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
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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.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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
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