I heard something sad but not altogether shocking the other week: kids in certain schools aren't going to be learning penmanship anymore. That's right folks, no cursive, no signature, no 10-points-off-when-you-confuse-cursive-J-with-cursive-F anymore. It all ends here.
And yes, yes, sure, sure, who actually writes in the cursive they learned in the first grade right? My own handwriting is this weird sort of mix of print and cursive, still very legible but lacking in all character. But still. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that we've become so completely reliant on computers that learning the beautiful, artistic, timeless skill of penmanship is deemed...expendable? Really? Really?!
At this point our fate is clear: We are on the knife edge and headed into a universe where the Nook and iPad rule the world, and no one knows how to write their own names to save their lives.
All of this made me think of my journal and how utterly lost I would be right now without it. I journaled a lot in high school and those notebooks are in my bedroom on a shelf where I can pull them down and be transported back to 17 in seconds. Once college rolled around my journaling (and introspection, really) stopped almost altogether and didn't pick up again until I began this blog. Then P&P became my journal, but there are still things that never made it onto the web and had nowhere else to go. So at nearly the start of January, I began another journal, a hard copy journal, and it is slowly changing everything.
It's not just that I'm getting to know myself again, or even just that the personal things I'm exploring in my journal are reacquainting my mind with parts of my heart it often forgets to think about. It's the act of sitting down and writing. It feels so much more personal and lets you spend so much more time sitting quietly somewhere (without your email to distract you) and spending time with yourself. Oh, and all those little notes and words crossed out and arrows pointing from one paragraph to another, and smiley faces or exclamations to emphasize entire pages? Those are the real gems, the things you can't really put down in a Word doc, the stuff that, when you look back on it later, you'll be like "Ohmygod, I'm a lunatic!"
Priceless, really.
So to the schools who are thinking of getting rid of penmanship instruction (which, let's face it, is just the tip of the iceberg), please don't. I know you're so incredibly underfunded and this seems like such a waste of time, but it really isn't. It's a skill, a talent, and completely, completely worth it.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
January 31, 2011
December 29, 2010
The Pro's and Con's of NaNoWriMo
I realize that NaNoWriMo was a while back and ended nearly a whole month ago (where did December go, anyway?), and I'm sure you've also noticed that I've been conspicuously absent from the blogosphere lately, so I'm going to take this chance to recap November and all of its writing glories and pitfalls.
First, I did not make it to the end of November this year. I think I actually stopped somewhere in the first week. I'd like to blame it on the story itself, or the characters and their persnickety natures which made it impossible to get from one chapter to the next, but it's neither of those things. I just couldn't get myself to commit this year. I was distracted -- November and December really are notoriously busy months for me (and everyone else on the planet, I think) -- and I honestly wasn't sure how to move from one section of the story I'd written to the next. That big writers block wall wins once again!
I'm not giving up on this story though, because I really do think it's one of those stories that sort of hits all the things I love about my favorite books, and isn't that the kind of thing we should all be writing anyway? Not in a jumbled, lets-put-everything-into-the-same-pot, kind of way, but in a good, organized, I-would-have-written-those-books-this-way-if-it-were-me, sort of way. And NaNoWriMo is the thing that got me writing it in the first place, regardless of whether or not I "won".
Will I do NaNo again next year? Definitely. I am going to reach the finish line. I am going to get that t-shirt. I am going to have a finished product one day if it kills me. Okay...maybe not if kills me, but you know what I mean! Until then, I'll keep plugging away at this one and will hopefully be working on something new when November rolls around again.
July 29, 2010
A Creativity Challenge: Looking Back and Looking Forward
As July winds down and I finish up this months Creativity Challenge, I can only say that I'm so thankful I decided to do it. This challenge has been such a great experience, and the last 28 days have allowed me to get back into a mindset that I've missed and struggled to find for years now.
In all honesty, the challenge itself hasn't exactly gone the way I thought it would. I'm not writing every day, and I still haven't made any sort of visible progress on the story I began a while back. But I am writing more. In fact, I'm writing nearly every day, and the fact that I've been doing it more and more often makes me want to continue doing it more and more often. I'm thinking about writing all the time. I'm looking forward to it. And while my story is still stuck stubbornly in its conception stage, I'm not frustrated or upset anymore.
In fact, a funny thing is happening to me: the act of writing so much, of thinking so much of writing, and of looking at everything in terms of how it can inspire me has sort of caused this domino effect in my life. I'm being creative again. It sounds silly, I know, but I'm being perfectly serious when I say that this is monumental in my life right now. I may not be able to get to chapter 2 in that story, but I've got ideas again. Tons and tons of ideas. In those years when writing was not just a want but a need, when I needed it to be my crutch, my filter and my repository, I used to come up with ideas in daydreams, in classes, in car rides and in the middle of conversations. Dialogue would just come together like magic and it seemed so effortless to me that I couldn't imagine that those ideas would someday stop. And then they did, and I thought I'd lost something. I realize now that I was just...rusty.
This Creativity Challenge is bringing it all back to me. I now spend about an hour and half each night before bed writing something. Most of the time its just a stray scene that played across my mind sometime throughout the day, but a few times that idea has resulted in 3-4 pages of conversation and story. I don't know where or if any of it will ever be used in a larger sense, but the fact that it's becoming a wonderful, fulfilling habit for me to think them up and get them down is a reward in and of itself.
And for the first time I can offer this excuse for not having written a blog post in nearly a week: I've been busy writing something else!
So thank-you, Ashley, for issuing your challenge, and I'm so excited to continue it long after July comes to a close.
In all honesty, the challenge itself hasn't exactly gone the way I thought it would. I'm not writing every day, and I still haven't made any sort of visible progress on the story I began a while back. But I am writing more. In fact, I'm writing nearly every day, and the fact that I've been doing it more and more often makes me want to continue doing it more and more often. I'm thinking about writing all the time. I'm looking forward to it. And while my story is still stuck stubbornly in its conception stage, I'm not frustrated or upset anymore.
In fact, a funny thing is happening to me: the act of writing so much, of thinking so much of writing, and of looking at everything in terms of how it can inspire me has sort of caused this domino effect in my life. I'm being creative again. It sounds silly, I know, but I'm being perfectly serious when I say that this is monumental in my life right now. I may not be able to get to chapter 2 in that story, but I've got ideas again. Tons and tons of ideas. In those years when writing was not just a want but a need, when I needed it to be my crutch, my filter and my repository, I used to come up with ideas in daydreams, in classes, in car rides and in the middle of conversations. Dialogue would just come together like magic and it seemed so effortless to me that I couldn't imagine that those ideas would someday stop. And then they did, and I thought I'd lost something. I realize now that I was just...rusty.
This Creativity Challenge is bringing it all back to me. I now spend about an hour and half each night before bed writing something. Most of the time its just a stray scene that played across my mind sometime throughout the day, but a few times that idea has resulted in 3-4 pages of conversation and story. I don't know where or if any of it will ever be used in a larger sense, but the fact that it's becoming a wonderful, fulfilling habit for me to think them up and get them down is a reward in and of itself.
And for the first time I can offer this excuse for not having written a blog post in nearly a week: I've been busy writing something else!
So thank-you, Ashley, for issuing your challenge, and I'm so excited to continue it long after July comes to a close.
July 22, 2010
A Creativity Challenge: Side Effects
Perhaps what I'm loving most about tackling this Creativity Challenge (currently in week three!) is all of the side benefits its seemed to have. I thought and intended to use this month to concentrate solely on my writing, and I've been doing more writing this month than in maybe the last few years combined. But tapping that aspect of whatever creativity I seem to have has also tapped others.
