I used to take a lot of classes as a kid. Ballet, jazz, gymnastics, skating (which is probably why I burned out later and stopped taking classes altogether). Jazz was my favorite, but when I was five or six I also enjoyed ballet quite a bit. My class wasn't competitive: we would just perform something at the end of the year at a showcase. The dances from the various classes usually weren't connected in any way, but twice we ended up putting on short versions of an actual ballet, with various ages and skill levels.
The two ballets we did were "Nutcracker" and (a year later) "Sleeping Beauty". I enjoyed both, but my favorite was Nutcracker. In it, my class (there were a bunch of us...twelve or fifteen little girls) had two parts: as guests at Clara's party, and later as the "bonbons" at the end (which I'm pretty sure was a part they made up for us).
I liked being a candy, but somehow I enjoyed being a guest more, even though there was barely any dancing involved. It was more like role-playing, which was my favorite kind of game at the time (I called them "adventure games" later). I had a lady who was my pretend mom, and me and my pretend sisters would come to the party and play with the other guests via a short dance sequence. I liked the unity I felt with my pretend family, even though it felt weird to have a different mom. I wished I got to participate more in the story (we were pretty much just extras), but even with the small role it was a lot of fun. Before that, my only experience with acting had been a very lame Kindergarten play (I was the sun, mainly because I didn't want to be an animal), but this felt more real. My first actual play would be six years later, but with this I was off to a good start.
And that's why I'm an actor and not a dancer! The end.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The perfect medium
The first "real" novel that I wrote was called Every Color (sound familiar?). I was eleven, and I'd written pieces of novels before, and lots of picture books (illustrated by me, of course), but I hadn't actually committed to writing (and eventually editing) a full novel. Every Color was total fantasy: portals, other worlds, mysterious dream catchers, some kind of evil "presence". It makes sense, because fantasy was my favorite genre at that point. Around that time I ended up getting into analyzing fantasy too, by comparing all sorts of different books I've read and classifying them into subgenres. And, like I tend to do when I've spent too much time classifying something, I started to go wider with my definitions. Was science-fantasy considered "fantasy"? What about soft sci-fi? What about mostly real-life with a hint of magic?
That's when I got into my slice-of-life phase. I wanted to write a book that was real life, but was steeped in fantasy. Nothing crazy would happen, but there would be an undercurrent of unreality throughout. I was into surrealist art at that time (I was about twelve at this point), so my first attempt was about a gallery. It didn't work out at all, but my second attempt in this vein was also about an art gallery (and, more specifically, surrealism). It was about Andrea, a sporty girl who meets Vega the dreamer. They became friends through surrealist art, and created a club (the "Dream RELM", which is the name of the novel as well) about "exploring" imaginary worlds.
And then Vega was supposed to disappear, to go into one of those imaginary worlds, without leaving any sign of her existence. She was supposed to be the magic element of the book.
Except, I got stuck writing it. It felt too short, and I kept trying to stretch it out and make it into a novel. And then I got bored. It was too quiet, too subtle. I started to write another "slice-of-life-with-fantasy" novel (it's called River Girls), which blended magic with real life in a more fluid, more interesting way. Eventually, River Girls stalled out too, and I tried once more before stopping slice-of-life altogether.
About a year ago, I went back to both novels. I realized that they were destined to be novellas, and I didn't try to force them. I basically finished Dream RELM, but when I read it over I realized it ended too abruptly. Vega and Andrea have their last conversation, then Vega leaves and BOOM: epilogue. So, okay...I just need to fit in some scenes in between, right? But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I lost interest again.
But yesterday, I was talking about plays with my Mom of Awesome (you'll see why she's called that in a sec). I was saying how I want to write plays, but so far it doesn't seem like my medium, and I have to keep trying. Then the topic switched to my earlier novels, and Mom of Awesome said, "Maybe you should make Dream RELM a play."
HOLY CRAP.
It's going great. I would act in it, if I was twelve. THIS is the medium for Dream RELM, if not all my slice-of-life-fantasy novels. And as a bonus, it's adding to my WriYe word count! The only thing is...I'm starting to wonder if I should change the ending. What if Vega reappears near the end, and the play ends as they start talking? (Or maybe Andrea sees her, but decides her life has changed, and walks away?) We'll see.
