Marleymakin

Sneak peak for minor for today!!! 
          
          
          “Don’t speak to your father that way,” Mom berated. “You can be upset but that is not an excuse to curse at someone.”
          “Bite me,” she muttered.
          “Gracie Madigan–” Dad started to say, but what promptly cut off.
          “All you did was tell me not to curse,” she said. “I followed your stupid rules, didn’t I?”
          
          
          “We’re not trying to fix you.”
          “No,” Gracie said. “You want to control me.”
          
          ☆☆☆
          
          Also I need help naming the next chapter in LaML and the current one in minor
          
          For LaML
          
          - Brutal "cause who am i if not exploited"
          - jealousy, jealousy "i think i think too much 'bout kids who don't know me"
          - traitor "you betrayed me, and i know that you'll never feel sorry"
          
          
          For minor I'm thinking Hit the Wall with "I try to be violent but I get caught" but if I fit the party scene in this chapter it'll be Unsteady with "at all of the parties I talk but there's no sound." But really I'm just not sure, one thing I've been thinking is that instead of using song names for chapters I'll use lyrics. 

Things in minor I've been looking forward to that I can give as little sneak peaks/things that are drafted to happen in future chapters.
          
          - Gracie's parents meeting Brooks
          - counting
          - the entire chapter Right Now
          - the first time
          - the other type of first time
          - baby Gracie flashbacks
          - Olivia!!!!!!!!
          
          
          - Sharing the real story behind every single lie Gracie told Olivia in LaML

The reason I haven't posted up the intro for cigarette smoke is that I'm really struggling to come up with some character names. Gracie's story focuses on one guy, but Olivia discusses multiple. If anyone has some name suggestions I'm wanting 3 or 4, so I have some options.
          
          Also small details make me so happy and I can up with a plot idea for minor that I'm looking forward to. It works into the original plot, but is an added detail

3 things
          
          1. Seeing the results of the election this morning was such a joy!!!! So many formerly conservative states, and the house + senate, all flipped blue!!! 
          
          2. I did some edits for chapter 2 of minor, and I'm a lot more confident in it now. There's been some dialogue changes, grammar fixes, and added details. I'll make an announcement once it's finish and posted.
          
          3. Started on chapter 3 and it talks a lot about school and social relationships. There's been a lot of flipping back and forth on how I want to approach it, and what I feel is necessary to add.
          
          
          Sneak peaks for today, chapter 2 edits and then stuff from chapter 3. 
          
          
          “She’s not a bad kid, but she keeps doing these things and I can’t help but worry,” Mom continued. “I want to trust her but what about next time? She was gone for two hours before you found her. What if next time it’s six?” 
          
          
          She followed the bare minimum, that wasn’t an accomplishment. If anything it should be bad that her doing the bare minimum was some grand achievement. That meant she was different from the rest of the other kids, slower.
          
          
          Already kids talked about her, because of her silence. Though she’d heard plenty of commentary about her being ‘emotional.’ Some kids got meaner about it, calling her a freak, among other things she pretended not to hear.
          She hadn’t told her parents yet. They knew some stuff. Henry once got in a lot of trouble when picking her up once because he nearly started a fist fight with a senior over something they said.

Three things!
          
          1. For all my fellow Americans over the age of 18 please please please remember to go out and vote. 
          I've had to tell a couple people this, but for those of you who just moved and haven't changed your legal address and/or were too late to get your voter registration in, you can still go. Use the address on your license and your former address.
          
          2. I'll be taking down chapter 2 of Minor very briefly today or later this week to go through and make some grammar edits. It wasn't proofread as thoroughly as usual and I'm starting to see the mistakes.
          
          3. I'm still drafting the next arc for LaML, but I'm gonna try getting the intro chapter up for it tonight.
          
          Love y'all and have a great day
          ☆ - Gray
          
          

Chapter 2 of Minor is up!!!!!! I just had this drive to keep writing it. I'm working on the next chapter of Look at My Life right now too, so I'll get to write a teenage Olivia as well.
          
          I'm so happy about this story, even though all it's done is make me cry so far. I think it might be something I need to write for myself, that I didn't realize I needed, and you are all along for the ride.
          
          xoxo

So some of Gracie's character is actually recycled from another character I wrote a while ago who also had OCD. One thing I've been thinking of recycling is that character developed orthorexia as a result of her OCD which then evolved into atypical anorexia. I'm not sure if it'll fit into minor, but it is an topic I'd love to play with again.
          
          Now that my ramble is over I did get some writing done last night so here's some more sneak peaks for minor:
          
          
          "I don't want her to think something is wrong with her."
          "I'm worried she already thinks something is wrong with her."
          
          
          Her thumb pressed against the doorknob, successfully creating a barrier between her and the rest of the house. For ten seconds Gracie stared at it, anxiety settling deep in her chest.
          Something was wrong. What if it hadn’t locked?
          
          
          She’d do anything to drown it all out, and by now she really meant anything.

I decided to hold onto "Right now" for a chapter later in Minor that ties with the flashback in LaML when Gracie comes home high for the first time. This means I have no clue what I'm going to title the next chapter. A lot of the more depressing Gracie songs have a 'you' attached to them, other than like Unsteady, Right now, and Camden (all of which I'm saving), Block me out, Daughter from Hell, Humming, Cold Goobyes, and Augusta (which were all used in LaML, but I guess can be used again), and Minibar (which won't fit this chapter at all). 
          
          I'm leaning toward Mess It Up, even though that was also used for LaML, and having the line be "I took up walking to turn it all off."
          
          I don't know, does anyone else have ideas? I could also use songs by different artists I guess. I haven't decided how I'm formatting the chapter titles yet anyway.

I should hate you is now up! It is the longest chapter of Look at My Life so far with 40 pages and 11,000 words. This entire arc has been a mess for me to write considering this has been one of the most chaotic and overwhelming months of my life, but I'm fairly proud of it and I had fun writing, and really that's all that matters. I'm looking forward to writing teenage Olivia next and have some really fun ideas for her.
          
          Can't believe LaML is now at 14 chapters. It's the longest work I've every written (364 pages!!!).
          
          I'm already working on Chapter 2 of Minor, which is currently titled 'Right now' and Chapter 15 of LaML, which is currently 'jealousy, jealousy.' So stay tuned. ♡♡♡♡

Since I took a week to detour and focus on minor here's some previews for LaML! 
          
          
          Brooks convinced her she was okay with it.
          It was some fucked up form of self harm.
          
          
          Gracie left because he hurt her.
          Because he’d been hurting her for years.
          
          
          Maybe it was his voice in her head telling her it wasn’t safe. At some point the two of them started to blend together until Gracie no longer knew which ones were her own thoughts, and which were something she trained herself into believing.
          
          ---
          
          I don't have anything written for chapter 2 of minor yet, so I can't provide a true sneak peak. What I will say though is that I've loved putting in small details, especially the bag Gracie carries around. The contents look normal, but completely change meaning as you learn what they're for. I spent so much time putting it together and dug through my own bag for ideas. I think my favorite detail is the notecard her parents put inside.
          
          I'll also share that the next chapter is going to be the first fight we see with her parents. You will have to wait a little bit longer to meet Brooks.