Like Jell-O

We just got internet back in my dorm.  Last night, it was thunderstorming hardcore, and Champaign flooded.  Like really, seriously flooded.  Sixth street was a freaking river, and by river, I mean people were swimming in it.  I waded out in it too.  Oh come on, you know if you were in college and your street flooded, you would decide to run out and take pictures, even if the lightning was within striking distance and sewage was pouring out of the...sewer.  What? Needless to say, I smelled pretty fantastic when I got out of that.  My dorm flooded.  The office/lobby area was ankle deep in water.  My half of the dorm still had power, but we didn't have internet.  Didn't really go to bed for a while.  Had an extensive, unproductive nap today.

So, it started to go downhill when I got up to go to class irritably today, thinking, "Psh, I don't need an umbrella."  It started pouring in between two classes.  I ran all the way down the quad to my second class.  I walked in, completely soaked, dripping water like a partially-drowned cat, and sat down in the front row because it was the only seat left.  Did I mention I was five minutes late?  The British kid was sitting behind me, and he had a distinctly British look of you stupid Americans on his face.  I tried!  I could have just ran back to my dorm and skipped out (because it was closer), but I kept going for the purposes of education.  I feel like I deserve congratulations for braving the elements, even if it was my own fault.  So I congratulate myself.

On the plus side, yesterday, I did a lot of research.  Suddenly, everything pulled together, clicked and solidified like Jell-O.  Bam.  The rest of the book.  I think it might be longer than 80,000, but I can solve that problem later in revisions.  I even wrote 500 words.  That does not sound like a lot, but for me, it was a miracle considering my word count of the past two weeks: 0 words.

I'm going to get some rich, delicious Italian food to celebrate, and then write some more before dinner.  Yeah, our dorm is not cooking because the kitchen half does not have power.  Which means I also ran this morning on zero coffee.  The rain did a good job of keeping me awake, though.

Also, fascinating interview with new author, Lisa Brackmann.  Don't you love reading interviews about new authors?  Really, though, you should probably get back to work writing, so you can one day become of part of those interviews you secretly love to creep on.

I hope your Fridays were better.  And sorry if I haven't been consistently commenting lately.  I still read all of them; sometimes, I'm in a rush to leave.

Scheduling My Life

My life is so screwy.  There's so much to do.  I should probably be reading something right now, but I'M NOT.  Take that, responsibility!  

I have not written all week.  I want to write today, but I am having some plotting difficulties.  So I'll probably do some research on the subject instead to jump-start my imagination.  If I have time, I'll try to roll out at least 500 words.  Same for Friday.  I generally don't feel motivated to write on Fridays, but I've been very behind.  Saturday: I meant to go to the CPL (Champaign Public Library aka my favorite place on earth), but I have a CUSA (Chinese Undergraduate Student Association) meeting at 3 pm.  Boo!  It's right in the middle of the afternoon, so I would have to get up semi-early to walk to the library for enough time.  I was planning on doing one of those writing binges.  Me, a strawberry-banana smoothie from Latte Da, my laptop and charger spending quality time together.  That looks unlikely, because I like to have at least three hours on a writing binge day.  Hmmm.  We'll see.  If I don't take the time and walk the extra mile to the CPL, I could just stay on campus.

But I don't like the on-campus places to write (during the day).  Maybe I'll find another secluded cafe somewhere.

Oh, I can't on Saturday anyway for previous obligations.  MAJSKDLFA;KSD.

Sunday = homework, and lots of it.  Also, probably not getting up until noon.  Monday is Labor Day, and everything will be closed.  Will I be writing?  Time will tell, I suppose.  Actually, maybe I can push that homework off until Monday, and just chill on Sunday.  Or write.  Ooo, wait, I can't do that either, because I have a Daily Illini meeting on Sunday.  Ugh, that means I have to get up at a decent hour and look professional and put together for work.

My life is an unfriendly writing environment right now.  Still, I am writing this weekend, at least a little bit.  If the apocalypse comes, I will sit in my cafe and write about how fascinating it is to watch the end of the world happen.  Yes.

