Many things have happened since my last blog entry. I'm going home on Wednesday, starting up some new projects, and deciding on a new college.
So, I have deduced that what I thought was carpal tunnel was actually simply a sprained wrist, and that I overreacted somewhat. Oh well, such is life.
Starting a ton of new projects, to celebrate basically being over with school. Tomorrow are two of my finals, and the day after that are the other two. And then, the next day I fly home. So happy for that. Hawaii is nice and everything, but I do miss my family. And good food. Dining hall here is less than desirable.
As far as projects go, I have A Feast of Specters, the companion piece to An Iron Sea, an untitled sequel to An Iron Sea, finishing up my NaNo in a month or so, and a Halo fanfiction. Yes, I am going to write fanfiction. But, it is Halo, and it is a part of Halo that I would like to explore, a time after the main trilogy of games is over. I'm writing it with someone else, meaning that they get so much creative input that they are essentially a co-author. It'll be fun.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
A Short Update
Got the web serial, titled Hooves, started. Also keeping up with Mercy of the Void still. All in all, writing is going well for me.
Got so many projects floating around it's not even funny. I'm holding off on A Feast of Specters for a while. The plot isn't fully formed in my mind like I would want it to be, so I'm going to let it stew for a bit.
Feeling good about Hooves already. There was a side character that someone help me think up yesterday, and today that person came up and asked, "Hey, can I totally write a story about her origin and stuff?" And so I was all, "Sure, why not?" I feel flattered when someone chooses to add to something that I'm creating like that. Provided that what they're adding meshes well, of course. I'm not too much of a stickler about that sort of thing, but I still like for things to be all non-conflicting and stuff.
Anyways, I went ahead and wrote out what will be the second update for Hooves this evening. I'm going to stick to my schedule though and not post it until next week. If I work ahead like this for a day or so, I figure that I'll have something to fall back on if come finals I am really too busy to do anything regarding it. Which could very well happen. I'm not going to make a bet that I'll just cruise through studying, not by a long shot.
So, again, writing is going well.
Got so many projects floating around it's not even funny. I'm holding off on A Feast of Specters for a while. The plot isn't fully formed in my mind like I would want it to be, so I'm going to let it stew for a bit.
Feeling good about Hooves already. There was a side character that someone help me think up yesterday, and today that person came up and asked, "Hey, can I totally write a story about her origin and stuff?" And so I was all, "Sure, why not?" I feel flattered when someone chooses to add to something that I'm creating like that. Provided that what they're adding meshes well, of course. I'm not too much of a stickler about that sort of thing, but I still like for things to be all non-conflicting and stuff.
Anyways, I went ahead and wrote out what will be the second update for Hooves this evening. I'm going to stick to my schedule though and not post it until next week. If I work ahead like this for a day or so, I figure that I'll have something to fall back on if come finals I am really too busy to do anything regarding it. Which could very well happen. I'm not going to make a bet that I'll just cruise through studying, not by a long shot.
So, again, writing is going well.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
NaNo Completion, Web Serial, and Feast
Well, I got to 50k yesterday. I feel very accomplished now. Though, of course, the story is very much far from over. I think I'm just over the halfway mark, hopefully. Sometimes the plot feels a bit dynamic still, and I wonder if I will end up adding a few more scenes than I planned. Hopefully everything will stay as it is and it won't get any longer. But, you never know.
Got an urge to do a web serial. For this, I would open up a new blog thing, and I would post a chapter of a story every week. It wouldn't be very long at all, maybe 1k or so. For the average writer with a goal of 1k per day, that's not too bad at all. I have a couple of ideas that I'll be stewing over, and I'll give you guys an update when I decide what the definite one is.
Going to also try to work away at A Feast of Specters, which is the name I have decided upon for the companion story to An Iron Sea. I wish I could work the word "an" in as the title for this one too though. It's an aesthetic choice, really. I like the way "an" sounds at the beginning of a title like that. I may tinker with the title a little to get that desired effect, just so that it will be a bit more like An Iron Sea.
Got an urge to do a web serial. For this, I would open up a new blog thing, and I would post a chapter of a story every week. It wouldn't be very long at all, maybe 1k or so. For the average writer with a goal of 1k per day, that's not too bad at all. I have a couple of ideas that I'll be stewing over, and I'll give you guys an update when I decide what the definite one is.
Going to also try to work away at A Feast of Specters, which is the name I have decided upon for the companion story to An Iron Sea. I wish I could work the word "an" in as the title for this one too though. It's an aesthetic choice, really. I like the way "an" sounds at the beginning of a title like that. I may tinker with the title a little to get that desired effect, just so that it will be a bit more like An Iron Sea.
Friday, November 20, 2009
The New An Iron Sea
I'm thinking of 'rewriting' An Iron Sea.
