Progress

Jenita started this week with the question that plagues every writer: how do you evaluate your progress?

I tried to answer this question many times throughout this week.  I found I couldn't come up with one.  Maybe at the beginning of the month, I would've proudly had a response for you, but right now, at the middle, I got nothing.  I don't know what I'm doing.  If progress is feeling good about what you've written, I don't think I've progressed since Week One.  I'm not going to define progress as that, because I would feel like I'm wasting my November.  Instead, I'm going to consider progress as my word count.  It's a pretty lame way of measuring it, but even if I haven't accomplished anything else, I can at least say I've written more than I ever have before in fifteen days.  And that is:

25065 / 50000 words. 50% done!

I'm counting on the fact that I'm going to feel better about what I've written in December. Maybe.  I haven't gone back and read any of it, so what seems bad on one day only continues looming in my head as a bigger and bigger nightmare as time passes.  By the time one week has gone by, I am pretty much convinced that everything I've written is the most appalling thing to ever be put on paper.  My personal (and professional) career as a writer is over.  And I know that they say this happens to every writer during NaNoWriMo, that everybody flails hopelessly during the middle, yet somehow I am egotistical and dramatic enough to believe that my situation is UNIQUE and SPESHUL-er than everybody else's.  That is to say, my middle is the worst middle that has ever been put in any novel since God invented the written word.

So it's probably not the greatest time to ask me about progress.  Although, Maureen Johnson's pep talk has made me feel marginally better about it.

Some people, unlike myself, have made tangible progress.  For example: Elana Johnson, who has a wonderful blog, is a wonderful person, and no doubt a wonderful writer (I DON'T HAVE A THESAURUS ON HAND OKAY, IT'S 2 AM, BUT BE CREATIVE AND INSERT SOME POSITIVE ADJECTIVES OF YOUR OWN), has scored an agent.  Which is wonderful because hopefully one day soon, she'll have her wonderful book in a wonderful bookstore, so we can all buy it with our wonderful money.  Let's all wish her the best of luck.  Man, this has been a great year, apparently, for Lisa and Laura, Sarah (with a chance), and now Elana.  That's progress, guys.  I'm going to call that progress.  

Writing Community

Topic by Lin.

I don't know about you, but when I started out writing, my idea of being a bonafide author was sitting in desk by myself, clicking furiously on a typewriter (because come on, typewriter screams author SO MUCH MORE than laptop) with several half-full cups of coffee and yelling over my shoulder, "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR FOOD RIGHT NOW OKAY?!"  Oh, and artsy hats.  You have to have artsy hats.

Granted, when I started out writing, I was young enough to still be watching Blue's Clues, so my notions of the world might've been slightly off.  Well, then I grew up (figuratively speaking).  I realized that people don't use typewriters anymore.  I realized that coffee is expensive and causes headaches if you drink too much of it.  I realized that I cannot write on an empty stomach.  Food will always trump writing.  And I realized that my head is way too big for hats.  Just look at it.  I'm like an Asian bobblehead doll.  I will never be able to wear cute beanies and berets.  Yes, it's emotionally scarring to me.  Let's not bring it up again.

I also realized that authors have writerly friends.  This was a shocking discovery.  Authors are supposed to live alone except for their twenty-seven cats (twenty-seven is the magic number of cats that screams perpetual loser-dom and loneliness; you're good if you only have twenty-six) and shun the rest of the human race.  Well, really, I discovered that Libba Bray is friends with like...every other YA author ever and they all live in NYC.  And that Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier are married.  I mean...whaaaaaa?*  Authors can't MARRY each other! That's like...against the rules of authordom.  There are rules, I swear.

What was the question again?  Seriously, I forgot.  Oh, right.  Do I associate with other writers?  NaNo was the first time I met other writers in real life.  IRL, writers are pretty much as you expect them to be.  They carry around laptops and notebooks and stuff.  And sometimes they stop whatever they're doing to scribble random things down like psychopathic hall monitors.  I like write-ins.  I think they make me more productive.  They also give you a nice sense of community, so you don't feel like you're the only person who engages in this somewhat odd hobby.  One of my MLs gave me a ride home so I wouldn't have to take the bus, which was pretty nice.  Of course, my biggest source of associative-ness is you guys.  My blog is where I hash out my secretive writing life.  I think it's important that everyone has one person as an outlet.  There's one of my real life friends who actually knows my ideas, and she listens to my ranting (more in the summer, since we're both in different cities now).  The other person I go to is greenconverses.  Just an online friend, but I always go to her when I need help.  We're Facebook friends too, so we can go crazy on each other's walls during NaNo.  

Anyway, I'm going to spending some quality time with my novel tonight, because I can't go out. Was going to, but these three canker sores in my mouth have made it impossible for me to interact with people without sounding angry or like I have a serious speech impediment.  It hurts a lot to talk.  Or smile.**  And it's causing me to have weird facial expressions to minimize the pain, so I think it might be better for me not to go to public places, even public places where people are too boozed up to notice your face.  So it sucks.  But at least The Office is on tonight.

Monday: Flames and Shadows

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Thursday: me

Friday: Girl With A Notebook

Links are on the side.

