The national novel writing month is coming up, and here at Kimbar's Wonderful World of Writing we've been getting ready for it the old fashioned way: with a spiral notebook, a pencil, and a brain full of completely random ideas. I'm thinking about doing some Jesus stuff, except this is more transgressive Jesus stuff with Jesus and God as main characters.
God's a drug addict.
Jesus hates him.
Neither of them like Christianity.
Anyway, just thought I'd give a quick update. Still in school, still enjoying that, turning 22 at the end of the month. Hope everyone out there is doing well =)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
news from the editing front
Hey-lo. How's everybody doing out there in imaginary land? Things are going pretty well here. I've been spending most of my time making my way through varies movies and/or TV series. I just finished Firefly and its companion movie, Serenity. Very good show; I can see why people are so into it. And I can see what the obsession is with Summer Glau. She's a very good actress. I've also watched both complete seasons of True Blood, and the episodes that are out so far of the third season. I'm anxious for that last episode to come out. They've done a good job so far on that series.
I've been waiting for classes to start back up again - I miss school, and am looking forward to having something to do with my time again. And, I miss not being bored stiff. I actually welcome the stress. I feel like I have somewhere I'm going when I'm in the middle of classes. Summer drives me up a wall because I feel stagnant.
I've also, of course, been doing my editings. I can get about 100 pages edited a night, when I focus. I'm about 213 pages into the book. I wish I could read the whole thing through, front to back, without pausing except to make edits. That would be the best method of editing. I'll probably finish the editing of the book tonight, to be honest. I'm not sure when I'll get a printer I can print it out with, but I'm hoping soon. I'm planning to start querying on Monday. The first few chapters are ready.
I've been waiting for classes to start back up again - I miss school, and am looking forward to having something to do with my time again. And, I miss not being bored stiff. I actually welcome the stress. I feel like I have somewhere I'm going when I'm in the middle of classes. Summer drives me up a wall because I feel stagnant.
I've also, of course, been doing my editings. I can get about 100 pages edited a night, when I focus. I'm about 213 pages into the book. I wish I could read the whole thing through, front to back, without pausing except to make edits. That would be the best method of editing. I'll probably finish the editing of the book tonight, to be honest. I'm not sure when I'll get a printer I can print it out with, but I'm hoping soon. I'm planning to start querying on Monday. The first few chapters are ready.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
In Completion of Books
This update is to pass on to the world of Those Who Don't Read This Blog that I have completed, successfully, the first draft of this new version of The Devil Theory. Actually, it's probably the sixth or seventh draft if you count the number of drafts that I threw out, but it's all good in the end. This book is the largest book I've ever written, and if you choose not to count the National Novel Writing Month books that I wrote, it's probably the quickest I've ever written a book. It's 333 pages - "The End" comes at the very bottom of the page. You can fit one more line of writing in before it bleeds over onto the next page. It's 110,327 words, which is over twice the size of a NaNoWriMo book.
I'm feeling good about having finished this book. I've had what feels like a five or six year long case of writer's block. Aside from barely managing to finish the other version of this book that took me two or three years to write, and the NaNoWriMo books that I've written (one book completed, one book almost completed but much shorter than a typical NaNo book because I had about 20,000 words from a previous book I tried and failed to write during the first week and a half of NaNo), I haven't written anything of decent size since I finished Silver Chains in my sophomore year of high school.
Let me tell you, that does not feel very good for any writer. I was beginning to question myself - was I even meant to be a writer? Would I spend the rest of my life struggling to write pure crap and failing? Would I ever get published?
Now that I've finished The Devil Theory, over these few months in summer like I had planned and with almost a whole month that I can use to edit and start querying agents, I'm in a much better place emotionally.
So, these next few weeks will be spent editing. I'm not going to edit the book in proper chapter order because I'm more likely to remember problems in continuity if I'm not reading the book like I'd read any other book. It also lets me view each chapter as a small chunk of writing and work on the prose itself in a manageable amount. I'm also going to be compiling a list of literary agents I plan to query, and I'll be working on writing query letters and getting nice little query packages set up so I can start emailing ze agents.
Wish me luck, guys! I'll try to update more often now that I'm done with the writing. I was avoiding the major websites so I could focus on trying to finish the book - I was writing something like, 15-20 pages a night at the end there. I wrote 19 pages last night (which was technically this morning...the sun was totally up when I finished writing). The only website I've really been updating is Facebook. As I put it to a friend, "I've neglected everything but Facebook - which is my special little way of bragging about myself to the world so I don't get discouraged, writing all alone over here." I do need to feel like I'm doing something that's even a little bit social, around the edges, thus - Facebook. I've spammed all of my friends constantly with book updates. They'll probably be happy that it's over so they stop getting the two or three updates that come in at around 2 am and 4 am and sometimes 6 am.
Anyway, this entry is done for now. I will be back to post more soon.ish. I hope everybody who's not reading me (and those who miraculously are) is having a good week =) Many loves to all of you. Take care!
I'm feeling good about having finished this book. I've had what feels like a five or six year long case of writer's block. Aside from barely managing to finish the other version of this book that took me two or three years to write, and the NaNoWriMo books that I've written (one book completed, one book almost completed but much shorter than a typical NaNo book because I had about 20,000 words from a previous book I tried and failed to write during the first week and a half of NaNo), I haven't written anything of decent size since I finished Silver Chains in my sophomore year of high school.
Let me tell you, that does not feel very good for any writer. I was beginning to question myself - was I even meant to be a writer? Would I spend the rest of my life struggling to write pure crap and failing? Would I ever get published?
Now that I've finished The Devil Theory, over these few months in summer like I had planned and with almost a whole month that I can use to edit and start querying agents, I'm in a much better place emotionally.
So, these next few weeks will be spent editing. I'm not going to edit the book in proper chapter order because I'm more likely to remember problems in continuity if I'm not reading the book like I'd read any other book. It also lets me view each chapter as a small chunk of writing and work on the prose itself in a manageable amount. I'm also going to be compiling a list of literary agents I plan to query, and I'll be working on writing query letters and getting nice little query packages set up so I can start emailing ze agents.
Wish me luck, guys! I'll try to update more often now that I'm done with the writing. I was avoiding the major websites so I could focus on trying to finish the book - I was writing something like, 15-20 pages a night at the end there. I wrote 19 pages last night (which was technically this morning...the sun was totally up when I finished writing). The only website I've really been updating is Facebook. As I put it to a friend, "I've neglected everything but Facebook - which is my special little way of bragging about myself to the world so I don't get discouraged, writing all alone over here." I do need to feel like I'm doing something that's even a little bit social, around the edges, thus - Facebook. I've spammed all of my friends constantly with book updates. They'll probably be happy that it's over so they stop getting the two or three updates that come in at around 2 am and 4 am and sometimes 6 am.
Anyway, this entry is done for now. I will be back to post more soon.ish. I hope everybody who's not reading me (and those who miraculously are) is having a good week =) Many loves to all of you. Take care!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
mystified triangles with cirular patterns
(copied from OD)
Ugh. Hello 5 am. So good to see you. Again. *head.desk*.