But when I say 'rewriting' it in this context, I do not mean completely scrapping the draft that I have and starting over. That draft still stands and I think of it as almost a separate story now.
What I am considering is writing a similar story of sorts. Whereas the first story called An Iron Sea is about Dr. Linus Claireborne, a doctor at the research station in McMurdo Sound, this next story would about Dr. Linus Claireborne, ship's doctor aboard the whaling ship Dragonfly. It would be a new story, but with similar characters, and the same setting, the bleak desolation of Antarctica. The Dragonfly would have been driven down to Antarctica by an unnatural storm, and all of it's crew would be dead save for Dr. Claireborne and a boy named Jericho that would have been picked up adrift in warmer waters. Dr. Claireborne would be haunted by spirits, some of dead people he knew, some of living people who left him, and others of supernatural forces that are beyond his comprehension.
I know that it would be fairly easy to change up the names and stuff so that it would be a completely new story. But, this is Dr. Linus Claireborne too. He's not some ancestor of the one from the first An Iron Sea, or that first one thrown back in time or something. He's Dr. Linus Claireborne, only in a different time and situation than the first time we saw him. He's different, yet the same, if that makes any sense. He's still a learned man with only his logic and knowledge to help him in the face of forces that he does not understand. Other characters from the first An Iron Sea are sure to pop up as well. I don't know quite how yet, but I do know that they will be there. It's a different play, but with the same actors playing similar parts to the first one.
I'll probably get to work on this right after my NaNo. It's fresh in my mind, but not so fresh as to be fully formed and demanding to be written, and I think that by the time Mercy of the Void is done I'll be very ready to write it.
But when I say 'rewriting' it in this context, I do not mean completely scrapping the draft that I have and starting over. That draft still stands and I think of it as almost a separate story now.
What I am considering is writing a similar story of sorts. Whereas the first story called An Iron Sea is about Dr. Linus Claireborne, a doctor at the research station in McMurdo Sound, this next story would about Dr. Linus Claireborne, ship's doctor aboard the whaling ship Dragonfly. It would be a new story, but with similar characters, and the same setting, the bleak desolation of Antarctica. The Dragonfly would have been driven down to Antarctica by an unnatural storm, and all of it's crew would be dead save for Dr. Claireborne and a boy named Jericho that would have been picked up adrift in warmer waters. Dr. Claireborne would be haunted by spirits, some of dead people he knew, some of living people who left him, and others of supernatural forces that are beyond his comprehension.
I know that it would be fairly easy to change up the names and stuff so that it would be a completely new story. But, this is Dr. Linus Claireborne too. He's not some ancestor of the one from the first An Iron Sea, or that first one thrown back in time or something. He's Dr. Linus Claireborne, only in a different time and situation than the first time we saw him. He's different, yet the same, if that makes any sense. He's still a learned man with only his logic and knowledge to help him in the face of forces that he does not understand. Other characters from the first An Iron Sea are sure to pop up as well. I don't know quite how yet, but I do know that they will be there. It's a different play, but with the same actors playing similar parts to the first one.
I'll probably get to work on this right after my NaNo. It's fresh in my mind, but not so fresh as to be fully formed and demanding to be written, and I think that by the time Mercy of the Void is done I'll be very ready to write it.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Paper, Shark, and NaNo
So, I got that stinking rough draft and works cited paper done. I turn it in tomorrow and then sweat until I get it back. Literally, not figuratively.
Got my wallet and keys stolen last Friday while I was snorkeling with a class. We had to leave our stuff on the beach, and some guy ran off with my backpack. It's all good though. The wallet and keys were the only valuables in there. And, I saw a shark while snorkeling. Yes, you heard that right. There was a shark in the water while I was snorkeling. It was awesome. I can now say that I have swam with a shark.
Now that the paper is done, I may return to my NaNo. I have neglected it these past two days while I slaved over the horrid non-fiction. But, now all that horribleness has gone away, and I may return to the story of Keith Huge. The words are already flowing along like they did before.
Lately I have had lots of ideas for stories. I'm just going to vomit some of them out to you.
-a story with a girl, who is wearing a white dress, and a boy, who is wearing dark shorts, by a stream in some ruins in a jungle
-the literary equivalent of a spaghetti western, except with centaurs
-a one-shot story featuring Keith Huge and some malevolent unicorns
-a one-shot story about Keith Huge going through a cave of spirits and being guided by Sherlock Holmes
-a one-shot story about Keith Huge (yes, he's a favorite of mine) meeting Jesus in the desert before the latter is tempted by the devil
-a story about the death of Cunningham, that one character from a previous blog post
Also, I'm thinking the Varia story may be scrapped until much later. I have other things that I've had kicking around in my head for longer that I need to write first. It'll be a later project.
