But, I learned a lot about my book.
First of all, I figured out that this will be a bit more than 50,000 words if I keep at this pace. I also learned that certain characters have decided to become more important than I intended them to be.
I also learned that it is ridiculously hard to make a character move on when I'm so enraptured with where she is now.
I've never understood what authors meant when they talked about just absolutely having to write, about having a character assert himself or herself so firmly in the forefront of their mind and refusing to leave until they are put to paper, but I've really grown fond of my characters. This is such a rough sketch of my novel and what it will be, but I've gained some understanding about how I want the characters to be and feel, what their weaknesses will be, their flaws, etc. This truly is the most I've written of any one project. I'm almost to forty pages typed, double-spaced, in twelve-point Times New Roman (like a good college student...er, former college student). I would also be willing to say that it's the most I've written in a month for any collective projects, though I'm not sure because all my papers are currently running together in my mind.
Anyway, thank you for your encouragement. I will definitely keep writing (this lit a fire under me, so to speak, and I have that feeling again of having to get back to that really good book I'm reading...only I'm writing it!), and I may just keep a word count up there so I can both keep my likely disinterested readers up-to-date and have a visible way to keep myself accountable.
On another note, I've rekindled my love with Pixar lately. I got Wall-E as an early Christmas present, and I saw Bolt yesterda. Both are beautiful movies, and I think Wall-E is probably one of the more important movies they've made. Of course, being in the middle of a job search, I couldn't resist looking at their web site to see if they were hiring. Sadly, I don't qualify for any of the positions...though the thought of working for Pixar makes me want to go back for another four years and get a graphic arts degree. Fear not, reader, it is more than likely my fear of my lack of qualifications...not a lot of experience, odd degree with little training in something I can use without a few more years in school...etc. I may entertain for a while the idea of going back for an art degree (and someday it would be amazing to do that...absolutely amazing), but I think I'll stick with one career plan before I go for another. Of course, who knows what I'll say tomorrow or the next day.
Anyway, Pixar is amazing. I think a good guage of a company is whether when you see a mini-documentary showing a company's history and culture, you want to work there immediately (I did this with Jet Blue airways, too...but I think it would be more fun working at Pixar...it would be nice if they randomly decided to hire a "random, will do whatever" person, who worked as a gopher, receptionist, and occasionally came up with brilliant ideas for films. I could dream, right?).
I used to joke that my degree - major and minors - was the triad of not being able to find a job or get paid. I mean, Psychology, Art and Religion are not the big earning areas of study, though I love them so dearly. I can't picture majoring in any other areas (apart from English perhaps...which at least means I could be a teacher and would likely have a job...which is something I'm bad at and really don't like to do, oh! or folklore! Is there a degree in fairy tales?). I never realized how frightening this year off could be. I didn't know I would graduate into such a lousy job market, or that it would take me so long to find...anything. But it was nice to have this time to write, and it is nice to know that I have a place to go (I have no idea what I'd be doing if my parents had said "too bad, you're out of the house and good luck!" though really, who says that when their child is legitimately looking for a career?). More than nice really.
Methinks I've been rampling. I apologize. If you've made it this long, gentle reader, I don't deserve you!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Saturday, November 8, 2008
So...I took a two day break.
Sue me. ;)
Wednesday I got a bit over 300 words done, and when other nights I've gotten about five times that completed, I tend to get a bit disheartened. Plus, I got asked to help out with teachers' kids while the teachers of the preschool at the church went to a certification class for two days...so I was with kids from 8-5 without a break today and yesterday...and though I somehow manage to stay awake ridiculously late (I definitely could have gone to sleep about, oh I don't know...five hours ago), I don't have energy to devote to finding good words among the cobwebs in the corners of my mind and string them together in a way that is becoming and entices the reader to pursue the next page. (ooo! That was good! Too bad it won't work in my novel!)
So, while I feel guilty about not reaching 10,000 words by Friday, I think my break was justified.
Today the kids were just as hilarious as yesterday, probably more so. One girl was "selling money for free" on the playground and gave me a wood chip that was worth "infinity and beyond dollars" so I would never have to worry about money. (is that telling of our economy or what, that a six year old is playing out money problems!) I of course recieved this gift with due reverence, holding it aloft so the sun could touch its woody goodness, my eyes wide and my mouth in an expression of awe and humility, and one foot ever so delicately pointed behind me in an almost ballet like manner. She was well pleased with my reaction of course. She also gave me a 'diamond carrot' which was 'the most precious thing in the world.'