---------------------

"Everything is governed by Newton's 3 laws."  

*lights go off*

"That, my friends, is not governed by Newton's 3 laws.  That is governed by someone leaning up against the light switches in the back of the room, which is why you all need to SIT DOWN."

My physics professor makes physics almost seem like a fascinating, worthwhile subject.  If only all professors could prevent me from overdosing on liberal amounts of coffee for class the way he does.  

(PS My comparative politics prof looks exactly like Rick Riordan.  Except with a heavy Portuguese accent.)

What Are Your Plans For Your Career As A Writer?

That was a long title.  From Kim.  You know the drill.

My plans, my plans.  I believe I had a similar post, right hurr, so I guess if you want to know more about my fascinating life, you can click on that link.

My plans, of course, consist of being a published author at some point.  Preferably before I turn thirty, which I don't think is too ambitious of a goal, right?  Once, that goal was before I turned twenty (like maybe when I was in high school), but that would be physically impossible at this point.  One year is not enough time to get a book through the publishing process, but ten years? That's doable.  I can do that.  At the rate I'm going, I think I can do that.

Like I said before, my mind has not changed about being a full-time writer.  As in, I don't want to be doing this shindig as my full-time job.  I have way too many other things I'm interested in/want to do to than committing to ripping my brains out on a 9 to 5 basis, thank you very much.  Maybe it will be my full-time job when I have a baby (someday) and take off some time. Or maybe when I retire.  

I don't even want a creative writing minor.  I feel like it will suck the happiness out of my writing (personally; you may feel differently of course).  Writing is more precious to me because I'm not graded on it.  My creative writing class last summer was great, no regrets.  But I don't want to do that during the year or take multiple classes at once on writing.  Bleh.  

Just remember everybody, plans and goals are great.  Not to be the dream-crushing Asian mother to your Western, free-thinking, Pollyanna psyche, but...have a plan B.  Please.  By all means, try hard and don't give up, but don't be locked into a corner when everything you hope and dream for doesn't come true immediately.  Okay?  Okay.  Sorry.  I am the cloud to your silver lining.

Well, those are my plans.  But college is doing a REALLY GREAT JOB of destroying them right now.  I've tried to write the past two days and failed to find time, and I suspect the same will happen today, as I've got work again tonight.  Not to complain; I like the newspaper, but it sucks up the time at night I usually devote to writing.  Some new schedule is going to have to be developed.  Also, it's only been two days, and I already have almost 200 pages of reading assigned.  I knocked out about 100 last night.  And this is the kind of reading that you can't really bullshit out of, like science reading (which I do, in fact, skip), because your clueless idiocy becomes painfully obvious in a history class if you haven't read the assigned articles.  

And then your professor will stare at you with his beady eyes and hate you. 

Ted Kennedy finally died of brain cancer today.  :-(

In other sad news: Borders is in trouble!  I have this sudden compulsion to go out and buy a box of books at full price.  Don't worry, my beloved bookstore (I've always loved you more than your mean older brother, Barnes & Noble.  Shhhh, don't tell!), if you're a sinking ship, I WILL GO DOWN WITH YOU.  Maybe not, as I don't really know how that would work...but I will go down with you in spirit!

Love, 

Me.

Now, as I've thoroughly rained on your parade today, I'm going to class.  Ta-ta.

Monday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Tuesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: moi

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Flames and Shadows

Double Life

I think many writers suffer from a fear of exposure.  What do I mean?  Well, what do you say when you're writing in public and people ask you what you're doing?  It's just awkward.  "I'm writing a novel."  

Oh.  Insert uncomfortable silence here.

Probably a select few of my friends know that I write.  I think sometimes we have the urge to tell everyone about our novel and have them be as excited about it as we are, which doesn't make much sense.  It's not their project, after all.  They have no idea what writing entails.  Then, you end up living a pseudo-double life, where your writing suddenly seems like an eccentric secret quirk at best, a hidden shame at worst.

