A Year In Summary: 2015

5:13 AM Gemma Fitz 12 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! December is over, and you all know what that means-- that's right, time for the obligatory end of the year post in which I get weepy and philosophical and talk about how much I love my life and my blog and all you dear, dear readers. (Which I do. Just so you know.)
So let's talk about 2015.

the year I started Chasing Daisies

Biggest one, obviously. That's right, this little mess here has been alive and kicking for nine months, now. Back when I started this thing, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I'm not going to lie, I still don't. But that's okay, because it's been fun, and while it still is a horrendous mess, it's totally worth it.

Other Blogging Highlights:

I published 48 blog posts and wrote (or started writing) 79.
I followed way more blogs than I'm ever going to try to count.
I joined Twitter and Pinterest. (We'll just pretend this is related to blogging.)

And just as a matter of interest, Your Favourite Posts: (apparently)
-- I just realized I seem to have a thing for long titles. This could be a problem.

Also, no, you're not hallucinating, THE BLOG JUST GOT A MAKEOVER.

the year I turned sixteen

I never bought into the whole "sweet sixteen" thing. For one thing, my golden birthday was when I was fifteen and I made big deal out of it, and that kind of underscored the excitement of sixteen. For another thing, I really dislike the number sixteen for some reason (I have no idea why). I still don't see anything particularly great about turning sixteen-- so far, it's mostly meant stress.

"Do you have your driver's license yet?" "When are you going to get a job?" "You need to start researching colleges." Apparently I'm supposed to start adulting. Which I'm not happy about, but it's probably good for me.

the year I didn't give up on my novel

I've been rewriting and revising and editing "Splitting Atoms" all year, and by this point, I kinda hate it. I kinda hate it a lot. It's been hard and painful and that editing thing had me crying more than once, but I didn't give up. I've pushed through it (for the most part) and right about now I'm diving into yet another rewrite. Yeah, I don't have any of this figured out and I'm pretty sure I did it horribly wrong, but at least I did it.

Other Writing Highlights

I won NaNo and wrote a painful, scary, creepy story about two-dimensional monsters which pose as shadows. (But shhhh-- spoilers.)
Speaking of that novel, I invented my favourite protagonist I have ever written, and that's kind of a big deal. (Also, my antagonist is pretty cool, too.)
And I actually worked up the courage to share snippets and pictures and generally tell people about my writing, which I was never able to do before.

the year I learned to surrender

Hey, so here's the thing. There's a God who created the entire universe, a God who created me, and quite some time ago I asked this God into my heart and told him that he was my God.

And for years, I've been holding out on him. For years, I've been telling the God who made the planets and keeps Earth from burning up, the God who controls the tides and the seasons, the rain and the pressure of the atmosphere, that he can't control me. I've been acting like I'm the one in charge of my life. I've been fighting him every step of the way and screaming at him when things don't go my way.

I'm still not perfect-- nowhere close-- I'll probably have to learn this same lesson over and over again in the years to come--

But this year I learned that God is doing a better job at running my life than I ever would.
This year I learned that there's no point to being independent if you're miserable in the meantime.
This year I learned that true joy is only found when I obey God and live in accordance with his will, not mine.
This year I learned that God's grace is sufficient to get me through the things I think I can't do, if I just trust and obey him.
This year, especially, I learned that obeying God doesn't make me miss out on the fun I think I'd have otherwise, it's just a different (better) kind of fun.

And 2015 was

the year I had fun

I loved this year. I loved blogging. I loved being fifteen, for as long as it lasted. I loved writing, even when it was hard. I loved growing deeper in my relationship with God.

I made lots of great friends and grew a lot closer to the ones I already had. I partied hard, if infrequently. I started to come out of my shell and get the better of this whole social anxiety thing. I went to camp. I worked a summer job. I kept doing the school thing. I got my learner's permit. I spent a lot of time with my nephews and nieces and other family members.

I had fun. Sure, I didn't love all of it, but I firmly believe it was all worth the bits I did love.

2015 was a great year for me, and I'm so thankful for every minute of it.

What was your greatest accomplishment/event/lesson of 2015? Did you keep any of your New Year's Resolutions? What are you looking forward to in 2016?

