End-of-Month Wrap Up: October

4:27 PM Gemma Fitz 2 Comments

Am I the only one who thinks October went entirely too quickly this year? Sure, for a while there, I felt like it was dragging out as I counted the days to NaNo, but now it's suddenly gone and I kinda wish it wasn't.

On the Blog

At My Writing Desk

On the Web

With Me and My Life

  • My parents went on a business trip for a week and so my siblings and I got to do whatever we wanted while they were gone.
  • That was also the week my internet died. And stayed dead. Until Dad got home and fixed it.
  • Today was my last day at work for the year. Which is kinda sad, but it also means a whole lot less stress.
  • I also shared some anecdotes from my boring life.

Coming Soon to the Blog

I mentioned I'm doing NaNo this coming month. What I did not mention, is that it's going to be a really tough month to do NaNo in.

What with work these last few months, I've fallen a little behind with school, and my Mom is really adamant that I am going to catch back up in November, or else. Which means most of my day everyday will be spent doing extra school work, and not writing, as I would wish. (And yeah, I know I'll be thanking her someday, but I guess it just is not this day.)

So my guess is (and I could be wrong) that what with school and NaNo and everyday life, there won't be all that much time left for blogging. I may be able to post once in a while, but it's entirely possible that you won't see much more of me until December. 

*shrugs* Anyway, we'll see what happens, and you all have a great month.

2 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Racism and Diversity

7:31 AM Gemma Fitz 6 Comments

No, this is not a "we need diverse characters" type of post. Maybe next time.

Recently, I was talking to a friend about racism, and he said something that really bothered me. He said that racism is not just discriminating against another nationality, but also "perpetuating (the idea of) race in any way...since it is dividing people by a standard God did not set" (my friend being a Christian).

In other words, there is only one race, the human race, and if you divide people by, or think of people in terms of, man's idea of "races", than you yourself are being racist.

And I disagree.
A lot of people don't realize this, but I'm a quarter Japanese. Yeah, yeah-- only a quarter, and I don't look it, I can't speak Japanese, I've never been to Japan, and I don't even like sashimi, but I'm still Japanese, and proud of it.

 My diversity counts. A good part of everyday, when I was a child, was spent with my grandmother, who was fully Japanese and grew up in Japan, and I couldn't help but pick up some of the culture. My diversity is important to me. The Japanese traditions in my family, started from my grandmother, still affect my life, even now that she's passed away. My diversity is worth something. God made me this way for a reason. I'm proud to be different. I'm proud to have grown up in a family of mixed nationalities and cultures (not just Japanese, but there's quite a bit of Polish and Ukrainian in this girl as well). I am so grateful for the experiences I've had that I probably wouldn't have had if I wasn't racially diverse-- such as hosting a Japanese foreign exchange student the last four summers, making pierogi as a family with my (other, Ukrainian) grandmother, and eating maki and sukiyaki at New Year's and complaining when my brother put sashimi in.

I love being diverse. I love being Japanese. And I don't think there's anything racist about celebrating your diversity. I think it's okay to rejoice in the way God made you-- unique, fascinating, and beautiful.

But then there are those who aren't so diverse. There's the "white people", or, in other words, those that haven't had a foreign ancestor in the last few generations, or at least whose foreign ancestry doesn't affect their life much, today. And you know what? That's okay, too.

People seem to think of "white" Americans as a "majority". Like they're all the same, like they don't all have their own diversities, even racial diversities. Like every single one of them isn't unique and different and special.

I mean, I look white. Most people think I'm white. And I guess I kinda am. I'm just your normal USA citizen-- I've never even been out of the country. So I identify with the "white" demographic. But I can safely say there aren't that many other white Americans out there that have the same cultural influence in their lives that I've had. And I can also safely say that I haven't had anywhere near the same cultural influences in my life as you have had.

And I think that's beautiful. Even the most most common, stereotyped, or run-of-the-mill demographics in any different time or place are made up of unique and uncommon people.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, God did make those racial divisions. He might not have called it race-- it started out as languages, which formed cultures, which formed nationalities-- and he might not have made them wholly to divide us. I think he made them because variety is beautiful. I think God made races, at least partly, so we could look around at our fellow humans and say "Isn't God amazing to have done this?"

