End-of-Month Wrap Up: September

7:16 AM Gemma Fitz 0 Comments

Fall is officially here. And I am painfully aware of said fact, what with long sleeves and stinkbugs and sore throats.

But of course it's not all pain-- there's also apples and mist and turning leaves and all in all, fall is my favourite season, which isn't saying much.

On the Blog

Sorry for the dearth of posts this month. I had a lot of stuff going on.

At My Writing Desk


In the Books


To be honest, I completely lost track of how many books I read this month. There were at least five, but there may have been more. Most of them were okay, but nothing special.
And I totally fell behind on Goodreads and even just my personal reviews, so I'm kind of depressed-- I HAVE SO MANY BOOKS TO REVIEW.

On the Web


(Btw, this is seriously my favourite part of my wrap up. Actually, it's one of the only reasons I do a wrap up. What do you think? Should I abandon the whole wrap up thing and simply link to a ton of awesome posts at the end of every month?)

What are you waiting for? Go read these fabulous posts!

With Me and My Life


September was simultaneously a really good and a really bad month for me. Some good things were:

  • I went on vacation! My entire family made a trip to the beach for a week and it was glorious.
  • I turned 16. (I'm not sure that being 16 is a good thing, but birthdays are, so it counts.)
  • Apple season started at the orchard where I work!! Which means apples and talking to lots of people and the best cheeseburgers in the world, so it's pretty amazing.
And when it comes to bad things, I'm just feeling pessimistic right now because I have a cold.

Coming Soon to the Blog


I will be honest for once and admit I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA. I've been having a hard time blogging lately (as if you couldn't tell), and I have very few ideas for posts currently. So we'll just see what happens.

So, how was your September? Is it cold where you live, yet? What are you looking forward to in October?

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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. :)

In Which I Compare Characters to Screaming Children

2:12 PM Gemma Fitz 10 Comments

Sorry for the late post, but my internet has been sketchy for the last three days. It was sketchy today too. I really hate our internet.

(There is no graphic for this post because reasons, mainly involving the fact that screaming kids are very unattractive to look at.)

So recently I went on vacation. It was a family vacation, and I have an enormous family which includes four nephews and a niece all under the age of seven. I love my nephews, but, boy, can they be crazy (and loud) sometimes.

That Wednesday, the entire family assorted itself out among four different vehicles and headed down to a small island near where we're staying, where we like to bike around and eat ice cream and buy candy (and other stuff, but those are the important things), and, by some unfortunate chance, I found myself riding with my brother, his wife, their two sons (aged 2.5 and 1), and my other nephew (aged 6), who for one reason or another wasn't riding with his parents.
I like to think this will be me and my nephews in ten years.
Now, when we usually take a trip to this island, it's about a half hour ferry ride, and ferries run every half hour. But somewhere in the mechanical circuit of things something must have gone awry, because we spent an hour sitting in line for the ferry, and when at last we were boarded, it took another hour to reach the destination.

In all, I was in the car with three bored boys for 6 hours, round trip. And they screamed.

So, now you know the inspiration for this post, let's get down to business. Why characters are basically screaming children.

They will do anything for your attention.

My youngest nephew, Nicholas, has a bad habit of screaming whenever nobody is looking at him. I was in the seat directly behind him, and the moment I sat up and looked over the back of the seat at him, he would stop and starting grinning angelically, but if I were to relax and disappear from view (or even turn my head)-- more screaming.

Characters are similar. They're constantly there in my head, nagging me to look at them, and if I don't, they make sure I feel guilty for my cruelty-- or for my "bad writing routine". But once they catch my attention and I start playing with them, they suddenly start acting like angels and I wonder how I could ever have been annoyed at them.

They won't do what you tell them to.

"Nicholas, don't play with that." "Shane, stop screaming." "Liam, buckle up right now." Haha, good luck. Even when I was able to wrest away dangerous toys, placate angry sobs, and shove rambunctious boys into their car seats, it was never long before the chaos broke out afresh in some new direction. Little boys do not listen.

And neither do characters. "Do this." "Go there." "Say that clever thing." It all falls on heedless ears. They have their own opinion of what the story should be like, and even if I do force them into doing and saying the things I want them to do and say, it only makes other problems sprout up. 

They leave you exhausted...