12 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. :)

Joy, Joy, Joy

5:32 AM Gemma Fitz 2 Comments

It's here. The presents are stacked high around our (puny) tree, Christmas music is blaring in my ears, and I'm sitting in the living room surrounded by my siblings and cousins who've come home to celebrate with us. We've been to Christmas recitals and concerts, Christmas services at our church, Christmas parties and open houses. And amidst the hustle and bustle I keep hearing the same thing I hear every year-- "Are we missing it? Are we missing what Christmas is really about?"

And sitting here, listening to Celtic Women and the laughter and chatter of my family-- I don't think I have. I don't think I'm missing it.

It's been a bit over two thousand years, now, since Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem and the greatest gift of all time was given to the world. Two thousand years since the angels appeared to the shepherds-- the poor, ordinary, nothing-special-at-all shepherds-- and sang praises to God.

"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

Two thousand years later, I'm still feeling the joy-- the result of Christ's birth. Two thousand years wasn't enough to kill the joy or change the meaning of that gift.

Before Christ's coming, the only hope for salvation was following the strict Jewish law and offering frequent sacrifices at the temple. Before Christ's coming, a personal, close relationship with the Lord was only for the few, the favoured-- people like Enoch and Elijah. Before Christ's coming, it was ridiculously hard for a Gentile, like me, to find favour with God.

But that all changed when Jesus was born.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."

Jesus was born to rescue mankind from their sin and suffering. Jesus was born to fulfil the law and the prophets as the one true Messiah. Jesus was born to save us. No wonder the message the angels brought was of joy and peace and good will!

Christmas is a celebration of that joy. At Christmas we remember how Jesus was born, and how Jesus died, and how Jesus rose again from the dead, breaking the chains of sin and death that held us in slavery before. At Christmas we celebrate the story that never loses its power, even after two thousand years.

At Christmas we should join the angels in singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will to men!"

I don't think I'm missing it right now. Right now, I'm feeling that joy.

Are you?

Have a great Christmas, everybody!

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. :)

Beautiful Books #3: The Editing Process

7:15 AM Gemma Fitz 6 Comments

So-- technically, my NaNoWriMo WIP has still not reached "The End". (No, surprise, surprise, I did NOT finish it in the first week, as I was hoping.) But I've still been wretchedly wrenched back to reality and the fact that very soon I am going to have to edit this thing (ahh!!!) by the new Beautiful Books link-up: the editing process.
In case you weren't here the first two times, Beautiful Books is a blog link-up event hosted by Cait @ Paper Fury and Sky @ Further Up and Further In in which bloggers everywhere weep and flail over their half baked NaNo novels. It is lovely, and you should do it-- but this is your last chance! This is the last Beautiful Books link-up for the year! Which is very sad, but I believe they will be picking up Beautiful People again, so there's that.

1. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 10 (best), how did the book turn out? Did anything defy your expectations?

We'll call it a 8. It needs a lot of work, yes, but overall, I am very, very happy with my new novel, and I basically love it to death. (Yes! This is the definition of success in my world!) I'm shaking at the thought of editing, at which point I will rediscover all it's weakest points and decide I detest it after all, but until I get there, I'm going to let myself love it as much as I can.

As for expectations, I don't actually remember most of my expectations for the thing before I started it, but I do know that all my characters are completely different from how I originally envisioned them. Also, it wasn't supposed to have a body count. It really wasn't. And yet here I'm left weeping on a blood stained battlefield, the bodies of the heroic dead strewn around me--

Ahem. Forgive me for waxing lyrical. Point being. People died. Good people, bad people, they all died. Though to be honest, even back when I was conceiving this thing, I knew myself well enough to suspect that the "no body count" thing might not last long.

2. Comparative title time: what published books, movies, or TV shows are like your book?

Eh-- I don't really know?? My book is urban fantasy/paranormal/supernatural/whatever you want to call it, and I don't read or watch a lot in that genre. (I'm probably going to have to change that.) I did feed myself a sporadic diet of Supernatural fan videos for "research" while I was writing it, so it probably bears some resemblance to that, though I haven't seen the show itself and really couldn't say.

Otherwise, for you Doctor Who fans, I'd describe it as "Silence in the Library" meets "Flatline", with a bit of "Fear Her". (Wow, that just made it sound even creepier than it actually is. o.o)

3. Do you enjoy working with deadlines and pressure (aka NaNoWriMo)? Or do you prefer to write-as-you're-inspired?

Deadlines and pressure, definitely. If I don't have some kind of pressure, I don't get anything done. Anything. For most things in life, that pressure is my Mom. For writing, it's NaNoWriMo. (This is also why we need a National Novel Editing Month-- I have a feeling I would get editing done much quicker and easier.)