I've started playing music again. When I was a kid, I played a bunch of instruments; I played the piano, the violin, the clarinet, the ukulele. I stopped somewhere along the way when my interest died out or to keep playing seemed like too much to put on my plate at the time, but I've begun picking some of it up again. Specifically, the piano. N. is a jazz pianist and has always been in a band of some sort. He doesn't currently play or go to gigs, but he did a lot of that when we first began dating, and when I figured out just how talented he was, it made me proportionally intimidated to do anything musical in front of him. Who wants to look like an amateur loser in front of this guy she's into, right? This is a ridiculous reaction since, as I've learned lately, he absolutely loves the fact that I'm showing an interest in the piano again. This in turn has given birth to a whole new goal of mine: I'm hoping one day to consider myself good enough to play in front of him.
The other side benefit of the Creativity Challenge has been that I'm learning to be a little easier on myself when it comes to my writing. As I mentioned in my last update, my story is giving me trouble (in that I can't get passed the first 10 pages). And I've been stuck behind this monumental wall that is Chapter 1 for the past few months, not willing to move on until I've made the necessary transition seamless. This Challenge, like NaNoWriMo, is forcing me to get something down on paper no matter where it fits into this story or any other for that matter. As a result, I'm learning that maybe this story isn't one that I'm ready to tell just yet; maybe I need to work on something else, something more...on the surface of my mind...before trying my hand at this one. I would never have gotten here without this month.
I've started playing music again. When I was a kid, I played a bunch of instruments; I played the piano, the violin, the clarinet, the ukulele. I stopped somewhere along the way when my interest died out or to keep playing seemed like too much to put on my plate at the time, but I've begun picking some of it up again. Specifically, the piano. N. is a jazz pianist and has always been in a band of some sort. He doesn't currently play or go to gigs, but he did a lot of that when we first began dating, and when I figured out just how talented he was, it made me proportionally intimidated to do anything musical in front of him. Who wants to look like an amateur loser in front of this guy she's into, right? This is a ridiculous reaction since, as I've learned lately, he absolutely loves the fact that I'm showing an interest in the piano again. This in turn has given birth to a whole new goal of mine: I'm hoping one day to consider myself good enough to play in front of him.
The other side benefit of the Creativity Challenge has been that I'm learning to be a little easier on myself when it comes to my writing. As I mentioned in my last update, my story is giving me trouble (in that I can't get passed the first 10 pages). And I've been stuck behind this monumental wall that is Chapter 1 for the past few months, not willing to move on until I've made the necessary transition seamless. This Challenge, like NaNoWriMo, is forcing me to get something down on paper no matter where it fits into this story or any other for that matter. As a result, I'm learning that maybe this story isn't one that I'm ready to tell just yet; maybe I need to work on something else, something more...on the surface of my mind...before trying my hand at this one. I would never have gotten here without this month.
July 15, 2010
A Creativity Challenge: My Biggest Writing Fear
We are two weeks into this Creativity Challenge and I have yet to write enough to fill up a single page in the story I'm working on. I have ideas jotted down here and there, on napkins and in notebooks, on scrap pieces of paper floating around in my purse, even on the jacket of last weekend's Southwest Airlines boarding pass. But none of it's cohesive, and none of it gets me over this mental block I'm facing right now. In fact, I'm not sure any of it actually even applies to the story I'm writing now, they're all just little scenes that play out in short paragraphs and spurts of dialogue, half-baked conversations (or the outline of conversations) that have yet to find a plot to belong to.
I feel like the only thing left to do is to lock myself in a room with my laptop and some music and not let myself out until I'm at least a chapter in. I'm too easily distracted otherwise.
Or I could just abandon this story altogether.
But that would be giving up, and I feel like I've given up too many times, discarded too many drafts and left too many stories unfinished. Aside from my desperate fear of plagiarizing something I've read and loved and internalized, this fear is my constant companion these days: the incomplete story belonging to the writer who doesn't write.
I think I'll try option #1 first.
I feel like the only thing left to do is to lock myself in a room with my laptop and some music and not let myself out until I'm at least a chapter in. I'm too easily distracted otherwise.
Or I could just abandon this story altogether.
But that would be giving up, and I feel like I've given up too many times, discarded too many drafts and left too many stories unfinished. Aside from my desperate fear of plagiarizing something I've read and loved and internalized, this fear is my constant companion these days: the incomplete story belonging to the writer who doesn't write.
I think I'll try option #1 first.
July 8, 2010
A Creativity Challenge: Music to Write By
With Ashley's Creativity Challenge a week underway, I thought it would be a good time to write my first update. As mentioned previously, the challenge I've issued myself for the month of July is to write. Write habitually, write unabashedly, just write. My only requirements were that the writing be done daily, and that its subject matter be creative.
It sounds easy enough, doesn't it?
Enter: Me.
This isn't nearly as straight-forward and simple as I thought it was going to be, but I guess that's why I issued it as a challenge to myself. It's extremely hard for me to focus long enough to write something worth writing, or to even gauge what that "worth" means. It's difficult to stay inspired, or to not focus on the ideas I've had and then forgotten instead of creating new ones. And though I've written something down everyday so far, sometimes it was just a single, measly sentence that was hastily deleted before my laptop even had time to process and auto-save. I don't know whether this is a lack of commitment or just a genuine lack of ideas on my part.
Given all of this, my mini-challenge for the coming week is to write more. No more one-sentence-and-delete. Write to keep.
To help with this, I've resurrected my "Music to Write By" playlist. It's always been easiest for me to write with mood music. Like many authors I've read interviews of, I tend to think in movie scenes complete with soundtracks and, in fact, most of my ideas come when I'm on a long drive somewhere, listening to music that just makes me see what's happening. I usually have an idea for the general story line in my head already, but the music helps me to create scenes and dialogue, environment and emotion. It's the only time that I can honestly say my characters have told me what they'd like to say instead of the other way around. Unfortunately, by the time the drive is over, I've forgotten the details of that scene and spend the next few days mourning that loss and trying [unsuccessfully] to recreate it. This discourages me, and I stop trying.
It's an unproductive cycle, but it's one that I'm hopeful can be broken.
And so, though it desperately needs updating, my current "Music to Write By" playlist looks like this:
It sounds easy enough, doesn't it?
Enter: Me.
This isn't nearly as straight-forward and simple as I thought it was going to be, but I guess that's why I issued it as a challenge to myself. It's extremely hard for me to focus long enough to write something worth writing, or to even gauge what that "worth" means. It's difficult to stay inspired, or to not focus on the ideas I've had and then forgotten instead of creating new ones. And though I've written something down everyday so far, sometimes it was just a single, measly sentence that was hastily deleted before my laptop even had time to process and auto-save. I don't know whether this is a lack of commitment or just a genuine lack of ideas on my part.
Given all of this, my mini-challenge for the coming week is to write more. No more one-sentence-and-delete. Write to keep.
To help with this, I've resurrected my "Music to Write By" playlist. It's always been easiest for me to write with mood music. Like many authors I've read interviews of, I tend to think in movie scenes complete with soundtracks and, in fact, most of my ideas come when I'm on a long drive somewhere, listening to music that just makes me see what's happening. I usually have an idea for the general story line in my head already, but the music helps me to create scenes and dialogue, environment and emotion. It's the only time that I can honestly say my characters have told me what they'd like to say instead of the other way around. Unfortunately, by the time the drive is over, I've forgotten the details of that scene and spend the next few days mourning that loss and trying [unsuccessfully] to recreate it. This discourages me, and I stop trying.