I'm exhausted so this will be short. Technically I slept most of the day but it wasn't very restful sleep, and I've been getting very little sleep this past week. Anyway, just did some writing. Thought I should since somebody was hint hinting for me to get around to it. He's right, I haven't been writing lately. I needed to work on that page count. Well, I did it. Not a fantastic page count, but I'm too lazy right now to go turn on the other computer and transfer files over from it to Lenore, or from Lenore to it. See, I'm writing on Lenore, but I've got a scene I cut saved on a document on the other computer, and I need that scene. I decided I'm going to write the council scene after all because this isn't a big enough chapter otherwise, and I think the Big Thing that's going on needs to carry over through both, and I really do want to get the powerplay between the characters out there. Plus, it feels like I'm skipping too much if I skip that scene.
I just have to get through this council meeting and then it will be smooth sailing from there. By that I mean mostly editing, which I can do without being inspired. After that I've got mostly action-oriented scenes, or at least scenes that make me want to write rather than scenes that drive me crazy. I'm not good at writing politics. Heh. Anyway, gonna go to sleep, then probably spend tomorrow writing or something. I hope. Just thought I'd give a quick update since it's been a few days. Wish me luck on getting back into writing again =)
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
poking your words
I'm exhausted right now. Haven't been getting much sleep at night these days. It's too bad - I wish I would get more. This time, I haven't even been staying up late writing. I haven't really done any writing this past few days, maybe week. It's been a while since I've written. I'm back on my laptop now, so I really shouldn't have any excuse.
I think it's easier for me to write something from scratch than it is for me to rewrite something. I've had this rewrite scene looming over my head for a while, and I wasn't sure how to write it without dropping a few pages of worldbuilding and following it up with a scene that only partially relates to the plot. However, I needed to have something to cut up what I was doing, because otherwise it wouldn't be flowing right. I've now got an idea that works to give some importance to the scene, but this idea could actually be implemented a number of ways, and I think I'm going to replace this rewrite scene with this new scene.
Essentially - someone tried to assassinate my main character. He was a friend of her family, and someone she'd known for a long time. He isn't talking, but I think what I'm going to have happen is...he tried to tell someone but another person somehow made it so he can't. I'll have to work on that - what happened, break his jaw? Rip his throat out? These characters can heal an unimaginable amount of damage because they don't die unless they want to, which usually means that extreme things like stabbing them through the heart, poisoning them, etc. can kill them, but this character is trying to stay alive to save his family. I'm not sure how exactly to make this work. It has to be something dramatic that can be seen as an accident - "Oops, I didn't know he was about to talk...I was moving too fast to stop myself..." It has to be able to shut the character up for enough time for more threats to be whispered in his ear.
Why are they trying to get him to talk while simultaneously trying to get him to keep quiet? The person who kidnapped his family and forced him to try to assassinate my MC is actually someone who works in the castle and has enough power to get in on the torture sessions.
I was going to have Vayira go to a council meeting that would cover certain issues in the country - and would show the various tensions between the characters - but I think that the scene doesn't do enough; I'd need it to do more, and it would be very diffiicult to bring up the attempted assassin when they're supposed to be discussing other things. I'd have a window of opportunity that would stretch after the worldbuilding and before the council meeting started.
However, if I make a scene out of the dinner/lounging around that comes before, then I can do it. The important chars will all be running around trying to deal with what's going on with the attempted assassin, Vayira will be on edge and nervous and trying to figure out what's going on while flittering amongst the council members, Tai will be there to offer perspective and we'll get to flesh out his character a bit by seeing how he does in front of a large group of very important strangers...
So, yes. I also think that scene will be a lot more fun, because it's easier to stay in Vayira's head when she's at the centre of the game. It's harder when she's sort of watching what other people are doing, only partially participating because she's mostly supposed to be there in training for when she becomes queen. I also don't want to take her away from Tai just yet. I think that that has to be done very carefully or it will undermind what I'm trying to do with the two of them.
So, all in all, scene change idea is a good idea. Imma go work on it now, if I don't fall asleep first. However, before that - dishes. I needs must do them. That's what happens when you cook; you end up with dishes =)
I think it's easier for me to write something from scratch than it is for me to rewrite something. I've had this rewrite scene looming over my head for a while, and I wasn't sure how to write it without dropping a few pages of worldbuilding and following it up with a scene that only partially relates to the plot. However, I needed to have something to cut up what I was doing, because otherwise it wouldn't be flowing right. I've now got an idea that works to give some importance to the scene, but this idea could actually be implemented a number of ways, and I think I'm going to replace this rewrite scene with this new scene.
Essentially - someone tried to assassinate my main character. He was a friend of her family, and someone she'd known for a long time. He isn't talking, but I think what I'm going to have happen is...he tried to tell someone but another person somehow made it so he can't. I'll have to work on that - what happened, break his jaw? Rip his throat out? These characters can heal an unimaginable amount of damage because they don't die unless they want to, which usually means that extreme things like stabbing them through the heart, poisoning them, etc. can kill them, but this character is trying to stay alive to save his family. I'm not sure how exactly to make this work. It has to be something dramatic that can be seen as an accident - "Oops, I didn't know he was about to talk...I was moving too fast to stop myself..." It has to be able to shut the character up for enough time for more threats to be whispered in his ear.
Why are they trying to get him to talk while simultaneously trying to get him to keep quiet? The person who kidnapped his family and forced him to try to assassinate my MC is actually someone who works in the castle and has enough power to get in on the torture sessions.
I was going to have Vayira go to a council meeting that would cover certain issues in the country - and would show the various tensions between the characters - but I think that the scene doesn't do enough; I'd need it to do more, and it would be very diffiicult to bring up the attempted assassin when they're supposed to be discussing other things. I'd have a window of opportunity that would stretch after the worldbuilding and before the council meeting started.
However, if I make a scene out of the dinner/lounging around that comes before, then I can do it. The important chars will all be running around trying to deal with what's going on with the attempted assassin, Vayira will be on edge and nervous and trying to figure out what's going on while flittering amongst the council members, Tai will be there to offer perspective and we'll get to flesh out his character a bit by seeing how he does in front of a large group of very important strangers...
So, yes. I also think that scene will be a lot more fun, because it's easier to stay in Vayira's head when she's at the centre of the game. It's harder when she's sort of watching what other people are doing, only partially participating because she's mostly supposed to be there in training for when she becomes queen. I also don't want to take her away from Tai just yet. I think that that has to be done very carefully or it will undermind what I'm trying to do with the two of them.
So, all in all, scene change idea is a good idea. Imma go work on it now, if I don't fall asleep first. However, before that - dishes. I needs must do them. That's what happens when you cook; you end up with dishes =)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Ze world of writing
Hello ladies and gentlemen, cows and humans, multipandimensional light beings and 3D slugs of all subspecies. I'm back. Sorry - I've been so into writing lately that by the time I get around to updating blogs, it's just easier to update Facebook and opendiary. Facebook is quick, and OD at least has readers. So I tend to forget about Blogspot.