That's not racism. That's diversity. And it's a good thing.

So what's your opinion? Should we perpetuate the idea of race? Should we celebrate diversity? How are you unique?

6 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

The #WritersLife Tag

12:50 PM Gemma Fitz 6 Comments

What do you know? Ashley tagged me for a thing! And it's a super duper awesome thing, so I'm doing it.

Let's get started.

Write Fuel: What do you eat/drink while writing?

Anything and everything. Especially chocolate (including hot chocolate). A few other favourites are: ice cream, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (don't judge), cookies, and milk tea (since first being introduced to the concoction via this lovely tag). And now I'm hungry. 

... Who am I kidding? I'm always hungry. I'm a dragon.

Write Sounds: What do you listen to while writing?

The rhythmic clicking of my keyboard, the far off lowing off cows, strains from the piano downstairs, and the distracting buzz of a trapped stinkbug.

That aside, I am a steadfast supporter of listening to music while I write. It might not work for everyone, but it sure works for me. And again, I pretty much listen to anything. I've got specialised playlists for both my major WIP and my upcoming NaNo novel, plus a collection of really gorgeous instrumentals when I really can't spare any extra braincells for lyrics (though singing usually helps me think better). And often enough I'll just turn my music on and let it play what it will.

If we're talking specifics, I adore instrumentalists like Audiomachine, Two Steps from Hell, and Martin Garrix.

Write Vices: What is your most debilitating distraction?

I won't deny it-- I am easily distracted.

The internet is my bane. I constantly get side tracked scrolling through Pinterest, reading all the blog posts, checking my email, and chatting with my online friends. And I can't actually turn the internet off like some suggest because I write on Google Drive.
For the record, I actually adore Google Drive.
Also, family is distracting. And Doctor Who. And stinkbugs. And life in general.

Write Horror: What is the worst thing that's ever happened to you while writing?

Um... I don't actually remember? Obviously there are all the times when the computer randomly decided to delete whole passages of my story without consulting me. 

And then there was the time my cousin stole my computer while I was writing and started reading my story before I could steal it back.

But otherwise, I've successfully edited all the terrifying occurrences from my memory.

Write Joy: What's the best thing that's ever happened to you while writing? How do you celebrate small victories?

The best thing that's ever happened to me, writing wise, was winning NaNo last year. And I celebrated that by going to see Big Hero 6 with my sisters.

Other great things that happen sometimes:

I start crying over something I wrote. This is a big deal. It's also a good thing.
Someone gives me chocolate. Rarely, but occasionally.
I win a writing competition of some sort.
Stuff starts making sense. Because this hardly ever happens.

Other ways I celebrate:

I eat chocolate. (If I have any.)
I take a break.
I scream and dance and do something that looks kinda like this:
Only I'm unfortunately not as adorable as Jeremy Renner.

Write Crew: Who do you communicate with or not communicate with while writing?

My "Write Crew" consists of my sisters and my best friend, who are all writers as well. They are all wonderful humans and wonderful writers, and they're super supportive of my writing habit.

That being said, it doesn't bother me to talk to people while I'm writing, unless the person is the sort of annoying person that I wouldn't want to talk to even if I wasn't writing. Actually, it's another way of procrastination for me, and I really love procrastinating.

Now talking about writing is different. I will talk about writing online, or to my family, and definitely to my best friend, and if someone asks what I like to do, I'll say "I like to write", but around most of my friends and acquaintances, I keep my writing pretty hush.

Write Secret: What is your writing secret to success of hidden flaw?

There are actually lots of these.

Secrets
  • Write whatever you want. Don't get caught up on "this idea is stupid", "these words suck", "my readers will be mad at me" or whatever else. Just write it. If it helps, write like no one is ever going to read it.
  • Remember not everyone is the same. There's lots of really great writing advice out there, from really great writers, but if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you. That is not a problem. Find something that does work. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you-- it just means you're your own person, and that's a good thing.
  • Sometimes you just need to scream, "WUT R WRDS" and turn on Chris Medina.
  • You can't write if you're not experiencing real life to write about. Don't hole yourself up in your room and write all the time. Get out there and do stuff. Have fun. Be normal. Talk to annoying people. Then go write about it.
Flaws

What? I don't have flaws. I'm a dragon. I am fire. I am death. I am perfect.