You wouldn't believe the emotional and mental strain that results from being trapped in a car with a ton of kids unless you've been there. There's the noise for one thing, and the constant requests. "Auntie, read this book to me." "I want my bear!" "AAAAAHHHH!!!" Then there's the fact that you have to keep a constant eye on them, to make sure they don't drink hand sanitizer or unbuckle and climb into the trunk. Before long, I just wanted to collapse in a heap and die.
Characters like to crawl into my head, scream at me, and drive me insane with their problems. The mental effort of coming up with the all the different character arcs and growth leaves me so tired, and all that time spent crying in the shower over the upcoming (or recently fulfilled) deaths doesn't exactly help.

...But they won't let you sleep.

By the returning ferry ride, I was done. Completely done. I lay down in the back seat of the van and tried my very best to take a nap. But by that time, the boys were all full of sugar and tired in the not-good way. They were making noise, climbing all over me into the trunk, throwing foam stars at me (don't ask me where those came from), and trying to talk to me every couple seconds. Sleep was not an option.

All my characters are night owls. The moment I lie down and try to go to bed, they all attack me with renewed vigour, begging me to write their stories. And then my Mom asks me why I can't sleep at night.

But, in spite of it all, you can't help but love them.

My nephews can be exhausting and crazy, but I still adore them, no matter how naughty or annoying they may be. I mean, they're my nephews! And they really are the cutest little kids.

No matter how much I hate your novel or writing in general, the one thing I can never bring myself to hate are my lovely characters. They drive me insane, but how can I not forgive them, when they're so adorable?

What would you compare characters to? Do you have experience with children? What's the most annoying thing about your characters?

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. :)

Doing the Same Thing, Only Different

6:25 AM Gemma Fitz 8 Comments

Sometimes I wonder why I started blogging.
I used to write fan fiction. I posted my stories on FanFiction.net (and you can still read said stories here, if you wish), and, though it might seem egotistical to say it, I think I was a pretty well known member of the community there, when it came to Lord of the Rings humor (which was almost all I wrote). I knew a lot of people, got a lot of reviews (by comparison), and generally felt pretty confident in my own worth as a fan fiction author.

Of course it didn’t start out that way. For the first few months of my time on FF (as we affectionately call it), I had only three readers who reviewed even semi regularly, and two of them were my friends in real life. My first story still only has 2 reviews (it was really sucky). In the early days of my residence there, I often felt like I wasn’t making any progress and like nobody really liked or cared about my stories. But by the time my one year anniversary rolled around, I had come farther than I’d ever imagined, with stories I was actually proud of (a few, anyway), hundreds of reviews, and a boatload of friends who I really, really loved.

And then I started blogging.

Suddenly I was too busy to write fan fiction, or even read it. It became a struggle just to keep up with a single forum, and I completely gave up on trying to answer most of my private messages.

Instead, I was investing my time in pounding out blog posts, commenting on other blogs, and getting more serious about my original writing.

And it feels like I’m back to square one.

This is exactly what I was doing those first months of fan fiction. Maybe my memory is just suffering, but I feel like fan fiction wasn’t even this hard. I’m pretty sure writing blog posts is more difficult than scribbling funny one-shots. And it all feels so pointless. Why didn’t I just stick with FF? I could have kept on writing more stories and getting more reviews and making new friends. Instead, here I am, trying to start all over from the beginning.

When I started this blog, I thought of it as trying something new. It wasn’t really. It was nearly the same thing I’d done before.

To tell the truth, you’re not really doing anything new when you get another social media account or write another book. You're simply going back and doing the same thing you did last time you got a social media account or wrote a book-- just a little bit different.

(I like to think of it as if I’m time traveller going back and creating alternate timelines, if you’re not confused enough already.)

And you know what? That’s okay (going back to the beginning, not creating alternate timelines). 

 Life is all about going back to the beginning. We have to eat three times a day, and wash the dishes after every time. Every time a musician gets a song perfect, he has to learn a new one, and I think it would be touching too close to home to mention how many plot bunnies we writers carry around, waiting for us to be done with our current novel. Some people go to church every week, some people go to school everyday, some people feel compelled to go on a diet every couple months. We have to keep covering the same ground over and over again, and while it may seem boring, or frustrating, or pointless, that's life.

 And it's okay, because once in a while something different happens. Sometimes you get something special for dinner, sometimes you discover a song you really, really love, sometimes your plot bunny turns into your best idea yet, sometimes you find yourself getting 200 comments on a fan fiction, sometimes you get the opportunity to beta-read another blogger's amazing novel, sometimes someone pins your blog post.

 And all in all, going over that ground again is worth it. Even when it makes it feel like you haven't gotten anywhere. Because you have, and every time you try something over again, just a little bit different, it's going to spring something new on you you didn't expect.

