up being not in your best interest. It can even turn out to someone having a broken arm; in this case that someone was me. All fifteen cousins were coming to my house, which instantly put my mom into a complete panic mode. Nothing crossed her mind besides cleaning and cooking, cleaning and cooking, and all over again.

“Katie, you clean the bathrooms and Patrick you Windex the windows.” My mom rattled off a list of what had to be done.

 There was two hours before everyone arrived and my mom was still wiping off every little dust speckle or rearranging items to make the house appear as clean as it could be.

Who cares about the food? When I looked at my brother and sister they were eyeing the food on the giant black kitchen table. The sweet smell of the cookies took over my nose and moistened my taste buds. I was so anxious to see my cousins from out of town. There was one hour till everyone. They would be walking in at five o’clock, on the dot, not a second after. 

            The clock struck five and the relatives fell in our door. One by one they laid down the food and deserts as I called first dibs on all of them.

 “Kristine, Rebecca, Ashley, Cory so good to see you!” I said each name and greeted them with a tight open armed hug.

Within minutes of them arriving the back door flew open and out Ashley and I went racing to the brand new blue swings that my dad just put up on our wooden play set that for some reason there was at least a few neighbor kids paying a visit too every day. 

            “I call the swing on the right” I exclaimed so no one would take it knowing that my cousin Ashley was going to want it.

            “No, I call the swing on the right, I am the guest.” Ashley screamed with frustration in her voice.

            I was at that age where I thought I was the boss and didn’t want anyone to tell me what to do. So I sprinted like the wind all the way to the swing, my legs were moving almost so quick to the point I barley had any control. I jumped onto the swing barley catching myself from falling right off the bright blue seat and I pumped my legs front, back, front, back and was getting higher and higher before Ashley got to the play set. A little annoyed she plopped down on the other swing and pumped her legs till we were both flying through the air laughing and telling jokes.

            “Katie lets both jump of the swing together at the same time while holding hands!” Ashley suggested.

            “Okay let’s do it!” I smirked with a little evil plan I thought out in my head because I didn’t want to admit I was scared of jumping off the swing.

            “ONE TWO” We screeched these three numbers in a high-pitched voice almost high enough to break a glass

“Three!”

Ashley jumped and I gave her a little push why I stayed on the swing on the right laughing and giggling and having a good ole time because I did the opposite of what she said to do.

            “Katie Elizabeth!” She said laughing but angered.

She sat in the green grass holding back tears and trying to wipe the grass stains off her bruised knee. The feeling of guilt made my heart sink and my stomach toss and turn.

I replied, “I AM SO SORRY! I’ll go get ice for you or a cup of water. Whatever you need, I will do.” 

Ashley jumped up and went back to swinging which seemed a little odd to me. I could tell by the look in her face there was something fishy going on. The look of revenge covered her face, no doubt about it.

All of my cousins came outside with cookies and cupcakes or whatever sweet you could name they were shoving it in there mouth. I was getting a little nervous as the swing swung higher and higher. Butterflies were going crazy in my stomach as Ashley told me to jump off the swing knowing that it was one of my biggest fears. Next Cory told me to jump, then holly, and then Thomas, the list went on and the only words I could hear were,

“Jump Katie jump”

Those three words quickly turned into a chant.

“Jump Katie Jump! Jump Katie Jump!”

Butterflies still going crazy in my stomach while the color of my face changed instantly to ghost white. I didn’t even think I just counted to three like Ashley did.

“I am going to jump and get over my fear. I will land on my feet in the green grass while everyone claps and cheers. You can do it Katie” This was my “pre jump” speech that I mumbled under my breath.

 “One, two, three”

I threw my hands up and was waiting to fall on my feet. I didn’t land on feet and no one clapped and cheered. I landed on my left arm, the arm I write with and eat with, my dominant hand. Tears glistened in my blue eyes and grass fell from my dirty blonde hair. I went from quiet whimpering to screams of pain.

“Katie what happened!” Ashley questioned as she stared at my swollen arm and me.

“My arm, it popped when I went to catch myself after jumping off the swing. Go get my mom.” I sobbed this in desperation.

“Katie let’s get some ice on that I think you might have broken it. What even happened?” My mom questioned.