Actually, I wrote half a post about this a while back, so I don't think I'll go over it again.

Write-spiration: What always makes you productive?

Nothing makes me productive. I am supremely unproductive.

Something that tends to help a lot, though, is community. When I have people around me, supporting me, I can get waaaaaay more done. People are just awesome like that. (People are also awesome for word wars, which are really motivating, while we're on the subject.)

Besides people, another important part of my community is Whoot.
This is Whoot. He's my writer's block owl. He is also adorable. I painted him myself, and he holds a special place in my dragonish heart. He's very inspiring.

Write Peeve: What is one thing that writers do (or you do) that's annoying?

I hate it when authors use "interesting" dialogue tags. Think "gushed", "chortled", and "bubbled". Seriously guys, stop it. It's not interesting, it's distracting. I would infinitely prefer the good old-fashioned "said".

As for what I do, everything about myself annoys me. And everything about me annoys myself. Sometimes me and myself get so annoyed at each other that we stop talking to each other. But that's off topic.

Specifically writing related, I annoy myself by incorrectly using words like "you're" and "your". I know the proper usage. I swear I do. I just don't always think super carefully over every single word I write to make sure I'm not making typos. And then I look like an idiot and everyone gets annoyed with me. *cries*

Write Words: Share one sentence from a project past or present.

One sentence? PFFT. You're forgetting that I'm a dragon. I DO WHAT I WANT!!
"Damian!" cried Senator Robertson, throwing out his hands. "What a pleasant un-surprise!" 
"The corn is very cheesy, thanks."
I make no apologies for cheesiness and sucky writing.
Senator Robertson face palmed. "Seriously?" he said. "Communication problems in the middle of an epic villain speech? Humanity is so annoying."
I really love my villain. Just sayin'. He's seriously the best.
"Shoot if you like," said Damian. "Now's as good a time as ever. I'd do it myself if I had the nerve." 
He  stared across the empty space at Damian's dark shirt, barely seeing it. His hand curled around the grip of the gun, his index finger finding the trigger. Damian deserved it. The metal was cool against his hot skin. His anger surged and sank and surged again, with each surge attaining new heights. He could see Damian's chest heaving unevenly as he stood waiting. Damian deserved it.
Because we had to end on a serious note. (We're so serious, son.)

And because I'm a dragon worth my salt, I'm going to ignore all rules and conventions and not tag anyone. *cackles*

But if you like this tag, by all means, help yourself...
Just maybe do it while I'm sleeping under a pile of my ill-gotten gains-- dragons don't care much for burglars.

So tell me about your writer's life! How do you cope with distractions? Do most people know you're a writer? What motivates you to write?

6 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Beautiful Books #1: Introducing Shadowwhisper

5:03 AM Gemma Fitz 16 Comments

I caved.

I always told myself I wasn't going to do Beautiful People, because, I thought, no one's going to care about my characters until they read the book anyway. So it was always something that looked cool, but I would never do.

 Until this month, when instead of Beautiful People, they introduced something called "Beautiful Books". And it's so lovely and tempting and easy that I'm doing it. And I don't even care if you don't care.

So today I'm linking up with Beautiful Books, hosted  Paper Fury and Further Up and Further In, and I get to answer questions about my NaNoWriMo Novel.

1. How did you come up with the idea for your novel, and how long have you had the idea?

It happened back in May. I'd just read the Raven Boys and had Urban Fantasy on the brain. I was taking a walk in the hot May sunshine and happened to glance down at my shadow and wonder "What if it was alive? What would it say? Would it be my friend?"

I continued working on a WIP I was rewriting and tried to forget about the idea, but it wouldn't. go. away. I wrote down some notes and started a Pinterest board, just to hold the ideas until I was done with my other projects, and for months I lived with "Shadowwhisper" on the brain, longing to write it.

2. Why are you excited to write this novel?

It's so different from anything I've ever tried! It's Urban Fantasy, has no body count (yet), and is really, really creepy. It's also got a big cast of very quirky characters and it's set in the country. And dude, it's about an evil talking shadow and that just makes me super excited.