Got my wallet and keys stolen last Friday while I was snorkeling with a class. We had to leave our stuff on the beach, and some guy ran off with my backpack. It's all good though. The wallet and keys were the only valuables in there. And, I saw a shark while snorkeling. Yes, you heard that right. There was a shark in the water while I was snorkeling. It was awesome. I can now say that I have swam with a shark.
Now that the paper is done, I may return to my NaNo. I have neglected it these past two days while I slaved over the horrid non-fiction. But, now all that horribleness has gone away, and I may return to the story of Keith Huge. The words are already flowing along like they did before.
Lately I have had lots of ideas for stories. I'm just going to vomit some of them out to you.
-a story with a girl, who is wearing a white dress, and a boy, who is wearing dark shorts, by a stream in some ruins in a jungle
-the literary equivalent of a spaghetti western, except with centaurs
-a one-shot story featuring Keith Huge and some malevolent unicorns
-a one-shot story about Keith Huge going through a cave of spirits and being guided by Sherlock Holmes
-a one-shot story about Keith Huge (yes, he's a favorite of mine) meeting Jesus in the desert before the latter is tempted by the devil
-a story about the death of Cunningham, that one character from a previous blog post
Also, I'm thinking the Varia story may be scrapped until much later. I have other things that I've had kicking around in my head for longer that I need to write first. It'll be a later project.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Trilby
So I passed 30k in my NaNo yesterday. Yay for me! :)
So, anyways, I am going to try to knuckle down on my paper. Note the word try in that last sentence. Basically, at this moment, I don't want to do it at all, because I dislike being made to rethink my paper. But, I suppose I'll get to it at some point.
My trilby, a kind of hat, is sitting uselessly on my desk, along with a ton of other random papers and books. Basically, my half of that desk looks horrid. But I don't care. It's one less thing I have to worry about, and the guy with the other half doesn't care so long as it doesn't cross the half way mark. And it hasn't. So, he doesn't care.
Anyways, the trilby. It really was a dumb investment. For thirty bucks, I could have gotten some books down at the bookstore. What did I end up getting? A hat that I never wear, cause I have nothing that it goes with, really. I'll probably wear it with my nice clothes on the way home, just to get some use out of it. Oh well. Live and learn. Hopefully I'll get ahold of some stuff to wear it with, someday.
The word 'trilby' is kind of cool though, not gonna lie. It's part of the pseudonym that I want to adopt when I start publishing. Harold Saxon Trilby. Rather unique and slightly Anglican sounding. Which is what I'm aiming for.
Also, reading "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" again as I'm writing my NaNo. It's still just as good as always. And, no, I'm not any closer to memorizing it, haha. No time for that at the moment.
Hands are hurting while I type. I worry about this. I've heard about how a couple of people from YWS have carpal tunnel syndrome. Needless to say I don't think I want that. So, I'll be shopping for handwraps tomorrow, to see if I can't wrap up my hands and stop this before it becomes carpal tunnel.
Need to cash my birthday money tomorrow as well. Gonna go over to the bank and check on that. There's a First Hawaiian not too far from campus, only a couple of blocks or so. That'll be where I see how to do this.
Kind of looking forward to going home and relaxing a bit. And, yes, I will consider having a job for all of three or four weeks to be relaxing. I have one waiting for me, hopefully, if the manager that was there when I left still is there. Which reminds me, I need to get a postcard and send it to them. I already sent one, but I figure sending another one won't hurt one bit.
Trying not to think too much about what lies ahead for me. If I do that, I start to worry and not function properly. Living in the moment is really the best thing you can do for your personal well-being, I'm finding out. Because if you worry about something that's far off, it'll bite you. I'm seeing it happen in a few people I know. I'm not advocating being lazy, oh no. But what I am doing is not worrying about the paper being due in two weeks, and instead just seeing what I can get done on it today. If I think about the time constraint too much, I'll freeze up.
NaNo is progressing well. I had to step up when certain events happen, like make the "huge destroying army" that wasn't supposed to show up for a day after Keith arrives in Sea Heaven in the story's narrative show up a few hours after the MC arrives. How convenient. And he remarks on it! For a simple Oklahoma boy, he's a rather perceptive person in that regard. But yeah, I think I'll be able to bounce forward now. Though, in the final draft, I will add a day there. Because, it seems stupid for the world destroying army to conveniently arrive then. I need to set it back by at least a day.
Guh, need sleep, rest, whatever. Tomorrow ought to be fairly easy, minus getting the money. But even that will be pretty painless. It will be somewhat time consuming, but relatively painless.
So, anyways, I am going to try to knuckle down on my paper. Note the word try in that last sentence. Basically, at this moment, I don't want to do it at all, because I dislike being made to rethink my paper. But, I suppose I'll get to it at some point.
My trilby, a kind of hat, is sitting uselessly on my desk, along with a ton of other random papers and books. Basically, my half of that desk looks horrid. But I don't care. It's one less thing I have to worry about, and the guy with the other half doesn't care so long as it doesn't cross the half way mark. And it hasn't. So, he doesn't care.
