Announcing WINDSHIELDS! + NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

In this final post of the year, I have some news to share. I mentioned about two months ago that I had an announcement to make regarding OSAI. Here it is:

The anthology for the 2015 creative writing class (which includes me) has been released.

Once more, there is a picture of each contributor and three pages worth of work from them. I have one flash fiction piece and two poems included. I'm quite proud of them.

If you would like more information about the anthology or if you perhaps want your own copy, links are on my Publications page.

Hopefully, I'll have news of more publications soon. I submitted three poems to two literary magazines on my campus and am currently waiting to hear back. I submitted a short story to a contest being judged by Ellen Hopkins as well. I don't really expect to win, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have my work read by one of my favorite authors.

I would also like to tell y'all how my NaNoWriMo went, now that it's nearly the end of December. I finished with a word count of 17,718. Of course, that's no where near goal. However, I am not disappointed. This is kind of what I expected. And 17k is nothing to scoff at. It's a big chunk of a novel, a whole beginning. Something I wouldn't have if I hadn't tried NaNoWriMo this year.

As I said, this will be my last post of 2015, but I think I'll be posting again soon. I'm currently working on my goals for the upcoming year, which involves some serious thinking about priorities and what I want. I may have some decisions to share.

My College Life & NaNoWriMo

Today is November 1, the first day of NaNoWriMo. I am currently at 1,128 words and still only about 85% sure I'm participating this year.

I've been grappling with this decision for two months, going through a series of highs and lows. At times, I was super excited at the thought of writing, of creating a novel. At other times, the mere thought of extra work, extra pressure, made me want to curl up into a ball and sleep for four hours.

Because college is different from high school. Here, it seems like the work never ends. I know every assignment I have to complete by the end of the semester, which means even when I'm caught up, I feel like I have something that needs to be done. This makes fitting in writing seem impossible.

However, for the last few weeks I've been keeping track of how much time I actually spend on homework and studying. It's about twenty-one hours a week, meaning I do school work about three hours a day. One hour on top of that for writing doesn't seem like that much.

So, I've scheduled an hour's worth of writing every day this week except Wednesday, since I have a test on Thursday. We'll see how it works out.

I might not be winning NaNoWriMo this year, I might not even come close, but I think I'm going to try.

(P.S. I should be posting another update soon regarding OSAI.)

National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) 2015 + I'm Going to OSAI!

Hello, everyone! I have a couple of things to share with you.

First, NaPoWriMo was a huge success. I wrote the usual 30 poems and loved almost all of them. I also did 31 "blackout" or "erasure" poems. If you would like to see any of these poems, you can go to my Wattpad or my Tumblr. The "blackout" poems can only be seen on Tumblr, however.

I think that part of the reason I'm so happy with this year's poems is the "theme" I chose. Every year, I tend to write quite a few love poems, whether fictional or autobiographical. This year, though, I decided I was tired of writing about boys. I wanted to write about me. For myself.

So I did. I've grown a lot this year, and I feel as if the poems I wrote really expressed what I've learned about myself and what makes me happy.

Second, I finally, finally, finally made it back into the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. It starts this Saturday and I am so excited. Also, a little nervous.

Most of the people I met in 2012 have aged out. I'm worried about making new friends. On top of that, I'm having doubts about my writing. What if I get there and have no ideas? I'm telling myself that these fears are silly. Everyone is so nice there and look at all the poems I just wrote in April!

Despite my jitters, I still can't wait to go. To meet new people and create new things. To appreciate what other people create. My supply list has me curious. It's a bit more than the usual "notebook and pencils." On top of that, there's going to be a costume party and I never miss a chance to dress up in my Rapunzel costume. I just got back from a trip to my parents' house so my suitcase is already mostly packed.

While I wait for Saturday to get here, I'm going to try and work on THINK OF ME. I've been attempting to straighten out the plot, but I've decided that the only way for me to really figure out what works is just to dive in.

[P.S. Remember, for more up-to-date news on my writing (and maybe some pictures at OSAI!), check out my Tumblr.]

My Presence on Social Media is Changing + An Update List

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm not too worried.

At the end of last year, I decided that blogging isn't the best fit for me anymore.

As the years have passed, my post numbers have dwindled down to a few a month, if any. I no longer read others' blog posts every day or even every week. I don't look forward to blogging like I used to. I don't enjoy the stress being "behind" puts on me.

I also can't express myself the way I now want to. This is my senior year of high school. I graduate in May. After that, I'm going off to college. These are exciting times and I want to share them. I've established Paper Mountain as a writing blog. I can't do that here.

I'm not deleting my blog or never posting again. But I'm making some big changes.

First, I'm unfollowing all of the blogs I'm currently following through GFC. The ones I really enjoy I'm going to subscribe to through email, but that's only a handful.

Next, I'm going to post updates every few months, but other than that, you won't see me much here. Feel free to still leave comments. I'll respond to them. There are a couple posts in my drafts folder that I've been meaning to finish forever. I'm still deciding if I will.

Finally, instead of this blog, my focus will be on Tumblr and Youtube. These platforms are the ones I take pleasure in and feel help me fully express myself. If you want to keep up with me, those would be the places to go.

And while I'm here, I might as well catch you guys up on a few things.

1. Instead of my goal plan, I now have a "progress report." It's an Excel spreedsheet set up like a calendar. When I write, I record what I worked on in the day-appropriate square.
2. I'm currently taking an online writing course. "30 Days of Writing - Write Yourself Alive." It's almost over and, while its teachings weren't exactly for me, it's gotten me thinking about a few things. Maybe I'll share them later.
3. My audition for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute is this Saturday at four. I'm considering posting my portfolio on Wattpad. If I do, I'll put up a short post with the link for anyone who would like to check it out.
4. I know I've been saying this forever, but I still want to post THINK OF ME on Wattpad. I'm hoping to get some work done on that in March.
5. April is, of course, NaPoWriMo. I'm giving myself more of a challenge this year but more on that later. I'm not sure if I'll be posting my poems here as I usually do. They'll definitely be on my Tumblr and maybe Wattpad. I'll put up a short post about that as well closer to April.

That's everything that's going on with me right now. I hope all of you are well.