2010 Writing Goals

*notice I didn't use the "R" word. It scares me.

These are just big, scary, goals I'm going to make, and see if I manage to get them done. It would be very, very lovely if I could. :D

• Finish Drem rough draft-I love this story. :)
• Write second draft of Wyrd-I also love this story. I love this world. It's barely even sketched out so far in Drem and Wyrd, but I know everything about it I just need to get it all down.
• Write more short stories! One of the things I learned in my fiction class is that shorter fiction is REALLY REALLY fun AND satisfying. To this end, I'm going to write at least one short story a month, either in my Alice in Wonderland world or my Dimension Tournament world. I'm hoping to revamp those novels into linked-short-story sequences, and possibly take those sequences and turn them into novels later, DEPENDING on the results, lol.
• Catch up on this blog. :) I have several posts-in-progress to finish.
• Write every day. I always make this res-er, goal, but I'm just going to keep making it until I accomplish it! :D

Self Doubt

So I know I promised to write a post on critiques, but first I'm posting this. Because this is already written, and the other post is NOT (great excuse, no?). This was an in-class assignment wherein we had to write about our own personal self-doubts about writing.

I didn’t want to open the door. I had just settled into the rented cabin and I was finally ready to start writing. And yet there came Beatrice, my know-it-all big sister, down the icy dirt path, up to the thick oak door, and rapped on it with all her might.

“Let me in, Sharon!” she demanded. “It’s freezing out here!”

I sighed. No help for it. I got up from my warm cushioned chair by the fire, walked across the bare wood-paneled floor to the door and hauled it open.

Beatrice charged in at once, her waist-length blonde hair covered with a snow-frosted shawl. I shut the door behind her as she looked around.

“This looks nice and cramped,” she observed.

“What are you doing here, Bea?” I asked wearily.

“I’ll have some coffee, thanks,” she answered, walking over to my cushioned chair and sinking into it, dripping melted ice onto my blank notebook.

“You realize this little escapade is totally pointless, don’t you?” she asked, pulling off her gloves and dropping them onto the floor. “Even if you can get a lot written out here, you won’t get it published. Do you realize how hard that is? You’re still learning, after all. And if there’s no hope of getting published, what’s the point of writing?”

“For myself,” I murmured, plugging in the coffee machine and getting out two chipped mugs.

“You’re just ostracizing yourself,” Beatrice plowed on. “Writing isn’t a career. You never see your friends, you never spend time with the family—“

“That’s not true!” I exclaimed.

“Well, you don’t even have a boyfriend, your job sucks, you need to spend more time on those things before you go gallivanting off to the mountains to spend time on a hobby—“

I dropped one of the mugs. It hit the floor and broke with the satisfying sound of shattering pottery.

The sound made Beatrice pause and look. I marched over to the chair, my chair, grasped her by the elbow and hauled her to her feet.

“Sorry, I don’t have time for visitors just now,” I told her. “I believe I made that clear when I left.”

Hustling her to the door and ignoring her protests, I added, “I have a lot of work to do. See you in two weeks.”

I hauled the door open; a gust of freezing wind hit us in the face, drowning Beatrice’s angry retort. I pushed her out, slammed the door, and lowered the bolt.

I turned back to the fire, sat in my chair, and picked up my notebook.

Perfect writing conditions.

An Anecdote on Revision

Owing to my overloaded schedule, I had to write a 4-page analytical literature paper in a matter of hours on Friday (it was due by midnight). Normally for final papers like this one, I like to spend about a week on them, pondering, pre-writing, roughing, and editing/revising/rewriting (whichever is necessary). So I was pretty depressed Friday morning, to say the least. It was even more depressing because my sister and her fiancee were coming into town that day, and my little brother had his black-belt confirmation for karate (which I went to, it was just stressful to go away for even a little bit).
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that my sister is a genius. I wrote the rough draft of the paper, feeling okay about it, and printed out a rough and gave it to my sister. She read it thoroughly, and then said something very close to this: "Yes, it all made sense, generally. But I really don't think your conclusion is right. I would take these two paragraphs [the last two], put them at the beginning after your intro, then take these paragraphs [random ones in the middle] and put them at the end, and oh, rewrite this part to make it make sense."
I did what she suggested and VOILA the paper made sense in my brain and on paper. XD It was pretty much the most awesome and hilarious experience ever. I always have issues with conclusions, but this paper in particular was in completely the wrong order. The paper went from being "Meh-licious" to being one that I'm pretty proud of; there were minor errors in the rough too, of course, but the basic structural madness was what really made it so much better.

So, shout-out to awesome beta-readers who manage to find exactly what's wrong and tell you! :D

Coming soon: Fiction-Class Critiques (i.e. How To Take Criticism)

Nano 09 Wrap-up: Drem

I wanted to post a Nanowrimo wrap-up post, but wasn't sure what to even say. Luckily, Snazel's blog is always there to rip off of.

Basic stats:
Total wordcount: 65,071 words-this is partially fake because some of this is just fiction I wrote during the month and incorporated into the novel. Only about 60k of this is actually pure novel.
15 day wordcount record: 40k (I'm pretty pleased with myself that I actually did this....even if I didn't reach 80k overall like I originally self-hypnotized myself to do while under the influence of Halloween zombie-cookies)
Overall sanity casualties: My brain stayed with me for about a week. My emotional equilibrium lasted a little longer.

Stuff I learned:
1. It's hard to have a plot when no one, not you, not your characters, have any clue who the villains are. Bad stuff happens. Okay. Mystery.
2. I not only suck at writing action scenes, I hate writing them. Weird. I always play them out like movies in my head but I can't write them to save my life. Or their lives. Heh.
3. I have a LOT of world-building to do. A lot of stuff I just gave totally lame names (like fortresses and military ranks) because I didn't do any pre-writing, it wasn't covered in Wyrd (Nano from last year that this one is related to), and I had no inspiration whatsoever.
4. Suffixes and prefixes SEEM like a good idea at the time. I still haven't decided how that's all going to work out.
5. I suck at first-person male POVs. Drem is kinda a woman a lot of the time.
6. There is always a good reason to write scenes that involve gratuitous fire of some kind.

Shout-outs to some of my characters (in no particular order except for the first 3):
Drem: Thank you for being easy to write, even though this is probably due to the first-person POV more than your personality. I put you in the hospital-equivalent a lot, didn't I? Sorry about that. I'm looking forward to writing you when you're a bit older and even MORE cynical and world-weary. XD
Byrn: I think I'm in love with you. No, really. *cough* I mean, you jerk, you kept trying to hijack the novel! Luckily it's in first person so that's pretty hard to do, but you still tried to pull a Great Gatsby. I hope you live. Really.
Myra: I had high hopes for you, which you promptly dashed, and then rebuilt yourself. Thank you for surprising me and being a great counter to Drem. He's an idiot, huh?
Vakko: OMJAM I'm in love with you too! You almost took Byrn's place. Almost. It was close. I probably will bring you back at some point because there are just too many possibilities when you're around. Although don't you think the hair is a BIT Malfoy?
Cray: You became more important and more interesting than I thought, but then you just kinda disappeared? Sorry? You'll be back.
Hadric: WOW Byrn kinda HATES you, doesn't he? I thought you were a nice guy but I'm not really sure where you stand right now. But thanks for taking care of Drem for a while.
Akkaro: I really need to change your name because you're trying to channel a certain other character whom I do not own. But I'd like to bring you back, too, maybe in a combo move with Vakko.
Petra: Ahahahahaha. Sorry.
Deia: Wow, I kinda love you too! You were a total surprise. I enjoyed watching you behave like a total b**** and yet somehow totally loveable at the same time. You go girl.

nearing the end

Wow I really haven't been posting here, have I????

The truth is there isn't a whole lot to say. I wrote 40k in the first 15 days of Nanowrimo, and since then I've written 8k chronologically, and 18k in total. I keep having problems because some days I literally have no time to write, and then a couple days pass and when I sit back down I'm all disconnected from the story. IRRITATING.
Yes, I HAVE given up my 80k goal. :P I'm just going to concentrate on getting as much as I can in the last 4 days. :)
I have a lot of stuff to say about my fiction class but it will have to wait for December. Watch this space, I guess???

Oh, I HAVE reached 50k though! w00t! Third win.

everything burns, everyone screams

I hit the third burnout this month today. Third is definitely the worst. It gets better after that, right? *hopeful look*
It's really kinda tragic too cuz I JUST CAUGHT UP yesterday. Blargh.

