ROW80 Days: Quick Check-In

QOTD: What basic human need would you rather give up and be void of - sleep or food?

To answer my own Question of the Day, I'd rather be eliminated of my need to sleep. That way, I could get so much more done and could work day and night. Everyone has a "peek hour" in which they feel most productive after all, and mine is unfortunately after-hours. Besides, food is my guilty pleasure. I live to eat--not the other way around! 

Since I just had an exam today in Asian Philosophy, I figured it would do me good to take a break from work and actually blog a ROW80 Days check-in like I promised I would. During the summer, at first when you're in class it doesn't seem like the class is being rushed. In fact, pacing seems almost as normal as it usually is during the regular school year--until you go back to study your notes and realize just how much you guys have covered! So much content, yikes! Welp, that's how I've been feeling lately. Three more weeks, guys, just three more. 

I have not be able to write as much as I would like, but I get in words when possible. I have made progress on the T-Project, I promise! Here are my ROW80 Days writing goals for this round (which is just halfway over!): 

• write character-driven scenes
• have a sense of where I want to go with my project - so, created detailed outlines
• think "big picture" - what themes and main ideas do I want my project to reflect?
• since I'm writing in first-person, my voice needs to stay in character and be consistent
• get down at least 500 words every day, no matter how crappy or pitiful the words are
• blog about my progress every Wednesday and Sunday, in compliance with the ROW80 Days rules 
• make some progress, either tangible or mental, on the T-Project every day

Hmm, not too bad so far. I am really proud of the outlines I made - they have been really helpful in giving me a sense of direction with my project and where I want to go with my story. And making outlines then helped me figure out the following goal: themes and main ideas. Now I wouldn't call myself a total plotter, but I can't tell you how many times I have referred to my outlines to make sure I'm staying on track, and I only made them a couple weeks ago! Once I am not dedicating every moment in time and every bit of energy in my body toward summer school, I would love to create and then share with you my outline template (just the template! ;)) for you as writing tools. 

Maintaining a strong voice and character-driven scenes are pretty long-term goals so I won't be crossing those off for a while--or at least until I think I've got those down pat. Though I believe there is always room for improvement! The more tangible goals that would be beneficial for me to work toward is maintaining 500 words a day and, of course, checking in with the blog!

Well, folks, how are you doing with ROW80 Days? 


Wendy Lu

P.S. Only two more Likes until I reach 50 fans on Facebook! Be sure to share TRA with your friends and family who may be interested in my blog. Thank you so much for all your support! 

ROW80 Days: Quick Check-In

Tweet

The F-Word We All Love and Hate

QOTD: What are your long-term goals, and how do you stay focused on them?

No, I'm not talking about that f-word. There's another one I'm talking about, and lately this little f-word has gotten my heart pumping, the thoughts in my mind racing and my palms sweating. (It's still not that one, you guys.)

The f-word I'm talking about is future. 

As we think about the future, it's easy to love when we know what it entails. We may not know where we will be in 10 years (alert: hallmark interview question), but if we're on what  seems to be the right pathway and love what we're doing, then the future seems a bit more promising. But when we have absolutely no idea what our future holds, a fear develops inside of us. It's frightening, not knowing what's going to happen or if things will be okay. And what's scariest of all is thinking that the things you are doing now are a waste of time and won't help you get to the next step toward your goals. 

David Sipress

There is a myth that you get used to college after the first few months... and, surely, by the middle of your sophomore year you're a pro at this whole college scene. You know the sneakiest shortcuts for getting to class quickly, which days of the week Sitar is open at the dining hall and which bathroom stalls to avoid (i.e. bottom of Lenoir...you Tar Heels know what I'm talking about). You know what the dealio is. You get used to the independence, the resources, the expectations. 

But the truth is, you never do. Maybe it's just me, but college life is constantly unpredictable. You never know what's thrown at you, no matter what year you are. I'm a sophomore, but sometimes I still feel like a freshman and don't have any idea what's going on in class, in Congress, in life. Only sometimes, though. 