It's an unproductive cycle, but it's one that I'm hopeful can be broken.
And so, though it desperately needs updating, my current "Music to Write By" playlist looks like this:
- Lydia - "Fate"
- Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson - "Winter Song"
- Maria Taylor - "Clean Getaway"
- A Fine Frenzy - "Elements"
- Eisley - "Plenty of Paper"
- Snow Patrol & Martha Wainwright - "Set the Fire to the Third Bar"
- Kat Tingey - "Undone"
- The Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition"
- Sea Wolf - "The Violet Hour"
- Editors - "No Sound But the Wind"
- Lydia - "This is Twice Now"
- Deas Vail - "Atlantis"
- Ray LaMontagne - "Hannah"
- The Fray - "Look After You"
- Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Follow You into the Dark"
- Lydia - "Now the One You Once Loved is Leaving"
- Eisley - "Brightly Wound"
- Death Cab for Cutie - "The Ice is Getting Thinner"
- Lydia - "One More Day"
- Grizzly Bear & Victoria Legrand - "Slow Life"
- Leona Lewis - "Run"
- Lydia - "All I See"
- Poe - "Haunted"
July 1, 2010
A Creativity Challenge
As the month of June comes to a close and the month of July begins, I can't help but think that it's the perfect time to start a project. And as I mentioned earlier this week, I'm gearing up to take part in Ashley's Creativity Challenge and couldn't be more excited!
Now, I'm actually planning on doing two creative projects this coming month (a big one and a small one), but the small one is sort of a secret, possible surprise project and, because I'm not actually sure I'll be able to deliver it by the end of the month, I'm not going to talk about it (hehe). The big one on the other hand, that I'll probably talk about ad nauseum by the time July ends and you'll be glad the month is over.
For this project, I plan on writing. A lot. I'm not going to give myself any sort of parameters on what that writing must be, save that it has to be creative writing of some sort. This can include blog entries, writing parts of the story I began a few months ago, taking a stab at freelance writing, writing poetry (though I'm definitely not known for being poetic), hell, even writing a song if I feel like it. What it does not include, however, is academic writing, writing for work, writing emails, and anything of that sort. The only other parameter I will set for myself is that I must write every day. It doesn't have to be a lengthy writing session (so "not having time" will no longer be a viable excuse), but I think just the exercise of writing something creative so habitually will be such a great thing for me and such a great thing for my writing. I'm also hoping it will serve as the beginning of a good habit that will carry over even after this Challenge is done.
Like I said, I'm really excited about this and I think that dedicating a month to a creative endeaver was a fantastic idea! So if you feel like your own creativity has been put on the back burner lately, I encourage you take part in this Challenge as well.
Below are the details, and you can read more about it here.
If you're interested in participating, here’s what you should do (taken from Writing to Reach You):
Now, I'm actually planning on doing two creative projects this coming month (a big one and a small one), but the small one is sort of a secret, possible surprise project and, because I'm not actually sure I'll be able to deliver it by the end of the month, I'm not going to talk about it (hehe). The big one on the other hand, that I'll probably talk about ad nauseum by the time July ends and you'll be glad the month is over.
For this project, I plan on writing. A lot. I'm not going to give myself any sort of parameters on what that writing must be, save that it has to be creative writing of some sort. This can include blog entries, writing parts of the story I began a few months ago, taking a stab at freelance writing, writing poetry (though I'm definitely not known for being poetic), hell, even writing a song if I feel like it. What it does not include, however, is academic writing, writing for work, writing emails, and anything of that sort. The only other parameter I will set for myself is that I must write every day. It doesn't have to be a lengthy writing session (so "not having time" will no longer be a viable excuse), but I think just the exercise of writing something creative so habitually will be such a great thing for me and such a great thing for my writing. I'm also hoping it will serve as the beginning of a good habit that will carry over even after this Challenge is done.
Like I said, I'm really excited about this and I think that dedicating a month to a creative endeaver was a fantastic idea! So if you feel like your own creativity has been put on the back burner lately, I encourage you take part in this Challenge as well.
Below are the details, and you can read more about it here.
If you're interested in participating, here’s what you should do (taken from Writing to Reach You):
- Email Ashley at writetoreach@gmail.com letting her know you want to participate. She will list everyone participating here. Help spread the word to other people you think might be interested.
- Decide on your project and write a post on your own blog sometime this week letting us know what you’ll be working on. Feel free to apply whatever additional rules or parameters you want to be part of your challenge. If you think your readers might be interested, try to get your post up earlier so that they’ll have to time to prepare as well. Please send them over to Ashley's blog so that she knows everyone who is participating.
- Periodically throughout the month, blog about your project and the progress you’re making. You may choose to share what you’ve been working on or just talk about the process. There is no precise schedule, so you can share as much or as little as you want. Like any challenge, you’ll get as much out of it as you put into it.
- Connect with other creative people participating in the challenge. Cheer people on, ask them how it’s going, and give them feedback if they ask for it.
- Write a post at the end of July with your thoughts on the project, whether you judge it a success or failure, whether you will be continuing with your project or not.
February 23, 2010
dream a little dream
i daydream a lot. like, a lot. i'm one of those people who would prefer not driving, not because it stresses me out or because i hate traffic (though i am sort of terrified of driving in a general sense anyway), but because it seriously cuts into my daydream time. that bus ride, that commute, it's the only time of day that i can take a step back from everything and, without any effort whatsoever, come up with storyline after storyline, scenario after scenario. all i need is some peace and music.
and i bring this up because there's a big difference between this daydream time, when everything comes so fluidly and i can so easily remember why i want to be a writer and why i think i'd be good at it, and the time i set aside to actually sit down in front of my computer and write something (read: creative, fiction) down. during that time, it's like pulling teeth. for example, i read a lot of interviews of my favorite authors where they're asked, "how did you become a writer?" or "describe your work day," and many times they'll talk about just sitting down and having the words come to them. it's work, yes, of course, but still. they're able to write without an outline, you know? the characters sort of...well, tell the author what they want to say and do. the author, at that point, is sort of a conduit, you know?
um, okay so that's totally not me. when i sit down to write fiction with nothing jotted down to fill the next few pages with, none of my characters speak to me and the only words that come to mind are: you suck, so don't quit your day job.
[Note: this is not the case for academic writing which i could, unfortunately, spew out of my brain for hours upon hours, lucky you.]
so this daydream time is incredibly important to me. the only problem is, i'm never prepared for it. i always have these great ideas where i can envision an hour of dialogue in my head, or the way an entire fictional town looks at sunset, but then as soon as i get back to reality, those visions are gone.
it's gotten to the point where i've even invented a imaginary machine to help me with this dilemma. it's a headset, not unlike a bluetooth earpiece, that would somehow (and this is why my invention has not yet come to fruition) record my thoughts and transmit them to an open word document. voila! i've got an editable story already written down!
unfortunately, my science, engineering and math capabilities, which i assume are necessary to build such a wonderful little device, are sorely lacking. i've started carting around a good old fashion journal instead. and while it's everywhere i go these days, i'm still forgetting to use it. but today i'm turning over a new leaf. said journal is sitting here, right next to me on my desk, so that as soon as any sort of story or blog idea comes up, i'll be ready. in fact, i've already written something down in there this morning (on the short bus ride to work)!
i'm hoping to turn this into another one of those healthy habits i've been working on.
and i bring this up because there's a big difference between this daydream time, when everything comes so fluidly and i can so easily remember why i want to be a writer and why i think i'd be good at it, and the time i set aside to actually sit down in front of my computer and write something (read: creative, fiction) down. during that time, it's like pulling teeth. for example, i read a lot of interviews of my favorite authors where they're asked, "how did you become a writer?" or "describe your work day," and many times they'll talk about just sitting down and having the words come to them. it's work, yes, of course, but still. they're able to write without an outline, you know? the characters sort of...well, tell the author what they want to say and do. the author, at that point, is sort of a conduit, you know?
um, okay so that's totally not me. when i sit down to write fiction with nothing jotted down to fill the next few pages with, none of my characters speak to me and the only words that come to mind are: you suck, so don't quit your day job.