I did do SOME writing today, though. I critiqued several stories for class, and I wrote 300 words of a short story that's due for Wednesday (a full short, not just a scenario). Can I count that in my nano? PLAX? Whatever.

Starting tomorrow I'm just going to move to 3000 words a day, so hopefully if I miss days or don't make the count certain days, I'll have a cushion? I don't know if that's a good idea though. And I've decided that for the next week at least, school takes priority to Nano. I mean, it was already, but basically what it meant before was that I'd finish hw around 11, and then START Nano for the day? Now I'm going to put a little more emphasis on sleep. :) So we'll see if I reach the 80k. I will definitely reach 50k, though.

It is SO stormy outside! It's been windy all day but once the sun went down its' been pouring and trying to tear the house down. Yay!

Before I Sleep

WHOOOO! This weekend rocked as far as wordcount went. I got 4k in yesterday, and about 3.5k today. :D I might write the remaining 500 before I sleep. I dunnoes.
Of course, tomorrow another week begins, and it's NOT going to be a fun one. Oi.

I totally finished the "Writing Fiction" book I was reading for class today. It's by the Gotham Writing Workshop and was surprisingly good! The last chapter was kinda the business end of it, in a 30-page chapter. ^_^ It was interesting though to see it all in that kind of clear, summarized form. Overall the book is a very good, overall-look at writing. It also has lots of little prompts sprinkled throughout that are VERY helpful for working on the particular things they talk about (they're not the normal, annoying kinds of prompts you find in self-help books that drive me crazy).

kthxbai

"I don't think I feel that way about you Byrn." But *I* do!

This years' Nanowrimo just keeps getting more and more interesting. On the one hand, I love my novel. On the other hand, scraping out the words each day is getting more and more like Professor Umbridge's Quill. You know what I'm saying???

I wrote only like 700 words yesterday, but TODAY I've written 3k so far. :D Probably my most productive day so far. I'm going to attempt to write 1k more today, and then somehow try to get 4k tomorrow, cuz then I will be caught up for my 80k goal. I VANTS 40K TOMORROW. TRUFAX.

Question for the comments: During Nano, when it comes to travel exposition, do you like writing long, drawn-out accounts so that you have more words? Or do you like just writing a brief summary and moving on?

Even the man in the moon disappears somewhere in the stratosphere

Writing has been particularly difficult the last few days. Not really sure why. It's Week Two, maybe? I dunno, I don't like blaming EVERYTHING on the poor dear.

Things I've been noticing about my writing:

• my words get ENORMOUS and beautiful when I write longhand. It's hilarious! No one should have that many SAT-test words in their writing (examples: rhetoric, diatribe, self-deprecating). Sorry.
• I've always heard Nano advice-givers say that it's a good idea to stop in the middle of a scene when you finish writing for the day, because then it's easy to get back in the flow the next day. I have been coming to realize that, for me, this is COMPLETELY UNTRUE. If I stop in the middle of the scene, even if I was writing full-tilt the day before, the next time I sit down to write, I just stare at it for many long minutes that I don't have to waste. It's much better to keep writing until I run out of steam, and then when I come back with fresh eyes it's easier. Usually.

In other writing news, I got a great idea for my next short story, due next Wednesday (short story, not short-short or whatever they're called). Yay! Will talk more about it if/when it works out.

Writing was like pulling teeth today. Like pulling teeth out of a werewolf. But I am NOT BEHIND DARNIT! Have a wordle to celebrate 20k:

Um um um MARBLES

I went to my third official regional write-in today! I haz three marbles (our ML is giving us a different-colored marble for each event we attend, have I mentioned this?): an opalescent black one, a green striped one, and a normal classic one.
I wrote about 1500 words there, in 2 hours, which isn't bad....I suppose...>.> Still working on the rest of the day's count right now. :) We had it at a pizza parlor, and it ended up being hilarious and psychotic cuz it was SOOO BUSY AND CROWDED. Part of it was the fact that there was over 9,000 birthday parties there, and the other part of it was that the Duck game was on (football, vs Stanford, they lost 51-42 and I cried). So yeah that was very exciting...our little group was crammed into a corner and told to just be quiet and write and avoid all other people.
We had a word war that I TOTALLY would have won, only reddening suddenly is like "Oh Stanford got a field goal!" at the very end, so of course I turned and had to watch and cry, and then she beat me by 10 words. CURSE YOU REDDENING. :D
Um yeah I guess I should go finish writing now. kthxbai.

she will reach for a story.

Writing went really well today! I wrote about 800 words in the morning, and then wrote the rest during a write-in at a bud's house. I didn't write OVER my daily count, which I suppose I should while it's going well, but I have HOMEWORK OKAY??? Plus, it's better than physically forcing myself each night to pound out the words, staying up several hours past my bedtime and making me grouchy about the whole process. ^_^ I want to love Nano, not hate it. It needs love.

Widgets are online! You can see my wordcount over there: --------------------->

My fiction class has entered a different phase. We're still doing scenarios, but our midterm was a full short story. Now she's assigning the short stories for us to read, and then we have to mark up the story and fill out a review sheet on it. Basically, we're critiquing them for the authors. Then we'll discuss them in class and pretend the author isn't there. It's pretty fantastic, I'm having a lot of fun doing my best to criticize CONSTRUCTIVELY. :)

And that's about it. I love my MC. Which is good news. It was touch-and-go for the first 10k.

show them how funky and strong is your might!

Total wordcount: 12,206
I plan to be at 13,332 before I go to bed. But first, I'm procrasting and telling you a funny story from the write-in tonight!!

Well, the first funny part was that I forgot it was happening. But I'm over at the community college campus cafeteria (oh yeah) at that time anyway, so I walked in, saw them sitting in the Nano corner, and was like "Hey, it's a bunch of people working, looks like the Nano group does when...Oh. That IS the Nano group." and then had to hastily remember that it was Thursday. XD

Anyway, halfway through the hour that I was with them, I suddenly remembered again that it was Guy Fawke's Day. I'm like "OH it's Guy Fawkes Day! Everyone needs to burn something!" At which they all laughed, of course. Then the ML is like "I feel a word war coming on," and the other ML is like "Yeah."
SIC ML (after explaining how to do a word war): "Okay, we need a noun."
Me: "FIRE!"
*group laughter*
SIC ML: "Okay, then. We also need a phrase."
Me: "'LET'S BURN SOMETHING.'"
Hahaha my end of the table was collapsed in giggles. Because I am so lame. But yeah, she ended up choosing someone else's phrase. XD I don't think she appreciated my pyromaniacs.

Plz continue selling your soul for moar words.

it's too close for comfort

Nanowrimo is actually going pretty well. This makes me nervous, because it should not be happening.
My overall goal is 80k.
Current wordcount is 5349 (which is about the amount I should have for the first two days....haven't written today yet).
My homework is suffering but I haven't actually fallen behind yet. XD I'm planning to catch up today, somehow, so nothing is actually late. I really don't have very much time, though, so I'm not sure how I've been writing.
Anyway, here's to finding the time to write without understanding exactly how you're doing it! It's like Time Lord tech at work or something.....time is bigger on the inside? XD

Day 1 and I'm already using Write or Die?

This is a bad omen.



Total wordcount: 2843

I should mention that I'm not doing "The Missing Door" after all. I started outlining at last only a few days ago, and decided that Stargate has invaded my brain too much for me to be able to write that at all. I also didn't want to try Dimension Tournament because of the popularity of a certain book called The Hunger Games. My other options were Eros/Psyche retelling and HHNF sequel, both of which require a lot of research. So I'm doing Drem, the companion story to Wyrd, instead. :D

Wrimos will look up and shout "save us" and I'll whisper.......no.

Wow, I have an absurdly long list of posts I need to make on this blog....and probably all of them will have to wait until Dec, unless I get really procrastinatory.

NANOWRIMO HAS BEGUN! THE WORLD WATCHES IN TERROR.

I went to my local midnight write-in last night. :) It was fun, although special, experience. XD
Got to Shari's, told them my age, and was told the Wrimos were in a room that minors aren't allowed in. I was like ohhhkay. But then it wasn't actually a room, it was just at one end and slightly partitioned off. So I started an awesome kids table right outside it and ended up being joined by all the COOLEST people. Not even joking, all of the annoying people I remember from last year were totally BEHIND THE WALL. LOLZ it was great. Then the women at my table and I were being super chatty and silly as we pwned words, so then this woman from BEHIND THE WALL came and sneered at us. After a very polite argument, she left and made fun of us to her table-mates and we quieted down a TAD.
I wrote about 1644 words before my head started nodding so I figured I should go home.