Anyways, the trilby. It really was a dumb investment. For thirty bucks, I could have gotten some books down at the bookstore. What did I end up getting? A hat that I never wear, cause I have nothing that it goes with, really. I'll probably wear it with my nice clothes on the way home, just to get some use out of it. Oh well. Live and learn. Hopefully I'll get ahold of some stuff to wear it with, someday.
The word 'trilby' is kind of cool though, not gonna lie. It's part of the pseudonym that I want to adopt when I start publishing. Harold Saxon Trilby. Rather unique and slightly Anglican sounding. Which is what I'm aiming for.
Also, reading "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" again as I'm writing my NaNo. It's still just as good as always. And, no, I'm not any closer to memorizing it, haha. No time for that at the moment.
Hands are hurting while I type. I worry about this. I've heard about how a couple of people from YWS have carpal tunnel syndrome. Needless to say I don't think I want that. So, I'll be shopping for handwraps tomorrow, to see if I can't wrap up my hands and stop this before it becomes carpal tunnel.
Need to cash my birthday money tomorrow as well. Gonna go over to the bank and check on that. There's a First Hawaiian not too far from campus, only a couple of blocks or so. That'll be where I see how to do this.
Kind of looking forward to going home and relaxing a bit. And, yes, I will consider having a job for all of three or four weeks to be relaxing. I have one waiting for me, hopefully, if the manager that was there when I left still is there. Which reminds me, I need to get a postcard and send it to them. I already sent one, but I figure sending another one won't hurt one bit.
Trying not to think too much about what lies ahead for me. If I do that, I start to worry and not function properly. Living in the moment is really the best thing you can do for your personal well-being, I'm finding out. Because if you worry about something that's far off, it'll bite you. I'm seeing it happen in a few people I know. I'm not advocating being lazy, oh no. But what I am doing is not worrying about the paper being due in two weeks, and instead just seeing what I can get done on it today. If I think about the time constraint too much, I'll freeze up.
NaNo is progressing well. I had to step up when certain events happen, like make the "huge destroying army" that wasn't supposed to show up for a day after Keith arrives in Sea Heaven in the story's narrative show up a few hours after the MC arrives. How convenient. And he remarks on it! For a simple Oklahoma boy, he's a rather perceptive person in that regard. But yeah, I think I'll be able to bounce forward now. Though, in the final draft, I will add a day there. Because, it seems stupid for the world destroying army to conveniently arrive then. I need to set it back by at least a day.
Guh, need sleep, rest, whatever. Tomorrow ought to be fairly easy, minus getting the money. But even that will be pretty painless. It will be somewhat time consuming, but relatively painless.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Things Abounding in Abundance
So, my birthday is in a couple of days. Yay!
Trying to take a small break from my NaNo today, since I hit the halfway mark yesterday. It's kind of at a slow point anyway, so I'm alternating between picking at it, picking at an outline for Varia, obsessing over maybe wanting to write Creep again, and trying to pick at my writing homework.
I am really starting to get irked by this stuff. I do not understand the purpose of going to all this trouble beforehand, lining out your warrants and stuff. I do that as I go, making sure all that stuff sounds right to me and making sure I have good sources. And this isn't even for a factual paper. This is to alert people to a specific cause. Do they even write papers for that anymore? They write short articles in newspapers, or pass out pamphlets. I have never heard of them writing ten page papers to try to convince people of a particular note-worthy cause.
And the way my teacher just goes on about it. She's so dead set in this. Not that I mind that. It's just she's so incredibly hostile to any perceived threat to it. The other day, during my conference with her, I made a comment about me having a hard time with this initial stuff. She took it as me insulting her teaching style. I was saying that I had a failing there that I needed to correct and she instantly took it as me saying her teaching doesn't work.
Whatever. I only need to do the old stuff if I want a better grade. My plan is to make sure that I do the stuff I got the worst grades on first. That way I can bring up those weak points and whatnot. Hopefully that will work.
I also need to do math. Guh. That one is more my failing. I will probably read up on how to do it this afternoon, then do it tonight for a bit, then read again on tomorrow afternoon, do some more, then finish up whatever's left on Monday. I just have to stick to that schedule. It shouldn't be too hard, and I am confident that it will get me where I need to be. So, yay on that account.
Trying to hammer out some stuff for Varia, the gender bender story. It's kind of difficult, seeing as how I want to deviate from a perverted way of looking at a story like this. I want the protagonist to be in a girl's body fully, with a guy's mind, but with that mind rapidly becoming a girl's mind. The protagonist would be too freaked out to do anything with a girl's body that a guy would want to do, and by the time there has been adjustment the girl mindset is already taking over. So, yeah. Not many girls are willing to give me a lot of tips on this. But, I shall persevere.
