No, not New York. The library.
I'm so comfortable around here that I walk around without my shoes.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Thursday, December 08, 2005
*big breath*
This is not just any big breath - it's a dual big breath!
Yesterday the first issue of the Anderson Underground, the new opinion paper on campus, went up on the web. It still needs to be promoted a lot, but it's up! I already have two of my 'staff' writers saying they want to write for the next issue, which I'm excited about. I hope this will snowball.
So it's a big breath of relief and a big breath of anticipation. How will the student body respond? How will the faculty respond? Will it just be completely ignored? That would be the worst.
So here goes...
the Anderson Underground
Yesterday the first issue of the Anderson Underground, the new opinion paper on campus, went up on the web. It still needs to be promoted a lot, but it's up! I already have two of my 'staff' writers saying they want to write for the next issue, which I'm excited about. I hope this will snowball.
So it's a big breath of relief and a big breath of anticipation. How will the student body respond? How will the faculty respond? Will it just be completely ignored? That would be the worst.
So here goes...
the Anderson Underground
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
You Learn New Things Ever Day
...about yourself. I'm learning that I'm really not afraid to talk about anything.
Where to go from here
So, after completing my NaNoWriMo novel (badly titled "Ruined Worlds" for anyone who wants to know) - yay! - I've thought about how I'm going to proceed with my writing life. NaNo's been one of the things that have gotten me focused again on writing, not worrying about editing or publishing or anything else, really. I'm giving myself December to send just a few things out, because it's been a while, and then I'm cutting myself off from that whole sphere of the writing industry for a while. I'm having a few thoughts on how to continue with writing, though. I'd like some sort of structure, so here are some ideas I've come up with for the upcoming year:
National Novel Writing Year: Spin off of NaNoWriMo. You have a word count goal for the whole year (I think that's how it works. They changed it a little), ranging from 25K-3 million. You can write short stories or novels. There's no real montly commtiment, I think, though they do tally everyone's numbers at the end of the month. I like the end of the month dedication. Keeps me on my toes and productive, too.
National Novel Writing Month-Year: Subtly different from NaNoWriYe. Here, you must write 50,000 words - towards a novel - a month for a year. You can continue novels throughout more than one month, start over if you don't make it, etc. It's just like NaNoWriMo, except you can use previously written material (what you've written in earlier months). This is novels only, however, and I'm really more of a short story-novella girl. This would be really really intense and yet amazing discipline. It's not hard if you just write every day. I can make 1667 words in an hour and half, an hour if I focus.
Club 100: 100 words for 100 days. Period. If you get any less than a 100 words for a day, you go back to Day 1. Doesn't sound hard after NaNo. I'm thinking about doing this in addition to whatever other plan I choose (I sound like I'm buying a cell phone).
Amy's Plan: Amy's plan is a rotating cycle of three or four different monthly plans. It looks something like this: January - Screenplay, February - 2 short stories and 5 poems, March - novel, April - 2 short stories and 5 poems. Then it repeats (and I'm making sure to plan a novel month for NaNo). I can, of course, write in addition to those planned. And I can write with a partner for the screenplay ('cause Heather has a great idea, and we're going to start writing it soon!). I like this one 'cause I can do more than just short stories and novels. And it mixes it up. And there's a monthly goal. Just what I want! *smiles like I didn't create it*
My friend Mike has committed himself to write something for... the rest of his life, I think. I think I'll start with Club 100. No matter what I choose, I think I'm just going to focus on first drafts. I might give myself an opportunity to revise and submit halfway through the year (take out a poem-short story month), but that's not the focus of this next year. This year, I just want to write. If I go on my route, I'll have about 3 screenplays, 8 short stories, 3 novels, and 30 poems at the end of the year. Not bad. Then I can work on editing those and sending them out.
That's one thing I've learned through NaNo and my workshop. It really is all about the first draft. Just write it, then edit it if you want. But you have to write it first. And it doesn't have to be and probably won't be any good! Hmm, I think my internal editor is still on vacation from NaNo. You can tell she left during November from the marks on my Radaker paper. Oops, hehe.
Cheers!
National Novel Writing Year: Spin off of NaNoWriMo. You have a word count goal for the whole year (I think that's how it works. They changed it a little), ranging from 25K-3 million. You can write short stories or novels. There's no real montly commtiment, I think, though they do tally everyone's numbers at the end of the month. I like the end of the month dedication. Keeps me on my toes and productive, too.
National Novel Writing Month-Year: Subtly different from NaNoWriYe. Here, you must write 50,000 words - towards a novel - a month for a year. You can continue novels throughout more than one month, start over if you don't make it, etc. It's just like NaNoWriMo, except you can use previously written material (what you've written in earlier months). This is novels only, however, and I'm really more of a short story-novella girl. This would be really really intense and yet amazing discipline. It's not hard if you just write every day. I can make 1667 words in an hour and half, an hour if I focus.
Club 100: 100 words for 100 days. Period. If you get any less than a 100 words for a day, you go back to Day 1. Doesn't sound hard after NaNo. I'm thinking about doing this in addition to whatever other plan I choose (I sound like I'm buying a cell phone).
Amy's Plan: Amy's plan is a rotating cycle of three or four different monthly plans. It looks something like this: January - Screenplay, February - 2 short stories and 5 poems, March - novel, April - 2 short stories and 5 poems. Then it repeats (and I'm making sure to plan a novel month for NaNo). I can, of course, write in addition to those planned. And I can write with a partner for the screenplay ('cause Heather has a great idea, and we're going to start writing it soon!). I like this one 'cause I can do more than just short stories and novels. And it mixes it up. And there's a monthly goal. Just what I want! *smiles like I didn't create it*
My friend Mike has committed himself to write something for... the rest of his life, I think. I think I'll start with Club 100. No matter what I choose, I think I'm just going to focus on first drafts. I might give myself an opportunity to revise and submit halfway through the year (take out a poem-short story month), but that's not the focus of this next year. This year, I just want to write. If I go on my route, I'll have about 3 screenplays, 8 short stories, 3 novels, and 30 poems at the end of the year. Not bad. Then I can work on editing those and sending them out.
That's one thing I've learned through NaNo and my workshop. It really is all about the first draft. Just write it, then edit it if you want. But you have to write it first. And it doesn't have to be and probably won't be any good! Hmm, I think my internal editor is still on vacation from NaNo. You can tell she left during November from the marks on my Radaker paper. Oops, hehe.
Cheers!
Friday, December 02, 2005
Mark of a Saint
My story Mark of a Saint is up in the December issue of Deep Magic as of yesterday. It's a prequel to my story The Saintly Fianche of Malitane that ran in their June 2005 issue, and I recommend reading Fianche of Malitane first. The current issue of DM is free, and back issues cost a couple of bucks to download. OR you can get a one year membership for $25 that gives you access to all three years of back issues, blog space on their forums, access to a criting group the editors participate in, and other fun stuff, including an exclusive issues of staff stories coming out within the next month or so.
Just to plug my dear DM.
Just to plug my dear DM.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
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