News update:
Lenore, my beautiful laptop, started crashing a while ago. I finally sent her off to the Gateway Repair Centre for some TLC at the Computer Spa they've got there. She's feeling much better now, and is on her way home. In the meantime, I've been using an old iMac that my paternal grandmother left my father when she died. He gave it to my brother to use and it's just been sitting there. My brother and I (just today) upgraded the RAM and the OS to 2GB, and to Snow Leopard (that means, 2GB of RAM and Snow Leopard Operating System).
Having this iMac around to use is good news, because I've done quite a bit of writing on it. I was also doing quite a bit of writing on Lenore, but I really do like this computer for writing. I think I'm going to start storing all of my files on my external hard drive, and just go between the two computers...but spend most of my writing time on this iMac.
"So, Kimbar, how has the writing been going...?" you ask.
"Fantastically!" I answer, and then I delve into a deep long overview of how exactly the writing has been going.
At first, I was able to take the new ideas I had for TTAV (the most important book in my life, that I've written and rewritten for almost a decade) and apply them right away. I got 111 pages into the story (to be fair, I started at page 55 and there were a few pages of edited copypasta) before I made a stupid mistake while writing an update on the writing on OD.
See, TTAV isn't just a plot and some characters to me. It's also a feel. Now, I was okay with the plot, and the characters were coming out perfectly, but the feel was off. It was heavy fantasy, light sci-fi. I want it to be closer to a mix of both. At least, I want the fantasy to really feel like it takes place on an alien planet that's got a strange mix of technological advancement and non-technological-advancement. Yes, that makes sense - in my world anyway.
I was writing, "If I decide later that I really don't like the plot because it feels wrong, I can always mix and match the old version and this new version. I just have to take the beginning and end from the new version and stick the old version, edited, in the middle."
Oops. My brain said, "Hey! That's a good idea! Let's do that."
And then I started getting a lot more ideas that required a different plot. Because I wrote a stupid entry. Ugh. One of these days, I will learn not to let my brain run away with itself.
Anyway, I decided not to think about it for a couple of days, and I did other things while not writing and not thinking about it. Then I decided that I had to sit down and figure out what the book was supposed to look like. I needed a full chapter outline. So I sat down with sticky notes and outlined what happens in the first eight or nine chapters, which I already know about (since I'm using the early beginning of the new version and the later beginning of the old version, with some tweaks). After that, I let my mind go and come up with the scenes as they would come. I managed to get a thirty-some-odd chapter outline, on green sticky notes that my dearest Ninja Writer got for me last year for my birthday present/NaNoWriMo Survival Kit (my birthday is October 30th, and the National Novel Writing Month is in November). The next day, I sat down and edited the first four chapters to cut out the preparations I'd set up for the now-obsolete plotline I was intending to use. The next day, I completed that.
I'm now in the process of writing in the new scenes that have to take place and editing other scenes to make them compatible with the new plot. It's a long, tedious process, but I'm confident that it will go well, and that the whole book will be written by the end of summer. I'm actually aiming for the end of this month, but if that's not enough time, then I'll tack on an extra month too. I've already got almost 100 pages written, and most of what I have to do right now is editing/rewriting.
Anyway, wish me luck! I'm off to talk to my writer friend and watch a movie, and when that's done Imma write. Ta!
News update:
Lenore, my beautiful laptop, started crashing a while ago. I finally sent her off to the Gateway Repair Centre for some TLC at the Computer Spa they've got there. She's feeling much better now, and is on her way home. In the meantime, I've been using an old iMac that my paternal grandmother left my father when she died. He gave it to my brother to use and it's just been sitting there. My brother and I (just today) upgraded the RAM and the OS to 2GB, and to Snow Leopard (that means, 2GB of RAM and Snow Leopard Operating System).
Having this iMac around to use is good news, because I've done quite a bit of writing on it. I was also doing quite a bit of writing on Lenore, but I really do like this computer for writing. I think I'm going to start storing all of my files on my external hard drive, and just go between the two computers...but spend most of my writing time on this iMac.
"So, Kimbar, how has the writing been going...?" you ask.
"Fantastically!" I answer, and then I delve into a deep long overview of how exactly the writing has been going.
At first, I was able to take the new ideas I had for TTAV (the most important book in my life, that I've written and rewritten for almost a decade) and apply them right away. I got 111 pages into the story (to be fair, I started at page 55 and there were a few pages of edited copypasta) before I made a stupid mistake while writing an update on the writing on OD.
See, TTAV isn't just a plot and some characters to me. It's also a feel. Now, I was okay with the plot, and the characters were coming out perfectly, but the feel was off. It was heavy fantasy, light sci-fi. I want it to be closer to a mix of both. At least, I want the fantasy to really feel like it takes place on an alien planet that's got a strange mix of technological advancement and non-technological-advancement. Yes, that makes sense - in my world anyway.
I was writing, "If I decide later that I really don't like the plot because it feels wrong, I can always mix and match the old version and this new version. I just have to take the beginning and end from the new version and stick the old version, edited, in the middle."
Oops. My brain said, "Hey! That's a good idea! Let's do that."
And then I started getting a lot more ideas that required a different plot. Because I wrote a stupid entry. Ugh. One of these days, I will learn not to let my brain run away with itself.
Anyway, I decided not to think about it for a couple of days, and I did other things while not writing and not thinking about it. Then I decided that I had to sit down and figure out what the book was supposed to look like. I needed a full chapter outline. So I sat down with sticky notes and outlined what happens in the first eight or nine chapters, which I already know about (since I'm using the early beginning of the new version and the later beginning of the old version, with some tweaks). After that, I let my mind go and come up with the scenes as they would come. I managed to get a thirty-some-odd chapter outline, on green sticky notes that my dearest Ninja Writer got for me last year for my birthday present/NaNoWriMo Survival Kit (my birthday is October 30th, and the National Novel Writing Month is in November). The next day, I sat down and edited the first four chapters to cut out the preparations I'd set up for the now-obsolete plotline I was intending to use. The next day, I completed that.
I'm now in the process of writing in the new scenes that have to take place and editing other scenes to make them compatible with the new plot. It's a long, tedious process, but I'm confident that it will go well, and that the whole book will be written by the end of summer. I'm actually aiming for the end of this month, but if that's not enough time, then I'll tack on an extra month too. I've already got almost 100 pages written, and most of what I have to do right now is editing/rewriting.
