I have added a new section to the EGAWT involving critiquing. I'm not sure how good it is because the people I sent it to didn't give me any feedback. At all. So meh. I plan to go through the entire guide some day and make sure it doesn't sound horrible. At any rate...
Critiquing
Still waiting on someone to send me the poetry section. I doubt that will ever happen. Also still waiting for feedback concerning two short stories. I doubt that will ever happen either. At least I got them critiqued in class, which is the most useful feedback I could ever ask for. I strive, as an aspiring editor, to always give my 100% when editing and critiquing writing.
I extend the offer I made on my site (that no one visits but whatever) to anyone who reads this. I will edit and critique anyone who asks it of me. Depending on the length depends on how fast I can get it back to you. I will give a thorough read, with edits, comments and suggestions. The only pieces I refuse to take are unedited ones. If I catch more than a couple typos on one page (even then) I will stop editing then and there and make you read it over and send me a new copy before I touch it again, I can't be bothered to edit stupid little details when an author's read will accomplish the same.
That aside...WINTER BREAK YEAH. Still not any less stressful with all the stuff I need to get done, but I'm done school. And that is good. I will hopefully get tons of reading and writing done. I need to record the next few levels of Dungeon Keeper and post them on YouTube. I have also been assigned "What the Crow Said" by Robert Kroetsch...but I have yet to find it in any local bookstore. I will probably need to get it through the mail.
AS for WMRR...it has been on hold since I last wrote in...Novemberish? I have so many ideas for the next few parts, but I haven't been able to justify sitting and writing for a few hours when I needed to study and write papers....and yet I found time to play Fire Emblem, Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty...
Nevertheless, I will make efforts to get even the BARE MINIMUM out on paper. This book should have been done in six months. It's taken me nearly six years. Maybe six years. I don't know anymore.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Musicz
Some...inspirational pieces.
Carry on my Wayward Son - Kansas
Where Mighty Rivers Run - Immediate Music
Ravenous - X-Ray Dog
Wasting Time - Red
Preliator - Globus
Pale - Within Temptation
Dwarf Village - Overlord
Rocky Mountains - Jesper Kyd
Main Title Bloodmoney - Jesper Kyd
Brain Stew Godzilla Remix - Greenday
Because they are awesome.
AC - Lonely Souls - Unkle
Diabolic Clockwork - Two Steps From Hell
Power of Darkness - Two Steps From Hell
Assortment of X-ray Dog
Out! - Lunatica
Take Me Away - Globus
Final Battle - OVerlord
Canon Rock - Funtwo
Dungeon Keeper 2 Battle Music
Junkie XL Colossus REmix
I'LL MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU
Carry on my Wayward Son - Kansas
Where Mighty Rivers Run - Immediate Music
Ravenous - X-Ray Dog
Wasting Time - Red
Preliator - Globus
Pale - Within Temptation
Dwarf Village - Overlord
Rocky Mountains - Jesper Kyd
Main Title Bloodmoney - Jesper Kyd
Brain Stew Godzilla Remix - Greenday
Because they are awesome.
AC - Lonely Souls - Unkle
Diabolic Clockwork - Two Steps From Hell
Power of Darkness - Two Steps From Hell
Assortment of X-ray Dog
Out! - Lunatica
Take Me Away - Globus
Final Battle - OVerlord
Canon Rock - Funtwo
Dungeon Keeper 2 Battle Music
Junkie XL Colossus REmix
I'LL MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Oh Look
It's another one of these contests.
The Wag's Revue Winter 2010 Writers Contest is now open!
A first prize of $1000 and publication in Issue 9, a second prize of $500 and a third of $100 will be awarded to the three best entries. All submissions will be considered for publication.
All three genres (fiction, poetry, essay) will be considered for each prize. The contest will be judged by the magazine's editors. The three winning pieces from the last contest may be read here, here and here.
New to Wag's Revue? All issues of the magazine are available for free in the Archive. In its two years, the magazine has featured new works by Michael Ives, Brian Evenson, Ian Monk, and Stephen Elliott and interviews with such waggish luminaries as Gary Lutz, Stephen Colbert, T.C. Boyle, and Dave Eggers.
The contest closes January 15th. Winners will be announced with the publication of Issue 9 in April, 2011. Additional guidelines as well as access to the Submissions Manager may be found at the Submit page.
We hope you'll share this announcement with others who may be interested and we appreciate your support of quality writing online.
Many Thanks,
The Editors,
www.wagsrevue.com
-+-
I might submit, but I think I'll skip this one. I post because I care. Not that I have a substantial amount of viewers or anything.
Also, can the people who are sending me endless amounts of personal messages on YouTube about getting my videos featured and getting popular websites please piss off? I don't want to be famous kthx.
The Wag's Revue Winter 2010 Writers Contest is now open!
A first prize of $1000 and publication in Issue 9, a second prize of $500 and a third of $100 will be awarded to the three best entries. All submissions will be considered for publication.
All three genres (fiction, poetry, essay) will be considered for each prize. The contest will be judged by the magazine's editors. The three winning pieces from the last contest may be read here, here and here.
New to Wag's Revue? All issues of the magazine are available for free in the Archive. In its two years, the magazine has featured new works by Michael Ives, Brian Evenson, Ian Monk, and Stephen Elliott and interviews with such waggish luminaries as Gary Lutz, Stephen Colbert, T.C. Boyle, and Dave Eggers.
The contest closes January 15th. Winners will be announced with the publication of Issue 9 in April, 2011. Additional guidelines as well as access to the Submissions Manager may be found at the Submit page.
We hope you'll share this announcement with others who may be interested and we appreciate your support of quality writing online.
Many Thanks,
The Editors,
www.wagsrevue.com
-+-
I might submit, but I think I'll skip this one. I post because I care. Not that I have a substantial amount of viewers or anything.
Also, can the people who are sending me endless amounts of personal messages on YouTube about getting my videos featured and getting popular websites please piss off? I don't want to be famous kthx.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
First String Cheese...
Now lava lamps. I swear after all these late-night adventures involving papers and other assignments at school, I have tons of observations of my lava lamp to write about. I have an old lava lamp sitting on the dresser next to my desk and I turn it on (along with two lamps and a string of these "flower lights") whenever I am in my room for prolonged periods of time. I hate having the main roof light on because they're old incandescent bulbs and they bathe everything in this nasty orange light. With the other lights I at least have a little bit of atmosphere and ambiance. I can't actually focus of write without proper lighting. I also can't function properly if there are people outside my door. If I can hear them, it bothers me and all work comes to a halt no matter how much I'm invested in it. I also only write to certain types of music. Classical, symphonic metal, alternative, movie soundtrack and other upbeat and exciting tunes are easiest to write to. I have two compilations, both over thirty minutes long that have saved me countless times in the past writing. Silence helps sometimes, but only what I have to focus every ounce of my energy and attention on something. Otherwise, music gives me a certain rhythm to my work that I don't get otherwise. I can't work to most songs with lyrics, death metal, power metal, rap, or catchy songs (mostly because I start singing along). Lastly I usually need something to drink (preferably a caffeinated tea) and a small snack (like chips of chocolate or microwave popcorn). I don't end up eating or drinking a lot, but it's good to have it there.
In terms of my distraction and overall lack of an ability to focus, I have determined the cycles of my lava lamp. The first stage involves the heating of a cold, boring wax. The heating mechanism at the bottom (which turns out to be just a coil of metal that heats up because of the light and thus heats the wax) makes the base of the wax glow ominously, giving off limited light. The wax heats on the bottom faster than on the top obviously, so at a certain point the hot, warm wax begins to rise, applying pressure to the cooler wax above. At the proper ratio of heat distribution, the cooler wax will shift and the warm wax will release into what I call "lava lamp puke". The lava lamp literally looks like it is spewing out its innards and strings of wax shoot upwards into intricate designs and structures. Eventually bits of wax will lower and fall down, but for the time being this structure remains. This gives the wax below time to begin heating. Once the bottom has begun to heat, the structure crumbles and collapses and begins to reheat with the rest of the wax at the bottom. At this point the lava lamp enters its most functional stage. The wax rises and falls at regular intervals in smaller balls, creating the image of what most people picture when they think of lava lamps. Over time the wax heats hotter and hotter and the wax begins to stick to the top where the surface of the liquid is. At this point the wax forms into larger balls. Most of the time, a large ball begins to float, rotating near the bottom as hot liquid rises on the one side. This is the planetary stage, due to it's resemblance to planetary rotation (with the bottom being a make-shift "sun"). This rotation is increased with the release of wax bubbles (which look similar to yellow snot). These bubbles have little wax content and occur when air becomes trapped in the lava lamp (which is much the case with mine for it is old and some of the water content has evaporated). Gradually the mass at the top consumes the smaller globs of wax until eventually it devours 95% of the wax. I have dubbed this final stage of lava lamp development the "Lavapocalypse". Occationally the mass will cool enough for the globular beast to fall back towards the heat source, but the heat of the wax will reunite it with the mass at the top. At this point the lava lamp has reached the point of not functioning. To return the lamp to its natural state requires cooling. The entire processes takes about five to six hours.
I fixed a giant plot hole in chapter 8 that I discovered much to my dismay on the train two days ago while listening to some music and gazing out the window trying to ignore how cold it was and the awkward smell radiating off of the person next to me. It wasn't a BO smell, it was more like some sort of spice mixed with apple juice and wet, mouldy fabric. At any rate, I have fixed it and improved upon the dialogue at one of the most pivotal points in the narrative. I also made the situation a lot more dire and tense for one of my characters. Poor Myra.
I began imagining more of the ending as well. I hope this will be as fun to write as it is to think up. I want to be able to put the care and devotion I have for WMRR and put it into other writing projects of mine, including a novella I have in the works for my Fiction Writing II class. I want to be able to get better marks and improve in areas I am lacking. I am super jealous of one of my classmates for getting A's on all aspects of his story and the recommendation to submit. I'm also super proud of him for doing so well. His story was the only one that has actually made me cry in this class. Considering what we write about (with so much sex, violence and emotion), that's quite the accomplishment. Good on you sir. Hat's off to you.
I suppose I should return to writing about Henry VIII, Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation in England now. I managed 1000 words in 15minutes in this post alone. Why the hell can't I do that with a paper? I'd literally be done in 45mins. FML.
In terms of my distraction and overall lack of an ability to focus, I have determined the cycles of my lava lamp. The first stage involves the heating of a cold, boring wax. The heating mechanism at the bottom (which turns out to be just a coil of metal that heats up because of the light and thus heats the wax) makes the base of the wax glow ominously, giving off limited light. The wax heats on the bottom faster than on the top obviously, so at a certain point the hot, warm wax begins to rise, applying pressure to the cooler wax above. At the proper ratio of heat distribution, the cooler wax will shift and the warm wax will release into what I call "lava lamp puke". The lava lamp literally looks like it is spewing out its innards and strings of wax shoot upwards into intricate designs and structures. Eventually bits of wax will lower and fall down, but for the time being this structure remains. This gives the wax below time to begin heating. Once the bottom has begun to heat, the structure crumbles and collapses and begins to reheat with the rest of the wax at the bottom. At this point the lava lamp enters its most functional stage. The wax rises and falls at regular intervals in smaller balls, creating the image of what most people picture when they think of lava lamps. Over time the wax heats hotter and hotter and the wax begins to stick to the top where the surface of the liquid is. At this point the wax forms into larger balls. Most of the time, a large ball begins to float, rotating near the bottom as hot liquid rises on the one side. This is the planetary stage, due to it's resemblance to planetary rotation (with the bottom being a make-shift "sun"). This rotation is increased with the release of wax bubbles (which look similar to yellow snot). These bubbles have little wax content and occur when air becomes trapped in the lava lamp (which is much the case with mine for it is old and some of the water content has evaporated). Gradually the mass at the top consumes the smaller globs of wax until eventually it devours 95% of the wax. I have dubbed this final stage of lava lamp development the "Lavapocalypse". Occationally the mass will cool enough for the globular beast to fall back towards the heat source, but the heat of the wax will reunite it with the mass at the top. At this point the lava lamp has reached the point of not functioning. To return the lamp to its natural state requires cooling. The entire processes takes about five to six hours.
I fixed a giant plot hole in chapter 8 that I discovered much to my dismay on the train two days ago while listening to some music and gazing out the window trying to ignore how cold it was and the awkward smell radiating off of the person next to me. It wasn't a BO smell, it was more like some sort of spice mixed with apple juice and wet, mouldy fabric. At any rate, I have fixed it and improved upon the dialogue at one of the most pivotal points in the narrative. I also made the situation a lot more dire and tense for one of my characters. Poor Myra.
I began imagining more of the ending as well. I hope this will be as fun to write as it is to think up. I want to be able to put the care and devotion I have for WMRR and put it into other writing projects of mine, including a novella I have in the works for my Fiction Writing II class. I want to be able to get better marks and improve in areas I am lacking. I am super jealous of one of my classmates for getting A's on all aspects of his story and the recommendation to submit. I'm also super proud of him for doing so well. His story was the only one that has actually made me cry in this class. Considering what we write about (with so much sex, violence and emotion), that's quite the accomplishment. Good on you sir. Hat's off to you.
I suppose I should return to writing about Henry VIII, Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation in England now. I managed 1000 words in 15minutes in this post alone. Why the hell can't I do that with a paper? I'd literally be done in 45mins. FML.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Assassin's Creeeeeeeeed
I'm going to squeal like a fangirl for the duration of this entry. Unfortunately, you will not be able to hear it. Or maybe that's good in your case.
I have more than enough topics to rant angerly about, but no, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to talk about them in a happy way to lighten my mood! Like for instance how my professor can't seem to spell my name correctly even though she has a sheet right in front of her to look at! How hilarious is that? I mean I've gotten some fantastic misspellings of my name before, mostly from people who have just heard it and tried their best based on pronunciation. What a joker she is. She must have an awesome sense of humour to say my name wrong in class every time because she never bothered to ask me or correct herself. What a kidder. Even funnier, she misspelled another girl's name! Instead of "Otten", she typed "Otter" (okay that one's kind of funny). Not only that, she's such a wonderful person because she makes due dates on Sundays at noon electronically. I get to get up early on my one day of the week to sleep in and enjoy the lovely morning! I also get a work out as I frantically try to write and edit assignments to hand them in on time. Who needs those extra few nights? Oh and get this. With incredible foresight she decided that it was a good idea to have a 3000 word essay due four days before a huge group presentation. Improving our multitasking skills is obviously on her list. Who needs a social life or some time off or heck, time to work on other classes? I DON'T APPARENTLY AHAHAHAHAHAHA
Okay that was ridiculous. I shouldn't get so angry, but god. I guess I'm just tired of school. I enjoy some of my classes, but I don't really want to commit anymore. I didn't even study for my last midterm. That said, I don't want to be done school. I don't know what to do after. What do you do with History and English degrees? I keep saying I'll figure it out, but it's not going to be easy. I want to edit and publish and write, but the business is so hard to get into. I need to start getting into programs and working on getting experience NOW, and I have no time. If anyone has any ideas let me know.
Anyway, the prospect of good video games, good books and ski trips keep me in semi-good spirits. I've started my next project for Fiction Writing. I'm doing a novella for after the break. My main points to work on are tone, description, better vocabulary and not using the verb "to be". It's not going to be easy, but it'll give me something to work for.
I have more than enough topics to rant angerly about, but no, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to talk about them in a happy way to lighten my mood! Like for instance how my professor can't seem to spell my name correctly even though she has a sheet right in front of her to look at! How hilarious is that? I mean I've gotten some fantastic misspellings of my name before, mostly from people who have just heard it and tried their best based on pronunciation. What a joker she is. She must have an awesome sense of humour to say my name wrong in class every time because she never bothered to ask me or correct herself. What a kidder. Even funnier, she misspelled another girl's name! Instead of "Otten", she typed "Otter" (okay that one's kind of funny). Not only that, she's such a wonderful person because she makes due dates on Sundays at noon electronically. I get to get up early on my one day of the week to sleep in and enjoy the lovely morning! I also get a work out as I frantically try to write and edit assignments to hand them in on time. Who needs those extra few nights? Oh and get this. With incredible foresight she decided that it was a good idea to have a 3000 word essay due four days before a huge group presentation. Improving our multitasking skills is obviously on her list. Who needs a social life or some time off or heck, time to work on other classes? I DON'T APPARENTLY AHAHAHAHAHAHA
Okay that was ridiculous. I shouldn't get so angry, but god. I guess I'm just tired of school. I enjoy some of my classes, but I don't really want to commit anymore. I didn't even study for my last midterm. That said, I don't want to be done school. I don't know what to do after. What do you do with History and English degrees? I keep saying I'll figure it out, but it's not going to be easy. I want to edit and publish and write, but the business is so hard to get into. I need to start getting into programs and working on getting experience NOW, and I have no time. If anyone has any ideas let me know.
Anyway, the prospect of good video games, good books and ski trips keep me in semi-good spirits. I've started my next project for Fiction Writing. I'm doing a novella for after the break. My main points to work on are tone, description, better vocabulary and not using the verb "to be". It's not going to be easy, but it'll give me something to work for.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Oh My God Giez
http://www.tuomas-holopainen.com/main/
Contest contest contest. Why can't I graphic edit or write poetry? I mean I could write a story, but I don't know if I have time. A signed picture by Nightwish band members. That is epic. Tuomas is one of the of the people I REALLY admire as a writer. The writing in his songs is beautiful. I want to enter this contest so bad. I'd never win, but I don't know if I could forgive myself if I didn't. The only other people I'd freak out so much about would be Scott Lynch (author), Neil Gaiman (author), Tracey Yardley (artist), Johnny Depp (don't have to explain that one) and Anne Hathaway (don't have to explain that one either). Just wow guys. Just wow. My English just break. Wow.