3. What is your novel about, and what is the title?

For now, it's entitled "Shadowwhisper", and it's about a girl with a sentient (and evil) shadow. 

4. Sum up your characters in one word each. (Feel free to add pictures!)

One word? THIS IS TORTURE.

(Images all courtesy of Pinterest.)
Rae-- restrained

Chloe-- genuine

I couldn't actually find individual pictures of my dudes, so here's one with all of them.
from left to right:
Darryl-- composed
Glenn-- reliable
Micah-- crazy

The Shadow-- creepy?

There are actually a lot more characters, but we'll stop there.

5. Which character(s) do you think will be your favourite to write? Tell us about them!

The Shadow! Duh! It's evil, it whispers creepy things all the time, and it's on a mission to destroy the universe. *hyperventilates*

I also quite like Rae-- she's kinda grumpy and snarky, and for the most part closed off emotionally, but she cries when she watches movies/TV. Even Teletubbies or the Olympics. She's so contradictory that I can't help but love her.

6. What is your protagonist's goal, and what stands in her way?

When Rae discovers that her Shadow is slowly killing her, it becomes obvious it's his life or hers. The only problem is, there isn't a really good technique for killing shadows.

7. Where is your novel set? (Show us pictures if you have them!)

It's set in modern day Virginia, USA, in a borderline red-neck small town nested beside the Appalachians.

8. What is the most important relationship your character has?

*panics* There are soooo many relationships going on in this book, but I guess the most important would be the Rae/Shadow relationship. I mean, they do have a rather-- close bond. And then there's the fact that The Shadow is sucking all the life out of her and feeding on it, so that drums up some suitable tension. Plus, of course, for half the book they're trying to kill each other and the other half they're whispering snarky things to each other so they really do have the best relationship.

9. How does your protagonist change by the end of the novel?

I'm a pantser. I have some vague ideas as to what's going to happen in my story, especially early on, but ask me questions about the end of the novel and I will say, "I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IT YET." Rae will change-- she'll change a lot. But I have no idea how or in what direction until I get there I find that she's-- different. Be patient, my lovelies. These things take time.

10. What themes are in your book? What do you want readers to feel when the story is over?

Friendship, family, betrayal, if we want to be cheesy, the "triumph of light over darkness". Again, I haven't written it yet, so I'm not sure of everything that will be going on, but those will definitely be in there a lot.

I want my readers closing the book with a deep sigh of relief because the let off from the suspense and tension is so huge that they feel totally drained, emotionally. In an ideal universe, they'd also be sobbing profusely as they hugged the book to their hearts, swearing to love it forever. But I'll settle for less, if I must.

11. BONUS! Tell us your three best pieces of advice for others trying to write a book in a month.

Because I always give such good advice, don't I?
  1. Find someone to support you. It can be a family member, friend, online friend, another writer-- ideally, several people from each of those categories. Find someone who will hold you accountable to your goal and tie you to your writing desk when you just don't want to write.
  2. Love your idea. Writing fifty thousand words in a single month can easily make you feel like you hate writing, and especially like you hate your novel. Don't go into NaNo without an idea you are super excited about-- an idea even fifty thousand words can't make you hate.
  3. Don't stress. Well, of course you're going to stress-- that's part of the NaNo experience. But just remember, ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you churn out 50K in the 30 days-- what really matters is that you have fun, improve your skills, and come out with something more than what you went in with.
  4. And of course eat lots of chocolate.
Are you doing NaNo this year? Why are you excited about your NaNo-novel/current-WIP? What's your best tip on surviving NaNoWriMo? Comment away, and if you're doing Beautiful Books, please include your link!

16 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Dragon's Loyalty Award

6:38 AM Gemma Fitz 6 Comments

Hey peeps! I've been tagged for the Dragon's Loyalty Award by the lovely Gabrielle Massman so that's what we'll be doing today. (And yes, for those of you that didn't know, I am totally a dragon.)