Anyway, wish me luck! I'm off to talk to my writer friend and watch a movie, and when that's done Imma write. Ta!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
elephants in the rain
i have no good title. heh.
i don't actually know what i'm going to talk about, and fvk capitals right now. i'm rebelling. i do that from time to time. i'm actually just very tired, and i've got a long way to go before monday - and hopefully it won't take longer than monday. i'm hoping to write more soonish here, but right now - things are hectic.
finals.
i want to talk about something specific right now: HOLY FUCK! moments.
some writers call them revelations, some writers call them seeds, some writers call them "Good writing days." usually i just say that my characters had some great ideas, but really - they're HOLY FUCK! moments. it's when you're going along all honky dory, living your life like nobody's business, and out of nowhere you realize exactly how you're going to tie all of the pieces of your novel together. everything pans in your head and you just know it. you know how your characters do this, or you can finally see how that problem gets resolved. or, sometimes, you see a novel for the first time - and it's flawless and beautiful.
now, when i say i'm going to talk about HOLY FUCK! moments, i'm not talking about those moments when you're writing and you get a small idea for what comes next; i'm not even talking about those moments when you're minding your own business and all of a sudden a random idea pops into your head and you think about it for a little while and think, "Yeah, I could make that work..."
no. HOLY FUCK! moments are those moments when you get the idea, and your eyes go wide and your jaw practically drops and you can feel your adrenaline pumping as all the pieces finally fit together and all you can say is, "HOLY FUCK! Oh my god! I get it! I get it!!!"
those are beautiful moments.
i've had two of them in the past week and a half. that's right, two. you are allowed to feel jealous. but you're not allowed to begrudge me - i've had what amounts to writer's block since i was seventeen, intersperced with brief few day periods of writing ability. i'm twenty-one. that's an ungodly amount of time to have writer's block. these two HOLY FUCK! moments don't signal the end of the block time, but they are a nice oasis in this writing desert. and thank god, because i really, really need it.
the problem: i'm trying to deal with the end of two school years right now. first, it's the end of spring quarter up at the university i go to. which means, last minute assignments, last minute projects, and the dreaded finals. and then, to add to it, it's the end of the school year for the elementary school i work for. so, last minute projects, everyone's feeling crazy, and nobody wants to do any work. well, the kids don't. they're young anyway, so it's to be expected. all that is fine and to be expected, but it means that i have no writing time. at all.
i'm going to try to get everything done by sunday so on monday i can turn it in and so that, other than work on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday - i won't have to do anything else. and i'll be able to write.
WORDS!!!
oh glorious words...
soon. soon i will impliment those lovely HOLY FUCK!s i've had lately.
what are they, you might ask? plots. lovely plots. using the plot book i checked out from the library not so long ago. more on that when i have more time. for now - i've got to write a page and a half each on The Brave New World, The Disposessed, and The Handmaid's Tale. and then i have to find a piece of mine that i can read in three minutes, and a piece of mine that i can read in seven minutes. bonsoir =)
i don't actually know what i'm going to talk about, and fvk capitals right now. i'm rebelling. i do that from time to time. i'm actually just very tired, and i've got a long way to go before monday - and hopefully it won't take longer than monday. i'm hoping to write more soonish here, but right now - things are hectic.
finals.
i want to talk about something specific right now: HOLY FUCK! moments.
some writers call them revelations, some writers call them seeds, some writers call them "Good writing days." usually i just say that my characters had some great ideas, but really - they're HOLY FUCK! moments. it's when you're going along all honky dory, living your life like nobody's business, and out of nowhere you realize exactly how you're going to tie all of the pieces of your novel together. everything pans in your head and you just know it. you know how your characters do this, or you can finally see how that problem gets resolved. or, sometimes, you see a novel for the first time - and it's flawless and beautiful.
now, when i say i'm going to talk about HOLY FUCK! moments, i'm not talking about those moments when you're writing and you get a small idea for what comes next; i'm not even talking about those moments when you're minding your own business and all of a sudden a random idea pops into your head and you think about it for a little while and think, "Yeah, I could make that work..."
no. HOLY FUCK! moments are those moments when you get the idea, and your eyes go wide and your jaw practically drops and you can feel your adrenaline pumping as all the pieces finally fit together and all you can say is, "HOLY FUCK! Oh my god! I get it! I get it!!!"
those are beautiful moments.
i've had two of them in the past week and a half. that's right, two. you are allowed to feel jealous. but you're not allowed to begrudge me - i've had what amounts to writer's block since i was seventeen, intersperced with brief few day periods of writing ability. i'm twenty-one. that's an ungodly amount of time to have writer's block. these two HOLY FUCK! moments don't signal the end of the block time, but they are a nice oasis in this writing desert. and thank god, because i really, really need it.
the problem: i'm trying to deal with the end of two school years right now. first, it's the end of spring quarter up at the university i go to. which means, last minute assignments, last minute projects, and the dreaded finals. and then, to add to it, it's the end of the school year for the elementary school i work for. so, last minute projects, everyone's feeling crazy, and nobody wants to do any work. well, the kids don't. they're young anyway, so it's to be expected. all that is fine and to be expected, but it means that i have no writing time. at all.
i'm going to try to get everything done by sunday so on monday i can turn it in and so that, other than work on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday - i won't have to do anything else. and i'll be able to write.
WORDS!!!
oh glorious words...
soon. soon i will impliment those lovely HOLY FUCK!s i've had lately.
what are they, you might ask? plots. lovely plots. using the plot book i checked out from the library not so long ago. more on that when i have more time. for now - i've got to write a page and a half each on The Brave New World, The Disposessed, and The Handmaid's Tale. and then i have to find a piece of mine that i can read in three minutes, and a piece of mine that i can read in seven minutes. bonsoir =)
Friday, May 28, 2010
Today I declared my major in the field of English, with a creative writing emphasis. The world feels like it's fallen into place. It's new, fresh, and ready for me. Looking at the classes I have to take, I'll only be graduating about a quarter late for the typical four year bachelor's degree - which is a big deal considering the fact that I thought I would be two or three years late after three years of dinking around, thinking I was going into physics.
So what does this new major mean for me?
Well, let me give you a low down of the classes I have taken, am going to take, or will have to take at some point - just to give you an idea. Right now, I'm finishing up English 351 - Introduction to Fiction Writing. Next quarter, I'm signed up for three classes (this sometimes shocks people from different parts of the US or from outside of the country - my school is divided into four quarters - Fall, Winter, Spring, and an optional Summer that has two much shorter sessions that students can choose from. A full time quarter is between 12 and 18 credits. Classes are generally 2-5 credits. I tend to take three 5-credit classes). Those classes are: 338 (Women and Lit), 312 (Film/Culture: Japanese Anime), and 353 (Introduction to Poetry Writing). I will also have to take, at some point, 347 (YA Lit), 423 (Major Authors: emphasis on specific author), and another 300 or 400 level lit class; with that, I will have to take: 451 (fiction writing seminar), 456 (special topics in fiction), 459 (editing and publishing), and 460 (multigenre explorations). To finish the whole thing off, I'll need to nab a 370 (Introduction to Language). Then I'll have completed my major. Most of those classes are options from a list of possible classes, and those just happen to be the most appealing options to me. As you can see, I'm still undecided on one of those classes.