[Note: this is not the case for academic writing which i could, unfortunately, spew out of my brain for hours upon hours, lucky you.]
so this daydream time is incredibly important to me. the only problem is, i'm never prepared for it. i always have these great ideas where i can envision an hour of dialogue in my head, or the way an entire fictional town looks at sunset, but then as soon as i get back to reality, those visions are gone.
it's gotten to the point where i've even invented a imaginary machine to help me with this dilemma. it's a headset, not unlike a bluetooth earpiece, that would somehow (and this is why my invention has not yet come to fruition) record my thoughts and transmit them to an open word document. voila! i've got an editable story already written down!
unfortunately, my science, engineering and math capabilities, which i assume are necessary to build such a wonderful little device, are sorely lacking. i've started carting around a good old fashion journal instead. and while it's everywhere i go these days, i'm still forgetting to use it. but today i'm turning over a new leaf. said journal is sitting here, right next to me on my desk, so that as soon as any sort of story or blog idea comes up, i'll be ready. in fact, i've already written something down in there this morning (on the short bus ride to work)!
i'm hoping to turn this into another one of those healthy habits i've been working on.
October 29, 2009
i'm going to write a novel
if you know me, or you've been reading my blog semi-consistently for a little while now, you know that a dream of mine is to write a novel. i can't really remember the when or why of it, i just know that i've always wanted to do it, i've always wanted to write.
so obviously, my problem has never been the desire. it's been the dedication, sadly enough. every time i feel like i can and will sit down and write, i find an excuse not to. or i do and i get sidetracked by the technical aspects of writing, and when a person gets bogged down by all of that grammar and editing and whatnot, it's really hard to maintain a workable level of inspiration.
SO, with all this in mind, and not without a certain amount of apprehension, i've signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo! if you're unfamiliar with the national novel writing month program/challenge, here's how it goes:
National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2008, we had over 119,000 participants. More than 21,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
So, to recap:
What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.
Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.
Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.
have any of you done this before? how did it go? i have an idea in my head (the same idea i've had for about 2 years now and have failed to write), but i don't know if i should outline it before i go or what. i'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences. and if anyone else is participating, let me know and we can be writing/pep-talk blogging buddies!
so obviously, my problem has never been the desire. it's been the dedication, sadly enough. every time i feel like i can and will sit down and write, i find an excuse not to. or i do and i get sidetracked by the technical aspects of writing, and when a person gets bogged down by all of that grammar and editing and whatnot, it's really hard to maintain a workable level of inspiration.
SO, with all this in mind, and not without a certain amount of apprehension, i've signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo! if you're unfamiliar with the national novel writing month program/challenge, here's how it goes:
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2008, we had over 119,000 participants. More than 21,000 of them crossed the 50k finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
So, to recap:
What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month's time.
Who: You! We can't do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let's write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.
Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era's most enchanting art forms! To write without having to obsess over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To be able to mock real novelists who dawdle on and on, taking far longer than 30 days to produce their work.
When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at midnight. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.
have any of you done this before? how did it go? i have an idea in my head (the same idea i've had for about 2 years now and have failed to write), but i don't know if i should outline it before i go or what. i'd love to hear your thoughts/experiences. and if anyone else is participating, let me know and we can be writing/pep-talk blogging buddies!
wish me luck come Nov. 1st!
June 24, 2009
thoughts on a novel
i've always been a voracious reader. it's difficult to really remember a time when books didn't interest me. i've just always loved them. i love the telling of the story. i love the voices of the characters and the description of places i've never seen and, perhaps outside of the page, will never see. i've been trying to figure out lately how it is that i "read" a book.
i mean, what sound does the written word make in my head? whose voice is it when it's not the dialogue's or narrator's? even now, as i sit in bed writing this blog post, and i'm reading over words i myself have just written, it's hard for me to hear the voice that plays them back to me. once i concentrate on it, it changes to fit whatever or whoever it is i'm consciously thinking about.
and aside from my obsession with the chatter of my internal monologue, i've been noticing that i'm much more of a dialogue person than i once though. i mean, i love a good description, but once i've got the look of a room or a road or a forest in my head, i tend to just skip over other descriptive passages and head straight for the conversation. and i let it play out in my head the way it would naturally, organically. then, if it doesn't quite work in my own imagination for some reason or the other, i take hints from the author.
it's a strange way to read a book.
and it's almost impossible to do with harry potter.
i've been re-reading harry potter and the half-blood prince and harry potter and the deathly hallows again. finished them both just this passed week and am completely obsessed once more. i mean, you all thought i liked twilight? it doesn't even come close to my deep love and appreciation for j.k. rowlings and her hogwarts universe. like twilight, i came in to harry potter later in the game than those in the know, but early enough not to be considered among those living under rocks. by the time i picked up on the frenzy, the fourth book was just about to be released (again, like twilight). i was at the public library one day during a school break and picked up the first book. then made my mother drive me the half hour back into town the next day to borrow the next two. i can't remember her being more irritated with me and my reading habits than she was when i discovered harry potter. i read non-stop. i read all day, all night, i read at the dinner table, in the car, wherever, whenever.
it was amazing. a whole new world. and the details! how can one person come up with so many small details? how can so many small details be so integral to a book? it's impossible to concentrate on voices when you're so engrossed in the story line. it's impossible to skip over passages after you realize that what you once thought was a mundane description has become the lynch-pin of the entire book. that is what makes for great story telling. when you can't fill in the blanks for yourself. when you don't want to.
these are the things that i'm thinking of as i consider how to take the leap and begin a novel. i've been putting it off. chances are, i'll continue to put it off (because i'm scared i'll write it and it won't be any good?), but i'm trying not to.
i mean, what sound does the written word make in my head? whose voice is it when it's not the dialogue's or narrator's? even now, as i sit in bed writing this blog post, and i'm reading over words i myself have just written, it's hard for me to hear the voice that plays them back to me. once i concentrate on it, it changes to fit whatever or whoever it is i'm consciously thinking about.
and aside from my obsession with the chatter of my internal monologue, i've been noticing that i'm much more of a dialogue person than i once though. i mean, i love a good description, but once i've got the look of a room or a road or a forest in my head, i tend to just skip over other descriptive passages and head straight for the conversation. and i let it play out in my head the way it would naturally, organically. then, if it doesn't quite work in my own imagination for some reason or the other, i take hints from the author.
it's a strange way to read a book.
and it's almost impossible to do with harry potter.
i've been re-reading harry potter and the half-blood prince and harry potter and the deathly hallows again. finished them both just this passed week and am completely obsessed once more. i mean, you all thought i liked twilight? it doesn't even come close to my deep love and appreciation for j.k. rowlings and her hogwarts universe. like twilight, i came in to harry potter later in the game than those in the know, but early enough not to be considered among those living under rocks. by the time i picked up on the frenzy, the fourth book was just about to be released (again, like twilight). i was at the public library one day during a school break and picked up the first book. then made my mother drive me the half hour back into town the next day to borrow the next two. i can't remember her being more irritated with me and my reading habits than she was when i discovered harry potter. i read non-stop. i read all day, all night, i read at the dinner table, in the car, wherever, whenever.
it was amazing. a whole new world. and the details! how can one person come up with so many small details? how can so many small details be so integral to a book? it's impossible to concentrate on voices when you're so engrossed in the story line. it's impossible to skip over passages after you realize that what you once thought was a mundane description has become the lynch-pin of the entire book. that is what makes for great story telling. when you can't fill in the blanks for yourself. when you don't want to.
these are the things that i'm thinking of as i consider how to take the leap and begin a novel. i've been putting it off. chances are, i'll continue to put it off (because i'm scared i'll write it and it won't be any good?), but i'm trying not to.