*It also didn't help that Justine is Australian and Scott is American.  I kind of assumed that Justine lived in Australia.  I guess they switch countries every couple of months.  Is it sad that I know this much about their lives?  

**I'm hoping really hard that the sores won't hurt as badly tomorrow.  I'm getting baptized tomorrow night (woooo hoooo), so I would like to be able to pray out loud without sounding like I'm using a *tone* with Jesus.

How Do I Get To Know My Characters?

Question by Rebecca.

Well, let's see.  I don't interview my characters.  We don't really interact.  Maybe in my head, right before I go to sleep, where no one can see the jumble of insanity going on, I will think about asking him/her some questions.  

I think what I tend to do instead, is go through an ordinary day, and imagine how characters would interact with an environment or situation if they were in my place.  I let myself imagine the snide remarks they would make (if they're the kind of people who would make snide remarks) and how they would feel about a scenario.  One at a time, of course.  I don't need an entire cast crowding my head.

Some of them are more amusing to spend a day with than others.  I designate characters as "the one I would want to be with if we were going to a party" or "the one I would want to be with if I had a huge exam and needed a ton of patient tutoring" or "the one I would want to be with if I was in a crap-tacular mood."

I really, really hate looking for pictures of my characters.  They look so distinct in my head that I can never find just the right picture.  And I also don't like pictures because they're very cut and paste about looks.  If I do look for them, I prefer paintings or sketches.  They give a dreamy quality to the character, a more fictional feel that I like.

But since I feel the need to physically represent a character for you, here are some pictures. They're not perfect, but they're about as close as I can get, I guess.

This is Megara from Across The River Styx.  I call her Meg for short, but nobody else does.  She is the MC and the first-person narrator.  This particular representation of her has green eyes, which is important.  Not to the plot, but to the way she looks.

This is Elladora from the NaNoWriMo project.  I call her Ella.  Most people do.  She's not even the MC, but I just really adore her.  I think she's my favorite character so far, out of everything I've done.  This representation of her has the upturned nose and short brown hair.  That is, apparently, really hard to find.

The pictures are actually of Rachel Hurd-Wood and Tatiana Romanov.  Tatiana usually looks so sad, so I found a picture where she...doesn't look AS sad.  Ella is not a sad person.  Really not.

Also, I am registered for NaNoWriMo under Icy Roses, so if you're participating too, look me up so we can be buddies!

Monday: Sometimes Nonsense

Tuesday: me

Wednesday: Girl With A Notebook

Thursday: Flames and Shadows

Friday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

What Makes A Memorable Character?

I AM ON TIME.  The question for this week is: what makes a memorable character?  Or alternatively, what makes a character memorable FOR YOU?  Because we all have different tastes, after all.  This would be a good time to go ahead and admit that while I did enjoy Pride and Prejudice, it was not one of my favorite! books! ever!  Some people (some of my friends, in fact) have an unhealthy obsession with this book--namely, with Mr. Darcy.  I mean, sure Mr. Darcy is cool and all, but he's kind of the typical douche/bad guy (interchangeable in some situations, but I'd go with the first for P&P) who changes for the girl because he loves her. Boring.  Lame.  Misleading to girls in real life.  The only reason I like Mr. Darcy is because he's portrayed by Colin Firth, and let's just be honest here: that's an objective kind of hot.

So, I'm going to go over MY criteria for what makes characters memorable for me. 

NOTE: This really applies to what I think makes a memorable hero (villains are a whole 'nother ball game that maybe we can handle in another week).

1) I'm a bit on the fence about complaints.  I don't like whiny emo people (exhibit A: Harry Potter in Book 5).  If you're going to be whiny, at least have a sense of humor about it.  If you're going to be whiny and not be funny, then you are no longer memorable to me.  In fact, I don't even know if I'm going to finish reading your story, dear MC.  I finished HP5 barely, because I had already invested 1000+ pages of love in Mr. Potter, and if he was going to have his hormonal cry-fest in one book, well, then I could deal with that.  

2) Be a person of action.  Don't let action happen to you.  You are the hero!  Do something, go somewhere, kick some ass.  Because if you're not, then maybe you should switch places with your sidekick and save us all the trouble of suffering through x-pages of watching you get your backside slapped around by circumstances out of your control.  Nobody wants a weak hero. You're not even real, so do something that will impress me and make me remember you.  Do something that nobody else would do.  

3) Really noble people.  I will admit, this is blatantly something that applies directly to me.  It is entirely possible that you like heroes who run in shades of gray (which is fine; I like them too, but not so much as the noble ones).  I find that I particularly like heroes who are always striving to do the good.  Who are rarely conflicted by TEH EVIL even if it threatens to win overwhelmingly.  Who doesn't like a good stalwart underdog?  My theory as to why I prefer noble heroes is that the world needs noble heroes, and they always seem to be the ones people admire the most, you know?  It takes a lot to be so committed to the light.  