NaNo is going well, quite well. Halfway towards winning, and not really halfway through the story's plot. This is very good for me. Very good indeed.
Got $45 dollars from both sets of grandparents for my birthday. There is a used bookstore just off of campus. I think you know what I am going to be doing with that money. I hope they have a better selection of science fiction and fantasy by the time I get there on Monday. But, if they don't, oh well.
That's all for me for now. Good luck.
Trying to take a small break from my NaNo today, since I hit the halfway mark yesterday. It's kind of at a slow point anyway, so I'm alternating between picking at it, picking at an outline for Varia, obsessing over maybe wanting to write Creep again, and trying to pick at my writing homework.
I am really starting to get irked by this stuff. I do not understand the purpose of going to all this trouble beforehand, lining out your warrants and stuff. I do that as I go, making sure all that stuff sounds right to me and making sure I have good sources. And this isn't even for a factual paper. This is to alert people to a specific cause. Do they even write papers for that anymore? They write short articles in newspapers, or pass out pamphlets. I have never heard of them writing ten page papers to try to convince people of a particular note-worthy cause.
And the way my teacher just goes on about it. She's so dead set in this. Not that I mind that. It's just she's so incredibly hostile to any perceived threat to it. The other day, during my conference with her, I made a comment about me having a hard time with this initial stuff. She took it as me insulting her teaching style. I was saying that I had a failing there that I needed to correct and she instantly took it as me saying her teaching doesn't work.
Whatever. I only need to do the old stuff if I want a better grade. My plan is to make sure that I do the stuff I got the worst grades on first. That way I can bring up those weak points and whatnot. Hopefully that will work.
I also need to do math. Guh. That one is more my failing. I will probably read up on how to do it this afternoon, then do it tonight for a bit, then read again on tomorrow afternoon, do some more, then finish up whatever's left on Monday. I just have to stick to that schedule. It shouldn't be too hard, and I am confident that it will get me where I need to be. So, yay on that account.
Trying to hammer out some stuff for Varia, the gender bender story. It's kind of difficult, seeing as how I want to deviate from a perverted way of looking at a story like this. I want the protagonist to be in a girl's body fully, with a guy's mind, but with that mind rapidly becoming a girl's mind. The protagonist would be too freaked out to do anything with a girl's body that a guy would want to do, and by the time there has been adjustment the girl mindset is already taking over. So, yeah. Not many girls are willing to give me a lot of tips on this. But, I shall persevere.
NaNo is going well, quite well. Halfway towards winning, and not really halfway through the story's plot. This is very good for me. Very good indeed.
Got $45 dollars from both sets of grandparents for my birthday. There is a used bookstore just off of campus. I think you know what I am going to be doing with that money. I hope they have a better selection of science fiction and fantasy by the time I get there on Monday. But, if they don't, oh well.
That's all for me for now. Good luck.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Writing, Hating Writing, and Turning Older
So, I have reached 20k on my NaNo! Yay!
I have lined out a list of my long projects for the future. These will be the novel-length stories that I write. I'm not going to try to plan out what short stories I do though. I plan on just doing those sporadically, during the longer projects, when I need a short break. My list so far:
Mercy of the Void: Current NaNo, first story in my epic
Varia: A story about a thief who wakes up to find he's become a girl
Sound of Drums: Next story in my epic
Sea-Song: A story about the sudden sentience of whales and dolphins
The Long Road: Last story in my epic
Creep: Old story I'll be ready to finish by that time
Dark Town: A supernatural story set in a small town
Canter: A fantasy romance of sorts
I need to get this list laid out and set pretty clear in my head though. If I don't, I might not get anything written. And, I can't do that. I've got to get this stuff all written out. So, getting a schedule of sorts prioritized in my head is the proper thing to do.
Had a talk with my writing teacher yesterday. Found out I have to both change the topic of my paper and, as a consequence of that, I have to redo half of the homework I have already turned in if I want a better grade. I do, so I'll go ahead and redo everything. Part of this is my own fault, for not understanding and not trying to clarify that misunderstanding.
I just wish that there wasn't so much of an emphasis on non-fiction writing in college. I hate non-fiction writing. It's horrible and boring. All I'm doing is looking up facts that other people have already found out and copying them down again, with the proper citations of course. There's no imagination in that, no fun at all. I don't see much of a draw to it, and I can't understand why people are all so crazy about writing these things. You should be out discovering new things for yourself, not simply retreading all this old stuff.
I also need to type out a waka poem and a paper explaining it for my World Literature class. That's due next Monday, but I figure getting it done today would be better than doing it over the weekend. This weekend is reserved for math, NaNo, and redoing writing homework, in that order.
