I'm preparing for class and having to face my stupid story that I don't like.
Now I actually have to get some work done. Hopefully I'll have an important update soon. I don't mean to keep posting boring stuff all the time.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
It's just not good.
Today was the first day I worked on the story for my creative writing class. I had the idea and a few notes down, but today was the first day I actually wrote any of it. I worked on it all day. I hate it! But I couldn't think of anything else to send to my classmates and I barley made the deadline.
I really liked the idea. It sounded great to me. But once I started writing it, I just couldn't make it work. I'm not just saying this because it's not a genre my deep, thoughtful classmates don't usually enjoy. I have had lots of stories that I have had doubts about other people liking but I loved them. I enjoyed writing them. I was excited about them. I really just don't like this story. Maybe it's because I didn't have enough time to go over it over and over again. Maybe I felt pressured into writing it. I'm not sure but I really don't like it. I didn't even finish it. It has no ending. I barley finished the first part. Who knows maybe as I finish it I'll find a way to like it. I know it sounds weird but I would not read this story. It's a really frustrating feeling to have. I often wonder how I could possibly not like something I wrote.
I really liked the idea. It sounded great to me. But once I started writing it, I just couldn't make it work. I'm not just saying this because it's not a genre my deep, thoughtful classmates don't usually enjoy. I have had lots of stories that I have had doubts about other people liking but I loved them. I enjoyed writing them. I was excited about them. I really just don't like this story. Maybe it's because I didn't have enough time to go over it over and over again. Maybe I felt pressured into writing it. I'm not sure but I really don't like it. I didn't even finish it. It has no ending. I barley finished the first part. Who knows maybe as I finish it I'll find a way to like it. I know it sounds weird but I would not read this story. It's a really frustrating feeling to have. I often wonder how I could possibly not like something I wrote.
Poetry Rant
As I sit here procrastinating from writing my story for class, I am annoyed. Not because I can't figure out how to start my story or because I have this urge to clean my office and can't because I must finish this. The reason I am so annoyed is that I think there is something unfair about writing. I looked at my fellow students posting to see if I was the only one who had waited until the last minute, I wasn't. There was one posting though and it was by one of the students who had chosen to do poetry. He wrote two poems that together barley make a page. I on the other hand have to write in the area of 10 pages. I checked the paper that told us what we must have by the end of the semester. I must have over 40 pages of short fiction, poets on the other hand must have 8-10 poems. Now I know poems aren't always as short as the ones posted but still they are generally under a page. Also I'm not criticizing poetry but they don't have to have a plot, characters or dialogue. They can just write whatever and even if it doesn't make sense it's called interpretive or experimental.
Maybe I should switch to poetry so I can do less work. Of course the class wouldn't benefit me then because I don't really have an interest in it.
Okay I'm done complaining. Now I have to get back to work.
*This is not me bashing poetry. I like poetry. There are many pieces that I love. I'm just not good at writing it.
Maybe I should switch to poetry so I can do less work. Of course the class wouldn't benefit me then because I don't really have an interest in it.
Okay I'm done complaining. Now I have to get back to work.
*This is not me bashing poetry. I like poetry. There are many pieces that I love. I'm just not good at writing it.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Boring!
I haven't gotten a lot of work done lately. I feel like class work has taken over my spare time.
Last week our homework for creative writing was to read three short stories and answer a series of questions, read three poems and write observations, write a story using a metaphor about how I feel about writing, write four poems where every line of the poem ends in a word that can be spelled using the letters in the one word title, read two fellow students works and make comments, and read 48 pages of the intro to our text. I did all of this and I guess I should have taken in to account what the professor had said last week. That the text and assignments didn't matter, the class is about writing and getting feedback. We didn't discuss any of the work and we didn't have to turn any of it in.
Once again I find myself in the situation where I will be required to participate in class. I have been holding back and then regretting not speaking up because I had the right answer. Yesterday I asserted myself and answered the question. Guess who was completely wrong? ME! Err.. No wonder I never say anything.
I have to have a rough draft of a short story posted on line for my class by 5:00 p.m. Friday. I have an idea. Once again I'm not sure my untraditional, sci-fi/fantasy style will be appreciated by these deep, thoughtful writers that search for the inner meaning of everything.