So there it is.  Here are some of my favorite heroes, in no particular order:

1) Harry Potter

2) Ella (Ella Enchanted)

3) Scarlett O'Hara

4) Percy Jackson

5) Coraline (Coraline)

6) Esperanza (Esperanza Rising)

Hmmm.  It occurs to me that I should read more books with male protagonists.  I will work on that.

Present Your Work To An Author of Your Choice

Because I would never be able to choose just one, here are two, and two that you might expect if you know me at all:

1) Donna Jo Napoli.  She's a graduate of Harvard (mathematics and Romance languages) and got a degree in linguistics from MIT.  She is now a professor of linguistics...somewhere in Pennsylvania, I think?  I'm not sure.  I think she does workshops for writers, which is more than a lot of authors do.  She also happens to be my favorite author and has been for many years.  I've never met her, and I don't know very much about her, but I know that she is the most stylistically perfect writer I've ever had the good fortune to read.  And I hope that someday, I do get to meet her.  (And maybe attend one of her workshops.  I'd probably leave crying, but it would be a good kind of crying.  The kind you look back upon fondly later.)

2) Rick Riordan.  I know he's too busy to function, but I'm such a fangirl, I can't help but put him on my list.  I think he has a mad good understanding of pacing, which is something I struggle with regularly.  He is also brilliant at dialogue and voice.  I've (kind of) met him in person, and he seems really nice.  I guess all authors must try to seem that way while on tour, but he used to be a high school teacher so he can't be a total hermit, right?  High school teachers also understand...you know...feedback.  So he'd probably offer good advice.  In my hypothetical dream world, of course.  Like I said...too popular to function.  Anyone who has that much love for Greek mythology though--I think we can get along.

...And now, I am apartment-hunting with my future roomies so pray that the rain stops and wish me luck!  

I'll post next week's order when I get back.

*Edit* No sorry, I was not apartment-hunting for a day and a half, I just forgot about this shindig.  :-(  But here it is:

Monday: Me

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Flames and Shadows

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Improvement

Lin Wang, the conductor of the blog chain train this week.

All of us strive toward improvement.  I don't think there's a definitive formula to improvement. Plus, some people improve faster than others.  Some of us are just the tortoise, slowing making our way to the finish line.  Well, maybe the blind tortoise, since we can't see how close we are to the finish line or where the dang finish line is.  But WE'RE GETTING THERE. Inch by laborious inch.  And because I am the Queen of List-making, here is the List for today:

1) Read.  This is so redundant.  Read everything you can get your hands on.  That's great if it's your genre; that's also great if it's not.  I wasn't much of a fantasy person before I started writing a fantasy.  But the process of writing that genre made me appreciate reading it more, and then I learned more about the genre through reading.  I read a lot of YA.  I read adult too. Sometimes I still read children's books.  And when I'm not reading novels, I'm reading textbooks.  Or biographies.  Or short stories.  (Short stories are really great if you're pressed for time).  Read something.  Really read it.  Don't just skim either.  Pay attention to the direction the stories go.  Reread too.  Don't read something once and never pick it up again.  I reread stuff all the time.  I mean, I don't reread it from cover to cover, but I like picking up a book I've read before and opening it to a random scene.  I do it SO MUCH that I basically reread the book, but out of order.

2) Betas.  You need people to tell you what is wrong with your stuff.  Always good to know. Sometimes, you don't even know you're doing stuff wrong.  My creative writing teacher over the summer told me I use an overabundance of long sentences.  I didn't even notice I did it until he pointed it out.  So yes.  Critical readers are scary, but they are good.

3) WRITE.  Do it.  A lot.  If you write pages and pages year after year, I can bet you, even without betas or reading, you'll be better.  You might be thinking, "This writing is total crap." It's hard to get started if you're a perfectionist.  But just think: you're building a bridge out of the crap you're writing today to get to the good stuff you'll be writing tomorrow!  If you want a solid bridge so you won't fall into the ravine, you need a lot of crap.  So get started today.  If you want to destroy the evidence, you can burn the bridge once you're across, and everybody will think you sprouted wings and flew.  But you will know the secret.

Sorry.  I wanted to reveal something totally REVOLUTIONARY and UNIQUE like: take your favorite books, burn them, and inhale the fumes.  Then you'll absorb all of its WRITERLY MAGIC.  (Okay, don't really do that.  The only thing you'll end up inhaling is the magic of lung damage.)  But alas, I have no miraculous shortcuts for you.  Writing is a straightforward business.  It's like learning how to play piano.  You can either be a prodigy or you can practice.  No matter how many hours you stare at the sheet music, you will not absorb technical proficiency through your eyeballs.  You're going to have to sit your booty on that piano bench and work it out yourself.

Monday: Flames and Shadows

Tuesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: me

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Something New

Kim asked us whether we were doing anything new with our writing.  There are several things new with my life/writing.  Let me list them for you.  Have you noticed that probably 50% of my posts involve lists of some kind?  My life is a list.  Seriously, if I could put up a screenshot of my desk and show you how every post-it is a list of things I have to do for so-and-so class on so-and-so day, you would see that the previous statement is true.

