Originally, I said I would be home the second week of July. That was when I thought my visit to my family would run straight into my trip to New York City. However, due to various factors, I'm home a few days before we go to New York.
I have yet to write anything for Camp NaNoWriMo, but I plan on adding that "big chunk of words" to OBJECTION during these few days while I'm home. I want to I will get caught up, but I'd really like to push further than that. Writing in NYC is not ideal, both because of time and a desire to fully enjoy my vacation. Having that extra padding would ease my mind while I'm gone and help alleviate stress levels when I return.
As for my other goals, I did start on the THINKING OF YOU revisions, though I'm far from significant progress. I began the rewrite for one scene. In total, I need to rewrite twenty scenes and write eight more. I've still got quite a way to go, but at least I'm on my way. Finally.
To top it all off, I finished my poem edits! There is one poem that I deemed unfinished because I want to add on to it. Excluding that poem, I now have another two hundred lines of poetry to my name. (And when I say two hundred, I mean exactly two hundred. Without trying. Because I have magical powers.)
There's a quick update for you and, also, Happy Fourth of July! Talk to y'all soon.
I'm going to be on vacation, visiting my family, until the second week of July. I'm not telling you this because I'm going to be gone. Quite the opposite, I hope to have a lot to report to you in the coming weeks.
This trip means lots of free time. My parents work during the day and sleep at night, meaning I only get to spend time with them from five to ten. I figured that I should probably use the rest of my day (errr, night) to get some much needed writing done.
So I've set myself three tasks:
Make significant progress on THINKING OF YOU revisions.
Add a big chunk of words to OBJECTION during the first week of July/Camp NaNoWriMo.
Read through and edit the NaPoWriMo 2014 poems.
As you can see, I've decided to use Camp NaNoWriMo's July session to finish OBJECTION. I want to fulfill my original April 18k goal, meaning I'm aiming for 11,193 words for July. If I pass that, and I'm not finished with the draft, I plan to continue with OBJECTION. If I finish the draft, I plan to move on to the untitled lucky genes story draft.
I'll have more up about my plans for THINKING OF YOU soon. Keep your eyes open for something big. ;)
I forget what I was doing and why it suddenly occurred to me, but, the other day, it struck me that NaNoWriMo starts in just a little over two months. Two months! Sixty-five days! I don't know whether I'm excited or terrified!
Really, I don't know why this is all so mind-blowing or why I'm flipping out.
I chose my main concept already. I think I've been planning on writing my untitled lucky genes story for NaNo 2013 for over a year. (I'm actually kind of worrying about not having an idea for next year yet.) My brain has even been contemplating and analyzing plot ideas for the past couple of weeks. I guess it realized and forgot to fill me in. -grumbles at brain-
Of course, with NaNoWriMo eminent, the next question is: What do I want to get done before then? My mind instantly starts throwing things at me. THINKING OF YOU revisions. THE TRUE PRINCESS read over. Short stories to write. Old poems to edit. Blogs and other social networks that require attention. Plan, too! Good thing I don't bruise easily.
However, though I dodged most of those goals, letting them fly past for a later time, I managed to catch one. OBJECTION. If I sat my ass in my chair and buckled down, I know I could finish that draft. It's far from impossible and it needs to be done. I mean, I was supposed to have this done before last NaNo!
Nothing has been finalized yet. I'm still thinking, still considering. But it's looking very likely that finishing the first draft of OBJECTION is going to be my pre-NaNo goal this year.
Now, that I've gotten my little freak out out of the way (ha!), I have some other things I'd like to share with you.
Firstly, I should be posting about my revised goal plan very soon. I'm almost finished finalizing the changes. After that, writing the post shouldn't be so hard. I know I've been promising this particular post for a while now, but my life has gotten busy again. In a good way. :)
I'm also proud to announce that I've begun to catch up on blogs. Like really catch up. Like months' worth of catching up. So far, I've finished four out of twenty-four. And I'm extremely happy about it! I'm not letting myself get stressed out over the workload. I'm pushing through. Better yet, I want to do it. I have the motivation to do it. And beyond that, I have the motivation to search out more blogs when I'm done (I know twenty-four is low and I want to remedy that).
I'm just in a really good place in my life right now.