Aside from class my time this week was consumed by a consequence of my stupidity. I wrote a story a while back and saved it only in e-mail and on disk. My disk drive is shot. Then I saved my e-mail to my computer. When I erased AOL from my computer, my e-mail was saved into a file that has crazy symbols and I can't find a program anywhere in the world to open it in English. So I had to scan in a rough draft of the story. With all the marks and highlighting on the pages it didn't scan too well. The margins were off, nothing was spelt right and so many other problems. With all the editing I had to do I might as well have just retyped it.
I started another sonnet but have yet to finish and am still reading novels for research on the new novel. So far though nothing important has been accomplished.
Wasn't this the most interesting and entertaining post you have ever read?
Last week our homework for creative writing was to read three short stories and answer a series of questions, read three poems and write observations, write a story using a metaphor about how I feel about writing, write four poems where every line of the poem ends in a word that can be spelled using the letters in the one word title, read two fellow students works and make comments, and read 48 pages of the intro to our text. I did all of this and I guess I should have taken in to account what the professor had said last week. That the text and assignments didn't matter, the class is about writing and getting feedback. We didn't discuss any of the work and we didn't have to turn any of it in.
Once again I find myself in the situation where I will be required to participate in class. I have been holding back and then regretting not speaking up because I had the right answer. Yesterday I asserted myself and answered the question. Guess who was completely wrong? ME! Err.. No wonder I never say anything.
I have to have a rough draft of a short story posted on line for my class by 5:00 p.m. Friday. I have an idea. Once again I'm not sure my untraditional, sci-fi/fantasy style will be appreciated by these deep, thoughtful writers that search for the inner meaning of everything.
Aside from class my time this week was consumed by a consequence of my stupidity. I wrote a story a while back and saved it only in e-mail and on disk. My disk drive is shot. Then I saved my e-mail to my computer. When I erased AOL from my computer, my e-mail was saved into a file that has crazy symbols and I can't find a program anywhere in the world to open it in English. So I had to scan in a rough draft of the story. With all the marks and highlighting on the pages it didn't scan too well. The margins were off, nothing was spelt right and so many other problems. With all the editing I had to do I might as well have just retyped it.
I started another sonnet but have yet to finish and am still reading novels for research on the new novel. So far though nothing important has been accomplished.
Wasn't this the most interesting and entertaining post you have ever read?
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Bye bye structure. Hello creativity
I wrote this all earlier and then my internet service decided not to work. So this is copy is probably missing some of the enthusiasm the first one did.
Today was the first day of classes for me this semester. I had Creative Writing II. I was worried that it would be exactly the same as CW I but I figured I would try it for the first week. If it didn't work out I could still get my money back.
This class is so different. I didn't like how CW I was just a bunch of rules about how to be creative which defeats the purpose of being creative. Also you got graded on whether or not the teacher liked your work so you were writing for them. Not to mention I had to write poetry.
In this class there is no structure. There are no due dates for your assignments. There is little to no text reading. There is no topic you have to write on or point of view or tense or must be realistic or sci-fi guidelines. You can do poetry or prose for each of the four assignments. He doesn't grade, collect or even check to see if in class assignments are done. The main focus of the class is to write and get feedback from everybody. That's it. You bring in your work and everyone discusses it.
It's different for sure. Of course I usually do well in classes because I follow the assignment guidelines exactly and always turn things in on time. So I'll actually have to do more in this class. That is a good thing. The only other thing is that this class is pretty much like a writing group except instead of being free I have to pay tuition. Hmm....
BTW: I finally learned how to put links in my post without writing out the whole long and ugly web address. I also learned how to add things to my sidebar. I put links to my live journal which is my life outside of writing. The other links are to Pandora's Gate archives, which has some of my work published. The next thing I hope to add is other blogs to my side bar. I'll work on it.
Today was the first day of classes for me this semester. I had Creative Writing II. I was worried that it would be exactly the same as CW I but I figured I would try it for the first week. If it didn't work out I could still get my money back.
This class is so different. I didn't like how CW I was just a bunch of rules about how to be creative which defeats the purpose of being creative. Also you got graded on whether or not the teacher liked your work so you were writing for them. Not to mention I had to write poetry.