This whole business of declaring a major, dealing with actually getting through my bachelor's degree, and everything involved in that, has got me thinking about a question that I frequently ask myself, always answer, but never keep to that answer.
The question: How long should I wait before trying to get one of my books published?
The answer: I shouldn't; I've waited enough. It's time to get started.
Only once before in the past have I taken this advice. That's right, folks, I've querried an agent before. Since I've made no mention of being a published author, you can probably figure out the outcome. To be fair, I was sixteen or seventeen at the time.
Now I'm older, better at writing, and would like to start trying again. I've been actively editing one of my books, but it's more of an editing/rewriting thing, and I don't have much time for it. I intend to take full advantage of summer and I'm hoping to start querying again sometime next year.
I've ordered several books on writing, and I've decided that I want to expand my collection of resources in my library so I think I'll continue to order books on writing. The nice thing about Amazon is that you can get books for amazingly cheap prices. Anyway, I think I'll start posting here more often again, probably with things that relate to the editing process, the reading I've been doing and the ideas presented in the books, and starting next Fall - on my major. A friend of mine got on my case a little while ago about not updating here, so I'm back. And look, today's even a Friday - one of my scheduled days for writing.
I hope you enjoy this disjointed blog post, John. And the same to anyone out there who's reading. TTFN.
So what does this new major mean for me?
Well, let me give you a low down of the classes I have taken, am going to take, or will have to take at some point - just to give you an idea. Right now, I'm finishing up English 351 - Introduction to Fiction Writing. Next quarter, I'm signed up for three classes (this sometimes shocks people from different parts of the US or from outside of the country - my school is divided into four quarters - Fall, Winter, Spring, and an optional Summer that has two much shorter sessions that students can choose from. A full time quarter is between 12 and 18 credits. Classes are generally 2-5 credits. I tend to take three 5-credit classes). Those classes are: 338 (Women and Lit), 312 (Film/Culture: Japanese Anime), and 353 (Introduction to Poetry Writing). I will also have to take, at some point, 347 (YA Lit), 423 (Major Authors: emphasis on specific author), and another 300 or 400 level lit class; with that, I will have to take: 451 (fiction writing seminar), 456 (special topics in fiction), 459 (editing and publishing), and 460 (multigenre explorations). To finish the whole thing off, I'll need to nab a 370 (Introduction to Language). Then I'll have completed my major. Most of those classes are options from a list of possible classes, and those just happen to be the most appealing options to me. As you can see, I'm still undecided on one of those classes.
This whole business of declaring a major, dealing with actually getting through my bachelor's degree, and everything involved in that, has got me thinking about a question that I frequently ask myself, always answer, but never keep to that answer.
The question: How long should I wait before trying to get one of my books published?
The answer: I shouldn't; I've waited enough. It's time to get started.
Only once before in the past have I taken this advice. That's right, folks, I've querried an agent before. Since I've made no mention of being a published author, you can probably figure out the outcome. To be fair, I was sixteen or seventeen at the time.
Now I'm older, better at writing, and would like to start trying again. I've been actively editing one of my books, but it's more of an editing/rewriting thing, and I don't have much time for it. I intend to take full advantage of summer and I'm hoping to start querying again sometime next year.
I've ordered several books on writing, and I've decided that I want to expand my collection of resources in my library so I think I'll continue to order books on writing. The nice thing about Amazon is that you can get books for amazingly cheap prices. Anyway, I think I'll start posting here more often again, probably with things that relate to the editing process, the reading I've been doing and the ideas presented in the books, and starting next Fall - on my major. A friend of mine got on my case a little while ago about not updating here, so I'm back. And look, today's even a Friday - one of my scheduled days for writing.
I hope you enjoy this disjointed blog post, John. And the same to anyone out there who's reading. TTFN.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Copy pasta from OD:
That's right, eventually I do get around to entries I intended to write over a month ago. Like the entry I intended to write about how I believe that smileys sometimes work really well in conversations in lieu of punctuation. I briefly covered it, but there's more of an argument there than just what I wrote. I intend to cover the "more".
First, to clarify, I'm referring to the kind of smiley or emoticon that I have in my entry title. I'm referring to the textual smiley, not the cartoon bubble smiley. Those smileys are good if you're trying to amuse someone online outside of a conversation, but pictures don't really work in lieu of punctuation. They detract from whatever you're trying to say. My friend and I, between topics, occasionally regale each other with cute emoticons - bunnies, or goats, or "What is this thing doing!?" We don't use them as punctuation.
However, textual smileys or emoticons, I feel work well for punctuation in internet conversations, private messages through websites, inside of entries, or in emails. I will now tell you why I feel this way.
Let's use a very simplistic, easy to cover example. Say you're talking to someone about something. It doesn't matter what, but it's kind of complicated. Assume the conversation goes something like this: they say something, you're confused, they explain it better, and you say, "Ah, I see." This can come out in several ways. There's the "OH I GET IT NOW THAT'S AWESOME!!!" version, there's the "Oh, I get. Cool," version, and there's the "Uh-huh...I'm going to say 'I see' because I don't really know what else to say. You're kind of pathetic..." Your friend can tell which "Ah, I see," you're using based on your intonation, the look on your face, how enthused you seem, etc. But what if the same conversation happens over instant messaging? There are a number of things that, when said, can be taken in different ways. How you take it depends on those things I mentioned above. In IM, email, or any other online form of conversation - you don't have the luxury of sight and hearing. You have to textually convey the emotion behind what your'e saying.
Now, as a writer II have to do this anyway, all the time, through my books and short stories. Every time a character speaks, I have to find a way to convey that dialogue in such a way that the reader understands how character is speaking. However, I have one tool at my command that online conversations do not: dialogue tags. If I want to convey that something someone just said was spoken with an air of nervousness, I can write...
"__________," he said, tugging on his collar. He shifted feet.
When you're writing an email, speaking over IM, or writing an entry like I am now - you don't have that luxery either. No sight, no hearing, and no dialogue tags. You have to find some way to make the words themselves, and the punctuation, convey what you mean.
Enter the smiley. Again, I don't like the cartoonish faces - I feel they detract from the actual statement when they're placed alongside words, they often create a clunky offset from the rest of a paragraph when coming in at the end of a sentence (as in, the line spacing between lines...the actual picture length of a smiley is often longer than the character space a letter requires, so you'll have three lines of a paragraph tightly packed together and then the fourth line set of by almost twice that because of the emoticon. I also find them distracting in general, but that's just me.
However, the characters that make up a textual smiley are all normal punctuation marks, or sometimes letters themselves. ^_^ is a smiley someone I used to know from Germany used to use. Aside from the fact that it was immensely cute, it sometimes cut some of the things he said that could otherwise have been taken as cruel remarks, and showed me that he was either joking, or else meant it in the non-cruel manner. Sometimes, it served just to show me that he was smiling, which has a greater effect than just, "I'm smiling right now. I thought you should know."