On another note, Monday is my birthday! Yay! I won't be celebrating it though. Mom is sending a care package to me, but that's about it. I don't have the money to celebrate it, really. Besides, it's just a birthday. I'll go to class and stuff just like any other day.
Well that's about it for me this time. I've got to go to writing class next. Joy and wonder, undoubtedly.
I have lined out a list of my long projects for the future. These will be the novel-length stories that I write. I'm not going to try to plan out what short stories I do though. I plan on just doing those sporadically, during the longer projects, when I need a short break. My list so far:
Mercy of the Void: Current NaNo, first story in my epic
Varia: A story about a thief who wakes up to find he's become a girl
Sound of Drums: Next story in my epic
Sea-Song: A story about the sudden sentience of whales and dolphins
The Long Road: Last story in my epic
Creep: Old story I'll be ready to finish by that time
Dark Town: A supernatural story set in a small town
Canter: A fantasy romance of sorts
I need to get this list laid out and set pretty clear in my head though. If I don't, I might not get anything written. And, I can't do that. I've got to get this stuff all written out. So, getting a schedule of sorts prioritized in my head is the proper thing to do.
Had a talk with my writing teacher yesterday. Found out I have to both change the topic of my paper and, as a consequence of that, I have to redo half of the homework I have already turned in if I want a better grade. I do, so I'll go ahead and redo everything. Part of this is my own fault, for not understanding and not trying to clarify that misunderstanding.
I just wish that there wasn't so much of an emphasis on non-fiction writing in college. I hate non-fiction writing. It's horrible and boring. All I'm doing is looking up facts that other people have already found out and copying them down again, with the proper citations of course. There's no imagination in that, no fun at all. I don't see much of a draw to it, and I can't understand why people are all so crazy about writing these things. You should be out discovering new things for yourself, not simply retreading all this old stuff.
I also need to type out a waka poem and a paper explaining it for my World Literature class. That's due next Monday, but I figure getting it done today would be better than doing it over the weekend. This weekend is reserved for math, NaNo, and redoing writing homework, in that order.
On another note, Monday is my birthday! Yay! I won't be celebrating it though. Mom is sending a care package to me, but that's about it. I don't have the money to celebrate it, really. Besides, it's just a birthday. I'll go to class and stuff just like any other day.
Well that's about it for me this time. I've got to go to writing class next. Joy and wonder, undoubtedly.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
NaNo, Characters, Haikus
So, already 16k into my NaNo. This number pleases me. It's not as far along as some are. I know of one person who finished already. But, I don't begrudge them that. I am satisfied with where I am at with my NaNo. It still means that I will get done early, and that makes me very happy.
Brainstormed over a potential new story idea. I'm going to talk about some of the characters that might be involved, since they're about all that I've got at the moment.
Cunningham is a teenage genius. He got this way via reading voraciously at every opportunity he got, and applying the knowledge that he acquired. He likes to play with people by manipulating them along to see what they will do. He likes to dress in nice clothes, and almost always in the color green. To see him in any other color is a rare thing. His nice appearance hides the fact that he does not have a great many of the same morals that most people do. He has only two real rules: Never harm a child or the innocence of a child, and deal violently with the perverts of the world.
Erica Patterson is also a teenage genius. She got that way due to her parents home-schooling her and focusing her attention on learning. She believes in rules and patterns, and tries to manipulate people to follow them, since she does not believe that people are inherently good. She does not care to dress up very well, but is a very moral person. She is also a black belt in Muay Thai.
Cunningham and Erica come into conflict because Cunningham dislikes Erica's obsession with following predictable patterns, and Erica dislike's Cunningham's seeming lack of morals. They often match wits and try to outdo each other. However, while they maintain an adversarial relationship, they do not go to the extremes with it, merely using the intellect of the other as an opportunity to test and strengthen their own.
So, those are the two main characters. There are supporting casts for the both of them, each one unique in itself. But, I can't really think of any story ideas to go with these characters. I came up with a kind of throwaway one about Cunningham coming into possession of a locket that changes his gender, and I was told by one of my two main editors that I should go with that. And, I will try it, I think. Only after my NaNo is done though. I'm not going to drop out of that anytime soon.
My writing teacher wants to meet with me tomorrow at one o'clock. I don't know about that. I've never had a teacher be all, "I would like to speak with you," to me and have it be good. Someone said that they probably just want to do what teachers usually do when they talk to parents in high school. Somehow that just doesn't make me feel any better about the whole thing. Oh well. I will go and do it and then it will be over and I will be done.
for the orca knows truth
strips meat and color from bone
he is the winter
Yay for me and haiku! I like to write some every now and then. I don't consider myself very good at it, but that one right there is one of my better ones. I'm quite proud of it.
And, on that note. farewell!
Brainstormed over a potential new story idea. I'm going to talk about some of the characters that might be involved, since they're about all that I've got at the moment.
