11.15.2011
Geeky, Nerdy and Crafty
In the past few months, I've created a couple of highly nerdy crafts. Though I haven't talked about it recently, my love for the TV series Doctor Who has reached an all time high. One day while browsing the internet for cute Doctor Who things that people have made, I came across this magnificent purse.
11.09.2011
NaNoWriMo: Week One
(I am far too lazy to edit this and make sure it makes sense. Forgive me.)
In this first week of NaNoWriMo, I've actually discovered a lot of things about my book, and about how I write.
One: I can't write at home.
Don't get me wrong, I love my house. But when I'm home, I just want to watch tv, or play a video game, or something. I don't want to write. I can, I just don't like to. Lately, I've take to walking over to the library after work, and writing for a few hours before heading home. This seems to be helping a lot. As do the write-ins that my region has scheduled fairly frequently. Which brings me to the next thing I've learned.
Two: Write-ins + Anna = SUCCESS!!!
I had decided to try and get more involved with the NaNoWriMo community this year, in hopes that it'd help me stay on track a bit more. We have some pretty amazing Municipal Liaisons, who have scheduled a lot of Write-Ins. I had never been to one, so I was a little weary, thinking that they might not be the best for my word count. After going to one, I'm hooked. The first one I went too was pretty relaxed. Even the ML's said that it was one of the most productive and low key Write-Ins they had ever been too. Though part of the reason for that might have been because we were not only at library, but a church library. *shrug*
Three: Traditions
There are a few things that I have to do or have when I write.
I. I have to listen to the NaNoWriMo song before I write. It reminds me of what I'm doing.
II. I have to wear my clover bracelet that my best friend gave me for two reasons, one because my best friend gave it to me and it reminds me that I have support in doing my NaNo. Two, because as of a few weeks ago, I added a new charm to the bracelet that is a snowflake. This snowflake is on this bracelet because of all the things that Helen and I bonded over, Meg Cabot was the first thing that brought us together. In one of the Princess Diaries books, Michael gives Mia a snowflake necklace. This snowflake also reminds me of an author that I aspire to be.
III. I have to document my progress on as many social networking sites as possible. Mostly it's Facebook and Twitter.
Four: When in doubt, use Write Or Die
Write or Die is a web application where you can set a goal of how many words you want to get written in a time limit. My standard is 500 words in 10-15 minutes. The thing with Write or Die is that I set it to
Consequences: Kamikaze
Grace Period: Strict
What this does is when I stop writing it sets a time. If I stop writing for more than a few seconds, it starts killing off my word count and then I have to make it up with less time. It sounds a little evil, and it sort of is, but when you're down by 2,000 and can't think of what else to write, you'd be amazed at how the words flow when you know they're going to commit suicide if you stop.
Now that I've found things that I know help me. I'm feeling pretty good about this year's NaNo...even if as of this moment, I'm like 3200 words behind.
In this first week of NaNoWriMo, I've actually discovered a lot of things about my book, and about how I write.
One: I can't write at home.
Don't get me wrong, I love my house. But when I'm home, I just want to watch tv, or play a video game, or something. I don't want to write. I can, I just don't like to. Lately, I've take to walking over to the library after work, and writing for a few hours before heading home. This seems to be helping a lot. As do the write-ins that my region has scheduled fairly frequently. Which brings me to the next thing I've learned.
Two: Write-ins + Anna = SUCCESS!!!
I had decided to try and get more involved with the NaNoWriMo community this year, in hopes that it'd help me stay on track a bit more. We have some pretty amazing Municipal Liaisons, who have scheduled a lot of Write-Ins. I had never been to one, so I was a little weary, thinking that they might not be the best for my word count. After going to one, I'm hooked. The first one I went too was pretty relaxed. Even the ML's said that it was one of the most productive and low key Write-Ins they had ever been too. Though part of the reason for that might have been because we were not only at library, but a church library. *shrug*
Three: Traditions
There are a few things that I have to do or have when I write.
III. I have to document my progress on as many social networking sites as possible. Mostly it's Facebook and Twitter.
Four: When in doubt, use Write Or Die
Write or Die is a web application where you can set a goal of how many words you want to get written in a time limit. My standard is 500 words in 10-15 minutes. The thing with Write or Die is that I set it to
Consequences: Kamikaze
Grace Period: Strict
What this does is when I stop writing it sets a time. If I stop writing for more than a few seconds, it starts killing off my word count and then I have to make it up with less time. It sounds a little evil, and it sort of is, but when you're down by 2,000 and can't think of what else to write, you'd be amazed at how the words flow when you know they're going to commit suicide if you stop.
Now that I've found things that I know help me. I'm feeling pretty good about this year's NaNo...even if as of this moment, I'm like 3200 words behind.
10.26.2011
Allowing Yourself to Suck
Q. How do you deal with writers’ block?
A. I just give myself permission to suck. I delete about 90% of my first drafts (the only exception to this rule so far has been Will Grayson, Will Grayson) so it doesn’t really matter much if on a particular day I write beautiful and brilliant prose that will stick in the minds of my readers forever, because there’s a 90% chance I’m just gonna delete whatever I write anyway. I find this hugely liberating.
I also like to remind myself of something my dad said to me once in re. writers’ block: “Coal miners don’t get coal miners’ block.”
-John Green
Oh John Green, Thank you for giving me a motto to live by through all of November and the craziness that is NaNoWriMo. This piece of advice struck me, since I firmly believe that my writing is the suckiest of all suck. It's the Suck Queen of the Suck Empire. But I've never thought about giving myself permission to be a sucky writer.