I'll keep you posted.
That's when I got into my slice-of-life phase. I wanted to write a book that was real life, but was steeped in fantasy. Nothing crazy would happen, but there would be an undercurrent of unreality throughout. I was into surrealist art at that time (I was about twelve at this point), so my first attempt was about a gallery. It didn't work out at all, but my second attempt in this vein was also about an art gallery (and, more specifically, surrealism). It was about Andrea, a sporty girl who meets Vega the dreamer. They became friends through surrealist art, and created a club (the "Dream RELM", which is the name of the novel as well) about "exploring" imaginary worlds.
And then Vega was supposed to disappear, to go into one of those imaginary worlds, without leaving any sign of her existence. She was supposed to be the magic element of the book.
Except, I got stuck writing it. It felt too short, and I kept trying to stretch it out and make it into a novel. And then I got bored. It was too quiet, too subtle. I started to write another "slice-of-life-with-fantasy" novel (it's called River Girls), which blended magic with real life in a more fluid, more interesting way. Eventually, River Girls stalled out too, and I tried once more before stopping slice-of-life altogether.
About a year ago, I went back to both novels. I realized that they were destined to be novellas, and I didn't try to force them. I basically finished Dream RELM, but when I read it over I realized it ended too abruptly. Vega and Andrea have their last conversation, then Vega leaves and BOOM: epilogue. So, okay...I just need to fit in some scenes in between, right? But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I lost interest again.
But yesterday, I was talking about plays with my Mom of Awesome (you'll see why she's called that in a sec). I was saying how I want to write plays, but so far it doesn't seem like my medium, and I have to keep trying. Then the topic switched to my earlier novels, and Mom of Awesome said, "Maybe you should make Dream RELM a play."
HOLY CRAP.
It's going great. I would act in it, if I was twelve. THIS is the medium for Dream RELM, if not all my slice-of-life-fantasy novels. And as a bonus, it's adding to my WriYe word count! The only thing is...I'm starting to wonder if I should change the ending. What if Vega reappears near the end, and the play ends as they start talking? (Or maybe Andrea sees her, but decides her life has changed, and walks away?) We'll see.
I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
New year plans!
When I was younger, I never understood why people would make New Year resolutions. It just didn't make sense to me. But for the past few years I've started to think of it more as a challenge than a life-changing plan. Last year's resolution was to "be as social as I was in 2009 but read as many books as I did in 2008". I accomplished the social part, but failed on the book part. This year I want to give myself a set of challenges instead of just one resolution. What are my challenges? I'll get to that in a sec.
This year's NaNo was my most successful yet: I had a good novel that didn't stall out and wasn't too long (it was around 51k words), and I love my characters and the setting. I could see myself writing another book that takes place in that world. The only downside to this year's NaNo was that I really miss it now. So when I found out about WriYe, a writing challenge where you set your own word goal and work toward it over the year, I got excited. I've discovered I can only work with a deadline (otherwise I have to wait for that very flighty thing called "inspiration"), so this is a great chance to not only write my originally-planned-NaNo about a collective mind, but also finish NaNos 2008 and 2009, AND maybe even work on one of the many failed novels in my folders. So many options! I think my goal will be 200k words, but that's probably my excitement speaking for me. We shall see.
So WriYe (which, by the way, has to be the most awkward name ever. How do you pronounce it? "Rye-Yee"? "Rye-Yeh"?) is challenge number one for 2011. My other challenge is to do another "blog every day" week, to get back into the habit of blogging. I've recently started knitting, so expect more craft-related posts.
Challenge number three: read lots. I haven't read enough in 2010.
I think that's it for now. Since I've posted my challenges here, I'm less likely to ignore them now. So...I'll say bye now. I'll try not to disappear, but if I don't post anything else this month (which, let's admit it, is quite likely), see you in 2011!
This year's NaNo was my most successful yet: I had a good novel that didn't stall out and wasn't too long (it was around 51k words), and I love my characters and the setting. I could see myself writing another book that takes place in that world. The only downside to this year's NaNo was that I really miss it now. So when I found out about WriYe, a writing challenge where you set your own word goal and work toward it over the year, I got excited. I've discovered I can only work with a deadline (otherwise I have to wait for that very flighty thing called "inspiration"), so this is a great chance to not only write my originally-planned-NaNo about a collective mind, but also finish NaNos 2008 and 2009, AND maybe even work on one of the many failed novels in my folders. So many options! I think my goal will be 200k words, but that's probably my excitement speaking for me. We shall see.
