Embracing 2014: My New Years Resolutions

#DailyWings: “Nothing truly innovative, nothing that has advanced art, business, design, or humanity, was ever created in the face of genuine certainty or perfect information.” -Jonathan Fields

For what might possibly be the first time ever, I feel like it's time for a new year. So much happened in 2013 that it seems only natural to "turn the page" and start a new chapter of this book that we call life. (Technically, "Chapter 2014" refers to the 2014th year of the Gregorian calendar rather than that of my personal life...I'm 21, not 2014, years old after all!) Note - this doesn't necessarily mean I'm ready for 2014. On the contrary, my body experiences all sorts of physical reactions - my arms quiver, my heart palpitates at an alarming rate, my mind goes into panic mode - whenever I even think about life after college. There's one more semester left. Graduation is in May. Anything beyond that is up in the air. 

As much as I consider myself a fan of spontaneity, the truth is that I'm much calmer when everything is planned out accordingly. Besides things like birthday surprises, I like to know what's going to take place in the future (except for movie and book spoilers...talk about party poopers). What I would like to happen may indeed be the total opposite of what actually happens. Thus, I hope to be flexible in 2014. To stay open-minded and not get discouraged if things go awry. 

I have been an adamant goal-setter since 2008 when I started making new years resolutions using an incentives system and Chris Guillbeau's annual review spreadsheet. If you're a planner like me, you might be interested in my guide: 5 Steps to a Resolution You'll Stick With. You can find out if I met my 2013 goals here. 

Once again, I've compiled a list of New Years resolutions and gleaned from it my top 10. Here they are: 

Ultimately, this year will be a transition period for me. For the past eight years, I've been focused on things like my education and social life and independence. The falls and springs have been marked with numbers - class grades, grade point averages, standardized test scores - that determined where I would go next. Summers were spent either in China or Chapel Hill for internships and extra classes. But not this summer. For once, I'm going to have time (!) to think about who I want to be and what comes next in my book. Not what should come next according to social expectations, but what I want to come next. 

The book of my life (all 21 chapters) has been continuously written for me - until now. Whether I like it or not, this is the year that everything changes. This is where the real writing begins.


Wendy Lu

What are your New Years resolutions? If you could give 2014 your own theme, what would it be?

Embracing 2014: My New Years Resolutions

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50,000 Is Just a Number: NaNoWriMo Wks 3-4

#DailyWings: "The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done." -Allard Lowenstein

Whew! National Novel Writing Month is finally over, my fingers are about to fall off and I can go back to having a real life again. Wonderful. 

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and dragging plotlines and flying  candy bars. First and foremost, I want to give a very big congratulations to all the NaNoers in Chapel Hill, N.C., and around the country who met their personal goals, whether they were to 5k or 50k or simply write every day. We did it.

For those of you who are curious, I made it to 43,705 words by the stroke of midnight. Unfortunately, I did not reach my goal of 50,000 words, but I was so close! On Nov. 30, the very last day, I wrote more than I ever have before -- about 10k in one day.That is crazy.  (The words weren't exactly fine contributions to the novel, but quantity > quality is the essence of NaNo.) This year's writing challenge taught me so much about myself and my writing. For one whole month, I showed that I love writing enough to put it above all else, even school work and health -- this is no exaggeration, as I was sick during the last week. Still, it was worth every hour spent groveling over word vomit. 

Even though I didn't "officially" win, I still felt like a winner when it was all over because of so many new developments that would've otherwise not been created. If I hadn't decided to partake in the writing challenge this year, my book would still be less than halfway done. The thing is, 50,000 is just some lame number. It's really no different from 49,999. Technically, you could just type "the" 50,000 times and enter "50,000" into the word count validator and say you "won." But that wouldn't feel very fulfilling, would it? Even though NaNoWriMo is all about how many words you write and not how meaningful each word is, it's also about how far you can take your characters. Where the story takes you and get you to where you want to be. I've learned that it's never, never too late to finish what you started.  Just because November is over doesn't mean I'll stop writing my novel. The best thing NaNoWriMo has trained me to do is write on a daily basis. It's more than just a habit, it's a lifestyle. 