1) My schedule.  My schedule is a full-blown mess, since I can no longer write every day.  And I'm okay with that.  I used to be psychotically not okay with that in the summer, but when school starts, that GPA (ahhh!) is my number one priority.  If you want to know how much of an Asian GPA freak I am, I panicked when I got my anthropology quiz back today, and it was only 91.35% (oh yeah, you know I remember the EXACT percentage).  Because that's an A-. Just while I'm at it, I'll go ahead and let you know my one out-of-this-world-impossible dream in life is to be like Barack Obama/Elle Woods (obviously interchangeable) and go to Harvard Law.  So as you can see, there are a lot of other things occupying my mind.  Instead, I try to block out days where I can have at least an hour to write.  And then the trouble is trying to follow that plan religiously, instead of getting distracted by Bubble Tea! or other things that suddenly seem invariably more important during Writing Time.

2) My story.  I'm writing fan fiction instead of real stuff.  But that's okay, because the reviews I'm getting shallowly boost my self-esteem.  And I'm not just saying this--it's really dorky, but fan fiction improves your craft.  Usually.  I mean, if you're one of those people who can't spell "please read" or "summary" correctly in your summary, then maybe all hope is lost for you/the English language/humanity.  In attempting to prove the worth of my detour to myself, I'm also in a way, practicing plotting.  Because I have come to the conclusion that I am awful at plotting.  It's a weakness of mine.  I can do dialogue.  I can do description decently.  I am a pretty above average writer.  But plotting is HARD.  So I'm going to use this opportunity to practice in a way that only involves rejection/acceptance from casual anonymous readers on the Internet instead of SCARY AGENTS.

3) Rewriting.  I rewrote the last chapter of said fan fiction story 3 times already, and it's still not done.  Before I started writing seriously, I never rewrote.  Like, never ever.  If it was out on paper, it was IN STONE.  It was like a commandment of God.  The delete key did not exist for me.  But now it does, and I am happy.  I am learning the magic of the "try, try again" theory.

4) Keeping at it.  I've also learned it's unacceptable for me to use writer's block now as an excuse to not post a new chapter in three months.  Which happened for my last fan fiction novel.  That is called laziness.  I am a hard worker.  I can do this.  I can update on time.  I can be on a timely schedule.  I can WRITE STORIES and most importantly, FINISH THEM.  This is a good lesson for life in general--not quitting.

5) Appreciation.  What's new?  My appreciation for the journey of writing, instead of the months from January to August where I was hellbent on rolling out a novel for publication. I'm getting a lot better at appreciating the spontaneity of the beginning of a chapter, the frustration of the middle of a chapter, and the satisfaction of the end of a chapter.  Life is about the journey, not the destination (because the destination is invariably death...), so stories are too.

WHAT AM I DOING?  It's midnight, and I have a British history test tomorrow.  If I don't get an A in that class, I will be SAD.  I also wiped out half of a full-sized bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had frozen yogurt twice.  The story of a college student (by that I mean, the story of gaining the Freshman 15, except every year).

Monday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Tuesday: Can we please pretend like I got this out on time? Edit: HA, my timestamp says I did!

Wednesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Thursday: Flames and Shadows

Friday: Girl With A Notebook

Inspiration

LATE, LATE, LATE, LATE, LATE.  Yes.  I'm sorry, guys.

But here we are, three weeks into the school year, one physics test later (A, thank you very much), and my writing life is going better.  Tomorrow is Friday, and before I go camping (I'm going camping with some people in my dorm at night), I'm going to have a write-in.  I get done at 11 am, so I'm going to go to the CPL finally and get in a good 3-4 hours.  It'll be good.

Last thing that inspired me?  Research for my history term paper (divorce law in India), the PJO Fic Battle, and greenconverses.  It's important for me right now, not necessarily to shoot for publication at breakneck speed, but continue honing my writing until I'm ready.  So I'm starting a new fanfiction novel project that I'll be writing at the SAME TIME as ATRS. Alternating chapters.  I consider it a good sign that I wrote 1,400 words in an hour last night. This is the result: The End of You and Me, Chapter 1.

------

Percy put the papers in front of him and stared at them as if he could will them to disappear. This was one problem he couldn’t fix with Riptide.  This was one problem he couldn’t figure out how to fix.  It pissed him off.  There was nobody in the apartment, so he picked up a plastic cup and threw it at the wall.  It made a loud clunk and fell to the floor intact.  It left a tiny dent.  He would have to pay for that.  Wasn’t throwing things supposed to give people some satisfaction?  He still felt as if angry little ants were crawling under his skin.

He glanced at the handful of pens in the cup on the coffee table.  He couldn’t make himself go get one.  If he put his signature on that bottom line, that was it.  It meant he was really calling it quits.  It meant everything he had worked for since he was twelve years old was a total waste.

She said something a long time ago that stuck with him, particularly right now.  It seemed so ironic.  They thought they could trump the statistics.  They had beaten every Titan in the book, hadn’t they?  It turned out beating monsters wasn’t the same thing as beating real life.  Real life was harder, and real life didn’t go away after you solved one thing.  You woke up every day, and you had to work at it every day.

“Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce.”  She said it before they got married.  “Do you think we can beat those odds?” she asked him then.

