Hunger Games - Why Do People Like It?

Hunger Games – Why Do People Like It?
Okay, so I'm thriteen, and I read the Hunger Games a while ago and just watched the movie today, and I really liked both of them; they were very well done. But then I thought, 'did I really just say I like this book/movie about kids killing each other?'
Then I did some more thinking this book. Why do people like it so much? Is it just because we want a story filled with violence? Maybe, but I don’t think so.
I decided to think about the emotions I had all through the story. Here is what I came up with: 1) Pity - you see the pain the districts suffer through and you sympathize with them; you can relate to having suffered, if not through such hard stuff they went through.
2) Anger - you see the capitol and its citizens; you see how they live so extravagantly; you see the injustice of it all.
3) Despair - you see Rue die and you realize that you are not in control; the Game Makers are, and they can control everything.
4) Hope - you see Peeta and Katniss make a fool out of the Capitol and you see that the Capitol is not invincible, it has a weakness: the Games.
Those are some really powerful emotions: pity, anger, despair, and hope. We go through these emotions a lot: you try to help someone, fail, try again, and succeed, or at least realize it’s possible to.
This reminds me of something else. You might think this is totally random, but here it is. Jesus is like the districts; the Pharisees are like the Game Makers. The Game Makers tried to control the districts, but the districts rebelled and won. The Pharisees tried to control Jesus, but He won when he rose from the dead, giving us the Ultimate Hope - Heaven.
I think that somewhere inside people want love; we want to know about Jesus’ sacrifice for us. And maybe that’s why people like the Hunger Games. Maybe something inside of us is saying that we have hope - that the world does not control us because of that sacrifice so long ago.
Now, I ask you: who would not like a story that was patterned after the best story of all, even if they don’t realize it?
Tell me what you think!

Top Three Important Things in a Novel are...

"There are three secrets to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." ~Somerset Maugham

I found this quote very funny, but true. And it got me thinking. What does make a good book? What are things that make me just love a book?

Well, here they are:

-when it's Christian. When it just re-ignites my heart, my passion.
-when the characters risk their lives, get hurt, or even die for someone else.
-when the characters make mistakes.
-when not everyone comes out alive.
-when there's a good mix of crying and laughing.
-when there's romance.
-when there's a lot of mystery, and not an information dump.


Other then the romance, I'm going to do my best to put all of these things into my book. (Not the romance simply because it's hard to write something you have no clue about.)

And you never know, somewhere along the way I might come up with a top three!

Intimate Point of View

Have you noticed that in some books it feels like you're actually there? Well, yeah, of course! But the question is, why? Well, it's probably a combination of a number of different things, but one big part of it is probably something called Intimate Point of View.
Here is an example of IPV(Intimate Point of View)
Arianna groaned inwardly, trying to hold the tears back as she stared at her now soggy cereal. That certainly hadn’t been the lecture she’d been expecting. Now she might have to move to a different city-state! Maybe even to the other side of Gaisma!
Here is that same paragraph, except without the IPV.
Arianna groaned inwardly, trying to hold the tears back as she stared at her now soggy cereal. That certainly hadn’t been the lecture she’d been expecting, she thought. Now she might have to move to a different city-state! she exclaimed. Maybe even to the other side of Gaisma! she finished with a groan.
Now, which one feels like you are the character? The first! DUH.
How to do it:
-Start with an action so that people know who is thinking.
-Take out all the 'she thought' 'she saw', everything that the person wouldn't be thinking. (You wouldn't think 'she sees this amazing animal' you would think 'that's an amazing animal.')
That's it! And no, I didn't think this all up by myself :) My favourite author, Bryan Davis, uses this technique and I watched a youtube video he did on it.
Hope it works for you!

Writing Tips

Okay, any aspiring writer just needs to watch this video! It helped me so much!
Here is part one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKw80FwZJU0&feature=share
And part two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLIXrchlls&feature=related
Yes, it is two hours long...But it's totally worth it!
The talk is done by my absolute all time favourite author: BRYAN DAVIS!!!!
Hope you like it!

Fresh Begginning

I deleted all the old posts yesterday, so this blog is officially started over!
Sorry to everyone who wanted to read the rest of the story...It'll just have to be left forever a cliffhanger because I've stopped writing that book...But I can garuntee that this new one I'm writing will be even better! But...I won't be posting parts of it here :( I want it all to be kept for the finished copy.
So what is this blog going to be then? It'll be sometimes posts about good videos on writing to watch or good books to read, or sometimes I'll be asking about stuff I need for my book, like names or descriptions.