The Engine Driver by The Decemberists is pretty good. It mentions writers and things, so of course it has a good point to it. :)
Going to do NaNo. I'm going to try to write the first book in my epic, if for no other reason than I need a very good reason in order to get it out. NaNo tends to make people move along very quickly in their writing, and this is something that I need just so that I can get started. :P
It is fun to try to plan it all out, and to help others plan it out. I'm doing that right now. Someone's trying to make an alternate history where America got it's independence much later, and I suggested that there should be a massive war between Mexico and Britain that resulted in the dropping of an alchemaic atomic bomb. He likes that idea. Haha.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Madeleine L'Engle
So, I don't really know if I can do this right. I mean, this woman and her writing have shaped the way I write, and to some extent the way I think, a great deal. And I don't know if I can really do that justice. But, I will try.
I enjoy everything about Madeleine L'Engle's books. They always engage me. She fills them to the brim with interesting topics. We're talking things like quantum physics and organ regeneration. And she mixes them in with very engaging narrative and characters. And then throws a bit of fantasy in for good measure. I love that.
I can honestly care about the characters in her books. In fact, her books were the first ones I read where the characters within actually seemed like real people. It was awesome for me at the time. And even now after I've read tons of other books with engaging characters, it's still pretty awesome.
The way in which she weaves that sense of the beyond is also wonderful. Even in her more mundane plots, such as in Meet The Austins, there is always a sense of something greater behind everything, some force out there that is watching out for all that is good. It's a marvelous thing.
I honestly can't imagine that I would have even started writing were it not for her. After I read "A Ring of Endless Light," I immediately wanted to write something. And not in that, "I know I can write something better than that." Not at all. It was because I hope that one day, I will write something that is just as good as that book. I still haven't quite gotten to that point yet, of course. But it's a goal I can keep my eyes on.
I just wish that I had thought enough to write her a letter before she died. I wanted to tell her just how much her books meant to me, how much I loved them. But I never thought to write a letter. That's the one thing I regret, actually, that I never wrote a letter to Madeleine L'Engle to tell her thank you for writing and for sharing her works with the world.
One of the things on my bucket list is to go to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, where she is interred, and place a copy of "A Ring of Endless Light" at her grave. On the inside cover, I will write out that letter that I never did, thanking her for everything. It's the least that I can do to pay my respects to an amazing writer, and an inspiring woman.
I enjoy everything about Madeleine L'Engle's books. They always engage me. She fills them to the brim with interesting topics. We're talking things like quantum physics and organ regeneration. And she mixes them in with very engaging narrative and characters. And then throws a bit of fantasy in for good measure. I love that.
I can honestly care about the characters in her books. In fact, her books were the first ones I read where the characters within actually seemed like real people. It was awesome for me at the time. And even now after I've read tons of other books with engaging characters, it's still pretty awesome.
The way in which she weaves that sense of the beyond is also wonderful. Even in her more mundane plots, such as in Meet The Austins, there is always a sense of something greater behind everything, some force out there that is watching out for all that is good. It's a marvelous thing.
I honestly can't imagine that I would have even started writing were it not for her. After I read "A Ring of Endless Light," I immediately wanted to write something. And not in that, "I know I can write something better than that." Not at all. It was because I hope that one day, I will write something that is just as good as that book. I still haven't quite gotten to that point yet, of course. But it's a goal I can keep my eyes on.
I just wish that I had thought enough to write her a letter before she died. I wanted to tell her just how much her books meant to me, how much I loved them. But I never thought to write a letter. That's the one thing I regret, actually, that I never wrote a letter to Madeleine L'Engle to tell her thank you for writing and for sharing her works with the world.
One of the things on my bucket list is to go to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, where she is interred, and place a copy of "A Ring of Endless Light" at her grave. On the inside cover, I will write out that letter that I never did, thanking her for everything. It's the least that I can do to pay my respects to an amazing writer, and an inspiring woman.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
On Writing That Is Not My Own
I think I'm going to talk about works of literature that I enjoy, this time. Because I can.
Off the top of my head, there are a few poems that really stand out. The first one is a little one called "The Yes and the No, Redondo," by Greg Pape. It's about this kid jumping off of a fishing pier so that his girlfriend will have sex with him, but there's a bit more to it than that, and I think that it's in the description. It's been a long time since I've read it though. I can't seem to find it anywhere. If one of you silent readers out there manages to find it, become vocal and let me know. You'll win the prize of my eternal gratitude.