I get to stay in my town with my friends, at least until Christmas. (We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.) I'm enjoying my classes a lot. They provide a broad, well-balanced spectrum of learning. By the end of the day I feel almost saturated with knowledge. I'm currently learning the French numbers and conquering my All Region choir music (which entails singing in both Latin and German). I have three AP classes and I'm steadily immersing myself in Trigonometry. Friday, there's a meeting to discuss this year's musical. Saturday, I'll be hanging out at a friend's house for half the day. Even the movies I've seen lately have seemed to add to the wholesome happiness I've been feeling. (I really recommend YOU'RE NEXT, if that's your sort of thing.) It's all just amazing!
Visit this post to see how you can help me win the Ink Haiku contest. Thank you!
I spoke with my critique partner, Tania, recently, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, about which of my projects I should focus on next. I explained to her how I haven't had the chance to work on anything major in months and I wanted to get back on the horse.
She asked me the following question: If you had more time, what would you work on?
I considered it. OBJECTION, THINKING OF YOU, and THE TRUE PRINCESS all came to mind. Each of them is at a different stage. One is being drafted, one revised, and one is somewhere in between. However, each one gets me excited to sit in a chair until my butt becomes flat.
After listening to my answer, she asked me the next obvious question. So, what story will you start with first?
She wanted me to pick? I stared at the computer screen while one part of my brain tried to find an answer and another just screamed. Then, suddenly, a third, reasonable voice said, "Shut up and calm down. You can work on all three." And then it told me how.
So, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I present to you my writing week!
Sunday: reading Monday: OBJECTION Tuesday: blogs/others writing Wednesday: short works Thursday: THINKING OF YOU Friday: blogs/others writing Saturday: THE TRUE PRINCESS
My first week is halfway through, and Mr. Reasonable is kicking back with a smug expression on his face, going "See? Nothing to worry about." I've already added a little over 1k to OBJECTION, something I haven't done in so long I was genuinely concerned that I had forgotten what my planning notes meant. Afterward, at three in the morning, I danced down my hallway. I haven't been that happy in ages. And I didn't fret over reading blogs every day. I knew I'd have all day Tuesday to do that and now they can wait for Friday.
It's also a flexible, non-strict schedule. If I get the itch to work on OBJECTION on, say, Wednesday, I'm going to do it. Or if my life eats me for a day, well there's always the next week. It acts as a guide and motivator. When my brain starts up with its "You could do this. Or this. Or, oooh, this!" I can say, "You know, I really don't need that. It's Saturday. And Zoie has waited patiently for her turn." When my mind starts whining that it's tired or itdoesn'twanna, I can say, "Come on now. It's Wednesday. You can at least edit half this story."
Everything will get done. One day at a time. :)
How do you divvy up your time between projects? Do you work on one or more WIPs at a time?
Every year I make New Year's resolutions and post them on my blog. Every year so far I've gone about keeping up with them in a different way. In 2011, I posted "report cards" a couple of times. In 2012, I posted updates on the first day of each month for most of the year (last update at the bottom of this post).
In 2013, starting tomorrow, I have an entirely different plan.
I have eight goals to accomplish by December 31, 2013.
Finish THINKING OF YOU revisions.
Draft all CITY IN THE SKY stories.
Finish THE TRUE PRINCESS revisions and edits.
Finish drafting and rewrite OBJECTION.
Replan and start rewriting THE LULLABY.
Draft untitled lucky genes story.
Finish 26 short works.
Reduce percentage of unread books to 10%.
To make sure I actually work toward all of these goals throughout the year, I have developed a plan with the help of Microsoft Excel: The One Year Goal Plan - 2013 Edition.
When I look at those big goals and think about trying to finish them, my heart sinks a little bit. They're not goals that can be completed quickly or easily. Hence, they're hard to keep my sights on. These feelings are what my whole plan revolves around.
Each "Year Goal" will be broken done into twelve "Month Goals." Looking at that smaller goal is better, but a month still leaves plenty of time to get distracted. So each month is split in half and each half is given its own goal. Both "Half-Month Goals" are then split into various amounts of "Mini-Goals" that are easy and far less stressful to reach.