In theory, write-as-you're-inspired sounds pretty appealing-- especially for an overly independent, "forget rules and regulations!" type of person like me. But since inspiration rarely lasts as long as it takes to write a novel, I simply can't run that way.

4. How do you go about editing? Give us an insight into your editing process.

Step 1: Cry and eat chocolate.
Step 2: Read through novel. (More tears and chocolate involved.)
Step 3: Get ready to edit and freak out. (More tears and chocolate...)
Step 4: Try to edit and panic. (More tears... More chocolate...)
Step 5: Throw computer at the wall and scream. (... You know the drill.)

I haven't really gotten much further than this in the process at any point in any book. Usually I just give up and do another rewrite, because while those are more labour intensive, at least I know what I'm doing. Editing I have no idea. Someday I am determined to actually sit down and make myself edit until I get it right.
Sorry. Couldn't resist.

5. What aspect of your story needs the most work?

The Shadow's back story, probably. There's this creepy shadow monster who's killing my MC and is planning to take over the world or something (I should probably mention that I haven't mentioned even this in the book, so far-- it, too, will have to be inserted during edits), but I never actually told the readers what it is or where it came from. I know what it is (ha ha-- kinda-sorta-not-really), but the readers kinda have to know as well. But it's rather difficult to explain when the entire book is written from the POV of a character who probably wouldn't know where the thing came from.

So yeah-- lots of tweaking will go down in this area.

6. What aspect of your story did you love the most?

I've said it many times, and I'll say it again-- my MC, Rae. I totally adore her, and she really makes the story for me.

Aside from that, however, the theme of my story is extremely important to me as well. I didn't really have a big theme in mind when I started writing, but I did plan for friendship to be important aspect from the beginning, and it really just snowballed from there. From the verging on abusive relationship between Rae and her Shadow, Rae's third wheel position in her friendship with Micah and Glenn, the growth of her friendships with Chloe and Darryl, and even the relationships with her various family members, by the end of the month, it was obvious that the real point of the story was the difference between healthy friendships and unhealthy ones.

7. Give us a brief run down on your main characters and how you think they turned out. Do you think they'll need changes in edits?

This is going to take a while. Just so you're forewarned.
Rae is snarky, practical, and pretty much my exact opposite. She's an ISTJ and has a certain structured, disciplined approach to life that I really appreciate and don't relate to at all. She's funny. She's quirky. She pretends to be a lot more chill than she actually is. And she's a bit more emotional than her personality warrants, which I need to change when I do the rewrites.

Micah is my ENFP (yay!) goof-ball. He shakes things up, keeps it fun, and never answers his texts. Sometimes it may seem like he doesn't care about anything but having fun, but he can be quite sweet when he remembers to be, and he genuinely cares about his friends-- and just about everyone else, too. So far, I don't think he needs to change much.

Glenn is an ISFJ-- reliable, loyal, and just an all around nice guy. But underneath his sweetness, he's all too capable of taking care of himself and his friends, and no one enjoys being on his bad side. He's the middle ground in the trio-- the balance between Micah's goof-ball carelessness and Rae's sarcasm and discipline. During edits, I plan to make him a more prominent and defined character, since the others kinda stole his glamour in the first draft.

I keep going back and forth on whether Chloe is an ESTP or an ESFP, but one thing is certain-- she loves people and she has absolutely no fear. (Wait, that was two things.) She's a little bit crazy, a little more sweet, and a whole lot of fun. That being said, her character and especially her relationship with Rae needs a lot of work, because I really didn't know what I was doing when I wrote her.

Darryl, Chloe's brother, was a weird one to write. He's an INFJ-- empathetic, intuitive, and relational. He's good at interpreting people-- especially their emotions-- and he notices a lot more than he gets credit for. But do you have any idea how hard it is to write a male INFJ? He's cute, but he honestly doesn't make a ton of sense to me, and he needs a lot of work.

Sophie is Rae's older sister, and a very lovely person, even if Rae doesn't always recognize it. She's an ESFJ. She's a girly girl. She likes boyfriends and make up and little frilly skirts. She doesn't understand Rae at all, and sometimes she gets annoyed at her, but she loves her a lot and tries to be the good sister. I really like her, and I don't think there's too much that needs to change-- other than the fact that she kinda disappeared from the story for about twenty chapters, somewhere in there.