"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Elliot is also a good poem. I've turned to it for inspiration time and again, even directly basing one story off of it. I like not only the description of it, but how it lets the reader examine the downsides of modern life. It was one of the first poems that I actually understood what it was about in that respect. That's a big thing for me, since usually I have to be told what a poem is about.
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is another poem that really sticks out in my mind. I came across it due to another work of literature which I will be naming later. Though at first I liked it due to its placement in the other work of literature, I have come to appreciate it on its own terms. I think being able to memorize the entire thing would be pro, so I have gotten an audio version to try to do just that.
"The Cremation of Sam McGee" is another poem I would love to be able to memorize and recite. It would be a tad easier than "Childe Roland," that's for sure. But I also like it on its own merits. For one, I can follow the story in it well. And it's a very well presented story as well. The Great White North that Robert Service loved to write about is a part of the world that also intrigues me, and he has put a very interesting story in it. With bits of the psychological and the supernatural, this poem is definitely one of my all-time favorites.
"Jabberwocky" I do have memorized. I know that it's a bit of nonsense verse and as such is often regarded as children's literature. But, if you recite it right, this poem sounds downright epic. I've got a version of it in song form by someone called Donovan. They have a simple acoustic guitar and drum accompaniment, with a bit of synth in one certain point, and it makes that poem sound really awesome.
And, I'll also say that I like one fragment of a poem. The first stanza of "The World," by Henry Vaughan is very awesome.
I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great ring of pure and endless light
all calm as it was bright
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years
Driven by the spheres
Like a vast shadow moved; in which the world
And all her train were hurled
Now, on to prose fiction. I'll come right out and say that my all time favorite book in the world is "A Ring of Endless Light" by Madeleine L'Engle. Anything by her is good, super good, but that one book just takes the cake across the board.
And, before I go on and talk about "A Ring of Endless Light," let me say that the next blog entry I do will be devoted to Madeleine L'Engle, because my writing demands to show how she has affected it.
Anyways, what makes "A Ring of Endless Light" so good is a combination of many factors. It is a teenage romance, where the main character, Vicky Austin, must choose between three boys that want her heart. Figuratively, not literally. But, it is also a speculative fiction novel, because she has a gift of being able to "empathize" with dolphins, able to share feelings on such a strong level it is deeper than most fictional forms of telepathy. And, it also deals with the subject of death, since Vicky's grandfather is dying of cancer. So, in a sense, it is also a spiritual novel, forcing the main character and others in the story to come to grasp with the concept of something beyond. It is incredibly touching. There's a movie version of it, but that sucks, as it's only a made for Disney Channel adaptation, nothing even close to the original novel. Go out and read "A Ring of Endless Light." You won't regret it.
Anything by Stephen King I tend to like, not only because I feel that he is a very good storyteller, but because he ties his stories together in little ways. He does this by feeling free to put in tidbits in one book that are the same as the tidbits in another. No where is this more prevalent than in his works "The Stand" and the entire Dark Tower series. "The Stand" starts off as a sci-fi novel about a superflu that wipes out most of the Earth's population, but turns into a fantasy novel as the survivors become embroiled in a battle of good and evil. Though it is an extremely long novel, I feel that it is well worth however long it takes to read it.
The Dark Tower series is the work of literature that lead me to the Browning poem I mentioned earlier. It tells the story of Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger, a kind of cross between a romantic knight and a cowboy. He is searching for the Dark Tower, the linchpin in all reality, the thing that holds all the alternate universes together. This series is where the cross-over stuff really shows up, especially in the last three books. King even goes to the trouble of writing himself into the story, which is done fairly well. The author is viewed as not a god, able to create with the stroke of a pen, but merely one who hears the voice of God speak, and must write what he hears. And he doesn't just imply this for himself, but for all writers. So, that kind of endears me to it quite a bit. I could go on and on about why I love the Dark Tower series. It's one of the few "modern fantasy" series I have completely finished.
I like Louis L'Amour stories as well. They're the only westerns I will read, simply because they portray real people in a harsh environment who aren't total monsters. As a counterpoint, "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, while a good work, makes you think of the West as a place full of completely awful people. In Louis L'Amour's books, the people are still very real with very real flaws, but you aren't treated to a shockfest of horrifying acts in order to bring that across. And, the man does his homework. He was an itinerant worker during the Depression, and would read about a hundred or so books with about a thousand pages each over things that would bore most people every year. That alone is enough reason for me to respect him. If you ever get the opportunity, at least check out his autobiography, "Education of a Wandering Man."