I feel this method will keep me focused on and excited about accomplishing my goals. I've completed January's breakdowns, but will be waiting to do the other months until they roll around. This way I will be most up-to-date on each goal's progress and know for certain what might decrease or increase my writing time each month.
And, in case you were wondering how Excel helped me:
January Goals for THINKING OF YOU (drag to URL bar to embiggen)
I will be updating all of you on my progress in the style of my usual posts and with occasional snapshots of my spreadsheet.
2013 is going to be a great year!
2012 NYR Last Update - 1 Year
I will havecomplete THINKING OF YOU'sready for queryfirst round of revisions. I finished small revisions on the first six chapters and conquered my fear of revising.
I will have two new first drafts. I finished one first draft of THE TRUE PRINCESS and got to 32,393 words on OBJECTION.
I will win National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo).
I will submit at least two short stories to two anthologies, journals, ezines, and/or contests.
I will read at least one hundred books. I read 57 books and made it over half-way with two others.
I will post at least one vlog a month. I posted one vlog in January, March, April, July, September, October, and December. I posted five in November.
I will exercise in some way once a week. Since the beginning of September, according to the My Fitness Pal app on my phone, I did a round of jumping jacks on six different days.
bibliophile - n. a person who loves or collects books, especially as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding, or the like (I was reading this post when I found this.)
Guess what today is? Do you know what today is (besides Ronald Weasley's birthday)? It's March the first, the first of March. I love the first of March, the first of any month really. It feels like a fresh start (kind of like New Year's twelve times a year), a time to set new goals and think back on others, on what we accomplished and what we need to work on. Hence I have broken this post into three parts.
New Year's Resolutions
Let's go back. Say, about two months. I posted this post. Contained within that post were my resolutions for 2011, all six of them. Since it's been, as I've said, two months, I think it's about time for a progress report. And, it being the first of the month, I think now is the perfect time to do it.
I will write everyday. This one is going okay, I'm not perfect, but I do write something almost every day, whether that be a poem, a blog post, a piece of a blog post (lame), a new sentence for editing, or maybe even new words for The Lullaby. I'm starting to build that habit they so mysteriously speak of. A-
I will write a blog post or in my journal every day. Totally BOMBED. I know I've been blogging but the main point of this resolution was to get me to write in my journal. -checks journal- My last entry was January 5th: a lovely total of nine words. F
I will learn to vlog. This has been going slowly, but then, I didn't expect it to happen overnight. I have posted one video on my YouTube channel but it's a slideshow so technically not a vlog. I do have one planned for when I reach 500 books (only 51 more to go). Until then, I need to learn to speak naturally to my camera. C
I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). I've sort-of been working on this. As a matter of fact, this post would go towards that, as well as this one. I have a schedule that I write to every week as well: Tuesday (or Wednesday's if Biggest Loser takes over) is to write my Poetry Peak poem, Wednesday is the day to start my short story (which can take me anywhere from one to five days), any other time is for the WIPs (somehow it seems more detailed in my mind). However, I have yet to set aside specific dates and times for individual WIPs besides short term. B
I will become better at critiquing others work. I think I forgot about this one. Which is definitely not good. This is important. My main career choice is an editor (because I'm realistic) and an editor has to be able to do this! I can fix mechanics all day long, but I need to be able to point out plot holes and flat characters. F
I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to do (excusing homework assignments). So far, I've been lucky enough not to need it. NA
What do you think of my grades? I think this is the worst progress report I've ever gotten. What would you have given me?
February Schedule
We're zooming through time again. Imagine that we're in a little shuttle. You can even make launching noises if you want to. Now, we've landed, right smack dab on February. For February, I didn't really set goals. I gave myself more of a schedule, which I will admit I fell a little behind on. But that's okay, because I let you zoom around in a space ship, right?
Week One: Read Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. This took me two (or was it three?) weeks to finish. It was very informative but it was just a slow read; I didn't really expect anything else.
Week Two: Apply changes to Thinking of You to computer document. I think I finished this one on time but my perception of time really sucks so I can't be sure. I fell behind on my goal on a few days but I pulled it together in the end.
Week Three: Rewrite scenes written in present tense. I still haven't finished this. I mean, I've finished most of it. I only have three pieces left (which is really just one scene broken up by a few good paragraphs). I've been having issues with my writing, so the beginning was hard to start (excuses, I know, but I feel I must justify myself).