So WriYe (which, by the way, has to be the most awkward name ever. How do you pronounce it? "Rye-Yee"? "Rye-Yeh"?) is challenge number one for 2011. My other challenge is to do another "blog every day" week, to get back into the habit of blogging. I've recently started knitting, so expect more craft-related posts.
Challenge number three: read lots. I haven't read enough in 2010.
I think that's it for now. Since I've posted my challenges here, I'm less likely to ignore them now. So...I'll say bye now. I'll try not to disappear, but if I don't post anything else this month (which, let's admit it, is quite likely), see you in 2011!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Crazy-fast-novelling wisdom
Things I've learned from previous and current NaNovels:
1. Light is better than dramatic when you want to write fast.
2. Drama is good for word count, but don't depend on it too often.
3. Good Nano novel does not = good real novel. Don't fight your inner editor, but work with him/her.
4. Good real novel does not = good Nano novel. Waiting is the worst thing that can happen in your NaNovel.
5. Condense, don't stretch. This one is very me-specific, as I have a tendency to describe all the wandering around between exciting things happening, instead of writing "three days later". Does that make a nice, short, 50k novel? Nope.
6. Don't be afraid to do something fun even when you're writing a serious novel. Example: this year I'm writing an apocalyptic novel about miner/spelunker/treasure-hunter people, and about how the main character tries to stop a revolution. I switched perspectives to someone on the surface a few days before the craziness starts, and somehow having my character running around her boarding school trying to sneak after some teenagers going on a road trip is just as fun as end-of-the-world stuff. And I still have to use the line "It's the llama apocalypse! I knew it!" That should be fun.
7. If you have a nicely planned-out but light novel that you're losing interest in, and suddenly come up with a good idea to rewrite your Boulderdash fan-fiction from when you were ten but set it on a colony planet and include an apocalypse, go ahead.
Don't worry, story-about-a-forming-collective-mind, I will write you too after November.
That's all I can think of for now. I think the best thing about Nano for me is that it keeps me writing, and I find out a LOT about how I work under pressure. Since I might become an author, this is useful. 2010 will be my third year, and hopefully my most successful! I will finish Tunnel's End around 50k! I WILL!
1. Light is better than dramatic when you want to write fast.
2. Drama is good for word count, but don't depend on it too often.
3. Good Nano novel does not = good real novel. Don't fight your inner editor, but work with him/her.
4. Good real novel does not = good Nano novel. Waiting is the worst thing that can happen in your NaNovel.
5. Condense, don't stretch. This one is very me-specific, as I have a tendency to describe all the wandering around between exciting things happening, instead of writing "three days later". Does that make a nice, short, 50k novel? Nope.
6. Don't be afraid to do something fun even when you're writing a serious novel. Example: this year I'm writing an apocalyptic novel about miner/spelunker/treasure-hunter people, and about how the main character tries to stop a revolution. I switched perspectives to someone on the surface a few days before the craziness starts, and somehow having my character running around her boarding school trying to sneak after some teenagers going on a road trip is just as fun as end-of-the-world stuff. And I still have to use the line "It's the llama apocalypse! I knew it!" That should be fun.
7. If you have a nicely planned-out but light novel that you're losing interest in, and suddenly come up with a good idea to rewrite your Boulderdash fan-fiction from when you were ten but set it on a colony planet and include an apocalypse, go ahead.
Don't worry, story-about-a-forming-collective-mind, I will write you too after November.
That's all I can think of for now. I think the best thing about Nano for me is that it keeps me writing, and I find out a LOT about how I work under pressure. Since I might become an author, this is useful. 2010 will be my third year, and hopefully my most successful! I will finish Tunnel's End around 50k! I WILL!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Different knotting
I got a book on macrame recently, and it's given me the opportunity for one of my favorite things: comparing!
It's funny: friendship bracelets are basically a branch of macrame (a rebellious branch, but still), but the focus is pretty different. For one thing, in macrame the spaces between the knots are as important as the knots themselves (negative and positive space, you might call it). Also, each individual knot is key, while in FBs you almost want the knots to fade into the background. In FBs, pattern and color are key. You rarely see bright color in macrame. Maybe that's why I like FBs better.