Quickly to blame I pointed to all my cousins and said, “They told me too.”

I couldn’t help but to question why I listened to everyone in the first place. Apparently overcoming a fear isn’t that easy because from that day on the fear of jumping off a swing only turned into a nightmare. 

In this writing I think I did a good job of describing the moment very well and helped the reader picture it in there head while they read my ill-advised moment. I also think I did a good job of using some dialogue to help my reader get an understanding of the characters and what happened and that the dialogue I used did not take over the story. 

Final Blog Post

1. 1.   What specific words/phrases demonstrate your writer’s voice? How / why do these words/phrases showcase your personality as a writer?

There are many words and phrases throughout my blog post that I believe really show my voice. I thought I did a really good job on keeping my blog post casual and it was almost like I was having a conversation with the reader even though they weren’t really there talking to me. One thing I think I did well on was giving my opinion on something, which helped the reader hear my voice throughout my blog post. I said, “A romantic novel would not be a romantic novel without some type of dilemma. There’s always something that puts a twist on the story in 9 out of 10 love books you read.” This gives the reader a little bit of background information and allows them to get to know me and my view on several things. And maybe other can relate too. Towards the end of my blog post in all caps I highlight one word which was “HIGHLY’. This word being in caps really helped putted emphasis on the word and the whole sentence letting the reader know I feel confidently about what I am saying.

         2.  What purposeful diction AND syntax choices did you make to enhance your writer’s voice? You must choose to discuss at least one diction AND one syntax technique from the list below. Make sure to include textual evidence from your post where you included the diction and syntax choices you discuss.

Throughout my blog post I used casual/low diction so it wasn’t very hard to understand it was just like a conversation with someone about my book. I added a few personal examples or text to self in there that increased my writer’s voice. I varied my sentence length’s from short to long and broke it up into paragraphs so people did not feel like they were reading one large heavy paragraph which is usually not peoples favorite.  In one sentence all I said was “Sadly.” It was just a short quick sentence carrying on the conversational piece of the blog and adding voice at the same time by giving my opinion on parents having more power than children. It also allowed me to end the topic I was talking about and transition into a different one more casually. Towards the beginning of my blog I asked a question which was just a normal question you could ask in a conversation as if you were literally face to face talking to someone about this book. I said, “It’s one of the most popular books, so why not give it a try?”  This is a great example of syntax and is an example of a rhetorical question. This question is not needed to be answered it is just me putting my opinion out there and giving my view on what I am talking about.

A Chilled Called "It" by Dave Pelzer

A Child Called "It"

      I recently started reading the book A Chilled Called "It". Let me tell you, this book did not take very long to fall in love with. It was for sure a harder topic to grasp but it was very interesting to me to read about something you very rarely hear about, an abusive home life. So far this book is about a little boy who is treated VERY poorly. His mom abuses him and he has no opinion on anything and no control over his life. In class recently we have been talking about elements of a column. My group had to study engaging beginnings which went hand in hand with me starting a new book. The author started off the book with a short little story. Rather than describing what was going to happen in the book. You know what cathces my interest, personal expieriences. Knowing this story was true made me look at this book in a whole new way.  Personal examples are always a good way to begin a book. Hearing about this littles boys home life instantaneously gave me a huge respect for mine. It opened to my eyes to things I dont hear about oftenly but are for sure definite problems. Within the first paragraph the other uses good diction, syntax, and many different types of figurative language to real you in and engage you in his book.

        The second paragraph says "SMACK! mother hits me in the face and I topple to the floor."

        I loved how the author puts smack in all caps really showing the affect this word has on this story. SHowing the abuse the innocent little boy recieves. He uses words like topple verses fall which is much more interesting to your reader. Seeing the word topple verses fall and little things like that add strength to his writing. It did not take long for me to realize that this book was a good choice and was going to be hard to put down. The beginnings of a book is what determines wether you will continue reading or abandon the book. In my case the beginning of this book did nothing more than make me want to continue reading it. Give this book a try and open your eyes up to things you may not see or hear about everyday. 