Emma, Rae's little sister, honestly got pushed to back stage while I was writing the first draft, a fact I really regret, now that I've gotten to know her. Since I wasn't planning for her to be very important, I didn't really develop her personality much-- I kinda wrote her to be the stereotypical annoying little sister and the also stereotypical awkward tweenager, and left it at that. But then I ended up really liking her, and-- I wish I'd made her more prominent and consistent. So that's what I'll be doing in the edits.

So-- that might not have been brief. Sorry.

8. What are your plans for this novel once you finish editing? More edits? Finding beta readers? Querying? Self publishing? Hiding in a dark hole forever?

Plans? HA. Who do you think I am?

In theory, I will edit it until I'm not horribly embarrassed by it, then let 2 or 3 or 20 people read it as alpha and beta and gamma readers, then edit it some more and some more and some more and maybe someday it will satisfy me enough that I can go out and see about publishing this thing.

Maybe. Someday. Keywords here.

9. Share a favourite snippet!

I've already shared my favourite snippet, so we'll go with this one, just because it's short.
Micah steps through the gate to the fortress, Chloe close on his heels and Darryl sauntering a few steps behind.
“Hey guys!” says Micah, and the look on his face beyond the smile says, “just wait-- I promise I’m not crazy.”
The problem is, Glenn and I both know that Micah is totally, undeniably, hopelessly crazy. It’s just a matter of what new turn his insanity has taken.
So we smile politely and prepare ourselves for the worst few hours of our lives. 

10.  What are your writing goals and plans for 2016?

Again with the plans thing? *nervous grin*

I hope to have the first draft of Shadowwhisper 100% done by Christmas, after which point I will take a break until the New Year. In January, I'll probably focus in on Splitting Atoms rewrites, trying to get that in some semblance of order and distract my brain before taking up Shadowwhisper edits in February. After that I'll probably just go back and forth between the two novels, rewriting and editing whichever I feel in the mood for. April and July I plan to participate in CampNaNoWriMo, and I've got a couple plot bunnies on the brain, plus the Splitting Atoms sequel I've been wanting to write forever. November I hope I'll be able to do NaNoWriMo again.

So that's kinda the idea, but I probably won't stick to it too closely. I'm really bad at sticking to things, as you probably know by now.
Shut up, yes I can.
How did your novel turn out? Does anyone else know how this editing thing works? What lies in store for you and your story, this New Year?

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. :)

MBTI Blog Challenge: How to Write an ENFP

5:54 AM Gemma Fitz 15 Comments

The fabulous Hannah Heath tagged me for the "MBTI Blog Challenge" and I am soooo excited to about this! Basically, the idea is to write a post designed to help other writers write characters accurately-- specifically, characters that fall into the same Meyers Briggs type as you!

In case you didn't notice all the flailing and ranting that goes down over here about this, I'm an ENFP. And I love my type. Obviously, all the types are awesome, but can I help it if the ENFP holds a special place in my heart? Like every other type, ENFPs have their good points and bad points, and while, on the surface, it may seem like they're sweet and fun and there's really not much else to be said for them, and ENFP might be exactly the type your story needs.

Or, you know, he might just be fun to play around with.

(Warning: this is a long post. Feel free to skim-- I've put the most important information in bold.)
But before I go any farther, I want to shout out a huge Thank you! to my fellow ENFPs, Krissy and Katie, for their invaluable help and thoughts on the ENFP personality type. They are also lovely human beings and astounding bloggers, so you should check out their blogs.

The ENFP

So maybe you're wondering, "What is an ENFP anyway? I know nothing of this type." In which case, my poor unfortunate friend, allow me to add a ray of hope and sunshine to your dismal life.

ENFPs, sometimes known as the "Champions" or the "Inspirers", are often stereotyped as being the "life of the party", having great social skills, and an infectious enthusiasm for life, the universe, and everything. And the stereotypes are there for a reason. ENFPs love new people, experiences, and ideas, and we love to get excited about the things we love. You know that one person who laughs constantly, is a notorious hugger, and might be a shape-shifting unicorn? You might just have yourself an ENFP.