One thing I noticed, though: in my aforementioned book, the author doesn't really give you any patterns. There are diagrams for the knots and suggestions on what to do with them, but the actual design is up to you. Now, I don't know enough about macrame to guess whether this is the general outlook, but I kind of like the idea of not being scared to experiment. I noticed a lot of knew FB knotters on forums and such are very nervous to try things: "I can't read patterns...I don't know what to do first", "How do you arrange the strings?", "How is this made?" ...and I can say this because I still am pretty hesitant to experiment. I think I've gotten more willing lately, though, and the macrame book helped. And this sounds really cheesy, but you could apply that to life in general. See? I made this post relevant to the rest of the world.
It's funny: friendship bracelets are basically a branch of macrame (a rebellious branch, but still), but the focus is pretty different. For one thing, in macrame the spaces between the knots are as important as the knots themselves (negative and positive space, you might call it). Also, each individual knot is key, while in FBs you almost want the knots to fade into the background. In FBs, pattern and color are key. You rarely see bright color in macrame. Maybe that's why I like FBs better.
One thing I noticed, though: in my aforementioned book, the author doesn't really give you any patterns. There are diagrams for the knots and suggestions on what to do with them, but the actual design is up to you. Now, I don't know enough about macrame to guess whether this is the general outlook, but I kind of like the idea of not being scared to experiment. I noticed a lot of knew FB knotters on forums and such are very nervous to try things: "I can't read patterns...I don't know what to do first", "How do you arrange the strings?", "How is this made?" ...and I can say this because I still am pretty hesitant to experiment. I think I've gotten more willing lately, though, and the macrame book helped. And this sounds really cheesy, but you could apply that to life in general. See? I made this post relevant to the rest of the world.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Nano 2009: there is hope!
Two years ago, after NaNoWriMo (we're talking about 2008 here), I had reached the word count goal in my novel "Two", but I hadn't actually finished the darn thing. I promised myself that I would soon, as well as edit it. "December," I told myself. "Well, maybe January...or February..." It's two years later, and I still haven't finished it.
So last Nano I told myself that I would _definitely_ finish "Jigsaw Cloud", and I would not procrastinate.
Then my Nano took a turn for the worst.
Long story short, while I did reach the word count goal (according to my laptop. My desk top's word count says differently), I was not happy with my novel at all and declared it, to use the scientific term, "epic fail".
Fast forward a couple of months. I was starting to think about Jigsaw again. And I was starting to realize something: I wanted to edit it. While "Two" was a fun Nano novel, it didn't have much potential as a "real" novel. However, with Jigsaw I had had a great idea, and I could think of a lot of interesting ways it could go when I actually put time into it. Sooo...I started editing it a couple of days ago! I started by removing the really bad parts, and now I've rewritten some scenes. Hopefully when I'm done I'll move onto actually continuing the story, and eventually finishing it.
I wanted to post excerpts with comparisons, but this post has turned out longer than I planned. So instead I'll just leave you with "It's not an epic fail! WOOHOO!" and do the comparisons later.
Wish me luck!
So last Nano I told myself that I would _definitely_ finish "Jigsaw Cloud", and I would not procrastinate.
Then my Nano took a turn for the worst.
Long story short, while I did reach the word count goal (according to my laptop. My desk top's word count says differently), I was not happy with my novel at all and declared it, to use the scientific term, "epic fail".
Fast forward a couple of months. I was starting to think about Jigsaw again. And I was starting to realize something: I wanted to edit it. While "Two" was a fun Nano novel, it didn't have much potential as a "real" novel. However, with Jigsaw I had had a great idea, and I could think of a lot of interesting ways it could go when I actually put time into it. Sooo...I started editing it a couple of days ago! I started by removing the really bad parts, and now I've rewritten some scenes. Hopefully when I'm done I'll move onto actually continuing the story, and eventually finishing it.