One last note: This was the first year I publicized my NaNoWriMo endeavors so extensively on Facebook and Twitter. My goal for doing so was to hold myself accountable, but I discovered something else as well. What kept me going every day wasn't the fear of feeling guilt for not writing, but the desire to strive for what everyone -- my family, my friends and all the people who believe in me -- sees me as: a passionate writer who doesn't give up. Throughout the month, I received so many personal messages from different people who knew I was participating in the challenge. And when I ran into friends on the quad or in the dining hall, they would ask me how NaNoWriMo was going. This meant so much to me. 

Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement over the past month. Proud to be a writer. 

NaNoWriMo Word Count 2012: 43,705
Overall Novel Word Count: 101,486 (and still counting...)


Now that NaNoWriMo is over, it's time for finals.

Wendy Lu

P.S. Like reading The Red Angel? "Like" my blog on Facebook to receive updates and more #DailyWings! Hoping to reach 100 fans by Christmas. Help me reach my goal, please?

Once you "Like" the page, please click the 'Liked' button underneath the cover photo and make sure the 'show in news feed' option is checked. That way, you'll be able to see the updates!

50,000 Is Just a Number: NaNoWriMo Wks 3-4

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NaNoWriMo Owns My Soul: Weeks 1-2

#DailyWings: "Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end -- if not always in the way we expect." -Luna Lovegood

The Office of Letters & Light

I used to think seven hours of sleep was a necessity for my brain and body to function, but I have underestimated myself. This month of November, it's a lucky night when I get five hours of sleep. Sometimes, I'll pass out at 9 p.m. and then wake up, dizzy and bleary-eyed, at midnight to start working for the next four hours. All thanks to National Novel Writing Month. 

Okay, that's not entirely true. It's NaNoWriMo, but it's also my writing classes -- including Reporting and Feature Writing -- as well as the trillion organizations I'm involved with and The Great Internship Search. What is a college student to do? 

Even with lack of sleep, I'm still behind on my word count. Very, very behind. Like, 10,000 words-behind. We're supposed to be past the halfway point right now, and here I am still stuck in the first 10k. It's not that the copy editor in me is trying to take over -- although the pesky adverbs and drawn-out descriptions make me shudder once in a while -- or that I have writer's block. In past years, that's been the case. But this year, it's something different.  It's that I'm working on a novel I started four years ago; obviously, my writing style has changed since then. 

The novel I am working on is the one I won NaNoWriMo with back in 2008. Those were the glory days, the literary frenzy that made me love the writing challenge. My characters had incredible self-awareness and social skills. They owned that novel -- not me. But when NaNo ended, I was exhausted and so incredibly high on the idea of reaching 50k that my novel never flourished into anything more. This year is the first since then that I have dusted off my novel and actually reintroduced myself to the world I'd once created. 

Motivational NaNo stickers! (Drag to URL
bar for a closer look.)

At the beginning, every fiber of my being struggled against putting those fingers to the keyboard. Honestly, it's a mystery to me how I survived that first day of hell -- but I did. During Week One, I learned that falling in love twice is possible. Turns out, my characters have forgiven me for abandoning them in the first place. They only care about moving forward with the story. I zoomed past the first 10,000 words like a monkey driving a car with its feet. Okay, maybe that's not the best comparison to use, but you get what I mean. (Look at what NaNo has done to me -- such terrible analogies! But... #sorrynotsorry)

NaNoWriMo is halfway over, which is a relief, but also terrifying. What if I don't finish in time? My word count is terribly embarrassing after all, despite every effort taken to write during even the busiest days. There's this fear gnawing inside of me, a fear of not being able to finish what I started. Even now, writing this blog post has wasted time, time that could've been spent writing another few hundred words. Every day, I juggle three types of writing:  journalistic writing, scientific writing for psychology and creative writing. SOMEBODY SAVE ME. It's hard to remember that "the key is balance" when there are only so many hours in a day. But I'm doing my best with the time that I have left. 

The hardest part of any writing session is plucking up the courage to start. When I finally delve into the novel, I don't want to stop. It doesn't matter whether the session lasts for five minutes or fifty. For as long as it lasts, I'm flying. I am creating something of nothing. I've come to terms with the fact that most of my NaNo novel has been crap so far. But every once in a while, a clever reference or relatively intelligent insight about my character or an actually humorous -- not corny -- piece of dialogue will get slipped in somehow, and I don't feel so ineffectual anymore. 