 So, in celebration of trying the same things over and over again (and my sixteenth birthday), I've made the leap and got a Twitter. It might not work out. I'm probably not funny enough to make Twitter work out. But it's about time I once more tried something that's not new-- just a little different.
Have you ever felt like you're just doing the same things over again? What's something just a little bit different you've done recently? Or you'd like 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. :)

Snazzy Snippets

11:45 AM Gemma Fitz 11 Comments

I normally don't do stuff like this, but since it's been more than a week since my last post, and I can't seem to get any of my ideas written out fast enough, I thought I'd go ahead and participate in this lovely link-up hosted by Alyssa@The Devil Orders Takeout and Emily@The Loony Literate. (Click the links for more information about the link-up.)
1. A Snippet with Food
This is from my long-term YA sci-fi/thriller WIP, which is switching between the two titles "Splitting Atoms" and "Where Lines Don't Cross" currently. Hopefully drinks count?
"Can you have orange Fanta, Avis?" asked David, standing up and heading for the fridge.
Avis shook her head. "Thanks anyway."
He stared at her in mock shock. "How do you survive?" His voice slid up and dragged out the syllables in a perfect imitation of Audri.
Avis smiled in spite of herself and Audri tossed her head.
"There isn't any Fanta, anyway," she informed them. "Mom was in a hurry at the store and accidentally grabbed the Crush. Come on, it won't kill you, David."
He didn't look convinced. "Are you suggesting that I pollute my intestines with that-- that poison?" he hissed. "Are you somehow not aware that that stuff is brewed in hell itself?"
"Dude, Crush and Fanta taste exactly the same," said Dylan mildly.
"Sacrilege!" cried David.
Audri rolled her eyes. "You're overreacting-- don't be such a drama queen. Just go get yourself a ginger ale or something."
"I don't like ginger ale," grumbled David. "I'll just have water."
 David is very brand loyal. And obsessed with orange Fanta. And altogether adorable.

2. A Snippet I'm Really Proud Of
This is also from "Splitting Atoms". I'm not really proud of any of my writing-- it's all pretty sucky-- but I think this excerpt is funny, and I guess I'm a little proud of it.
Think. Think. She ran her mind over the list of priorities Damian had drilled into her head.
  1. Don't die.
  2. Don't lead them back to headquarters.
  3. Get the file.
  4. Don't let them see your face.
  5. Don't get hurt.
Getting the file was only third on the list. There'd been failed missions before now; there'd be failed missions in the future. If this one failed, no big deal. It was only third priority.
Of course, "Don't get hurt," was only fifth priority, which Avis wasn't particularly happy about. Obviously Damian's priorities were screwed.
 
3. The First Paragraphs of My WIP
I currently really dislike the first couple paragraphs of "Splitting Atoms", so here's a snippet from the YA/NA science fiction novel I wrote in July, entitled "The World from Scratch".
White walls, white tiles. Over the nurse's shoulder, clad in white scrubs, that was all I could see, save an occasional white door, opening into a white room, to break the monotony.
Many of the rooms had occupants: both men and women, each with his or her own white nurse. As we passed one room, I glimpsed a girl sitting on the edge of the white hospital bed. Her eyes flickered to mine for a moment, nervous and startled, then flickered away and we had passed.
The nurse led me into my own stark white chamber and motioned to the bed. "Make yourself comfortable." She smiled, lipstick the colour of pink bubblegum outlining flawless teeth. "We've got just a few extra minutes to review the procedure."
Obviously I have some editing to do, but there you have it.

I have a very important question for you today: do you prefer orange Crush or orange Fanta? Also, if you're participating in Snazzy Snippets, please leave a link to your post in the comments and I'll check it out!

11 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. :)

Announcement and Apologies

5:02 AM Gemma Fitz 2 Comments

I'm going to the beach.

I'm not leaving until tomorrow, but I've been crazy busy packing, stressing out over how my suitcase won't fit everything I want to take, and crashing on the internet to relieve stress. Which is why I didn't post yesterday, and why it's entirely possible I won't be posting again until sometime after the 12th. I sincerely hope that doesn't happen, but just so we're clear here, my family and my sleep and pinterest time sanity are higher priorities to me than this blog. (At least for now-- at some point I might give up on the sanity part.)

Also, when the beach is the only thing you can think about, it's kinda hard to come up with writerly blog posts, so there's that.

I said "apologies" in the title, but you know what?
Not really. 

Have fun while I'm gone, all you peeps! (I'm sure I will.)

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. :)

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