In this class there is no structure. There are no due dates for your assignments. There is little to no text reading. There is no topic you have to write on or point of view or tense or must be realistic or sci-fi guidelines. You can do poetry or prose for each of the four assignments. He doesn't grade, collect or even check to see if in class assignments are done. The main focus of the class is to write and get feedback from everybody. That's it. You bring in your work and everyone discusses it.
It's different for sure. Of course I usually do well in classes because I follow the assignment guidelines exactly and always turn things in on time. So I'll actually have to do more in this class. That is a good thing. The only other thing is that this class is pretty much like a writing group except instead of being free I have to pay tuition. Hmm....
BTW: I finally learned how to put links in my post without writing out the whole long and ugly web address. I also learned how to add things to my sidebar. I put links to my live journal which is my life outside of writing. The other links are to Pandora's Gate archives, which has some of my work published. The next thing I hope to add is other blogs to my side bar. I'll work on it.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Dear Wizard
I finally finished "And the Band Played On". It's a book that I had been reading not only for enjoyment but as research for my next novel. I never thought I would finish. It was over 600 pages long and the pages were huge with the tiniest print. I read at least an hour a day and it took me 13 days to finish. It was worth it though. And yes I know I could have just watched the movie but I don't like doing that. It's not the same.
I have a basic plan for the novel but I still need some more statistics and such. It will be a while before I'm ready to roll.
Today I finished another sonnet. That's number four. It's about Daredevil. I also started the fifth.
Over the weekend I busted open my new Writer's Market 2006 and started finding places to send stories. I sent out submissions for "Sworn" which is the final story for my creative writing class last semester. It's the one that I was so worried about. I'm not sure there is really a market for it, just like I was unsure my class would like it. The problem is that it's a fantasy story written from the point-of-view of a high school girl trying to impress the guy she likes. It's not necessarily going to appeal to typical fantasy readers because it's from a young and female perspective. That would make it to appeal to young females but they don't generally read fantasy. I think it could be a good way to reach two different audiences. I just don't know of a publication that is trying to do that. They usually stick with one crowd. It would make sense to try to appeal to more people but then the current readers might not like it.
Anyway as far as other submissions go, I'm having a little trouble placing short short's. They probably work best in contest but I hate paying to enter. I don't have the money and you never know when it's a scam.
Now onto the exciting stuff!
In case no one's been reading the comments, I am writing a letter to Wizard magazine about the lack of females in their publication. This idea was not mine. It was D.B.Echo who commented and gave me the idea.Thanks!
Now I'm going to post my letter here and send it to Wizard. I'm also going to put the e-mail address to Wizard and encourage others to write similar letters as well. A word of caution for those of you unfamiliar with Wizard magazine. They are not a magazine with a conservative and formal style. When they answer letters to the editor they make fun of the writer so make sure that your letter is not something they can rip apart. I would hate to see a letter, promoting women, being made fun. Not only do I not want anyone's feelings hurt but it wouldn't really look good for what we are trying to accomplish.
Dear Wizard,
As a long time reader I have always noticed the lack of females in your publication. When women are featured in your publication they usually have nothing to do with comics except that they are starring in a comic book movie.
I realize there are very few women creators that work for the major comic book publishing companies, but why not give some space to up and coming female artist and writers? It might give them the recognition they need to reach the major publishers. Or you could devote some pages to fan girls. After all, in an anniversary issue the magazine mentioned once having "Look Familiar?", a section dedicated to readers pets. So why not give a page to female readers? Featuring fan girls would only give hope to your male readers that they could marry a woman who wouldn't make them throw out their comic collections.
Maybe more women would read Wizard if they thought they weren't being left out.
I think this letter doesn't provoke any rude comments or sarcastic remarks. I could be wrong. If anyone else wants to send a letter write to magicwords@wizarduniverse.com . If somebody else writes it might not make it seem like I'm only suggesting this to get myself in the magazine. And it will help get the point across. Please write!
I have a basic plan for the novel but I still need some more statistics and such. It will be a while before I'm ready to roll.
Today I finished another sonnet. That's number four. It's about Daredevil. I also started the fifth.