Neil Gaiman, of course, is also splendid. The man is able to take the wonderfully fanciful and add just that little bit of "wrongness" to make it so sinister and enjoyable. I own both "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Fragile Things," his short story collections, as well as "American Gods," one of his novels. I have to give my main shout-out, though, to his comic series, The Sandman. This is the comic book for English Majors. Seventy or so issues filled with awesome stories in their own right and shout-outs to great works of literature. You grow to get attached to everyone in this, even most of the villains. This is mostly because there are only a handful of explicitly evil characters. Most of the guys who do bad things, no matter how horrible they might be, are simply misguided. It's got a lot of depth to it, and I recommend it to just about anyone.
That's about it, really. There are other works by other authors, to be sure. But these ones that I have mentioned are the ones that really stand out to me.
Off the top of my head, there are a few poems that really stand out. The first one is a little one called "The Yes and the No, Redondo," by Greg Pape. It's about this kid jumping off of a fishing pier so that his girlfriend will have sex with him, but there's a bit more to it than that, and I think that it's in the description. It's been a long time since I've read it though. I can't seem to find it anywhere. If one of you silent readers out there manages to find it, become vocal and let me know. You'll win the prize of my eternal gratitude.
"The Hollow Men" by T.S. Elliot is also a good poem. I've turned to it for inspiration time and again, even directly basing one story off of it. I like not only the description of it, but how it lets the reader examine the downsides of modern life. It was one of the first poems that I actually understood what it was about in that respect. That's a big thing for me, since usually I have to be told what a poem is about.
"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is another poem that really sticks out in my mind. I came across it due to another work of literature which I will be naming later. Though at first I liked it due to its placement in the other work of literature, I have come to appreciate it on its own terms. I think being able to memorize the entire thing would be pro, so I have gotten an audio version to try to do just that.
"The Cremation of Sam McGee" is another poem I would love to be able to memorize and recite. It would be a tad easier than "Childe Roland," that's for sure. But I also like it on its own merits. For one, I can follow the story in it well. And it's a very well presented story as well. The Great White North that Robert Service loved to write about is a part of the world that also intrigues me, and he has put a very interesting story in it. With bits of the psychological and the supernatural, this poem is definitely one of my all-time favorites.
"Jabberwocky" I do have memorized. I know that it's a bit of nonsense verse and as such is often regarded as children's literature. But, if you recite it right, this poem sounds downright epic. I've got a version of it in song form by someone called Donovan. They have a simple acoustic guitar and drum accompaniment, with a bit of synth in one certain point, and it makes that poem sound really awesome.
And, I'll also say that I like one fragment of a poem. The first stanza of "The World," by Henry Vaughan is very awesome.
I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great ring of pure and endless light
all calm as it was bright
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years
Driven by the spheres
Like a vast shadow moved; in which the world
And all her train were hurled
Now, on to prose fiction. I'll come right out and say that my all time favorite book in the world is "A Ring of Endless Light" by Madeleine L'Engle. Anything by her is good, super good, but that one book just takes the cake across the board.
And, before I go on and talk about "A Ring of Endless Light," let me say that the next blog entry I do will be devoted to Madeleine L'Engle, because my writing demands to show how she has affected it.
Anyways, what makes "A Ring of Endless Light" so good is a combination of many factors. It is a teenage romance, where the main character, Vicky Austin, must choose between three boys that want her heart. Figuratively, not literally. But, it is also a speculative fiction novel, because she has a gift of being able to "empathize" with dolphins, able to share feelings on such a strong level it is deeper than most fictional forms of telepathy. And, it also deals with the subject of death, since Vicky's grandfather is dying of cancer. So, in a sense, it is also a spiritual novel, forcing the main character and others in the story to come to grasp with the concept of something beyond. It is incredibly touching. There's a movie version of it, but that sucks, as it's only a made for Disney Channel adaptation, nothing even close to the original novel. Go out and read "A Ring of Endless Light." You won't regret it.