They were young and in love.  Everything was easy.  “Yeah,” he told her.  “I promise we will.”

The stupid cuckoo clock on the wall struck six.  It made the most obnoxious dings.  He wanted to strike it down from its perch.  “Damn it, Annabeth,” he said out loud.  “Why did we have to be in the wrong half of the fifty percent?”  This was one more thing she was going to hold against him.  Promises could be broken, and he broke the most important one.

Continued.

Monday: Girl With A Notebook

Tuesday: my assigned day

Wednesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Thursday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Friday: Flames and Shadows

Quirks

I thought it would be interesting to know more about everyone's personal writing habits.  So this week, have at it.  Tell me what your quirks are, and we'll see if we aren't as weird as we seem.

1) I cannot write at home.  I just can't do it.  "Home" encompasses everywhere I have to sleep (so, dorm room too).  It becomes a concern for me where I can go next to write.  I feel weird going to the same cafes, so I'm always on the lookout for a new place.

2) The smell of coffee stimulates my imagination.  I learned in psychology that the part of your brain that processes smells is connected to the part that processes memory.  So the sense of smell can bring back memories better than any other sense.  I don't necessarily have to drink coffee (although that helps too), but I like being in a place that smells like coffee.  The smell of books (ie library) helps too.  Borders, with its mixture of books and coffee, is the ideal place for me to get my write on.  It also lacks free wi-fi, which is great, because I can't get distracted.

3) The only way I can get through my academic texts is by making up stories while I read them. It sounds kind of hard, but when it's history, it really isn't.  In fact, I get bursts of inspiration for my novel while I'm doing homework  Like when I'm reading an article on the trend of the modern family pre-Industrial Revolution in northwest Europe, I can wonder about what it was like to live back then?  What kind of tales did they have to tell?  Setting?  Description?  It all leads to great fodder for writing.  You do what you have to in order to survive the massive busy work professors assign.  For me, that involves making the texts into some kind of story. Everyone likes reading stories, right?

That's it.  Can't wait to see what everyone else has to say.  Happy Labor Day!

Monday: me

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Flames and Shadows

Thursday: Girl With A Notebook

Friday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Obsessions

Yeah, I'm late.  I'm sorry.  Jenita starts this week's topic.

Hmmm, let's see.

1) Greek mythology.  Shocker much?  It's in my bio.  Check it.  Have I told this story before?  In fourth grade, I checked out D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths.  The rest is history.  Since then, I've gone out and devoured every book and website on Greek mythology ever.  I've also been a fan of Egyptian and Norse mythology, but they've never really captured me the way Greek has.  If there was such a thing as reincarnation, I would have been an Athenian in a past life.  Easy. Funny thing is, I remembered the first book that sparked my imagination, the illustrations, the cover, and even certain sentences word for word (yes, that is how many times I checked it out; the library should have given it to me on a permanent loan), but I could not remember the title. Last winter, when I read Percy Jackson, I was so inspired to figure it out that I spent almost an hour on Amazon pouring through titles of Greek mythology books until I found the right one. Then, I promptly ordered it.  It was like finding a piece of my childhood.  And there it sits on my desk still.  I love it.  Except the one in elementary school was in hardcover.  It's a beautiful book.  

2) Fairytales.  I love fairytale retellings of any kind.  Preferably not modern, though.  My favorite author is Donna Jo Napoli.  She does a lot of this kind of stuff, and she is a stunning writer. She's done Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel (my personal favorite), the little mermaid, Rumpelstiltskin (a close second), Hansel and Gretel, and more that I can't remember.  I very much enjoy a good Beauty and the Beast retelling, since it can be retooled in so many different ways.  Robin McKinley has done two herself: Beauty and Rose Daughter (one of the best B&B retellings ever).  I have personally tried writing Snow White, Rapunzel, and B&B.

3) Villains.  I don't have a true villain in my current novel, only characters who desire the same goal and can't share it.  But one of my great loves in writing is telling a story from the point of view of the villain.  In a sense, making the villain the protagonist.  This is an idea I've played around with many times in fanfiction.  Peter Pettigrew, I did more than once.  Petunia Dursley--I'm had a lot of fun with that one.  My next novel uses someone who is traditionally viewed as a villain for the main character.  She's quite forceful and evil.  Perfect!

Monday: Girl With A Notebook

Tuesday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: Flames and Shadows

Thursday: supposedly me, but not really

Friday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

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

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

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

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.

Pre-Writing

This week, Lin Wang asks: how much pre-writing do you do before starting a writing project?

An excellent question, and one that I will, unfortunately, have a really awful answer to.  I don't do much pre-writing at all.  Before I start a story, there are only two things I need to know: all the main characters, the beginning, and the end.  Yup.  That's it.  I don't even need a plot. Don't take that the wrong way.  You do need a plot for any kind of story, but I don't usually know it before I start.  It takes me a while to figure it out while writing, and then, as you might imagine, I have to edit out all the beginning drivel that is clearly plotless.  I know no other way to do this.

Sometimes, (as for Steam) I do a character chart, especially if there's a large cast of characters. There isn't for ATRS.  And every character's motivations are pretty straightforward.  No secrets here.