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
Contest contest contest. Why can't I graphic edit or write poetry? I mean I could write a story, but I don't know if I have time. A signed picture by Nightwish band members. That is epic. Tuomas is one of the of the people I REALLY admire as a writer. The writing in his songs is beautiful. I want to enter this contest so bad. I'd never win, but I don't know if I could forgive myself if I didn't. The only other people I'd freak out so much about would be Scott Lynch (author), Neil Gaiman (author), Tracey Yardley (artist), Johnny Depp (don't have to explain that one) and Anne Hathaway (don't have to explain that one either). Just wow guys. Just wow. My English just break. Wow.
SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Full Circle
It's a momentous hour (at least for myself and the Freets of course), for I have just written the section concerning the completion of the first CMD (aka Clear Mind Devices). Why is this a momentous hour? Not only is it the device intended to give the Freets the upperhand in their rebellious war, but this is the very event I began with five years ago when I first started writing WMRR back in my high school days. Man have I come a long way. I pulled up the first chapter I ever wrote in the development of WMRR, and it's aweful. My writing and story-telling has improved and I finally have a way to show it. So, as a special treat for my non-existant viewers (apologies to any that actually DO keep up with this blog), I have decided to post segments from both versions. Enjoy!
-+-
Current Version (largely unedited since I JUST finished it):
Ash slipped into the circle and watched as the small, metallic rectangle made its way slowly towards him. Jennifer was the last to look it over when she handed it to Ash. She placed it in his open hand, face was almost reverent. He was shocked at how light it was. He turned the thumb-sized box in his hands, examining the display on the front and the chip with two tiny prongs at the back. He passed it back to Jennifer. She turned it over and activated it. The device made no noise as it glowed with life.
“There you have it ladies and gents,” she said, holding it out for everyone to see. “Light-weight, flexible and virtually undetectable. Three years of research and development and we finally have the final element to win this war. This will give us the protection we need against Popular power. Once we beta test the prototype, we'll have everything we need to make our move this fall.”
“Speaking of beta testing,” Ash started as he spotted Dedrad out of the corner of his eye, “I have clearance to take the CMD on the next mission to see how it performs.”
“Really,” said Jennifer, who didn't look all that surprised.
“For once I'm not messing with you,” he said, holding out the memo for her to read.
She gave the device to Joey, who nodded and eyed Ash with the same disgusted look. She scanned the memo and nodded, passing it back to Ash.
“Well I suppose you'll need to know how to use it then. Honey, could you get the headband for me?” she asked, turning to Joey.
The rest of the research team dispersed to celebrate in another room with whatever wine stores they could dig up. Dedrad joined Ash and Jennifer, picking up the device and examining it himself. He smiled as he ran a finger over the top of it.
“Did you talk to Poten?” asked Ash under his breath to Dedrad.
“No, but he wants to see us in an hour. We're supposed to bring the device. He wants to see it.”
“But you talked to Grypt?”
“Yes. He was with Dan, knee-deep in machine parts downstairs.”
“Have you seen Myra?”
“No, I have no idea where she is.”
Ash just nodded as Joey returned with the headband. Jennifer attached the CMD to the side of the plaint, black band. She handed it to Ash, who tested the band's elasticity in his hands.
“Basically all you need to do is place the band around your head with the device sitting in the centre at the back of your head. Once you have it in position, press the button on your right-hand side. It's marked red on there so you know which one.”
“Kind of hard to see the red when it's at the back of my head,” retorted Ash.
“Look before you put it on Ash,” she said, strain in her voice. “Once it's on, you'll be able to feel where to press. We've marked it quite well.”
Jennifer sighed and reached over to sign a paper on Joey's clipboard. Ash pulled the band onto his head and adjusted the device until it was comfortably sitting where Jennifer indicated. Ash shook his head once or twice to ensure the band was secure. He didn't like the constriction. He felt like his head was in a vice.
“Pushing the button activates a connection apparatus with will connect the device to your nervous system. From there, you'll be able to tap into the machine's power,” Jennifer continued.
Ash reached behind his head and felt for the button on its side. He pressed it and felt a minor tingling sensation as the tiny prongs attached themselves to his skull. Ash moved his head around, but felt no tugging or pulling on the area. After allowing the device a moment to warm up, he felt a familiar feed of power surge through his body. It wasn't nearly as powerful as the coffee machine was, but he certainly felt a significant increase in mental and physical strength.
“Could we adapt this so I didn't have to wear a headband? I hate headbands.”
“Well that's too bad,” said Joey before Jennifer could answer. “It was made specially for use on the head. It's the most direct path for this type of energy application.”
“Really? Because I'm fairly positive that humans have nerves all over their body. Though I could be wrong.”
“They aren't adapted to work that way. There's no way to tap into the power. Maybe, within a few more months of research we can, but we don't have that much time on our hands. If you don't like it, don't use it. Just don't come crying to me when Laelaps turn your Mind into pudding.”
“Yeah, then it would leak out of the holes these things are going to be constantly punching in my head. I'm sure there's another way.”
“There's---”
“I know, I know. Lord love a duck, don't give yourself a hernia,” Ash snapped, deactivating the device before taking it off.
He ignored Joey's sputtering and held the CMD out for Jennifer, but she shook her head.
“You're beta testing; you hold onto it. Just don't lose it or break it, or I will kill you.”
-+-
First version (edited many times believe it or not):
Four hours later the project was complete. Ash was incredibly tired after yelling non-stop, chucking clipboards at various people, and bringing about half the technicians in the room to tears. Supervising was hard work.
Jennifer presented the device they had worked so hard on, to Ash. He took it in his hands and studied it. It was small and compact, only being the size of his thumb. It did not look complicated or important, but it was the device that would give them a huge advantage in the war.
“I have to admit, I was worried when the first dozen tests or so went horribly wrong, but now…” Ash trailed off passing the device through his fingers.
“We’ve done some good work sir,” Jennifer pointed out.
“Indeed we have,” Ash agreed. “I would personally like to try our first working prototype. That way I can decide if there needs to be any adjustments from there.”
“I suppose that’ll be alright…”
“Of course it will.”
Ash slipped the device onto his head. The headband supporting it fit snug and secure over his thick, brown hair.
“Wonderful…it’s light-weight, flexible, and if we turn it on,” Ash said activating the device, “it makes no noise and is virtually undetectable. Of course we’ll have to remodel it so that we don’t need the headband. I hate headbands.”
“Whatever you say sir, but for now it’ll have to stay that way. Once we move past the prototype stage, we’ll be able to make modifications.”
“Very well, but I still want to get rid of the headband.”
The technicians began to shut down their workstations and head for bed. It was two in the morning. Ash yawned and was about to head for bed himself when Dedrad walked in.
-+-
Overall, Ash's character hasn't changed all that much. The events have largely since this is almost halfway through the novel rather than at the beginning. Jennifer and Joey are WAY more interesting, I use more sophisticated descriptions (though I still fail quite a bit in that department) and I've worked a lot harder on the little details. The writing still has a long way to go, but what makes me happy is I'm getting better. At least I think I am...God I hope so. I guess you can decide for yourselves.
-+-
Current Version (largely unedited since I JUST finished it):
Ash slipped into the circle and watched as the small, metallic rectangle made its way slowly towards him. Jennifer was the last to look it over when she handed it to Ash. She placed it in his open hand, face was almost reverent. He was shocked at how light it was. He turned the thumb-sized box in his hands, examining the display on the front and the chip with two tiny prongs at the back. He passed it back to Jennifer. She turned it over and activated it. The device made no noise as it glowed with life.
“There you have it ladies and gents,” she said, holding it out for everyone to see. “Light-weight, flexible and virtually undetectable. Three years of research and development and we finally have the final element to win this war. This will give us the protection we need against Popular power. Once we beta test the prototype, we'll have everything we need to make our move this fall.”
“Speaking of beta testing,” Ash started as he spotted Dedrad out of the corner of his eye, “I have clearance to take the CMD on the next mission to see how it performs.”
“Really,” said Jennifer, who didn't look all that surprised.
“For once I'm not messing with you,” he said, holding out the memo for her to read.
She gave the device to Joey, who nodded and eyed Ash with the same disgusted look. She scanned the memo and nodded, passing it back to Ash.
“Well I suppose you'll need to know how to use it then. Honey, could you get the headband for me?” she asked, turning to Joey.
The rest of the research team dispersed to celebrate in another room with whatever wine stores they could dig up. Dedrad joined Ash and Jennifer, picking up the device and examining it himself. He smiled as he ran a finger over the top of it.
“Did you talk to Poten?” asked Ash under his breath to Dedrad.
“No, but he wants to see us in an hour. We're supposed to bring the device. He wants to see it.”
“But you talked to Grypt?”
“Yes. He was with Dan, knee-deep in machine parts downstairs.”
“Have you seen Myra?”
“No, I have no idea where she is.”
Ash just nodded as Joey returned with the headband. Jennifer attached the CMD to the side of the plaint, black band. She handed it to Ash, who tested the band's elasticity in his hands.
“Basically all you need to do is place the band around your head with the device sitting in the centre at the back of your head. Once you have it in position, press the button on your right-hand side. It's marked red on there so you know which one.”
“Kind of hard to see the red when it's at the back of my head,” retorted Ash.
“Look before you put it on Ash,” she said, strain in her voice. “Once it's on, you'll be able to feel where to press. We've marked it quite well.”
Jennifer sighed and reached over to sign a paper on Joey's clipboard. Ash pulled the band onto his head and adjusted the device until it was comfortably sitting where Jennifer indicated. Ash shook his head once or twice to ensure the band was secure. He didn't like the constriction. He felt like his head was in a vice.
“Pushing the button activates a connection apparatus with will connect the device to your nervous system. From there, you'll be able to tap into the machine's power,” Jennifer continued.
Ash reached behind his head and felt for the button on its side. He pressed it and felt a minor tingling sensation as the tiny prongs attached themselves to his skull. Ash moved his head around, but felt no tugging or pulling on the area. After allowing the device a moment to warm up, he felt a familiar feed of power surge through his body. It wasn't nearly as powerful as the coffee machine was, but he certainly felt a significant increase in mental and physical strength.
“Could we adapt this so I didn't have to wear a headband? I hate headbands.”
“Well that's too bad,” said Joey before Jennifer could answer. “It was made specially for use on the head. It's the most direct path for this type of energy application.”
“Really? Because I'm fairly positive that humans have nerves all over their body. Though I could be wrong.”
“They aren't adapted to work that way. There's no way to tap into the power. Maybe, within a few more months of research we can, but we don't have that much time on our hands. If you don't like it, don't use it. Just don't come crying to me when Laelaps turn your Mind into pudding.”
“Yeah, then it would leak out of the holes these things are going to be constantly punching in my head. I'm sure there's another way.”
“There's---”
“I know, I know. Lord love a duck, don't give yourself a hernia,” Ash snapped, deactivating the device before taking it off.
He ignored Joey's sputtering and held the CMD out for Jennifer, but she shook her head.
“You're beta testing; you hold onto it. Just don't lose it or break it, or I will kill you.”
-+-
First version (edited many times believe it or not):
Four hours later the project was complete. Ash was incredibly tired after yelling non-stop, chucking clipboards at various people, and bringing about half the technicians in the room to tears. Supervising was hard work.
Jennifer presented the device they had worked so hard on, to Ash. He took it in his hands and studied it. It was small and compact, only being the size of his thumb. It did not look complicated or important, but it was the device that would give them a huge advantage in the war.
“I have to admit, I was worried when the first dozen tests or so went horribly wrong, but now…” Ash trailed off passing the device through his fingers.
“We’ve done some good work sir,” Jennifer pointed out.
“Indeed we have,” Ash agreed. “I would personally like to try our first working prototype. That way I can decide if there needs to be any adjustments from there.”
“I suppose that’ll be alright…”
“Of course it will.”
Ash slipped the device onto his head. The headband supporting it fit snug and secure over his thick, brown hair.
“Wonderful…it’s light-weight, flexible, and if we turn it on,” Ash said activating the device, “it makes no noise and is virtually undetectable. Of course we’ll have to remodel it so that we don’t need the headband. I hate headbands.”
“Whatever you say sir, but for now it’ll have to stay that way. Once we move past the prototype stage, we’ll be able to make modifications.”
“Very well, but I still want to get rid of the headband.”
The technicians began to shut down their workstations and head for bed. It was two in the morning. Ash yawned and was about to head for bed himself when Dedrad walked in.
-+-
Overall, Ash's character hasn't changed all that much. The events have largely since this is almost halfway through the novel rather than at the beginning. Jennifer and Joey are WAY more interesting, I use more sophisticated descriptions (though I still fail quite a bit in that department) and I've worked a lot harder on the little details. The writing still has a long way to go, but what makes me happy is I'm getting better. At least I think I am...God I hope so. I guess you can decide for yourselves.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Steamrolled
Never get plot-related advice from me. It will most likely be useless or random. Or both.
Friend says:
-now how exactly should i have her sacrificed?
Dr. Schwa says:
-steamroller in a football field
-Austin Powers style
Friend says:
-naw, they're on top of a hill at sunset in white linen dresses
-with a rock platform conveniently there
Dr. Schwa says:
-steamroller on a hill over a rock platform
-Austin Powers style
...
Dr. Schwa says:
-you know it's a party when stomach and colon juices, fecal matter and random giblets are involved
My last post was censored by the internet filter at the place I was borrowing internet from. No idea why. Maybe it exploded when it processed the name of the post. I can't even process it. I HAVE been good at breaking stuff lately. In my defence, no one told me the computer at work would crash if I slightly nudge the wires under the cash desk...honestly.
Also, can people stop giving me their colds? I'm getting annoyed with being sick all the time.
Friend says:
-now how exactly should i have her sacrificed?
Dr. Schwa says:
-steamroller in a football field
-Austin Powers style
Friend says:
-naw, they're on top of a hill at sunset in white linen dresses
-with a rock platform conveniently there
Dr. Schwa says:
-steamroller on a hill over a rock platform
-Austin Powers style
...
Dr. Schwa says:
-you know it's a party when stomach and colon juices, fecal matter and random giblets are involved
My last post was censored by the internet filter at the place I was borrowing internet from. No idea why. Maybe it exploded when it processed the name of the post. I can't even process it. I HAVE been good at breaking stuff lately. In my defence, no one told me the computer at work would crash if I slightly nudge the wires under the cash desk...honestly.
Also, can people stop giving me their colds? I'm getting annoyed with being sick all the time.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Philluppus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohnhem
Aka Paracelsus
I just loved the name. At any rate, I have determined that this fall at school is Erasmus Term! I'm writing at least one paper on him and devising a short story based on one of his written works. This includes the manners of children in a modern-day setting...performed by an adult at a mall. I'm having fun. I figured I needed to get a head start and try harder since my first story was pretty god-awful. I think most of my friends are getting tired of me saying that, so I will say it here for the last time and never speak of it again. I'll fix it one day. I like the idea, though it's difficult.
Also yesterday I picked up "How to Train Your Dragon" and the new Linkin Park album "A Thousand Suns". I love the movie. It's adorable, has a lot of fun scenes, creative (even if it does have some...unViking-like Vikings) and it has dragons. DRAGONS. Yeah. The Linkin Park CD isn't bad. It's weird because two of the songs on the CD would be perfect theme songs for a couple of my friends. It's definitely a different sound, but I don't mind. Some people really hate how they've changed, but change is normal. If they didn't try new techniques and styles they'd end up like Nickleback. OHHHHHHHHH.
I am also not sick anymore. Well mostly not sick. I'm still pretty exhausted, but I feel so much better than the weekend. Pro tip guys: don't get the flu. I find it ironic because RIGHT after I said to someone I don't get flu shots, I got the flu. OHHHHHHHHHHH.
Anyhow, back to work. I have some outlines to produce. OHHHHHHHHH.
Here is a fun video involving philosophy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3QZ2Ko-FOg&feature=related
(I actually don't mind Nickleback. If you only listen to a few songs by them, it doesn't seem so redundant.)
(Also, I don't get flu shots because when my father got one when I was younger, he was bed-ridden for a week...I also never got the H1N1 shot and never got it. OHHHHHHHHHH).
I just loved the name. At any rate, I have determined that this fall at school is Erasmus Term! I'm writing at least one paper on him and devising a short story based on one of his written works. This includes the manners of children in a modern-day setting...performed by an adult at a mall. I'm having fun. I figured I needed to get a head start and try harder since my first story was pretty god-awful. I think most of my friends are getting tired of me saying that, so I will say it here for the last time and never speak of it again. I'll fix it one day. I like the idea, though it's difficult.
Also yesterday I picked up "How to Train Your Dragon" and the new Linkin Park album "A Thousand Suns". I love the movie. It's adorable, has a lot of fun scenes, creative (even if it does have some...unViking-like Vikings) and it has dragons. DRAGONS. Yeah. The Linkin Park CD isn't bad. It's weird because two of the songs on the CD would be perfect theme songs for a couple of my friends. It's definitely a different sound, but I don't mind. Some people really hate how they've changed, but change is normal. If they didn't try new techniques and styles they'd end up like Nickleback. OHHHHHHHHH.
I am also not sick anymore. Well mostly not sick. I'm still pretty exhausted, but I feel so much better than the weekend. Pro tip guys: don't get the flu. I find it ironic because RIGHT after I said to someone I don't get flu shots, I got the flu. OHHHHHHHHHHH.