Anything by Stephen King I tend to like, not only because I feel that he is a very good storyteller, but because he ties his stories together in little ways. He does this by feeling free to put in tidbits in one book that are the same as the tidbits in another. No where is this more prevalent than in his works "The Stand" and the entire Dark Tower series. "The Stand" starts off as a sci-fi novel about a superflu that wipes out most of the Earth's population, but turns into a fantasy novel as the survivors become embroiled in a battle of good and evil. Though it is an extremely long novel, I feel that it is well worth however long it takes to read it.
The Dark Tower series is the work of literature that lead me to the Browning poem I mentioned earlier. It tells the story of Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger, a kind of cross between a romantic knight and a cowboy. He is searching for the Dark Tower, the linchpin in all reality, the thing that holds all the alternate universes together. This series is where the cross-over stuff really shows up, especially in the last three books. King even goes to the trouble of writing himself into the story, which is done fairly well. The author is viewed as not a god, able to create with the stroke of a pen, but merely one who hears the voice of God speak, and must write what he hears. And he doesn't just imply this for himself, but for all writers. So, that kind of endears me to it quite a bit. I could go on and on about why I love the Dark Tower series. It's one of the few "modern fantasy" series I have completely finished.
I like Louis L'Amour stories as well. They're the only westerns I will read, simply because they portray real people in a harsh environment who aren't total monsters. As a counterpoint, "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy, while a good work, makes you think of the West as a place full of completely awful people. In Louis L'Amour's books, the people are still very real with very real flaws, but you aren't treated to a shockfest of horrifying acts in order to bring that across. And, the man does his homework. He was an itinerant worker during the Depression, and would read about a hundred or so books with about a thousand pages each over things that would bore most people every year. That alone is enough reason for me to respect him. If you ever get the opportunity, at least check out his autobiography, "Education of a Wandering Man."
Neil Gaiman, of course, is also splendid. The man is able to take the wonderfully fanciful and add just that little bit of "wrongness" to make it so sinister and enjoyable. I own both "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Fragile Things," his short story collections, as well as "American Gods," one of his novels. I have to give my main shout-out, though, to his comic series, The Sandman. This is the comic book for English Majors. Seventy or so issues filled with awesome stories in their own right and shout-outs to great works of literature. You grow to get attached to everyone in this, even most of the villains. This is mostly because there are only a handful of explicitly evil characters. Most of the guys who do bad things, no matter how horrible they might be, are simply misguided. It's got a lot of depth to it, and I recommend it to just about anyone.
That's about it, really. There are other works by other authors, to be sure. But these ones that I have mentioned are the ones that really stand out to me.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Snorkeling and Creep
So, I went snorkeling today. Saw many scorpion fish, about 3 or so. Also saw some rock-boring sea urchins, some brittle stars, some Moorish Idols, those triggerfish with the really long Hawaiian name, a hermit crab with sea anemones, and a bristle worm. It was all very fun and I can't wait to go out and do it again next week. Really awesome time. :)
Still poking at Hearts in the Sea. It's coming along all right, so far. All I'm really doing is poking at sentences here and there, though I've managed to make it about a thousand words longer just by doing that. There are a handful of scenes that I want to add as well, but I can't really seem to get them put in. Oh well, I will get it at some point, haha.
I've also been told I should finish Creep. For those of you who don't know what Creep is, it's a story about this kid who is thrown into a 1920s style city full of fantasy creatures. Some of these creatures have killed his sister pretty horribly, so he's there to kill quite a few of them. He wears black bandages wrapped around his head and calls himself Creep. Basically, the entire story is a study in vengeance, showing what happens when someone decides that someone has done something worthy of dying.
I posted about ten chapters of it on YWS, but stopped after that. People didn't really like it because it was written in a very pulp style. There was too much action, and not enough talking and getting to know Creep. Which I thought was hilarious, kind of. There's nothing to get to know about Creep. He's a bad guy, consumed in his vengeance. And, I argue that being unsure about a character is good. If you know too much, then there are no surprises.
But, someone has been telling me I need to finish Creep. And I would really like to. His story really interests me and I would enjoy writing it. It's just, I am afraid of people deconstructing it and down-talking it because it is written in the pulp style. I like my pulp. It's a lot more fun to read than a lot of the legitimate stuff that's out there, I can say that much. So, I may try again, or I may just hold off. If I do choose to hold off, it's all right. I've got a million other projects to work on, including my epic. So, it would be no great loss to postpone finishing Creep for a while longer.