Week Four: Plot out everything that happened. I didn't even get to start. I have a feeling though that I might not be doing this for a while.
March Goals
We've returned to the Now. Now you're sitting on the edge of your desk chair (preferably the rollie kind) with bated breath, waiting to see what genius is about to spew forth from my fingertips. Terribly sorry to disappoint. It's just me and my goals here. No genius in sight.
I want will get to 35,000 words on The Lullaby. This will be amazing for me because it means I'm halfway through the rewrite. It also means that I will have surpassed my original rough draft's word count. It shouldn't be that hard. I only need 21,274 words which equals to 709 words a day (today was not included in that calculation). Easy as pie.
I will finish the first round edits for Thinking of You and then I will set it aside until July. Bet you didn't see that one coming. The thing is, I haven't gotten that much work on The Lullaby done in a while, and this first round of edits shouldn't have taken two whole months. I have too many things going on, and I'm not getting any of them done because of it. My brain is overloading and when it does that, I find it's better to put something away and focus on one thing at a time.
I will finish plotting out (as much as I plot out) Royally Burned. I know that I just said I need to put something away and focus on one thing but I want to write the rough draft for Royally Burned in June for WriDaNoJu. I know I've said previously that I would use WriDaNoJu to finish The Lullaby but I don't know if my brain can do something so much like NaNo with an already existing project (it's that OCD thing).
It doesn't seem that hard, I just have to remember to focus, focus, focus (now I sound like Rebbsie XD). Do you have any goals for March? What are they?
Everyone knows that our world is dying. Everyone knows that there is only one person who can save it. Everyone knows, but nobody cares.
Nobody cares because we’re all dead already. Nobody cares because the person who will save us is alive. Nobody cares, but the believers.
The name says it all, they believe. They believe in the rebirth. They believe that the savior of the earth will save us too. They believe that it’s possible for us to breath again, for blood to pump through our veins. I don’t even remember what that feels like, let alone if it ever happened to me. But I believe.
That’s why I’m here. That’s why I finally made the decision to come. Because I believe.
The gaping hole reminds me of a mouth as I stare down into it; the jagged rocks like sharp, pointy teeth. It looks like it’s starving, like it’s ready for a feast. It will get one, when the savior comes.
I can’t look away for that very image burns in my mind. Where I look, the stones are not simply brown but a tar-like red, the color I imagine blood to be. The abyss is not empty; a body rests at the bottom. Its limbs are twisted in an array that I have seen on many spirits but it looks horrible on the solid, fleshy figure.
I back away because I can’t stand to look at it anymore. I know it’s not real, but it could be, will be. I knew this would happen; I knew I would see something horrible. Looking over my shoulder at Noah, the uncertainty shows on my face. He smiles, but I can see the impatience in his eyes. It has taken him a long time to persuade me to come here.
I take a deep breath and look again. This will strengthen my belief, I tell myself. I am the only believer who has not seen this place. I repeat this, over and over, until I don’t see the vision anymore.
This small victory makes me smile and again I turn to Noah, “I’m ready to go down.”
This time the smile lights up his whole face, making his eyes crinkle. I love that smile; it displays the true Noah, the one I know. “I knew you could do it.”
Putting my hand in his, I nod toward the steps, “Lead the way.”
He does happily. As we walk down, I evaluate our movements to distract myself. Heights are another issue I have, even if I am dead. We move at the same pace even though Noah is taller than me. Really, he just looks taller than me because he floats and I don’t. He assures me I’ll get the hang of it eventually but I don’t really know if I want to. Walking on the ground makes me feel normal, like I’m still affected by gravity.
This place makes me shiver, even though Noah’s with me. I’m not cold, I don’t get cold anymore. I think I’m scared, really scared. I haven’t felt like this for a long time, maybe not since I died. I don’t understand why I’m affected like this; I’m the only one.
Noah squeezes my hand. He’s excited and doesn’t sense my terror. This is usual. His own feelings are so strong, he rarely notices mine. I don’t know if this should bother me, but it doesn’t either way.
My foot hits the ground before I even realize we’ve reached the bottom. I look around; it’s unusually bright for such a closed in place. It reminds me of the long hallways in the sanctuary but they don’t make me feel so tiny.