Cunningham is a teenage genius. He got this way via reading voraciously at every opportunity he got, and applying the knowledge that he acquired. He likes to play with people by manipulating them along to see what they will do. He likes to dress in nice clothes, and almost always in the color green. To see him in any other color is a rare thing. His nice appearance hides the fact that he does not have a great many of the same morals that most people do. He has only two real rules: Never harm a child or the innocence of a child, and deal violently with the perverts of the world.
Erica Patterson is also a teenage genius. She got that way due to her parents home-schooling her and focusing her attention on learning. She believes in rules and patterns, and tries to manipulate people to follow them, since she does not believe that people are inherently good. She does not care to dress up very well, but is a very moral person. She is also a black belt in Muay Thai.
Cunningham and Erica come into conflict because Cunningham dislikes Erica's obsession with following predictable patterns, and Erica dislike's Cunningham's seeming lack of morals. They often match wits and try to outdo each other. However, while they maintain an adversarial relationship, they do not go to the extremes with it, merely using the intellect of the other as an opportunity to test and strengthen their own.
So, those are the two main characters. There are supporting casts for the both of them, each one unique in itself. But, I can't really think of any story ideas to go with these characters. I came up with a kind of throwaway one about Cunningham coming into possession of a locket that changes his gender, and I was told by one of my two main editors that I should go with that. And, I will try it, I think. Only after my NaNo is done though. I'm not going to drop out of that anytime soon.
My writing teacher wants to meet with me tomorrow at one o'clock. I don't know about that. I've never had a teacher be all, "I would like to speak with you," to me and have it be good. Someone said that they probably just want to do what teachers usually do when they talk to parents in high school. Somehow that just doesn't make me feel any better about the whole thing. Oh well. I will go and do it and then it will be over and I will be done.
for the orca knows truth
strips meat and color from bone
he is the winter
Yay for me and haiku! I like to write some every now and then. I don't consider myself very good at it, but that one right there is one of my better ones. I'm quite proud of it.
And, on that note. farewell!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Abide With Me
I really like the Japanese poetry we learned about in World Literature. Trying my hand at some waka was quite interesting, and I like the result. Hopefully my teacher will as well.
I would like a chance to blog about something personal for a moment, if that is all right with you all.
There are a great many things that I would like to not lose in this world. These are things that make my heart ache at just the thought of a world without them. And, sometimes, when that possibility becomes very real, I find that my heart aches greatly. But I do not know what to do. I pray to God, but I have a hard time believing that he will preserve that which I love dearly. I know he can, and I want to give this up to him, but I find it very hard to let go of this particular cross. I don't even know if it should be my cross, and yet its burden is one I am very loath to relinquish.
There, that's all I wanted to say on the personal front. Thank you for letting me say it.
NaNo is going well. I'm not as far ahead as some people, but I am a good distance ahead, and will do my best to increase that distance tomorrow. I also need to do some algebra, and some writing though, so it may be that I only get to work on it later in the evening. I will work on it though, and get at least 2k churned out. I rather like being ahead of the bare minimum. I'll also probably look forward to the weekends this November, so that I can really get ahead.
My editor, yes, I have an editor now, sent me back an edited version of an early story of mine called Terror Train. She pointed out some places where it could be improved, and I patched those up. She's sending it off to Science Fiction and Fantasy at some point, and will look at another one later. I need to find a way to pay her back, really. She's doing all of this for free, and is being very resistant when I suggest paying her back. Anyone out there have any suggestions?
Revisited a bit of my childhood this weekend. Found an old clip of the opening to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I loved that show back in the day. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it featured Kevin Sorbo as Hercules as he wandered the earth battling the minions of his wicked stepmother Hera, the all powerful queen of the gods. And where ever there was evil, where ever an innocent would suffer, there would be Hercules. It was quite an awesome show, and I always enjoyed watching it when I was a little kid. Seeing the opening sequence again made me feel really good and nostalgic.
Now, I must sleep.
I would like a chance to blog about something personal for a moment, if that is all right with you all.
There are a great many things that I would like to not lose in this world. These are things that make my heart ache at just the thought of a world without them. And, sometimes, when that possibility becomes very real, I find that my heart aches greatly. But I do not know what to do. I pray to God, but I have a hard time believing that he will preserve that which I love dearly. I know he can, and I want to give this up to him, but I find it very hard to let go of this particular cross. I don't even know if it should be my cross, and yet its burden is one I am very loath to relinquish.
There, that's all I wanted to say on the personal front. Thank you for letting me say it.
NaNo is going well. I'm not as far ahead as some people, but I am a good distance ahead, and will do my best to increase that distance tomorrow. I also need to do some algebra, and some writing though, so it may be that I only get to work on it later in the evening. I will work on it though, and get at least 2k churned out. I rather like being ahead of the bare minimum. I'll also probably look forward to the weekends this November, so that I can really get ahead.