We go way deeper than the stereotype though, and some ENFPs can get seriously annoyed if you act like their social butterfly side is their only (or even dominant) side, so do not try writing an ENFP character based on just the stereotypes. Just don't. We might be unicorns, but unicorns have horns and we can kill you with them.

I don't want to hurt you, though, so instead, let's talk about how to write an authentic ENFP.

ENFP: Core Traits
  • ENFPs are often known as "the introverted extrovert". (This is because of the ordering of the functions, which would take too long to explain, but you can look it up if you want.) They require much more "alone time" than the typical extrovert, and are sometimes mistaken (and can even mistake themselves) for an introvert. However, they are extroverts, as they are energized and motivated by the external world of people and experiences.
  • ENFPs are very curious. This is where the stereotype of the easily distracted, "Oooh-- shiny!" ENFP originates. They can come across as random and unfocused, but in reality, ENFPs are simply fascinated by every aspect of life and want to explore every opportunity that presents itself.
  • ENFPs are often indecisive. This springs from their natural curiosity and fascination with everything (and I mean everything). They want to experience every possibility, and so when it comes to making decisions on which possibility they will experience, they are often caught in a dilemma. This is further aided by their Feeling function, as they want to make a decision that will make everyone happy, and this is often impossible.
  • ENFPs value one-on-one, close relationships. As extroverts, they are stimulated by people and enjoy a wide variety of relationships, but unlike many other extroverted types, it is the emotional connections they make with others that they value most, not the sheer excitement and exhilaration of being with people. Because of this, close, personal relationships are more important to them than their wide circles of acquaintances.
  • ENFPs are fiercely independent. "I do what I want!" is how they run their lives, and they feel stifled by norms and conventions. They desperately desire freedom to be creative and original. They are neither "leaders" nor "followers", but prefer to do their own thing and let others do their own thing. Control in all it's forms bothers them.
ENFPs: What makes them happy
  • Encouragement and affirmation from others. It can be as simple as a hug or a pep-text, but ENFPs truly appreciate it when you go out of your way to show them they're loved. (Which often leads to ENFPs being very encouraging towards others, as well.)
  • New ideas and experiences. ENFPs love life and all the opportunities, both mental and physical, it presents. Their innate curiosity leads them to seek out new possibilities wherever they go, and they enjoy processing and analysing information, particularly in tangible ways, such as intelligent conversation and hands-on experimentation.
  • Others' happiness. Healthy ENFPs are extremely empathetic and care a lot about their fellow humans. Others' joy gives them joy, and they'll be some of the first to celebrate with you for any reason in the world.
  • Freedom and spontaneity. ENFPs value originality and creativity in every aspect of their lives, and they often feel that strict schedules and regulations interfere with these values. They enjoy the thrill of taking life as it comes and making it into a life they're proud of living.

 ENFPs: What upsets them
  • Judgement. ENFPs hate being judged, and they hate to see others judged almost as much. They tend to be very tolerant people themselves (they are very set in their opinions, and are convinced they're correct, but they also realize that it's okay for people to feel differently on things) and so it especially irritates them when others don't return the compliment. (And, believe me, ENFPs can tell when they're being judged.)
  • Manipulation. ENFPs believe in doing their own thing, and are extremely annoyed when others try to force them to conform to others' plans and ideas using unfair means. (Though it should be stated that unhealthy ENFPs are often quite skilled at manipulating others.)
  • Conflict. ENFPs hate drama as a general rule, and will do a lot to avoid it, often to a fault. (However, remember that if someone goes to far and makes them mad enough, they can transform in a matter of seconds and become the scariest unicorns you've ever met.)
ENFP: Strengths
  • Very empathetic. ENFPs care deeply about other people, from their closest friends to a stranger on TV. ENFPs are emotional people, and even when they don't know what someone is going through, they can find a way of relating and empathising, through the emotions they share.
  • Good people skills (usually). Most ENFPs are very comfortable in social situations, are excellent communicators, and are really good at making friends. (But I missed out on this area somehow, so-- I don't know?)
  • Open to new ideas and experiences. Yes, totally a good thing. ENFPs are adventurous and ready for anything, as well as generally open minded. They like to explore and experiment, and this makes them quite fun to be around.
  • Dream big. ENFPs are naturally focused on the world of future possibilities-- and there's no possibility too large for the imagination! They have high aspirations, and they're stubborn enough that you'll never talk them out of them.
ENFP: Weaknesses
  • Overly emotional. Anger, sorrow, happiness, depression-- ENFPs don't do anything by halves. They yell too much, cry too easily, and laugh too loud, and other people usually don't appreciate it.
  • Get stressed easily. I'm not sure where this comes from-- maybe it's because they don't do anything by halves?-- but I know it's true in my life, and the research I've done is saying the same thing, so... any ideas why this is?
  • Easily distracted. ENFPs want to experience everything, and there's never enough time to do it all in. They flit from idea to idea trying desperately to explore every possibility there is before it's too late, and often enough, they don't have time to finish with one possibility before another crops up and captures their attention.
  • A bit too independent for their own good. Rules and authority are important aspects of life, but that's difficult for the ENFP to accept. Often times they are so set on their own way that they forget the rules are there for a reason and that breaking them rarely brings about anything good. This problem does usually diminish as the ENFP gains maturity, however. (And yes, a teenaged ENFP could quite conceivably fit into the "rebellious teenager" stereotype, but not necessarily.)