Still poking at Hearts in the Sea. It's coming along all right, so far. All I'm really doing is poking at sentences here and there, though I've managed to make it about a thousand words longer just by doing that. There are a handful of scenes that I want to add as well, but I can't really seem to get them put in. Oh well, I will get it at some point, haha.
I've also been told I should finish Creep. For those of you who don't know what Creep is, it's a story about this kid who is thrown into a 1920s style city full of fantasy creatures. Some of these creatures have killed his sister pretty horribly, so he's there to kill quite a few of them. He wears black bandages wrapped around his head and calls himself Creep. Basically, the entire story is a study in vengeance, showing what happens when someone decides that someone has done something worthy of dying.
I posted about ten chapters of it on YWS, but stopped after that. People didn't really like it because it was written in a very pulp style. There was too much action, and not enough talking and getting to know Creep. Which I thought was hilarious, kind of. There's nothing to get to know about Creep. He's a bad guy, consumed in his vengeance. And, I argue that being unsure about a character is good. If you know too much, then there are no surprises.
But, someone has been telling me I need to finish Creep. And I would really like to. His story really interests me and I would enjoy writing it. It's just, I am afraid of people deconstructing it and down-talking it because it is written in the pulp style. I like my pulp. It's a lot more fun to read than a lot of the legitimate stuff that's out there, I can say that much. So, I may try again, or I may just hold off. If I do choose to hold off, it's all right. I've got a million other projects to work on, including my epic. So, it would be no great loss to postpone finishing Creep for a while longer.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Editing! and Sending Off! Yay!
So.
There are peeps out there who are all "Conrad, send things off so they can get published." And I was all, "No, I suck forever," for the longest time.
But, I had a talk with someone the other night. The talk was about other things, but the gist of it was that I need to stop degrading myself and my abilities, since it gets me absolutely nowhere, and to stand up and actually be a man. And, that person was right.
So, I will start sending out my good stories to good magazines so they can try to get published. I'm going to edit up quite a few of them and get them into good working order. I have a great many stories that could be publishable. I've just got to devote some good ol' time and effort into them.
Can't wait for this Friday. My Marine Sciences class is going out into this flats area, where it doesn't get more than waist deep. There is a possibility that there might be some octopi there. This will be very cool, seeing as how an octopus is one of the coolest animals ever, in my opinion. And I've never seen one in real life. I will try to get ahold of a waterproof camera, and get a picture for you guys if we do see one. So, if I see one, you will see that I have seen one :P
There are peeps out there who are all "Conrad, send things off so they can get published." And I was all, "No, I suck forever," for the longest time.
But, I had a talk with someone the other night. The talk was about other things, but the gist of it was that I need to stop degrading myself and my abilities, since it gets me absolutely nowhere, and to stand up and actually be a man. And, that person was right.
So, I will start sending out my good stories to good magazines so they can try to get published. I'm going to edit up quite a few of them and get them into good working order. I have a great many stories that could be publishable. I've just got to devote some good ol' time and effort into them.
Can't wait for this Friday. My Marine Sciences class is going out into this flats area, where it doesn't get more than waist deep. There is a possibility that there might be some octopi there. This will be very cool, seeing as how an octopus is one of the coolest animals ever, in my opinion. And I've never seen one in real life. I will try to get ahold of a waterproof camera, and get a picture for you guys if we do see one. So, if I see one, you will see that I have seen one :P
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Good Things Are Happening
So, I got a 90 on my Intermediate Algebra Mid-Term. This is an exciting thing for me, mostly because I was expecting, at the most, a low B. But bumping that up by this much is really a positive thing for me. I mean, I've never really considered myself to be all that great at math, so seeing that my efforts are worth of this is quite good for my self-esteem. I'll probably try to find some way to celebrate this. Maybe by doing more math? Ha. Not likely. But, I feel like rewarding myself for this. I'm very happy about it.
Also, I'm sitting down and editing my NaNo today. Hearts in the Sea, the epic story of a normal girl cast adrift in a strange aquatic world, forced to cope with both the odd society of a race of dolphin merfolk and the machinations of a dark being from between universes. It'll really be quite something. Last night I really took a look at it, for the first time in a while. It's not as horrible as I thought it was. There are quite a few parts throughout where it really shines. The dialogue from Koyos, prince of the Delphini, and Soulmore Enigam, the dark villain, is very good. Koyos is witty and forward, while Soulmore is fiendishly evil, and has a lot of fun at it. They're both delightful characters, the ones I am especially proud of.
