School & Stuff

I've got a very short break in classes and since it's so hot outside I'll probably be riding around on my bike or something. I sometimes wonder if I'm the only person that actually likes school to the point of being bummed out when there are breaks. I only had one class that I didn't like this quarter and that was mainly because I get bored if I already know everything.

Yeah, that makes me sound like a self absorbed overconfident type of person, but it's true.

Basically, what I'm saying is, is that I've got about twelve days of nothing coming up. I would say I'd spent it doing Script Frenzy or writing another book, but, eh. I did write about five songs for this musical thing I'm working on, and that was just during my classes today.

I think I need an office though, because I only ever work if I have a formal space for working with no other options to do something that I might view as more exciting. At school you're not supposed to have electronics and whatnot so I only play games and listen to music on the breaks, but when I'm done my work for a class? That's when all my actual writing gets done.

Vernal Equinox

It's only been a few days into spring and it already feels like summer here. I went outside yesterday and after about ten minutes I was sweating so profusely that I had to come inside, shower, and change. The bright side of all this is that, hey, it's not so cold anymore that I feel my limbs and extremities are about to fall off.

The thing that I don't really like about hot weather is that I like to wear jeans and slacks all year around, despite my owning about five pairs of short [two of which are shamefully short and do not get worn in public]. I like wearing flip flops year round, so footwear isn't a problem for me in the warmer months. But pants? In spring? When it's currently 70 degrees and the sun hasn't even risen yet? Pants are a problem.

Denim that feels threadbare and breezy in the dead of winter suddenly becomes as heavy as a bolt of cloth and twice as hot as a kiln in the not-so-dry heat. Shirts, too, are a bit problematic as it seems that I cannot find that magical fabric that is light enough to not induce sweat when out in the heat, but not see through or ugly. Such is life.

Before I go, WRITING UPDATE: I mentioned a couple posts ago about this story I'm working. That story has since been finished. Or, rather, that version. It had and still has alternating points of view and while I'm not one of this people who "hears" my characters' voices or dreams about them, having to keep them all straight was a pain, so I'm doing a rewrite.

I know that the previous statement makes it appear as though doing a rewrite is some sort of pleasure comparatively speaking, but it will give me a chance to re-experience the story in a different and hopefully correct manner. And, maybe, I will finish it before I get too sick of it.

The One In Which The Author Gives That Obligatory "I Haven't Posted In Awhile" Apology

Except not, because I'm not especially sorry. And I've gotten a tumblr, a link to which is in the sidebar. Just a few hours ago actually. I don't think it would be fair to say that I'll post the same things on here that I will on there since even though they're both weblogging type things, tumblr is a bit more where ever whenever sort of thing to me. Blogger, however, feels like the sort or thing that I should properly post at, like having at least half thought something out before I push the "publish post" button and actually go through and edit things [at least a little bit] before I hit said button as well.

I am, however, going to be chronicling my Wall Project over there so that's always something. Long story short, I've had one wall in my room painted a bluish grey, however it turned out to be more of a greyish blue. This distresses me greatly and I'm trying to figure out what to do [besides paint again, because the smell is horrible even with low VCOs (or whatever they're called)]. Said project involves fractals.

I don't remember if I've ever mentioned on here yet about that writing project I'm working on that involves teenager musicians, but if I have then I still haven't finished it. It's kind of hell at this point--not the story, just having to work on it.

And, just so I'll have some material to post for the future, I'll be posting about my general writing process [and possibly some insight as to why this damned story is taking me so long] some time in the future. I'll most likely take a break for Christmas and what not.

The Best Book Ever

I know this is years old, but I'm posting it anyway because I have just found it. Also, I think that some people have this approach to writing. That is all. Enjoy.

Yesterday & Today

Yesterday I was going to write, but I spent all day reading things on the internet, like random facts and such. Also, I perused random tumblrs and spent a good amount of time listening to music.

I also voted.

And it rained today. It was hot and the air was thick and my back hurts more than it has in a while.