I wanted to post excerpts with comparisons, but this post has turned out longer than I planned. So instead I'll just leave you with "It's not an epic fail! WOOHOO!" and do the comparisons later.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
2010 updates
Hey everyone! I'm really sorry there haven't been updates in a long time - I was planning on writing a post summarizing my latest NaNoWriMo experience, but I had to force myself and ended up not posting anything at all. Whoops.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm not going to vanish like I did in 2006, and I'll continue making posts soon. For now, have some bracelet photos:
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm not going to vanish like I did in 2006, and I'll continue making posts soon. For now, have some bracelet photos:
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Week three fixes everything
Last week I was stuck in my Nano novel. I felt like it wasn't going anywhere: I still had to wait through a few days (in my book) before my main character started actually doing stuff, I didn't know what do in the meantime, and in the long run I wasn't sure how the story was going to continue. I got my character stuck in an attic and had no clue what to do with that afterward. I resorted to writing complaints in my document to keep up the word count*.
But then...I got my character out of the attic (non-too-smoothly, but it's Nano so what do you expect?), went to a write-in, got through a few dream sequences, and finally revealed The Big Revelation (which is only a revelation to the readers, not the characters). I switched perspectives, and when I came back to Davis I was no longer annoyed with him. He has a lot to go through, poor guy. I like torturing him.
So now...it's going much better. I think it's going to turn out longer than 50,000 words, but that's okay...I'll work on it after November. It was supposed to be slightly post-apocalyptic, and I'm thinking of making it a post-apocalyptic-apocalypse. We'll see how that goes, but I just wanted to post this to say that I'm doing way better, and I'm more determined than ever to reach 50k! What's Nano without a little drama? It makes it more fun (I think 2009 is more fun than 2008 just because of the drama).
So...thanks for reading. Wish me luck!
*Although I would like to add that I was never actually behind in the word goal...I just like complaining.
But then...I got my character out of the attic (non-too-smoothly, but it's Nano so what do you expect?), went to a write-in, got through a few dream sequences, and finally revealed The Big Revelation (which is only a revelation to the readers, not the characters). I switched perspectives, and when I came back to Davis I was no longer annoyed with him. He has a lot to go through, poor guy. I like torturing him.
So now...it's going much better. I think it's going to turn out longer than 50,000 words, but that's okay...I'll work on it after November. It was supposed to be slightly post-apocalyptic, and I'm thinking of making it a post-apocalyptic-apocalypse. We'll see how that goes, but I just wanted to post this to say that I'm doing way better, and I'm more determined than ever to reach 50k! What's Nano without a little drama? It makes it more fun (I think 2009 is more fun than 2008 just because of the drama).
So...thanks for reading. Wish me luck!
*Although I would like to add that I was never actually behind in the word goal...I just like complaining.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I'm a fortune teller (Nanowrimo from a week 2 perspective)
My novel this year is totally different from last year's in structure. Last year's novel ("Two"...yes, that's its name) was basically a series of events that were related to each other, that eventually formed a cohesive whole (sort of. I haven't actually finished it yet). It was fun because I liked my characters and if it was getting boring, hey, I could just add another event.
This year's novel ("Jigsaw Cloud") is completely different. One of my characters (Mira) goes on an adventure, but I'm actually writing about her younger brother (Davis), who stays behind but ends up going on an adventure of his own. It sounds kind of cheesy, and the Mira-going-on-adventure thing is supposed to be a little that way, but after she leaves for her adventure Davis is supposed to realize something important and the adventure is supposed to really begin.
I say "supposed" because I'm totally stuck leading up to that.
See, Davis is going to have several strange dreams, the last of which will bring on the "realization". I can't find a way to fill in the rest of the time. I got him arrested (sort of), and then trapped in an attic (which is related to the former), which was fun at the time, but now it's gotten me even more stuck.
Basically, I really need to rethink my options.
Instead of working on the story, I have one "letters between the main character and the author" segment, and one essay that basically explains what I've talked about here. It's pretty funny, actually.
But I want to work on the story. And the structure I've invented is not a Nano-speed structure, it's a work-on-it-for-half-a-year structure.
So, basically: waaahhh, Nano is too hard this year.
Aren't I just the amazing fortune-teller?
P.S. I might post my "letters" segment later on my blog, because it's kind of funny and sad at the same time.
