Saturday, October 29, 2011
Writing and literary magazines
I write, a little bit of everything: poetry, a novel (in progress), short shorts, a blog (obviously), lists of all kinds, notes to myself, a lot of things I never finish, and I journal, but I think that was all fairly common knowledge. The problem is, I don't know what to do with anything after it's done. There are like a million literary magazines and I have no idea which ones are right for me. Online or print? Artsy or edu-ish? The problem is: I know what I like to read, and I like to read what I write, but is what I write like what I like to read? Sometime consider the fact that a lot of popular authors are published and become famous posthumously, that could be me, but then I shouldn't hold back so much when I write. Get it all out there, ya know? But I really want people to know me when I'm alive, like my writing, want to read it, can't wait for more. That brings me back to the problem I started with: where to submit?
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
3/4 the way done with a rough draft
At 42,400ish words, I am three fourths of the way done with draft 1 of my novel. It's about 155 typed pages. I have written it completely out of order; beginning with the middle, then end, next I wrote the beginning, and now I need the second half of the middle. Confusing? I hope not once it's all together. The next part is sure to be the most challenging because it is set in a place I have never been. Yikes! I began researching it the day before yesterday, and have already made some slight modifications to the location. The hard thing about setting a story in a real location is that the skeletal information needs to be accurate. With that said, my characters need to live in a house in a neighborhood that suits them. They need to act like transplants and then eventually come to know the restaurant that is all hype and go where the real good food is. I know that happened when we moved to the SAV area, we started out going to the places that got all the attention, but now have local favorites that tourists rarely know about. I have requested info from the visitors bureau of that city and look forward to my information. I do plan on making a trip there, but not until I know what I don't know that I need to know more clearly.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Chugging along
I'm happy to report that I have over 39,000 words written at this point. I have written about 2000 in the past two days. I need more days like this. I really want a rough draft done by the end of the year. It's all fitting together nicely and the only major road blocks I have are feeling what my characters are going through and not writing because I don't want to deal with bad things for them. I wonder if this is a common writer thing? Maybe some day I will know.
I found a genius way of studying vocabulary for the GRE. I have been helping out a friend bringing and picking her kid up from pre-school. This is a brave new world of mini-vans, suv's, mother's, and a plethora of children that I so don't fit in to. However, they do a pick up line that takes forever and a day to get through. In fact, getting in line ten minutes early only ensures that I will be at least fifteen cars back. So, I got smart last Thursday and brought my flashcards with me. I had nothing else to do during that time, so it was a HUGE success. I may just leave the flashcards in the car for good. Pre-school pick up = four days a week and if they're in there, traffic jams, accidents, red lights could all help me get in studying in otherwise wasted time when I would be rocking out to the radio (which is probably embarrassing, yet I so don't care).
In other news I thought of a genius way to put together a lot of my short stories into a book while I was about to take a nap earlier today. The main theme will be examining truth through a characters eyes, because as we all know in every story there is more than one truth depending on whose eyes the story is told through. The terrorist sees what they are doing as a noble act, the victim sees it as (dare I say) terrifying. While everyone won't agree with either perspective, it's the truth to someone.
Last thing of note pertaining to writing: I have officially set out on my quest to decide what my "critical" paper for getting into graduate school will be about. There are suggestions that candidates often revise papers that were written as an undergrad for this task. I have printed out three of the more likely choices to mull over. They are all hugely different, and they seem like I wrote them forever ago. (It was about four years ago, yikes!) So that will be fun . . .
I found a genius way of studying vocabulary for the GRE. I have been helping out a friend bringing and picking her kid up from pre-school. This is a brave new world of mini-vans, suv's, mother's, and a plethora of children that I so don't fit in to. However, they do a pick up line that takes forever and a day to get through. In fact, getting in line ten minutes early only ensures that I will be at least fifteen cars back. So, I got smart last Thursday and brought my flashcards with me. I had nothing else to do during that time, so it was a HUGE success. I may just leave the flashcards in the car for good. Pre-school pick up = four days a week and if they're in there, traffic jams, accidents, red lights could all help me get in studying in otherwise wasted time when I would be rocking out to the radio (which is probably embarrassing, yet I so don't care).
In other news I thought of a genius way to put together a lot of my short stories into a book while I was about to take a nap earlier today. The main theme will be examining truth through a characters eyes, because as we all know in every story there is more than one truth depending on whose eyes the story is told through. The terrorist sees what they are doing as a noble act, the victim sees it as (dare I say) terrifying. While everyone won't agree with either perspective, it's the truth to someone.
Last thing of note pertaining to writing: I have officially set out on my quest to decide what my "critical" paper for getting into graduate school will be about. There are suggestions that candidates often revise papers that were written as an undergrad for this task. I have printed out three of the more likely choices to mull over. They are all hugely different, and they seem like I wrote them forever ago. (It was about four years ago, yikes!) So that will be fun . . .