Current wordcount: 1644.

List of Shiny

This is more of a mix between Shiny List and Magna Carta I.
Shiny from: Liana
Magna Carta I from: Chris Baty, No Plot? No Problem!

Here is mine:
-traitors
-characters saving the lives of other characters
-big bodies of water
-interesting weapons
-badass little-girl-saving
-comedy of errors (things just keep going wrong but hilariously as opposed to disturbingly)
-actually, lots of disturbing errors is shiny too
-romances that start out with hate
-fun hiding places
-snipers
(notice how my brain went from "fun hiding places" immediately to snipers? I saw that. I know.)
-snappy dialog
-interesting inventions
-bizarre locations
-spaceships that go fast. if you know what i mean. *is shot*
-soldiers
-military operations
-the smell of rain
-freaky dreams
-warm colors
-snow

What's up in my writing life

So I believe I mentioned in a previous post (maybe. I'm so behind on here WHO KNOWS.) that I'm taking a fiction-writing class this term. The only reason I've been writing ANYTHING this month is because I HAVE to for the class. Which is pathetic. But also encouraging, because it shows that I CAN write if I have a deadline and creative people poking my brain. ^_^

I don't really understand writing slumps. I mean, I love writing. I really do. So why do I sometimes (OFTEN) want to do just about ANYTHING besides write???? Is it because all my current projects are giving me way too much pressure? That sounds truthful as I type it. :P

But, wow, this post isn't supposed to be self-awareness catalyst. I want to blog about my class, darnit!!!!

Our teacher is really an interesting person. She's the kind of free-flowing, purple-vested, burkenstock-wearing hippie person that normally drives me BONKERS. You know, the smiley teacher that wants to be friends with everyone immediately and says things like "precious" and, well, "precious"? Maybe I'm the only who's bothered by nice people. LOL anyway, she did drive me bonkers for the first three weeks, but I suddenly realized this week that she has ceased to bother me really at all (and today we had a lecture about MEDITATION. Not that I have anything against meditation, but it was just what she WOULD do in a fiction-class.).
Our assignments are mostly 300-word "scenarios" with an assigned prompt, usually involving an emotion (such as love turning to suspicion, which is this week's) or a list of details we have to include (these are killers). I'm really enjoying the scenarios for the most part, though. I'm taking the opporchancity to practice writing stuff I normally don't do, like sci-fi, first-person, future tense, and zombies (I did it for you, Merc. I did it for you. lol.). The future tense and the zombies have been among the most fascinating.
We're also reading short stories by people like Flannery O'Connor (okay, mostly Flannery O'Connor) and a writing how-to book by the Gotham Writer's Workshop??? It's surprisingly good (by surprisingly I mean yes, I DID judge it by its cover). It has good essays by different people about important elements of craft (like plot, characters, description, etc).
Besides all that, we also have two full-length short stories due over the term. I've completed the rough of one.
This leads me to the best part of this class, and that is FEEDBACK. Just having the opportunity to work on our work with other people is great. The teacher gives us TONS of notes and suggestions on our turned-in work, especially the short stories, and we can get lots of verbal feedback if we opt to read ours aloud (I chickened out on the zombie-one. I'm pretty sure you have to have a Zombie Reading Voice, which takes years of training and a special diet.).
All the people in the class are CRAZY, too. It's so refreshing cuz everyone WANTS to be there, and there's no shy or reserved people, so we all discuss and bash and praise. :)

That's really all I have to say about that. :) I'm writing a ton of random fiction that I never otherwise would have, and it's given me plenty of great ideas and lessons for what I should include in future stuff. #win

THIS IS WHAT I CALL epic.

September Recap:
My goals for this month, I believe, were to finish the rough draft of “The Other Country” and add more stuff to HHNF. I failed miserably, of course, in both of those. ^_^ I did work on TOC a bit: I probably got about 10 pages done. I might post teasers of the scenes I wrote on my LJ. Maybe not. None of them are very good.

October Goals:
Read my existing material for “The Missing Door” and plan for Nanowrimo a bit. That’s all I’m attempting this month. XD I just want to remind myself of where I was GOING to go with the story, and figure out if I want to stick to the same plan or change it. Also I need to re-familiarize myself with the characters. :P
I am writing other fiction, though, for my fiction writing class. Most of it is really short pieces but we have a full short story that will need to be written and reworked.

Nanowrimo is NEXT MONTH! I can’t believe it. So crazy. I’m not really excited at all right now, but I think that’s just cuz there’s too much stuff in my brain right now. Hopefully once it starts I’ll get into the swing of things? I’m REALLY excited about the video-casts (or whatever you call them) that they’re doing. The one they’ve done is soooo cheesy but so win.
I haven’t done much recruiting this year, either. I’m pretty sure most of my friends are sick of hearing about it. :) I did mention it in my fiction-writing class, though, and I also sent info on it to a columnist in my area whom I’m in kinda-speaking terms with cuz I went to a workshop of his. :) He has another one in Feb and my father is bothering me to register. It’s moneyyyyyy...Blarg.

On THAT happy note, I'm off! :)

this is my now

*waits eagerly for Nanowrimo site relaunch*

Bahnree's Brain: My Muse

Warning: this is an extremely long post about one of my characters, "Alec" the Horsemaster.

His current role (he's been in several other stories) is in "The Other Countr," my Screnzy about my third world country. I was trying to describe his relationship to the MC, Bahnree (basically my fictional self) to myself. I knew Alec wasn't the love interest, because that would be creepy on so many levels, but I couldn't figure out what his position in the story was, whether he was like the best friend, the brother, the conscience, or what. I realized, with the sudden clarity that a warm snickerdoodle brings, that Alec is nothing more or less than MY MUSE.

I was shocked! I always questioned the existence of my muse, because my "creative works" are so erratic and inconsistent. But, as I thought about it more, whenever I'm the most productive creatively, Alec is there, either peering over my mental shoulder or actually performing in one of my stories. I'm not talking about an imaginary friend, here, either (although I have a long and infamous history with those; personally I think I jsut channeled all my imaginary-friend-creating powers into my writing, so in that sense, all of my characters are imaginary friends....Confused yet?). Alec is just special. During Augustine he was particularly present in my brain, which makes sense, seeing as I drafted HHNF, started The Missing Door and Dimension Tournament, and wrote plenty of other stuff during that year. He also stars in no less than three of my stories: Dreamwalkers, Dreambenders (quite different from the former, fyi) and The Other Country.

When did Alec show up? Very early in my fiction-writing career. Well, not really. Very early in my fiction-writing that actually was productive (he pre-dates my first novel-in-a-month by only 6 months, and I wrote plenty in between). The first story he was in was Dreamwalkers. This was a story told through fictional journal-accounts of myself. So....kinda like day-dreaming, but again I stress the fact (for my own dignity) that Alec was not the love interest. He was the guide between me and my boring life and the crazy adventures I wrote for myself. This was imagination working on its purest level, and this more than anything makes Alec my muse.

The second story Alec appeared in was Dreambenders. This story is retarded, so I won't say much about it. Basically a normal, boring church girl finds out she can control dreams (both hers, other people's, the dreamworld in general) and this has consequences in the real world. Alec shows up at her church and turns out to be, what do you know! A guide sent to help her figure things out.

Seeing a theme here? Pseudo daydreams written down, always containing a guide between worlds. The theme continues in The Other Country, where Alec is Bahnree's advisor and knows a lot more about her country than she does. Or seems to, anyway.

One random-yet-slightly interesting thing to note is that the Dreamwalkers and T.O.C. Alecs look exactly the same and have the same powers (elemental mage). But Dreambender Alec has blonde hair, can only use magic in dreams and has much more limited magic. I don't know what this means.

[This is SO much info that no one cares about but me. Oh well!!!]

I kept wanting to write Alec-centric stories at Augustine, because he was so present, but instead I wrote other awesome stuff (really, I am proud of my creative output that year). Dreamwalkers and Dreambenders, btw, were written March-August 2006, before I did PEN in December and before I did Nanowrimo for the first time in November 2007. The Other Country was written last spring, at the tale-end (tail-end?) of my last productive writing period.

What is Alec doing now, and why isn't he forcing me to write more? I think two reasons. 1, Alec is WAY too laidback. He likes me to motivate myself first before he lends a hand. >.< 2, I think being in T.O.C. so much is taxing and distracting for him. I really should finish that story so he can get back to being my muse full-time.