I was making small talk with one of the girls in my psychology class today, and we both agreed: We all have our freshman days. And that's okay, because the best part about being a freshman is that you get to learn things you never knew, and you grow. 

College isn't like high school. During the first 18 years of most of our lives, the plan was laid out for us. Learn the ABC's. Attend grade school and then get through those crazy middle school years. Live through childhood and stumble into adolescence. Experience high school. Sign up for AP classes because your mom told you to, go to prom, take the SAT and apply for college. Get into college. Graduate. 

And then...and then what? Once you get into college, there's not really a plan you follow along with everyone else. Sure, you've got your advisers and your parents and your friends to refer to for guidance, but essentially you are on your own. What you make of yourself is up to you, and that responsibility is terrifying. There are hundreds of majors, minors and classes--the possibilities are endless. The number of research opportunities and extracurricular activities available is mind-blowing, so much that sometimes we lose sight of our interests and our goals that we just 'grab and take.' In that way, it's easy to lose focus about what really matters to us. 

There's pressure to be well-rounded and unique at the same time. There's the need to find something you personally love to do, but will also fulfill society's definition of 'successful.' Then comes the other f-word that we hate (we don't love it, you know), which is failure. And I'm not going to even talk about this one because it tends to send shivers down one's spine. And causes breakdowns. 

The truth is, this whole week I have felt a little lost. I prioritized which extracurricular activities are most important to me, and figured out what internships I want to focus on for the summer. I discovered that I actually like statistics and research, and I have no freaking clue what to do with this information. Ultimately, I am deciding what I want to do with the rest of my college career and how my decisions will be time-efficient and beneficial for my future. 

Basically, I'm striving for perfection - and I am failing. Since the beginning of August 2010, I have flirted with pre-medical studies, pharmacy school, biology, psychology, journalism, creative writing, journalism and finally both journalism and psychology. (I know, I'm such a player.) But now, the question is: What do I want to do with those majors? What fields do I want to concentrate within the area of journalism (Electronic media or Reporting? Design?), and what will my focus be in psychology (Child Development or Abnormal Psychology? Clinical therapy or research?). I don't even want to start thinking about graduate school (or if I will be going at all). 

I know I will make a lot of mistakes between now and the end of senior year. There will be peer pressure and other students in my fields of study who look like they know exactly what they're doing. But I am beginning to realize that the key to success does not depend on comparison, but personal efficacy. If I believe in my passions and my ability to pursue them, whatever they may be, then I am already halfway there. 

College is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, much like your first love or the publication of your first book. You never really get to experience that mixed rush of euphoria and confusion and excitement and fear all at once after it's over. Whether you're a freshman in college or smack in the middle of law school or a newbie in the corporate world, embrace the line of possibilities...all the better if you can't see the end of that line.

The F-Word We All Love and Hate

Tweet

My Resolutions for 2011

Question of the Day: If you could be famous for one day, what would you like to be famous for?

In my last post, I discussed what are the steps to creating an ideal New Year's resolution. With only a couple days left of 2010, I have created my yearly checklist of resolutions for 2011...this year, I have 28. Some people call me crazy for having so many goals, but for the past three years it has actually worked pretty well. This past year in 2010, I completed 21 out of 29 resolutions, which is kind of cool if you really think about it. :)

It's been a pretty tough year for me what with all the transitioning from high school to college, but I do feel proud for having accomplished so much as well....I got all A's in my first semester of college, learned how to control my temper, went "green," landed a position at two college magazines, and very importantly: started blogging. Back in January, I aimed for 20 followers by the end of the year. Now, I have 60! As cheesy as this sounds, thanks so much for reading my blog and believing in me and my writing. :D The comments I get on my entries constantly give me motivation and support, and they really mean a lot. So thank you!!

So what are [some of] my resolutions for 2010?