Because these smileys are textual, they fit in with the rest of the sentence naturally, but at the same time they serve in the same way a dialogue tag or a smile in real life might. We're a very visual species...especially since the rise of television over books as an entertainment form. These visual clues in our online dialogue, where we lack any other visual image, helps clarify our speech.
We have visual clues in our writing already to show whether something spoken in a normal manner ( . ), whether it's spoken with a slight uptilt at the end that denotes curiosity (?), or whether it's spoken with a tone of excitement (!). We also have punctuation that denotes something that is said almost as a side note (these parenthases I've been using in this paragraph are the punctuation I'm referring to), or something that trails off (...), or something that pauses for a brief moment ( , ), or something that is cut of (— <--the elongated dash here, when it comes half way through a sentence and the next thing stated occurs in a new paragraph, shows someone either being cut off or cutting themselves off; it can also be used in the same way a set of commas or parenthases are used if it comes in the middle of a sentence, setting something off from the rest of the sentence - I've been using a space, dash, space as I just used there because on OD, you have to look up in the "insert special characters" menu in order to use that long dash). And then, we also have punctuation that denotes speaking ( "___").
We have a plethora of visual images already that serve the same purpose a simple pause in breath or change in voice might serve if we were speaking face to face with someone. These are used daily by authors of all types. But again, authors have dialogue tags that help with more complex emotions; IM, email, blog postings, etc., don't have dialogue tags.
A smiley can help with this situation. Take a look at the example above again. "Ah, I see." When I see it plain like that, I always think it means, "Uh-huh...I'm going to say 'I see' because I don't really know what else to say." But I always type it plain like that. I have a friend who then apologizes as if whatever he said was unimportant or bothersome in some way. I assume that means he views it the same way. It's easy to say, "Ah, I see" in an "OMG that's so cool!" manner...just put an exclamation mark or three after it. But what if you don't want to appear over enthusiastic, but don't want it to be misconstrued as you not giving a shit?
"Ah, I see =)"
It's toned down a bit from the exclamation point, but the smile shows that it's meant in a good way.
I wouldn't suggest that everybody must, should or even that I'd like to see everybody use smileys/emoticons in lieu of punctuation, but I do feel that they make certain statements less ambiguous, and I like that.
This is why I feel that smileys work quite well as punctuation in certain types of conversations. I would never suggest it for fiction or even creative nonfiction or official school or work based papers, but I do think that smileys have something to offer informal online conversations between friends.
My argument is done now. I hope you all have a good night =)
(See what I did there? The smiley shows that that last line was meant personally for you guys and said all in good fun, rather than being a more cold, aloof, official statement. I love how that worked out ^_^ )
That's right, eventually I do get around to entries I intended to write over a month ago. Like the entry I intended to write about how I believe that smileys sometimes work really well in conversations in lieu of punctuation. I briefly covered it, but there's more of an argument there than just what I wrote. I intend to cover the "more".
First, to clarify, I'm referring to the kind of smiley or emoticon that I have in my entry title. I'm referring to the textual smiley, not the cartoon bubble smiley. Those smileys are good if you're trying to amuse someone online outside of a conversation, but pictures don't really work in lieu of punctuation. They detract from whatever you're trying to say. My friend and I, between topics, occasionally regale each other with cute emoticons - bunnies, or goats, or "What is this thing doing!?" We don't use them as punctuation.
However, textual smileys or emoticons, I feel work well for punctuation in internet conversations, private messages through websites, inside of entries, or in emails. I will now tell you why I feel this way.
Let's use a very simplistic, easy to cover example. Say you're talking to someone about something. It doesn't matter what, but it's kind of complicated. Assume the conversation goes something like this: they say something, you're confused, they explain it better, and you say, "Ah, I see." This can come out in several ways. There's the "OH I GET IT NOW THAT'S AWESOME!!!" version, there's the "Oh, I get. Cool," version, and there's the "Uh-huh...I'm going to say 'I see' because I don't really know what else to say. You're kind of pathetic..." Your friend can tell which "Ah, I see," you're using based on your intonation, the look on your face, how enthused you seem, etc. But what if the same conversation happens over instant messaging? There are a number of things that, when said, can be taken in different ways. How you take it depends on those things I mentioned above. In IM, email, or any other online form of conversation - you don't have the luxury of sight and hearing. You have to textually convey the emotion behind what your'e saying.
Now, as a writer II have to do this anyway, all the time, through my books and short stories. Every time a character speaks, I have to find a way to convey that dialogue in such a way that the reader understands how character is speaking. However, I have one tool at my command that online conversations do not: dialogue tags. If I want to convey that something someone just said was spoken with an air of nervousness, I can write...
"__________," he said, tugging on his collar. He shifted feet.
When you're writing an email, speaking over IM, or writing an entry like I am now - you don't have that luxery either. No sight, no hearing, and no dialogue tags. You have to find some way to make the words themselves, and the punctuation, convey what you mean.
Enter the smiley. Again, I don't like the cartoonish faces - I feel they detract from the actual statement when they're placed alongside words, they often create a clunky offset from the rest of a paragraph when coming in at the end of a sentence (as in, the line spacing between lines...the actual picture length of a smiley is often longer than the character space a letter requires, so you'll have three lines of a paragraph tightly packed together and then the fourth line set of by almost twice that because of the emoticon. I also find them distracting in general, but that's just me.
However, the characters that make up a textual smiley are all normal punctuation marks, or sometimes letters themselves. ^_^ is a smiley someone I used to know from Germany used to use. Aside from the fact that it was immensely cute, it sometimes cut some of the things he said that could otherwise have been taken as cruel remarks, and showed me that he was either joking, or else meant it in the non-cruel manner. Sometimes, it served just to show me that he was smiling, which has a greater effect than just, "I'm smiling right now. I thought you should know."
Because these smileys are textual, they fit in with the rest of the sentence naturally, but at the same time they serve in the same way a dialogue tag or a smile in real life might. We're a very visual species...especially since the rise of television over books as an entertainment form. These visual clues in our online dialogue, where we lack any other visual image, helps clarify our speech.
We have visual clues in our writing already to show whether something spoken in a normal manner ( . ), whether it's spoken with a slight uptilt at the end that denotes curiosity (?), or whether it's spoken with a tone of excitement (!). We also have punctuation that denotes something that is said almost as a side note (these parenthases I've been using in this paragraph are the punctuation I'm referring to), or something that trails off (...), or something that pauses for a brief moment ( , ), or something that is cut of (— <--the elongated dash here, when it comes half way through a sentence and the next thing stated occurs in a new paragraph, shows someone either being cut off or cutting themselves off; it can also be used in the same way a set of commas or parenthases are used if it comes in the middle of a sentence, setting something off from the rest of the sentence - I've been using a space, dash, space as I just used there because on OD, you have to look up in the "insert special characters" menu in order to use that long dash). And then, we also have punctuation that denotes speaking ( "___").