This year's novel ("Jigsaw Cloud") is completely different. One of my characters (Mira) goes on an adventure, but I'm actually writing about her younger brother (Davis), who stays behind but ends up going on an adventure of his own. It sounds kind of cheesy, and the Mira-going-on-adventure thing is supposed to be a little that way, but after she leaves for her adventure Davis is supposed to realize something important and the adventure is supposed to really begin.
I say "supposed" because I'm totally stuck leading up to that.
See, Davis is going to have several strange dreams, the last of which will bring on the "realization". I can't find a way to fill in the rest of the time. I got him arrested (sort of), and then trapped in an attic (which is related to the former), which was fun at the time, but now it's gotten me even more stuck.
Basically, I really need to rethink my options.
Instead of working on the story, I have one "letters between the main character and the author" segment, and one essay that basically explains what I've talked about here. It's pretty funny, actually.
But I want to work on the story. And the structure I've invented is not a Nano-speed structure, it's a work-on-it-for-half-a-year structure.
So, basically: waaahhh, Nano is too hard this year.
Aren't I just the amazing fortune-teller?
P.S. I might post my "letters" segment later on my blog, because it's kind of funny and sad at the same time.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
November approaches...
It's almost November, and you know what that means! No? It means NaNoWriMo is coming up very soon! And as you can tell I'm super excited about it.
For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a challenge to aspiring writers (and experienced ones too, of course) to throw caution (and perfection) to the wind and write a novel of 50,000 words or more by the end of November. That sounds hard, but it's actually a good amount: it's doable even if you're busy, but it's not so easy you end up procrastinating because "Oh, I can work on it at any time" (Like I did with Script Frenzy). Plus it's a lot of fun. I think I might try for 60k words this year.
This is my second year doing Nano. Last year I wrote a light SF-ish story about a girl and some...strange occurrences in her family. It turned out really well...I had a lot of fun with it (mostly because of the characters, I think), and I reached the word goal. I have a cool idea for this year's novel, and I hope it'll be as fun as last year's (Well, I guess if it isn't I can just make a big plot twist and change the story completely. Heh heh).
So good luck and have fun to all the participants! It's gonna be fun.
(I can just imagine my next post being "Waaaahhh, I hate Nano...it's so hard this year..." ;) )
For those of you who don't know what it is, it's a challenge to aspiring writers (and experienced ones too, of course) to throw caution (and perfection) to the wind and write a novel of 50,000 words or more by the end of November. That sounds hard, but it's actually a good amount: it's doable even if you're busy, but it's not so easy you end up procrastinating because "Oh, I can work on it at any time" (Like I did with Script Frenzy). Plus it's a lot of fun. I think I might try for 60k words this year.
This is my second year doing Nano. Last year I wrote a light SF-ish story about a girl and some...strange occurrences in her family. It turned out really well...I had a lot of fun with it (mostly because of the characters, I think), and I reached the word goal. I have a cool idea for this year's novel, and I hope it'll be as fun as last year's (Well, I guess if it isn't I can just make a big plot twist and change the story completely. Heh heh).
So good luck and have fun to all the participants! It's gonna be fun.
(I can just imagine my next post being "Waaaahhh, I hate Nano...it's so hard this year..." ;) )
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
100 posts and a first sentence
Two things today.
One, I've reached 100 posts! Thanks so much to everyone for reading, and for sticking with me while I try to figure out this whole blogging thing. Here's hoping I reach 100 more! :)
Two, as you know I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. I have no ideas what my novel (or "NaNovel"...just made that up) will be about. And while some people have outlines, or character ideas, or just vague plots, I have a first sentence: "It happened the day I got sick. Figures." It just popped into my head today. Now...I just have to figure out who's talking, what happened, and how I can turn that into a novel. By November. Wish me luck!
One, I've reached 100 posts! Thanks so much to everyone for reading, and for sticking with me while I try to figure out this whole blogging thing. Here's hoping I reach 100 more! :)
Two, as you know I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year. I have no ideas what my novel (or "NaNovel"...just made that up) will be about. And while some people have outlines, or character ideas, or just vague plots, I have a first sentence: "It happened the day I got sick. Figures." It just popped into my head today. Now...I just have to figure out who's talking, what happened, and how I can turn that into a novel. By November. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Perspective
What's your favorite perspective in books?