Anyhow, back to work. I have some outlines to produce. OHHHHHHHHH.
Here is a fun video involving philosophy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3QZ2Ko-FOg&feature=related
(I actually don't mind Nickleback. If you only listen to a few songs by them, it doesn't seem so redundant.)
(Also, I don't get flu shots because when my father got one when I was younger, he was bed-ridden for a week...I also never got the H1N1 shot and never got it. OHHHHHHHHHH).
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
One Book, One Calgary
I figured since the event involved my city and my professor's book I should mention it. Essentially "One book, One Calgary" is a month-long event with the goal in mind to get everyone in Calgary, Alberta, Canada to read a book. The first book to be read over the month of November is "Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta" by Aritha van Herk. So everone in Calgary should pick up a copy from your local bookstore or library and give it a read. I can assure you it's a good one. Another book to note at this time is John Boyko's "Bennett: The Rebel Who Challenged a Nation". This second book is about the Canadian Prime Minister Richard Bedford Bennett, where more unknown aspects of his life is explored. Don't dismiss either one because they are histories, biographies, or "boring" Canadian topics, both book have been written to be informative, insightful and (most importantly) entertaining. I will be picking both up this month to give them a good read.
-I went to a presentation of both of the above mentioned books today as the first event of Wordfest (literary festival in Calgary) and I can vouch for both works even though I haven't read them yet. Both authors were intelligent, well-spoken and quite funny. CHECK THE BOOKS OUT PEOPLE. IT'S GOOD TO BE WELL-READ.
http://calgaryculture.com/content/one-book-one-calgary
There's a posse
of people
wearing black hoodies
-This evening's spoken poetry by Maxine, Kristy and myself (but mostly Maxine and Kristy because they are awesome)
Also, I'm typing this here because I need to remember it: "I Thought It Was Effective"
-I went to a presentation of both of the above mentioned books today as the first event of Wordfest (literary festival in Calgary) and I can vouch for both works even though I haven't read them yet. Both authors were intelligent, well-spoken and quite funny. CHECK THE BOOKS OUT PEOPLE. IT'S GOOD TO BE WELL-READ.
http://calgaryculture.com/content/one-book-one-calgary
There's a posse
of people
wearing black hoodies
-This evening's spoken poetry by Maxine, Kristy and myself (but mostly Maxine and Kristy because they are awesome)
Also, I'm typing this here because I need to remember it: "I Thought It Was Effective"
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Oh yeah
I meant to post an update.
It's not much different from last time but...
Rough Draft Completion: 48%
Overall completion: 36%
Word Count: 48,564
Almost done my critiques aaaaaa
I am making them more creative and interesting than last year's.
I have been told to do so.
That and not use padding language like "quite" and "rather" and "almost" and "fairly".
I give thee permission to slap mine wrists if I shalt engage in such frivolity.
I don't even think that works in Middle English (or something).
Mark it down as an epic fail on my part.
I don't know why I put a space between all my sentences.
It's not much different from last time but...
Rough Draft Completion: 48%
Overall completion: 36%
Word Count: 48,564
Almost done my critiques aaaaaa
I am making them more creative and interesting than last year's.
I have been told to do so.
That and not use padding language like "quite" and "rather" and "almost" and "fairly".
I give thee permission to slap mine wrists if I shalt engage in such frivolity.
I don't even think that works in Middle English (or something).
Mark it down as an epic fail on my part.
I don't know why I put a space between all my sentences.
Monday, October 4, 2010
String Cheese Manifesto
So my shit-tascular week is thankfully over. Tomorrow I'll get my poorly-written first short story torn to itty bitty bits. My class is generally good about being gentle with such matters, but it will be painful none-the-less. I am planning on actually going to all my classes this week (perish the thought) and I also plan to write like a madman...er woman.
I had about 4 days where I did absolutely nothing. I had to put my dog down last week, which really wounded me in a lot of ways. I'm still recovering. I'm just glad she had a long, mostly healthy life (nearly fifteen years...where the last year she was ill with Cushings). I'll miss her a lot, but I think after a weekend of mourning, spending time with family and friends and being lazy, I am ready to get serious about school and writing again.
I have two tiny little pieces breaking up chapter 8 and 9, which I am actually going to finish today (horray for outragiously long delays). Then I can move on to something completely different, chapter 10. I'm excited to write this one. Here we get a perspective deviating from what I've been writing for the first 90ish pages (it will be around 90 when I'm done the two chapters). I will post a completion percentage update later today when I'm done.
In other news, I have a Dungeon Keeper mission to play and record, my hours at work have been drastically reduced (THANK GOD), I get the Thanksgiving weekend off, we are probably not going to Vegas because we are all dirt-poor and I posted my first assignment in Fiction II here: http://drschwa.deviantart.com/#/d2zyycl. Some wonderful person favourited it. That made my day Saturday. It's not my finest work by any means, but I had a lot of fun writing it, which is what counts in the end.
More news unrelated to me!
All writers that come across this should check out:
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/09/the-dull-new-global-novel/
This is disturbing in many ways. Good that works can be shared globally...bad in every other sense...
Contests!
First Person Narrative National Essay Contest
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
This Year’s Topic ~ Where I Come From
Essay Length ~ 2000-2500 words.
1st prize $500.00
2nd prize $300.00
3rd prize $200.00
With a special prize of $100.00 for Best Under Nineteen
Prizewinning essays will be selected by award-winning writer and CBC Radio Host
Bill Richardson and by Anne Fleming critically acclaimed author and creative writing teacher.
Submission Due Date ~ November 1, 2010
Prize Winners announced ~ December 10, 2010
Entries should be typed, single-sided, and double-spaced with your name, address and story title on a separate sheet. Parent/Guardian signature required for anyone under 19. Forms can be found on our web site. Entry fee is $10.00 payable to Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives by cheque. Free for anyone under 19. Contest details available at www.clga.ca
Send your stories, with payment, to
Jennifer Coffey
Managing Editor, QA
106 Walpole Avenue
Toronto ON M4L 2J3
The contest is open to all ages and all backgrounds.
All entries will be considered for publication in Keeping Our Stories Alive, Volume 1, A Journal of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
ANDDDD ANOTHER ONE (For Canadians only sorry!)
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
18th Annual Short Prose Competition
for Developing Writers
$2,500 PRIZE
The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted until November 10, 2010
for the 18TH ANNUAL SHORT PROSE COMPETITION FOR DEVELOPING WRITERS.
The winning entry will be the best Canadian work of 2,500 words in the English language, fiction or nonfiction, written by an unpublished author.
PRIZE
$2,500 for the winning entry and the entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three Canadian magazines.
JURY
Writers Tarek Fatah, K.V. Johansen, and Sharon Pollock will serve as the jury.
ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to all Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have not had a book published by a
commercial or university press in any genre and who do not currently have a contract with a book publisher. Original
and unpublished (English language) fiction or nonfiction.
HOW TO SUBMIT ENTRIES:
· Entries should be typed, double-spaced, in a clear twelve point font, and the pages numbered on 8.5 x 11 paper,
not stapled.
· Submissions will be accepted by hardcopy only.
· Include a separate cover letter with title of story, full name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count,
and number of pages of entry.
· Please type the name of entrant and the title of entry on each numbered page. This is not a blind competition.
· Make cheque or money order payable to The Writers' Union of Canada. Multiple entries can be submitted
together and fees can be added and paid with one cheque or money order, $25 per submission.
· Entries must be postmarked by November 10, 2010 to be eligible. Results will be announced in February 2011.
· Mail entries to: WFC Competition, The Writers’ Union of Canada, 90 Richmond Street East, Suite 200,
Toronto, ON M5C 1P1.
Results will be posted at www.writersunion.ca. Manuscripts will not be returned.
WOW long post. Last, but certainly not least...
Lately we've been talking in class about the differences between Albertan (North American Western) writers and other larger centres of writing like New York and Ontario. All those huge writing centres are so cut-throat and competative, which is good in a lot of ways, but after our class discussions, I have a new respect from writers who aren't attracted to those places. I recently went to a reading here in Calgary, and all the writers and other literature-related people were all so kind and talkative. We all don't mind helping each other out and sharing our writing experience with each other. Maybe this is because we aren't a HUGE centre of writing, but this is why I share contests and news. I like that kind of cooperative community.
I had about 4 days where I did absolutely nothing. I had to put my dog down last week, which really wounded me in a lot of ways. I'm still recovering. I'm just glad she had a long, mostly healthy life (nearly fifteen years...where the last year she was ill with Cushings). I'll miss her a lot, but I think after a weekend of mourning, spending time with family and friends and being lazy, I am ready to get serious about school and writing again.
I have two tiny little pieces breaking up chapter 8 and 9, which I am actually going to finish today (horray for outragiously long delays). Then I can move on to something completely different, chapter 10. I'm excited to write this one. Here we get a perspective deviating from what I've been writing for the first 90ish pages (it will be around 90 when I'm done the two chapters). I will post a completion percentage update later today when I'm done.
In other news, I have a Dungeon Keeper mission to play and record, my hours at work have been drastically reduced (THANK GOD), I get the Thanksgiving weekend off, we are probably not going to Vegas because we are all dirt-poor and I posted my first assignment in Fiction II here: http://drschwa.deviantart.com/#/d2zyycl. Some wonderful person favourited it. That made my day Saturday. It's not my finest work by any means, but I had a lot of fun writing it, which is what counts in the end.
More news unrelated to me!
All writers that come across this should check out:
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/09/the-dull-new-global-novel/
This is disturbing in many ways. Good that works can be shared globally...bad in every other sense...
Contests!
First Person Narrative National Essay Contest
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
This Year’s Topic ~ Where I Come From
Essay Length ~ 2000-2500 words.
1st prize $500.00
2nd prize $300.00
3rd prize $200.00
With a special prize of $100.00 for Best Under Nineteen
Prizewinning essays will be selected by award-winning writer and CBC Radio Host
Bill Richardson and by Anne Fleming critically acclaimed author and creative writing teacher.
Submission Due Date ~ November 1, 2010
Prize Winners announced ~ December 10, 2010
Entries should be typed, single-sided, and double-spaced with your name, address and story title on a separate sheet. Parent/Guardian signature required for anyone under 19. Forms can be found on our web site. Entry fee is $10.00 payable to Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives by cheque. Free for anyone under 19. Contest details available at www.clga.ca
Send your stories, with payment, to
Jennifer Coffey
Managing Editor, QA
106 Walpole Avenue
Toronto ON M4L 2J3
The contest is open to all ages and all backgrounds.
All entries will be considered for publication in Keeping Our Stories Alive, Volume 1, A Journal of the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
ANDDDD ANOTHER ONE (For Canadians only sorry!)
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
18th Annual Short Prose Competition
for Developing Writers
$2,500 PRIZE
The Writers’ Union of Canada is pleased to announce that submissions are being accepted until November 10, 2010
for the 18TH ANNUAL SHORT PROSE COMPETITION FOR DEVELOPING WRITERS.
The winning entry will be the best Canadian work of 2,500 words in the English language, fiction or nonfiction, written by an unpublished author.
PRIZE
$2,500 for the winning entry and the entries of the winner and finalists will be submitted to three Canadian magazines.
JURY
Writers Tarek Fatah, K.V. Johansen, and Sharon Pollock will serve as the jury.
ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to all Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have not had a book published by a
commercial or university press in any genre and who do not currently have a contract with a book publisher. Original
and unpublished (English language) fiction or nonfiction.
HOW TO SUBMIT ENTRIES:
· Entries should be typed, double-spaced, in a clear twelve point font, and the pages numbered on 8.5 x 11 paper,
not stapled.
· Submissions will be accepted by hardcopy only.
· Include a separate cover letter with title of story, full name, address, phone number, e-mail address, word count,
and number of pages of entry.
· Please type the name of entrant and the title of entry on each numbered page. This is not a blind competition.
· Make cheque or money order payable to The Writers' Union of Canada. Multiple entries can be submitted
together and fees can be added and paid with one cheque or money order, $25 per submission.
· Entries must be postmarked by November 10, 2010 to be eligible. Results will be announced in February 2011.
· Mail entries to: WFC Competition, The Writers’ Union of Canada, 90 Richmond Street East, Suite 200,
Toronto, ON M5C 1P1.
Results will be posted at www.writersunion.ca. Manuscripts will not be returned.
WOW long post. Last, but certainly not least...
Lately we've been talking in class about the differences between Albertan (North American Western) writers and other larger centres of writing like New York and Ontario. All those huge writing centres are so cut-throat and competative, which is good in a lot of ways, but after our class discussions, I have a new respect from writers who aren't attracted to those places. I recently went to a reading here in Calgary, and all the writers and other literature-related people were all so kind and talkative. We all don't mind helping each other out and sharing our writing experience with each other. Maybe this is because we aren't a HUGE centre of writing, but this is why I share contests and news. I like that kind of cooperative community.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Inspired by the Cow
Yes, I am inspired by the cow.
Well two weeks into school and I'm already a little burnt out. I think I may have to blame this one on work and a manager's incompetence. Apparently "can't work more than 15-20 hours a week" means "available to work 34 hours with 3 weekend closing shifts". I need to have a little chat with this woman. It just surprises me that I would be booked almost full-time at work when my GM KNOWS I am a full time student. I also seem to have to write my requests for days off three times before they are "valid". I still haven't gotten approval for the third request. Regardless, I AM leaving for the duration of November 11-14. If work has a problem with that, they can expect me to quit right in the middle of Christmas maddness =D I think I really am the evil twin.
I am happy to be writing a lot again. I just finished writing one of my first assignments which was a "Writing Manifesto". I may have to re-write it since I didn't check the specifications before starting (and finishing), but hopefully it'll be all right. I might end up posting it here either way. I had fun writing it. Due at the same time is my first short story, which I haven't started yet. I'm getting close to getting all the details worked out, so all is good. I will try and finish more of WMRR in between random readings and other homework.
In other news, my dog is dying. I'm not really sure how I'm going to take this, and my guess is not good. I haven't dealt with much loss. I am lucky to have all four of my grandparents alive and to have known them all for as long as I did. Most of them aren't doing so well either, so I'm scared. Anyhow, Dinah has a tumor in her liver, which has been there over a year now and is being managed. However, over the last 6 months (since her anxiety attack), she has been gradually eating less and getting scary skinny. Over the last week she has nearly stopped eating altogether. She has also started to walk hunched-over and off to one side. We took her to the vet on Monday, and it's one of three things: a random phase that dogs sometimes go through, a stroke, or a brain tumor. I'm thinking it was a minor stroke, mainly because of the way she is walking. We got results yesterday from blood tests saying she has kidney disease, which means her body is being poisoned. We got medicine today, but I don't know if it will work. I'm hoping she'll last to Christmas at least. She's been with us fifteen years, and is a huge part of my family.
I guess all I really have to say otherwise is that I'm still recording Dungeon Keeper (though very slowly), I'm turning the random forum I made into an information cache (because I fail =p) and I will hopefully retain a lot of my sanity after the 34 hour work week of hell. Yay! OH and I have a book recommendation. "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello di Cintio is a Calgarian non-fiction writer whose book is about wrestling and poetry in Iran. Two reasons I recommend this book: he's local for me, so that's cool, and he's an amazing writer. I have been interested since I picked it up. That hasn't happened much lately.
Also...WTF DID THIS VENGABOYS SONG COME FROM, HOW DID IT GET ON MY PLAYLIST AND WHY IS IT PLAYING? AAAAAAAAAA Seriously random.
Well two weeks into school and I'm already a little burnt out. I think I may have to blame this one on work and a manager's incompetence. Apparently "can't work more than 15-20 hours a week" means "available to work 34 hours with 3 weekend closing shifts". I need to have a little chat with this woman. It just surprises me that I would be booked almost full-time at work when my GM KNOWS I am a full time student. I also seem to have to write my requests for days off three times before they are "valid". I still haven't gotten approval for the third request. Regardless, I AM leaving for the duration of November 11-14. If work has a problem with that, they can expect me to quit right in the middle of Christmas maddness =D I think I really am the evil twin.
I am happy to be writing a lot again. I just finished writing one of my first assignments which was a "Writing Manifesto". I may have to re-write it since I didn't check the specifications before starting (and finishing), but hopefully it'll be all right. I might end up posting it here either way. I had fun writing it. Due at the same time is my first short story, which I haven't started yet. I'm getting close to getting all the details worked out, so all is good. I will try and finish more of WMRR in between random readings and other homework.
In other news, my dog is dying. I'm not really sure how I'm going to take this, and my guess is not good. I haven't dealt with much loss. I am lucky to have all four of my grandparents alive and to have known them all for as long as I did. Most of them aren't doing so well either, so I'm scared. Anyhow, Dinah has a tumor in her liver, which has been there over a year now and is being managed. However, over the last 6 months (since her anxiety attack), she has been gradually eating less and getting scary skinny. Over the last week she has nearly stopped eating altogether. She has also started to walk hunched-over and off to one side. We took her to the vet on Monday, and it's one of three things: a random phase that dogs sometimes go through, a stroke, or a brain tumor. I'm thinking it was a minor stroke, mainly because of the way she is walking. We got results yesterday from blood tests saying she has kidney disease, which means her body is being poisoned. We got medicine today, but I don't know if it will work. I'm hoping she'll last to Christmas at least. She's been with us fifteen years, and is a huge part of my family.
I guess all I really have to say otherwise is that I'm still recording Dungeon Keeper (though very slowly), I'm turning the random forum I made into an information cache (because I fail =p) and I will hopefully retain a lot of my sanity after the 34 hour work week of hell. Yay! OH and I have a book recommendation. "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello di Cintio is a Calgarian non-fiction writer whose book is about wrestling and poetry in Iran. Two reasons I recommend this book: he's local for me, so that's cool, and he's an amazing writer. I have been interested since I picked it up. That hasn't happened much lately.