Over the weekend I busted open my new Writer's Market 2006 and started finding places to send stories. I sent out submissions for "Sworn" which is the final story for my creative writing class last semester. It's the one that I was so worried about. I'm not sure there is really a market for it, just like I was unsure my class would like it. The problem is that it's a fantasy story written from the point-of-view of a high school girl trying to impress the guy she likes. It's not necessarily going to appeal to typical fantasy readers because it's from a young and female perspective. That would make it to appeal to young females but they don't generally read fantasy. I think it could be a good way to reach two different audiences. I just don't know of a publication that is trying to do that. They usually stick with one crowd. It would make sense to try to appeal to more people but then the current readers might not like it.
Anyway as far as other submissions go, I'm having a little trouble placing short short's. They probably work best in contest but I hate paying to enter. I don't have the money and you never know when it's a scam.
Now onto the exciting stuff!
In case no one's been reading the comments, I am writing a letter to Wizard magazine about the lack of females in their publication. This idea was not mine. It was D.B.Echo who commented and gave me the idea.Thanks!
Now I'm going to post my letter here and send it to Wizard. I'm also going to put the e-mail address to Wizard and encourage others to write similar letters as well. A word of caution for those of you unfamiliar with Wizard magazine. They are not a magazine with a conservative and formal style. When they answer letters to the editor they make fun of the writer so make sure that your letter is not something they can rip apart. I would hate to see a letter, promoting women, being made fun. Not only do I not want anyone's feelings hurt but it wouldn't really look good for what we are trying to accomplish.
Dear Wizard,
As a long time reader I have always noticed the lack of females in your publication. When women are featured in your publication they usually have nothing to do with comics except that they are starring in a comic book movie.
I realize there are very few women creators that work for the major comic book publishing companies, but why not give some space to up and coming female artist and writers? It might give them the recognition they need to reach the major publishers. Or you could devote some pages to fan girls. After all, in an anniversary issue the magazine mentioned once having "Look Familiar?", a section dedicated to readers pets. So why not give a page to female readers? Featuring fan girls would only give hope to your male readers that they could marry a woman who wouldn't make them throw out their comic collections.
Maybe more women would read Wizard if they thought they weren't being left out.
I think this letter doesn't provoke any rude comments or sarcastic remarks. I could be wrong. If anyone else wants to send a letter write to magicwords@wizarduniverse.com . If somebody else writes it might not make it seem like I'm only suggesting this to get myself in the magazine. And it will help get the point across. Please write!
Monday, January 09, 2006
Being Committed?
It's happened. I woke up in the middle of the night. The clock read 4:33. I think the reason I woke up was mostly panic that I was going to sleep through my alarm and miss jury duty. Then of course, I would get arrested or fined, so I kept waking up periodically. Just as I was about to fall back asleep, I realized that I had a really good idea for a story. Forgetting about leaving the comfort and warmth of my bed, and that I was incredibly tired and needed to be up rather early, I headed to my desk. I jotted it all down and actually got on quite a role. I was just so worried, if I didn't get out of bed to write it down, I would forget it and it could have been the best story ever. Looking at the great idea now it doesn't seem that great. Then today I went out to lunch and I couldn't help it. I started writing again on my placemat, because I didn't have enough paper in my little notebook. The point is that I have become slightly obsessed. It's okay though, at least to me. It just makes me feel committed to my love of writing.
The only other thing to say is that I have completed sonnet three and started sonnet four. I have to admit I started cheating and bought a rhyming dictionary. It's tough. Do you know how many heroes end with woman/man? I didn't want to write the same thing every time.
The only other thing to say is that I have completed sonnet three and started sonnet four. I have to admit I started cheating and bought a rhyming dictionary. It's tough. Do you know how many heroes end with woman/man? I didn't want to write the same thing every time.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Edit first!
My goal for today was to write a query letter and send some submissions to agents. Of course they want a synopsis of the book you are trying to get them to read. It makes sense to me so this is not a complaint. My trouble is that I realize I should edit the book first. I guess I should have figured that in the first place. Now I'll just have to send out different submissions for a while. I'm thinking my final story for creative writing.
Also, I'm a little sad I just found out they were raising postage and I have a lot of stamps that I have previously purchased. Now I have to get those crazy 2 cent stamps.