There's 3rd-person perspective ("he said", "she thought"). Some books focus on a large amount of characters and don't really talk much about their thoughts, which makes me feel disconnected. The more specialized "limited 3rd-person", where the narrator only focuses on a few characters (or just one) but goes deeper, are more my thing.
There's 1st-person perspective ("I went"), which can be very interesting if the main character feels real. My mom said once that she generally didn't like 1st person as much as 3rd, maybe because it feels too intimate?
And there's the rarest one, 2nd-person perspective ("you said"...or usually, "you say", since 2nd-person is almost always in the present tense). I don't care for it much in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" kids books, because they try to make the main character as neutral as possible so you can implant your own thoughts into the book. There are a couple of short stories (and books too?) out there, though, that are in 2nd-person. I only read one (something by Ray Bradbury), but it's different because the main character isn't actually you, but by reading it you sort of pretend to be him. And I love this kind of "ultimate-being-in-someone's-shoes"/roleplay. When I write my own "Choose your own..." games (I actually call them "Pick Your Own Path Adventures"...or, PYOPAs) I try to create a character for the reader to become. This character is obviously not as detailed as 1st or 3rd person perspective (maybe it can be, though...I should read more books like that), but it's vague enough that you can put a bit of yourself in it.
Next time: present tense, past tense, or future tense? Heh heh.
There's 3rd-person perspective ("he said", "she thought"). Some books focus on a large amount of characters and don't really talk much about their thoughts, which makes me feel disconnected. The more specialized "limited 3rd-person", where the narrator only focuses on a few characters (or just one) but goes deeper, are more my thing.
There's 1st-person perspective ("I went"), which can be very interesting if the main character feels real. My mom said once that she generally didn't like 1st person as much as 3rd, maybe because it feels too intimate?
And there's the rarest one, 2nd-person perspective ("you said"...or usually, "you say", since 2nd-person is almost always in the present tense). I don't care for it much in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" kids books, because they try to make the main character as neutral as possible so you can implant your own thoughts into the book. There are a couple of short stories (and books too?) out there, though, that are in 2nd-person. I only read one (something by Ray Bradbury), but it's different because the main character isn't actually you, but by reading it you sort of pretend to be him. And I love this kind of "ultimate-being-in-someone's-shoes"/roleplay. When I write my own "Choose your own..." games (I actually call them "Pick Your Own Path Adventures"...or, PYOPAs) I try to create a character for the reader to become. This character is obviously not as detailed as 1st or 3rd person perspective (maybe it can be, though...I should read more books like that), but it's vague enough that you can put a bit of yourself in it.
Next time: present tense, past tense, or future tense? Heh heh.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Words
Do you have any favorite words? I'm not really a word-collector, but there are some that I think have an awesome sound: spontaneity, cacophony, crystalline.
I'm not sure why I like them...they just sound cool. Too hard to spell, though!
How about you?
I'm not sure why I like them...they just sound cool. Too hard to spell, though!
How about you?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Photos from vacation
Yeah, I know. I'm a procrastinator. Moving on...
So, our vacation was totally awesome. We went to the Gulf Islands, which are these little islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland. A picture is worth a thousand words, apparently, so here are some photos from our trip:
So, our vacation was totally awesome. We went to the Gulf Islands, which are these little islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland. A picture is worth a thousand words, apparently, so here are some photos from our trip:
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Vacation interlude
Hey everyone! I'm going on vacation to BC tomorrow, to one of the Gulf Islands. If we're in an internet cafe and I'm not lazy I'll make a post, otherwise see you in about a week! I'll make sure to post some photos when I get back.
*goes to pack*
*goes to pack*
Saturday, August 15, 2009
New one
I made this slightly psychedelic freestyle bracelet yesterday. It was originally going to just be chevrons, but I decided to make it more exciting. What do you think...colorful enough? ;)
Monday, August 10, 2009
100 words
I was looking at this list of "150 things to do when you're bored" and one of the things was, "write a story in 100 words". Sooo...I tried it. This micro-story is based on a plotline that was floating around in my head. This is the most minimalistic version of what I was imagining, and I might expand it (maybe for NaNoWriMo?), but I thought I'd post it here first.
If you could dream about anything you want, every night, what would you pick? My mom said we didn’t always have this choice, and that we shouldn’t really have that choice. I wonder why?