The rules are:
  • Announce your win with a post, and link to whomever presented your award.
  • Post 7 interesting things about yourself.
  • Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers.
  • Drop them a comment to tip them off after you’ve linked them in the post.
  • Display the award certificate on your website.
But being a self-respecting dragon, am I bound by paltry human rules? Of course not!! I shall do as I please.

 Let's get started.

  1. I'm an extrovert, but I am very shy and insecure. I freeze up every time I have to talk to someone I don't know very well and I've never understood the need for the telephone. I tend to feel lonely in big crowds when no one is talking to me, but I am energized by talking to my friends and going to parties, as long as I know the people there. Seven days without talking to anyone outside my family and online friends is legitimate torture.
  2. I have horrible hand-eye coordination, especially where sports are involved. Anything which involves throwing something I suck at (and hate), including volleyball, dodge ball, frisbee, water balloons, etc. But in spite of the fact that I can't throw or catch to save my life, I actually can kick a ball, and I adore soccer.
  3. I like reading, but I'm insanely picky about what books I like, so I've actually only ever given one book five stars in my entire life, and I get really depressed when I try to read a lot, because I just end up hating everything I read. Ah, the troubles of a picky bookworm.
  4. I think better when I'm singing. I sing while I do math, write novels, or bake cookies. I make it a point to memorize the lyrics of every song I add to my iTunes, so that the next time that song comes on while I'm thinking, I can sing along without having to look up the lyrics. Often times, I memorize the lyrics before I even memorize the tune, and it drives my sisters crazy when I sing a song with all the right words but the melody all screwy. (In return, I get really upset at them when they sing "and" instead of "but" in a song I've memorized.)
  5. I defy all genre conventions in both books and music. I read thrillers, contemporary, classics, sci-fi, romance, mystery, and even a bit of fantasy and historical. It's not the genre that makes me like the book/song, it's the book/song that makes me like the genre.
  6. I hate arithmetic, but I actually enjoy algebra and geometry. I honestly have no idea why.
  7. My friends think I'm really sweet and I wouldn't hurt a fly. My acquaintances think I'm kind of stuck up and quiet. My boss thinks I'm insanely cheerful and always happy. My family thinks I'm a rebellious little demon. People from my church think I'm just another nameless girl from that big family. I like to think that I'm funny and cool. I am none of the aforementioned things. (I'm a dragon.)
I don't actually know 15 bloggers, and the bloggers I do know I just tagged for the Authorly Bucket List Tag and I need to give them time to actually do it before tagging them for more things, so for now I'm just going to tag Ashley and Rachel because I'd love to know you guys better and your blogs are both awesome. :)

What's something interesting and unique about you?

6 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Everyday Plot Twists (aka Anecdotes from My Boring Life)

7:08 AM Gemma Fitz 8 Comments

It's Wednesday, the seventh of October, 7:00 in the evening, and I'm drafting the sixth blog post I've tried to write today.

It's been a plot twisty kind of day.
I work a four hour shift at a local orchard on weekday mornings. I start at 9, get off at 1. Normally that leaves the entire afternoon for school (I'm homeschooled, in case you didn't know), writing, and blogging. But not today.

Today my sisters and I had music lessons. We were supposed to be there at 1:30, which meant I'd have to leave directly from work. With two sisters plus myself taking piano and two more taking harp, I knew we'd be there the better part of the afternoon (and yes, I have a lot of sisters).

But no problem. I could still get my blogging done. I'd started a post earlier that morning, and I could finish it at my piano teacher's, while my sisters were taking their lessons.

I grabbed my stuff together, put my piano books in a neat stack in the living room, plugged my computer in to charge, and asked one of my sisters to bring my books and computer for me. "And lunch would be nice, too," I added.

She responded with an okay, and I headed for the car.

"Don't forget my books, Gabby!" I called as I stepped outside. "Or my computer!"

Work was twisty today as well. It has nothing to do with blogging, so I won't dwell on it, but among other things, I forgot my water bottle (and the water at work tastes awful), I found out (after getting there) that I had a fever, and, because not all plot twists are bad, I got tipped! Twice! Generously! Which hardly ever happens where I work.

1 o'clock rolled around, and with it rolled my sisters. Or their car rolled. Or it's wheels. Something like that.