June 3, 2009
a girl can dream
i've found myself thinking of dream jobs lately, mostly because i've just graduated and am on the verge of having to find a job myself. barbri (which is a course you take in preparation for the bar exam) started just last week and i'm already wondering exactly what i was thinking when i signed on. why am i taking the california bar? no, let me rephrase: why am i taking the most difficult bar exam in the country when i'm not even sure if i want to be a lawyer?
because i'm scared i don't have any other options?
because i'm too stubborn to stray from the path i've already laid out for myself?
because i don't know what else i'd do?
how about a strange, mish-mash of all of the above.
i'm terrified that i don't have the skills to do any other job. this is lunacy, i realize that. i'm a lawyer for crying out loud. i've completed one of the most rigorous studies out there, and have work experience in both the public interest and private sector. my research and writing skills are pretty decent, and i can get great recommendations if and when i need them. all of this i know, but still i worry. am i too specialized? prior to law school, i was an administrative assistant for five years. other than being a lawyer and a receptionist, what can i do?
i also recognize that i may just be too stubborn to admit defeat. i mean, i decided to become a lawyer. i've made it through - maybe not so gracefully, but successfully at the least - the three years of hazing i often feel like law school is, have worked really hard and learned a lot, have incurred an obscene amount of debt, and am forcing myself through to the bar. my family has supported me, my friends have put up with me, and N. hasn't yet decided to drop me for greener pastures. so after all of that, there's a part of me that just wants to scream, "suck it UP already!" i'm almost at the finish line, you know? it's the deep breath, and i'm taking it. so why back down now? and yes, if i'm perfectly honest, there is a part of me that just doesn't want to disappoint my family, my colleagues, those who have put their time and energy into training me, and myself.
and finally there's the question of what else i'd even do were i not to become a lawyer. i can't think of a single rational, responsible thing to do with myself. i mean, yes, okay, i do have a dream job that you all probably already know about. in my ideal world, i'd be a writer. i'd spend my days working from my home office (which i now have! - will post about later), or on my mac laptop (which i will one day have again) in some cafe researching and writing. i'd be published, i'd be able to pay the bills, and i'd love every second of it. eventually, i'd use the money i earned to open a bookstore/cafe. i even have a name picked out, so much like an expectant mother, but i'll refrain myself from gushing. it just isn't reality, you know? how many people out there want to be published writers? millions. how many actually are? not millions.
i am a not million. i am a not million at my dream job.
but it won't always be that way.
so what about you? what's your dream job? are you doing it now? if yes, how's it going? is it everything you hoped it would be? if you're not working at your dream job right now, are you working towards it? or have you, like myself and so many others, almost resigned yourself to the fact that maybe the dream job was always supposed to be just that - a dream?
because i'm scared i don't have any other options?
because i'm too stubborn to stray from the path i've already laid out for myself?
because i don't know what else i'd do?
how about a strange, mish-mash of all of the above.
i'm terrified that i don't have the skills to do any other job. this is lunacy, i realize that. i'm a lawyer for crying out loud. i've completed one of the most rigorous studies out there, and have work experience in both the public interest and private sector. my research and writing skills are pretty decent, and i can get great recommendations if and when i need them. all of this i know, but still i worry. am i too specialized? prior to law school, i was an administrative assistant for five years. other than being a lawyer and a receptionist, what can i do?
i also recognize that i may just be too stubborn to admit defeat. i mean, i decided to become a lawyer. i've made it through - maybe not so gracefully, but successfully at the least - the three years of hazing i often feel like law school is, have worked really hard and learned a lot, have incurred an obscene amount of debt, and am forcing myself through to the bar. my family has supported me, my friends have put up with me, and N. hasn't yet decided to drop me for greener pastures. so after all of that, there's a part of me that just wants to scream, "suck it UP already!" i'm almost at the finish line, you know? it's the deep breath, and i'm taking it. so why back down now? and yes, if i'm perfectly honest, there is a part of me that just doesn't want to disappoint my family, my colleagues, those who have put their time and energy into training me, and myself.
and finally there's the question of what else i'd even do were i not to become a lawyer. i can't think of a single rational, responsible thing to do with myself. i mean, yes, okay, i do have a dream job that you all probably already know about. in my ideal world, i'd be a writer. i'd spend my days working from my home office (which i now have! - will post about later), or on my mac laptop (which i will one day have again) in some cafe researching and writing. i'd be published, i'd be able to pay the bills, and i'd love every second of it. eventually, i'd use the money i earned to open a bookstore/cafe. i even have a name picked out, so much like an expectant mother, but i'll refrain myself from gushing. it just isn't reality, you know? how many people out there want to be published writers? millions. how many actually are? not millions.
i am a not million. i am a not million at my dream job.
but it won't always be that way.
so what about you? what's your dream job? are you doing it now? if yes, how's it going? is it everything you hoped it would be? if you're not working at your dream job right now, are you working towards it? or have you, like myself and so many others, almost resigned yourself to the fact that maybe the dream job was always supposed to be just that - a dream?
April 6, 2009
changes and renewals
after writing yesterday's post, i was left thinking about my new year's resolutions. i don't think there's been a year in my life where i've gone back and checked in to see how i was doing with my resolutions, and i definitely have never "renewed" a resolution. i'm going to try it this year though, because most things that are worth it require management and maintenance. here goes nothing.
Resolution 1):
join a gym. notice that for once it doesn't say, "lose weight." i never keep that resolution. this one is a bit more baby-step-ish, so i feel better about it. there's a gym i have in mind that i'm going to check out next week. and yes, the joining does entail actually going to the gym. i purposefully set up my class schedule so that it allows for more "me time" this semester, which includes exercising, so i think i'm headed in the right direction.
well, i'm technically still a member of the gym. and i love the gym itself. it's nice and clean and there are tons of classes to take. i never have to wait for a machine, the locker rooms are fantastic, and it's pretty close by. but if i'm totally honest, i have definitely not been sticking with this resolution. i don't think i've gone to the gym in a month (a month!). it's disgusting. my butt and thighs hate me, and my abs are officially AWOL. the really sad thing is that i think i'm going to have to cancel my membership from dream-gym. N. and i are going to be moving before june, and with the increase in rent and the decrease in budget (because the government doesn't give you financial aid for being a loafer), i can't afford what has essentially become a flab tax.
but who knows, maybe i'll find a cheaper gym that i'll like. (*looks around, skeptical and depressed*). if not, i can always just get a dog and run around the block.
Resolution 2):
write. this one excites me. it's purely meant to be writing for pleasure. not publication, not academia, just for fun. whether anyone will ever read it doesn't really matter. i need to write again.
well, according to my last post, i've failed at this resolution too. i don't write regularly, and it's mainly because of the same old reason: i claim i have no time. i mean, i've written for publication, and i'm currently writing for academia, but as we see by the resolution i wasn't about to take my own bulls**t excuses, so those don't count.
i am completely willing and ready to renew this resolution though.