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
In 2 Books
I have to give a shout out to a website called www.in2books.com. It's a pen pal program that matches students with e-mentors. The students get to pick the books they read, the mentors read the books, then they exchange emails about the books. I am an e-mentor for the first time and am really enjoying it. I just finished the first book, A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young. It was an engaging book, and I have already written a letter about it to my student. I realize this post isn't really about my writing, but reading helps writing and helping young people love and think about reading is important to me. It's a super easy way to volunteer and help a child and I am able to do it on my own time.
On another side note, I had a great time at Disney World and now have friends staying with me. It's actually been a very side tracked month, but I am settling into a schedule. Hopefully that will allow me to focus more on writing, and all of the other things I should be doing.
On another side note, I had a great time at Disney World and now have friends staying with me. It's actually been a very side tracked month, but I am settling into a schedule. Hopefully that will allow me to focus more on writing, and all of the other things I should be doing.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Trip to NY = SUCCESS
Well I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I went up to NY to visit family. It was nice to spend quality time with family, but I am glad to be back in my own bed, with a backyard for the dogs to go run around and relieve themselves in. Walking them three to five times a day was getting a bit of a nuisance. It is so much easier in the middle of the night to stumble out of bed in my nightdress, open the back door with my eyes half open and let them in the yard. I will never live at a house without a fenced in yard.
Getting to the good stuff: why was my NY trip such a success? One of the places my 'novel' is set is an old farm house outside Batavia, NY. The house is largely based on my father-in-laws parents farm. I never sat down to write about the house, but when I began thinking about where my character would live, I thought it was the perfect setting. I have been to the farm a handful of times, but had not ever really studied it like I would need to in order to describe it. I knew it was beautiful in a way I couldn't create, because I don't know much about architecture of old houses. So, I did what any good writer would do, I asked my father-in-law if he would bring me up there and show me around. It was better than I could have expected, he is very knowledgeable about the house, and antiques in general. He let me snoop around the attic, basement, and barn. He drove me around the property, so I could have a better picture of the land size and layout. He answered questions I had about the house and gave me information I would have never thought to ask. I took pictures for reference, since a sixteen hour drive every time I wanted to see the exterior would be a bit extreme. I am really excited about the information I gained and the adventure I got to have with my father-in-law. While I am sure, some things about the house or property may very well be modified in order to fit in with my character's personal preferences on style, overall it is perfectly quirky as is.
I did work some, albeit, not much, on the reformatting and writing of my 'novel' while I was in NY, but I really do need to get my butt in higher gear, since my goal of having a 'complete' first draft done by the end of the year will approach faster than I expect, I expect. However, this weekend I am headed to Disney World (FOR FREE) thanks to my awesome cousin who works there currently.
Note on names: I try not to use names of people in my blog posts. This is a personal preference to protect their privacy since anyone in the world could see this if they wanted to. I do however occasionally give shout-outs to people who are 'public figures' when the information I am giving out is fairly common knowledge (ie: author comes out with a new book).
Oh, one more thing. (Hey it's been two weeks, I have a lot to say. Walden Books went out of business in my hometown (sad). However, happy for me! I got TWENTY books for FIVE dollars. It was their last day of business and the selection was well picked over, there may have only been like 60 different books to choose from total with at least ten in Spanish. With that said, I didn't look at them too much, and a couple of the books are in the process of being given to people who may appreciate them more than I. One book is on the chopping block for recycling. I normally love all books for what they are, however, this book can NEVER fall in the hands of one of my future children. I thought it was a book of vegan recipes for children (and while I am not vegan I do eat food without meat/animal products sometimes). However, when I got home and opened the book up, it was a children book promoting veganism. Which, in itself is fine, but it basically tells children that drinking milk (beyond babies) is unnecessary, and that shearing sheep for wool is cruel. So the book must go.
Getting to the good stuff: why was my NY trip such a success? One of the places my 'novel' is set is an old farm house outside Batavia, NY. The house is largely based on my father-in-laws parents farm. I never sat down to write about the house, but when I began thinking about where my character would live, I thought it was the perfect setting. I have been to the farm a handful of times, but had not ever really studied it like I would need to in order to describe it. I knew it was beautiful in a way I couldn't create, because I don't know much about architecture of old houses. So, I did what any good writer would do, I asked my father-in-law if he would bring me up there and show me around. It was better than I could have expected, he is very knowledgeable about the house, and antiques in general. He let me snoop around the attic, basement, and barn. He drove me around the property, so I could have a better picture of the land size and layout. He answered questions I had about the house and gave me information I would have never thought to ask. I took pictures for reference, since a sixteen hour drive every time I wanted to see the exterior would be a bit extreme. I am really excited about the information I gained and the adventure I got to have with my father-in-law. While I am sure, some things about the house or property may very well be modified in order to fit in with my character's personal preferences on style, overall it is perfectly quirky as is.