A Sneak Peek at My Resolutions List

Several of these resolutions are pretty formidable tasks, but I'm really excited about them. I love writing so much, but I don't feel like I delve into my passion enough. If I really want to be a journalist, a storyteller, a writer...then I need to soak myself in words and the art of writing. Sounds fun, eh? :D

I also set aside some important (some mini, some big) goals for this blog, .:The Red Angel:. Blogging has become not only something fun for me to do, but also a part of my literary career as a writer. At the very beginning, this blog was more of a project. An experiment. Just something to try out. And now, it has become a part of me and what I do. I'd really like to continue doing this and make this blog the best that it can be. :)

Goals for the Blog

Yes, yes, I'd like to receive some feedback from YOU as to how I can improve the blog, what you'd like to see more of and less of, and what new additions I could add. I will be hosting this poll on January 2nd, since I know many of you are busy now what with the holiday season and having quality family time and preparing for New Year's Day.

What do you think of my goals? Have you made a New Year's resolution yet?

My Resolutions for 2011

Tweet

5 Steps To a Resolution You'll Stick With

Question of the Day: What is your favorite holiday song? Among my favorites are Last Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, and Do You Hear What I Hear.

Now that the Christmas season is over, it is almost time to count down.....2011 is almost here! Do you have a New Year's Resolution? Or are you still trying to think of a goal that you can, well, actually commit to? Making a resolution is hard, and sticking to it is even harder.

Personally, I love New Year's resolutions. What better way to begin a brand new year than with a newfound determination to improve yourself for the better as a person? I've listed five steps that I've used for the past few years that are guaranteed to help you choose a resolution that is both bold and possible.

1) Want V.S. Need...or Want & Need? Be sure to make a resolution that is both pragmatic and desirable. If you want to start growing a vegetable patch but you don't like gardening, then what's the point? The best resolution will give you material benefits as well as personal happiness. Besides, you'll be much more likely to stick with a goal that you personally enjoy working towards as opposed to a goal that you don't.

2) Be Realistic. You want to write, edit, AND publish a book in a single year? My dear friend, you have some fierce ambitions! Although I admire your fervor, it takes A LOT of work to do each of those things...either you will have a mental breakdown by August from trying to finish your book or you'll lose steam fast. Your resolution needs to be realistic and attainable. Why not aim to only complete a book? Believe me, that's already difficult as it is! If you are a writing whiz-gizmo, you can start editing towards the end of the year. If you're feeling particularly bold, you could also start researching the publishing industry and weighing your options (self-publishing versus a publisher). But don't get too greedy with your goals without considering the work that must be done to reach them.

3) Be Specific. If you decide to "be healthier," what exactly does that mean? Do you want to lose weight, start a daily exercise routine, eat organic food, or what? You can take action in so many different ways in order to "be healthier," but if you try to focus on too many smaller goals you will lose sight of everything because it will simply be too much.

4) Make a Plan. Let's say your goal for 2011 is to "be healthier by avoiding processed foods and cooking with fresh, organic products." The point of the resolution is to "be healthier." How will you do that? By "avoiding processed foods and cooking with fresh, organic products." But a year is pretty long, and after a while it's way too easy to simply...give up. By using month-by-month progress check-ups, you can make sure that you stick with your resolution. If you realize you're losing steam by April or May, you can re-motivate yourself and gear up to start again full blast when June comes around. For each month, add a new mini goal to your resolution. For instance, in January you may start out easy by simply reading food labels when you go to the grocery store. Then in February, perhaps you'll start to plan out what vegetables you want to grow in your backyard. By March, you can start planting! Keep a notebook to keep track of your progress and to-do's.

5) Share It. There's nothing better than sharing your resolution with a good friend who has a similar goal in mind. However, it's best if your friend has a resolution that is at least slightly different from yours; otherwise, a friendly partnership may become a major competition. What's great about working towards a resolution together is that you're able to provide each other with healthy doses of moral support, constant motivation, and positive peer pressure. Plus, it will bring your friendship up to a whole new level that is even more meaningful and enjoyable than it was before.

5 Steps To a Resolution You'll Stick With

Tweet

National Novel Writing Month 2010: think baby (as in baby steps) #2

In my last post, I talked about how creating baby steps (aka little goals) and incentives for accomplishments will help me and you win National Novel Writing Month. At the end, I said "baby steps, that's all it is," and the moment I published that post I could already hear fellow readers saying EASIER SAID THAN DONE! in my mind. So I just HAD to continue that concept of "baby steps" in this post...