Last night I decided to have a dream about being a goldfish. I couldn’t see past my bowl: just these weird blurs moving around. I wonder if that’s how my goldfish sees.
Books you read in your dreams are the most amazing books ever. Shame you can’t remember them.
I think I know what Mom meant last year. With perfect dreams, we forget to live real life.
...And that's it. Feel free to interpret, or whatever. Leave a comment! Maybe I'll post more about this story if I get feedback.
If you could dream about anything you want, every night, what would you pick? My mom said we didn’t always have this choice, and that we shouldn’t really have that choice. I wonder why?
Last night I decided to have a dream about being a goldfish. I couldn’t see past my bowl: just these weird blurs moving around. I wonder if that’s how my goldfish sees.
Books you read in your dreams are the most amazing books ever. Shame you can’t remember them.
I think I know what Mom meant last year. With perfect dreams, we forget to live real life.
...And that's it. Feel free to interpret, or whatever. Leave a comment! Maybe I'll post more about this story if I get feedback.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
To vlog or not to vlog...
I've been thinking of getting a Youtube account lately, and starting a vlog (or maybe even a collaborative vlog with several people. Anyone interested?). For the uninitiated, a vlog is the same as a blog, but in video form. Anyway, I've been a bit unsure about it because A) I'm shy to have my face on the internet (read: paranoid), B)I'm lazy to do video editing and the like, and C) I know it'll make me blog less. Ignoring A and B, let's focus on C.
Would I blog less? I'm not sure what's more work: editing and posting a video or typing an entry. That'll be an important factor for me. But what about the content?
There's actually a difference between vlogging and blogging. For one thing, rambling is usually a no-no on a vlog, but it's that kind of thought process that makes for an interesting blog entry. So I guess I'd talk about serious rambly things on Every Colour, and more regular life stuff on my vlog? I dunno.
So...would you guys think? Should I start a vlog? Would you watch it?
Would I blog less? I'm not sure what's more work: editing and posting a video or typing an entry. That'll be an important factor for me. But what about the content?
There's actually a difference between vlogging and blogging. For one thing, rambling is usually a no-no on a vlog, but it's that kind of thought process that makes for an interesting blog entry. So I guess I'd talk about serious rambly things on Every Colour, and more regular life stuff on my vlog? I dunno.
So...would you guys think? Should I start a vlog? Would you watch it?
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
"Um...bless you?"
So, yesterday I was just sitting at this desk in the library and reading, when this girl sits down at the desk behind me. She was only a foot or two away, but the way the desks are turned we were facing opposite directions, I just ignored her.
I had gotten to an interesting part, when the girl sneezed really loudly.
And then came the mental conflict.
Oh crap...what do I do now? Do I say "bless you"? I dunno...I would get embarrassed if someone did that, but some people are annoyed if you don't say anything. Ack, now the moment's passing...I shouldn't say anything. But she's right behind me! Oh well, it's way too late to say it now. I hope she didn't think find that awkward...what if she thinks I'm weird for ignoring the sneeze?
So three seconds passed, and I'm just getting over it, when...she sneezes again. And it started all over:
Ohgod, not again! I can't say anything now since I didn't say bless you the first time...aghhh...
And the moment passed. Again. As you can see, I'm kind of oversensitive to social situations (which makes me good at interacting with people, but can lead to stuff like this). How about you? Do you ever get similar problems? Would you rather someone ignored you if you sneezed, or if they acknowledged it somehow?
I had gotten to an interesting part, when the girl sneezed really loudly.
And then came the mental conflict.
Oh crap...what do I do now? Do I say "bless you"? I dunno...I would get embarrassed if someone did that, but some people are annoyed if you don't say anything. Ack, now the moment's passing...I shouldn't say anything. But she's right behind me! Oh well, it's way too late to say it now. I hope she didn't think find that awkward...what if she thinks I'm weird for ignoring the sneeze?
So three seconds passed, and I'm just getting over it, when...she sneezes again. And it started all over:
Ohgod, not again! I can't say anything now since I didn't say bless you the first time...aghhh...
And the moment passed. Again. As you can see, I'm kind of oversensitive to social situations (which makes me good at interacting with people, but can lead to stuff like this). How about you? Do you ever get similar problems? Would you rather someone ignored you if you sneezed, or if they acknowledged it somehow?
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