August Goals Revisited, September Goals, and The Stranger Soundtrack

August Goals:

• Finish third draft of HHNF: Completed!
  
• Finish roughing and editing the last episodes of the Stranger: Just about finished! I just have to rewrite the epilogue cuz it's crappy. :) Episodes 1-20 are on dA and Soul Collectors. I haven't posted 21 yet.

September Goals!!!!

• Add more scenes to HHNF, re-check facts, pay attention to time of year/weather. :) After I do this, I think I'll do a fourth draft to make the writing style consistent (Thanks to Snazel for helping me with this). But the fourth draft will have to wait until October, at least, because I also want to:
  
• Finish the rough of The Other Country (my 09 ScriptFrenzy)! This story is just for fun, but once I finish it I might end up polishing it or, GASPAGE, changing it to prose. I've decided script-writing isn't for me. But still want to finish this.

For the last, er, three episodes of the Stranger I listened to a LOT of Linkin Park (urgh, let's not do that again) but I was amazed at how appropriate the music was for the Stranger and especially for what was happening in the story. Cuh-raze-ay. So this is the Stranger's soundtrack so far:
"In The Shadows" by The Rasmus
"In The End" by Linkin Park
"Somewhere I Belong" by Linkin Park
"Hit the Floor" by Linkin Park
"Easier to Run" by Linkin Park
'Faint" by Linkin Park
"Leave Out All The Rest" by Linkin Park
"What I've Done" by Linkin Park
"Breaking the Habit" by Linkin Park

Various peeks at "The Stranger" final episodes

There are four remaining episodes. Two of them I've finished and the other two I've outlined. The titles of these episodes are:
THE STRANGER and the Dark and Mysterious Fortress
THE STRANGER and the Dark and Mysterious Dark Lord
THE STRANGER and the Struggle for His Soul
THE STRANGER and the End

One character you'll meet is Arden, one of the agents. I wanted to have him in the story a lot, but it's not working out. He would have been the leader of the agents who attacked the good guys in "Unraveling of Mysteries" but the Stranger got too bloodthirsty there and I didn't want to kill him off. He's the most badass, violent, and loyal of the hundred. ^_^ I kinda love him. He's a short half-elf, half-human. His soul-collecting weapon is a scythe. He doesn't let any of the other agents use a scythe because it's his trademark. ^_^ He's kinda egotistical that way. He has no redeeming qualities except a certain protectiveness for his men, whom he views as his possessions (a trait he gets from the DAMDL, of course.).

Look for the new episodes soon. :D

Soul Collectors

this was never the way i planned: not my intention

I'm just about done with The Stranger: Episode 19. I still feel like it's too self-indulgent and not humorous enough, so I'm going to keep bashing on it today. I have four days left of August to rough and edit the remaining two episodes. Yes, I'm fairly sure that there's only two more episodes after this. I'm still annoyed I couldn't make it a perfect 20. Stupid agents taking too long to die!!!!

The good news is I ironed out the remaining issues in my outline. ^_^ So I know exactly what's going on. I say that a lot but I rarely mean it, have you noticed this??? But this time I mean it. Any problems that exist, I am unaware of them and will not discover them until I'm in the midst of writing. And by that time it will be TOO LATE! BWAHAHAHAHA!

Or I'll just revert to the classic "Rocks fall; everybody dies" plan.

EDIT: Now with photos!!!

The draft of Episode 19, modeling my old drawing board that I unearthed today (now I can say, "Back to the drawing board" even while writing, and it'll be true! Win!!!):
And from the back:
Next up, the proof copies of my two Nanowrimo wins, from CreateSpace. I'm not going to publish through them, but it was fun to get the copies. ^_^
And from the back:

I should know that you're not gonna change

I am technically done with the third edit of "Hell Hath No Furies." However, it's still absurdly short, and I'm trying to decide if I care. Haha. And, if I do care, what I should add. I've considered adding a sub-plot with Adrastus and Minthe, but I feel like that would make the story unfocused. Ya know??? Also, if I gave THEM a sub-plot, wouldn't ALL fourteen of the Athenians want one??? Haha. My beta-readers want more of the gods. Again, I kinda feel like that would make the story unfocused.
I'M TOO CONCISE AND FOCUSED DAMMIT!!!!
Athena and Eros could get more scenes, but I feel like they'd be repetitive. Zeus and Hera could get some scenes, perhaps even a scene with Hades or something.

I have two questions for the comments:
1. Do you like including a lot of sub-plots in a story? Either the kind that are actually very connected to the main plot and only show this at the end, or just the kind that are about people or things nearby the main story.
2. How important is weather to you in a narrative? Do you include a lot of it, do you care, does it matter?

Nanowrimo '09 Thoughts

Here are my current ideas (only four!!! shocking!!):

• The Missing Door: I only have about 10k written on this story, even though I love it and want to finish; but what I have was written last year so I wouldn't feel bad just scrapping and starting over. EDIT: It's a sci-fi/mystery/thriller in a universe where people travel from planet to planet through teleportation devices called doors. Yes, one goes missing.
  
• Eros and Psyche retelling: something like what I did with HHNF. As much as I love the Eros character I've developed, I really have no other ideas for what I would do with this story, or really much inspiration for it. Snazel wants it a lot, though. ^_^
  
• HHNF sequel: This would center around the battle with Perseus, Ariadne's death, and Dionysus' quest to get her and Semele back. I've been wanting to do this since December 07. Lolz.
  
• Drem Escalion: This story takes place in Wyrd's universe, and is a first-person story about an infamous character in Altera's history. I don't have a whole lot sketched out for this story but I would also love to do it. ^_^ EDIT: Drem is known in "Wyrd" for betraying the country, starting a war, killing some people.....basically I'm going to tell the story from his POV, where he tries to explain what he did and did not do, and why, since there a lot of truths and lies in everything he's accused of.

I meddled in the future, in all possible futures...in the end they created me.

I've managed to trap Macana and the Stranger in a completely impossible situation. I made the mistake yesterday (orrrr the day before?) of writing out a fairly comprehensive outline of the rest of the story. It took me 15 minutes of staring at the screen to come up with ANY way for them to win, and the way I wrote is just absurd and cheesy. Although I suppose the heart thing that saved them last time was cheesy too.
So, of course, I sent off the whole thing to my professional "Stranger" consultant (well, not technically pro, but she's pretty amazing ^_^) and we've been batting ideas around since then. We're at the point where the metaphysics are exploding my brain, and I'm considering more and more just killing off BOTH of them. >.> But since the story is (supposedly...it started out this way) a humorous parody of fantasy, I think killing them both off would be rude. *gives Lint a significant glance* I've actually been comparing the Stranger to Lint a lot lately, actually. They both started as just random, silly things for fun by people with few skills and then just turned into epics. ^_^ I think I'm just as self-indulgent as Lint's author is, anyway. Oh, and I DID start writing the Stranger before I read Lint, btw.

HHNF is being edited. :) I'm still doin' it! Go Go Go! That's really all I have to say about it.
Actually, I've been remembering how much I fail at weather. I don't mean I fail at describing weather (although that's entirely possible). I fail at even mentioning what is going on outside when characters are outside. And in HHNF, when they're outside MOST of the time, I think this is kinda necessary. I meant, this time around, to decide for certain what time of year it was, what weather the area would be getting, and insert at least MENTIONS of this at appropriate places. I've been mostly forgetting to do that. ^_^ So I'm going to do a "weather-round" when I'm done, I guess. Just waltz through and sprinkle some weather. Oh my goodness I am so lame. XD

the sky was thick with crows

Wow so one of my favorite writing bloggers ever posted out of the blue today!!!! She hasn't posted since Nano, I think. Anyway it made me happy so here I am. ^_^

Still working on August goals, despite all the distractions being flung my way!!! Summer is almost over. :( Very tragical.

I have the rough done for the next Stranger episode but still need to rewrite it, and I have (I think) 3 more episodes after that? So I need to get on that.

Hell Hath No Furies is coming along...slowly....This is the third edit and I think I'm going to put it in a dark box in a dark corner somewhere and never look at it again. ^_^ I don't think it's good enough to even attempt publishing and I don't think I could ever get it into shape for it. Which is okay, I just want to finish this edit and put the thing to rest.

I've got him monologuing now, chaps!