Unfortunately, November happens to be one of the busiest months of the year. Thanksgiving, Election Day, midterms for some schools, homecoming for other schools, et cetera. And writing 1,667 words a day isn't easy with a busy schedule, even one that is only moderately heavy with work and chores and events. But it IS possible and doable.

So I've created a hypothetical schedule that is hypothetically supposed to be planned out as a typical day in November for a hypothetical mother who is doing NaNoWriMo for the first time, even with Thanksgiving looming over her head and three kiddies to tend.

6:30 am -- Go out for morning run with Fluffy (the hypothetical dog), take him out to relieve himself, listen to a soundtrack you created for your novel to get some inspiration

7:00 am -- Write 300 words while your creative juices are still flowing, then get writer's block (urgh! How to get the inevitable romance between your bachelor of a Main Character and your MC's son's teacher??)

7:30 am -- Wake up the rest of the house, get the kids ready for school, make breakfast for all, pack lunches

8:15 am -- Drop kids off, get dropped off at work, kiss Hubby goodbye

8:30 am -- Work

11:45 am -- Turn down lunch offer from co-workers and explain your NaNoWriMo commitment, get funny looks but have one of your friend-worker (a co-worker who is also a friend) agree to write her novel with you (she happens to be one of the few whom you persuaded to do NaNo!) during lunch

12:00 pm -- Have an intense write-in with your friend-worker while eating lunch, get 500 words in, exchange light conversation about your novel plots

1:00 pm -- Get back to work

3:31 pm -- A light bulb suddenly flicks over your head as you finally realize what to do with your MC (next scene: have him get his arm broken while picking up his son from school, thus initiating the meeting between Ms. Priddy and him...ta-da!); quickly write down a short scene and certain valuable lines ("The twinkle she had in her eyes when she looked at me for the first time was mesmerizing") and then quickly get back to your current work project as your boss walks by; hurray, you got in 200 words at work!

6:45 pm -- Return home, cook dinner with Nanny Dearest and Hubby, change one particularly stinky diaper

7:30 pm -- Dinnertime! A lovely hour of feeding Baby, reminding your other two little'uns to use their napkins and chew with their mouths closed, and fighting with your MC in your mind over what you should do with him in the next couple of chapters (apparently he'd rather meet her in a more romantic setting such as a beach or something else unrealistic)

8:15 pm -- Wash dishes with Hubby while Nanny Dearest bathes the little'uns, discuss your MC with Hubby, who helps you decide to go with your own instincts and set the scene between Ms. Priddy and your MC at school

8:30 pm -- Jot down a quick 300 words after this thoughtful dishwashing-bonding time

8:45 pm -- Begin watching Beauty & the Beast with your family

9:00 pm -- take a movie break and make your award-winning strawberry smoothies for the children (because they begged and made those adorable puppy faces that you can never resist)

9:45 pm -- Put the kids to bed

9:50 pm -- Write a good, solid 400 words; review today's NaNo work...YES YOU ACCOMPLISHED YOUR BABY STEP OF THE DAY!

10:30 pm -- Have some down time with Hubby and talk about Thanksgiving plans over a romantic cheese and wine snack (you eventually decide that he will cook the smaller dishes if you take care of the turkey and stuffing)

Whew! A long but productive day! As you can see, the hypothetical woman above was able to squeeze in even MORE than the absolutely-must-write-1677-words in her day. It's all about having the motivation and staying inspired. As demonstrated above at 11:45am, you may have to turn down some social gatherings/offers/dates during the month of November, depending on how ahead you are in your novel and how much time you're willing to give (okay, BALANCE) into NaNoWriMo.

It's always best to forewarn family and friends that you're committing November to a 50k novel-writing contest, but they still may pressure you into ditching your characters for a girls' (or guys') night out. However, this is the golden time when you ought to keep the bigger goal in mind and *sniff* say no to nights of fun.