Also...WTF DID THIS VENGABOYS SONG COME FROM, HOW DID IT GET ON MY PLAYLIST AND WHY IS IT PLAYING? AAAAAAAAAA Seriously random.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Reading in Rain
I look at my next week and look at nothing but constant work. Won't have much time for WMRR writing, but at least I'll be busy.
Going to be writing for Fiction II all this week. I still don't know what my first story will be, but I also have to write a "writer's manifesto" for next Tuesday. I don't know what that really means yet. Maybe I'll be able to add it to EGAWT when I'm done (I'll cross my fingers).
This may seem a little random, but I love taking transit. I of course don't like the random schedules, creepy passengers, waiting in cold winters and the filth and smells, but I do love the time it gives me to relax, read, listen to music and think. I was waiting for a bus in the rain for 40 minutes today because it was a Sunday and buses only come once and hour, and I enjoyed three chapters of the book "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello di Cintio. It's a book about wrestling and poetry in Iran and it's one of the best reads I've had in awhile. I would highly recommend it. It wasn't just a good book, however. I found a certain peace hiding from the rain under the metal and glass of the bus shelter. I stood, book in hand, music playing and watching the sky slowly turn to darker shades of blue, and eventually black. Blanketed by clouds the rain fell into small grooves made by heavy buses. The little puddles looked like ink or oil, reflecting the blue-black sky. I even if I turned off my music, the world seemed silent. Only one other person was at the stop, and the constant drone of a bus engine was like white noise in the back-ground (which is "like silence, but not empty" as Mark Haddon puts it in his book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (another book I recommend). I don't know if it's a direct quote since I can't find the book at the moment in the mess that is my room. I don't take enough time to enjoy the beauty of the world (especially when it has been constantly raining ALL SUMMER...seriously, it was shitty). I don't know what it was exactly, but despite my exhaustion, anger, dissociation and confusion that's plaguing me right now, I cherished this moment.
PLAGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Also, I have no idea what sort of state I'll be in this week. As I said before, I won't have much time for WMRR, which saddens me. I don't do well with loss, and a lot of loss is coming my way. That and...I'm not sure...anger and stress makes it hard. I'm getting more reclusive. I don't know. Regardless I need to try at least.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZwwHIxHINI
STUPID GOD DAMNED AUTOFILL IN THE STUPID GOD DAMNED LABELS BOX AAAAAAAAAA
Going to be writing for Fiction II all this week. I still don't know what my first story will be, but I also have to write a "writer's manifesto" for next Tuesday. I don't know what that really means yet. Maybe I'll be able to add it to EGAWT when I'm done (I'll cross my fingers).
This may seem a little random, but I love taking transit. I of course don't like the random schedules, creepy passengers, waiting in cold winters and the filth and smells, but I do love the time it gives me to relax, read, listen to music and think. I was waiting for a bus in the rain for 40 minutes today because it was a Sunday and buses only come once and hour, and I enjoyed three chapters of the book "Poets and Pahlevans" by Marcello di Cintio. It's a book about wrestling and poetry in Iran and it's one of the best reads I've had in awhile. I would highly recommend it. It wasn't just a good book, however. I found a certain peace hiding from the rain under the metal and glass of the bus shelter. I stood, book in hand, music playing and watching the sky slowly turn to darker shades of blue, and eventually black. Blanketed by clouds the rain fell into small grooves made by heavy buses. The little puddles looked like ink or oil, reflecting the blue-black sky. I even if I turned off my music, the world seemed silent. Only one other person was at the stop, and the constant drone of a bus engine was like white noise in the back-ground (which is "like silence, but not empty" as Mark Haddon puts it in his book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (another book I recommend). I don't know if it's a direct quote since I can't find the book at the moment in the mess that is my room. I don't take enough time to enjoy the beauty of the world (especially when it has been constantly raining ALL SUMMER...seriously, it was shitty). I don't know what it was exactly, but despite my exhaustion, anger, dissociation and confusion that's plaguing me right now, I cherished this moment.
PLAGUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Also, I have no idea what sort of state I'll be in this week. As I said before, I won't have much time for WMRR, which saddens me. I don't do well with loss, and a lot of loss is coming my way. That and...I'm not sure...anger and stress makes it hard. I'm getting more reclusive. I don't know. Regardless I need to try at least.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZwwHIxHINI
STUPID GOD DAMNED AUTOFILL IN THE STUPID GOD DAMNED LABELS BOX AAAAAAAAAA
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Revelations
I just realized something rather strange. For the last few years (the last year especially), people keep asking me what I want to be when I "grow up". When I'm done school, ready to slave away in the work world and lay down my life for that carbon-copy, picket fence everyone more or less dreams of (we'll call the picket fence the "ideal future" since that idea is a little outdated by a few decades). In other words, people ask me what I will become, but they never ask what I am. Then I noticed that this is the same for everyone. For young people, hardly anyone cares who you are, what you do and what you love. Instead they treat you like a unimportant blank slate and ask what you'll be when you are older and more "interesting" (or carbon-copied). I think this is why I can't answer anyone when they ask me what I want to be after university (or high school since everyone seems to think I'm still a teenager). It's not because I'm in History and English and the uses of those degrees happen to be ambiguous, it's because I already am (more or less) what I will be in the future. Of course people change, but it seems like a stupid question to ask what a person will be, mainly because no one has any idea. I certainly don't. It's more useful to ask what a person currently is. For example, I can say I am a warrior writer who is battling as a retail slave in order to win the freedom of finance to travel to the mysterious land of Las Vegas in November and to defend a new-found love of skiing. That's a lot more exciting and realistic than saying "uh er I dunno maybe I'll try to uh teach or something...I reckon I'll go through the mill and knock the galley west".
I have no idea how the Old West slang got in there. I might just have to respond to people with that exact line now.
Maybe this is because I have been spending a long time with people 10-50 years older than I am. They have no idea how to talk to people younger than them, so they ask the same, safe questions. Just our way of being social I guess. Silence is more unnerving than petty chatter. At any rate, living in the now is a lot easier and practical (maybe I should be like my friend and attempt to disregard time altogether...though that would make scheduling difficult). The only dream I have at the moment is to get this damned book finished.
Speaking of which...I fixed some of the parts, cleaned up some lines and had a few giggles. I also wrote most of the missing part of chapter 8. SO CLOSE AAAAAA. In thinking about my characters and events, three of my main characters are a little blandish. I mean...some of the side characters are more exciting than them. Dan is one of the ones I need to liven up a bit. Dedrad too. Grypt is a little blandish, but that's part of his character, so I'll let it slip. I'm just glad I'm slogging away at this again. Writing does wonders for me. Life isn't so bad if you can live half of it in another scenarios, frame of mind, or world altogether.
I should post some excerpts.
I have no idea how the Old West slang got in there. I might just have to respond to people with that exact line now.
Maybe this is because I have been spending a long time with people 10-50 years older than I am. They have no idea how to talk to people younger than them, so they ask the same, safe questions. Just our way of being social I guess. Silence is more unnerving than petty chatter. At any rate, living in the now is a lot easier and practical (maybe I should be like my friend and attempt to disregard time altogether...though that would make scheduling difficult). The only dream I have at the moment is to get this damned book finished.
Speaking of which...I fixed some of the parts, cleaned up some lines and had a few giggles. I also wrote most of the missing part of chapter 8. SO CLOSE AAAAAA. In thinking about my characters and events, three of my main characters are a little blandish. I mean...some of the side characters are more exciting than them. Dan is one of the ones I need to liven up a bit. Dedrad too. Grypt is a little blandish, but that's part of his character, so I'll let it slip. I'm just glad I'm slogging away at this again. Writing does wonders for me. Life isn't so bad if you can live half of it in another scenarios, frame of mind, or world altogether.
I should post some excerpts.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Smells Nutty
I think sugar is the answer.
I have no idea where that huge depressive post came from before. One of those days I guess. As for writing, I think I'm ready to try again. I have to remember that if I want something, or want to get it done, I need to fight for it. None of this is going to come easy and the longer and harder I fight, the more I learn and the better I get. I'm ready to continue WMRR and Westwrimo. I love to write and I need to remember that when I get discouraged. I am not writing to sell. I am not writing to get fans and fame. I am not writing because I have to. I write because I love to write. It is what I do and who I am.
I have completed the bookshelf overhaul, and I must say it looks quite snazzy. I've got a shelf of classics, a doubled-up shelf of fantasy and science fiction, half a shelf of Canadian Authors, half a shelf of random books or an "odd shelf" (a term I picked up from Anne Fadiman's collection of essays entitled "Ex Libris"), a shelf of history/historical fiction and general fiction, and a shelf of graphic novels and horror (I included Sherrilyn Kenyon here since I don't have a "Romance" section and I don't consider her "Romance" overall...I'm also getting good at spelling her name without looking). The bottom shelf is reserved for my Sonic the Hedgehog comics collection (no comment please) and the very top shelf has borrowed books (because I need to remember what doesn't belong to me), religious books and larger series (like "Harry Potter" and the "Series of Unfortunate Events". My desk shelves contain manga and movies and my closet contains children and preteen books. Last but not least is my old nighttable with a large compartment below. This has all my English anthologies, language books, style guides and dictionaries. So now that my random project is complete and my bookshelf is looking rather top-heavy, I think I'm ready to get down to some serious work.
I will finish chapter 8 this week even if it kills me. And I mean that literally. My work keeps booking me for closing shifts. I even have a random 10 hour shift this week, which I am not pleased about. I also need to insert some important exposition into the prologue and chapter 3 concerning politics, the government structure and motivations. This won't be easy. Ash's motivations are the most important here. Poten's are easy (except in one tiny area that I've yet to work out). Ash is the real wild card here that I need to hammer out before I get further in the story. Something BIG will be happening in the next 4 chapters, which I'm stoked for. Chapter 8 is first on the list though. Once that is nice and complete in a pretty little package, I can move on.
Also, I decided I need to work more shifts with Jessica. Who knew RTV tags, nutty smelling boxes, random smelling soaps and the stickers on the bottom of glasses could be so amusing?
I have no idea where that huge depressive post came from before. One of those days I guess. As for writing, I think I'm ready to try again. I have to remember that if I want something, or want to get it done, I need to fight for it. None of this is going to come easy and the longer and harder I fight, the more I learn and the better I get. I'm ready to continue WMRR and Westwrimo. I love to write and I need to remember that when I get discouraged. I am not writing to sell. I am not writing to get fans and fame. I am not writing because I have to. I write because I love to write. It is what I do and who I am.
I have completed the bookshelf overhaul, and I must say it looks quite snazzy. I've got a shelf of classics, a doubled-up shelf of fantasy and science fiction, half a shelf of Canadian Authors, half a shelf of random books or an "odd shelf" (a term I picked up from Anne Fadiman's collection of essays entitled "Ex Libris"), a shelf of history/historical fiction and general fiction, and a shelf of graphic novels and horror (I included Sherrilyn Kenyon here since I don't have a "Romance" section and I don't consider her "Romance" overall...I'm also getting good at spelling her name without looking). The bottom shelf is reserved for my Sonic the Hedgehog comics collection (no comment please) and the very top shelf has borrowed books (because I need to remember what doesn't belong to me), religious books and larger series (like "Harry Potter" and the "Series of Unfortunate Events". My desk shelves contain manga and movies and my closet contains children and preteen books. Last but not least is my old nighttable with a large compartment below. This has all my English anthologies, language books, style guides and dictionaries. So now that my random project is complete and my bookshelf is looking rather top-heavy, I think I'm ready to get down to some serious work.
I will finish chapter 8 this week even if it kills me. And I mean that literally. My work keeps booking me for closing shifts. I even have a random 10 hour shift this week, which I am not pleased about. I also need to insert some important exposition into the prologue and chapter 3 concerning politics, the government structure and motivations. This won't be easy. Ash's motivations are the most important here. Poten's are easy (except in one tiny area that I've yet to work out). Ash is the real wild card here that I need to hammer out before I get further in the story. Something BIG will be happening in the next 4 chapters, which I'm stoked for. Chapter 8 is first on the list though. Once that is nice and complete in a pretty little package, I can move on.
Also, I decided I need to work more shifts with Jessica. Who knew RTV tags, nutty smelling boxes, random smelling soaps and the stickers on the bottom of glasses could be so amusing?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Another Round of the Victory Fanfare
I got into Fiction Writing II. I'm so happy. I honestly wasn't looking forward to anything else in the coming year and now I am satisfied. I don't really have too much to look forward to since I have no direction in what I want to do, people and pets are ill or dying and I am nearly broke, struggling to earn money at a job I can't decide if I like or not. Horrible sentences aside, writing has ground to a stop because my short attention span struck again and this has been distracting me:
Dungeon Keeper Multiverse
Seriously I work too hard on these types of projects. Then they hardly ever end up being worthwhile. My creative writing class defies this. I keep trying though. Keeps me busy and I figure one day I'm bound to succeed.
I want to continue my work on WMRR, but I have a little Westwrimo project to take care of...after my crazy day tomorrow. AAAAAAAAAAAA
I get more random and spontanious and distracted as I get older. God what will I be like when I'm 60?
Dungeon Keeper Multiverse
Seriously I work too hard on these types of projects. Then they hardly ever end up being worthwhile. My creative writing class defies this. I keep trying though. Keeps me busy and I figure one day I'm bound to succeed.
I want to continue my work on WMRR, but I have a little Westwrimo project to take care of...after my crazy day tomorrow. AAAAAAAAAAAA
I get more random and spontanious and distracted as I get older. God what will I be like when I'm 60?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Oh God a Spork
Well I haven't had much progress on well...anything. At least not this month. I've been dealing with a lot of or random BS this month, which is really weird for the summer. I haven't been feeling too great the last few weeks, mostly because of a lack of sleep. Only half of that is intentional. I've been having all these weird dreams and keep waking up at random points of the night. I sort of have a reason, but I highly doubt anyone would understand or believe me if I wrote them here so let's just say I've been restless.
New job is going quite well, especially now that I've gotten to know a lot of the people I work with. Most of them are women, so tons of random hormones and politics at work. It's like a giant messy game I get paid to play. It's also a lot more exhausting than any other job I've worked, and I don't even do full 8 hour shifts. Customers are pushy, rude and more or less ignorant (in more than one way). There are exceptions of course, but I find I'm liking the stock shifts A LOT more. I get to work in peace with people that I actually like. I can carry drinks around and swear as well, but that's just between you and me.
As for writing, this is the first day in a long time I've sat down to write something serious. I'm sitting at Higher Ground in Kensington drinking tea, eating a sandwich and waiting for a friend to arrive. I've also joined up with some other friends in a unofficial Nanowrimo called "Westwrimo". For those of you that don't know, Nanowrimo is a writing event held in November where you write a short novel in a month (approx. 50,000 words). This is basically the same idea, only it's the whole summer and it's Western themed. I have never read nor written a Western in my life. The only true Western movie I've seen was "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." So this should be interesting. I don't think I'll have enough done to use for my portfolio...which is essentially due for me next week. Aaaaaaaa
WMRR is on hold for a little while. I need to get my ducks in a row and bees in a line before I can count them, order them and squirt them with a water pistol. Now I know what you're thinking, and yes this is a giant, dirty mop that I am holding. I discovered it at work and decided that I'm going to wield it and instate it as a new form of weaponry. It's like a staff, but so much wetter and dirtier. Also it sounds really awkward when you scream "BEHOLD THE POWER OF MY DIRTY MOP" while you run up and down aisles as snobbish jazz music plays like elevator music. I may or may not have done this. All I can really say is...
A STORM IS COMING.
...literally, there's scary ass clouds all over the place outside and the trees are going nuts because of the wind. Wtf is up with weather in Calgary lately.
PS – I may have a special insanity reserved for whenever I drink green tea.
New job is going quite well, especially now that I've gotten to know a lot of the people I work with. Most of them are women, so tons of random hormones and politics at work. It's like a giant messy game I get paid to play. It's also a lot more exhausting than any other job I've worked, and I don't even do full 8 hour shifts. Customers are pushy, rude and more or less ignorant (in more than one way). There are exceptions of course, but I find I'm liking the stock shifts A LOT more. I get to work in peace with people that I actually like. I can carry drinks around and swear as well, but that's just between you and me.
As for writing, this is the first day in a long time I've sat down to write something serious. I'm sitting at Higher Ground in Kensington drinking tea, eating a sandwich and waiting for a friend to arrive. I've also joined up with some other friends in a unofficial Nanowrimo called "Westwrimo". For those of you that don't know, Nanowrimo is a writing event held in November where you write a short novel in a month (approx. 50,000 words). This is basically the same idea, only it's the whole summer and it's Western themed. I have never read nor written a Western in my life. The only true Western movie I've seen was "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." So this should be interesting. I don't think I'll have enough done to use for my portfolio...which is essentially due for me next week. Aaaaaaaa
WMRR is on hold for a little while. I need to get my ducks in a row and bees in a line before I can count them, order them and squirt them with a water pistol. Now I know what you're thinking, and yes this is a giant, dirty mop that I am holding. I discovered it at work and decided that I'm going to wield it and instate it as a new form of weaponry. It's like a staff, but so much wetter and dirtier. Also it sounds really awkward when you scream "BEHOLD THE POWER OF MY DIRTY MOP" while you run up and down aisles as snobbish jazz music plays like elevator music. I may or may not have done this. All I can really say is...
A STORM IS COMING.