Another boy and I were playing ice cream shop, switching back and forth at being the ice cream man (I was also the ice cream man, not the ice cream woman). Whenever I asked him for a type of ice cream, he would say (in his amazingly adorable 3 year old voice) "we don't have that. You have to go over there."
Once he, a little girl, and another little boy were all "selling food," so I got a hot dog from one, ice cream from another, and a cheeseburger with fries (that cost 'zero cents') and they tried to give me more. I said "oh no guys, all this food has made me so full there isn't any room in my tummy for any more food!" The little ice cream boy said "No it isn't! You need some cheetos!"
I pointed at him and said "You are going to be a salesman when you grow up."
Another little girl isn't quite two yet but she speaks really well. We were out on the playground and she bumped her head (ever so slightly and she was totally fine) and came over to me red-faced: "I bumped my head!"
I sat her in my lap, and just as we got situated she said "I feel better!"
Then of course I realized her diaper might be dirty.
"Are you dirty?"
"No" she replied
"May I check?"
"sure!" With that, she stepped down from my lap and bent over so I could check her diaper. Absolutely hilarious.
The people on the nursery staff (that's me and a few other women) were aided by some parent volunteers, and today I recieved the antithesis to my normal age question. Twice -- not once -- TWICE, a mom said to me "So, do you have a little boy or girl that goes to the preschool?" Each time I looked at the woman and smiled and said 'Thank you!' and of course set the record straight...no telling how old they thought I was.
Despite the long hours and many children with varying levels of independence and stubbornness (often inversely proportional -- that was interesting), I had such a fun time with these kiddos and sort of wish it was something that happened more often. Probably not at nine hours a day...but hey, I did about a month's worth of Saturday and Sunday hours in just two days (and on a month where I've needed to take off two weekends in a row!).
Still looking for a more permanent, less higgledy-piggledy scheduled job for weekdays (I suspect I'll stay at the nursery until I move too far away...I've made friends), and as of this week I have four new applications staring employers in the eye, so I just need to wait it out. I've lowered my standards to "Hey, it has benefits!" from "I really need to use my degree and this is paying way too little a month," so I've applied to a lot of receptionist and office assistant jobs and then I just applied to a Librarian Assistant position (I could do worse than spending my days around books, I really could!) that looks like it would be amazingly awesome. Let's hope and pray that no one finds out about the job so I can get it and be well on my way to a topknot, cardigan, and eyeglass chain (and I am absolutley serious, librarian chic will make its comeback).
Tomorrow I will work on the book after I get the dress altered, work, and engage in social activities (people who AREN'T doing NaNoWriMo and are not just there to work on their novel!). I'm aiming for at least 500 words.
Wednesday I got a bit over 300 words done, and when other nights I've gotten about five times that completed, I tend to get a bit disheartened. Plus, I got asked to help out with teachers' kids while the teachers of the preschool at the church went to a certification class for two days...so I was with kids from 8-5 without a break today and yesterday...and though I somehow manage to stay awake ridiculously late (I definitely could have gone to sleep about, oh I don't know...five hours ago), I don't have energy to devote to finding good words among the cobwebs in the corners of my mind and string them together in a way that is becoming and entices the reader to pursue the next page. (ooo! That was good! Too bad it won't work in my novel!)
So, while I feel guilty about not reaching 10,000 words by Friday, I think my break was justified.
Today the kids were just as hilarious as yesterday, probably more so. One girl was "selling money for free" on the playground and gave me a wood chip that was worth "infinity and beyond dollars" so I would never have to worry about money. (is that telling of our economy or what, that a six year old is playing out money problems!) I of course recieved this gift with due reverence, holding it aloft so the sun could touch its woody goodness, my eyes wide and my mouth in an expression of awe and humility, and one foot ever so delicately pointed behind me in an almost ballet like manner. She was well pleased with my reaction of course. She also gave me a 'diamond carrot' which was 'the most precious thing in the world.'
Another boy and I were playing ice cream shop, switching back and forth at being the ice cream man (I was also the ice cream man, not the ice cream woman). Whenever I asked him for a type of ice cream, he would say (in his amazingly adorable 3 year old voice) "we don't have that. You have to go over there."
Once he, a little girl, and another little boy were all "selling food," so I got a hot dog from one, ice cream from another, and a cheeseburger with fries (that cost 'zero cents') and they tried to give me more. I said "oh no guys, all this food has made me so full there isn't any room in my tummy for any more food!" The little ice cream boy said "No it isn't! You need some cheetos!"
I pointed at him and said "You are going to be a salesman when you grow up."
Another little girl isn't quite two yet but she speaks really well. We were out on the playground and she bumped her head (ever so slightly and she was totally fine) and came over to me red-faced: "I bumped my head!"