You see, the problem with me is if I don't grab an idea and immediately run with it on paper, I lose it.  Or I lose the motivation to get going.  So pre-writing bogs me down instead of helping the process.  I suppose everyone's different in that way.  The only real pre-anything I do is pre-thinking.  I like to think about the story for a long time (ATRS took two years), but I won't write anything down.

Occasionally, research is necessary.  Research is a good way to get the ideas swimming along in my head, but most of my stories don't require a ton of research.  And I won't write about something that requires research in an area I don't like.  Like sci-fi?  That will never happen. Ever.

For other people who have better answers:

Monday: Flames and Shadows

Tuesday: Girl With A Notebook

Wednesday: it's me...

Thursday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Friday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

So, you can see on my ATRS block, I have added a total progress bar, because I obviously need more reasons to obsess over word count.  But it looked cool, and decisions in my life are mainly made based on whether they will seem cool or not.

Rick Riordan posted pictures of his family vacationing in Greece, and I almost melted into a gigantic green puddle of jealous goo.  If I believed in reincarnation (which I don't, being a Jesus and Bible-lover), I would swear that I once lived in Ancient Greece.  I have a love affair with it, as you might glean from my blog.  I'm thinking of doing the six-week study abroad program in Athens next summer (yeah, I think I peed a little just typing that) if I can fit it in with my LSAT class.

New book idea: something Peter Pan related.  I'll let you know about that.

What Do You Do When You're Stuck?

(Topic by Kim)

Some may call this phenomenon "writer's block."  I do not.  Because my number one rule of what NOT to do when you are stuck is say, "Gee, I have writer's block."  Don't do that.  You know that saying, acceptance is the first step to recovery?  I'm telling you to cling to denial like the sun don't shine.  Because admitting you have writer's block means mentally accepting you have some valid external reason for being unable to write.

There is never any valid external reason for being unable to write except a) the second coming of Christ or b) you have a real life emergency.

You're going to think I'm a hypocrite now since I've complained of the midway slump, and I've definitely mentioned having a hard time writing before.  But there are two reasons for any time I'm struggling to write and neither of them are because some magic wall landed in my brain space. One, a simple case of bad planning, and I haven't figured out what's happening next--ergo, I cannot write.  Or two, I'm being lazy.  

It's usually two.  I'm usually staring at the screen at an utter loss of words, but this is not writer's block.  This is me being unwilling to unhook the internet or get to a place where I can't be distracted.  

So what do I do when I run into situation one or two?

Sometimes, the best solution is to take a break.  Sometimes, you really are burnt out after many days of straight writing, and if you are forced to go on, you might accidentally stab your MC with a magically available fork and prematurely end the story.  But the key to this tactic is to do it in moderation, and to only take a break for one day.  Got it?  One day.  If you take a break for more than one day, it's going to be unimaginably hard for you to get back into the swing of things.  For this one day vacation, you should not think about your novel, and you should not feel guilty you're not working on it.  Then, you wake up the next day happy and refreshed, put your butt back in the chair, and voila!  Problem solved.

Otherwise, you can try writing something else.  For me, fanfiction is an excellent outlet in this case.  I can write a nice little one-shot, and by the time I'm done, I'm all ready to return to my novel.  This way, you are still writing and honing your skills.  Meanwhile, your novel is percolating merrily in the back of your head (even though you are not aware of it).  The thing that was bothering you before might not be bothering you anymore when you return.

Sadly, the third way and the best way is something most people don't want to hear.  It's just to find a nice corner without free wifi, drug yourself up with lots of coffee, and keep going at it.  It's going to feel like hitting yourself repeatedly in the forehead with a brick, but eventually, eventually, you'll weather it out and things will be easier again.  

Mostly, I go with the third option.  It's the most productive.  And even if you're writing crap, at least you're writing.  Get it all down on paper first, worry about the technicalities later.  You can't revise something that isn't there.

Monday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Tuesday: Me

Wednesday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer

Thursday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Friday: Girl With A Notebook

Now.  I have done my hair up in Selena Gomez curls, and I mean to go to as many public places as I can possibly hit before the party tonight.  No point in dressing up if I can't show the world.  I'm even going to write in a public place.  So I look like a cool, stylish author.  Hmm...contemplating the correct choice in heels for this day.  Expect pictures from the luau.

Editing Your Own Work

It's that time of the week again.  Rebecca asked of us: how do you edit your own work?

Well, let's see.  After the first draft of my novel, I had planned on using Sol Stein's triage method (which is pretty much working backwards from the worst scene in the book to the next worst and so on).  But instead, I decided to rewrite the whole thing because the first draft was unsalvageable with the new plot changes.  I did do part of the editing process before I scrapped it and rewrote.