I'm going to start again on HHNF tomorrow. >.< I am! It's true. I shall. I'm finally done with all the crazy reading for my class, so I have a bit more time. Although my sister and her new fiance are also coming tomorrow, sooo who knows how crazy that's going to be. :D
Ummm but I have been working on the Stranger a lot! I didn't write anything new today, I mean further chronologically, but I edited two episodes (which are now up, btw) and I've kinda squared away on how I want to divide the rest of the episodes. I'm sad cuz I thought I was going to be able to pull off an even 20 of episodes, but I've had to add one, and I'll probably have to add more. :) I have three more for sure, and one of those will very possibly sprout like five. hahaha. Yeahhhh.

I have yet to touch HHNF this month, but The Stranger is going well. ^___^ I've written, well, okay, I've only written about 2k but I'm TRYING, okay? XD
Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep (been suffering from insomnia lately), I suddenly had one brain-wave after another about stuff that is going to happen in the Stranger. It was hilarious, just all these things previously I had no CLUE about (like, for example, who the DAMDL is or what he/she/it is trying to do....oh yeah, and if the DAMDL was a man, woman, or creature) were suddenly all falling into place. At first I was like, "Yeah, okay, remember that for the morning." but after around the 10th epiphany I just got up and started writing it all down. ^__^
So, in conclusion, I totally know everything now. EXCEPT where the Stranger's soul is. And also, how they're actually going to BEAT the DAMDL now that I've made him/her/it freaking invincible.
*shakes head*

Also, is it just me or has Numair been wittier than normal, lately? I didn't intend to make him the go-to man for comic relief, but that's kinda what he's doing. *glowers at Numair*

not thinkin' bout tomorrow, singin' sweet home alabama all summer long

My fellow writers (specifically Snazel, Merc, and Sparky) are shaming me with their productiveness, so I'm going to make some GOALS! Lolz! And totally complete them. So without further ado:

AUGUST GOALS (look, the letters are all large and friendly!):

• Finish The Stranger roughs for the remaining episodes
• Finish the third edit of Hell Hath No Furies
• Keep up with homework ^__^

After that, if I'm a good girl, I can work on DT. <3

I have written over 1,000 words today, though, it's true. I have this enormous assignment for my children's lit class. Basically we have to read 20 books and write up summaries and answer a lot of questions for each one (this is aside from all the normal writing and reading assignments for the class). It's just absurdly epic. Anyways.

We've been smoking funny things

In an effort to keep from cutting myself in class today (I jest, but only just), I did a freewrite of thoughts about DT. Basically before today I have a very VAGUE idea about who the "good guys" were, and an even vaguer idea of who the bad guys were. But now, ta-da! I have a lot of it figured out. Not all the details, of course, but I know where I'm going. XD
One thing's for sure, I'm going to have to develop Miranda a heck of a lot more. I knew I was going to, eventually, but it wasn't so much necessary as satisfying my curiosity. ;) And no, Miranda is *not* a planet, you crazy Browncoats.

HHNF is at a standstill for lack of any sort of kind-hearted feeling toward it.

The Stranger is progressing, but I decided I can't post any more episodes until I reach the end, because there's too much madness and I'm not sure how I'm splitting it up.

it's the night of our nightmares

I've been working on Dimension Tournament, off and on-ish lately, mostly outlining but working on some scenes too. The problem is, what I have (about 13k) was written more than a year ago, so I kinda have to rewrite what I have before I can really move on. That's just the kinda girl I am. So Snazel, I AM working. Trufax. I just don't have much of anything new for you yet.

ANYWAY, I've been thinking a bit about Nanowrimo lately as well, cuz people/Nano have been thinking as well, and I was thinking about Chester again. Anyone remember the poor guy? My nano novel last year, Wyrd, was originally going to star him and Marly. Then, as the plot evolved, Marly faded into the background a bit and Chester/Cheron was replaced by Fenwick, who is a completely different kind of awesome.
Tonight I was thinking about where I could possibly put him, and realized that he would be PERFECT for DimTourn. I mean, really, he's completely homeless and friendless, so a multi-world story where I wouldn't necessarily have to give him an entire world and backstory and everything, would be excellent. Here's a brief character design (not history) for you:

Chester is a 23-year-old gentleman, typically dressed in an all-purple three-piece suit. He occasionally sports a purple fedora as well. His ethnicity is similar to a Native American, although he will not be placed in our world. He wears his hair fairly short. His weapon is a two-bladed spear, about 6 feet in length: each blade is about half the length of the handle and leaf-shaped, while the handle is well-worn brown leather wrapped around a steel core. He himself is just over 6 feet and rather thin. His personality is particularly callous, but he enjoys his callousness and is rather charming about it. He can come across as extremely charming and gallant when he wants to, but his lack of friends and abundance of enemies would tell you otherwise. He has a liking and affinity for cats, however, and is often to be found with one, although he has no constant feline companion. Despite his wealthy appearance, he owns no property. He likes to travel and rarely stays anywhere longer than a week unless he's found something of profit to work on. His skills are in the use of his weapon, gambling, and politics.

A Fairy Tale

When do you use "further" and when do you use "farther"? That is my question, friends.
I had to write a fairy tale as part of my children's lit midterm (other parts of the midterm include analyzing my own fairy tale....gross). I had to make sure there were some cultural and/or social values included, and I also had to choose 5-7 elements from a list and incorporate them. I chose the prince, the sea, a talking fish, a lion, a golden ball, and a sword. I also had to do it in 2 double-spaced pages, which was DEFINITELY the hardest part of the whole assignment.
Here it is, and my apologies for its utter lameness, clicheness, and overall hoity toity tone. I haven't done a hoity toity in years; it was kinda fun.

Once upon a time there was a prince who lived in a castle by the sea. His father the king ruled over his people, the Marans, who all had a great love of ships and seafaring. The prince, too, loved ships, and when he was fifteen years old he began to build himself a seaworthy boat. When he was 20, it was finished: a beautiful light ship, fast and sturdy. He named it the Spearfish. Obtaining leave from his father, the prince sailed off on his first sea-voyage alone. He had decided he would not return home until he found something of value, or something to prove that he was worthy of being the king’s heir.
His voyage started smoothly. He visited several nearby islands, and then ventured far away from the mainland, farther than he had ever gone before. After many days he had nearly depleted all of his food. The prince tried to catch a fish to feed himself, and at last caught one. It was very large. The sun sparked off its silver scales as the prince dropped it on the deck of his ship, about to kill it and clean it. To his surprise, the fish stared up at him and spoke!
“O Prince, please do not kill me. If you release me, I will show you to an island no man has seen before!”
The prince, amazed that the fish could speak, felt sorry for it. He put it back in the water, even though he did not believe the fish would actually show him to land, and said, “Be free, fish!”
The fish swam around the ship, happily, and then poked its head out of the water and said, “Now, if you follow me, I will show you to the island, where my mistress lives and rules over the animals.”
The prince, still not sure if he believed the fish, decided to follow it anyway. He followed it all of that day, and just as the sun was setting, they reached land. The prince did not recognize the island, but moored his Spearfish and went ashore. Just as he set foot on the sand, a woman came walking out of the trees toward him. She was very beautiful, with golden hair and bright blue eyes.
“The fish has told me of your kindness,” she said. “Now I am hoping you may help me as well. I have lost something very important to me, my magic golden ball. It was stolen from me by a lion; he ran off into the woods. Could you go after the lion and get it back to me?”
The prince, although surprised by this turn of events, told her he would. After all, she was a beautiful lady, and he was a young man. He started off in the direction she indicated.
A few miles into the trees, the prince found signs of the lion. He followed them, eager but cautious. He tracked the lion to its cave, and saw places where its hair had rubbed off, but of the lion he could see nothing. The prince walked carefully up to the cave and peered in. He saw a glint of gold somewhere inside so he entered. There at the back of the cave was the golden ball! The prince hurried over to it and picked it up; it was cool in his hand.
At that very moment he heard a growl, and turned around. There was the lion, blocking the entrance of the cave! The prince drew his sword with his right hand, holding the ball in his left.
“Give it back to me,” the lion growled, threatening the prince with a massive paw. “It belongs to me.”
The prince shook his head. “It belongs to a lady. She has asked me to give it back to her. I will not fail.”
The lion roared furiously and leaped at the prince, who dodged aside. The two battled in the cave, one using teeth and claws, the other using his sword, until at last the prince saw an opening. He ducked under a swipe of the lion’s paw, moved in, and was about to run his sword through the lion’s chest when the lion looked down at him, and the prince locked eyes with it. He dropped his sword with a clatter, and instead held the golden ball out to the lion.
“Here is your treasure, lady,” the prince said.
The lion roared, and then transformed back into the beautiful woman.
“You have done well,” she said. “You are both kind and clever. You are worthy of being king after your father.”
After that, the magical lady from the island went home with the prince in the Spearfish, and when they arrived back at the castle, she became his wife, and they lived happily ever after.