Alaine, the main character, I still have to tweak. Her reactions to being in this strange new world are often contradictory, or seemingly misplaced. So I need to go through and edit her dialogue and mannerisms a bit.
I also need to add some extra intrigue, such as building on why the Delphini are the way they are, and a potential rape scene. That last one I'm going to have problems with, mostly because such things creep me out a lot. When I read the novel of that other YWSer, there were quite a few mentions of rape and whatnot, and it kind of chilled me. I tend to stay away from a lot of that stuff as it is.
But, it would be something decent to add as far as the story structure goes. It would showcase the Delphini culture a bit, and provide some much needed conflict in the early part of the story, since Soulmore doesn't really appear until halfway in. At the very least, it would get some people to read simply for shock value, since there are people who read just for that.
But yeah, Hearts in the Sea is going to get major attention from me. Though, I won't be neglecting An Iron Sea either. Dr. Claireborne, the main character in that novella, is starting to actually become a bit more solid as a character. I'm not going to abandon him when he's starting to show this much promise. It wouldn't be fair to him at all, reclusive doctor that he is.
I'm also starting to get into my research paper. My topic is the sentience of cetaceans, dolphins and whales, and how we as humans can work to improve the way we treat them. I'm finding that there are more scholarly sources out there for this topic than I previously thought, and this is really buoying my spirits up for the paper as a whole. I think that, for my introduction, I will tell the story of Tillikum, a particularly notorious orca from SeaWorld. By doing this, I should draw some people in by tugging on a few heart strings, securing their attention before I get into the science and the sociology of it all. I like the way this gameplan is feeling solid in my head. It's giving me a lot of confidence.
That's all for now. Talk to you all later, whoever you all may be.
Also, I'm sitting down and editing my NaNo today. Hearts in the Sea, the epic story of a normal girl cast adrift in a strange aquatic world, forced to cope with both the odd society of a race of dolphin merfolk and the machinations of a dark being from between universes. It'll really be quite something. Last night I really took a look at it, for the first time in a while. It's not as horrible as I thought it was. There are quite a few parts throughout where it really shines. The dialogue from Koyos, prince of the Delphini, and Soulmore Enigam, the dark villain, is very good. Koyos is witty and forward, while Soulmore is fiendishly evil, and has a lot of fun at it. They're both delightful characters, the ones I am especially proud of.
Alaine, the main character, I still have to tweak. Her reactions to being in this strange new world are often contradictory, or seemingly misplaced. So I need to go through and edit her dialogue and mannerisms a bit.
I also need to add some extra intrigue, such as building on why the Delphini are the way they are, and a potential rape scene. That last one I'm going to have problems with, mostly because such things creep me out a lot. When I read the novel of that other YWSer, there were quite a few mentions of rape and whatnot, and it kind of chilled me. I tend to stay away from a lot of that stuff as it is.
But, it would be something decent to add as far as the story structure goes. It would showcase the Delphini culture a bit, and provide some much needed conflict in the early part of the story, since Soulmore doesn't really appear until halfway in. At the very least, it would get some people to read simply for shock value, since there are people who read just for that.
But yeah, Hearts in the Sea is going to get major attention from me. Though, I won't be neglecting An Iron Sea either. Dr. Claireborne, the main character in that novella, is starting to actually become a bit more solid as a character. I'm not going to abandon him when he's starting to show this much promise. It wouldn't be fair to him at all, reclusive doctor that he is.
I'm also starting to get into my research paper. My topic is the sentience of cetaceans, dolphins and whales, and how we as humans can work to improve the way we treat them. I'm finding that there are more scholarly sources out there for this topic than I previously thought, and this is really buoying my spirits up for the paper as a whole. I think that, for my introduction, I will tell the story of Tillikum, a particularly notorious orca from SeaWorld. By doing this, I should draw some people in by tugging on a few heart strings, securing their attention before I get into the science and the sociology of it all. I like the way this gameplan is feeling solid in my head. It's giving me a lot of confidence.
That's all for now. Talk to you all later, whoever you all may be.
Monday, October 19, 2009
You know what I realized yesterday? I really miss the Pacific Northwest. Like, when I was up there a couple of summers ago, and then again over the spring break ski trip, I just fell in love everything about it. Like, I have a romantic affair with that entire region. Strange, I know, but it's just so, "mystical", we'll say.