I did work some, albeit, not much, on the reformatting and writing of my 'novel' while I was in NY, but I really do need to get my butt in higher gear, since my goal of having a 'complete' first draft done by the end of the year will approach faster than I expect, I expect. However, this weekend I am headed to Disney World (FOR FREE) thanks to my awesome cousin who works there currently.
Note on names: I try not to use names of people in my blog posts. This is a personal preference to protect their privacy since anyone in the world could see this if they wanted to. I do however occasionally give shout-outs to people who are 'public figures' when the information I am giving out is fairly common knowledge (ie: author comes out with a new book).
Oh, one more thing. (Hey it's been two weeks, I have a lot to say. Walden Books went out of business in my hometown (sad). However, happy for me! I got TWENTY books for FIVE dollars. It was their last day of business and the selection was well picked over, there may have only been like 60 different books to choose from total with at least ten in Spanish. With that said, I didn't look at them too much, and a couple of the books are in the process of being given to people who may appreciate them more than I. One book is on the chopping block for recycling. I normally love all books for what they are, however, this book can NEVER fall in the hands of one of my future children. I thought it was a book of vegan recipes for children (and while I am not vegan I do eat food without meat/animal products sometimes). However, when I got home and opened the book up, it was a children book promoting veganism. Which, in itself is fine, but it basically tells children that drinking milk (beyond babies) is unnecessary, and that shearing sheep for wool is cruel. So the book must go.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Dress for success
Most of today was spent doing completely non-literary functions, like steam cleaning the carpet - yuck. However, I knew I needed to get in the groove. I did pretty well over the weekend, which is amazing considering I flew to San Antonio for a girls weekend with a friend. However, being stuck in an airport waiting for a layover has it's perks. I wrote over 1,000 words on the way out, and over 900 on the way back home. Overall pretty solid work. Today is Wednesday and I hadn't touched it since. I have been concerned about Hurricane Irene, since I live fairly near the coast, and spent a bit of time preparing in case I needed to evacuate. Doesn't look like that will happen, but I do plan on going to NY next week anyway, so the packing was not in vain.
The obvious question is why is the title of this post, "Dress for success"? Well because that is how I motivated myself to write tonight. I dressed up how I would if I was going to the 'office' or if I was doing a press conference or promoting a book. May sound a bit silly, but it was motivational. I worked for a solid hour, reformatting, thinking, and (gasp) writing a bit. [On a side note, I was drinking one of those Starbucks frappuccino's you buy at the grocery store and dribbled it on my skirt - oh well]
The next question on your mind may be: Why are you reformatting? Does that mean you are done?
NO. I am not near done. However, I have 'flashbacks' in one file and the bulk of it in another, then POV of another character in another file, and in order to continue everything in a way that makes sense, it all needs to be melded together. Actually, as I reformat it, everything is becoming more clear. Things I knew fit together, but didn't know how, I am figuring out. I am really excited. Well I need to get up, stretch a bit, feed the dogs, then maybe . . . just maybe, write/reformat some more.
'Till next time.
The obvious question is why is the title of this post, "Dress for success"? Well because that is how I motivated myself to write tonight. I dressed up how I would if I was going to the 'office' or if I was doing a press conference or promoting a book. May sound a bit silly, but it was motivational. I worked for a solid hour, reformatting, thinking, and (gasp) writing a bit. [On a side note, I was drinking one of those Starbucks frappuccino's you buy at the grocery store and dribbled it on my skirt - oh well]
The next question on your mind may be: Why are you reformatting? Does that mean you are done?
NO. I am not near done. However, I have 'flashbacks' in one file and the bulk of it in another, then POV of another character in another file, and in order to continue everything in a way that makes sense, it all needs to be melded together. Actually, as I reformat it, everything is becoming more clear. Things I knew fit together, but didn't know how, I am figuring out. I am really excited. Well I need to get up, stretch a bit, feed the dogs, then maybe . . . just maybe, write/reformat some more.
'Till next time.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A little bit of this and a little bit of that
I have successfully put together my new desk system, minus one file cabinet (to be completed tomorrow). It's looking pretty cool, still needs a bit of organization, but I think once I finally get it all together and organized it will be the ideal space I wanted it to be.
Since my office is in a bit of a disarray, I brought my mini laptop with me to Panera Bread and wrote over 1000 words. It was nice. There weren't a lot of people there and I never realized it before, but they play a really chill mix of jazzy/blues that was not distracting but rather helpful. I think I may make it a weekly or biweekly thing. Change of scenery, change of pace, and good food!
Since my office is in a bit of a disarray, I brought my mini laptop with me to Panera Bread and wrote over 1000 words. It was nice. There weren't a lot of people there and I never realized it before, but they play a really chill mix of jazzy/blues that was not distracting but rather helpful. I think I may make it a weekly or biweekly thing. Change of scenery, change of pace, and good food!
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