My editor, yes, I have an editor now, sent me back an edited version of an early story of mine called Terror Train. She pointed out some places where it could be improved, and I patched those up. She's sending it off to Science Fiction and Fantasy at some point, and will look at another one later. I need to find a way to pay her back, really. She's doing all of this for free, and is being very resistant when I suggest paying her back. Anyone out there have any suggestions?
Revisited a bit of my childhood this weekend. Found an old clip of the opening to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I loved that show back in the day. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it featured Kevin Sorbo as Hercules as he wandered the earth battling the minions of his wicked stepmother Hera, the all powerful queen of the gods. And where ever there was evil, where ever an innocent would suffer, there would be Hercules. It was quite an awesome show, and I always enjoyed watching it when I was a little kid. Seeing the opening sequence again made me feel really good and nostalgic.
Now, I must sleep.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
NaNo
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Short Saturday Blurb
Working on multiple stories at the same time, again. Some are strange, and some are even stranger. But I am down with that. That's what makes my writing unique. I could write normal stories if I wanted to, but as far as I'm concerned, that is no fun at all. For me, truly enjoying my writing means utilizing off the wall concepts and weaving them together into an interesting narrative.
I've only got four classes this semester. The anthropology one turned out to be less than desirable, so I dropped it the day after the first class. I have enough coursework anyway, so I will be good.
I've only got four classes this semester. The anthropology one turned out to be less than desirable, so I dropped it the day after the first class. I have enough coursework anyway, so I will be good.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
So here I am come around again. Hawaii is still as good as ever. Right now I'm taking care of my laundry. You wouldn't believe just how odd it is for me to be taking care of my own stuff like that now. I'm doing rather well. My first goof up was today, when I left my keys in my dorm room and had to wait for about an hour for my suite mate to come around and let me in through the bathroom. Lol. Well, now I'll make a point not to do that, haha.
It never fails. The first instant I start liking one thing about Kanye West's music, he goes and does something stupid. I hope he's happy with himself.
I'm doing well in my writing class. I know that should come as a surprise, since I am kind of a writer and everything. But this is not a fiction writing class, but a non fiction one. But already the teacher likes me, because I happened to get a bit of contact from a certain author about a certain book of his I was reading. She and I talked about that over lunch, and I explained that even though I was dissatisfied with the book, I had learned something from this, about the value of civil discourse, the willingness to keep an open mind and admit that someone has valid points even when they oppose you, and on carefully wording things so that they mean what you mean to say. She liked this, because she said that these things show up even in essay writing and whatnot, so they would be useful.
Also, she hooked me up with the email of someone who's putting together a writing group on Oahu. This is very good. I sent them an email, but I have not heard a response yet. *crosses fingers*
Word of the day: Trock. Trock is short for Time Lord Rock. This is similar to something called Wizard Rock that has sprung up in recent years, where bands make songs about Harry Potter. Time Lord Rock, on the other hand, is where bands make songs about Doctor Who. Yes, I know, I am a nerd for knowing this. Some of it isn't half bad. "Exterminate Regenerate" by Chameleon Circuit is really catchy, and could have been really popular if it wasn't so nerdy. "The Sound of Drums" by Quantum Locked is all right, kind of weak in the middle, but I like it.
Tomorrow will hopefully be quiet, and I shall write many things. Until then, good night.
-Conrad Rice
It never fails. The first instant I start liking one thing about Kanye West's music, he goes and does something stupid. I hope he's happy with himself.
I'm doing well in my writing class. I know that should come as a surprise, since I am kind of a writer and everything. But this is not a fiction writing class, but a non fiction one. But already the teacher likes me, because I happened to get a bit of contact from a certain author about a certain book of his I was reading. She and I talked about that over lunch, and I explained that even though I was dissatisfied with the book, I had learned something from this, about the value of civil discourse, the willingness to keep an open mind and admit that someone has valid points even when they oppose you, and on carefully wording things so that they mean what you mean to say. She liked this, because she said that these things show up even in essay writing and whatnot, so they would be useful.
Also, she hooked me up with the email of someone who's putting together a writing group on Oahu. This is very good. I sent them an email, but I have not heard a response yet. *crosses fingers*
Word of the day: Trock. Trock is short for Time Lord Rock. This is similar to something called Wizard Rock that has sprung up in recent years, where bands make songs about Harry Potter. Time Lord Rock, on the other hand, is where bands make songs about Doctor Who. Yes, I know, I am a nerd for knowing this. Some of it isn't half bad. "Exterminate Regenerate" by Chameleon Circuit is really catchy, and could have been really popular if it wasn't so nerdy. "The Sound of Drums" by Quantum Locked is all right, kind of weak in the middle, but I like it.
Tomorrow will hopefully be quiet, and I shall write many things. Until then, good night.
-Conrad Rice
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