Resolution 3):
get out of credit card debt. for more on this, see "confessions of a shopaholic" post.
let me just say that i've officially paid of not one, but TWO of my three credit cards! of course, the one that isn't paid off yet is the biggest (with the highest interest), but i had to start somewhere. i'm still dealing with the mental block that is me not being able to give up that credit card because it's my miles card (i've already earned a round trip to europe or south america!), but i'm trying!
again though, because of the move (which wasn't supposed to happen until the fall, but is now happening WAY ahead of schedule), my monthly payments on the card will be a bit smaller than they have been. and once we're in the process of the actual move and we have to buy stuff to furnish the new pad, i'm worried that the credit card will be back in high demand. particularly since my budget at this point is pretty frozen. without a job lined up after graduation, and with a post-bar trip to pay for, everything's really, really cramped.
but i'll renew this resolution anyway. where there's a will, right?
Resolution 4):
not make myself sick over what may happen after graduation. my problem has always been that i need a plan to the point where i make myself suffer if i don't. this is the first time in my life that a huge life change is coming up (graduation in may), and i have absolutely no idea where i'm going to be after it. currently, i have the possibility of a job i may want lined up, and the ability to apply for other jobs i probably don't want at my fingertips. it's the first time i don't know what i really want though, and normally, this would make me sick to the point where i wouldn't be able to function. but i'm working on not letting my ocd tendencies get the better of me. things will work out. things will work out. things will work out.
haha. hahahahahaha.
huh? oh, sorry, this isn't a laughing matter i guess. okay, in all seriousness, i haven't completely failed at this resolution and i'm of course going to renew it. N. and i have talked about it, and if we have to do long-distance again for a while because i can't get a job in our neck of the woods (the bay area is terrible right now for lawyers), then that's what we'll have to do. it's nice to have the support system.
i've also been told by the firm that, though they can't hire me on as a fellow this year, if i were to apply next year i've got a better-than-most shot at the position. SO, i'm applying for several other fellowships (one taking place in both hawaii and new zealand, which seems ideal and frighteningly too good to be true. fingers crossed!), and i'm not above getting some random job to pay the bills. in a perfect world, i'd either get the fellowship from God, or i'd find a great ngo to work for that would stimulate both my mind and my bank account. we'll see.
resolution renewed.
Resolution 5):
be happy. this one ties in to the last one and is probably the biggest and most important of my resolutions. while i didn't have control over a lot of what happened in 2008, i did have control over my reactions to those things, and in the end, it's those reactions that paved the way for how the year would proceed. so my only conclusions can be that i made myself unhappy this year. i made 2008 difficult for myself. and i refuse to do that in 2009. whatever else happens, i want to approach my decisions, big or small, with the goal of being happy. should i take the bar? well, would it make me happy to do so? should i apply for this job? well, would i be happy if i was offered the job and accepted? it may sound selfish, and i'll try not to be, but i just feel like this is a much better approach, and a sort of middle ground, to how i usually go about doing things. we'll see how it turned out, i guess, on december 31st, 2009.
resolution success in full swing! i can't even explain how much things have changed between last semester and this one. i don't know if it's just the fact that i can see my graduation just ahead of me shining like a lighthouse in a really bad storm, or if i've just changed. maybe it's both?
i just notice that i'm happier now than i was six months ago. i no longer have that constant feeling of discontent. not everything feels out of control. and i know that most of it has to do with the fact that my grandfather's health has improved, and if i let myself think about it i realize that it won't always stay that way, but for now i'm just excited to be excited again. i don't think i'm usually such a difficult or depressing person, and being that way 24/7 was making me feel like a stranger in my own skin.
so i'm a success story here, and i'm definitely renewing this resolution!
Resolution 1):
join a gym. notice that for once it doesn't say, "lose weight." i never keep that resolution. this one is a bit more baby-step-ish, so i feel better about it. there's a gym i have in mind that i'm going to check out next week. and yes, the joining does entail actually going to the gym. i purposefully set up my class schedule so that it allows for more "me time" this semester, which includes exercising, so i think i'm headed in the right direction.
well, i'm technically still a member of the gym. and i love the gym itself. it's nice and clean and there are tons of classes to take. i never have to wait for a machine, the locker rooms are fantastic, and it's pretty close by. but if i'm totally honest, i have definitely not been sticking with this resolution. i don't think i've gone to the gym in a month (a month!). it's disgusting. my butt and thighs hate me, and my abs are officially AWOL. the really sad thing is that i think i'm going to have to cancel my membership from dream-gym. N. and i are going to be moving before june, and with the increase in rent and the decrease in budget (because the government doesn't give you financial aid for being a loafer), i can't afford what has essentially become a flab tax.
but who knows, maybe i'll find a cheaper gym that i'll like. (*looks around, skeptical and depressed*). if not, i can always just get a dog and run around the block.
Resolution 2):
write. this one excites me. it's purely meant to be writing for pleasure. not publication, not academia, just for fun. whether anyone will ever read it doesn't really matter. i need to write again.
well, according to my last post, i've failed at this resolution too. i don't write regularly, and it's mainly because of the same old reason: i claim i have no time. i mean, i've written for publication, and i'm currently writing for academia, but as we see by the resolution i wasn't about to take my own bulls**t excuses, so those don't count.
i am completely willing and ready to renew this resolution though.
Resolution 3):
get out of credit card debt. for more on this, see "confessions of a shopaholic" post.
let me just say that i've officially paid of not one, but TWO of my three credit cards! of course, the one that isn't paid off yet is the biggest (with the highest interest), but i had to start somewhere. i'm still dealing with the mental block that is me not being able to give up that credit card because it's my miles card (i've already earned a round trip to europe or south america!), but i'm trying!
again though, because of the move (which wasn't supposed to happen until the fall, but is now happening WAY ahead of schedule), my monthly payments on the card will be a bit smaller than they have been. and once we're in the process of the actual move and we have to buy stuff to furnish the new pad, i'm worried that the credit card will be back in high demand. particularly since my budget at this point is pretty frozen. without a job lined up after graduation, and with a post-bar trip to pay for, everything's really, really cramped.
but i'll renew this resolution anyway. where there's a will, right?
Resolution 4):
not make myself sick over what may happen after graduation. my problem has always been that i need a plan to the point where i make myself suffer if i don't. this is the first time in my life that a huge life change is coming up (graduation in may), and i have absolutely no idea where i'm going to be after it. currently, i have the possibility of a job i may want lined up, and the ability to apply for other jobs i probably don't want at my fingertips. it's the first time i don't know what i really want though, and normally, this would make me sick to the point where i wouldn't be able to function. but i'm working on not letting my ocd tendencies get the better of me. things will work out. things will work out. things will work out.
haha. hahahahahaha.
huh? oh, sorry, this isn't a laughing matter i guess. okay, in all seriousness, i haven't completely failed at this resolution and i'm of course going to renew it. N. and i have talked about it, and if we have to do long-distance again for a while because i can't get a job in our neck of the woods (the bay area is terrible right now for lawyers), then that's what we'll have to do. it's nice to have the support system.
i've also been told by the firm that, though they can't hire me on as a fellow this year, if i were to apply next year i've got a better-than-most shot at the position. SO, i'm applying for several other fellowships (one taking place in both hawaii and new zealand, which seems ideal and frighteningly too good to be true. fingers crossed!), and i'm not above getting some random job to pay the bills. in a perfect world, i'd either get the fellowship from God, or i'd find a great ngo to work for that would stimulate both my mind and my bank account. we'll see.
resolution renewed.