...literally, there's scary ass clouds all over the place outside and the trees are going nuts because of the wind. Wtf is up with weather in Calgary lately.
PS – I may have a special insanity reserved for whenever I drink green tea.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Filling in the Gaps
“Five factions to learn and be united as one. All powers and studies have two sides: a light and a dark, creation and destruction, mimicking the flow of our consciousness and hearts. You will be better at some than others, reflecting your talents and true state of being.
“The power of the body, the Physical: Known to you as Letics, they have mastered the arts of the body; its functions, capabilities and limits. They perfected the arts of speed, strength, agility, coordination, acrobatics, touch, stealth and endurance.
“The power of the mind, the Mental: Known to you as Brains, they have mastered the arts of intelligence. They are ones who have discovered the arts of learning, memory, remote manipulation, sense and awareness, mind reading, the conscious, precision, concentration and the abstract.
“The power of the soul, the Spiritual: Known to you as Happies, they have mastered the arts of feeling. The arts of empathy, heart, healing, the unconscious, dream, meditation, projection, protection, and stability are theirs to command.
“The power of the chaos, the Conflict: Known to you as Darks, they have embraced the turmoil and struggle of human experience. They may summon, consult, glimpse future and past, hide, frighten, teleport, mask and disguise, find what is lost, and know truth from lies.
“The power of communication, the Influence: Known to you as Populars or Poppies, they understand the call of the masses and the strength of the whole. They may persuade, rally, discourage, unite, build, adapt, dominate and control.
“Finally as a make-shift sixth faction, we represent the power of homoeostasis, the Balance: Known as the Freethinkers or the Freets, we seek to find harmony between all the factions and powers. Though each individual may not master all the arts, we learn from each and strive to equalize and keep our minds open to all possibilities.
“Know all these powers, learn from their ways and find your harmony and balance. Each has a light and dark side. Every Faction can be used for good or ill intentions. The Freets must acknowledge and accept both the stereotype and the contradiction. The journey will be difficult, as is with all Freets who wish to become Masters of our Order, but have faith that in time the answers you seek will come to you and you will understand.”
-+-
I need to incorporate this into the prologue of my novel. I have feedback from two sources now that tell me that the story makes sense except for why the characters in my story have these "powers". I've been struggling to figure out how to explain these powers, since obviously I can't just expect my readers to accept them. I was going to explain the HOW later on, but the WHAT is the factor that needs to be taken care of immediately.
I realized I haven't given much information on my story other than general progress and the occasional snippets of what I'm focusing on and the type of research I'm doing (mostly light weapons and martial arts with some aspects centred on technology). It is a science fiction novel set in an "alternate future" (though I may change it to an alternate world altogether, but that would be more difficult). It's definitely an alternate future because there is no way in hell this could ever happen. Essentially a war occurs in North America between the East and the West (playing on that whole East/West tension idea that's at least present in Canada...I'm not sure about the States). The war ends in a stalemate, placing a temporary border between the East and West more or less in the middle (prairie provinces and states). The West divides into 3 parts, a north, middle and south. The East remains united, and a great deal stronger because of it.
My story takes place in the middle West (obviously most easy for me to relate to) and focuses on one of the factions mentioned earlier, "The Freethinkers" or "The Freets". Now, these aren't the Freethinkers you would associate with in our day and time (at least I associate them with religious issues, but that's probably because of the university clubs I've encountered over the past few years). They are called the Freethinkers because they are a group of rebels that oppose the government of the Middle West called the "Middle West Populars" or as the Freets like to call them "The Poppies" (or simply Populars, depending if the user is joking or not). The Populars (if you read above) established their "temporary government" after the North American War. After some disputes about which parties should be the one to govern the new state, the Populars came out on top, mostly because of their use of Influence powers (convincing the populace that they were the best choice for their nation). Many were not pleased about the development, but out of fear of being attacked by the East and the other two Western nations, they accepted the MW Populars as their legitimate government. Navar Poten was one of the few to resist, believing that the use of force and control over the minds of people were not a compromise for safety. Therefore he formed the rebel faction of the Freethinkers in an attempt to bring the government down from the inside and restore a form of democracy.
Over a course of five years, Navar Poten built his organization as the Popular government became stronger and less opposed. Originally starting with a handful of people, he gathered other like-minded individuals until the organization grew to number in the thousands. My five main characters, Ash, Dedrad, Dan, Myra and Grypt all join the Freets in this time (for extremely different reasons) and become part of a special operations team led by Ash. Ash was the first of these five to become one of the Freets (was one of the first overall, joining little over a year after Poten began his faction) and became Navar Poten's apprentice. He was then given the freedom to find members for his special operations team and learn to master the five powers. At the time of the story, the Freets are preparing for their final attack with the creation of the "Clear Mind Device", a small machine which can protect their minds from the Popular's Influence powers.
-+-
Wow a really long entry, but it was about time it was done. Now when people ask "what's the book about", I can just give them this site and I won't be lost for words. I have been working on this story since I was in grade 11 (so since 2006). I have gone through 2 versions before arriving at the one I am working on now. I seem to always give up before I finish and I decided that's not going to happen this time. After I figure out how to work this information into the first few chapters, I will be finishing chapters 8 and 9 in the next few days. I have no idea when the whole book is going to be finished. I have the attention span of a goldfish (thank you internet), a job to worry about and a portfolio to finish in the next little while. I also have a video series I'm WAY behind on, so hopefully I'll be able to allocate my time a little better. My writing tips page is currently on hold because the person who said they'd give me notes on poetry can't now and I'm still trying to figure out what else to add. I'm also trying to figure out how to USE the EGAWT, but I digress. At any rate, being the paranoid writer I am I pray none of these ideas are stolen, but I really don't think I have anything to worry about.
I ran out of black forest ham. Sad day.
“The power of the body, the Physical: Known to you as Letics, they have mastered the arts of the body; its functions, capabilities and limits. They perfected the arts of speed, strength, agility, coordination, acrobatics, touch, stealth and endurance.
“The power of the mind, the Mental: Known to you as Brains, they have mastered the arts of intelligence. They are ones who have discovered the arts of learning, memory, remote manipulation, sense and awareness, mind reading, the conscious, precision, concentration and the abstract.
“The power of the soul, the Spiritual: Known to you as Happies, they have mastered the arts of feeling. The arts of empathy, heart, healing, the unconscious, dream, meditation, projection, protection, and stability are theirs to command.
“The power of the chaos, the Conflict: Known to you as Darks, they have embraced the turmoil and struggle of human experience. They may summon, consult, glimpse future and past, hide, frighten, teleport, mask and disguise, find what is lost, and know truth from lies.
“The power of communication, the Influence: Known to you as Populars or Poppies, they understand the call of the masses and the strength of the whole. They may persuade, rally, discourage, unite, build, adapt, dominate and control.
“Finally as a make-shift sixth faction, we represent the power of homoeostasis, the Balance: Known as the Freethinkers or the Freets, we seek to find harmony between all the factions and powers. Though each individual may not master all the arts, we learn from each and strive to equalize and keep our minds open to all possibilities.
“Know all these powers, learn from their ways and find your harmony and balance. Each has a light and dark side. Every Faction can be used for good or ill intentions. The Freets must acknowledge and accept both the stereotype and the contradiction. The journey will be difficult, as is with all Freets who wish to become Masters of our Order, but have faith that in time the answers you seek will come to you and you will understand.”
-+-
I need to incorporate this into the prologue of my novel. I have feedback from two sources now that tell me that the story makes sense except for why the characters in my story have these "powers". I've been struggling to figure out how to explain these powers, since obviously I can't just expect my readers to accept them. I was going to explain the HOW later on, but the WHAT is the factor that needs to be taken care of immediately.
I realized I haven't given much information on my story other than general progress and the occasional snippets of what I'm focusing on and the type of research I'm doing (mostly light weapons and martial arts with some aspects centred on technology). It is a science fiction novel set in an "alternate future" (though I may change it to an alternate world altogether, but that would be more difficult). It's definitely an alternate future because there is no way in hell this could ever happen. Essentially a war occurs in North America between the East and the West (playing on that whole East/West tension idea that's at least present in Canada...I'm not sure about the States). The war ends in a stalemate, placing a temporary border between the East and West more or less in the middle (prairie provinces and states). The West divides into 3 parts, a north, middle and south. The East remains united, and a great deal stronger because of it.
My story takes place in the middle West (obviously most easy for me to relate to) and focuses on one of the factions mentioned earlier, "The Freethinkers" or "The Freets". Now, these aren't the Freethinkers you would associate with in our day and time (at least I associate them with religious issues, but that's probably because of the university clubs I've encountered over the past few years). They are called the Freethinkers because they are a group of rebels that oppose the government of the Middle West called the "Middle West Populars" or as the Freets like to call them "The Poppies" (or simply Populars, depending if the user is joking or not). The Populars (if you read above) established their "temporary government" after the North American War. After some disputes about which parties should be the one to govern the new state, the Populars came out on top, mostly because of their use of Influence powers (convincing the populace that they were the best choice for their nation). Many were not pleased about the development, but out of fear of being attacked by the East and the other two Western nations, they accepted the MW Populars as their legitimate government. Navar Poten was one of the few to resist, believing that the use of force and control over the minds of people were not a compromise for safety. Therefore he formed the rebel faction of the Freethinkers in an attempt to bring the government down from the inside and restore a form of democracy.
Over a course of five years, Navar Poten built his organization as the Popular government became stronger and less opposed. Originally starting with a handful of people, he gathered other like-minded individuals until the organization grew to number in the thousands. My five main characters, Ash, Dedrad, Dan, Myra and Grypt all join the Freets in this time (for extremely different reasons) and become part of a special operations team led by Ash. Ash was the first of these five to become one of the Freets (was one of the first overall, joining little over a year after Poten began his faction) and became Navar Poten's apprentice. He was then given the freedom to find members for his special operations team and learn to master the five powers. At the time of the story, the Freets are preparing for their final attack with the creation of the "Clear Mind Device", a small machine which can protect their minds from the Popular's Influence powers.
-+-
Wow a really long entry, but it was about time it was done. Now when people ask "what's the book about", I can just give them this site and I won't be lost for words. I have been working on this story since I was in grade 11 (so since 2006). I have gone through 2 versions before arriving at the one I am working on now. I seem to always give up before I finish and I decided that's not going to happen this time. After I figure out how to work this information into the first few chapters, I will be finishing chapters 8 and 9 in the next few days. I have no idea when the whole book is going to be finished. I have the attention span of a goldfish (thank you internet), a job to worry about and a portfolio to finish in the next little while. I also have a video series I'm WAY behind on, so hopefully I'll be able to allocate my time a little better. My writing tips page is currently on hold because the person who said they'd give me notes on poetry can't now and I'm still trying to figure out what else to add. I'm also trying to figure out how to USE the EGAWT, but I digress. At any rate, being the paranoid writer I am I pray none of these ideas are stolen, but I really don't think I have anything to worry about.
I ran out of black forest ham. Sad day.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Cynics R' Us
Well not really, but it seems I'm getting more cynical every day. Is it possible to love the human race and at the same time want to blow it off the planet? This my friends, is the struggle that never ends. I'm just bitter because I realized that I have literally worked towards being invisible and now I'm kind of regretting it. Time for some hard work in the opposite direction it seems. At any rate, I never posted a status update last time other than "I finished a chapter".
Before I post it, however, I updated my Writing Guide yesterday with another section. I hope to get the essay writing and poetry writing guides up soon, but I need some info from friends and have to figure out how extensive I want the essay guide to be (there's so many different types!).
At any rate: EGAWT update.
Please at least look at it. I spent enough time on it that even one ten second view makes my day. Hopefully I've done a decent job on it...I haven't gotten much feedback.
And now...WMRR UPDATE! I had to do some number adjustments because I added a few chapters. (I was originally aiming for 90,000 words, but considering I have about 4-5 chapters before I reach the halfway point, I may be aiming more around 100,00 - 105,000 words)
Current rough draft completion: 45%
Overall completion: 34%
Word Count: 45,886
Before I post it, however, I updated my Writing Guide yesterday with another section. I hope to get the essay writing and poetry writing guides up soon, but I need some info from friends and have to figure out how extensive I want the essay guide to be (there's so many different types!).
At any rate: EGAWT update.
Please at least look at it. I spent enough time on it that even one ten second view makes my day. Hopefully I've done a decent job on it...I haven't gotten much feedback.
And now...WMRR UPDATE! I had to do some number adjustments because I added a few chapters. (I was originally aiming for 90,000 words, but considering I have about 4-5 chapters before I reach the halfway point, I may be aiming more around 100,00 - 105,000 words)
Current rough draft completion: 45%
Overall completion: 34%
Word Count: 45,886
Monday, July 5, 2010
Chapter 7 ***Complete***
I've unlocked the satisfaction of finally completing mission 1! I'm also being rewarded with my first shift at my new job at 7-11am tomorrow morning! Yay?
This mission originally supposed to be one lengthy chapter ended up being THREE lengthy chapters. I needed a lot more room to say what I needed to say. The completion of the new Chapter 7 is the official mark indicating that a good third of the novel is finished. I can't tell you how good this feels, even though I know a lot of the writing is complete crap. I have the ideas, basic actions and dialogue down and that's what counts. I had so much fun writing about the Ash's battle with the giant minotaur and the Laelaps. Not only that this chapter completely changed events I thought would turn out differently later on in the novel (one of the reasons I don't write out of order...I'd just have to change it). Chapter 8 and 9 need some work now, but I've left a lot of room at the beginning of chapter 8 for this.
As a special treat because I'm in such a good mood, I will post the first portion of the battle with the robot minotaur here. Enjoy!
*PS - This is not edited yet, so there may be a few typos and odd choices of words. Action scenes can get a little crazy/muddled. At least they can for me.
Also, I uploaded this song on YouTube earlier today to show you what music I had in mind when writing this: Metal Mayhem
This piece is mostly for the first part of the battle (what I've pasted below). The piece could technically carry on to the second part, but I had this song in mind instead (the particular music is at 7:46): Baptism of Fire
<-->
“Not bad, but let's see how lucky you are against a military class robot after I take him out of defence mode.”
“He was only in defence mode?”
The general smiled. “C-Delta, offensive mode, target five feet at 135 degrees.”
The semi-circle of guards widened as the robot whirred to life behind Ash. He looked over his shoulder to see the robot rotate the upper half of his body to look at him with its yellow eyes. Before he could think of a suitable move the robot swung one of its arms, catching him in the stomach and throwing him back towards the general. He managed to hang onto his broadsword with one hand as he hit the ground and slid, the wind knocked out of him.
He watched the robot approach, analyzing it's parts and weapons as he gasped for air. It was fast for a machine. He rolled to the side as the minotaur tried to crush him with its enormous feet. The robot followed him with on of its arms and locked on to where he stopped to jump to his feet. A the loud clicking indicated it was trying to use the broken machine gun on its arm. The base of the machine gun popped out and a tiny piece began spinning uselessly on the end. Ash hardly started laughing before the robot took another swing at him, hitting him in the side. This time Ash hit the wall and lost his hold on his broadsword.
He heard laughs and jeers from the spectators as he cleared his head and searched frantically for his sword. The blade had bounced off the wall and skidded beneath the robot's feet, who was closing fast on his position. Again he rolled, aiming for the space between its legs. The robot threw a punch into the ground behind him, missing him by inches. He grasped the sword, swinging it to his right as he came out of the roll and stood. The sword deflected off the side of its leg armour, leaving little more than a scratch behind.
Ash jumped back before the robot could attempt to break his ribs with another swing. He looked for a weak spot, somewhere he could connect a successful swing of his sword. A lack of armour on the neck and joints exposed machinery in favour of mobility. The targets were small and the bot was in constant motion, so hitting the marks would be difficult. He needed to be faster than the machine. Ash glanced down at the coffee machine which had been knocked on its side. As the minotaur began to charge at him again he saw it lay in its path.
Ash raised another small shield around it as the robot stepped directly above it. He felt a sharp jolt surge through his head and spine as the weight of the minotaur nearly crushed the shield. The unexpected presence of the shield tripped the robot and it fell forward. Ash dashed to the left to avoid being hit by the falling heap of metal and struck the robot under its shoulder, nearly severing the arm from the robot. A one of the minotaur's cables leading into its arm broke, spilling think, black liquid all over the floor.
“Try and hit me now asshole,” Ash spat as he kicked the side of the minotaur.
Ash turned and went for the coffee machine on the floor at the minotaur's feet. As he bent to pick it up the robot spun around and kicked him in the small of the back, sending Ash flying face-first across the room into a group of soldiers watching. One of the soldiers broke his fall as the rest dove out of the way. Ash pushed away from the soldier and flipped onto his back. He groaned in pain as he rose.
“Kay, I deserved that...I think.”
<-->
FISH IN THE FACE!
This mission originally supposed to be one lengthy chapter ended up being THREE lengthy chapters. I needed a lot more room to say what I needed to say. The completion of the new Chapter 7 is the official mark indicating that a good third of the novel is finished. I can't tell you how good this feels, even though I know a lot of the writing is complete crap. I have the ideas, basic actions and dialogue down and that's what counts. I had so much fun writing about the Ash's battle with the giant minotaur and the Laelaps. Not only that this chapter completely changed events I thought would turn out differently later on in the novel (one of the reasons I don't write out of order...I'd just have to change it). Chapter 8 and 9 need some work now, but I've left a lot of room at the beginning of chapter 8 for this.
As a special treat because I'm in such a good mood, I will post the first portion of the battle with the robot minotaur here. Enjoy!