You may feel rather depressed at times when you do so, which is pretty normal for the average NaNoer, but it will definitely pay off once you're grinning with your newly self-published book and your friends are screaming for your autograph in the end. ;)

~TRA

National Novel Writing Month 2010: think baby (as in baby steps) #2

Tweet

NaNoWriMo 2010: think baby (as in baby steps)

Question of the Day: What is the one tactic you use to prevent yourself from boarding a train at The Procrastination Station?

One thing that gets most people excited about NaNoWriMo is the thought of actually winning it...of writing a book that consists of 50,000 words in a single month. Ah...like Audrey Hepbern says, "wouldn't it be loverly"? It would indeed. I mean, it's only an average of 1,700 words that need to be written per day, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Here's how many people start out with NaNoWriMo:

Day Negative One: Get ecstatic and absolutely PUMPED about the book idea, look over plot/chapter/character outlines one more time, dream about what the first word will be

Day One: Begin writing furiously, come up with about 2,000 words, feel triumphant, re-read twice and take out a couple weird sentences. Off to a good start!

Day Two: The MC is getting a bit boring by himself, so introduce 2nd MC. Write 1,600 words, solid.

Day Three: Get in 1k.

Weekend One: Averaging about 900 words a day. It WOULD be more if it weren't for work, parent duties, oh--and that wedding shower you're hosting for your best friend! D: But hey, every word counts right? That's what they always say!

Day Nine: Writer's Block. Great.

Day Ten: Barely able to get through a paragraph. Why does November have to be so busy?? Oh, and it doesn't help that Writer's Block is still hovering around.

Day Twelve: FORGET IT!! *Wah* I'll never win NaNoWriMo at this rate, I was crazy to ever even THINK that I could pull this off! *pulls hair off and out instead* ARghh, I QUIT!!!! *throw computer at the goldfish bowl...and miss*

This was me during 2006 and 2007; in fact, several NaNoers give up with a scenario like Day Twelve, give or take a day. They begin to realize that...1,700 words is actually A LOT more than it seems to be at first thought. Sometimes, I still feel like this...last year, I was very close to giving up. As a senior filling out college apps, senior project forms, and whatnot, it was very difficult to keep up with my writing. I barely made it.

This year, I have a specific goal in mind that I hope you NaNoers will share with me. Many people get excited about the MAJOR goal and think, Omggg it'd be SO totally cool if I actually wrote a BOOK (of 50,000 words) in a MONTH and, then, like, publish it! Then, by the second week (or perhaps the second day if you're REALLY having trouble or are very fickle), your excitement plummets to the ground, like a football out-of-bounds, with a dissatisfied bump. And then your dream of being the next J.K. Rowling (or Stephen King, whatever floats your boat) crashes and burns.

Instead of thinking about the overall prize -- OMG OMG I'M GONNA BE A NY TIMES BESTSELLER, Y'ALL! -- ponder over the little goals that will lead you to that reward. Just think of a baby. I mean, in the first few months of its existence, a baby's ultimate mission is to learn how to walk (OMG OMG MOMMY'S GONNA BE PROUD!), and eventually through baby steps he or she will reach that goal.

Examples of NaNo baby steps: 1) Write 1,667 words a day (a standard baby step), 2) take time for 3 breaks per day (2 hours each) to get your words in, 3) reserve one day a week to have a deadly write-in (either by yourself or with other NaNoers in your region if you wish).

I've decided that for every day I don't get 1,667 words written, I will give myself an extra half hour of reading and homework. I have also decided that for every 500 extra words I write, I will allow myself to watch one rerun episode of Glee or Smallville! Yayy for incentives! They almost always work if they're appealing enough, so try them out yourself. For instance, for each baby step you accomplish, depending on how big a step is, treat yourself to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte or an afternoon cat nap. And once you get into the stride, each day gets a little bit easier!

Looking forward to writing with you all beginning November 1st :) Baby steps, that's all it is!

~TRA

NaNoWriMo 2010: think baby (as in baby steps)

Tweet