Resolution 5):
be happy. this one ties in to the last one and is probably the biggest and most important of my resolutions. while i didn't have control over a lot of what happened in 2008, i did have control over my reactions to those things, and in the end, it's those reactions that paved the way for how the year would proceed. so my only conclusions can be that i made myself unhappy this year. i made 2008 difficult for myself. and i refuse to do that in 2009. whatever else happens, i want to approach my decisions, big or small, with the goal of being happy. should i take the bar? well, would it make me happy to do so? should i apply for this job? well, would i be happy if i was offered the job and accepted? it may sound selfish, and i'll try not to be, but i just feel like this is a much better approach, and a sort of middle ground, to how i usually go about doing things. we'll see how it turned out, i guess, on december 31st, 2009.
resolution success in full swing! i can't even explain how much things have changed between last semester and this one. i don't know if it's just the fact that i can see my graduation just ahead of me shining like a lighthouse in a really bad storm, or if i've just changed. maybe it's both?
i just notice that i'm happier now than i was six months ago. i no longer have that constant feeling of discontent. not everything feels out of control. and i know that most of it has to do with the fact that my grandfather's health has improved, and if i let myself think about it i realize that it won't always stay that way, but for now i'm just excited to be excited again. i don't think i'm usually such a difficult or depressing person, and being that way 24/7 was making me feel like a stranger in my own skin.
so i'm a success story here, and i'm definitely renewing this resolution!
April 5, 2009
rules for writing
a few days ago, the lovely moderators over at 20sw posted a link to this poster on twitter, and i thought it was so great that i'd post it here too.
i really should take the advice. i don't write everyday, at least not for fun, and my excuse has always been that i just can't think of something to say everyday that i think others would find interesting. i mean, i read some of my favorite blogs and just wonder how these people 1) find the time to write such interesting stuff, and 2) have the time to actually live/experience/think of such interesting stuff. and i keep saying that i'll write more once x is done, or once y is over, and it just never happens because i'm the type of person who will always fill up my time with things to do. it's just how i'm hard-wired. and i guess now i just need to recognize that writing needs to become one of those things i do, and one of those things i schedule in time for and neglect other things for.
i also need to start taking a notebook wherever i go. i have a writing notebook where i jot down all of the ideas i have, but it's a composition book and is sort of hefty, so unless i'm going to be taking a flight somewhere, it never goes with me. but i think about this suggestion and know it would seriously help me out. i tend to get all (if not just my best) ideas when i'm away from my computer, out of the house, on my commute, on long car drives, and it's never conducive to writing things down. i mean, i've had to write things down on napkins before, and that should tell me something.
and what i really need to do is keep beefing up my playlist. a few weeks ago i started an "inspiration" playlist. i noticed that not only am i getting my best ideas during those times where i'm away from my computer, but i'm also getting it when i'm listening to music. always. i don't think i've ever come up with an idea without music playing. so i began taking note of the songs i had repeating at those times when story lines were just...coming. and now i have a nice (albiet, tiny) "inspiration" playlist going on in my itunes. so now all i need to do is write down in my writing notebook the scenarios that play out in my head while i'm listening to that music, note down what song it is, put it in my playlist, and type up the scenario.
well, there you go. i'm inspired!
i will:
i think i've said this before (probably in my new years resolutions), and it hasn't worked out (along with a few other resolutions), so i guess we'll see how it goes.
i really should take the advice. i don't write everyday, at least not for fun, and my excuse has always been that i just can't think of something to say everyday that i think others would find interesting. i mean, i read some of my favorite blogs and just wonder how these people 1) find the time to write such interesting stuff, and 2) have the time to actually live/experience/think of such interesting stuff. and i keep saying that i'll write more once x is done, or once y is over, and it just never happens because i'm the type of person who will always fill up my time with things to do. it's just how i'm hard-wired. and i guess now i just need to recognize that writing needs to become one of those things i do, and one of those things i schedule in time for and neglect other things for.
i also need to start taking a notebook wherever i go. i have a writing notebook where i jot down all of the ideas i have, but it's a composition book and is sort of hefty, so unless i'm going to be taking a flight somewhere, it never goes with me. but i think about this suggestion and know it would seriously help me out. i tend to get all (if not just my best) ideas when i'm away from my computer, out of the house, on my commute, on long car drives, and it's never conducive to writing things down. i mean, i've had to write things down on napkins before, and that should tell me something.
and what i really need to do is keep beefing up my playlist. a few weeks ago i started an "inspiration" playlist. i noticed that not only am i getting my best ideas during those times where i'm away from my computer, but i'm also getting it when i'm listening to music. always. i don't think i've ever come up with an idea without music playing. so i began taking note of the songs i had repeating at those times when story lines were just...coming. and now i have a nice (albiet, tiny) "inspiration" playlist going on in my itunes. so now all i need to do is write down in my writing notebook the scenarios that play out in my head while i'm listening to that music, note down what song it is, put it in my playlist, and type up the scenario.
well, there you go. i'm inspired!
i will:
- either downsize my current writing notebook so that it's more convenient to cart around
- OR i will just stick with the current notebook and cart it around anyhow
- begin listing down the songs i'm listening to that inspire me
- begin jotting down in said notebook the scenarios that play out in my head when i'm listening to those songs
- come up with a writing routine where i'm writing something every day
i think i've said this before (probably in my new years resolutions), and it hasn't worked out (along with a few other resolutions), so i guess we'll see how it goes.
March 21, 2009
The Beach Day
Some creative writing fluff I began on the plane ride back from Hawaii last week.
I’m more comfortable waking up in my grandparents home than I am waking up anywhere else in the world. This is where I feel most safe, most loved, most free to be who I am. In the house I grew up in, the house that will probably remain in my family for generations to come.
March 2, 2009
20sw: a history of writing
following up with a previous post about a new writing community, i'd like to happily announce that twenty something writers has officially launched! i'm so excited to take part in this, and for those of you who love to write, or want to start loving it, go over and check it out!
for this particular post, 20sw suggested a prompt that we answer in our blogs. here goes!
now, there was always an unspoken competition between S.and i. where she was first in the class, i was second. where she could speak two languages, i could speak one. where she was cute and small and asian (a badge of honor in hawaii), i was...well, not. so when she offered me these books i of course took them. i'd do anything to make myself just a bit smarter, a bit more like her. (in case anyone's wondering, she moved away at the end of our fifth grade year, eventually went on to go to columbia for college, and we're still great friends). those books, as odd as it may seem, opened a whole new world for me. i began recognizing what writing could do. it could introduce you to people who will never really exist, but whose lives you're completely invested in. it could show you places you may never go to. it could totally capture your imagination and run wild with it. i think that's why i firmly believe that, when people say they don't like to read, it's because they haven't found The book that's gonna change their lives. and when N. tells me about kids he teaches who can't really write, it's almost always because they hate to read.
so my love affair with writing began when i was ten. i immediately saw my writing ability sky-rocket. in fact, i remember this one time when i had just finished reading r.l. stine's "fear street saga: the betrayal" (you know, the first book when savannah goode gets burned at the stake in the salem witch trials?), and i chose to write a book report on it. writing the book report wasn't very hard, didn't take me very long, and in the end i remember thinking that it would probably get a decent grade. two days later, my teacher calls me up to her desk and asks if i had copied my summary off the back cover of the book. and i was shocked. not only was that the first (and only) time i'd ever been accused of cheating, but i didn't even think what i wrote was that good. so i showed her the book cover, and i ended up getting the highest grade on the book report. i think that was the first time i realized that writing was something i was okay at, and it wasn't going to take much of an effort.