In the months since discovering the Vlogbrothers, John Green has intrigued me particularly. I've never found an author that communicates with their readers so much. While communicating with his brother through YouTube videos, he also lets his fans know him as a person. I know a lot more about him than I do about some of my all time favorite authors, and it's because of this relationship that he creates with his readers that these books are so amazing. Well that, and John Green is clearly a genius. Or insane.
John Green. Author. Nerdfighter. Youtuber. Person insane enough to sign all first edition copies of his new book The Fault in Our Stars (that you can buy here). Thank you for reminding me that it's okay to allow myself to suck.
(Another thing that is going to get me through NaNoWriMo? This song.)
That all being said, with NaNoWriMo just around the corner, I'm using this piece of advice as my personal motto for the month of November. I may not finish NaNoWriMo, but I'm definitely going to try, and going to give myself permission to suck at it. Which won't be too difficult.
If you want follow my progress, feel free to add me as a writing buddy here.
10.06.2011
Audio Books
(Clearly the whole 10 day meme thing didn't work... oh well)
Do you ever have those moments when you're reading/listening to a book, and your suddenly reminded why you love that book?
I had that last week, while listening to my audio copy of the book Stardust. If you've never read Stardust, you need to. Neil Gaiman describes the book perfectly. It's a fairy tale, for adults. Don't worry, its not a 'dirty' fairy tale, just one that hosts a main male and female character over the age of 18.
At the end of the audio book, is an interview with the writer (and narrator in this case) of Stardust, Neil Gaiman.
I admit, I'm a person who does this. I tend to skip over paragraphs if I can tell that it's all description (it's especially bad in the Lord of the Rings books). Which is why when it comes to fantasy books, I think I may like them more if I hear them in audio format, before trying pick them up and read them straight.
What I don't like, is people telling me that because I'm listening to them, that I'm not "reading" them. I completely disagree. I'm not saying that you should listen to books rather than reading them. I do, however, think that Neil Gaiman has a point. Because I wasn't able to skip over the highly descriptive paragraphs of Stardust, I was able to absorb more and could probably tell you more about the book.
For me audio books aren't just about having something on as background noise, its about a different way to experience the books. Especially in the case of Stardust. Having this book be read by the author himself, makes it so that when you imagine everything happening in your head, you're doing it with emphasis on the parts that he meant for you to in the book. You're hearing exactly as he has written it.
What it comes down to, is that as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter how you're reading, or what you're reading. Just that you're reading.
Do you ever have those moments when you're reading/listening to a book, and your suddenly reminded why you love that book?
I had that last week, while listening to my audio copy of the book Stardust. If you've never read Stardust, you need to. Neil Gaiman describes the book perfectly. It's a fairy tale, for adults. Don't worry, its not a 'dirty' fairy tale, just one that hosts a main male and female character over the age of 18.
At the end of the audio book, is an interview with the writer (and narrator in this case) of Stardust, Neil Gaiman.
"For me the big magic of audio books, is the relationship that the listener ends up having with everything. You can't that thing you do in a book, where you read a sentence, realize the entire passage is description and go 'Okay, yeah we get it. The castle was big.' And your eye slides down to the next line of dialogue. You sort of glide over it I think. You don't, you're going to get every word of it. And its a wonderfully different reading experience."
I admit, I'm a person who does this. I tend to skip over paragraphs if I can tell that it's all description (it's especially bad in the Lord of the Rings books). Which is why when it comes to fantasy books, I think I may like them more if I hear them in audio format, before trying pick them up and read them straight.
What I don't like, is people telling me that because I'm listening to them, that I'm not "reading" them. I completely disagree. I'm not saying that you should listen to books rather than reading them. I do, however, think that Neil Gaiman has a point. Because I wasn't able to skip over the highly descriptive paragraphs of Stardust, I was able to absorb more and could probably tell you more about the book.
For me audio books aren't just about having something on as background noise, its about a different way to experience the books. Especially in the case of Stardust. Having this book be read by the author himself, makes it so that when you imagine everything happening in your head, you're doing it with emphasis on the parts that he meant for you to in the book. You're hearing exactly as he has written it.
What it comes down to, is that as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter how you're reading, or what you're reading. Just that you're reading.
9.30.2011
10 Day You Challenge ` Day Six: Six Places
DAY SIX: SIX PLACES
Ireland
There isn't a place on earth I would rather go than to the Emerald Isles. I could try and blame my mother, grandmother, and aunts for this want, but it's more like it's written in my DNA (really, it sort of is, we Abrams are VERY Irish). Ireland has always been on the top of my list of places to go. Probably why I chose my twitter screen name: luckiestxclover
Greece
I'm not sure what is really drawing me to this place, but it is among the places that I would love to go.
New York
I went to New York almost two years ago, and now all I want to do is go back and really experience it. I would love to spend a solid week there. Preferably with tickets to see a Broadway show every night.
London
Do I really need to justify myself with this one. It's London. I just... I want to go. Maybe I'll be kidnapped by the Doctor... (a girl can dream)
Wizarding World of Harry Potter
AKA Orlando! *must resist the urge to start singing Book of Mormon: The Musical* Sure I'd like to go to Universal Stuidos and Disney World, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it's just screaming my name.
Chicago
I went there once when I was 14, and from what I can remember it was fantastic. I would love to go back and sight see
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