Things will not calm down. They will, in fact, calm up.

Work on the Stranger continues! At a belabored pace. I'm so amused at how confused I am now about the last few episodes. There's sooo much that has to happen, and not really any of it can be assigned to one episode or another? So I don't know if it should just be a massive four-parter or what. :P I've written quite a lot, I just can't really decide where the episode should stop. Soooo yeah.

In other news, I have to write a fairy tale for my children's lit class! *excited* It has to incorporate a few elements from a list that we were given, and has to have some sort of a moral lesson. I haven't really gotten inspired yet but I'm going to do some freewriting today and see what happens. I know I'm going to use a prince, possibly not as my hero.

I am, therefore I fail. ;)

I started writing the next Stranger episode today, and realized I could NOT, because I screwed up about five things in the episode I just posted. Soooo I'm pulling the episode for now until I can fix everything. *shakes head* I think I was asleep when I reviewed my continuity checklist for that episode. :P

Hahahahaha funny story, too! I realized (in class today, good grief) that I could totally write a spin-off series and call it, "The Stranger: Atlantis." That made me choke back a laugh in class, let me tell you. I'm NOT, of course, because...that would be stupid, plus I really just don't want to write that much about the destiny-obsessed crazies over there.

"That's the dramatic warning I was expecting."

"Ohmigosh, no wai!"

I wrote today! I totally did! And it wasn't for school, or blogging!
I finished the next episode of the Stranger. It needs a lot of editing, though, cuz it's too long and really rambling. :P I'll try and work on it later today, I guess. After this one, there's only 3 more! Yay! I HAVE to finish by September 6th, because there is NO way it should have taken a year to do the series. :P Let's face it.

I have to go do stuff now, but then I'm going to force myself to come back and edit some of HHNF. I want to finish the third edit of that before the summer ends. *fierce* I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

something for snazel to read

I'm in a serious writing....I dunno....hell? Any self-motivation that I managed to scrape together during my short life has completely fled away to the far corners of the galaxy. Any inspiration or desire or liking for writing went with it. I think they're having an affair, personally. I try to write, and get a couple sentences down, and then I wince at the pathetic-ness and slink away. I have soooo many projects that used to be fun that I *could* work on. I just don't. I don't force myself to write every day like I should. It's summer, so I finally have TIME to work on projects, and I don't.

On a slightly more positive note, I *am* helping snazel to write more. Not that she wasn't doing an excellent job of productivity before. ;) One of my favorite bloggers, Merc, wrote this post about how to finish stories. I sent it along to snazel, who immeditately asked me to physically threaten Varesh Elm, a character of mine. He's one of the leads in Dimension Tournament (working title, it really needs an actual title, lol) and also stars in this short story. If she fails of her goal, I'm going to be really annoyed cuz I'll have to kill him. And I would really rather not. *glares severely at snazel* I will do it, though.

Anyway, as I said, nothing productive, enlightening, or even particularly entertaining in here, but go read Merc's post! Follow her! Adore! Worship!

black holes and book covers

I'm sorry I haven't been posting regularly in this blog at all. :( I'm still made of fail, fail, fail.

But happeh news! I got my copy of Hell Hath No Furies today! That is like epicly speedy, cuz I ordered it on the 27th, I think? Or the 28th? No earlier, anyway. My mom kinda freaked out, despite me telling her that it really doesn't mean anything to have a proof copy of a self-published book. :P Or maybe I'm just overly cynical. But I don't think so. Anyhow, Nanowrimo/CreateSpace contract FTW!!

[I was going to insert pictures here but they turned out crappy so I'll try again later.]

Let me introduce you

Once upon a time there was a girl who read the whole world.
The stories she read and the books read her
and the words covered the backs of her eyes.
She saw the whole world and lived amongst creatures of ink.
But then one day the words fled away, and all that was left was the sky.
She cried and she cried but when
she searched, queried, and fought,
the words didn't come back from beneath the earth:
had they died?
At last she looked up, and saw in the sky,
that every it-thou-and-God she had ever read was up there,
lacking only paper and ink.
She sighed, and smiled, and lived all the world.

your intellect is undermined by your insufferable levity.

I am making progress on the Stranger at last! I have an extremely rough and over-long draft for the next episode. Bleh now I just need to rip out its guts and replace them with something approaching readable. Go me.

Script Frenzy Follow-up

Pages: 50

I reached my alternate goal, lol. I'm going to finish the script, and possibly use it as an outline for a novel. The story itself isn't anything I'm going to attempt to publish, as it's 70% silliness and 30% sarcasm, but it's fun. :)
The most valuable lesson I learned during Screnzy? I loathe writing scripts. :D This is a good lesson. It just drove me crazy not being able to "see" everything. Is that an OCD tendency, do you think? I think maybe if I had a steady job writing scripts for theater or cinema, where I had a good chance of eventually "seeing" my script played out, I would be more inspired. But as it was, just writing script kinda killed all drive, momentum, inspiration, etc.

My goals as of now are the ones I've had all year so far, good GRIEF. Finish the Stranger, finish editing HHNF, finish Screnzy script. Wyrd is somewhere on the edge of the horizon, too.

Time for another writing survey!

What’s the last thing you wrote? Hmm a blog for this blog. :P Before that, a blog for my OTHER blog.
Was it any good? Kinda a spazzy account of my weekend, but sure.
What’s the first thing you ever wrote that you still have? Hm, I believe it’s “The Adventures of Coconut” and “Coconut goes to Paris”, about a dog. Yeah.
Write poetry? I have written poetry, but I try to avoid it, in protection of the world.
Do you type or write by hand? Both. I type when I want to get a lot of rough done, but write if I’m experiencing writer’s block or have more time at my disposal.
Do you save everything you write? Basically, yeah. When I type a first draft, I keep the original, but then once I start editing I don't save all the different versions. Hand-written stuff is usually in notebooks so that's saved, too.
Does music help you write? Only non-vocal music. Otherwise it’s reallyyyyy distracting, OR affects my writing in really strange ways. Enough said, I think. O.o
Do you even show people your work? Yes, and usually regret it.
Do you want to write for a living? YES?
Have you ever written something for a magazine or newspaper? For my highschool newspaper. :P And I’ve submitted some stuff to my college literary magazine.
The last thing you’ve had published for pay? Nothing.
Fiction Writers…
Where do you get ideas for your characters? That’s a good question. Sometimes characters from other things give me an idea, like, “What if there was a character like THAT only they [difference].”
Are you a Pantser or a Plotter? (what’s a pantser? O.o) I guess a plotter. I usually work off of an outline. But I dunno, sometimes I don’t. So whatever. Do what feels right to me.
Have you ever written sci-fi, fantasy, or horror? Yes. :P That’s mostly what I write. Well, horror not so much, but “Absence” had some freakish elements.
Ever written romance or teen angsty drama? No. Although I'm sure elements of both are in my stuff without asking permission.
Genre of choice? Er fantasy I guess.
Do you favor happy endings, sad endings, or cliff-hangers? I guess I prefer happy endings, but really anything with closure, unless it’s in the middle of a series.
Quote something you’ve written. The first thing to pop into your mind.
Something from The Missing Door, an unfinished rough draft from last year:
“Watch out for any yellow-spotted lizards,” Ramy said, giving her one of his fake smiles. Ramy had, Tara had noticed, a large range of expressions, most of them fake. “They’re poisonous. Lethally so.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Tara said drily, not sure if she believed him.

Workshop report

Sooooo last weekend, or more specifically Friday night and Saturday, I was at Bob Welch's Beachside Writing Workshop! Yay! Throws confetti! Dances? I dunno.