After I’ve made my general observation, I look at Noah. He’s watching me closely, judging my reaction. He does this a lot. Half the time he doesn’t give me any attention, the other half he’s paying too much. Dropping my hand, he suddenly appears motionless, “Feel free to explore.”
I nod and instantly drift away. My fear aside, I am curious. What makes this place special? Why was is chosen for the rebirth? Why does it make me feel this way; why only me? They are questions I’ve always thought but never voiced. People would think I was doubting the cause, that I didn’t believe.
I decide that I want to feel this place, to know its shape. I approach the opposite wall and suddenly the world seems to slow down. My feet are moving, but my mind isn’t. I see my hand reaching out, my fingers bending forward, but I don’t feel them doing so.
The world catches up fast though when the tips of my fingers brush the wall. My brain explodes once my palm is laid flat against the rock. My nails dig into the clay as the sensation runs through me.
I open my eyes when it’s over, never realizing that I shut them. I feel like all my questions have been answered, the doubts swept out like cobwebs. I feel almost hyperactive.
I’m by Noah now; I moved faster than I ever had. His eyes sweep me up and down, “How do you feel?” He speaks slowly, like I won’t understand.
My eyes flicker left and right, “Fine. Wonderful. Energetic. Alive.” I saver the taste of the word in my mouth.
His smile again, “Then that means it worked.”
I laugh and jump and clap, all at the same time. The sound echoes around us, louder than it should be. Everything is so clear now, so lively. I grab Noah’s hand, rushing back up the stairs, eager to look again with my new perspective. More echoes come back at us in the form of our footsteps.
I rush to look over the edge once we reach the top. My happy expression melts off my face; I can feel it sliding. The energy leaves my limbs. The vision is back. This time it’s much more horrific. The blood shines in the sun and the body faces upwards; I can feel its dead eyes staring.
Leaning farther than is safe, I can feel my heart pumping as I squint to make out the face. A gasp escapes my lungs as I recognize it; it’s me.
I’m turning to tell Noah when it clicks. My heart? A gasp? That’s not right, I’m dead. I’m dead, right?
Now, I’m falling and my heart is beating faster and faster, roaring in my ears. Noah is getting smaller and smaller and I’m screaming louder and louder, “I’m alive!”
This is my second one in present tense. I don't know if it's smart to write them in present tense right now because soon I'm gong to have to rewrite all the pieces of Thinking of You that are in present tense. However, I am still satisfied with this story. Here's to hoping it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.
Today I finished my first round edits for Thinking of You. I don't feel like anything big has happened; I feel like this was just the easy part. However, I can't think of a part I will have to perform that is going to be hard. This gives me the thought that maybe I'm not doing this right. It doesn't feel wrong though so I'm going to continue on with my plans and hope it's just my anxiety talking.
As I went farther into the novel I was happy to find out that my two major concerns (tense switching and swearing) were not as prominent as at the beginning. This will make my job easier. There will be fewer parts I have to rewrite and fewer sentences I have to change. I will be able to start the first draft of A Shimmer in the Light (thinking about changing it to A Shimmer in the Rain because of the opening scene I have in mind) sooner.
Throughout January my agenda was to edit a chapter a day. This helped me keep on track. I'm going to use the same basic strategy for February to reach my goals. I have a week-by-week plan set up.
The Agenda
Week One:I bought this book that I want to read. It's called Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. I'm going to take a small break from editing and do so.
Week Two: I am going to apply my changes to the computerized copy of Thinking of You. For the whole process I have been using the hard copy I printed off and I need to transfer it to the computer.
Week Three: I am going to work on the parts I need to rewrite because I wrote them in present tense the first time.
Week Four: I am going to make a map of everything that happens so I can figure out if there are scenes I need to take out or add. I will also plan out A Shimmer in the Light to see if that helps me with missing scenes. I'm scared that Thinking of You is going to be too short but I don't feel as if anything is missing.
This is helping me with my goal of being a more organized writer as well as the goals listed. Here's to hoping I manage to reach them all in the given time periods.