There were four girls in the car, I would make the fifth, and lots of music books, cans of motor oil, and other paraphernalia, because instead of my family's van, my sisters had brought my dad's car, a tiny five passenger affair that always has some kind of junk in it.

And of course they'd left the middle seat for me.
(I really love you guys.)

With difficulty I scrambled over my sisters, books, and boxes and sat down on somebody's school work. "What made you bring this car?" I asked in disgust, as I attempted to buckle myself into the cramped space. "Did you remember to bring my books?"

"Yup, right here." Gabby shoved them into my lap (as though I wasn't already holding enough stuff) and gestured to a sandwich in the cupholders. "Your lunch," she explained.

"Thanks, and my computer?"

Blank expressions greeted me on every side.

"You forgot my computer," I said, as a nameless foreboding settled over my soul (whatever that's supposed to mean).

"I didn't hear you ask me to bring it," said Gabby, her voice apologetic (because adjectives are better than adverbs somehow).

Well, that's just great. With no computer, how was I supposed to write up the blog post that I really needed to post tomorrow morning? Or die an unsuccessful blogger?

But it got worse. Or, if you prefer, more twisty.

This is how music lessons work in our family. My eldest sister (still at home, anyway) drives us to my piano teacher's, and drops me and my youngest sister off for our lessons. She then takes my remaining two sisters to their harp teachers' and waits until their lessons are over to return to my piano teacher's and recieve her own lesson.

(This is because our piano teacher is also our sister-in-law, and therefore much more flexible than their harp teacher. It's okay if we don't get there strictly when we're supposed to.)

Well, me and my little sister had our lessons, and then we proceeded to wait for my other sisters to return. And wait. And wait some more.

By the time my sisters got back and my oldest sister had had her lesson, it was 4 o'clock. It would take 45 minutes to get home (because we live in the middle of nowhere).

And then my sister took it into her head to go to the store.

We got home a little after 5, and, what do you know! It was dinner time. The afternoon was gone, and there was no blog post.

But no problem. I would just have to write it this evening. I might have to stay up late, but I could make it happen. We finished dinner, cleaned up the kitchen, and I headed up to my room to write.

And proceeded to be attacked by the most massive monster of writers block I have ever faced (okay, maybe exaggerating a bit). I could not get anything written. I abandoned one post and started another. And another. Whatever I tried to write, it wouldn't come out and I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. And the more I obsessed and panicked over the fact that I had to finish this thing tonight, I had to have something to post Thursday morning, the harder it was to write.
And right about then my sister walked in and said, "You want to watch Doctor Who tonight?"

Duh, I wanted to. But I was busy. So I shrugged. "I'm writing a blog post," I explained. "And isn't Sam home tonight?"

Explanation: my little sisters aren't allowed to watch Doctor Who yet. They are still considered too young and impressionable, because it kinda is a scary show. (Sometimes.) So we can't exactly watch it in the living room where they can see it. We have to watch it up in my brother's room, since it's the only other room with a TV, and we're only allowed to do that in two cases. 1) My brother invited us up specifically to watch Doctor Who with him, and 2) my brother is not home and will never find out we were in his room without his permission.

Oh, and I think it goes without saying, but please don't inform my brother we've been watching stuff in his room the last several nights and haven't told him about it. Thanks.

Back to the point, my sister was a step ahead of me. "No," she said. "Sam left." She then fixed me with a powerful "you-know-you-want-to" look, manufactured to sway me into watching it with her (because for some reason my sister doesn't like watching stuff by herself).

"I-I'm busy," I protested, clinging to the last shred of an excuse because seriously, I needed to write this blog post.

"Oh, come on," said my sister, and I caved, because I'd like to see anyone with the moral fortitude to resist watching Doctor Who. (Actually, I wouldn't. That would just be sad.)

After all, I can write while I watch, right?

So here I am, watching Doctor Who and writing the sixth blog post I've tried to write today. It's been a twisty kind of day.

And if I'm honest, this post is really just me saying, "I had no idea what to write about today, so you get this." Because life happens. Because plot twists happen. Because things don't always go as planned. And it's okay to let those twists swing you in a new direction, take you out of your comfort zone, and make something completely new happen.