Maybe some of you don't encounter this problem because you write at home.  I almost always have to write in a populated public place, so this happens a lot.  More than you would expect, actually.  It sounds...pretentious?...to say I'm a writer.  I'm not published.  It makes my habit sound less legit.  Still, every published author started out unpublished at some point, so I am learning to accept what I do as a part of my life.

What about you?

Daydream

Hmmm.  I'm getting tired of themed posts, so this is going to be a quick mesh of random thoughts running through my head before I run off for my HIST 200 (Family, Gender, Law: Transitions, East and West).  Yeah, I have no idea what this class is going to be about either, but unfortunately, it was the only one left of the HIST 200s, that all history majors have to take. I have a sneaking suspicion that the department barely knows what this course is about so they half-assed a confusing name that sounds sophisticated.  But I will be optimistic.  One of my textbooks is "The History of Divorce" and that sounds interesting at least.

There is a British guy in my History of the British Isles course.  Here is my question: why would you come to America to take a course about your native land when you could take that course in your native land?  Open your horizons!  I guess I'm preaching to myself, since my favorite subject is American history and I live here.

Let's play a game of "what I would write if I were not working on this project and I had more talent," shall we?  My answer: steampunk!  Firstly, it's the "in" thing.  Everybody else is doing it, Mom!  Also, steampunk just threw fantasy out of a closed window.  Steampunk is the literary Chuck Norris.  Too bad.  It sounds way too hard.  And I am unfamiliar with it.  But if anyone has a good steampunk reading recommendation, I'll be happy to take it.  Leave your answer to the "what I would write if I were not working on this project and I had more talent" game in the comments.

I have to read Beowulf this week for HIST British Isles.  Lucky it's short.  I've only read the Wishbone version--but I consider that legit.  Back when the world was better and I was a whippersnapper, TV had smart shows that made kids learn about classics, instead of dumb shit consisting of slapstick fart jokes.  So anyway, I have hope that Beowulf will be decent.  It's about a Scandinavian guy beating up crazy monsters.  How wrong can you go with that? Eighth century Anglo-Saxons had good taste, even though most were illiterate, eh?

Happy Monday.

5 Tips For New Writers

This week's topic was started by Rebecca.  And it's an excellent one, because we all have to start somewhere, right?  Going to try and make this quick.  I need to go shopping for things I've forgotten.  :-/

1) Read.  I don't know a single writer who doesn't also love to read.  When you read, you get new plots.  Play the "what if" game with someone else's ideas.  Also, once you decide you want to write seriously, reading changes too.  You can read for style and technical skill.  You may be surprised how much you can learn when you begin to pay attention to things other than the actual story.  Of course I also recommend reading books on craft.  James Scott Bell, Donald Maass, Sol Stein, and Stephen King are pretty much staples for any writer.

2) Edit.  A lot of beginning writers (especially talented ones) seem to be under the impression that published authors crap out beautiful, perfect first drafts.  That is epic lie numero uno.  I'll even admit I really hated editing at first.  It's necessary, though.  You should be aware that your project will undergo several to many drafts depending on what kind of writer you are.  But one or two drafts is not going to cut it.  You don't have to edit everything.  If you're writing for pleasure and for your own eyes, then feel free to forgo that step.  What is not seen by others cannot embarrass you.  

3) Backup.  I think someone else brought this up to, but that just proves its importance. Probably everyone at some point has felt the agony of losing words due to an electronic glitch. It really sucks.  So backup, backup, backup.  I use my email and a flash drive.  You can never have too many backup copies of something.  Maybe you should have a hard copy on hand too.  Do not trust Microsoft Word or whatever writing program you use.  Writing programs are out to secretly delete your words and cause you pain.  Believe it.

4) Going pro.  There are a lot of writers who do this majig for a living and love every minute of it.  However, don't be locked into the idea that you have to make this your main source of income or you have to get an MFA.  You don't.  There are plenty of authors who write on the side.  I really love history, and I love being able to pursue that and also write.  So remember, there are plenty of paths to becoming a writer.  If you don't have formal training, don't let that stop you.