So... I'm sick. Which basically means I've either been sitting around watching NCIS or sleeping. I think I've written maybe 300 words and wrote one crappy stanza. No editing, no short story, no poem, no finishing Chapter Eight. My productivity level has been low. I haven't even been reading that much.
There will be no Poetry Peak tomorrow simply because I don't want to embarrass myself by trying to drag up some sorry excuse for poetry. There will be no posting of Prompt #4 simply because I have had no ideas. Hopefully, I can make that up sometime this weekend once I'm feeling better. I also hope to finish editing Thinking of You and writing Chapter Eight of The Lullaby. Lots to do. Now was not a good time to get the flu.
Isn't this like the fourth Poetry Peak in a row? That's like amazing. I think my record is two, maybe three. This shows that I am improving which is wonderful. I can't wait to see how I improve in my poem writing in NaPoWriMo. I wonder if I should lay out a theme for the month or make a list of things to write about. Or maybe I should just go with the flow. That's what I do normally. Like with this week's poem.
Cast it Aside
I will
fly,
float
away,
become wei
ght
less
(or nearly so)
My feet
will lift off the
ground
through my own
fo
rc
e!
Beauty will
spROUT
from where
before
there was a he
ap
of distasteful
s lo p
wi ngs
will
appear
as I shed
my old ugly
cacoon
and cast
it aside
Strangely enough, this poem was inspired by The Biggest Loser. It's about losing weight and feeling carefree, so much so that you could fly. I love the way I set it up. I always love it when I make them look all kooky and crazy. I love when I come up with my own form as well, but in a different way. I'm thinking I might make this into a video, a slideshow of sorts. I just have to figure out how.
I've also been working on, or trying to, this week's short story. I have an idea but the words don't seem to be coming right. They come easy but they don't sound right. Maybe I should just get it all written and then worry about that. I'm hoping to finish it by tomorrow so I can post. Maybe I'll make Friday my 'post the short story for the week' day (I'll have to think of a better name than that though). But first, just to give myself some more time to gather my thoughts, I'm going to edit my chapter for the day and make some huge headway in Wuthering Heights. I'm only halfway through it and I still want to read The Replacement before Saturday so I can post a review. I shall be busy tonight. Good thing I have about five hours.
My resolutions are turning out for the better already, at least the ones I can work on now. Vlogging seems pretty far away, as does the peer pressure (though I'm sure that could change). I have already completed Chapters Six and Seven as well as reaching 10,000 words! The treat-almost-like-a-first-draft strategy is working. This makes me feel great seeing as I'm already one third of the way through my first draft's word count and I still haven't made it to the end of chapter one (I've decided for organization purposes to capitalize the Chapter # for the rewrite and leave the first draft references lowercase). Though I may have to chop some of that word count off. I was reading this blog post and I got to thinking that maybe my first two chapters aren't relevant. I'm not entirely sure though. I'll have to think on it.
I've also managed to edit three chapters of Thinking of You. I know that doesn't seem like much but I've decided to edit one chapter a day. With thirty chapters I should be finished with the first round of editing within the month. And what does the first round of editing include? Well, I think the most important issue is the switching from past to present tense. I'm going through and marking where I switch between them, that way I know where I'm going to have to rewrite parts. The less pressing, but still important, issue is the swearing (and the army of typos NaNo leaves behind). I'm going through and circling them all so later I can either decide to cut them, keep them, or tone them down.
Organization is coming slowly, but it's coming. I've already updated the Ledges section a little bit, showing what each project currently requires. I've also added 'Plot Royally Burned' to the list. I'll add more details to that section later. I need to get to work on Heirs to Esio or I'll start feeling bad about it again. I've found that I have horrible anxiety at times. Here's to hoping it backs off so I can get some work done. Lord, knows I have enough of it (but I like it that way ^^).
P.S. The first prompt for The Chrysalis Experiment is up, so I'll be working on that as well.
Here we are in a new year. I always love it when a new year starts. I don't know how to describe how I feel exactly. It's sort of like everything is suddenly fresh, like everything has been wiped clean and I can just start over. It also sort of feels like a jumping off point. It seems a good time to start working toward your goals as well as setting them. This New Year's I actually have some goals I want to set. Normally, I like the feeling of New Year's but I don't have any resolutions. Since I do have some this year, and since some of them pertain to writing, I thought I would share them with you.