Hypothetically, this is what happens from beginning to end.  First, I set the draft in a drawer (somewhere I can't see it) and leave it there for a minimum of a week.  Most professionals (editors, authors) will tell you to forget about it.  They're totally lying.  I have no idea how you can possibly forget about your novel for more than an hour at a time.  At least, I can't.  I spend so much mental time with my characters it's like asking me not to breathe for a week.  So instead, every time you begin to think about your novel you should quickly fill that space in your head with a) thoughts of your next novel or b) food.  Go buy some food and shove your face, preferably with something that is thoroughly unhealthy.  Gaining weight is a side-effect of editing, did I mention this?  Or find the friends you lost while holing yourself up the last week of writing the first draft and go buy lots of pretty clothes.  Or if you're a boy, whatever equivalent boys like to spend money on. 

After this period of forced separation, I'll read the manuscript once through making only sparse notes about my overall feelings.  Then, the second time I read it, I mark it up with different color pens.  Partly because different colored pens look cooler and all professional, but I do blue for plot holes and story problems, and red for line edits.  

To actually fix up the thing, I plan on rewriting/editing scenes from worst to best.  Going chronologically is boring for me.  Oh, I think I forgot to say earlier that I print out the manuscript. Single-spaced with 1 and 1/4 inch margins.  I know a lot of people say double-spaced for editing is better, but I can't bear to waste that much paper.  But I do print it out, because editing on a computer screen is impossible.  I'm already visually challenged as it is; I don't need to go blind before I can legally drink.  

Then, of course, send it out to many betas and friends.  Because some of them probably won't actually read it (the non-writerly type), so shove it at as many people as possible.  I also like to print up a comment sheet with specific questions as to what did or did not work and which characters suck.  That sort of thing.  Then more rewriting and more editing and more rewriting until your fingers fall off and your eyes sink in and you absolutely utterly despise MS Word and everything associated with your novel.

I suppose that's how it works.  I'll let you know when I get there.

Monday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Girl With A Notebook

Thursday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer

Friday: here

And next week:

Monday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Tuesday: Me

Wednesday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer

Thursday: Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Friday: Girl With A Notebook

Point of View

Lin started the blog chain this week on choosing points of view.

I don't think about point of view.  It just...happens.  ATRS is in first person, because that's how I started writing it.  In the back of my mind, I may have vaguely thought since the story was a bizarre one and mostly happens to one character, it would be better to have it told from that character's point of view.  But mostly, I put words onto a page, and they ended up being in first person.

My second novel is in third person limited.  This seems to be a popular style these days.  At least--I see it everywhere.  I mainly picked it because I had recently finished the first draft of ATRS, and I was tired of writing in first person.  It's that simple.  When I'm writing in a particular point of view, the short stories I do during that time are generally in another point of view.  Just to keep things interesting for myself.  I'm selfish like that.

Confession: I can't do third person omniscient.  I confuse myself.  It sounds forced.  I've read wonderful things in this point of view, but I can't pull it off to save my life.

Second person is dumb.  This is my conclusion.  I have seen maybe three books in my life that have this point of view, and I've never read past the second page.  It's too distracting.  I won't say I'll never read something good in second person, but the author will either be a blowout bestseller or threatening my death.  Someone will have to hogtie me to a chair, flip pages, and peel my eyelids back with duct tape for me to finish it.

I've only written multiple narrators for fanfiction and only short stories in that category.  I love it when authors can do this effectively, but I myself prefer to stick with one person.

I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but POV is something I don't give a lot of thought to.  When stories come to me, they come via one character, and it becomes natural to pick that character to tell the story.  

I don't think I'll be attempting a first person for a while after ATRS is done.  I constantly have to worry about not starting too many sentences with I, and after awhile, it gets nauseating to look at (only my own work ^-^).

Maybe other people will offer better insight.  Also, I'm incredibly sleepy.

Monday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer

Tuesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Wednesday: Me

Thursday: Gibber Jabber and Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Friday: Girl-With-A-Notebook

PS I hope Lisa and Laura feel really good about themselves for introducing me to Statcounter.  It is a soul-sucking useful tool for seeing how many hits your site gets every day.  It also lets you see what region of the country everyone is from which is good for stalking...research.

Fantasy Or Reality?

All righty, here we are again at another installment of The Blog Chain.  This topic comes courtesy of Jenita, and you can read her detailed, focused answer at the link.  Because I'm going to warn you right now.  My answer will not be focused.  When are my blog posts ever focused?  So, do I prefer fantasy or reality?  And why?

Well, I'm writing a fantasy.  And my second project is slated to be a fantasy.  But does that mean I prefer it?

I don't.  I like fantasy and reality the same.  But the books I read tend more often than not to be fantasy because I prefer books that provide some form of escapism.  Something that doesn't relate to my life in any way (exception: Asian-American literature, and we'll get to that).  Of course, don't get the idea that my family is in dire financial straits and I'm in an abusive relationship and my parents neglected me as a child.  My life is totally fine, and I count my blessings.  

Still, a book should take me away somewhere, make me believe in the world it presents.  This includes fantasy (most obviously), and maybe some genres you wouldn't think of.  A good thriller. A historical romance.  Dystopic fiction.  That sort of thing.  I don't like contemporary stuff.  I hate to use this term, but I don't know how else to define it: chick lit.  I have read good chick lit.  I just don't go out of my way to read something that isn't recommended in that "genre" (again, I don't like the idea of chick lit being a genre, because there's no such thing as manly lit, so the term is stupid).  I had a wonderful high school experience, and I am incredibly NOT into things like Gossip Girl etc.