5) Write.  This sounds like obvious advice, but you must do it to be a writer.  Don't get too caught up in the research and the blogging and whatever.  If you don't write on a semi-regular basis, you cannot call yourself a writer.  There are millions of people out there who say, "I'm going to publish a novel one day."  Most of those people will never put a single word on paper toward their novel.  Don't be like them!  Write.  Write.  And write some more.

Good luck!

This week:

Monday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Tuesday: Flames and Shadows

Wednesday: Girl With A Notebook

Thursday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Friday: me

Next week:

Monday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Tuesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: me

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Flames and Shadows

Advice For Starting Over...And Excuses

I move in tomorrow!  

I am ashamed, because I haven't written for over a week.  But next Monday, next Monday I will buckle down and start up my schedule again.  I'm so close to being done.  So close.  I wanted to be finished before the beginning of the semester, but you know I am terrible with goals.  I'm not planning (but maybe it will spontaneously happen) to write between Thursday and Sunday. Those are the last free days before classes start.  

For those of you who have not gone to college yet, I think it would be wise to invest your energy upon moving-in to mingle as much as possible.  Don't put anything else on your schedule.  I can tell you it would be the biggest mistake ever to choose those precious days to be shy.  Say hi to everybody.  You won't look dumb, I promise.  And if you still feel self-conscious, think of it this way: you probably won't ever see that person again anyway if you don't want to.  I go to a college of close to 40,000.  It's pretty easy to avoid people you've had awkward encounters with.  

Go to as many activities as you can find.  Try something new.  Go to a frat party.  I'm not advocating on my blog for you to get drunk, but if you do, PLEASE DO NOT: a) drive; b) puke in someone else's bathroom; c) puke in someone else's bed; d) puke on someone else; e) get so wasted you have to go to the hospital; f) get a drinking ticket; g) have sex and fail to remember it in the morning.  I have not done any of those things, and you shouldn't either.  But I am not the guardian of your morals.  Also, let it be known that nobody is going to force you to drink, so for heavens' sake, don't feel pressured.  

Don't be embarrassed if you can't remember someone's name.  After a few days (hours, actually), the blur of faces becomes too much.  I stop trying.  Once, my roommate and I were out at night, and we met these nice guys at a party.  We hung out for probably around five or six hours, and at the end, I somehow managed to screw up their names.  But it was okay because we're still good friends now.  No harm done.  (For the record, most people tend to remember my name because it's so weird.)

My creative writing teacher (from summer) is the nicest person ever and mailing my portfolio, plus extensive comments to my dorm next week.  I'm excited.  Feedback!

Also, you should know that college is probably the only period in your life where getting mail will bump up your self-esteem.  Getting packages = even better.  Getting packages with food = I am the most popular person on the planet.  You should probably coerce your parents to mail you a lot.  Or friends.  Or teachers.  Because it's a sad day when you walk down to your mail box and it's empty.  It pretty much means you're unloved.

The Last Pevensie

(Sorry, don't have time for a real post today, but here is a Narnia fanfiction one-shot I wrote two years ago, but just dug out and posted on ff.net):

I do not know how to tell this story properly.  I was not there to see it all happen.  I was not there during the adventures, the wars, the friendships made, the friends lost.  I came afterward, after the doors had closed and the memories faded.  Yet, I feel as if this story is mine, because I too have lived it, if only just a little.  And my mother always told me that true stories went on forever and ever, and although the original storytellers were gone, the threads of the story would weave on, unbroken and strong throughout the centuries.  She said if a story were really true, there would always be someone to remember it.

I may never be able to tell the story as well as my mother, and there are holes that I will never be able to fill in.  I can only imagine what happened in the bare, empty spaces, and piece together the parts that I know to make what may have been true.  What matters most is the emotion and the feeling.  My mother taught me many such things about telling stories, for she was the best at telling them herself.