Friday night we ARRIVED (actually a whole five minutes early, SHOCKING!). They were set up in a school gym but actually it was pretty neat.....Bob's wife did the decorating and she's kinda hardcore. There was a section for eating (meals were provided, yay!) and a section for the workshop. On the dining tables were large, old books with their innards sliced out and replaced with dirt and grass. Haha I alternated the entire time between horror, fascination, and admiration. Lolz. They were cool though.
We also got plenty of snacks provided for us! The whole food thing was pretty pro. For Saturday breakfast we got this insane French Toast insanity with cream cheese and stuff. It was like....all meshed together. Yeahhhh....and fruit salad and epicness. For Sat. lunch we got CRAB LASAGNA and other stuff. Crab lasagna! Whose idea was that, anyway? It was REALLY fantastic except they used quite a bit of lemon.....lemon in food is probably my least favorite idea, lol. I remember a lemon soup I had at Augustine that I downed through sheer hunger and willpower alone. :D
So Friday night we did sort of the introductory sort of sessions, stuff about inspiration and imagination and Bob's life, etc. lol. He has a plethora of interesting stories about himself, his writing, and how he found the stuff to write about. I decided, even more after talking to him, I would HATE to be a columnist. Like....that's just a LOT of columns. He said he's in the 2000s. Three columns a week, year after year? No thank you. But it was fun hearing the stories. He told us a lot of what went into his American Nightingale book, which is about an American nurse, Frances Slanger. He spent like $67,000 going around Europe researching the darn thing. Crazy. But I need to read that, as well as A Pebble in the Water and the book about the Easy Company guy (Easy Company is the company in Band of Brothers, which is a book I've read and also a mini-series I have not seen).
We also got free stuff! YAY! A t-shirt that says, "Metaphors be with you" (lolz) and a notebook-binder with lots of stuff in it. Wheeee! Also a paint chip. *nods*
Saturday we went through his ten tips for writing, which was kinda hardcore, and then did the whole lunch thing. Besides worksheet-ish stuff in the notebook, we wrote two short pieces during the weekend for various purposes, but kinda overall before and after things. My first one had to be based on a fortune-cookie fortune, which was "You will soon find your treasure." My brain was SO dead that night so somehow I wrote about a girl who was on an angsty road trip by herself and the car broke down. Yeahhhh.....that's what I said too. My second one was about Oregon vs. Ottawa weather. :P
Yeah so more of Saturday was writing and critiquing each other's writing. What I think is interesting is that the main comments I got was that I was very descriptive and I did a good job of wrapping stuff together into one thing. I think I was so nervous about my atrocious descriptive skills that I overcompensated? Ah well.
The people at the workshop were a variety of nice, odd, and strange. lolz. Everyone was prettty old (like 30 and above) except for me and this one guy who I didn't speak to. But Beverly, Mary, and Jan were my friends. <3 But in general it was just REALLY AWESOME to get together with people like me who don't write for a living (yet) but really want to get better at it, and most of them loved writing as much as I do. I'm hoping to get into some regular correspondence with some of them, and I'm more inspired than ever to get involved with a writing group in my area.

White picket fences are bloody dangerous.

Hai guyz. My life is a hopeless whirlwind of time-sucking demons right now, so I'm lowering my goal to 50 pages. I'll do another 50 next month. :(

On a happier note (maybe?) I'm going to a writing workshop this weekend, held by a local writer who pwns faces. I've never gone to one before and I think it'll be an interesting experience, if not anything else. I'll write up a full report when I return. ;)

May your pens spew ink! Or somesuch poetic line.

Screnzy Update 2.0

Page count: 30
Page count I SHOULD be at: 63
Chocolate consumed: many, many eggs
Time wasted on Youtube: *hides*

I don't know why I'm having such problems! I'm honestly enjoying my script. It's a lot more fun than a LOT of my other projects. I do have time constraints, but obviously that's not the whole problem. *points at Youtube*
My goal for tonight is 10 pages. I have some fun things planned: character cameo from another story, we find out more about the villain, and a previously-named character death. If I get 10 done, and do about 5 a day from here on, I should be okay. :P Let's go!

Lightbulb moments

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as I pass by."

I finally had my first, honest-to-goodness ScriptFrenzy lightbulb moment! It made me laugh a lot too. I was pondering a logistical problem I was having with Bahnree (a character) and also pondering a "What should I do with him?" problem I was having with Rogue. Then Rogue just sat beside me on my bed (this is not meant as an innuendo, I was sitting on my bed at the time, okay????) and told me what he was up to. I rofled. I don't know if I'm cute when I rofl, but I did. :P I didn't realize Rogue could make me laugh that much. I didn't know he could be so helpful, either: he took care of both my problems!

TO: YOU FROM: BAHNREE

STILL AT TWENTY TWO PAGES STOP STILL NOT GIVING UP STOP PRAYERS ARE APPRECIATED STOP

Screnzy Update

School is eating my life again. The sillies.

I have 22 pages of Screnzy, and I believe I should be at 29.7 today? Or somesuch. I haven't given up yet, of course, I'll just have to do some massive catch-up. I might try and pump out some tonight, after I finish reading this godforsaken book for school.

Out peace.

"And then they laugh at him, and beat him."

I might cry. Or laugh. It's in committee.

I've been posting my ScriptFrenzy as I've been writing it over on my friends-only LJ. You know that character, Rogue? All of my readers LOVE him! WHY? WHY, O MUSES, WHY???? To me, he's one of those slimy good-bad types that's over-the-top good-looking and ought to be PUNCHED or beaten with a large, blunt object. There are way too many hunky "gray area" guys in literature, let's face it. And I love Han Solo and Boba Fett as much as anyone.

Breathe, Bahnree, Breathe. Rogue exists for me to make fun of myself, and I'm going to stick to that goal, no matter how many females love him. 

The GOOD news is that I'm up to 18 pages on my script! Yay! I not only caught up completely today (I was aiming for 15 by tonight) but am ahead a bit! :D Wootage. It's all thanks to a super epic scene wherein Alec told people how it was several times, Conrade yelled a lot, and Rogue let people know stuff only because it suited him. Oh, and I created another character on the spot: The Serpent, a professional assassin. I know, how original. I just needed an assassin. I don't even know if it's a chick or a dude!

Oh, and I keep forgetting to post this, my Screnzy profile: http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/user/200913

gotta getcha head in the game

Whew! I'm a bit behind on Screnzy. But I HAVE been getting stuff done. Namely homework, going to a play that a bunch of my friends are in, editing the Stranger, editing the Varesh-as-a-child story, etc. :D I'm at 10 pages now, though, for Screnzy. I'm really curious how the story is going to turn out...I don't have much of a clue or outline at all. Characters keep popping up, like Vana and Rogue. Rogue, particularly, is a funny story. I was thinking tonight about how I often like the scoundrelly, ruffian, rogue types in movies and books. SO I decided to make a character named Rogue who's a scoundrelly type, and then totally tear the poor guy apart. :D Fun times. My sarcasm shall be his death. It'll be interesting. It'll be like a metaphor for me getting over the whole rogue-novelty thing. Or something.

Okay, yeah, it's lame. 

it's the fear-fear of the darkness growing inside of me

I woke up this morning and realized a new episode of The Stranger was due today. Lolz. So I ran through the final edit and it is up HERE. I'm pretty excited about this episode. It's the first one past how the story has gone before, and we meet a lot of people in it, some who will be important later, some not. :P

Of course, now I have to hurry and finish 17 in time for next Friday. The next episode is just a mess, probably because I'm trying too hard. :)

Day Two of Screnzy was rather disappointing. I hate every word that I wrote. I'm regretting the massacre in scene three. Ah well! Keep going, wot?

And then the ice weasels come.

I've been finding spectacular ways of procrastinating from writing my first paper for the term, which happens to be due tomorrow. :D

Anyway, it occurred to me that I should write a First-Day-of-Screnzy post. For posterity. And for the furthering of said procrastination. :) Note: Why do I always seem to end sentences with emoticons? That is irritating and I just noticed it. For instance, I wanted to put a :S after "emotions?" and a D: after "noticed it." Sick. I think my sudden new resolution is to temporarily stop using emoticons.

OKAY ANYWAY SCRENZY!

I've written a bit over 3 pages, which is, you know, what I should have for a day but it's good to create a buffer in the first week, right? :S Ah well. I like what I have, although I wrote the scene way too fast and I know I left out a bunch of stuff that I needed to put in...but oh well! I'll add it later. I'm having a lot of fun so far (which isn't saying much as it's only the first day, but hey!), but it's REALLY hard for me to not wax descriptive on every little mood and facet of the characters. I didn't realize how much I liked describing my character's speech and motivations. Weird, huh? Although I'm also noticing I don't miss describing locations AT ALL. Me and locations=fail. For anyone who's read my infamous Olympus scene.....yes. Case in point.