Despite the word sprints and the race to finish and all this talk about reaching the average 1,667 words at the end of the day, perhaps that's not what National Novel Writing Month is supposed to be about. For me, it's about proving to myself that I have what it takes to put writing above everything else, if only for a month. It's about taking risks and making mistakes and experimenting. It's about surprises and the discovery of other worlds and friends you never knew you had. It's about reaching across infinite with your eyes closed without a clue as to what direction you're taking. The point is that you are moving. 

Wendy Lu

NaNoWriMo Owns My Soul: Weeks 1-2

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ROW80Days: "The writing challenge that knows you have a life"

Yesterday, I spent an entire blog post talking about what this blog should be all about. After listing several (not all, but several) things in life that matter to me, I realized that a great place to redefine my blog identity is to start back at square one - what this blog is originally supposed to be. Well, if you've been following me for a while I'm sure you've come to realize that I am a writer. And obviously, this blog is - if anything - an open space to talk about writing. My literary adventures. 

My relationship with writing is similar to that of an arranged marriage - the bond is inevitable, but the emotions are rather mixed. There are some days when I want to write so badly but other priorities (like studying, which is a totally legit reason for not writing, y'all!) take a toll on my daily word count. On other days, I simply procrastinate by reading addictive Jodi Picoult novels, cooking even though I don't like to cook, downloading music and doing everything else besides writing. 

And then there are those days when I'm on a roll, or what I like to call a literary frenzy. In such a frenzy, my fingers are on fire and flying across the keyboard. For once, these entangled thoughts and crazy characters and half-formed ideas actually make it onto the page in what I consider to be pretty coherent sentences (or so I think).

In the past I used to love writing challenges, but lately they haven't worked very well for me. They have either been not for me, too impersonal or too demanding (Like StoryADay... such a neat idea, but so mentally draining!). Too often do I get motivated and ready to kick some writing goals in the butt and then, and then...I flake out. Of course, there was the year of 2008 when I won NaNoWriMo, but I consider that to have been some sort of miracle. I doubt I could write that much in so little time if I tried to do it all over again. I'd probably hide in a corner with another distraction, spewing out excuses to myself for not writing. 

But this just in - I found something new: A Round of Words in 80 Days. Even the description calls to me - "the writing challenge that knows you have a life." Yes! I love to write, but I do also have a life! *gasp* Perhaps it is possible for both to coexist? The basic idea for ROW80Days is to create your own set of writing goals - ideally ones that are measurable - and use your blog to keep you accountable during the 80 days you have to complete these goals. 

Oh mah gah, I can create my own goals?! No 1,600 word count? No 50k mark? No writing prompts? Normally I thrive under such strict conditions, but surprisingly the only word that comes to my mind is: AWESOME. I've added myself to the ROW80Days Facebook page, created my first ROW80Days blog post (right here!) and gotten myself motivated. Now all I have to do is follow through with my goals...whatever they are. 

Goals. This should be the easiest part since I get to make them up myself, but it's not. Realistic, measurable, enjoyable to achieve. That's what my goals should be. Right now, I'm working on a personal writing assignment that I will simply call: "The T-Project." I know that's vague, but I read somewhere that it's bad luck for artists to talk about their WiPs (works-in-progress). ;) Let's see, I suppose these goals will do for now (we can amend our goals later if we need to): 

• write character-driven scenes
• have a sense of where I want to go with my project - so, create 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 ROW80Days rules
• make some progress, either tangible or mental, on the T-Project every day

Technically, Round Two of ROW80Days already began in early April but there's always time to jump into the challenge. If you'd like join me and be a part of A Round of Words in 80 Days, check out their blog and sign up! And do let me know your blog URL so I can follow your literary frenzies, too!

Wendy Lu

ROW80Days: "The writing challenge that knows you have a life"

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"You're doing NaNo? Sounds like a dirty iPod joke if you ask me."

QOTD: Tell us a funny Thanksgiving dinner story! (C'mon, we've all got those memories of Grandpa cracking funny--but not really funny--jokes and Baby Cousin Jack spitting peas at your brother.)

Okay, I know the title is super lame--but it was either that or "You know you're crazy for doing NaNo when you told your Mom and she said, laughing, 'A book? Hun, you wouldn't even write those This I Believe essays in grade school, what makes you think you can write a novel...?'." Yeah, I'm glad I went with this blog title instead. ^^

Speaking of NaNoWriMo, there are eight days left! How are we feeling about this? Excited? Frantic? Indifferent? (*points to self*) It's time to share with you all my word count. I am not really ready to expose myself to shame, but here: 

9,152

Yep, my word count has stayed the same for weeks. Not days, weeks. And when has that ever been okay? (Answer: Never.)