It is a complex tale, for it is the story of more than just one person.  This story spans both centuries and seconds, it is a tale of so much, yet so little.  I do not know where to start.  I do not even know which parts to tell.  If I told the whole thing, we would surely be here until we were both old and gray.  

But you are curious to hear the story now, are you not?  I shall try to begin as best as I can.  I suppose there’s no better way to start a story than:

Once upon a time, there were four children.  These four children were not special in any way, just two boys and two girls, and they had escaped to the countryside during the Second World War.  And there they had many adventures in a particular wardrobe that may have been true and they may have been just the children’s imaginations.  

Eventually, of course, the war ended and the children could go back to their parents.  If this were an ordinary story, I would say the four children outgrew their childish fantasies, and grew up, and had children of their own.  But something went terribly awry, and those four children did not grow up.  Instead, three of those kind, lovely children and their parents died in a train wreck.  It was a horrible train wreck, and the newspapers all had headlines about it, saying things like “Trains Collide For Unknown Reasons” and “Train Wreck of the Century Kills All Passengers.”  And naturally, everyone who read those headlines was sad, and murmured what a pity it was that such an awful thing would happen.  But like all news, this incident eventually faded out of people’s memories, and they went about their daily lives, never thinking of the victims again.

But, if you remember, there were four children in the story.  What happened to the child that did not die?  Well, she was not important obviously (and yes, she was one of the girls, the older one), and nobody mentioned anything about her afterwards, and nobody knew where she went.

I was born eleven years after the accident, and by that time, hardly anyone recalled it at all, except the yellowed newspaper clippings that some people who were interested in those things kept...

Continued.

Kreativ Bloggers Award

I'd like to thank Weronika for giving me this beautiful award.  It's such an honor, especially from her, as I happen to think her blog is super kreativ and gorgeous.  Plus, she's a fabulous writer.  I read both of her blogs, and you should too!

Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might not know.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

The seven I'm passing it on to:

1. Lisa and Laura - They've already been nominated several times, but I was going to do it before and being already nominated does not make them less kreativ - Lisa and Laura Write

2. ElanaJ - Mindless Musings

3. Jill Kemerer - Jill Kemerer (Sweet, Emotional, Sparkling Romance)

4. Yunaleska - Nayu's Realm

5. TereLiz - The Lesser Key

6. Lady Glamis - The Innocent Flower

7. AmandaJ - Ramblings of a Drifting Mind

Of course, I can only nominate 7 people, but if I read your blog at all, I think you're very special. Because I have a short attention span and if I didn't find you interesting, I would not read you, trust me. 

Facts:

1. Apparently when I got my driver's license, I weighed 75 pounds, because that's what it says on it.  I'm not anorexic, I promise.

2. I have only written fanfiction for Harry Potter, Inuyasha, and Percy Jackson.

3. I bought one of those CD lessons and learned how to type the summer before freshman year of high school and have since not written any fiction by hand.

4. I am afraid of mirrors and the dark. (Bloody Mary, AH)

5. I am allergic to mangoes (yes, that's the plural form; I just looked it up).

6. I am going to two lunches today, because I AM JUST THAT POPULAR.  :-)

7. I am dreadfully late to the first.

(Will alert winners when I get back.)

Catch you all later!

Backtracking

There comes a point in every novel (or maybe not), where the writer realizes something has gone wrong.  The plot has gone off the beaten track.  You are forced to do the dreaded thing. You are forced to cut stuff.  

Why?  Why is this happening to me? you ask.  And you stare at all those words that you wrote; highlight them.  You hit it the delete button.  The page is as empty as your heart.

Okay, really, it's not all that dramatic.  But I think the reason I may be not-so-interested in my manuscript right now is because around 3,000-4,000 words ago, I took a wrong turn in the plot.  The last chapter, chapter and a half, feel blah to me.  Everything before that point, I am pretty happy with.  I could show it to people without any shame.  But this latest part feels...contrived.  So I think I must go back, cut it, and try again.  This is unfortunate, as obviously, I won't be hitting my deadline.  Still, it is better to realize the error sooner rather than later.  It would be wrong to press on blindly.  I must have the heart to delete, and delete liberally.