It's okay to blog about things you don't think anyone will find interesting-- sheesh, it's okay to not blog at all once in a while-- or to post late, or not have a graphic put together because you ran out of time.

It's okay to have a plot twist once in a while.
What are some real life plot twists you've been facing lately?

8 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Authorly Bucket List Tag

12:45 PM Gemma Fitz 8 Comments

I like graphics, so I made my own for this tag. I hope no one minds.
Ashley@[insert title here] did not tag me for this lovely tag, but I have her permission to steal it, so I'm doing it anyway. (And you should check out her post, because she is lovely and she also had some great ideas.)

The deal is to list 3 to 7 seven things in writing that you're really bad at, and another 3 to 7 that you'd like to try. Nice and simple.

So here we go!

All the things I'm bad at:


Female Characters

Sorry if that sounded politically incorrect, but it's true. I'm really, really bad at writing girl characters.

I hate "Strong Female Character" stereotypes, and avoid them like the plague, but I also hate really weak, sobby characters, and obnoxious, loud-mouthed characters, and giggly, girly characters, and mysterious femme fatale characters and basically I hate all the stereotypes. So I try to stay away from all the stereotypes, but I shy away too far, and then I end up with a character who is kind of goopy and undefined and really, really hard to get to know because she can't make up her mind whether she's giggly or shy or obnoxious or tough and I end up really hating her.

Which is a major problem when she's my main character.

Setting

I not a big setting person. I get obsessed with characters and plot twists and feels and interesting stuff like that and I usually couldn't care less about the setting and world of the story (unless it's set in Virginia).

But obviously setting is important, and I can't just neglect it because other things are more interesting. I have to describe it some, and make it come to life, and do all the important world building stuff in spite of the unfortunate fact that it bores me to tears and I honestly don't know how to do it any way.

And setting is so hard because I also really suck at...

Description in General

I don't notice things. I'm not at all detail oriented. I kind of wander around the world in a sort of blur, receiving only a vague impression of the way things look and sound and feel. When I'm just living everyday life, my perspective on the world seems clear and concrete, but the moment I realize I have to describe something, in detail, I go into a state of panic and writhe in agony on the living room couch.

How am I supposed to describe what a tree looks like when I can't remember? How am I supposed to describe a face when, for Pete's sake, it's just a face, with eyes and a nose and a mouth and hair on top of it and a neck below it and ears on either side-- just the same sort of face everyone else has, only maybe pretty, or ugly, or something vague and generic like that?

Things are things. That's all. How am I supposed to describe them?

Editing

I don't even want to talk about this, it hurts too much.

But seriously, I know the words I've got down aren't right, but I don't know what words are right. I once heard someone say, slightly sarcastically, about editing, "If I could do any better, I would have done it the first time round," and while I know it's not completely true, it sure feels like it sometimes.

Basically, editing makes me want to collapse in a heap and forget about writing altogether. And thinking of editing kinda does the same thing, so let's move on.

Research

I really hate research.

It wastes so much time, most of the stuff you have to research is intensely boring, all the articles you can find on it are super confusing, and sometimes you can't find the answers to your questions anyway, and have to get resourceful.

--like the time I had to cut the bottoms out of cardboard boxes and talk my 10 year old sister into crawling through them, to find out if the protagonist in my WIP would fit through a very small window. It was complicated and time consuming.

Let me say it again, I hate research. And that translates to me being bad at it.

All the things I'd love to try:

Psychological Thrillers

Brainy plot twists, mental disorders, dark secrets, mad geniuses-- it just sounds so fun. I'd love to experiment with this genre, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

ALL the POVs and tenses

I've done first person, third person limited, third person omniscient (forever ago, and then ditched it because it sucked) all in past tense, as well variety of others in short stories, but there are so many POVs and tenses that my fingers just itch to play with and twist and eventually throw in the garbage because they didn't work.

Second person future, anyone? First person plural, past tense? The possibilities dazzle.

Martial Arts

I don't do martial arts, which is the main reason I haven't done anything with them in my stories, but I'd love to write something with characters who do Kung Fu or Karate or Taekwondo or Jujutsu or even Savate. It's something that fascinates me and I've always wanted to do myself and it's just super, super cool to research (and that's coming from someone who has already mentioned she hates research).