Book Search

Book Search

Ending an AMAZING book and looking for another book to read is in my opinion one of the hardest things to do. I have such high standards for the book I am trying to look for. Why cant every author write like John Green? The problem with finding a book to read is there is an endless amount of choices to choose from and I do not even know where to start. Well, yeah that is a problem. I am sick of reading love stories because the plot tends to repeat itself every time. Not that I am contradicting my views on The Fault In Our Stars. Even though that love story somehow John Green made it stand out from all the others. Anyways back to my book search. I often find myself scrolling through good reads reading the reviews on book and adding them to my want to read section but never doing anything else with them. After completing the top hit The Fault In our Stars I might take a different direction and branch out a little. Change is always good…. Right? Time to keep looking for a new book check next week to see what my final decision will be. 

The Theme In Fault In Our Stars

Theme

Having past experiences really help me appreciate a huge message throughout this book. A few years back my house was struck by lightning and caught on fire. You can only imagine the amount of stress that was added onto mine and my family's lives for the months that followed. But family and friends were constantly there helping the process and making it 1000 times easier. Over the years our relationships with each other were drastically strengthened. A different story Hazel and Augustus the two main characters of the book The Fault In Our Stars had but the same overall point was reached which was love overcomes hardships. They experienced hardships after hardships throughout there relationship together but none of them were big enough to ruin their feelings for each other it only drew them closer together. 

"You gave me forever within the numbered days and I’m grateful." 

This quote shows the love they shared for each other. Even though cancer dominated there life they were grateful for the positive times. In the end the positives for sure outweighed the negatives. If it was not for the hard times they went through they would never have met at the support group and they would not have been sharing their lives with each other. Another theme I recognized is positivity can get you a long way. Back to my story about my house positivity really got us through the situation. Never once did we say anything negative or look at the situation negatively because what good was that going to do? Absolutely no good. In the book The Fault in Our Stars Augustus and Hazel were always positive and supporting each other which is a big reason why there relationship worked out and they shared the same love for each other. 

"I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up my friend."

 If this quote does not show positivity i am not sure what does. So many things were happening yet he still kept his head up and looked on the good side of things. Many other themes were present throughout this book but those were the two that stood out to me the most. 

Cincinnati news for 1/6/2013

Cincinnati News"Winter storm warning canceled"

I was on the Internet reading about the weather for today. It has been a long and very enjoyable two week break and is going to be very hard to adjust back into school. Who would want to go to school after two weeks of relaxing at home? Well mostly relaxing besides the stress of the holidays which in my opinion people make too much of a big deal about. The holidays is a time to be with your friends and families. Personally a real and true friendship with someone means more to me than a present they spent a lot of money on. Now that break was over school was soon too begining again. Everyone was hoping for a snow day on our first day back. I checked the news and my heart sank and my hopes were crushed because the winter storm warning was no longer there, it was cancelled. Is this a joke? Well my hopes weren't totally crushed good news came along with the bad. It read that it would be the coldest it has been in a very long time.

The article said, "the region could see some of the coldest temperatures it has had in two decades."

Two decades is a long time if you really think about it. I thought it was going to be interesting how the people walking in from the pool lot would deal with the temperature drop and how all that would turn out. Lucky me my sister had a senior spot so the cold was not an issue.From what I read the weather is going from warm to very cold in  a short amount of time. Yes, I realize we will most likely not have a "snow" day but maybe a cold day? Who even knows anymore with this weather.

The Fault in Our Stars (Questions, predictions, and comments)

The Fault in Our Stars

I am reading the book the fault in our stars by john green. I am 1/4 of the way into the book and have some questions, predictions, and also some comments on what is currently happening in the book and what will happen later on in the book. This book can make your mood go from happy to sad and sad to happy within seconds. Not that this is a good prediction (in the sense that I do not want this to happen) but I think one of the main characters is going to pass away which will be a big turning point in the story. Another prediction I have is something will happen to Hazel and Augustus relationship between eachother. I love how this book can be sad and happy and is always grabbing my attention. 

A quote from the story is, "maybe "ok" will be our "always."

 

This shows me the feelings hazel and Augustus have for each other and how in love they are but I predict soon something will happen affecting their relationship. The book leads me to that prediction and also you cannot write a book without a little conflict, right? Lastly this book contains many different setting and tones, which is a big plus to keeping peoples attention.