I must thank Lady Glamis for reminding me to map out the ending, for it may have saved that very thing.  It's time to go back to the drawing board and figure out something suitable for the novel's conclusion.  This is a delicate period!  I won't rush it.

I finished the drama, and the ending ticked me off and made me realize my ending may well tick other people off if I don't do it right.  See?  Everything relates back to writing.

Also, Weronika gave me this wonderful award, but it will have to wait until the next post, when I can list who I will pass it on to.  And think of seven facts about myself.

Time Management

YES.  I am alive, I just haven't been blogging or commenting a lot.  Or writing a lot for that matter.  I got 2,300 words in the past two days.  That's not too bad.  Still, I'm definitely going slower than I was last week.  What can I say?  It's just not there, you know?  The spark?  Yeah, I know: I should take my own advice and get on with it anyway.  *Sigh*  Moving back to Champaign in a week.  And I am really happy about it.  I can't wait to go back to a city where stores are open late into the night, people are always around, and I'm away from my parents.  I miss my friends too!  I guess I've just been taking a really lax attitude toward my last couple of days at home.  

Anyway, I believe Jenita started the topic this week.  How do you manage your time when it comes to writing?

Current answer: badly.

Usual answer: I am a stickler for word counts as you know.  I admit that word counts often put the emphasis on quantity and not quality, but I don't have a better method.  Two hours can produce eight hundred words or it can produce three thousand, so time is a bust.  I don't use time as a measurement in the summer.  I generally go for 1,000 words a day.  That seems to be a doable number.  Not overwhelming, not underwhelming.  

I'm not big on writing at the same time every day.  It doesn't matter to me when I write.  Early morning is hard to do because I don't get up early very often, but when it happens, the results have been surprisingly good.  It usually ends up being afternoon, between 1:00 and 5:00, just the way my activities fall.  Weekends are my friend.  I usually get a lot done then.

But during the school year, everything changes.  I do set a time limit then, because it works.  If I only have an hour to write, you better believe I will spend every minute in that hour writing.  You can imagine why this method doesn't work in the summer.  I also generally write at night during the school year, around 8:00 or 9:00.  Except--well, this year I have to copy-edit for the newspaper at that time, so I guess I'll have to work something else out.  I don't write a lot on weekends, and practically never on Saturday (don't do homework on Saturday either; that's what Sunday is for).

I am doing badly right now, because I am just exhausted, bored, and afraid of screwing up the end.  I'm waiting to move-in, and nothing seems all that important in comparison.  I should be packing, but that's not really happening either.  Instead, I am watching a Chinese drama:

I am an extremely white-washed Asian.  I hate Asian dramas.  Hate them, hate them, hate them.  They're so melodramatic.  The acting is bad, the script is bad, and my Chinese ain't that great either, so what they hey.  Why should I try?  I know that picture means nothing to you non-Chinese people at all, but you should know that I have a total, complete infatuation with this series.  There are, in fact, forty-two episodes in the newest season, and I have gone through twenty-five of them in three days.  You can see why writing is not figuring greatly into my days at the moment.  I have to return it before I go back to school, so I AM FINISHING IT, DAMMIT, JUST WATCH ME.  

Ahem.  I'm going to call it, "improving my Chinese."  Yup.  That's what it is.  

The week:

Monday: Girl With A Notebook

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Flames and Shadows

Thursday: Me

Friday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

When Ideas Attack

"In the small, dark hours of the morning, an earsplitting wail woke Percy and Annabeth.

Probably for the tenth time in the last two days, Percy wished he were deaf.  Or perhaps, he thought deliriously in his dreamy, half-conscious state, perhaps I am deaf, and the ringing has become permanent in my ears.  Oh gods, let that not be it.  Please, let that not be it.  But it definitely wasn’t a figment of his imagination, as Annabeth stirred next to him, face down in her pillow.  He found this mildly astonishing, as it was the middle of July in all its glorious mugginess, and it was a small miracle that she hadn’t suffocated from heat.  He wished he could sleep underwater.  It would probably be cooler, but Annabeth did not think sleeping in the bathtub would be particularly comfortable or a good idea in general.