Foreign countries, modern times

In particular, I've been wanting to set a novel somewhere in the Middle East, Mongolia, or the Baltics. Or preferably, three novels, one in each location. I hate historical fiction, so they would all be set in the modern day, which could actually be intensely cool-- I mean, a contemporary YA in Saudi Arabia? I want to write it so bad!! But, I'm not quite ready to commit to that level of research.

Stories in verse

I probably couldn't pull off an entire novel like this, but maybe a novella? If you still call something a novella when it's completely made up of poetry. Anyway, I love writing poetry, and writing novels, and I would love to try and combine the two.
Don't even ask.
I'm not sure whether I'm technically allowed to tag people for a tag I stole but I will anyway because why not. As always, if I tag you and you don't want to do it, feel free not to. If I don't tag you and you would like to do it, help yourself and I'll look the other way (actually, no, I'll go read your post, if you share the link).

I tag Aimee, A.M., Gabrielle, and Lily because I'm stuck in a rut and can never think of anyone to tag.

So, now that I've humiliated myself, it's your turn!! What's something writing related that you're really bad at? Or, if you prefer, something you've always wanted to try?

8 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

Writing is a Real Job

6:50 AM Gemma Fitz 10 Comments

Sometimes I'm a little too practical.

I love writing, and I'd love nothing better than to make it my career and sit around doing nothing but writing all day (well, not nothing but). But, as I said, I'm very practical.

If we're honest, a writing career doesn't really guarantee a steady pay-check-- or even enough to live on. Of course, there's the occasional author who becomes super popular and makes millions off their books, but even for them, it's usually years after they first started writing. Until that point, there's just a lot of work and very little pay-back.

And I'm very practical. In a couple years, I'm going to start college (and though it feels far away, I know it really isn't). I won't be majoring in Creative Writing. Or English. Or English Education. Or any of the majors that are typically associated with writing. I'm actually planning on majoring in Office Administration. Which, as far as I know, is not writing related at all. (Though I may minor in Creative Writing, just for fun.)

After college I will probably try to get a job as a secretary or receptionist or something of that sort. I will probably not start writing novels in my mom's basement as my full-time job.

I'm just too practical. Writing is my passion, but it's not a good way to make money, unless you manage to get famous, and that will take some time. I think I'd enjoy Office Administration, and so I'm completely willing to make that my career unless something amazing happens and I start making millions from my best selling novels.

But not everyone's like me. Some people love this writing thing with passion even greater than mine (can you imagine?) and honestly could not see themselves doing anything else. Some people would rather do something they love and enjoy themselves than do something they hate, solely for filthy lucre. Some people have enough confidence in themselves and their work to believe that they can make a writing career work (and I got to say, self confidence is a great thing-- I wish I had more of it).

And all of this is totally okay. Writing is a real job.
Writing is hard work, and it doesn't bring in a lot of cash sometimes, but for many people writing is worth it. Writing is fulfilling, and rewarding even without the money. Writing is fun and we've all been told to get a job we love. Writing has the potential to change the world, the potential to make you famous, the potential to make a reader buy orange Fanta instead of Crush.

And if anyone is brave enough to take the risks, to become the "starving artist", to work his life away for no tangible reward, we should not be shaking our heads and prophesying doom. We should be applauding him.

Believe me, all us writers know how hard it is to make ends meet writing. We all know it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time to get published. And we all know that strangers, friends, and even family are going to look down on us for our idealism and impracticality in pursuing a writing career. It takes an immense amount of courage and dedication to pursue one anyway, and anyone who has that courage and dedication deserves our support.

I'm sorry for all the bold text, but this is important. Don't look down at people who have "unrealistic expectations". Don't make fun of people who aren't afraid to dream. Don't ask people "when are you going to get a real job?"

They have. Their job is writing, and it's much harder than the safe, comfortable jobs that us "practical" people work.

And that is totally okay.
Do you plan to make writing your career? Do you think writing qualifies as a real job?

10 comments:

I adore comments! Just keep it clean and respectful...please no profanity and while I respect people's opinions and love a good argument, simply bashing my post is obviously not appreciated. :)

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