Yet, here I am feeling indifferent. What is this? I should be feeling terrible about myself. I mean, this was supposed to be year that I would make myself a winner. What happened to that? 

In my defense, I have been writing. Just not my novel. I have five papers due this month and I just turned in one of them (five pages on the representation of Congress!) yesterday morning. I do think that's a forgivable reason for not noveling, but still....the real winners of NaNo are the writers who get their 1,666 words in every single day no matter what priorities they have in real life. They make time. They choke out words, as many as possible;  spit them into their word processor until that 1,666th word is down. 

Me? I'm listing excuses about why my word count is still four digits long. I mean, I spend half my time cheering on others who are nearing the finish line themselves; why can't I do the same for myself?

Which brings me to today's main focus. At the start of November, did you tell any of your family or friends or the whole wide world you were going to do NaNo (the novel challenge, silly, not the iPod)? What did you say? "Hi Mummy and Daddy, if I don't respond to your calls this month it's because I'm in my closet writing a novel, okay? Thanks, love you, bye!"?

More importantly, what was their reaction? 

Reactions often play a huge role in our perception of what we believe we are doing with NaNoWriMo. If most of the reactions you receive were generally positive statements like "Oh wow, you GO girlfriend!!!" and "This is perfect for you! You LOVE to write! This is going to be so much fun...you're going to love it," then chances are you were compelled to feel the same way about your literary journey. 


But if most people you tell say things like, "50k in a month? Give it up before it's too late to save yourself," "What a waste of time," and "You're doing NaNo? What's that mean? Sounds like a dirty iPod joke if you ask me," then diving headfirst into the challenge may not have started out so great for you. 

I didn't exactly tell the world I'm doing NaNo this year, but I did tell a lot friends (okay, basically my entire friends list on Facebook once I'd updated my status). The collective response I got was: "Oh God, my fingers hurt just at the thought of writing that much..." and "Wow, um, okay! Good luck with that!" Don't get me wrong - they're all pretty supportive of me, but I can tell that behind those good lucks were skepticism and doubt--which is a totally natural reaction coming from people who have not heard of NaNoWriMo before. 

The problem, though, is that the reactions of people who matter a lot to you tend to rub off on you. Seeing as I am easily influenced by others, this is probably what's happened to me as well. I really need to fix this. I need to be my own cheerleader, my own source for inspiration and motivation no matter what other people are thinking. 

In the end, we've all got to believe in ourselves. We can't rely on other people to galvanize our creative juices and keep us going, because when it all comes down to it, this is our fight.  The truth is, we don't need to win NaNoWriMo to feel good about ourselves, anyway. Every word we put down is a winner. This is our journey, and we are the only ones who can reach the goal we set out to attain, whether that be 50,000 words or 5,000. Let's all keep this in mind as we're gearing up for this last week of writing. 

I can't promise that I'll reach 50,000 words in the next seven days, but I can promise that at the end of NaNo I will be able to say I pushed aside my papers, skipped post-turkey/stuffing/macaroni exercise and worked my butt off to reach my final word count. 

What reactions did you receive when you told others you were doing NaNo? How did it affect your own attitude? After 22 days of literary frenzy, how has your attitude and the attitudes of said others changed?

"You're doing NaNo? Sounds like a dirty iPod joke if you ask me."

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Be a Bold Writer

QOTD: Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month?

Before I get on with today's topic, I'd just like to point out that NaNoWriMo will be here ONE WEEK! For those of you who have no clue what this amazing event is, it's a month-long challenge to write 50,000 words' worth of a novel in the course of November. It's fun, it's crazy, it's illuminating, it's life-changing. And that's not an exaggeration either. 

I've been tweeting like mad and following accounts like FigmentFiction and WriMos FTW! just to get myself hyped up about NaNo. (Seriously guys, unless you've been keeping up with my blog since last November, you have no idea how intense I get around this time of the year!) I've become obsessed with looking up literary blogs, and I have an entire folder in my Bookmarks dedicated to online NaNoWriMo articles that I've collected from the Internet. 