First though, I have to tell you all that I already completed one of my New Year's resolutions. (I'm fast, huh?) I have known for months that I would have to quit Neopets. It's distracting and time-consuming. It takes away from my friends, my family, reading, my writing, and for what? Sure, I made some amazing friends (love you, guys) but there are other ways to talk to them that aren't surrounded by childish games and distractions. Email, for instance, or this blog, or even YouTube. I can speak freely in these areas, unlike Neopets. Today, I deleted my last account, and I'm really rather proud of myself. It doesn't feel as different as I thought it would but it's still a great achievement, for me. I have beat my addiction! Now, on to other things, like the resolutions I have yet to complete.
I will write everyday, whether it be a poem, a paragraph, a short story, a chapter. I need to get more serious about my writing. It's a very important part of my life and I need to give it more attention. Also, practice makes perfect.
This one kind of goes with my first resolution but, I will write a blog post or in my journal everyday. I know this sounds like the same thing but it isn't. Most of my writing is fictional, my journal/blog is not. It's an account of my life which I want to have. I'm good about posting but I can go a month, or two, without writing in my journal. I like reading through it though, even if some of my phrases are kind of clique. XD
I will learn to vlog, not blog, vlog. I already have a channel set up on YouTube. There aren't any videos but I hope to change that soon, as well as spiff up that page. I like the colors I picked though I think I still need to tinker around with them. The only camera I have now to make vlogs is on my phone but my birthday is in February. Here's to hoping I'll get a nice camera.
I will become more organized with when and what I write (or edit). I have many projects going on and I need to figure a schedule where I can work on all of them, at least a little, once a week. This may take a while, I can organize anything physical, but time is slightly harder. Recently, I watched Kaleb Nation (author of the Bran Hambric books) on BlogTV. He was answering questions from viewers and I asked him what his suggestions for editing were (plus, two other questions, but we'll go into that some other time ^^). He said to set a time aside everyday, and do it, even on the rough days. So I will. First, I'm going to read through it. I might start doing that after I finish this up.
I will become better at critiquing others work. I don't really know how good I am now because I don't really go out of my way to do it. Sometimes I don't because I don't want to be picky and sometimes because I just don't feel like it. So I'm probably not the best. You have to give good critiquing to get it though. I better start practicing.
Last, but maybe not least, I'm going to be starting high school later this year, in August. I will not give in to peer pressure or do anything that I don't want to (excusing home work assignments). I've already decided that I won't smoke, do drugs, or anything sexual that I'm not ready to do. These are the things that they talk about the most in peer pressure but there may be other things. I've never had much peer pressure, no matter how much they bring it up. That may change in high school so I'm making this promise to myself.
Really, that's not very many. It just looks like it because I talked about each of them. XD They're all important to me though and I will work hard towards them (I hope!). I've already written my blog post for today, so see, it's already working. I'm also going to begin Chapter Six (as soon as I decide exactly where I want to start writing it from) and reading Thinking of You. I may log on to Teen Ink later and comment on some poems, or the NaNo website's Critiques, Feedback, and Novel Swaps forum.
For organization, I have a few things, mostly for the blog and much later projects (I know that doesn't do me much good now but it's a start) though once I get the Ledges section of the sidebar straightened out, that should be helpful. I've decided that since Poetry Peak has a specific day (Thursday), the Reading Trail should, too. I will update the Reading Trail list every Sunday, taking off books that have been completed and adding ones that I plan to read. Every week, there will be at least one review. I may have a specific day for this later but for now, it's just when I want to. For later projects, here's a list.
The Chrysalis Experiment - (All Year Long) I'm not for sure that I'm doing this yet. This is a blog about three writers who are going to write a short story every week of 2011 and they're letting others join in. A prompt will be posted ever Monday. This is the part that makes me iffy. Prompts can be good, or bad. Uncreative prompts make me upset (I think I've mentioned this before) but as Madeline has reasoned, it's run by three writers. We've decided to wait out the first prompt before we decide. I'm hoping that this might help me kick start the City in the Sky series.