But at the same time, I'm really happy. Even though I have some serious cleaning to do, even though I have some serious organizing to do, even though I have school tomorrow, and many more even thoughs.

My nails are clean and I'm freezing cold. It's always like this at night. It's time for me to go to bed, but it seems the closer it gets to sleep that more awake I become and my head just buzzes with ideas. Thank you music, no sarcasm there, I promise. Tomorrow [read: later today] should be promising.

I've got brand new yellow towels and an excuse to get a new bath rug. Hello Bed, Bath, & Beyond.

Death

Gary Coleman died yesterday and he was forty-two. I think it was a brain hemorrhage or something, but don't quote me on that [this is me being too lazy to use Google]. Then today Dennis Hopper died and he was seventy-four and it was because of cancer. If it's true or not, it seems like there have been a lot of people I know of dying this year, and last year now that I think of it.

Oh, I finished editing that rewrite I did, and that was pretty cool. I was super happy about it, but now the original high has worn off and I'm onto trying to work out something else, as far as plot and setting are concerned.

Also, I'm kind of getting into summer mode. Mainly, all that means is lounging around because it's too hot to do anything else. Ah, summer. The heat, the humidity, the long break from school--oh wait, scratch that last one. I'm going to school year round now. I did get my schedule for next quarter though, and I've class only two days a week, so that's kind of a win in my opinion.

Back to...well, not work, but something like it.

It's Alive!

I spent pretty much the whole day shopping and riding in the car. The first part of the day I was listening to like a podcast that was two and half hours long and then I went out. I bought a really cool outfit, light yellow and stormy sky blue is the color scheme. I really like it, because since they're on opposites of the color wheel they complement each other.

I bought "Glee: The Power Of Madonna" by the Glee cast and "What Is Love?" by Never Shout Never. Love them both. I was going to buy "Congratulations" by MGMT, but that'll have to wait for another day. Still, I can't get "Flash Delirium" out of my head.

Time to attempt some sleep. I've got class in a few hours. And a test I think. I really need to get on that and stop being blindsided by music and television and writing. And reading. I've been doing loads of that lately too.

The Clock

Groundhog's Day was wonderful, even if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we're due for six more weeks of winter. There's always a bright side, which in this case being that there's only six more weeks and not seven or nine or something (because seven and nine are sequential numbers).

So, this is another one of those just before I've got to leave for class posts.

I still have yet to continue writing a thing for the rewrite. That will change today; I'm on a schedule. I'm going to write like nobody's biz. I'm going to go to class, take notes, and write when the teachers lose my interest. I'm going to try to find any unforeseen holes in my plot.

Speaking of plot, I've come realized that there's really only one element that I seriously pay attention to. Sure, I make sure that it has conflict, and sure I make sure that it's sound, but I really pay some major attention to The Clock.

I remember when I went to the young writer's conference last year and there was this guy who talked about how he helped write films and teleplays and he talked about all the elements of plot, in particular the clock though he did talk at length about the other elements and the plot arc and such.

Now, the reason I pay so much attention to it is because it's the only thing that really makes anything else matter. I'm not spouting off advice here (because I'm kinda under-qualified), but rather rambling to myself in a rather public manner that isn't the supermarket.

You have the goal, you have the obstacles. The obstacles make the goal matter by making it hard to achieve. A time limit makes something matter more because if goal x isn't met by time y then it ceases to matter all together. The only thing I could think of that didn't have a time limit actually does.

The only thing I could think of was The Odyssey. Odysseus wants to get home to his family and is tossed and turned by all these events and he takes forever to get home. However, that has the time constraint element, because if he took too long he'd be too old, his wife would be remarried, or the family or him would die before they could be reunited.

So I've really been focusing on the clock lately and not just in this novel but in short stories. I think maybe one of the things I need to work on is other ways to implement time constraints.

Also, happy Black History Month. Now, I've got to eat, make tea, and leave. Did I have homework? I don't think I did it. Gee...

Grammys Baby!

