Have you ever looked around and noticed that your life is on a collision course? You can see that it is going to be bad, but you can't actually do anything about it?
That's where I am right now and it is taking a lot of my energy to deal with it. I have a lot of family issues that are coming to a head, finals, and a bunch of other things that are all about to invade my life at once. Some of them I have some control over, others I am helpless to stop.
So, I know that I haven't been around here a lot, but I am officially saying that I am going to be away a while. I just have too much that has to get done and I am trying to find ways to pull as much of my life together as possible.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
In case you didn't know...
I'm impatient. Really, REALLY, REALLY, impatient. I like things to happen the way I want them to happen, at the exact time I want them to happen. I know, right now your thinking, doesn't everyone? Well, I suppose this is true, but I have a really hard time waiting for things.
I have to believe that a lot of this comes from the fact that a lot of good things happen to me. In the past year I've finished my master's degree, visited three countries, gotten married, gotten into and started a PhD program, been accepted to a training program, been awarded a fellowship, and been accepted to present at a conference. So I suppose it's safe to say that things are going pretty well for me. But, (and this is a really big but) for everything that I can list that I've gotten there are things that I haven't gotten. Internships and scholarships that I was rejected from, my first choice school for my master's that turned me down (I imagine they were laughing while they were writing that letter), I was not awarded another training position, and a hundred other things that didn't work out the way I planned.
So why exactly does this make me impatient? I think its because I image that things will always work out. Sure, when I get rejected from something I'm devastated. I mope around the house for a few days, cry in my office, and eat a lot of chocolate. But at the end of the day I honestly believe if I try hard enough, for a long enough period of time, I will eventually succeed. I'm not sure how I got into this mindset, but it has served me well. Except for the fact that it make me really impatient, because I believe I will eventually succeed and I would really like to get to that part. I'd really like to skip the parts that I"m in right now and get to the part where I am succeeding.
I have to believe that a lot of this comes from the fact that a lot of good things happen to me. In the past year I've finished my master's degree, visited three countries, gotten married, gotten into and started a PhD program, been accepted to a training program, been awarded a fellowship, and been accepted to present at a conference. So I suppose it's safe to say that things are going pretty well for me. But, (and this is a really big but) for everything that I can list that I've gotten there are things that I haven't gotten. Internships and scholarships that I was rejected from, my first choice school for my master's that turned me down (I imagine they were laughing while they were writing that letter), I was not awarded another training position, and a hundred other things that didn't work out the way I planned.
So why exactly does this make me impatient? I think its because I image that things will always work out. Sure, when I get rejected from something I'm devastated. I mope around the house for a few days, cry in my office, and eat a lot of chocolate. But at the end of the day I honestly believe if I try hard enough, for a long enough period of time, I will eventually succeed. I'm not sure how I got into this mindset, but it has served me well. Except for the fact that it make me really impatient, because I believe I will eventually succeed and I would really like to get to that part. I'd really like to skip the parts that I"m in right now and get to the part where I am succeeding.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Someday
Someday I'll be amazing. I'll graduate from my PhD program, get a job, own a house, two and half dogs, and be able to do whatever I want. I'll win the awards, be the one who gets the applause, and find myself with a thirty page CV. Someday I'll finish my novel, query, get an agent, a publisher, and I'll visit my book at Barnes and Noble every week. Someday I'll learn to start projects before the day before they are due so I won't have to stay up till 1AM writing a paper. Someday I'll be brave enough to ask for things I know I deserve. I'll manage to overcome my insecurities. Someday I"ll be the person I always wanted to be.
Someday is not today.
Someday is not today.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
I'm Waiting
Dear Editor:
At twenty-four, Jamie is quickly losing her mind.
Her PhD coursework may be overwhelming, but somehow she is determined to continue writing and submitting her work. Little does she know that the evil editors are out to make her life miserable. Despite the fact that deadlines for responses have not passed, Jamie can't keep herself from checking her email every twenty seconds, searching frantically for any sign that an editor has actually read her work.
JUST REJECT ME ALREADY is complete at 1,000,000 words.
Sincerely,
Jamie
***If you are an editor, I don't actually believe you are evil. I promise :)
At twenty-four, Jamie is quickly losing her mind.
Her PhD coursework may be overwhelming, but somehow she is determined to continue writing and submitting her work. Little does she know that the evil editors are out to make her life miserable. Despite the fact that deadlines for responses have not passed, Jamie can't keep herself from checking her email every twenty seconds, searching frantically for any sign that an editor has actually read her work.
JUST REJECT ME ALREADY is complete at 1,000,000 words.
Sincerely,
Jamie
***If you are an editor, I don't actually believe you are evil. I promise :)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
There's a loop? Where?
Current word count: somewhere around 24,000.
I haven't been so good about keeping up here, but I have been writing. A lot. A lot, a lot. I am a little over halfway through my novel now and hoping to keep up this momentum. April will be for editing and hopefully I will start querying in May.
On a totally unrelated note, I was checking up on my PB submissions this week and was double checking the time it was supposed to take one of the ones I emailed. Guess what? Sometime between when I sent it and now they stopped accepting submissions. So I'm guessing they aren't going to get back to me. Ever.
I've been reading all sorts of stuff this week about how agents and publishers like to be kept in the loop about if your work is no longer available to them or if you have another offer. Shouldn't authors be kept in the loop? I mean, originally they said they responded to everyone, so I've been very (im)patiently waiting for a reply. If I hadn't gone to their website and poked around I would never know that I wasn't going to get one.
Sigh.