I sat her in my lap, and just as we got situated she said "I feel better!"
Then of course I realized her diaper might be dirty.
"Are you dirty?"
"No" she replied
"May I check?"
"sure!" With that, she stepped down from my lap and bent over so I could check her diaper. Absolutely hilarious.
The people on the nursery staff (that's me and a few other women) were aided by some parent volunteers, and today I recieved the antithesis to my normal age question. Twice -- not once -- TWICE, a mom said to me "So, do you have a little boy or girl that goes to the preschool?" Each time I looked at the woman and smiled and said 'Thank you!' and of course set the record straight...no telling how old they thought I was.
Despite the long hours and many children with varying levels of independence and stubbornness (often inversely proportional -- that was interesting), I had such a fun time with these kiddos and sort of wish it was something that happened more often. Probably not at nine hours a day...but hey, I did about a month's worth of Saturday and Sunday hours in just two days (and on a month where I've needed to take off two weekends in a row!).
Still looking for a more permanent, less higgledy-piggledy scheduled job for weekdays (I suspect I'll stay at the nursery until I move too far away...I've made friends), and as of this week I have four new applications staring employers in the eye, so I just need to wait it out. I've lowered my standards to "Hey, it has benefits!" from "I really need to use my degree and this is paying way too little a month," so I've applied to a lot of receptionist and office assistant jobs and then I just applied to a Librarian Assistant position (I could do worse than spending my days around books, I really could!) that looks like it would be amazingly awesome. Let's hope and pray that no one finds out about the job so I can get it and be well on my way to a topknot, cardigan, and eyeglass chain (and I am absolutley serious, librarian chic will make its comeback).
Tomorrow I will work on the book after I get the dress altered, work, and engage in social activities (people who AREN'T doing NaNoWriMo and are not just there to work on their novel!). I'm aiming for at least 500 words.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Day 3: thinking
I promise, I'm not slacking...okay, I am, but I think I'm doing okay schedule-wise.
I'm doing an update on flickr for every day of NaNoWriMo...I don't know why. Maybe it gets the creative juices flowing.
So...if you want to have a visual of my updates...check my flickr (posted on my links).
Sunday, November 2, 2008
NaNoWriMo
So, I'm going to take a bit of a hiatus.
You see, I've been trying to write this certain book for about four years. And November is National Novel Writers Month. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.
I have 20 pages typed so far, so I can't exactly be a real competitor. We're supposed to start from scratch, but seeing as I've already started...that can't happen for me. My goals are really just to get through a basic rough draft of the plot, though there will be plenty of fleshing out afterwards.
So, I may post a weekly word count, but I'm going to try to focus my writing on my novel, instead of on my blog. I doubt anyone will be too disappointed.
Anyway, good thoughts and encouragement are appreciated!
Until December, then!
You see, I've been trying to write this certain book for about four years. And November is National Novel Writers Month. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.
I have 20 pages typed so far, so I can't exactly be a real competitor. We're supposed to start from scratch, but seeing as I've already started...that can't happen for me. My goals are really just to get through a basic rough draft of the plot, though there will be plenty of fleshing out afterwards.
So, I may post a weekly word count, but I'm going to try to focus my writing on my novel, instead of on my blog. I doubt anyone will be too disappointed.
Anyway, good thoughts and encouragement are appreciated!
Until December, then!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Acting out of anger and its results
When I was very little, probably from ages 3-7, I used to roll down the car windows and yell at people.
"Put that child in a safety belt!"
"Stop smoking!"
And various other things.
I remember on a road trip into West Texas I made signs about how evil hunting was and put them up against the window. Dad made me take them down because he was afraid someone would shoot at us.
Of course, while it's somewhat funny to imagine an even smaller Kate pronouncing edicts on passers-by, I can imagine that my efforts did very little good.
You see, anger breeds anger. When someone yells at someone else, the response is usually to yell back (unless you're like me, in which case depending on the argument I more likely than not try to run away).
Look at a football game (and no, I can't believe I'm using a sports metaphor, either): when the offensive team is coming on strong, the defensive team steps it up to combat it. They don't step aside and say "Oh my, you're right, here, go for the touchdown. You've proven your point brilliantly."
This is why in a heated debate, when emotions are running high, no one seems to get anywhere. I'm sure you've seen two people yelling at each other, regardless of topic, and you knew that neither one would yield.
I've had people tell me that using tact or approaching an argument from a roundabout manner in order to make the other person see for themselves that they are wrong is dishonest, that it feels like lying. Those same people tend to try to be combative and attack an argument head-on. I think that if you really want to convince someone that they are in the wrong, you have to go for the weakest part of their argument, which often is not the forefront of the person's platform.