*PS - This is not edited yet, so there may be a few typos and odd choices of words. Action scenes can get a little crazy/muddled. At least they can for me.
Also, I uploaded this song on YouTube earlier today to show you what music I had in mind when writing this: Metal Mayhem
This piece is mostly for the first part of the battle (what I've pasted below). The piece could technically carry on to the second part, but I had this song in mind instead (the particular music is at 7:46): Baptism of Fire
<-->
“Not bad, but let's see how lucky you are against a military class robot after I take him out of defence mode.”
“He was only in defence mode?”
The general smiled. “C-Delta, offensive mode, target five feet at 135 degrees.”
The semi-circle of guards widened as the robot whirred to life behind Ash. He looked over his shoulder to see the robot rotate the upper half of his body to look at him with its yellow eyes. Before he could think of a suitable move the robot swung one of its arms, catching him in the stomach and throwing him back towards the general. He managed to hang onto his broadsword with one hand as he hit the ground and slid, the wind knocked out of him.
He watched the robot approach, analyzing it's parts and weapons as he gasped for air. It was fast for a machine. He rolled to the side as the minotaur tried to crush him with its enormous feet. The robot followed him with on of its arms and locked on to where he stopped to jump to his feet. A the loud clicking indicated it was trying to use the broken machine gun on its arm. The base of the machine gun popped out and a tiny piece began spinning uselessly on the end. Ash hardly started laughing before the robot took another swing at him, hitting him in the side. This time Ash hit the wall and lost his hold on his broadsword.
He heard laughs and jeers from the spectators as he cleared his head and searched frantically for his sword. The blade had bounced off the wall and skidded beneath the robot's feet, who was closing fast on his position. Again he rolled, aiming for the space between its legs. The robot threw a punch into the ground behind him, missing him by inches. He grasped the sword, swinging it to his right as he came out of the roll and stood. The sword deflected off the side of its leg armour, leaving little more than a scratch behind.
Ash jumped back before the robot could attempt to break his ribs with another swing. He looked for a weak spot, somewhere he could connect a successful swing of his sword. A lack of armour on the neck and joints exposed machinery in favour of mobility. The targets were small and the bot was in constant motion, so hitting the marks would be difficult. He needed to be faster than the machine. Ash glanced down at the coffee machine which had been knocked on its side. As the minotaur began to charge at him again he saw it lay in its path.
Ash raised another small shield around it as the robot stepped directly above it. He felt a sharp jolt surge through his head and spine as the weight of the minotaur nearly crushed the shield. The unexpected presence of the shield tripped the robot and it fell forward. Ash dashed to the left to avoid being hit by the falling heap of metal and struck the robot under its shoulder, nearly severing the arm from the robot. A one of the minotaur's cables leading into its arm broke, spilling think, black liquid all over the floor.
“Try and hit me now asshole,” Ash spat as he kicked the side of the minotaur.
Ash turned and went for the coffee machine on the floor at the minotaur's feet. As he bent to pick it up the robot spun around and kicked him in the small of the back, sending Ash flying face-first across the room into a group of soldiers watching. One of the soldiers broke his fall as the rest dove out of the way. Ash pushed away from the soldier and flipped onto his back. He groaned in pain as he rose.
“Kay, I deserved that...I think.”
<-->
FISH IN THE FACE!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Canada Day! Yeah!
I would have wished my fellow Canadians a Happy Canada Day yesterday, but I was out all day at a bachelorette party and I didn't come home in the best condition. Was an interesting day with a lot of firsts to me. First time going out of the city with a group of people I barely know. By this I mean pretty much everyone, but the bachelorette, and even then I've only known her for a little while. It was so nice of her sister to invite me though. I also went to the rodeo for the first time ever. It wasn't bad...the bull riding was the most interesting. It was super cold with the wind though, so I got a chill. Last first for me was going to Ranchman's, a country/Western bar in Calgary. Thank God no one asked me to dance. I hate dancing. Other than that it was a decent night. Missed fireworks, but it's not like I haven't seen fireworks before.
I really wanted to write last night and edit my next video, but I decided that being a little bit tipsy wasn't the best state to do it in. Okay a little more than a bit tipsy, but I didn't wake up with a hangover today. In fact I feel quite chipper. I am going to crack down on that this weekend and fianlly finish some work. I have no school anymore and I think I'm opting ut of an Edmonton trip. I'm a little low on money and I won't get paid at the earliest until 2 weeks from now. I really need my government GST rebates. Aside from wishing I wrote more of WMRR, I wrote a really crappy short story as my final project and I used a little bit of Dreamstate in it. I really think I'm dillusional half the time.
Also sunburns hurt. Worst part is that once the burn goes away, I'll be just as white as I was to begin with.
I really wanted to write last night and edit my next video, but I decided that being a little bit tipsy wasn't the best state to do it in. Okay a little more than a bit tipsy, but I didn't wake up with a hangover today. In fact I feel quite chipper. I am going to crack down on that this weekend and fianlly finish some work. I have no school anymore and I think I'm opting ut of an Edmonton trip. I'm a little low on money and I won't get paid at the earliest until 2 weeks from now. I really need my government GST rebates. Aside from wishing I wrote more of WMRR, I wrote a really crappy short story as my final project and I used a little bit of Dreamstate in it. I really think I'm dillusional half the time.
Also sunburns hurt. Worst part is that once the burn goes away, I'll be just as white as I was to begin with.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
SUCCESS
Ladies and gentlemen, I FINALLY have a job.
I got a call from the place I least expected: "William-Sonoma". It's a high-end kitchen store with some merchandise that is worth more than everything I own. For a kitchen. I expect a lot of snooty customers. I have to think of a way to toy with the super rude ones without making the company look bad. This should be fun. In the meantime, it looks like I'll be learning a lot about cooking...which is hilarious since all I can cook is soup, cookies, crappy stir fry and Kraft Dinner. I'm reading through the dress code here and LORDY are they specific. Here are some of my favourites:
"Women are required to wear hosiery with skirts shorter than knee length (up to 4" above the knee)" (lol hosiery)
"If wearing pants with belt loops, a belt is to be worn, except on jeans" (I don't own a belt)
"Small, understated patterns are acceptable (i.e. checkered, plaid, floral, hounds tooth)" (wtf is hound's tooth?)
"Aprons tied behind the neck are to be worn underneath any collared shirt" (would be a little weird on top)
Anyhow, this should be quite the experience.
I have been reading through WMRR to write down main important information in each chapter so I have a guideline for future chapters. I forget what I've done shortly after I've done it with writing, so this should keep me on track. I have to do school work, record mission 7 of Dungeon Keeper and get through my paperwork first, but if I have time (or energy) I will finish chapter 7. Finally.
I got a call from the place I least expected: "William-Sonoma". It's a high-end kitchen store with some merchandise that is worth more than everything I own. For a kitchen. I expect a lot of snooty customers. I have to think of a way to toy with the super rude ones without making the company look bad. This should be fun. In the meantime, it looks like I'll be learning a lot about cooking...which is hilarious since all I can cook is soup, cookies, crappy stir fry and Kraft Dinner. I'm reading through the dress code here and LORDY are they specific. Here are some of my favourites:
"Women are required to wear hosiery with skirts shorter than knee length (up to 4" above the knee)" (lol hosiery)
"If wearing pants with belt loops, a belt is to be worn, except on jeans" (I don't own a belt)
"Small, understated patterns are acceptable (i.e. checkered, plaid, floral, hounds tooth)" (wtf is hound's tooth?)
"Aprons tied behind the neck are to be worn underneath any collared shirt" (would be a little weird on top)
Anyhow, this should be quite the experience.
I have been reading through WMRR to write down main important information in each chapter so I have a guideline for future chapters. I forget what I've done shortly after I've done it with writing, so this should keep me on track. I have to do school work, record mission 7 of Dungeon Keeper and get through my paperwork first, but if I have time (or energy) I will finish chapter 7. Finally.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I Just Posted..
But meh.
I had to show this to people. It's been a long time since I've been so impressed by a video. This is probably because I've been watching reviews and YouTube poop, but I digress. The animation was just...wow. I don't know if you watch Red vs. Blue, but there's a lot of running jokes in this episode and they were actually funny. I am entertained.
Nothing else to report really other than...I GOT AN INTERVIEW TOMORROW AT 1. True it's at Staples, but when you have under 65 dollars to your name you aren't picky.
I had to show this to people. It's been a long time since I've been so impressed by a video. This is probably because I've been watching reviews and YouTube poop, but I digress. The animation was just...wow. I don't know if you watch Red vs. Blue, but there's a lot of running jokes in this episode and they were actually funny. I am entertained.
Nothing else to report really other than...I GOT AN INTERVIEW TOMORROW AT 1. True it's at Staples, but when you have under 65 dollars to your name you aren't picky.
Monday, June 21, 2010
My Little Corner
Of a many-cornered internet. What would you call a million sided object? A milligon?
I finally feel like I'm in control of many aspects when really they're all over the place and firing molten "wtf" balls at my face. I don't even know what that means. I posted a parody of "Pain" by Three Days Grace that I found in my documents today. I just thought the song would be more interesting if it involved zombies...singing about brains. I was bored on a road trip last year. What can I say? At any rate if you want to see the horribleness:
Brains - A Parody of "Pain"
In other news, I am trying to avoid writing a project proposal. This is mostly because I have no idea what to do. I was going to try and write a short story and do a critical response on it (also because I can reuse the short story in my portfolio if it's good), but I might just do a research essay because I've done so many over these last four years that they're like eating really painful and tiring cake. Easy, but painful and tiring to eat. Maybe an analogy about making cake would have been better here...
WMRR progress goes slow, mostly because I have lacked motivation over the past few weeks. If anyone looks at my other blog you'll understand why. I want to finish my current chapter so much, but I need that extra little kick to get it going.
Though progress on this has been slow, I wrote more on "EGAWT". Yes I decided to put the "T" in. It makes sense because there is a lot of "T" in me. Mostly green, but sometimes Earl Gray or ginger. I added parts about POVs and intrusive narrators. For now all I have to finish is the part on Time. A friend of mine is supposed to send me notes on poetry writing as well. At any rate, I present the updated...
EGAWT
I finally feel like I'm in control of many aspects when really they're all over the place and firing molten "wtf" balls at my face. I don't even know what that means. I posted a parody of "Pain" by Three Days Grace that I found in my documents today. I just thought the song would be more interesting if it involved zombies...singing about brains. I was bored on a road trip last year. What can I say? At any rate if you want to see the horribleness:
Brains - A Parody of "Pain"
In other news, I am trying to avoid writing a project proposal. This is mostly because I have no idea what to do. I was going to try and write a short story and do a critical response on it (also because I can reuse the short story in my portfolio if it's good), but I might just do a research essay because I've done so many over these last four years that they're like eating really painful and tiring cake. Easy, but painful and tiring to eat. Maybe an analogy about making cake would have been better here...
WMRR progress goes slow, mostly because I have lacked motivation over the past few weeks. If anyone looks at my other blog you'll understand why. I want to finish my current chapter so much, but I need that extra little kick to get it going.
Though progress on this has been slow, I wrote more on "EGAWT". Yes I decided to put the "T" in. It makes sense because there is a lot of "T" in me. Mostly green, but sometimes Earl Gray or ginger. I added parts about POVs and intrusive narrators. For now all I have to finish is the part on Time. A friend of mine is supposed to send me notes on poetry writing as well. At any rate, I present the updated...
EGAWT
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Dreamstate
I'm done with being an emo face about the contest. I'll try again later this summer and in the fall once I hear about more contests. In the meantime, I'm going to work on my portfolio for Fiction Writing II. I need some new material to present. Yesterday I came up with some WEIRD ideas for stories in class and on the train. I wrote a segment I thought of down and man, even I'm not sure what's going on. I like it though. I tried some new styles, use of tense, breaks and subject matter. I want to try and experiment with as many forms of writing as I can to see what works and doesn't work in various situations. I think what I have works...but I really have no idea. I posted the work on my DeviantArt for some cold, hard criticism. What better place to look for brutality than the internet? So far I've had....TWO VIEWERS! Yeah, I'm not too popular =p
As for WMRR I've put it on hold until I've experimented a bit more. I've figured out a lot of parts that I was confused on or missing, but I realized I need to go back (especially to chapter 3) and add some much needed information. At any rate, here's to moving on.
Dreamstate
Check it out and let me know if it fails as much as I think it does.
As for WMRR I've put it on hold until I've experimented a bit more. I've figured out a lot of parts that I was confused on or missing, but I realized I need to go back (especially to chapter 3) and add some much needed information. At any rate, here's to moving on.
Dreamstate
Check it out and let me know if it fails as much as I think it does.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Balls
Just balls.
I kind of hoped my submission would make it a little futher. Never expected to win, just wanted to do better. Better luck next time I guess.
Yeah....
I kind of hoped my submission would make it a little futher. Never expected to win, just wanted to do better. Better luck next time I guess.
Yeah....
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Everything's Eventual
I think that was a title of one of Stephen King's short stories. Never read it though.
Amazing how every time I have a paper to write I end up writing blog posts instead. Three years of university and I can safely say I hate writing papers. The research is cool, the subject matter is interesting, applying it in a coherent, proper MLA/Chicago style paper just irritates me. I usually can only get out about 200 words before I get distracted and take a 20 minute break. That's on a good day. You can see why I love fiction writing so much. I'm able to write stuff I'm interested in and have FUN writing and all the rules can be broken.
Not that determining whether a text is a Western Gothic, Canadian Gothic or an another genre alltogether isn't interesting. I just feel like tearing a text to itty-bitty pieces destroys the whole point of literature in the first place.
I have to admit, aside from Literary Theory, Canadian Literature has been my favourite English class (this doesn't count Fiction Writing...I'm counting that as a writing class, not English literature). This may have to do with the utter dullness of my other English subjects. I did learn in poetry that rice paper books are edible, drinking liqueur with silver in it won't hurt you, Tim Horton's french vanilla coffee is delicious, love is like a red red rose and seamen ovulate in boats on the sea. Also, sometimes a wheelbarrow is just a wheelbarrow.
OH! Let's get back on topic to WMRR...I haven't made much progress. In fact, I took a step backwards! In order to save my laptop from dying an early(ish) death, I had to reinstall windows. I didn't back up the most recent copy of WMRR. I only lost about 200 words, but I also lost my Microsoft Office cds. I AM using Open Office...but I feel I need an excuse.
Okay, now I'm just procrastinating.
OH LOOK A VIDEO!
Dividing by Zero
Amazing how every time I have a paper to write I end up writing blog posts instead. Three years of university and I can safely say I hate writing papers. The research is cool, the subject matter is interesting, applying it in a coherent, proper MLA/Chicago style paper just irritates me. I usually can only get out about 200 words before I get distracted and take a 20 minute break. That's on a good day. You can see why I love fiction writing so much. I'm able to write stuff I'm interested in and have FUN writing and all the rules can be broken.
Not that determining whether a text is a Western Gothic, Canadian Gothic or an another genre alltogether isn't interesting. I just feel like tearing a text to itty-bitty pieces destroys the whole point of literature in the first place.
I have to admit, aside from Literary Theory, Canadian Literature has been my favourite English class (this doesn't count Fiction Writing...I'm counting that as a writing class, not English literature). This may have to do with the utter dullness of my other English subjects. I did learn in poetry that rice paper books are edible, drinking liqueur with silver in it won't hurt you, Tim Horton's french vanilla coffee is delicious, love is like a red red rose and seamen ovulate in boats on the sea. Also, sometimes a wheelbarrow is just a wheelbarrow.
OH! Let's get back on topic to WMRR...I haven't made much progress. In fact, I took a step backwards! In order to save my laptop from dying an early(ish) death, I had to reinstall windows. I didn't back up the most recent copy of WMRR. I only lost about 200 words, but I also lost my Microsoft Office cds. I AM using Open Office...but I feel I need an excuse.
Okay, now I'm just procrastinating.
OH LOOK A VIDEO!
Dividing by Zero
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Well
This has nothing to do with anything. I just saw the title of my last post and this song popped into my head:
Sixteen Tons
A song I haven't heard since grade 9. So weird.
Not going to get much writing done this weekend; I have an essay due on Wednesday next week and I have to have 2 paragraphs done by tomorrow. I haven't really started yet. I blame Oblivion and its addictiveness. Arghhhhhhh
Sixteen Tons
A song I haven't heard since grade 9. So weird.
Not going to get much writing done this weekend; I have an essay due on Wednesday next week and I have to have 2 paragraphs done by tomorrow. I haven't really started yet. I blame Oblivion and its addictiveness. Arghhhhhhh
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Another Year Older...
But I doubt I'm any wiser.
I'm now legal in the States as of...4 days ago. Not that it matters really. I'm not much of a drinker. My friends and family are amazing though. They all fooled me and threw me a surprise party. I watched the video of me walking in and I look like a deer caught in the headlights. It's great.
Had a fairly unproductive weekend. I thought a lot about where I want to go from here in terms of writing. Wrote a little bit of chapter 7 and edited and posted a new video. I'm glad to see at least 17ish of 35 subscribers are watching and enjoying it. Makes me happy. I often wonder if they'd watch if they knew I was of the female gender. I'm sure about 95% of the people that watch think I'm a guy. Not sure why, but it's kind of funny. Am I really that masculine?
At any rate, word count is sitting around 37,500. Hopefully I'll get to 40,000 this week. Simple goal it is. Apparently turning into Yoda I am. Going to play Oblivion I am.
Save me from the addiction.
I'm now legal in the States as of...4 days ago. Not that it matters really. I'm not much of a drinker. My friends and family are amazing though. They all fooled me and threw me a surprise party. I watched the video of me walking in and I look like a deer caught in the headlights. It's great.