NaPoWriMo - (April) This is a challenge to write a poem everyday in April. I'm doing this because I like writing poetry (as you probably guessed from Poetry Peak) and it won't get in the way of bigger projects like The Lullaby or Thinking of You. It will also be good practice and maybe I'll have a few new submissions for Teen Ink.
NEPMo - (May) I've talked about this before. You're supposed to write a 5,000 line epic in May. I already have an idea for the plot and the format. I enjoy novels written in verse, and this is almost the same thing. I could easily turn it into one.
WriDaNoJu - (June) This is almost exactly like NaNo except you can work on an already existing project and it's in June. I've decided to do it just for the existing project aspect. I've decided to treat The Lullaby's rewrite a bit more like a first draft since large aspects of the story are changing and I'm going to have to edit it anyway. If I'm not finished by then, well this should help, and if I finish it and haven't reached the word count, I'll just start on A Shimmer in the Light or Royally Burned.
SeptNoWriMo - (September) This is yet another challenge that is almost exactly like NaNo except you can also edit. This is the reason I've decided to do it. Thinking of You is being edited and if I've finished doing that by then, The Lullaby will surely need it.
NaNoWriMo - (November) Here it is, the big man himself; the original, and inspiration for most of the projects on this list. This challenge is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I already have an inkling of an idea for this year. I like to start something fresh for each NaNo, not to continue a series. That's the reason I decided not to do GothNoWriMo. I need that idea for NaNo.
I know that seems like a lot but I still have January, February, March, July, August, October, and December completely free (well, besides The Chrysalis Experiment, but that's a little different) to work on whatever I please. I'm hoping to get a whole lot done this year, as you can tell. Here's to hoping it's a wonderful, successful year!
The only thing that I think has changed since I finished Thinking of You (you know besides finishing Thinking of You) is that I now listen to some kind of music that is not country related. The only thing that I think I gave up and now am extremely glad to have back, is reading. How I missed thee. I'm already back to it, one day after my great task has been completed. Things are back to normal, or getting there.
I have considered writing another novel this month, to go along with my Nano, I even have a title, point of view, and a main conflict picked out. I thought I had a last line (I need to have this ready or the story will never end) but I think I may have forgotten it. Darn. The idea has been vetoed though, I think. I just don't really feel like writing another one. Not that NaNo really felt like a hassle (amazing, huh?) but I think my brain is tired out. Plus, I still have The Lullaby to rewrite, a short story series to start (I'm thinking of calling it just 'City in the Sky'), a poetry project I want to try (I won't tell you much now, but I will say that it has to do with the alphabet), and a new series I'm making out of a really old novel (never completed) of mine. I'm going to be very busy and it may not all turn out well, but hey, as this quote I found by Stanley Tucci says, "If you find that thing you love, it doesn't necessarily matter whether you do it well or not - you just need to do it." I promise to make a list in the sidebar so you can keep up with me. Here's to hoping that there will be stuff to keep up with.
Speaking of the sidebar, I have decided to take down the NaNo part, including the pictures. I know there are still days left in the month but since the actual writing part is over I don't think anything else would be very interesting or worth taking pictures of. I am however posting my 'victory' pictures in this post so that they will be always be available to see.
I really think these were the best ones anyway. They show the most about my adventure. After this one I don't really know where I'm at on the mountain. My first ledge was to rewrite The Lullaby, so it's actually worth reading but now I've written another novel that may not need a complete rewrite (thank goodness) but will still need a lot of editing. How about we say that the first ledge is just bigger now? I can rest on it longer that way. XD Really, though, I think that's how I should put it. The first part of the ledge will be the rewrite then to scoot along it I have to edit Thinking of You. It sounds good to me. Here's to hoping it looks that way to you, too.
As for rewriting The Lullaby, I haven't started work on that just yet. I'm waiting to make sure I'm completely out of the NaNoWriMo mind set. I'm writing a second, better, draft now, not a first draft. I don't want to start writing like I'm still at the beginning and just getting it on paper. So I'll wait a week or two. I'll be sure to let you guys know when I start on it again, though.
And for the last order of the day, you may have noticed the extra links in the navigation bar. They're still slightly under construction but those two pages are each dedicated to a different series that I'm working on. You can find novel synopsizes, how many books are planned to be in each one, and the history of how the series started. Check it out when you have time, you might just learn something new and enjoyable.
