A Turn in the Road
Posted: April 4, 2012 Filed under: Blogfest and Awards, Community, Writing | Tags: blogfest, IWSG, learning, Writing 1 Comment »Last month I spent a week in Las Vegas, with other incredible writers from the Bransforums. All incredible and fantastic people, whome I feel honoured to have met. We talked craft, had workshops, critiqued each other, went out for dinners and shows and had tea parties in Sommer’s room. It was fantastic, and I learned SO MUCH. I’d be surprised if anything this year tops it for Best Week of the Year.
Something surprised happened, though. I went in there confident in my skill as a writer. By Tuesday I was appalled at how much I had yet to learn. And when I considered how little time I had to put in it these days… Panic-inducing realisation.
Here’s the thing, though: in four year of serious, almost obsessive writing, I have learned one thing. It is when I feel the most inadequate and overwhelmed that I grow the most. Those panics? It means I found what I didn’t know yet. They mean I can see past the next turn at the road I need to travel. These moments give me direction and purpose.
Once you realise and accept that, it becomes a lot easier. My resolve is back. I will make time for writing. I will practice and stumble and get back up again. I will master these new elements. And I will grow until I reach the next turn in the road and look for new directions.
The Lucky Meme
Posted: March 13, 2012 Filed under: Blogfest and Awards, Community, Excerpts, White Echoes | Tags: blog award, excerpts, White Echoes, Writing Leave a comment »Well, look at that. I was tagged by the lovely Caitlin for a funny writer meme.
Here are the instructions:
1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines as they’re written–no cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers
Caitlin tagged most writers I would have, so I’m letting you guys check her list instead. Now, I did indeed get lucky, because my seven lines kinda hold themselves together. Enjoy the tidbit!
“Not everyone breaks their word at the first occasion.”
Anger flashed on the Seraphin’s face. At least Vermen wasn’t alone now. Where he expected an argument, a rebuttal, something to spark a fight and vent his built-up irritation, however, he received a dismissive shrug.
“All right, ladies and gentlemen. Since our captain is so trustable, we can leave him the clean-up work and go celebrate.”
They cheered at his declaration and started back up the tunnel.
Insecure Writer’s Support Group – January Edition
Posted: January 4, 2012 Filed under: Blogfest and Awards, Community | Tags: blogfest, determination, insecure writers, Writing Leave a comment »This post if for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Not sure what that is? You should check out this page for more information!
***
There’s a lot of New Year Resolution Posts running around the internet these days. Most of these take a look back, evaluate their year and set new goals. Another thing I see is people saying that 2011 has been good (or bad) to them.
I could say it’s been good to me. My major is finished. My writing improved. I’ve got lots of new blog-friends, and deepened my relationship with RL ones. I’m in a splendid relationship with my boyfriend. 2011 feels like a giant step forward.
But the truth is, 2011 hasn’t been good to me. I have been good to myself.
This is what I’d want to tell those who struggle with the writing. Sometimes it feels like we’ll never get better, or at least never good enough. Like the road’s too long. It’s not. You have control over what you accomplish in a year. There’ll be obstacles. There’ll be hardships. There’ll be moments when you’re convinced you are not up to it.
Don’t give up.
Work hard. Work tirelessly. Be patient for the results. If you will it, the year is yours. You decide what gets done.
Let’s show 2012 how it’s done!
The Major and the New Writing Strategy
Posted: December 23, 2011 Filed under: Editing, The Scientist's Life, White Echoes, Writing | Tags: editing, holidays, school, White Echoes, Writing 3 Comments »Great news! Though you might’ve heard, because I’ve been posting it everywhere on the internet except here.
I have completed my Biochemistry Major! Hurray! *confettis*
I thought I’d feel way more accomplished than this, but this instead feels like the first big step of a not-yet-finished road. Still, proud to scratch that from my Life To-Do List!
Meanwhile, I’ve also decided to change my approach to writing. Since I approach the last -ish version of my WIP, I slowed down my pace. I’m rewriting about half of it anyway, incorporating more world details and cutting the extra fat, but this time I’m allowing no adverbs, repetitions or to be forms (well, or nearly) to get through.
I’m mixing my teacher’s technique with my own: in the complete rewrites section, I look once at my previous draft and notes, then close it. Rewrite without looking. This is painful, and slow, but the result is much better than just correcting the sentences there. Other sections of Draft 4 are strong, though, so I work from the text there (and edit half of it anyway) without breaking the order and flow of the thoughts.
So far so good. It’s slow but I feel I am forcing myself to learn to do better first drafts, faster. Perhaps with years of this kind of training, I’ll achieve reasonable speed and quality. I hope so, because right now I’m losing a lot of time in structural rewrites, and then a lot of time in scene editing. I want at least 30 new pages by the time my school vacations are done. If I can help it, I’ll get 50. We shall see.
Meanwhile, I wish you guys epic holidays, plenty of great food and priceless gifts. Have fun, and don’t get sick!
Guest Post : Winter Wonderland
Posted: December 20, 2011 Filed under: Excerpts, Writing | Tags: excerpt, flash fiction, guest post, Writing 2 Comments »Hey guys! Today I’m guest posting at Sommer’s wonderful blog! So head over for a piece of flash fiction, and how I go about writing those. Oh, and please ignore the typos/mistakes as much as you can. It was written in the mist of three very exhausting weeks, and apparently two rereads did it no good. *SHAME*
I hope you enjoy!