We have a plethora of visual images already that serve the same purpose a simple pause in breath or change in voice might serve if we were speaking face to face with someone. These are used daily by authors of all types. But again, authors have dialogue tags that help with more complex emotions; IM, email, blog postings, etc., don't have dialogue tags.
A smiley can help with this situation. Take a look at the example above again. "Ah, I see." When I see it plain like that, I always think it means, "Uh-huh...I'm going to say 'I see' because I don't really know what else to say." But I always type it plain like that. I have a friend who then apologizes as if whatever he said was unimportant or bothersome in some way. I assume that means he views it the same way. It's easy to say, "Ah, I see" in an "OMG that's so cool!" manner...just put an exclamation mark or three after it. But what if you don't want to appear over enthusiastic, but don't want it to be misconstrued as you not giving a shit?
"Ah, I see =)"
It's toned down a bit from the exclamation point, but the smile shows that it's meant in a good way.
I wouldn't suggest that everybody must, should or even that I'd like to see everybody use smileys/emoticons in lieu of punctuation, but I do feel that they make certain statements less ambiguous, and I like that.
This is why I feel that smileys work quite well as punctuation in certain types of conversations. I would never suggest it for fiction or even creative nonfiction or official school or work based papers, but I do think that smileys have something to offer informal online conversations between friends.
My argument is done now. I hope you all have a good night =)
(See what I did there? The smiley shows that that last line was meant personally for you guys and said all in good fun, rather than being a more cold, aloof, official statement. I love how that worked out ^_^ )
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
character part i: relationships with your imaginary friends
John - sorry if I got your relationship with your chars wrong or off base; go ahead and tell me and I'll fix it. I'm trying to remember back to our conversations =)
Today I will cover characters. Chars, for short. I love chars; they're probably my favourite aspect of writing - or at least the aspect that I spend the most time with. My characters - like the characters of many writers - permanently reside inside my head and frequently talk to me...usually in loud, obnoxious voices, telling me what to write and when. I have several characters who show up more often than others, but invariably the characters from whatever piece I'm working on will take center stage in my head for as long as I'm working on their piece.
The first five minutes after I meet a character or a set of characters are the most valuable; it's during those five minutes that I usually learn the plot overview of whatever short story or novel that I will [apparently] be writing. (Apparently, because I don't really have a choice in the matter - the chars inform me that this is my new story and they won't shut up until I agree). Beyond those five minutes, however, the characters are usually just there to bug me with what if possibilities while waiting for me to sit down in write. I'd say about 80% of the material my characters give me is utterly useless - it doesn't advance the plot, the character relationships, the theme...it's mostly just, "Day in the life" stuff. I love it, but I can't use it, so I don't write it.
I have a friend whose relationship with his characters is different. They, too, live in his head...but they prefer to tell him the story as it happened over the course of time, in chronoligical order (well, almost - they tend to pick and choose parts of the story that they want to speak about, but once they've decided they'll talk about that section in order). They tell him their stories, and he writes them exactly as they say. With me, my characters tell me how the story goes and I stop thinking and just write, so neither of us is in charge...John writes what they tell him to write. If he tries to force it to go his way, they'll stop speaking until he realizes that he wasn't doing it right. Then they'll pick up and talk to him again.
He has to write down essentially everything they say to him, because they don't [seem] to deviate the way mine do. I don't spend the day inside John's head so I can't say for certain, but from what I've heard it doesn't seem like they show him about the time they were all at home after the story had happened, and it was hot, and they had some water guns lying around, and...well, you can guess where that went. Completely unhelpful. Now, this doesn't mean that John will automatically use everything they tell him; sometimes they include useless information that will later get deleted. However, it's information that has to be written down originally because - at least while the char is telling him the story - it's important to that char.
He then, later, goes through and deletes the superfluous scenes. His chars act more like real people than mine do in that respect; come on, how many of you go off on tangents or include the minor details when you're recapping something that happened to you the other day?
Anyway, my point is that characters - to me and to every writer I've ever spoken with - are like physical people who live inside your head. However, they speak in different ways. How do your characters speak to you?
Today I will cover characters. Chars, for short. I love chars; they're probably my favourite aspect of writing - or at least the aspect that I spend the most time with. My characters - like the characters of many writers - permanently reside inside my head and frequently talk to me...usually in loud, obnoxious voices, telling me what to write and when. I have several characters who show up more often than others, but invariably the characters from whatever piece I'm working on will take center stage in my head for as long as I'm working on their piece.
The first five minutes after I meet a character or a set of characters are the most valuable; it's during those five minutes that I usually learn the plot overview of whatever short story or novel that I will [apparently] be writing. (Apparently, because I don't really have a choice in the matter - the chars inform me that this is my new story and they won't shut up until I agree). Beyond those five minutes, however, the characters are usually just there to bug me with what if possibilities while waiting for me to sit down in write. I'd say about 80% of the material my characters give me is utterly useless - it doesn't advance the plot, the character relationships, the theme...it's mostly just, "Day in the life" stuff. I love it, but I can't use it, so I don't write it.
I have a friend whose relationship with his characters is different. They, too, live in his head...but they prefer to tell him the story as it happened over the course of time, in chronoligical order (well, almost - they tend to pick and choose parts of the story that they want to speak about, but once they've decided they'll talk about that section in order). They tell him their stories, and he writes them exactly as they say. With me, my characters tell me how the story goes and I stop thinking and just write, so neither of us is in charge...John writes what they tell him to write. If he tries to force it to go his way, they'll stop speaking until he realizes that he wasn't doing it right. Then they'll pick up and talk to him again.
He has to write down essentially everything they say to him, because they don't [seem] to deviate the way mine do. I don't spend the day inside John's head so I can't say for certain, but from what I've heard it doesn't seem like they show him about the time they were all at home after the story had happened, and it was hot, and they had some water guns lying around, and...well, you can guess where that went. Completely unhelpful. Now, this doesn't mean that John will automatically use everything they tell him; sometimes they include useless information that will later get deleted. However, it's information that has to be written down originally because - at least while the char is telling him the story - it's important to that char.
He then, later, goes through and deletes the superfluous scenes. His chars act more like real people than mine do in that respect; come on, how many of you go off on tangents or include the minor details when you're recapping something that happened to you the other day?
Anyway, my point is that characters - to me and to every writer I've ever spoken with - are like physical people who live inside your head. However, they speak in different ways. How do your characters speak to you?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
decisions, decisions
Today was going to be about characters - all about characters - but as I got to around the halfway point and I looked at the clock and realized that it was 11:27 pm and I'd been writing for over an hour...I edited my ideas. See, ultimately I could write about character for a week straight and not run out of things to say. I could. The way we view characters in our heads and the relationships we develop with them could take up an entire entry; the things I've learned about characters from various books on writing or on characters as well as experiments that can be played with characters - that could be a complete other entry (two, even); good books and websites on characters, naming characters, creating characters, getting to know characters, etc., as well as exercises to help develop characters - that could be a completely different entry as well! I can keep going on and on with character on Monday and Wednesday, and still have more to say on Friday.
So I will.