Seriously! Come. Join. I guarantee that if you stick with it, in the end you won't regret having done it. Well-l-l maybe you might, but it'll definitely be an experience you'll never forget. :) 

~~~

I'll be focusing a lot on writing this month and the next (not surprisingly), and today I've thought a lot about why it's important to be a bold writer. What do I mean by being a bold writer? 

Bold writers...

• aren't afraid to take chances
• create characters, make them come alive and then put them in situations that take them out of their comfort zone

Bold writers...

• take those characters to places that they normally wouldn't think of going in their worlds, and then take a step back to see what happens
• don't use cliches--they make their own. 

Bold writers are able to make their stories become so alive and full of truth that it's impossible for a reader to forget. 

As writers, we have all the tools we need to do what we do. We use a collection of our thoughts and feelings, our experiences and our imagination. We use our mind. This is both luxuriating and terrifying, because if we are the controllers of our own minds, surely we can create anything we want?

Bold writers aren't afraid to take advantage of all the tools they need to create something. They scoop all of these tools up and chisel away until they're raw and dull and in need of a good sharpening again--use them with full force and maybe shoot them out one after another like bullets emitting out of a gun or all at once like a great big cannonball. They don't know what they might end up with when it's all said and done and, quite frankly, they don't give a damsel-in-distress about staying sophisticated or rational. They dive into their work. 

This coming November, let's all be bold writers. Let's step out of our normal boundaries and create characters that in the real world would have never crossed each other's pathways--and let's make them cross those paths. Let's see what happens when we toss all cares aside and do whatever the heck we want with the tools we have. Let's find out what we can create when rationality is crumpled up, stomped on and tossed over our shoulders. 

Be a Bold Writer

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Interview: An Evening With Writer Jordan-Marie Smith

Today we have Jordan-Marie Smith from Where Lies My Tarp? here with us to talk about her thoughts on the writing process and what her source of creativity comes from. I have known Jordan since the near beginning of high school, and she is simply AWESOME.

JMS will be graduating from high school in June. She will be attending American University in the fall with a major in International Relations and a minor in Journalism. Jordan enjoys writing various short stories and poetry (both fiction and non-fiction), all of which come from experiences that she has gone through in reality. When it comes to writing, it is her wish that readers will be able to "feel the weight of the characters' emotions". Her favorite color is black.

TRA: Why do you write? What drives you, inspires you?

JMS: Frustration, anger, and the inability to be honest with myself forces me to write. I'll create a character who acts as myself and faces the same complexities in her life between her boyfriends, her mental illness and the world in general.

TRA: Every writer goes about the writing process in different ways; it's a unique experience for everyone. Tell us, what is the writing process like for you?

JMS: I don't really have a process. If you mean process in terms of planning when to write, I've never really been into that (as you can see from my lack of recent blog posts). I've tended to trust myself to spontaneously burst onto the keys of my Netbook and begin. I will say, though, that I must must must have music to write, especially creative writing. I find it much harder to sit and write and not get distracted when I don't have music. When I have something playing in my ear, it seems that it almost guides me beat for beat into beautiful words. I usually listen to UNKLE, Radiohead, Underoath, Boards of Canada or Crystal Castles--powerful and unique.

TRA: What is your favorite piece that you have written and why?

JMS: These are actually a bunch of pieces made into one big piece, but I'd have to say "The Masses" is my favorite. It's essentially a collection of very short stories written about people that I may or may not know or may or may not be me. For instance, one is about a girl who despises the company of others, another is about a boy urging to be a stud...there are others about a girl stalking a couple on a date, a girl alone and hopeless, and more. I am an observer by far (maybe even to an extreme extent). I love wondering what people's lives are really like below the shadowy exterior, even if I have to make those people up.

TRA: What is your favorite book and why?

JMS: Oooooo! I know this one! A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies by John Murray! It's pretty much the same as "The Masses", but I hadn't known that when I'd written it. The book has at least seven short stories about different people's lives. Some of the running themes are dense and include marriages that are falling apart, Indians (whom I love), immigration and the loss of home, helping others through medicine, and realizing that your life may not be what you want. I absolutely love this book, he writes so beautifully and speaks so truthfully about human nature.

TRA: Tell us about your literary accomplishments.

JMS: Hmmm, well I am the Editor-in-Chief of my school's Literary Magazine and have been the Assistant Editor of my high school newspaper's Entertainment section. I wish I could have devoted the time to writing a short book or novella, or to winning an essay contest but as of yet I still have achievements to make. My mother constantly urges me to write because she sees that as my way of making a difference on the world, so I'm taking her advice and--in the near future-- plan to start concocting more short stories to make in a novella.

TRA: When you suddenly get a brand new idea, do you first plan out what you're going to write or just wing it?

JMS: Sometimes I plan what I want to write. I wanted to do a weekly syndication article and that was called Inspiration Fridays. But most of the time I just write what I want, when I want.

TRA: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

JMS: Your sucess is built upon your perception. You may not be where you want to be in a year or two as a writer, but if you can tell that you have grown as a person and as a writer - you've made it.

TRA: If you could ask anybody, living or dead, any question at all, who would it be and what would you ask?

JMS: ....[ten minutes go by]. I would ask God for 13 more questions. I'd ask if aliens were real and for him to give me their history in American culture. I'd also ask about the secrets of the presidencies, when the world will end, why he put us through pain, what Heaven and Hell are like, how the world will end, and such questions like that.