Ha, that was the worst answer to the question ever.  

Okay, FINE.  I guess, I prefer fantasy.  Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Narnia: all of this stuff is lovely.  To be specific, urban fantasy is better in my mind because it provides just enough reality to make me think, "Wow, I could almost believe there really is a Camp Half-Blood" or "Maybe one day I can find that magical wardrobe!"  I grew up with Harry Potter, and when I was eleven, I half-hoped I would get that Hogwarts letter.  (This right here is going to provide the anti-magic, psycho book-banning people plenty of fodder for labeling HP a product of the devil.)

Also, fantasy is good because it puts characters in situations where their true meddle is tested.  In drastic ways.  You don't get these drastic tests in reality-based books.  I will go ahead and incite some controversy by saying that fighting a dragon is harder than anything you'll encounter in a high school scenario.  Fighting a dragon who is your mother turned insane by a witch is EVEN HARDER.

I said earlier the only exception I have to this rule is Asian-American literature.  I am always on a hunt for this stuff (particularly Chinese lit).  For those of you who can read/write Chinese, I mean AA lit in English.  For example: The Joy Luck Club, The Fold, Wait for Me, Seeing Emily, etc.  I have a fascination for the AA experience and how it relates to my own.  Maybe because sometimes, I need to know other people understand what it means to grow up American in a Chinese household.  This is more than generational gap, people.  This is cultural, linguistic, moral gap.  Literary therapy is much needed.

And that's all.  My disclaimer, as always, is up top: "unorganized observations" and nobody wins at unorganized posts like I do.

Let's get this battle going.  Fantasy or reality?

See everybody else's less ambiguous answers:

Monday: Girl-With-A-Notebook

Tuesday: Gibber Jabber and Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Thursday: Moi

Friday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer

Top 5 Sites For Writers I Visit Daily

Kind of late.  But that's okay.  Lumiere's mike worked today!  As did EVERYONE'S.  It's a miracle. We are in an outdoor ampitheater, so you know the humidity screws with everything.  Sunday is the last show, and I will be sad.  Sound of Music starts in July, but the cast is all different, and I am rather attached to the current cast (from afar, because cast people don't even know the pit exists).

Topic by Rebecca.  This list is highly subjective because I visit a lot of sites daily, and I can't narrow them down to five.  So know that if you are on my blog list on the side, or you follow me, or you comment on my stuff, or you don't even know me because I just secretly stalk you that way...I visit your blog.

1) ElanaJ - She's not here this week (stalker alert) because she's camping, but normally, she has interesting topics.  And she's real funny, ya'll.  She provides humor and knowledge for me.  It's a win-win.

2) Rachelle Gardner is a literary agent for Christian fiction.  So she can't represent my stuff, but she is fun and informative to read anyway.  Plus, she updates every day.  Therefore, I can legitimately claim I do visit her site on the daily.

3) Miss Snark's First Victim - This is not an every day thing, but this is the first site I stumbled upon when researching.  I participated in a Drop the Needle critique and a 1000 Words critique and the comments greatly helped my piece.  I also, of course, try to comment for Secret Agent contests.  There are a lot of writers who follow her blog, so just a heads up if you are subtly trying to network--it's an easy way to meet other writers.  But be sincere.  Actually provide helpful comments and other people will return the favor.  You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. That's how we writers roll.  We're nice people.  :-)

4) Lady Glamis - Wow.  Here is a blatant case of stalker.  I have never commented on her blog, I'm pretty sure.  She definitely doesn't know I exist.  But she has the most helpful posts for good writing techniques.  She rarely gets off topic (she won't go on a random tangent about robot love, for instance).  Check her out if you get a chance.  She knows her stuff.

5) MAUREEN JOHNSON - Firstly, let me admit I have never read any of her books.  I will fix that promptly when I find time in my life to not write/play music/attend classes/volunteer.  This is kind of a blanket statement because I creep on almost all of her friends' sites too.  The whole trifecta of awesome: Libba Bray, Justine Larbalestier, and Maureen.  I've only read Libba Bray's books.  Again, I mean to remedy that because how can I follow authors and not actually read their books?  It's lame to the extreme.  Is it weird to anyone else that all these bestselling YA authors are friends?  Even Wikipedia makes note of it, and if Wikipedia has noticed your clique, then you are legit.  It's like the mafia of YA fiction.  Or the YA author mansion.  Anyway (see how unconcise and unLady Glam I am?), Maureen is made of funny.  I don't think it's possible for something not hilarious to come out of her mouth at any given moment.  If she wrote a book about her life, I would be all over that.

That's my list.  And if you're not on that list, be aware that I am probably all over your blog anyway.  I know all about your life.  I'm like Edward Cullen.  I watch you when you sleep.  

Next week:

Monday: Girl With A Notebook

Tuesday: Gibber Jabber and Sometimes Helpful Nonsense

Wednesday: Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom

Thursday: here

Friday: Lin Wang - Teen Writer