so from then on i wrote. my friends and i started a slam book that eventually progressed into a straight out poetry book. i think i still have it somewhere. we'd pass the book from person to person throughout a class period and each of us would write a poem a day. childish poetry. teenage poetry. why doesn't this boy like me? what will it be like when i'm an adult? i hate this teacher because this teacher hates me. simple stuff. but it got me writing almost daily, and critiquing the writing of others.
a few years later, when i was in high school, my friends and i began writing fan fiction. i don't think i even knew what fan fiction was. just, one day, my best friend decided to write a story involving our circle of friends (ten years older than we were), and the celebrities we had crushes on at the time. i picked up on it and away we went. i'd sit in english class, finish my assignments (which still did not require me to work very hard for good grades) ahead of time, and start jotting down scenarios and dialogue for the next chapter of whatever fan fic i was currently working on. i also began the infamous "incomplete novel" that my friends (the quints) still ask me about. i took each of us, created characters which embodied the extreme characteristic of each of our personalities, and wrote a story about growing up and remaining friends through the changes that our lives throw our way (interestingly enough, the character that embodied me was a fiction writer. lol.). a few years later, when i looked back at the pages i'd written, and when i was in one of my moods where nothing i produced seemed good enough, i deleted it. i still regret that.
i was also journaling heavily during this time. heavily. i think in my sophomore year of high school, i must have gone through about three or four composition note books worth of journaling. i don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say that writing, at that point, during that time, saved my life. it was my only outlet, the only place where i could say things and not have to censor myself. the only "person" i could tell my secrets/fears/angers/worries/sorrows to and not worry that i would lose them because of it. for a while after that, years really, i wondered if those months where writing was all i did somehow purged me of the need for it. because prior to that writing really was a need i had. and since then until right about three years ago, i haven't been able to write much, and i haven't been able to write any fiction.
even now, my writing is different than what it used to be. i'm not just talking about my skills (though, JEEZ, that's changed. thank God.), but more so my style. i write academic articles now. that's what i know how to do. i research, analyze, and suggest policy changes. i got published for the first time this year (still doing a happy dance over that!), and will be published again in a few months (woo-hoo!). and i think i'm good at it. i would never say that if i didn't really, really believe it, because i'm not the kind of person to toot my own horn. ever. but writing has always been the one thing i'm good at. i'm not great. but i'm good.
so recently, i've tried to pick up the torch again when it comes to writing for fun, which for me means writing fiction (romance/fantasy/paranormal/take your pick). i mean, i blog, but i don't write fiction anymore. and i've got ideas (a composition book full of them!), i just never seem to have the time. i can make the time, i think. i just haven't yet. hopefully, 20sw will get me moving in a good direction!
for this particular post, 20sw suggested a prompt that we answer in our blogs. here goes!
The Prompt
We’d like to get the ball rolling by hearing your responses to the prompt: Tell us about your writing history. Have you always enjoyed writing? Did you hate grammar lessons in school? Who have been your greatest influences? What kind of writing do you enjoy most? Take any creative spin you want. Post your response on your blog and leave the link in the comments below. Check out the responses of others as well.
i think i officially remember starting to write, i mean really write, in the fifth grade. prior to that, i was never really much of a reader, and so writing for me was just something i needed to do. it wasn't until my best childhood friend, S., shared with me some books she was reading at the moment (r.l. stine's "goosebumps: return of the mummy," if you're curious) that i learned how great writing could be.now, there was always an unspoken competition between S.and i. where she was first in the class, i was second. where she could speak two languages, i could speak one. where she was cute and small and asian (a badge of honor in hawaii), i was...well, not. so when she offered me these books i of course took them. i'd do anything to make myself just a bit smarter, a bit more like her. (in case anyone's wondering, she moved away at the end of our fifth grade year, eventually went on to go to columbia for college, and we're still great friends). those books, as odd as it may seem, opened a whole new world for me. i began recognizing what writing could do. it could introduce you to people who will never really exist, but whose lives you're completely invested in. it could show you places you may never go to. it could totally capture your imagination and run wild with it. i think that's why i firmly believe that, when people say they don't like to read, it's because they haven't found The book that's gonna change their lives. and when N. tells me about kids he teaches who can't really write, it's almost always because they hate to read.
so my love affair with writing began when i was ten. i immediately saw my writing ability sky-rocket. in fact, i remember this one time when i had just finished reading r.l. stine's "fear street saga: the betrayal" (you know, the first book when savannah goode gets burned at the stake in the salem witch trials?), and i chose to write a book report on it. writing the book report wasn't very hard, didn't take me very long, and in the end i remember thinking that it would probably get a decent grade. two days later, my teacher calls me up to her desk and asks if i had copied my summary off the back cover of the book. and i was shocked. not only was that the first (and only) time i'd ever been accused of cheating, but i didn't even think what i wrote was that good. so i showed her the book cover, and i ended up getting the highest grade on the book report. i think that was the first time i realized that writing was something i was okay at, and it wasn't going to take much of an effort.
so from then on i wrote. my friends and i started a slam book that eventually progressed into a straight out poetry book. i think i still have it somewhere. we'd pass the book from person to person throughout a class period and each of us would write a poem a day. childish poetry. teenage poetry. why doesn't this boy like me? what will it be like when i'm an adult? i hate this teacher because this teacher hates me. simple stuff. but it got me writing almost daily, and critiquing the writing of others.
a few years later, when i was in high school, my friends and i began writing fan fiction. i don't think i even knew what fan fiction was. just, one day, my best friend decided to write a story involving our circle of friends (ten years older than we were), and the celebrities we had crushes on at the time. i picked up on it and away we went. i'd sit in english class, finish my assignments (which still did not require me to work very hard for good grades) ahead of time, and start jotting down scenarios and dialogue for the next chapter of whatever fan fic i was currently working on. i also began the infamous "incomplete novel" that my friends (the quints) still ask me about. i took each of us, created characters which embodied the extreme characteristic of each of our personalities, and wrote a story about growing up and remaining friends through the changes that our lives throw our way (interestingly enough, the character that embodied me was a fiction writer. lol.). a few years later, when i looked back at the pages i'd written, and when i was in one of my moods where nothing i produced seemed good enough, i deleted it. i still regret that.
i was also journaling heavily during this time. heavily. i think in my sophomore year of high school, i must have gone through about three or four composition note books worth of journaling. i don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say that writing, at that point, during that time, saved my life. it was my only outlet, the only place where i could say things and not have to censor myself. the only "person" i could tell my secrets/fears/angers/worries/sorrows to and not worry that i would lose them because of it. for a while after that, years really, i wondered if those months where writing was all i did somehow purged me of the need for it. because prior to that writing really was a need i had. and since then until right about three years ago, i haven't been able to write much, and i haven't been able to write any fiction.
even now, my writing is different than what it used to be. i'm not just talking about my skills (though, JEEZ, that's changed. thank God.), but more so my style. i write academic articles now. that's what i know how to do. i research, analyze, and suggest policy changes. i got published for the first time this year (still doing a happy dance over that!), and will be published again in a few months (woo-hoo!). and i think i'm good at it. i would never say that if i didn't really, really believe it, because i'm not the kind of person to toot my own horn. ever. but writing has always been the one thing i'm good at. i'm not great. but i'm good.
so recently, i've tried to pick up the torch again when it comes to writing for fun, which for me means writing fiction (romance/fantasy/paranormal/take your pick). i mean, i blog, but i don't write fiction anymore. and i've got ideas (a composition book full of them!), i just never seem to have the time. i can make the time, i think. i just haven't yet. hopefully, 20sw will get me moving in a good direction!
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