Had a fairly unproductive weekend. I thought a lot about where I want to go from here in terms of writing. Wrote a little bit of chapter 7 and edited and posted a new video. I'm glad to see at least 17ish of 35 subscribers are watching and enjoying it. Makes me happy. I often wonder if they'd watch if they knew I was of the female gender. I'm sure about 95% of the people that watch think I'm a guy. Not sure why, but it's kind of funny. Am I really that masculine?
At any rate, word count is sitting around 37,500. Hopefully I'll get to 40,000 this week. Simple goal it is. Apparently turning into Yoda I am. Going to play Oblivion I am.
Save me from the addiction.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
And That's It
Guys guys guys, I just entered my first writing contest. I'm totally stoked. The chances of me winning are slim, but going through with it was worth it. Wish me luck!
Started chapter 7 (which I added) and it's going well. I keep trying to cover myself to make sure there's no gaping plot holes or parts that don't make sense. Worst part is that I think of them on the bus or when I'm trying to sleep. If I don't write it down, I forget. ARGH.
Also, I have the flu. I'm going to go pass out now.
Started chapter 7 (which I added) and it's going well. I keep trying to cover myself to make sure there's no gaping plot holes or parts that don't make sense. Worst part is that I think of them on the bus or when I'm trying to sleep. If I don't write it down, I forget. ARGH.
Also, I have the flu. I'm going to go pass out now.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
This is the Part that Never Ends
Quick update to say I finally finished chapter 6. I really enjoyed writing this one. Ash is such a fun character to write. Current word count sitting at 36,441 and I'm at 67 pages. I am 33 pages off of version one's length. I am nearing halfway numbers, so I need to seriously think about what I'm going to do for the next few chapters. I may have to deviate from the original plans...which will be nothing new.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Orchard of Mines
I am almost done chapter 6. I have decided that another chapter on the Eastern Base is needed to conclude this portion of the story. If I kept going, chapter 6 would be over 7000 words. I think I want to switch to Ash's perspective anyway, especially for the upcoming battle involving the giant robot minotaur, the Laelaps class operatives and the effects of a very special coffee machine. This...probably makes no sense. Excellent. I am also about halfway through chapter 8...which I guess will be chapter 9 now. How annoying. At any rate, I'm not certain how to finish the one part, because I'm not sure what Myra will do in the situation she's in. I know how Ash will react, but I can't decide on Myra. ARGH.
Just to prove I've made progress since the last page count update...here's a new page count update!
Current rough draft completion: 39.2% (prolly more like 35% because I'm most likely going to have more pages than planned)
Overall completion: 29.4%
Word Count: 35,314
Some music I have been listening to tonight for the writing of chapter 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RxRDaXjiEw&playnext_from=TL&videos=U6Tq68JV9c8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSzQkN8ACpg&playnext_from=TL&videos=U6Tq68JV9c8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08CGkW3LS6E&playnext_from=TL&videos=LiOKWLMUvfk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Er8obVq07s&playnext_from=TL&videos=0pIoD3NPK68
Just to prove I've made progress since the last page count update...here's a new page count update!
Current rough draft completion: 39.2% (prolly more like 35% because I'm most likely going to have more pages than planned)
Overall completion: 29.4%
Word Count: 35,314
Some music I have been listening to tonight for the writing of chapter 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RxRDaXjiEw&playnext_from=TL&videos=U6Tq68JV9c8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSzQkN8ACpg&playnext_from=TL&videos=U6Tq68JV9c8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08CGkW3LS6E&playnext_from=TL&videos=LiOKWLMUvfk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Er8obVq07s&playnext_from=TL&videos=0pIoD3NPK68
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Can Lit
"Names have power. This is the fundamental principle of magic everywhere. Call out the name of a supernatural being, and you will have its instant and undivided attention..."
-"Monkey Beach" by Eden Robinson
I find my Canadian Literature class, surprisingly, to be one of the best classes I've taken so far. Every year the spring courses amaze me with how good they are. The university is so beautiful and peaceful in the spring. All the leaves on the trees and the flowers come out and the air isn't too hot or two cold. The rain doesn't bother me too much, but it always rains on me when I forget my umbrella at home. I never get rained on when I have it with me in my bag.
Our professor is extremely knowledgeable about this term's subject in Can Lit: Indigenous Spirits and Monsters. I am completely truthful when I say that I had no idea this was the topic of our class. I went into this class thinking I would be bored out of my mind, but this class is tied with Literary Theory in terms of awesome (which is mostly the prof's doing). I expected both Can Lit and Literary Theory to be dull, but they surprised me. I am even taking a higher level Literary Theory class next year. Yes, I am insane.
The first book we are reading is "Monkey Beach". It's about a Haisla girl named Lisa Hill, who lives in the middle of British Columbia on the coast (and it's Haisla NOT Haida...our prof made a point of clarifying that after she showed us a review where the two names were mixed up). The book mixes relationships with family, growing up, dealing with loss and elements of the "supernatural". I won't go into too much detail because I'm not trying to write a review, but essentially the story is about the search for Lisa's lost brother, Jimmy. At any rate it's the most fun I've had reading an assigned book in AGES. I'd definitely recommend "Monkey Beach" to anyone who wants a good read.
The class is also interesting because we discuss the issues of fantastical or supernatural beings being real and a part of our world. We discuss the idea of the supernatural as being simply natural and I find that idea interesting. I've always had an underlying belief in ghosts and spirits...so personally I think this is all super cool.
I am also finding a lot of neat ideas and modes of thinking to use in WMRR...especially later for when Teumessian comes into the story closer to the end. I can't wait to write that part. I would write some of the later parts now, but I find I need to write this more or less in order. I will occasionally skip on chapter because details in that chunk of plot is easy to fix. However, since the story changes so much as I write it, I cannot write something 10 chapters from now in case something preceding it changes. The whole piece will become a mess. For now, I am keeping good notes.
-"Monkey Beach" by Eden Robinson
I find my Canadian Literature class, surprisingly, to be one of the best classes I've taken so far. Every year the spring courses amaze me with how good they are. The university is so beautiful and peaceful in the spring. All the leaves on the trees and the flowers come out and the air isn't too hot or two cold. The rain doesn't bother me too much, but it always rains on me when I forget my umbrella at home. I never get rained on when I have it with me in my bag.
Our professor is extremely knowledgeable about this term's subject in Can Lit: Indigenous Spirits and Monsters. I am completely truthful when I say that I had no idea this was the topic of our class. I went into this class thinking I would be bored out of my mind, but this class is tied with Literary Theory in terms of awesome (which is mostly the prof's doing). I expected both Can Lit and Literary Theory to be dull, but they surprised me. I am even taking a higher level Literary Theory class next year. Yes, I am insane.
The first book we are reading is "Monkey Beach". It's about a Haisla girl named Lisa Hill, who lives in the middle of British Columbia on the coast (and it's Haisla NOT Haida...our prof made a point of clarifying that after she showed us a review where the two names were mixed up). The book mixes relationships with family, growing up, dealing with loss and elements of the "supernatural". I won't go into too much detail because I'm not trying to write a review, but essentially the story is about the search for Lisa's lost brother, Jimmy. At any rate it's the most fun I've had reading an assigned book in AGES. I'd definitely recommend "Monkey Beach" to anyone who wants a good read.
The class is also interesting because we discuss the issues of fantastical or supernatural beings being real and a part of our world. We discuss the idea of the supernatural as being simply natural and I find that idea interesting. I've always had an underlying belief in ghosts and spirits...so personally I think this is all super cool.
I am also finding a lot of neat ideas and modes of thinking to use in WMRR...especially later for when Teumessian comes into the story closer to the end. I can't wait to write that part. I would write some of the later parts now, but I find I need to write this more or less in order. I will occasionally skip on chapter because details in that chunk of plot is easy to fix. However, since the story changes so much as I write it, I cannot write something 10 chapters from now in case something preceding it changes. The whole piece will become a mess. For now, I am keeping good notes.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Summer Contest
New summer contest I think I'm going to enter one of my short stories into:
http://www.wagsrevue.com/submit.php
First Prize - $1000 and publication
Second Prize - $500
Third Prize - $100
Submission Fee - $20
I could use a bit of money and publication would be fun, so I'm going for it. I encourage others too as well. Wag's Revue is also open to general submissions. Give it a browse, the magazine is online and free!
Writing is coming along slowly, but surely. I need to work out some details as I go...mostly plot holes. I keep defeating myself. I also don't think I'm being descriptive enough about the world I'm creating. I didn't want to emphasize it too much, because it's mostly the internal affairs that count, but the external context is important for understanding as well. I don't know if I'm providing that or not. At any rate, I'm half done chapter 6 and 8. Both will be easy to finish, I just need to DO IT.
I am also doing my videos once again. I have the first Dungeon Keeper Mission posted on my YouTube. Check it out and leave some feedback. You know you want to.
...the bubbles turned to ice in my Coca Cola.
http://www.wagsrevue.com/submit.php
First Prize - $1000 and publication
Second Prize - $500
Third Prize - $100
Submission Fee - $20
I could use a bit of money and publication would be fun, so I'm going for it. I encourage others too as well. Wag's Revue is also open to general submissions. Give it a browse, the magazine is online and free!
Writing is coming along slowly, but surely. I need to work out some details as I go...mostly plot holes. I keep defeating myself. I also don't think I'm being descriptive enough about the world I'm creating. I didn't want to emphasize it too much, because it's mostly the internal affairs that count, but the external context is important for understanding as well. I don't know if I'm providing that or not. At any rate, I'm half done chapter 6 and 8. Both will be easy to finish, I just need to DO IT.
I am also doing my videos once again. I have the first Dungeon Keeper Mission posted on my YouTube. Check it out and leave some feedback. You know you want to.
...the bubbles turned to ice in my Coca Cola.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
To Boredom and Beyond
But mostly just boredom.
Over the last week I've made little progress on WMRR, writing only about 1000 words in total. I suppose some progress is better than none (if you can call that progress). At any rate, I've been bored out of my mind. I got God of War 1 and 2 since it was recommended to me by a few friends. After about an hour playing it, I was so frustrated that I was seriously tempted to quit. I haven't played a hack and slash game in a long time, so I don't know if I just need to get my game on, but I'm hoping that it grows on me. It cost me $30 and I don't have a job yet (though I'm pretty sure Staples will take me back). Yes, I have returned to my lowest denominator. Not THE lowest, just my lowest. Meh, who knows, could be fun.
I learned that one of the books I've been waiting for "The Ragged Man" by Tom Lloyd is coming out this August, which is something to look forward to. Another book "Republic of Thieves" by Scott Lynch is coming out around the same time (though I think the paperback is coming out in September). Maybe I can set the new due date for my book around this time and celebrate its completion with the buying of the books. I think normal people would go drinking or clubbing.
In the course of writing chapter 6 I've come up with a new class of special forces for the Popular government called the "Laelaps". I was looking for a mythological creature for their name and came across that. In Greek Mythology, "Laelaps" is a hound that can catch any creature. With this discovery I came up with the name "Teumessian", which will be summoned spirit that will appear later on around chapter 20. Teumessian is a fox in Greek Mythology that cannot be caught. They are essentially from the same story and form a paradox. I will have a lot of fun with this later.
Above: A picture of Laelaps and Teumessian...because I felt like putting one in.
Also, this guy is all kinds of awesome. He's a 45-year-old gamer from Britain who's learning how to play Call of Duty, and it's amazing how much he reminds me of my dad. Creepy in a way, but he plays just like him.
http://www.youtube.com/user/kensdailyrant
PS - FINALLY got Dungeon Keeper 1 to work in DOSbox. Turns out I was using the wrong file the whole time. After I used the right file, I used the wrong sound card etc. After four long days, I got the program to work so that I can record videos with FRAPS. I'm back in business. New videos by the end of the week.
Over the last week I've made little progress on WMRR, writing only about 1000 words in total. I suppose some progress is better than none (if you can call that progress). At any rate, I've been bored out of my mind. I got God of War 1 and 2 since it was recommended to me by a few friends. After about an hour playing it, I was so frustrated that I was seriously tempted to quit. I haven't played a hack and slash game in a long time, so I don't know if I just need to get my game on, but I'm hoping that it grows on me. It cost me $30 and I don't have a job yet (though I'm pretty sure Staples will take me back). Yes, I have returned to my lowest denominator. Not THE lowest, just my lowest. Meh, who knows, could be fun.
I learned that one of the books I've been waiting for "The Ragged Man" by Tom Lloyd is coming out this August, which is something to look forward to. Another book "Republic of Thieves" by Scott Lynch is coming out around the same time (though I think the paperback is coming out in September). Maybe I can set the new due date for my book around this time and celebrate its completion with the buying of the books. I think normal people would go drinking or clubbing.
In the course of writing chapter 6 I've come up with a new class of special forces for the Popular government called the "Laelaps". I was looking for a mythological creature for their name and came across that. In Greek Mythology, "Laelaps" is a hound that can catch any creature. With this discovery I came up with the name "Teumessian", which will be summoned spirit that will appear later on around chapter 20. Teumessian is a fox in Greek Mythology that cannot be caught. They are essentially from the same story and form a paradox. I will have a lot of fun with this later.
Above: A picture of Laelaps and Teumessian...because I felt like putting one in.
Also, this guy is all kinds of awesome. He's a 45-year-old gamer from Britain who's learning how to play Call of Duty, and it's amazing how much he reminds me of my dad. Creepy in a way, but he plays just like him.
http://www.youtube.com/user/kensdailyrant
PS - FINALLY got Dungeon Keeper 1 to work in DOSbox. Turns out I was using the wrong file the whole time. After I used the right file, I used the wrong sound card etc. After four long days, I got the program to work so that I can record videos with FRAPS. I'm back in business. New videos by the end of the week.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Free Comic Book Day?
For the fifth year in a row, I have forgotten about it and remembered two days later that I intended to go. One day, I will go to the comic store for the event. One day...
So uh, I didn't finish chapter 6. I started chapter 8 instead. I still wasn't sure how to incorporate all I wanted to into the chapter, so I skipped ahead to something I knew how to write. I'm about 1/3 through chapter 8 now. I keep getting distracted by shiny video games and parties at friend's houses. I should be done a lot more, but I figure I'm in no hurry now that I'm certain I can't make the May 31 deadline. I do, however, have the urge to write. Now that I have no school to worry about, I'm constantly working out my ideas and possible plot holes. I also realized that I need more information about the political structures of this world I'm building. I'm a little vague on the details.
In other news, I updated EGAW Tips. I guess it should actually be "EGAWT", but that's besides the point. New information on points of view, vocabulary and grammar. I also noticed that some people have been finding their way to my website without me linking them. I'd love to insert a giant smiley face here if I could. I know that I can't get anyone to view my work or critic it if I don't advertise, so I'm gradually trying to expand my existence on the interwebs. So far I've determined that only a handful of people view this blog aside from myself and that's good enough for me. Thank you whoever you are for having even the slightest interest in my activities. Invisible support is better than none!
So uh, I didn't finish chapter 6. I started chapter 8 instead. I still wasn't sure how to incorporate all I wanted to into the chapter, so I skipped ahead to something I knew how to write. I'm about 1/3 through chapter 8 now. I keep getting distracted by shiny video games and parties at friend's houses. I should be done a lot more, but I figure I'm in no hurry now that I'm certain I can't make the May 31 deadline. I do, however, have the urge to write. Now that I have no school to worry about, I'm constantly working out my ideas and possible plot holes. I also realized that I need more information about the political structures of this world I'm building. I'm a little vague on the details.
In other news, I updated EGAW Tips. I guess it should actually be "EGAWT", but that's besides the point. New information on points of view, vocabulary and grammar. I also noticed that some people have been finding their way to my website without me linking them. I'd love to insert a giant smiley face here if I could. I know that I can't get anyone to view my work or critic it if I don't advertise, so I'm gradually trying to expand my existence on the interwebs. So far I've determined that only a handful of people view this blog aside from myself and that's good enough for me. Thank you whoever you are for having even the slightest interest in my activities. Invisible support is better than none!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
So...
I am finished all my exams (yay!). I know for sure that I have done well on two (double yay). I know for sure that I did horrible on one (boo). I think I will get a decent mark in fiction writing (but that's not the point). I know that I did horrible in Science Fiction class (mostly my fault). The good news is, all of it should balance out in the end. Bad news is I can't seem to get my GPA up to that 3.0. I am SO close. Another portion of good news is I will only have to take three courses per term to finish my degree (maybe 4 in one term). Bad news is if I want a concentration in creative writing, I need to space it out over two years. Point is though, I am done school, there are three weeks between now and my spring course and I have no job. This means that I am going to be bored out of my mind.
So, I am going to:
a)Work on WMRR like crazy
b)Play a bunch of old video games because I'm too poor to afford more
c)Try and make new videos
d)Clean my "lair" and finally get all my clothes back in my closet
e)Look for a decent job
f)Try to have a social life
I have Assassin's Creed 2 sitting in front of me (with a somewhat hilarious picture of Ezio and this old guy, who has a priceless expression of surprise on his face...I don't blame him though; Ezio is stabbing him in the back). I am waiting for people go to sleep so I can play in peace until I get tired. I worked on WMRR off and on today, but I couldn't get much time to just WORK on it. Interruptions...
Still working on Chapter 6. If all goes well, I will have it done by Friday. I'm trying to decide how to handle a rather epic battle scene involving a large group of guards, a giant minotaur robot and the search for a special coffee machine. I'm loving how random this is sounding. Makes more sense in context. Really!