The only parts I've watched have been the very beginning with Lady Gaga and Elton John and then the performance of "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. Had the first thing not been happening I would not have watched at all. As a general rule I don't watch award shows. I'm actually pretty ignorant of them. I didn't even know the AMAs existed until Adam Lambert brought them to my attention.

But enough about that.

The rewrite is...I suppose I could say that it is going mediocre, but only because of the past few days. I haven't written a thing. Mainly because, typically speaking, no one write very well when they're dead asleep, which is what I've been for the better part of the last seventy-two hours.

I haven't any idea why I decided to turn into sleeping beauty, but I did. I feel kind of sick. And I'm still very tired. Then there's school tomorrow and I have a group project that I have to work on. Group work is the very bane of my existence, not to sound dramatic or anything. Mainly because there's collaboration and then there's research.

I'm supposed to research 1/3 of the paper and write 1/3 of it as well. I'm trying hard not to sound like a diva and say, "I don't co-write" but regardless of what I say there will still be undertones of that. I've co-written before, but not only was that fiction it was with someone whose writing no only complemented mine but blended well. Plus, I knew them.

But I'm going to do some research before I fall asleep again and I'll probably be up and writing again by Tuesday at the very latest. I've gotten to that weird point of rewriting where you know everything that's supposed to happen, but you want to make it happen in a different way so half the time I'm mumbling to myself about technical things like weather patterns and dates. It makes me look super sane. Seriously, I appear to be the perfect picture of mental health.

Pretty soon I'm going to need to find some betas though. I should probably start looking...

Rewrite

Rewrite

I'm doing a major rewrite. The funny thing that I find is that now, when I have way more time on my hands, I've been writing less. It's kind of terrible. Back when I was fourteen, I wrote a book that was 133k words long. It was pretty decent, but the point is that I wrote a lot.

I remember writing eleven pages a day and regardless of word count that's huge compared to what I'm doing these days. I have all the time in the world for writing, but I use it on other things, like movies, practicing, video games, and making references/movie quotes of Tim Burton movies on twitter. Damn those Final Fantasy games, damn them straight to hell.

-Ahem- Back to the point. I need to get back into the swing of things. It's been so long since I've written anything substantial. That's what I'm going to do, not in February, not in March, but when I wake up and am not threatening to fall asleep at the screen.

So, it's time for a rewrite, and rather than doing it the old way where I'd just go through and edit, I'm scrapping the whole story and starting with a blank page. It'll be...fun.

The Quest

The Quest

So, it's Tuesday and in a few hours it'll be Wednesday. The holidays are officially over, school has started again, and the premiere of American Idol was tonight.

As of late I've developed the unfortunate habit of slacking off, mainly by watching Cartoon Network and playing all the "new" video games I've bought recently ["new" because they're used and were first released in the early 2000s]. So, I say, no more!

So I started this thing last year where I'm going to write a certain amount of fiction [or memoir, you know, whatevs] by the end of the year. In other words, a writer's New Year's resolution. Now, I'm not going to put that number here to save myself the humiliation should I fail miserably, but it will prove to be challenging.

I haven't exactly been meeting my daily goals, but whatever, you know. I'm sure I'll catch up when I have a boring weekend and haven't the urge to fritter away time on things such as video games. Or at least I hope so.

Anyway, about the title. Yeah, I was watching Teen Titans and that was the title of the episode. It's the one where Robin goes in search of the "true master" for some extensive martial arts training. He has to climb this huge mountain in order for him to be taught so he ends up asking if there is an easier way up. So, the master ends up saying, "There is an easy way and a right way."

You can draw the parallels between that situation and novel writing if you want, but I won't [at least not here]. Mainly because the cheese factor of this post has already climbed uncomfortably high. So, I'll end it here.

Waiting

Oh New York, you disappoint me so.

In other news...Well, this isn't actually news so much as me talking about waiting as I said I would in Tuesday's post.