Two publishers still have that book, and I'll probably fine another to send it to this week. I have two other short stories also waiting to hear about publication for.
Off to get my 1500 words in.
I haven't been so good about keeping up here, but I have been writing. A lot. A lot, a lot. I am a little over halfway through my novel now and hoping to keep up this momentum. April will be for editing and hopefully I will start querying in May.
On a totally unrelated note, I was checking up on my PB submissions this week and was double checking the time it was supposed to take one of the ones I emailed. Guess what? Sometime between when I sent it and now they stopped accepting submissions. So I'm guessing they aren't going to get back to me. Ever.
I've been reading all sorts of stuff this week about how agents and publishers like to be kept in the loop about if your work is no longer available to them or if you have another offer. Shouldn't authors be kept in the loop? I mean, originally they said they responded to everyone, so I've been very (im)patiently waiting for a reply. If I hadn't gone to their website and poked around I would never know that I wasn't going to get one.
Sigh.
Two publishers still have that book, and I'll probably fine another to send it to this week. I have two other short stories also waiting to hear about publication for.
Off to get my 1500 words in.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
On Writing Without an Outline
Word Count Update: 4,318 (I'm not quite done for the day though. I will make my 4,500 word goal by the end of the day).
You know those people who have pages of outlines and notes before they start a novel? I'm not one of them. I really just had a basic idea and one character. I just write what comes to mind in whatever order it comes to mind in. That said, this current word count is split between two different sections of the book, neither of which is the beginning. I see author's on various blogs and forums posting about how they use excel to predict word count and how far they are in outline. The truth for me is that I have no idea where I'm going. I have a couple plot points worked out, but the rest of it will just have to happen.
When I was in college, we always had to turn in long assignments explaining our characters and outlining the plot of our story. There are a lot of benefits to this method. I'm still getting to know my main character and that will lead to massive amounts of editing at the end for the parts I'm writing right now. A good outline would prevent the days (that I'm sure are coming) when I sit down to write my 1500 words and discover that I have nothing to say, but that would take time away from the actual writing, which is what I love to do.
I've always been told that there is no right way to write. You can use an outline, but you don't have to. You can write from beginning to end, but you can also write scenes as you find the inspiration. Whatever you do, just make sure it works for you :)
You know those people who have pages of outlines and notes before they start a novel? I'm not one of them. I really just had a basic idea and one character. I just write what comes to mind in whatever order it comes to mind in. That said, this current word count is split between two different sections of the book, neither of which is the beginning. I see author's on various blogs and forums posting about how they use excel to predict word count and how far they are in outline. The truth for me is that I have no idea where I'm going. I have a couple plot points worked out, but the rest of it will just have to happen.
When I was in college, we always had to turn in long assignments explaining our characters and outlining the plot of our story. There are a lot of benefits to this method. I'm still getting to know my main character and that will lead to massive amounts of editing at the end for the parts I'm writing right now. A good outline would prevent the days (that I'm sure are coming) when I sit down to write my 1500 words and discover that I have nothing to say, but that would take time away from the actual writing, which is what I love to do.
I've always been told that there is no right way to write. You can use an outline, but you don't have to. You can write from beginning to end, but you can also write scenes as you find the inspiration. Whatever you do, just make sure it works for you :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Goal Setting, Productivity, and Life
Hi! Remember me? Yeah, I know its been a while. Okay, okay, a long while. I promise I've been productive while I was gone. I wrote two short stories (both of which are not out on submission) and started my novel. I am planning on being super productive this month, NaNoWriMo style. For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo is an event that takes place in November that challenges writers to complete 50,000 words of their novel over the course of a month. I have participated twice, but never won (for a variety of reasons). November is a terrible month for me, so I am doing this in March.
I'm expecting my YA novel to finish at about 45,000 words, and I am going to have a rough draft complete by March 31. I figured I need to write around 10,000 words a week to make this happen, so my goal right now is to get 1,500 words a day done. So far I have been very good about this (yes, I know it is only the second day of the month). I have completed a little over 3,000 words in the last couple days and haven't gotten stuck yet (knock on wood).
The real question is how I'm going to motivate myself to keep going. I have a couple of plans in place:
1. Lots of coffee and chocolate. In my mind, this is the key to any great life success.
2. I made a graphic that I hung up over my desk demonstrating my progress. I get to move the little sticker along as I get more words done. Yes, this is incredibly dorky, but looking at it reminds me how far I left to go (and how far I've come).
3. I plan to update my blog more often with my word count. Maybe you can give me a kick in the butt if I fail to make my weekly word counts.
I'm off to see if I can crank out another hundred words or so before I have to report to class.
Happy writing!
I'm expecting my YA novel to finish at about 45,000 words, and I am going to have a rough draft complete by March 31. I figured I need to write around 10,000 words a week to make this happen, so my goal right now is to get 1,500 words a day done. So far I have been very good about this (yes, I know it is only the second day of the month). I have completed a little over 3,000 words in the last couple days and haven't gotten stuck yet (knock on wood).
The real question is how I'm going to motivate myself to keep going. I have a couple of plans in place:
1. Lots of coffee and chocolate. In my mind, this is the key to any great life success.
2. I made a graphic that I hung up over my desk demonstrating my progress. I get to move the little sticker along as I get more words done. Yes, this is incredibly dorky, but looking at it reminds me how far I left to go (and how far I've come).
3. I plan to update my blog more often with my word count. Maybe you can give me a kick in the butt if I fail to make my weekly word counts.
I'm off to see if I can crank out another hundred words or so before I have to report to class.
Happy writing!
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