For the record, in case there is anyone but probably not, my blog is not blocked from anonymous comments. If you are not a member of blogspot you can still tell me I suck by clicking on 'comment'. Of course I'm being presumptuous that someone actually reads this. I'd make the joke "that someone other than my mom might actually reads this", but she doesn't either. That's how bad my writing is.
Also, I'm a little sad I just found out they were raising postage and I have a lot of stamps that I have previously purchased. Now I have to get those crazy 2 cent stamps.
For the record, in case there is anyone but probably not, my blog is not blocked from anonymous comments. If you are not a member of blogspot you can still tell me I suck by clicking on 'comment'. Of course I'm being presumptuous that someone actually reads this. I'd make the joke "that someone other than my mom might actually reads this", but she doesn't either. That's how bad my writing is.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
NOT another bill!
Now that the Christmas season is over I no longer run to the mailbox when I hear the carrier drop off my mail. Since there are no more cards coming there is no reason to get excited. Bills are not exciting. They are quite the opposite. So today when I heard the clank of the mailbox I took a nap.
When I finally decided I should get the mail I was not disappointed. There was the telephone bill, the garbage bill and a Lansing community College envelope. Since I'm behind on paying tuition, I was quite certain it was just to yell "YOU OWE MONEY!", or perhaps to even tell me I had been dropped from the class. All in all, the mail wasn't happy! Boo!
I threw it on my desk and eventually opened it later in the day. SURPRISE!
I won second place for short fiction in the LCC portion of the L.A.N.D. writing contest!
I don't know how many people entered so it could be that I was one of two people who submitted, but I don't care. I'm excited. I've never won anything in my life. It's so cool. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal but oh well.
The story I won with is called "Papa's Little Angel". It's a story I wrote for a writing sample when I first started my attempt to find an artist to collaborate with. I didn't really think it would win but it was one of two stories I had that met length requirements so I sent it along. It's a story about a young girl who can teleport and her troubled life after she teleports her dad out of prison. That's probably not a good description. I'd post the story but it had to be unpublished and I'm not certain if posting it here disqualifies it from the state portion of the contest that all 1st and 2nd place winners are entered in. Seeing as how I'm pretty new to the publishing rights and stuff, I'll leave it off for now but once the state part is over I'll post it.
In other news I wrote another sonnet. I"m not going to post it until I decide what my true intentions are for my superhero sonnets. Sorry I keep teasing but never posting.
I also started research for my next novel. I don't want to give too much away but it's a fictional book that revolves around the AIDS pandemic. I'm really excited about this idea, I just hope I can write it well.
The other thing is I got my Writer's Market 2006 today. Now I can start my new submissions for the year. Then the mail will get interesting again as I wait for not only bills but rejection notices.
When I finally decided I should get the mail I was not disappointed. There was the telephone bill, the garbage bill and a Lansing community College envelope. Since I'm behind on paying tuition, I was quite certain it was just to yell "YOU OWE MONEY!", or perhaps to even tell me I had been dropped from the class. All in all, the mail wasn't happy! Boo!
I threw it on my desk and eventually opened it later in the day. SURPRISE!
I won second place for short fiction in the LCC portion of the L.A.N.D. writing contest!
I don't know how many people entered so it could be that I was one of two people who submitted, but I don't care. I'm excited. I've never won anything in my life. It's so cool. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal but oh well.
The story I won with is called "Papa's Little Angel". It's a story I wrote for a writing sample when I first started my attempt to find an artist to collaborate with. I didn't really think it would win but it was one of two stories I had that met length requirements so I sent it along. It's a story about a young girl who can teleport and her troubled life after she teleports her dad out of prison. That's probably not a good description. I'd post the story but it had to be unpublished and I'm not certain if posting it here disqualifies it from the state portion of the contest that all 1st and 2nd place winners are entered in. Seeing as how I'm pretty new to the publishing rights and stuff, I'll leave it off for now but once the state part is over I'll post it.
In other news I wrote another sonnet. I"m not going to post it until I decide what my true intentions are for my superhero sonnets. Sorry I keep teasing but never posting.
I also started research for my next novel. I don't want to give too much away but it's a fictional book that revolves around the AIDS pandemic. I'm really excited about this idea, I just hope I can write it well.
The other thing is I got my Writer's Market 2006 today. Now I can start my new submissions for the year. Then the mail will get interesting again as I wait for not only bills but rejection notices.
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