Making the Time to Write
Posted: December 15, 2011 Filed under: Writing | Tags: schedule, time, Writing 4 Comments »Every distraction not to write is a good one. Including this blog post. And the truth is, as writers, we often are professionals at finding the distractions. We allow them to take away from our writing time, and at the end of the week, we complain about our lack of progress.
I’d know. I spent the entire semester doing that. At least my distractions were writing-for-classes, so while my current WIP didn’t progress, I did.
But in our last class, my teacher told us his story, and made me realised how far you could go into making time, if you really wanted to. I don’t say it’s healthy. I don’t say we should all do the same. But it’s interesting to know, and it pushes me to find my own limit.
Here was his schedule:
Wake at 6 am. Prepare and go to work. Work from 9 to 5. Arrive at home, sit down, write. Write until 7-8, have dinner. Write more. At midnight, have a cup of coffee. Write until 3 am. Sleep 3 hours. Rinse and repeat.
This reminds me of my NaNoWriMo beat in 2009 and 2010. I’d write 200k a month and believe me, by the end I was a laughing, hysterical mess. I’m not sure how long he pulled it off. A couple of months, at the very least. Probably more. It paid back, because now he lives comfortably from his writing.
I have no intention to kill off my precious 4-5 hours of sleep. They are needed for my sanity. And while it might fit under “distractions”, I intend to keep seeing my boyfriend on weekends. But take a look at your schedules, guys. Where can you fit extra writing hours? Take them. Screw the internet. Screw your friends, even! Get your writing done.
Perseverance
Posted: December 7, 2011 Filed under: The Scientist's Life | Tags: hiatus, life, nightmare before christmas 4 Comments »Small hiatus is, sadly, not over!
The reason stands in a very simple fact: my boss gave me 30 hours of work for the last 3 week… in addition to my six classes at Uni (regular ‘oh-my-gosh-finals-I’ll-never-get-through’ semester is five classes). Thus, I am insanely late, and tired, and stressed.
I did manage a Wicked & Tricksy yesterday. And this little thing today.
I’ve been in situations like these before. My usual reaction to rough patches is something like my friend’s Jack:
Depress, then badass arrogance. :]
See you next Halloween!
Icicle of Death Formation
Posted: November 25, 2011 Filed under: Science | Tags: ice, icicle of death, Science, video Leave a comment »Winter is fast approaching, and to celebrate the coming of snow and ice (on which I will hopefully not fall this year), here’s a nifty video filmed by a BBC crew led by Hugh Miller and Doug Anderson. It shows the formation of an underwater icicle, a “brinicle”, as freezing salty water sinks into a relatively warm area.
Enjoy the stunning and terrifying show!
Trading Dignity for Money
Posted: November 16, 2011 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, The Scientist's Life | Tags: donations, humiliation, NaNoWriMo 2 Comments »Hey, guys!
Today’s Donation Day for NaNoWriMo, and as you know, I ML for my region. I’ve put up a lot of different efforts to get my Wrimos to donate, and it’s not working that well.
I figured, if I was ready to sacrifice my dignity for them (and NaNo), there was no reason I wouldn’t do so for you. So here’s the deal!
There is hidden in the depths of the interwebs a fantastic news video that shows me slipping on ice. It’s a fact of life that whenever there’s icy rain up here, the news show some poor victim falling in a comical fashion. As it happens, I was the 2010 Fall On Ice Girl. It’s one of my not-so-well-kept secrets, and you could get in on it!
Yes, it’s late. But this offer is open until tomorrow night. The idea is simple. If you donate 10$ to dear old NaNoWriMo in Quebec City’s name (you’ve got to do it with a Wrimos name. You can use mine (Annalia) for it to work), I’m sending you that video. It is THE funny, I swear. Classic humour. Just comment if you gave and I will mail you the link. And if by some miracle I gather 50$ from you awesome people, I’ll post it. Public.
And in case you’re wondering why or what is NaNoWriMo, they have a nifty promotional video this year!
P.S.: My trip to the Georgian Land of Pandas was incredible. :D
NaNoLanta Adventures
Posted: November 10, 2011 Filed under: NaNoWriMo, The Scientist's Life | Tags: nanolanta, NaNoWriMo, traveling 4 Comments »Hello, fellow experimenters!
I hope the NaNo is coming along well for you! I plan on reaching 25k (probably more) in the wee hours of the night, as I wait in the airport. That’s right.
I am flying to Atlanta tomorrow morning, to meet the most awesome crew of MLs to gift the NaNoLand : Atlanta’s. It might seem like high praise, but these guys put an incredible number of programs up every year for the region, and they work their asses into oblivion to turn NaNo into something even more spectacular than it is. I work hard and tirelessly, and I’m proud of my job, but I don’t even compare.
These guys are awesome, and I’ll always remember the tiny NaNoMail Mattkinsi sent me two years ago, at about this time of the month, saying something like “I’ll beat your wordcount, neener-neener. Come chat here : LINKY!”
You have a little rivalry fun with a guy, but you never realise how far it’ll take you. ^^ There’ll be several MLs present this weekend, along with a bunch of awesome wrimos from other states. You can imagine how excited I am. (VERY)
And those were the news from my front. Enjoy your NaNo, and get back to writing!
I am a 22-year-old mad scientist, mixing strange ingredients such as character and plots in the hope of creating a novel. My biochemistry major has so far prevented any explosions from destroying Quebec City.