I regularly read a certain blog and am considering discontinuing my readership. The blog focuses on outing people that treat animals badly. A lot of good has come from it, but at the same time I believe much hurt comes from it. Readers go to the featured person and, using foul language (never a good way to propose change, by the way) attack the person instead of kindly saying what is being done wrong or offering a small suggestion, or even better referring these people to the local authorities.
Then they link back to the blog entry, so the person being exposed eventually comes onto the comments page and tries to defend himself/herself against sometimes as many as a hundred different readers. The trap is set. The person tries to put up a good fight, but is eviscerated by the other posters. In defeat, the person retreats (usually threatening a lawsuit, to replies of "I dare you to try" from the blog author) and absolutely NO GOOD is done. Nothing changes. None of these people say "You know what, now that I've seen my pictures on your blog, I think I really do need to make an effort to fix this. Will you help me? May I have suggestions?"
Furthermore, the posters on the comments attack each other. They do this after misreading a comment, after noticing spelling errors, etc. In a place where a common bond should be evident, anger and disdain prevail.
I know that in this day and age tact and diplomacy have virtually gone out the window. We need not worry about how the other person feels or really affecting change in any way because the other person is behind our computer screen and thus faceless. It frightens me to imagine people speaking to each other face-to-face in the same way they do online. What frightens me more is that my generation seems to shirk off grammar and spelling, along with general disregard for all others besides oneself. At least, these are the people choosing to come to their keyboard.
I have often been told to leave a situation which angers me, calm down, and then discuss it rationally with the offender. Have other parents decided to take a "shoot first, ask later" mentality in teaching their children?
"Put that child in a safety belt!"
"Stop smoking!"
And various other things.
I remember on a road trip into West Texas I made signs about how evil hunting was and put them up against the window. Dad made me take them down because he was afraid someone would shoot at us.
Of course, while it's somewhat funny to imagine an even smaller Kate pronouncing edicts on passers-by, I can imagine that my efforts did very little good.
You see, anger breeds anger. When someone yells at someone else, the response is usually to yell back (unless you're like me, in which case depending on the argument I more likely than not try to run away).
Look at a football game (and no, I can't believe I'm using a sports metaphor, either): when the offensive team is coming on strong, the defensive team steps it up to combat it. They don't step aside and say "Oh my, you're right, here, go for the touchdown. You've proven your point brilliantly."
This is why in a heated debate, when emotions are running high, no one seems to get anywhere. I'm sure you've seen two people yelling at each other, regardless of topic, and you knew that neither one would yield.
I've had people tell me that using tact or approaching an argument from a roundabout manner in order to make the other person see for themselves that they are wrong is dishonest, that it feels like lying. Those same people tend to try to be combative and attack an argument head-on. I think that if you really want to convince someone that they are in the wrong, you have to go for the weakest part of their argument, which often is not the forefront of the person's platform.
I regularly read a certain blog and am considering discontinuing my readership. The blog focuses on outing people that treat animals badly. A lot of good has come from it, but at the same time I believe much hurt comes from it. Readers go to the featured person and, using foul language (never a good way to propose change, by the way) attack the person instead of kindly saying what is being done wrong or offering a small suggestion, or even better referring these people to the local authorities.
Then they link back to the blog entry, so the person being exposed eventually comes onto the comments page and tries to defend himself/herself against sometimes as many as a hundred different readers. The trap is set. The person tries to put up a good fight, but is eviscerated by the other posters. In defeat, the person retreats (usually threatening a lawsuit, to replies of "I dare you to try" from the blog author) and absolutely NO GOOD is done. Nothing changes. None of these people say "You know what, now that I've seen my pictures on your blog, I think I really do need to make an effort to fix this. Will you help me? May I have suggestions?"
Furthermore, the posters on the comments attack each other. They do this after misreading a comment, after noticing spelling errors, etc. In a place where a common bond should be evident, anger and disdain prevail.
I know that in this day and age tact and diplomacy have virtually gone out the window. We need not worry about how the other person feels or really affecting change in any way because the other person is behind our computer screen and thus faceless. It frightens me to imagine people speaking to each other face-to-face in the same way they do online. What frightens me more is that my generation seems to shirk off grammar and spelling, along with general disregard for all others besides oneself. At least, these are the people choosing to come to their keyboard.
I have often been told to leave a situation which angers me, calm down, and then discuss it rationally with the offender. Have other parents decided to take a "shoot first, ask later" mentality in teaching their children?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)