Whatever.  Right now, it seemed like an excellent idea.  

'It’s your turn,' she mumbled.

Those were the worst three words in the English language, he decided."

Goddess-In-Law

----------

Yeah.  So if you have a can of Coke right before bed, this is what happens at 2:30 am.  On the plus side, I turned out an entire one-shot!  On the other hand, I got three hours of sleep.  I guess this is good, since I have to save my mojo for the novel during the day.

Have you ever gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to write a story?  Or you can tell me the most absurd situation you were in when you got an idea.  This should be good.

Mini Break

Yeah, I'm taking a one day break.  This sounds wimpy and lame.  When I write a lot in a day, it is emotionally draining.  I literally turn into a zombie.  I can't think.  I can barely function. That's not healthy.  And that is what I have been the past week.  

I feel pressured to plot faster and faster so I can get the ending out.  I am really worried the ending will be anti-climactic if I push too much.  That's what happened in the first draft, and I am wary not to make the same mistake.  This is, in a sense, a big revision after all.  This draft is stronger in every aspect than the first, and I can't ruin it by screwing up the climax.

I wrote maybe 800 words today before feeling like brain matter was leaking out through my ears.  I, the one who does not get headaches, have been getting chronic headaches lately.  Sure, I got a lot done, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice my sanity for a deadline.  Plus, one day won't hurt.  Tomorrow, my dad and I are going to Chicago because we are bored as all hell in Central Illinois.  I will have all the time in the car to plot--slowly and without distractions.  

Today, I watched Star Trek at the dollar theater with my friends.  Now, I can see the necessity of a Star Trek poster in our room next year.  I also understand why my roommate has a love affair with Spock.  He's one smokin' Vulcan.

Have a nice weekend everybody.  I hope tomorrow gives my eyes and head a break.  I don't like taking painkillers.

Writing What You Care About

Life update: 

I am continuing my rigorous (rigorous for me) schedule of 1,500 words a day.  Which is really hard sometimes.  Like last night, after I came home from babysitting my history teacher's kids, I wanted to fall asleep and never wake up.  They are wonderful kids, well-behaved, and unnervingly pretty.  But I do not usually have to be around young (2-6 years) children.  I also have this (untrue) belief that if a child is not laughing at that immediate moment then she is unhappy, and unhappy children = crying.  I will jump through fiery hoops to avoid crying children.  Anyway, I had to scrape out another 500 words before bed.  It was torture.

Real post: 

I got my roomie/BFF hooked on Percy Jackson (I can be annoyingly persistent when I want to). We're trying to find a poster for our room.  In the meantime, we went to Barnes and Noble.  Lo and behold, they are selling PJO mythology trivia cards!  You know what's coming.  She bought them, of course, so we can have them in our room and learn all of the Q&A's.  Some of the questions are surprisingly obscure.  Like ripping off Zeus' ligaments?  What?  I didn't even know that happened.  And you should know, I know practically everything about Greek mythology.  I used to go to the library and read all the books about the topic I could find.  No lie. I could take a test on it right now and pwn all of you.  :-P

Along with Rachelle's post today, it made me confused and nervous.  You're supposed to write what you love.  If you don't even love what you're writing, how is anybody else supposed to?  But still...not everyone loves the same things.  What if nobody cares about my subject matter? Slightly premature thought but: what if there is no market for it?  How are we supposed to know?!

Difficult, difficult.  I can't help it if I want to write about Greek mythology, I guess.  Write what you love, write what you love, write what you love.  I love it.  I hope other people love it too.

Bah!  Time to go back to writing and not worrying about silly things I have no control over. 1,500 words await.