~~~

To learn more about Jordan-Marie Smith, visit her About Me page here and ask questions here.

Interview: An Evening With Writer Jordan-Marie Smith

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Compromising With Your Main Character

Question of the Day: What is one quirky habit, hobby, or hidden talent you have that not many people know about you?

As you all know, I am doing National Novel Writing Month. Earlier, I was having a mild argument with my Main Character, but we just made up. :) Basically, she thinks the last few chapters have been pretty passive and need a little oomph, while I've been trying to tell her to be quiet because editing and "going back" will ONLY slow me down! So far the past day or two, she's just been yacketing yacketing in my head. In the end, though, we compromised...

MC: Gosh Wendy, I don't really know what to think about that last chapter...

Me (narrows eyes): What's that supposed to mean?

MC: Well, I feel like ever since Chapter 9, the action has just really been dwindling down...

Me: Um, HELLO, I'm trying not to go too fast or feed too much information to my readers!

They need time to rest, just enough time for them to get inside your head and for me to build

some suspense...

MC: But Chapter 9 and 10 just seem so...so passive. They need a little oomph.

Me: Oomph??

MC: You know, to spice them up a little. Hmm, maybe you should have me take a random

plane flight to Las Vegas and I can party all night...

Me: I'LL decide on how to write MY novel, little missy.

MC: Well it's MY story!

Me: I'd like to see YOU slaving away day after day, typing until your fingers are sore with the thought "1667, 1667" repeating over and over in your head, and tearing your hair out because you can't find another synonym for "secretive."

MC: Clandestine.

Me: *THWACK* (punches MC in the nose)

-ten minutes later-

Me: MC, are you okay?

MC: You broke my nose.

Me: Oh shut up, your nose didn't break. You're just a figment of my worthless imagination.

Erm...does it still hurt?

MC: Duh. So what do you want now?

Me: Well I'm trying to complete Chapter 10 and am failing horribly. I guess you ARE important to this novel. I am sorry for fake-breaking your nose. So whaddaya say? Help me out here? Chapter 10 could really use your insight...

MC: I want to go to Las Vegas.

Me: Well I can't let you do that.

MC: I WANT TO GO TO LAS VEGAS!

Me: ...........Okay.

MC: !!!!!!!!WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG OMG OMG REALLY?!?!!?!!!!!

Me: You can go to Las Vegas, but ONLY after Chapter 16.

MC: Why Chapter 16?

Me: Because in Chapter 13 something bad happens to somebody you care about, and then in Chapter 15 you get kissed.

MC: COOL!!!!!!!!!!!

-The End-

So what about you? Do you ever have little figments of your imagination spring to life and start arguing with you?

Personally I think my Main Character and I have a bit of a personality clash....

~TRA

Compromising With Your Main Character

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Meet: The "Hope" Bompkin

Question of the Day: What did you do last summer? xD

So my Halloweekend was GREAT! Sort of... Michael and I hung out at my apartment, watching episodes of Smallville (of course), comparing favorite quotes, and eating chocolate upcakes. Yes, CUPCAKES. Mmmmm. The sad part of Halloween was that no kids came to knock on my door. Thus, we had TONS and tons of Candy (yes, Candy with a capital C) left over. We COULD'VE eaten it all...but we didn't. ;) Instead, I passed the Candy around in Chinese class as a sort of post-Halloweeniness treat for everyone.

As for National Novel Writing Month, I am currently about 4,000 words behind. AKA Two Days Behind. This past week has been super hectic, mainly due to the fact that I have a new story assignment (1300 words minimum) to complete as the writer for my college's features magazine. Ohh NaNoWriMo, you just HAD to be in November, didn't you?