May start some kind of infrequent story here on my blog. Don't know anything more than that, other than there are random happenings that I need to get out of my head.
Also, I have read the novel of another YWSer, and after doing so, I am filled with a desire and passion to get some things written out that have just floated around, as well as edit some things that need editing. Hearts in the Sea, my NaNo, will get that treatment, as well as An Iron Sea. I've really been inspired by just seeing something complete like that from someone that I look up to and admire a great deal, and I want to make something that will hopefully inspire someone else in a similar manner.
The funny thing is, this person frustrates me a lot. Sometimes it seems like they ignore me and stuff, and they don't really seem to care how I feel. However, this can also be good. They are very willing to call me out on stuff, and recently, I have needed that to happen when I get a bit too wrapped up in my own problems to see the other side. What's more, they help me a great deal with my math by simply throwing math problems at me occasionally, keeping me on my toes and thinking about math when I usually don't. So, in the end, it's a fun frustration, if that makes any sense. It's helping me to be a more mature person and be able to deal with stuff like that. I may not see it at that moment, but after a bit I will be able to look at it and say, "They are right," and things will be a lot better. I find myself looking up to them and trying to emulate their better qualities. It's interesting.
But, I have decided that I must write out my epic. It's a long, long story. Originally I had like, seven books planned out, but over the past year or so the story itself has changed and the length has shortened to three. Still, it'll be a long story. And even so, there is a large portion of the MC's life left out between the second and third book, if I stick to the outline that I have now. I plan on filling that in with the odd short story here and there that just details a little snippet of that character's wanderings. But, I've been thinking about what might happen if I don't ever get around to writing it. I don't want to regret not finishing it, or indeed, not even starting it at all.
So, I will try to write it. I don't know how long it will take, or if it will ever be enjoyed by anyone, but I'm going to write it. I have to get it out, you see. If not for anyone else, for myself, so that I can say that I did it. Because, I feel I owe something to this MC. He's changed so much since I first got him in my head, and in all his different mental incarnations he's always suffered a great deal. I have to make his suffering mean something, even if that something is just putting his story on paper where someone can read it. He deserves the chance to have his story told. As we all do, I suppose. And we all tell our stories in our own way. It's just, some of us have a responsibility to tell the stories of others.
You could argue that characters are just fiction, that such things don't matter. But, think of how many characters have transcended their fictional nature. Santa Claus is the first example that jumps to my mind. He's not just a fictional character to a lot of people. He's become a symbol for something, for an idea. So have many other heroes throughout the history of world literature. And, even on a smaller level, haven't you read a book and had a character that just really spoke out to you? I mean, one that you just identified with and that really left you thinking? That's what's driving me to write this. This character speaks to me. He overcomes great adversity, having to fight and wander for so long to come back to the emotional and mental point that he was at when the first book starts. I have to let that effort on his part be validated.
Lol, that was long. My personal soapbox on the meta-nature of fictional characters, if you will.
In other news, reading Louis L'Amour's "Lonely on the Mountain." It's a short western novel that I got for a dollar at a used bookstore. I've read it before, but don't remember much of it, so I'm going to read it again. I do remember that I enjoyed it, so we will see if that happens again.
That's all for now. Take care.
May start some kind of infrequent story here on my blog. Don't know anything more than that, other than there are random happenings that I need to get out of my head.
Also, I have read the novel of another YWSer, and after doing so, I am filled with a desire and passion to get some things written out that have just floated around, as well as edit some things that need editing. Hearts in the Sea, my NaNo, will get that treatment, as well as An Iron Sea. I've really been inspired by just seeing something complete like that from someone that I look up to and admire a great deal, and I want to make something that will hopefully inspire someone else in a similar manner.
The funny thing is, this person frustrates me a lot. Sometimes it seems like they ignore me and stuff, and they don't really seem to care how I feel. However, this can also be good. They are very willing to call me out on stuff, and recently, I have needed that to happen when I get a bit too wrapped up in my own problems to see the other side. What's more, they help me a great deal with my math by simply throwing math problems at me occasionally, keeping me on my toes and thinking about math when I usually don't. So, in the end, it's a fun frustration, if that makes any sense. It's helping me to be a more mature person and be able to deal with stuff like that. I may not see it at that moment, but after a bit I will be able to look at it and say, "They are right," and things will be a lot better. I find myself looking up to them and trying to emulate their better qualities. It's interesting.