Now, I know a fair bit about the publishing business, but all in the theoretical sense. I'm unpublished as far as fiction is concerned. Once a poem of mine was submitted to be included in a student anthology in high school, but the teacher had missed the deadline. Aside from that, every work of mine that has ever reached the eyes of others has been either in newsprint or on the internet, the former being the more legitimate of the two.

I've been in the newspaper a number of times, always in the Local section of course. There was one time just over a year ago that a short column of mine was published in a county wide newspaper. Mainly though it was through the school paper that I got any real writing discipline.

Journalism II was fast paced and there was always a sense of urgency whenever the deadline was looming. I know how to plan ahead to meet any deadline now so I'm not scrambling at the last moment, and I basically learned all of that from Journalism II. Sure, I would set deadlines for myself before, but when I didn't meet them there were no consequences. If I didn't meet my deadline there then my story didn't run and I probably wouldn't be able to write another assignment similar as I would have labeled myself as unreliable.

True, sometimes the paper itself didn't meet it's deadline, but I did my best to make sure that I was never a contributor to that.

There was however a certain time that it wasn't so fast paced and all hustle and bustle. That time was known as the time in between issues. It could be viewed as both the best and the worst time. It was the best because you got to catch up and relax. The tension wasn't on. It was that much needed breath before another plunge into that ocean known as Deadline. It was the worst because after a while it got boring. Waiting became the enemy. All you wanted to do is just write something for the new issue. When that break became a painfully stagnant period no amount of gossip or casual conversation could take my mind off of what was next.

Not knowing the exact when of things drives me nuts.

So, naturally, I want to get involved in publishing.

Publishing is full of waiting. So far I'm on the unpublished side, as previously stated. I'm also on the unagented side, which is a little bit worse, but either way, it happens. I know you're supposed to query agents and then wait for their replies. And then if one offers representation you're supposed to wait and think it over, so as not to make any rash decisions. Once you accept an offer you're supposed to wait until they find an editor for it and then you have to wait because you're doing more revisions. Once it's the best it can be you have to wait to have it sold. Once that happens you have to wait for it to be actually published. Of course other non waiting things like publicity and marketing happen in there, but waiting is a major factor.

So far I've waited a lot. Not nearly as much as some, but still a significant amount of time. Waiting blows. I have my query up to the standards that I think is accurately representative of my writing capabilities and the story's plot. I have the story in as close a place to the final incarnation as I could get to on my own. Now it's the holidays almost, which is the quite possibly the worst time to query. So, I'm waiting until half way into the first month of the New Year until I send it out.

For now I am content to say that the book is finished. I just have to wait to do anything with it.

Good News//Bad News

Good News//Bad News

The good news is that I'm back to editing the manuscript that I'm going to start querying. Also, I'm almost done with that editing with roughly 3-7 more scenes to add and a "final" read through. Final is in quotes because if it still doesn't read up to my standards after adding those scenes or it's still too short in my opinion, then it will just be a read that leads to more edits, but I have a feeling that it won't.

The main problem that I can see is that I keep on switching between present and past tense, which may not be that noticeable to some and is something I don't notice when I'm doing it, but it's something that I'd like to work on either way.

Okay. In more good news, I finished NaNoWriMo! I finished my NaNoNovel with roughly 54k words and a few days ahead of the deadline. Still, there is even more good news. I only work two days a week next week, one of them being on the days that I go to school. Ergo, I've only three days where I actually have to do something next week, so me and my very super best friend Sleep and I can spend some quality time together.

So, now it's time for the bad news. When I said that I finished my NaNoNovel it was kind of a lie. Kind of because I finished the NaNoWriMo requirements of it being a novel and at least 50,000 words, but it's still not done. Actually, I'm not even halfway through.

See, the funny thing is that when I got one fourth of the way through the storyline I pretty much went, "Oh snap, this doesn't work." Not, "this doesn't work" in the way that the story itself doesn't, but in the way that the story didn't start where I started writing, but before.