Next week, prepare yourself folks (all one of you): it'll be Character Week. Because I have an over-obsession with characters.
Today, I'm going to discuss my writing. Which means I'm going to talk about my writing classes, because that's really all the writing I've been doing lately.
I'm a little stuck right now for my fiction class; we're supposed to write up a six page short story rough draft, 11 pt font...1.5 spacing. That's great, really it is. One problem: I can't decide what to write. I've got two options, at least, and it ultimately boils down to which style I want to use.
The first story I want to write would be continued on from a two page expansion that we wrote for that class. The prof has already pointed out, in class, that she thought it was effective where usual stories of its ilk are not. In the barest terms, the story is about a woman finding out that she's pregant, but there's a lot more going on than just that (mostly because of the characters - see? They're very important elements). It's an overdone topic that most people just can't pull off [apparently]. According to the prof, I succeeded. In two pages, whoop for that. And, ultimately when I was writing it - I wanted to expound on it. However, now I'm worried that if I do, I'll just ruin it - and I'm not so sure I want to write it because it's basically the same style as the other two expansions we've done this quarter and this story will be the one we work with the rest of the quarter.
On the other hand, I've got this other story - it's essentially a prequel to the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, which I'm trying to rewrite. My NaNo novels tend to be a lot more whimsical and "random", and this one would involve the main character saving the dinosaurs from aliens who want to possess their giant bodies so they can win and intergalactic swimming contest. The MC then, after saving the day, has a party. She gets drunk. Her adopted mother bets her a penny that she can't hit Earth with an asteroid. She takes the bet. She rides the astroid, manually changing its trajectory so it will crash into the Earth. Wakes up the next day. Has an OH SHIT! moment. You get the point.
It's hilarious, but I'm not sure if I can write the story in such a small space and still get across what happened, as well as the characters, and the proper tone.
Then, of course, I always have to take into account the possibility of starting something completely new. Unrelated to either story.
*Sighs*. What to do, what to do? I'll have a conference with the prof to discuss it on Friday, and the first draft of 6-7 pages is due on Wednesday of next week, so we'll see.
I also have a rough draft for a nonfiction piece due Friday for my creative writing class. I'll have to write that tomorrow. Work until five thirty, six o'clock ish, should probably cook, and then writing. I think I'll also try to write a little bit of the second option story, just so I have a good beginning to go from. I can decide better then, and maybe get an idea from the prof.
Anyway, it's technically 3 minutes after midnight here so I'm technically posting this on Thursday. I might have to rearrange the days I write so they still manage to get posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That means there will probably be another post up a little past midnight tomorrow, as well.
Take care, readers! All one of you...heh. =)
So I will.
Next week, prepare yourself folks (all one of you): it'll be Character Week. Because I have an over-obsession with characters.
Today, I'm going to discuss my writing. Which means I'm going to talk about my writing classes, because that's really all the writing I've been doing lately.
I'm a little stuck right now for my fiction class; we're supposed to write up a six page short story rough draft, 11 pt font...1.5 spacing. That's great, really it is. One problem: I can't decide what to write. I've got two options, at least, and it ultimately boils down to which style I want to use.
The first story I want to write would be continued on from a two page expansion that we wrote for that class. The prof has already pointed out, in class, that she thought it was effective where usual stories of its ilk are not. In the barest terms, the story is about a woman finding out that she's pregant, but there's a lot more going on than just that (mostly because of the characters - see? They're very important elements). It's an overdone topic that most people just can't pull off [apparently]. According to the prof, I succeeded. In two pages, whoop for that. And, ultimately when I was writing it - I wanted to expound on it. However, now I'm worried that if I do, I'll just ruin it - and I'm not so sure I want to write it because it's basically the same style as the other two expansions we've done this quarter and this story will be the one we work with the rest of the quarter.
On the other hand, I've got this other story - it's essentially a prequel to the novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo, which I'm trying to rewrite. My NaNo novels tend to be a lot more whimsical and "random", and this one would involve the main character saving the dinosaurs from aliens who want to possess their giant bodies so they can win and intergalactic swimming contest. The MC then, after saving the day, has a party. She gets drunk. Her adopted mother bets her a penny that she can't hit Earth with an asteroid. She takes the bet. She rides the astroid, manually changing its trajectory so it will crash into the Earth. Wakes up the next day. Has an OH SHIT! moment. You get the point.
It's hilarious, but I'm not sure if I can write the story in such a small space and still get across what happened, as well as the characters, and the proper tone.
Then, of course, I always have to take into account the possibility of starting something completely new. Unrelated to either story.
*Sighs*. What to do, what to do? I'll have a conference with the prof to discuss it on Friday, and the first draft of 6-7 pages is due on Wednesday of next week, so we'll see.
I also have a rough draft for a nonfiction piece due Friday for my creative writing class. I'll have to write that tomorrow. Work until five thirty, six o'clock ish, should probably cook, and then writing. I think I'll also try to write a little bit of the second option story, just so I have a good beginning to go from. I can decide better then, and maybe get an idea from the prof.
Anyway, it's technically 3 minutes after midnight here so I'm technically posting this on Thursday. I might have to rearrange the days I write so they still manage to get posted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That means there will probably be another post up a little past midnight tomorrow, as well.
Take care, readers! All one of you...heh. =)
Monday, April 19, 2010
Introduction
This blog, which will hopefully be updated three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, will contain any and all of my thoughts regarding writing. This includes story or novel ideas, how the writing process is going for me, things I learn, questions I have, answers I have, research I've undertaken, my ideas on any subject that pertains to writing, possible clips of things I've written, etc. Today, I suppose I will just give a bit of an introduction to who I am.
My pen name is L.V. Ana. I've self-published but not real published; I have short stories for sale on LuLu.com and I frequently post short stories on deviantART.com. I'm currently and strongly considering a creative writing major, and I'm taking classes towards that goal as I decide. I've been telling stories since I could talk, and writing since I knew how to form letters. I'm heavily interested in experimental fiction at the moment, but I write more than just experimental. YA (which is always heavily experimental anyway), fantasy, science fiction, action adventure, etc. Mostly I write novels but I do write a number of short stories when I can't get the words out for the larger pieces.
I'm not sure how much else I have to say. Mostly right now I just want this to be an introduction. Welcome to my journey, as a student and a writer. =)
My pen name is L.V. Ana. I've self-published but not real published; I have short stories for sale on LuLu.com and I frequently post short stories on deviantART.com. I'm currently and strongly considering a creative writing major, and I'm taking classes towards that goal as I decide. I've been telling stories since I could talk, and writing since I knew how to form letters. I'm heavily interested in experimental fiction at the moment, but I write more than just experimental. YA (which is always heavily experimental anyway), fantasy, science fiction, action adventure, etc. Mostly I write novels but I do write a number of short stories when I can't get the words out for the larger pieces.
I'm not sure how much else I have to say. Mostly right now I just want this to be an introduction. Welcome to my journey, as a student and a writer. =)
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