Postscript: Since a few weeks ago, I have been unable to see anyone's followers, including my own.  It just shows up as a blank box.  So I know how many followers I have, but I don't know any individuals.  Usually, when someone follows me, I will check out their blog, but if you are new, then...sorry!  I can't unless you comment.  If you don't care for my creeper behavior, then whatever.  I'm just throwing that out there.  Or if anyone knows how to fix that problem, please share.

Mmm...Temptation

So a few days ago, I finally decided on my next novel project.  It's going to be another Greek mythology-themed one.  I suppose you could call it a companion book to the one I'm working on, but they're meant to be read separately.  I am more tempted to start this new book by the day. It has two points of view and is in present tense.  Tempted.

If it's even possible, I picked an MC who is more demanding than the one I have right now.  I kind of see my two MC's (the one from ATRS and the new one) as being yin and yang to each other.  They're both women.  They're both used to getting what they want.  Except the new one is very beautiful and charming--you wouldn't think of her as demanding.  She is also a liar, a thief, and a murderer twice over.  She is going to be so awesome to write.  I wasn't planning for my next project to be in first-person (because I'm tired of it), but it has to be.  In this case, the MC is so despicable when seen by outside eyes that one of the points of view has to be hers. Otherwise, the readers might hate her so much they won't want to keep reading.

It's kind of funny.  Both MC's from my books are mothers, except Megara would do anything to keep her son safe, and the other one plots to kill hers.  I imagine they would have a very interesting conversation if they spoke to each other.  I think Megara would be intimidated by this new MC, and she is rarely intimidated.  But the new MC is never intimidated.  

But I must finish my current project first!  Must not be led astray.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that one of my characters eats an olive at some point.  And I realized I'd never eaten an olive before (other than on pizza), so I decided to be adventurous and try one at Olive Garden the other day.  It was gross.  Okay, really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but still not something I would go out of my way to eat again.  I also have to remember not to mention tomatoes ever.  Tomatoes, to me, seem to be such a Mediterranean staple, but I must remember they are from the Americas originally.  It's so strange to think about that, because Italians use tomatoes in everything!

How Has Writing Affected Your Life?

Lucky me, I get to start the blog chain this week!  And I think I will dig back into the reasons why we write (even when it gets hard).  I am interested to see everyone else's answers, since this is such an open-ended question.

Let me say this first: writing makes my life better.  This has to be a given, because if it weren't true, I wouldn't be writing.  I am selfish.  I do things that make me happy, and writing makes me happy.

Writing gives me discipline.  Is this true for you too?  When I started writing my novel, I knew it would be a lot of work, but I didn't expect it to change my lifestyle so drastically.  I treat it as I might treat a job.  It is (usually) part of my daily routine.  I have to set time aside so I can get it done.

Writing changes the way I think.  I think about my novel...all the time, actually.  This is going to sound awful, but when real life starts to get boring, I drift into the world of fiction.  I am always, always thinking about my MC's and their predicaments.  I think about them in the shower, while I'm eating, during really boring college lectures, right before I go to sleep, etc.  In this way, I can make my MC into myself.  For a first person novel, I have to be her.  You could say I live vicariously through her sometimes.  Her thoughts become my own.  Yeah, I know, go ahead and lock me in a psych ward now.

Writing changes the way I experience things.  Living daily life has become brand new, because I have to examine how I feel when I trip and fall onto my knees.  How can I describe the pain (yes, this is really the first thing that comes to mind when I hurt myself)?  How would I describe the weather today in less common terms?  When I run into medieval sword fighters (yes, this did happen one Sunday), I watch their movements and technique, so I can draw upon it later.  

Writing changes the way I read.  The sign of a good book has become, can I read this book without constantly studying the style and syntax?  If I lose myself in the book, it is officially good, because it has become very difficult to turn off the writer-editor part of me when reading. This is good for improving my own writing, but bad for when I just want to read the damn book on a comfy couch for fun.

So much of my life now revolves around those documents on Microsoft Word that it's hard to remember a time when it didn't.

So how has your life changed?

Monday: me

Tuesday: Flames and Shadows

Wednesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

I am on the last leg.  The second draft needs to be done by August 14.