That is not the end of the bad news though. It gets better. I've got a project for school that I have to do tomorrow because it's due on Monday.Yes, it's my fault for not doing it before, but in my defense I feel that the project is boring and the class is useless. Also, because of work I'm going to miss A Prairie Home Companion on NPR.

However, I've saved the worst news for last. Ready? Okay, take a deep breath.

...

I'm going to miss Glee.

I know, I nearly cried when I realized this too. It's okay though, because they show them online too, but it won't be the same. There are only two new episodes left of this season. Tension is rising. The only other chance I'll get to see it on television in the near future is if I get season one on DVD this December.

Oh well. I'll end this with more good bits of news I suppose. I won't be missing any of my other television programming for one. For another, I bought two new hats this past Black Friday (for myself) along with a cool looking V-neck t-shirt. I also bought a scarf I've had my eye on for maybe two months today.

Too Much Hype?

Too Much Hype?

The wonderful thing about Glee is that Glee is a wonderful thing...

And that's where I stop plagiarizing A. A. Milne.

But seriously, I really do like the show.

My Very Best Friend and I had one of our characteristically long, long talks and it came across that he doesn't like Glee. Well, he doesn't watch Glee. Mainly because of the hype.

This I can understand, because when you don't watch something, having everyone around you never shut up about it is annoying. There is such a thing as too much hype in my opinion. I think he would absolutely love Glee [or at least like it], but having everyone talk about it all the time is very off putting. This is for anything, like music, television, music television, and even books.

See, I like discussing things that I like with other people, but the majority of things it seems that you can't really discuss them so much as freak out about how awesome they are. Besides, even if you do pinpoint what makes them so awesome, discussing how awesome they are isn't going to make them anymore awesome [but could possibly make them less awesome to other people who don't care who awesome they are in the first place].

The upside of hype is that people who want to get your references to whatever you think is so awesome will get into it. The down side is that it will drive away those who are really tired of hearing that high pitched squeal a lot of people seem to emit to express how super they think something is.

Think of it this way: you hear you favorite comedian tell the funniest joke in the world, no lie. But your friend wasn't there to hear it. Oh no! So you tell them it, but you're laughing during half of it and you get the set up punchline wrong twice that by the time you finish it properly you are laughing to the point of tears and everyone thinks you're insane.

And your friend? Well, they're sitting there, not amused at all, and not just because you screwed up the joke, because even if you told it correctly it would have only been a pale comparison to the original. That special thing is missing. I'm willing to bet that special thing is voice.

I think voice is the thing that makes a book ask, "How awesome am I?" and the fans of it go, "OHMIGAWD you are *so* awesome!" Even if the book has no literary merit. Even if it's full of plot holes. Even if there is some massive duex es machina at the end. None of that matters if pacing and voice is right because while voice makes you read pacing keeps you reading. They're two halves of a whole.

Too much hype ends up drawing certain people and repelling others, but either way typically speaking hype dies down. Sure, people still like it, but not as many people are freaking out about it. Plus, there is an upside to the hype dying down, and that is having all the people who were repelled by all the hype in the first place get into the show/book/song/whatever and really enjoy it.

Day 13 of NaNoWriMo

Day 13 of NaNoWriMo

So it is day thirteen of NaNo and I have pretty much petered out at 30,000 words. This will not become much of a problem until about, say, the seventeenth or eighteenth, but I just cannot foresee myself getting any writing done for that in the next twenty-four hours, so another wordless day shall pass.

I knew there was a reason I was getting so much of it done so fast.

As far as other projects are concerned, I've been contemplating deleting an account I have on one certain writing site, and I've been deleting various flash fiction and short stories I have floating around on the interwebs. I've been thinking about reworking those as well, but I'm not too sure what I'm going to do with them afterward.

In regards to another project, I'm basically done with it. I'm just giving it the final once over before I end up doing anything with it. I know I've got the deep down crazies to start querying now, seeing as Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays are coming up, and I'm trying to stop myself from pushing that send button everyday.

Frustration, it's what's for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.

(And um, beef council or whoever used to run those ads, please don't sue. I don't even eat beef anyway.)