Tomorrow I'm writing a scene wherein my mercenary commander gives his best and brightest a run-down of their new duties, a tour of the palace, and possibly a glimpse of the ferret terrarium thrown in the mix! :D

Write it, cut it, paste it, save it, load it, check it, quick rewrite it,

Script Frenzy! 2009 starts in 4 hours, 7 minutes for me. Bleh so not ready! I have my characters roughly sketched out. I have my setting. I have my opening events. I have the vaguest shadow of a plot. *sigh* That's about it. Besides which, I have several more hours of homework for tonight, not to mention to get done in the few hours I'll have tomorrow.

Ah, well, that's what makes these things FUN!

My Writing Blog....in Twitter

Bahnree:

-loves writing
-is having trouble with the current Stranger episode

-is feeling very anxious about Screnzy....should I do it??? Will it even work? Will I totally fail in school because of it? How hard IS a screenplay?

-trying not to let Lilith affect her writing

-seems to use the words "moment" and "stare" a lot

-uses her powers for good, most of the time

Writing Windows

I like windows beside me when I write, although I can write just about anywhere and have written just about everywhere. But my preferred places to write in my house are in my room beside my window, and at a window in our family room. Some people claim windows are distracting; they prefer to lock themselves in dark rooms so they can concentrate.  However, I feel I need some connection the “real world” when I lock myself in my mind, so that I can remind myself what it’s all for and what it’s all about. I need to see the sky. The natural light doesn’t hurt, either.

There’s not much of a view outside my bedroom window, anyway. My neighbor’s garage takes up a large portion, gray slatted roof and smooth gray paneling. A tree from my back yard can be seen, a young birch: its branches tease the right hand side of the view. Behind the garage are several stands of trees, layering back, presumably, to the horizon (my neighborhood has a lot of trees). If I crane to the left, I can see more of the birch and the green grass of my neighbor’s yard. If I crane to the right, I can see my neighbor’s driveway, crumbling pavement, and a vehicle or two. Above all of this is a patch of sky. In the evening, I can watch the stages of the sunset in it. So, all in all, not much of a view.

Our family room window looks over the street. There’s a lot more distractions to be had from this one, as I can watch passersby (who are frequent, because we live down the street from a park), passing cars, my neighbors, my neighbors’ pets, etc. Across the street there’s a yellow lab; one of the boys plays with it outside a lot. Then my dog barks, and runs upstairs and puts his front paws on the windowsill to watch. I yell at my dog, and eventually get back to work. This window faces south, so I usually miss both the sunrise and the sunset. All in all I like this window better, as sometimes I get ideas for descriptions from it, even if it’s more distracting.

So, what do you think? Windows or not? View? No view?

Motivations

[Sorry if this is cheesy. Just a post I've had rolling around in my mind for a while.]

Why do I write? Why do I spend so many hours of my life writing, editing what I’ve written, planning what I should write in future? I’ve heard a lot of reasons for a person to write, and I think all of them come into my own personal reasons to a degree.

Some people do it only when they have to: for school, for work, for correspondence. They write papers, reports, emails, only from necessity; as soon as they’re finished, they put down their pen with relief.

Some people do it simply for the enjoyment: they like being the master of their many worlds, creating people and places, deciding what should happen and when; or being master of their argument, laying forth the facts and persuasions as seems good to them. They like losing control and letting their worlds grow into beasts that demand their time and resources and soul. They can write a hundred pages a day and not get enough.

Some people write for attention. They ask themselves, what would be the weirdest way to deliver a poem; how can I get the biggest rush out of a story or the most outcry from an essay or manifesto? They write for the praise and the ridicule and the interviews and the critics and the fans.

Some people write because they have something they must communicate, out of want or need. They are driven by their dire conviction that as many people as possible must hear what they have to say. This isn’t, necessarily, out of an arrogant presumption that they know better than everyone else. Sometimes it is a purely altruistic thought: they truly believe they are writing for the benefit and knowledge of others.

I can’t say I’m completely free from any of these reasons. I think, perhaps, I possess a little of each. But most of all, first and foremost, I write because I must. I have to write; it is a demand from my innermost self. It is my outlet, my communication to myself, my creative bend, my hobby, my life. If I didn’t write, my self would be contained and never escape. My thoughts, my dreams, my worlds, my friends, my creatures, come out in my writing. Because they have to. Because I have to. It is my mission, set by myself, in some place and time outside of myself. And that is why I write.

OC Madness

Chose ten of your OCs. If you don't have ten of your own, chose ten cool people. 

1 = Clai

2 = Numair

3 = Dionysus

4 = Ramy

5 = Varesh

6 = Callen

7 = Alice

8 = Alec

9 = Adrastus

10 = Jahara

 

1.)   4 invites 3 and 8 to dinner at his house. What happens?

Ramy: “I think it’s time the brains in these worlds need to come together and…you know. Right?”

Dionysus: “So wait, are you hitting on us or suggesting world domination? Either way, I’ve got time.”

Alec: “Oh, wow, look at the time! I have to go make sure what’s-her-name doesn’t get killed on her way home…”

Me: “Can…I….please…come too?” *ded from fangirl squee*

 

2.) 9 tries to get 5 to go to a strip club. 

Varesh: “Hey, man, I don’t think this place is what you think it is…”

Adrastus: “Whaddya mean? Dionysus said it was really great; said the steak is delish…”

 

2.)   You need to stay at a friend's house for a night. Who do you choose, 1 or 6?

I’m not sure if Callen would let me IN his house, after what I did to him…but yeah, I’d definitely go with Callen, seeing as he lives in a palce and Clai is a bum…

 

4.) 2 and 7 are making out, 10 walks in. What are the reactions?

*Jahara takes one look and leaves in a state of dignified rage*

Numair: “Wait, wait! I CAN EXPLAIN!”

Alice: “Well, gotta go. Chad and I are going out for dinner.”

 

5.) 3 falls in love with 6, 8 is jealous. What happens?

*Callen is overcome by the absurdity and wrongness of it all; he esplodes*

*Dionysus and Alec return from their brief insanity*

*all is well*

*except for Callen, who iz esploded*

 

6.) 4 jumps you in a dark alleyway. Who comes to your rescue; 10, 2 or 7?

Numair attempts to rescue me, and then Ramy takes me away to other worlds….if ya know what I mean.

 

7.) 1 decides to start a cooking show. Fifteen minutes later, what is cooking?

Varesh’s hair.

 

8.) 3 has to marry either 8, 4 or 9. Who do they choose?

Dionysus uses his godly powers to switch one of the females into 8, 4, or 9 (probably Alice)

 

9.) 7 kidnaps 2 and demands something from 5 for 2's release. What is it?

Alice: “You. Me. Dimensions.”

Varesh: “Okay…you didn’t have to kidnap the pirate, though.”

 

10.) Everyone gangs up on 3. Does 3 have a chance in hell?

*Dionysus smiles angelically*

*censored content*

 

11.) Everyone is invited to 2 and 10's wedding except for 8. How do they react?

*Numair and Jahara are very happy that not only are they a man-woman pairing, they’re a canon pairing from their story*

*Alec sends a herd of stampeding horses through the wedding ceremony*

 

12.) Why is 6 afraid of 7?

Callen: “She’s terrifying. You ask her if she’d like anything to drink and she gives you a look that says she’d like to pour her drink on you and lick it off.”

 

13.) 1 arrives late for 2 and 10's wedding. What happens, and why were they late?

Clai: “Sorry, Faulkner tried to fake my arrest again. I stabbed him in the brains with sound waves.”

*silence*

Varesh: “That’s my girl.”

 

14.) 5 and 9 get roaring drunk and end up at your house- what happens?

Well, first I’d put Adrastus to bed, as he can NOT hold his liquor. Then Varesh and I would stay up, er, discussing what should happen in DimTourn. Yes.

 

15.) 9 murders 2's best friend. What does 2 do to get back at 9?

I don’t think Numair would ever suspect Adrastus in the first place, so Adrastus could live in peace. Regardless, Numair doesn’t really HAVE a best friend to get murdered.

 

16.) 6 and 1 are in mortal danger. Only one of them can survive. Does 6 save himself or 1?

Callen’s a decent bloke, unfortunately. He’d save Clai, if she let him.

 

17.) 8 and 3 go camping. For some reason they don't have any food. What do they do?

(why is it always 8 and 3? And WHY are Dionysus and Alec 8 and 3? Lolz)

Dionysus would just use his godlike powers again. Lame, I know. And Alec would get extremely tired of grapes and wine.

 

18.) 5 is critically injured in a car crash. What does 9 do?

(again with the 5 and 9!!)

Wonder what in the heck that big, moving metal box was.