Now because this seems the opportune place and time to do it, I'm going to type my list of books that I need to read in the near future. Many of these are "suggestions" from Fiction Writing. The "suggestions" are more or less mandatory.
In by bookshelf to be read:
"The Architects are Here" - Michael Winter
"Covenants" - Lorna Freeman (Need to get this back to Kristy...)
"Shadow's Edge" - Brent Weeks
"Beyond the Shadows" - Brent Weeks (have to get these back to Kristy too)
"Clan of the Dung Sniffers" - Lee Danielle Hubbard
"The Hidden Dragon" - Irene Radford
"The Court of the Air" - Stephen Hunt (no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get through this book. I've tried 3 times and lost interest. I MUST DO IT)
"Jemma 7729" - Phoebe Wray
"Foreigner" - C.J. Cherryh
"The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" - Mordecai Richler (love this guy's name...mostly because a Fire Emblem character is named Mordecai...)
"Georges" - Alexandre Dumas
"Ivanhoe" - Sir Walter Scott
"The Darkness that Comes Before" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Warrior Prophet" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Thousandfold Thought" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Experiment" - John Darnton
"Phantom in the Night" - Sherrilyn Kennyon
"Dragon Master" - Chris Bunch
"Knighthood of the Dragon" - Chris Bunch
"The Fate of the Fallen" - Ian Irvine
"The Devil's Armour" - John Marco
"The Eyes of God" - John Marco
"The Sword of Angels" - John Marco
"The Larion Senators" - Robert Scott and Jay Gordon (and the rest of the series again because I forget what happens)
"Thomas More's Magician" - Toby Green
Little House on the Prairie series - Laura Ingalls Wilder
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (need to get this back to my grandma)
"The War of the Worlds" - H.G. Wells
"Flowers for Algernon" - Daniel Keys
"Follow" - A. J. Matthews
"Shogun" - James Clavell (because I never actually read the last 300 pages)
Fiction Writing "Suggestions":
"Generation A" - Douglas Coupland
Anything by Robert Kroetsch
Anything by Joan Didion
"The Architects are Here" - Michael Winter
"In the Skin of a Lion" - Michael Ondaatje
"The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
"What the Crow Said" - Robert Kroetsch
Anything by Joyce Carol Oates
"Ulyssis" - James Joyce
"The Tin Drum" - Gunter Grass
"Not Wanted on the Voyage" - Timothy Findley
"Drowning in Darkness" - Peter Oliva
"100 Years of Solitude" - Gabriel García Márquez
"Perfume" - Susskind
"Sophie's Choice" - William Styron
"Coming Through Slaughter" - Michael Ondaatje
"The Murders" - Edgar Allen Poe
"Waiting for the Barbarians" - J.M. Coetzee
"The Historian" - Elizabeth Kostova
"Shadows of the Apt" - Adrian Tchaikovsky
"Collected Works of Billy the Kid" - Michael Ondaatje
Anything by Kafka
"The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz"
Books (and graphic novels) I recommend:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora" - Scott Lynch
"The Stormcaller" - Tom Lloyd
"The Way of the Shadows" - Brent Weeks
"Acheron" - Sherrilyn Kenyon (the second half anyway. If you like Twilight, this is how it SHOULD be done.)
"Neverwhere" - Neil Gaiman
"Sandman" - Neil Gaiman
"Black Cat" - Kentaro Yabuki
"The Hickory Staff" - Robert Scott and Jay Gordon
"The Count of Monte Cristo" - Alexandre Dumas
"Don Quixote" - Miguel de Cervantes
So, I am going to:
a)Work on WMRR like crazy
b)Play a bunch of old video games because I'm too poor to afford more
c)Try and make new videos
d)Clean my "lair" and finally get all my clothes back in my closet
e)Look for a decent job
f)Try to have a social life
I have Assassin's Creed 2 sitting in front of me (with a somewhat hilarious picture of Ezio and this old guy, who has a priceless expression of surprise on his face...I don't blame him though; Ezio is stabbing him in the back). I am waiting for people go to sleep so I can play in peace until I get tired. I worked on WMRR off and on today, but I couldn't get much time to just WORK on it. Interruptions...
Still working on Chapter 6. If all goes well, I will have it done by Friday. I'm trying to decide how to handle a rather epic battle scene involving a large group of guards, a giant minotaur robot and the search for a special coffee machine. I'm loving how random this is sounding. Makes more sense in context. Really!
Now because this seems the opportune place and time to do it, I'm going to type my list of books that I need to read in the near future. Many of these are "suggestions" from Fiction Writing. The "suggestions" are more or less mandatory.
In by bookshelf to be read:
"The Architects are Here" - Michael Winter
"Covenants" - Lorna Freeman (Need to get this back to Kristy...)
"Shadow's Edge" - Brent Weeks
"Beyond the Shadows" - Brent Weeks (have to get these back to Kristy too)
"Clan of the Dung Sniffers" - Lee Danielle Hubbard
"The Hidden Dragon" - Irene Radford
"The Court of the Air" - Stephen Hunt (no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get through this book. I've tried 3 times and lost interest. I MUST DO IT)
"Jemma 7729" - Phoebe Wray
"Foreigner" - C.J. Cherryh
"The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz" - Mordecai Richler (love this guy's name...mostly because a Fire Emblem character is named Mordecai...)
"Georges" - Alexandre Dumas
"Ivanhoe" - Sir Walter Scott
"The Darkness that Comes Before" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Warrior Prophet" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Thousandfold Thought" - R. Scott Bakker
"The Experiment" - John Darnton
"Phantom in the Night" - Sherrilyn Kennyon
"Dragon Master" - Chris Bunch
"Knighthood of the Dragon" - Chris Bunch
"The Fate of the Fallen" - Ian Irvine
"The Devil's Armour" - John Marco
"The Eyes of God" - John Marco
"The Sword of Angels" - John Marco
"The Larion Senators" - Robert Scott and Jay Gordon (and the rest of the series again because I forget what happens)
"Thomas More's Magician" - Toby Green
Little House on the Prairie series - Laura Ingalls Wilder
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (need to get this back to my grandma)
"The War of the Worlds" - H.G. Wells
"Flowers for Algernon" - Daniel Keys
"Follow" - A. J. Matthews
"Shogun" - James Clavell (because I never actually read the last 300 pages)
Fiction Writing "Suggestions":
"Generation A" - Douglas Coupland
Anything by Robert Kroetsch
Anything by Joan Didion
"The Architects are Here" - Michael Winter
"In the Skin of a Lion" - Michael Ondaatje
"The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
"What the Crow Said" - Robert Kroetsch
Anything by Joyce Carol Oates
"Ulyssis" - James Joyce
"The Tin Drum" - Gunter Grass
"Not Wanted on the Voyage" - Timothy Findley
"Drowning in Darkness" - Peter Oliva
"100 Years of Solitude" - Gabriel García Márquez
"Perfume" - Susskind
"Sophie's Choice" - William Styron
"Coming Through Slaughter" - Michael Ondaatje
"The Murders" - Edgar Allen Poe
"Waiting for the Barbarians" - J.M. Coetzee
"The Historian" - Elizabeth Kostova
"Shadows of the Apt" - Adrian Tchaikovsky
"Collected Works of Billy the Kid" - Michael Ondaatje
Anything by Kafka
"The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz"
Books (and graphic novels) I recommend:
"The Lies of Locke Lamora" - Scott Lynch
"The Stormcaller" - Tom Lloyd
"The Way of the Shadows" - Brent Weeks
"Acheron" - Sherrilyn Kenyon (the second half anyway. If you like Twilight, this is how it SHOULD be done.)
"Neverwhere" - Neil Gaiman
"Sandman" - Neil Gaiman
"Black Cat" - Kentaro Yabuki
"The Hickory Staff" - Robert Scott and Jay Gordon
"The Count of Monte Cristo" - Alexandre Dumas
"Don Quixote" - Miguel de Cervantes
Thursday, April 22, 2010
I Need a Victory Fanfare
Or a theme song. I'll take either.
The reading went quite well yesterday. I was pretty nervous, but it's done. All the practicing sort of paid off. I still tripped over my words a bit and read too fast, but no one seemed to notice. That or they were being nice. Halfway through the reading I also got something stuck in my throat, which was quite annoying because I couldn't get enough air in to read. I think in any other circumstance I would have started laughing. Heard some great readers yesterday though. The amount of readers in the higher levels shocked me though. There were so few! At any rate, it was a fairly good time.
The party at the Auburn Saloon after was the best part though (they most certainly weren't expecting about 70 poets and writers last night). I'm going to miss our class. thankfully most of them are planning to sign up for Fiction II next year, so I'll see at least some of them again. Had a good time, talked a lot, drank beer, ate food, signed chapbooks, watched a dude pee on the side of the building right outside our window and ran around in Olympic Plaza for a bit. Good times.
I probably won't be able to write until Monday night, which saddens me some. Going to be studying for the 16th Century Literature exam...which is on Saturday...in the middle of the day. One must ask why. Sunday I'm volunteering at the Calgary Comic expo (come visit me! I'll be at admissions in the morning and on "Floor 4" in the afternoon, even though I don't really know where and what floor 4 is...). Monday I have my History exam and an interview with a prof.
So yeah. Here's a Nostalgia Chick video:
Because I felt like it.
The reading went quite well yesterday. I was pretty nervous, but it's done. All the practicing sort of paid off. I still tripped over my words a bit and read too fast, but no one seemed to notice. That or they were being nice. Halfway through the reading I also got something stuck in my throat, which was quite annoying because I couldn't get enough air in to read. I think in any other circumstance I would have started laughing. Heard some great readers yesterday though. The amount of readers in the higher levels shocked me though. There were so few! At any rate, it was a fairly good time.
The party at the Auburn Saloon after was the best part though (they most certainly weren't expecting about 70 poets and writers last night). I'm going to miss our class. thankfully most of them are planning to sign up for Fiction II next year, so I'll see at least some of them again. Had a good time, talked a lot, drank beer, ate food, signed chapbooks, watched a dude pee on the side of the building right outside our window and ran around in Olympic Plaza for a bit. Good times.
I probably won't be able to write until Monday night, which saddens me some. Going to be studying for the 16th Century Literature exam...which is on Saturday...in the middle of the day. One must ask why. Sunday I'm volunteering at the Calgary Comic expo (come visit me! I'll be at admissions in the morning and on "Floor 4" in the afternoon, even though I don't really know where and what floor 4 is...). Monday I have my History exam and an interview with a prof.
So yeah. Here's a Nostalgia Chick video:
Because I felt like it.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day Lilies
Are apparently quite edible. I am on to my final short story of the year. I finally decided on what to write about. Now I just need to write it before 2pm tomorrow.
I might want to look into better time management skills.
Our end of the year reading is tomorrow. I should be more terrified. I know I will be when I'm actually THERE, but for now all I can think about is finishing my last short story...and playing Half Life. The urge to play video games always comes at the least opportune time. Kind of like writing my novel, which by the way is well into chapter 6. I am almost finished filling in mission 2. I left it out a LONG time ago in order to write chapter 7 (which was chapter 6 until I decided mission 2 needed two parts).
I love how the story evolves on its own. I start writing with a specific goal or action in mind, and end up throwing in a giant, mechanical minotaur or an accidental journey to a garbage bay. I just make it up as I go, and the story ends up CHANGING. Half the time it screws around with my initial plans and I have to go back and change stuff. This happens with my short stories as well. I am so disorganized it's crazy...but that's half the fun. Even I don't know where a story will end up. I do have plans for the rest of the novel, but I have no idea if those end results are going to be what I predict.
I also found a lot of TYPOS and sentences that don't even make sense. I tried reading a part of chapter one out loud and this is what I came across:
“One hundred to start is enough as is, unless you think we’re going to be running marathons in the future.”
“I’ll ensure that you do unless you stop wasting my time Myra. Three hundred laps.”
WTF WAS I ON? IT MAKES NO SENSE.
I made a few updates to EGAW in the past few days. Friends of mine liked it/said it was a good idea, so I will finish it. See last post for a link, or just follow the one on the right-hand side of the page.
Toodles.
(apparently "toodles" is a shortened version of the French "à tout à l'heure". Who knew?)
I seem to have a lot of time on my hands for someone who has no time on their hands.
(I washed it off this morning.)
I might want to look into better time management skills.
Our end of the year reading is tomorrow. I should be more terrified. I know I will be when I'm actually THERE, but for now all I can think about is finishing my last short story...and playing Half Life. The urge to play video games always comes at the least opportune time. Kind of like writing my novel, which by the way is well into chapter 6. I am almost finished filling in mission 2. I left it out a LONG time ago in order to write chapter 7 (which was chapter 6 until I decided mission 2 needed two parts).
I love how the story evolves on its own. I start writing with a specific goal or action in mind, and end up throwing in a giant, mechanical minotaur or an accidental journey to a garbage bay. I just make it up as I go, and the story ends up CHANGING. Half the time it screws around with my initial plans and I have to go back and change stuff. This happens with my short stories as well. I am so disorganized it's crazy...but that's half the fun. Even I don't know where a story will end up. I do have plans for the rest of the novel, but I have no idea if those end results are going to be what I predict.
I also found a lot of TYPOS and sentences that don't even make sense. I tried reading a part of chapter one out loud and this is what I came across:
“One hundred to start is enough as is, unless you think we’re going to be running marathons in the future.”
“I’ll ensure that you do unless you stop wasting my time Myra. Three hundred laps.”
WTF WAS I ON? IT MAKES NO SENSE.
I made a few updates to EGAW in the past few days. Friends of mine liked it/said it was a good idea, so I will finish it. See last post for a link, or just follow the one on the right-hand side of the page.
Toodles.
(apparently "toodles" is a shortened version of the French "à tout à l'heure". Who knew?)
I seem to have a lot of time on my hands for someone who has no time on their hands.
(I washed it off this morning.)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Minotaurs and Cake
I had a fairly productive day doing pretty much nothing. I would like to report that chapter 5 is FINALLY done. I said I would finish it on Monday, but I didn't write the last few paragraphs until a few minutes ago. Honestly, the stupid chapter wouldn't end. I'm convinced it's a boring POS, but my second read later on will reveal if it truly is or not. I need better language that's for sure. I have these amazing environments, but I don't use them to their full potential.
Other than the completion of the chapter, I finished Portal for the second time today, started my writing tips page on my website, failed my Fire Emblem level AGAIN and watched my brother play Call of Duty for about four hours. So yeah, totally productive. I should probably start studying soon for my test on Tuesday.
Current rough draft completion: 32.5%
Overall completion: 24%
Word Count: 28,426
(MAN it's been a long time since I posted one of those)
The following is a link to the "EGAW Tips" or the "Ever-Growing Amateur Writing Tips" that I started today. I just wrote it, I am not finished and there are probably a ton of typos. I will work on it more when I have the time. In the meantime, check it out and let me know if it's useful (please please I need feedback!)
http://drschwa.webs.com/theegawtips.htm
Other than the completion of the chapter, I finished Portal for the second time today, started my writing tips page on my website, failed my Fire Emblem level AGAIN and watched my brother play Call of Duty for about four hours. So yeah, totally productive. I should probably start studying soon for my test on Tuesday.
Current rough draft completion: 32.5%
Overall completion: 24%
Word Count: 28,426
(MAN it's been a long time since I posted one of those)
The following is a link to the "EGAW Tips" or the "Ever-Growing Amateur Writing Tips" that I started today. I just wrote it, I am not finished and there are probably a ton of typos. I will work on it more when I have the time. In the meantime, check it out and let me know if it's useful (please please I need feedback!)
http://drschwa.webs.com/theegawtips.htm
Monday, April 12, 2010
P R I N T I N G
Chapbook is successfully printed and sitting at Staples for me to pick it up. I REALLY hope it turned out. All I have to do now is worry about how I'm going to cut the pages properly. This is a big deal because no matter how careful I cut them at home, the pages were uneven, though I made what I thought were the proper measurements. Go figure.
Tonight we dine on hellebore! Oh those crazy medicinal rhizomes...
So I plan on finally finishing chapter 5 tonight. This should be interesting seeing how I'm not exactly sure how it'll play out. All I know is there will be steamy rooms, a ton of EMP devices and an encounter with a giant sadistic robot. Hilarity will ensue. Once I am finished this I should be a little over 1/3 complete the novel. I may be a little over my estimate goal, but it should be fine considering I plan to cut 10% of the overall content by the final edit (I can't remember where I read that number, but apparently that's how much you cut from a rough copy). I will probably include stats like that in a writing section I hope to make for my website.
I am planning on taking all the random facts and information from this year's fiction writing and writing them down for other people. I was going to do that on the blog, but the posts would be annoying to browse through.
In other news...POKEMON! (This guy is awesome by the way...I think one of his videos is in my last post).
Tonight we dine on hellebore! Oh those crazy medicinal rhizomes...
So I plan on finally finishing chapter 5 tonight. This should be interesting seeing how I'm not exactly sure how it'll play out. All I know is there will be steamy rooms, a ton of EMP devices and an encounter with a giant sadistic robot. Hilarity will ensue. Once I am finished this I should be a little over 1/3 complete the novel. I may be a little over my estimate goal, but it should be fine considering I plan to cut 10% of the overall content by the final edit (I can't remember where I read that number, but apparently that's how much you cut from a rough copy). I will probably include stats like that in a writing section I hope to make for my website.
I am planning on taking all the random facts and information from this year's fiction writing and writing them down for other people. I was going to do that on the blog, but the posts would be annoying to browse through.
In other news...POKEMON! (This guy is awesome by the way...I think one of his videos is in my last post).
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