Well, it is just the first week. If you're having troubles, such as writer's block, arguments with your main character, or just a complete loss of steam all together, please don't give up. Every word counts. Plus, the more you write down by the end of November, that's one greater step up you'd be than you would've been if you hadn't gone so far.

Just remember that there is still...H-O-P-E!!! =)

I painted this at my college's Paint-A-Pumpkin event. I call it the "Hope" Bompkin. I painted it just for you NaNoers. <3

IT'S THE BOMPKIN'S HEAD!!!!

I added a rose for extra good luck. In a way, a novel is like a rose...as the flower begins to grow, it begins to develop thorns. However, the ending result is magificent. We are currently in those thorns right now, you and I. We are trying to surpass the greatest difficulties of writing a novel. But if we don't give up and keep the will to win, our novel will bloom just like this flower. :D

The shining star of a NaNoer is the one person who always motivates that writer to keep going and never stop...to never look back or edit or second-guess what the writer has already written. The star always provides light where there is dark. My star is my friend Michael. Who is yours?

Meet: The "Hope" Bompkin

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YAYYYYY! for NaNoWriFri!!!

Question of the Day: Are you into math and science or are you more of a humanities and literary arts type of person? Or are you a mixture of both? If so, why do you think that is?

EEK! I am SO excited for National Novel Writing Month I can hardly think of words to express my, er... excitement! There are only FOUR more days!! I have heard people use SO many adjectives to express their thoughts about what NaNoWriMo is like. Crazy, impossible, amazing, unthinkable, ridiculous. What do I call it? Exhilarating.


Most of the time, my life nowadays is a routine. Day in, and day out, I go to class, I study in the library, I eat at the university dining hall, I study some more, I eat, and I sleep. Oh, and I blog. ;) I enjoy my days, but quite honestly they can get kind of monotonous after a while. I mean, eating the same shrimp scampi and vegetable soup from the same cafeteria every single day CAN get a little boring. Just a little bit. Sometimes, I feel like I just need to...GARRR!!!! Have some sort of wild frenzy and chaos.


That is exactly what NaNoWriMo offers. No wonder I've been addicted to it since 2006.
Thirty days. 1,667 words a day. One novel. Completely exhilarating. For every NaNoWriMo that I have participated in, it's been just that. Creating plots, characters, settings, and gosh knows what else, and compiling it all together in a would-be coherent book is what NaNo is all about. With the clock ticking and my hands flying all across the keyboard from left to right, I feel extremely pressured...but in a good type of way. I feel like I can let go of some of my extra energy and stress and take a break from the monotony that inevitably dominates over my daily schedule. During the moments that I am writing, there's nothing that is more alive to me than the story that I am creating.


Ahhh. Just thinking about it now and imagining all of this makes me anticipate NaNoWriMo all the more, if that's even possible. And what's even COOLER about this year is that I will be participating in weekly write-ins and meeting up with regional NaNoers for the first time. PLUS, I persuaded one of my best friends, Michael, to do NaNoWriMo with me!


So. Michael and I proposed a NaNoWriFri. Yes, National Novel Writing Friday. This Friday, we
are going to go to our regional Kick-off Party at the local Panera, meet all sorts of cool NaNoers, and then plan our novels together at my apartment. See, I'm not completely done with the planning of my novel, and neither is Michael. (I blame the textbook reading and essays that I've had.) On Friday night, he will be coming over to my apartment and we will be having a sort of "prelude" to the frenzy of NaNo. We will be comparing plots, filling out NaNo charts and completing our novel outlines together.


NaNoWriMo is fun just by itself, but it is definitely 10x better when you do it with a friend! So if you don't know anyone else who's writing for November, let everyone know about this awesome competition you'll be taking part in and try to get some of YOUR friends to do it with you! Especially if you're a newcomer, you will definitely appreciate any inspiration and motivation from other people to keep on writing.


Ultimately, National Novel Writing Month is a competition with yourself. A competition to see how fast you can write your novel, how many words you'll be able to get down on a day by day basis, and in the end if you got past your goal of 50k.


I found this cute comic from Google. It's kind of fuzzy but if you drag it to your URL bar, you'll be able to see it more clearly. I hope you enjoy! :)



~TRA

YAYYYYY! for NaNoWriFri!!!

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