But, I have decided that I must write out my epic. It's a long, long story. Originally I had like, seven books planned out, but over the past year or so the story itself has changed and the length has shortened to three. Still, it'll be a long story. And even so, there is a large portion of the MC's life left out between the second and third book, if I stick to the outline that I have now. I plan on filling that in with the odd short story here and there that just details a little snippet of that character's wanderings. But, I've been thinking about what might happen if I don't ever get around to writing it. I don't want to regret not finishing it, or indeed, not even starting it at all.
So, I will try to write it. I don't know how long it will take, or if it will ever be enjoyed by anyone, but I'm going to write it. I have to get it out, you see. If not for anyone else, for myself, so that I can say that I did it. Because, I feel I owe something to this MC. He's changed so much since I first got him in my head, and in all his different mental incarnations he's always suffered a great deal. I have to make his suffering mean something, even if that something is just putting his story on paper where someone can read it. He deserves the chance to have his story told. As we all do, I suppose. And we all tell our stories in our own way. It's just, some of us have a responsibility to tell the stories of others.
You could argue that characters are just fiction, that such things don't matter. But, think of how many characters have transcended their fictional nature. Santa Claus is the first example that jumps to my mind. He's not just a fictional character to a lot of people. He's become a symbol for something, for an idea. So have many other heroes throughout the history of world literature. And, even on a smaller level, haven't you read a book and had a character that just really spoke out to you? I mean, one that you just identified with and that really left you thinking? That's what's driving me to write this. This character speaks to me. He overcomes great adversity, having to fight and wander for so long to come back to the emotional and mental point that he was at when the first book starts. I have to let that effort on his part be validated.
Lol, that was long. My personal soapbox on the meta-nature of fictional characters, if you will.
In other news, reading Louis L'Amour's "Lonely on the Mountain." It's a short western novel that I got for a dollar at a used bookstore. I've read it before, but don't remember much of it, so I'm going to read it again. I do remember that I enjoyed it, so we will see if that happens again.
That's all for now. Take care.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Return to the Annual Random Sunday Post
Good night, I must update this thing better. Lol. Less school work, plzkthx?
Really, I have been getting into my schoolwork. This is good though. Usually I tend to procrastinate and stuff. But this time, I'm actually reading ahead with stuff and whatnot. Hopefully this sticks, and I don't become some kind of horrible person by the end of the semester anyway, slacking off and stuff. Haha.
Many new story ideas floating around. Am editing/writing more on An Iron Sea, would be editing more on Hearts in the Sea if I hadn't left the flash drive it's on all the way back in Oklahoma. I shall persevere through that. Perhaps rewrite it? Haha. Am also revising/adding to an older story called The Deep, that was about a selkie. I've neglected that one for maybe over a year, and so now I am trying to see if it can go anywhere.
Math is hard. And, I've gotten to the point where I'm so frustrated with it that I'm checking in with a psychologist later this week, to try to determine if I could possibly have a learning disorder. This first meeting though, will be an interview. So, I will be asked all these lovely questions and things. What joy. And, it means I will have to go out amongst people. This is hard for me, mostly because I've worked behind a checkout counter and know how ugly people can be. No offense to any people out there, it just happens like that.
But, I shall persevere, as always, haha.
Till next time.
Really, I have been getting into my schoolwork. This is good though. Usually I tend to procrastinate and stuff. But this time, I'm actually reading ahead with stuff and whatnot. Hopefully this sticks, and I don't become some kind of horrible person by the end of the semester anyway, slacking off and stuff. Haha.
Many new story ideas floating around. Am editing/writing more on An Iron Sea, would be editing more on Hearts in the Sea if I hadn't left the flash drive it's on all the way back in Oklahoma. I shall persevere through that. Perhaps rewrite it? Haha. Am also revising/adding to an older story called The Deep, that was about a selkie. I've neglected that one for maybe over a year, and so now I am trying to see if it can go anywhere.
Math is hard. And, I've gotten to the point where I'm so frustrated with it that I'm checking in with a psychologist later this week, to try to determine if I could possibly have a learning disorder. This first meeting though, will be an interview. So, I will be asked all these lovely questions and things. What joy. And, it means I will have to go out amongst people. This is hard for me, mostly because I've worked behind a checkout counter and know how ugly people can be. No offense to any people out there, it just happens like that.
But, I shall persevere, as always, haha.
Till next time.
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