ENFP: Other random facts
  • Many ENFPs are easily bored.
  • ENFPs tend to be very popular, because of their friendly, spontaneous, and accepting nature.
  • ENFPs can shut up. Please stop this stereotype. I've known a lot of ENFPs, and while many of them (including myself) were the stereotypical obnoxious chatterbox when they were little, they all had pretty much grown out of it by high school. I'm sure there are older ENFPs who still talk way too much, but they are exceptions, not the rule.
  • ENFPs are supposed to get along best with INFJs and INTJs. (And my best friend is an INFJ, so-- I dunno, there might be something to it.)
  • That being said, some ENFPs do not get along with strongly expressed T types. This can be because they misunderstand a Thinker as being heartless, condescending, or just plain mean-- all of which traits are repulsive to the (healthy) ENFP. (Btw, personal note-- and, Thinker peeps, I love you and y'all are awesome people-- to be totally honest, I don't think I've ever met a T who didn't scare me to some extent.)
  • Other people often think ENFPs are flirting, when they're really just being "nice".
  • They procrastinate. A lot.
ENFP: Fictional characters
YES, these exist, and many of them are quite popular. It's possible to write a great ENFP, and here's a few examples you might want to check out of some very different characters who I think fit the type quite well.
  • The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who?)
  • "Scout" Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee)
  • Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (Star Wars)
  • Peregrin Took (The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien)
  • Anna (Frozen)
  • Peeta Mellark (The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins)
(Oh, and yes, you have my permission to argue with me about these typings in the comments, if you want to. :P)

Some other fun resources, if you want to write an ENFP:

And that's the ENFP. If you have questions, don't be shy-- ask away!

Just remember: everybody is different, and nobody fits in a box. So don't write your ENFP by the stereotype-- but don't stick to these guidelines completely either. Sure, this is what the ENFP looks like to me, but I've only met maybe 10 (myself included) in my lifetime. I'm willing to bet there's a whole lot more out there, and that they're all unique and special. The above are some general rules, but you can break one or two here and there with your character-- go ahead! It's okay!

This is a tag, so I get to spread the Meyer's Briggs love to:
A. M. @ The Authorist
Lily @ Life of Lily

If I tagged you, don't feel obligated to participate if you don't want to, but I really would love to read about your personality types (especially since I have characters in all of them)! If I didn't tag you and you'd like to do it-- don't hold back!! Just make sure you shoot me the link so I can read your amazing post!

Here are the official rules:
  1. Link back to my blog and let me know when your post is up so I can fangirl over it.
  2. Title your post "MBTI Blog Challenge: How to Write an [insert your personality type]". This should help other writers find this resource quickly and easily.
  3. Give your MBTI personality type and provide a list of their core traits, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and anything else you'd like to add.
  4. Tag other bloggers to do the same.
  5. Share your post with other writers to help them craft their characters.
What's your Meyers-Brigg's type? What types would you most like to learn how to write? Do you have any ENFP characters? And, most importantly, are you going to do the Blog Challenge?

15 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. :)

End-of-the-Month Wrap Up: November (A NaNoWriMo Recap)

6:13 AM Gemma Fitz 11 Comments

November was one crazy, crazy month. And none of the stuff I normally do got done, so I won't be wrapping up like I normally wrap up. Instead, let me tell you about my NaNoWriMo.

A NaNoWriMo Recap

You can click here to see my NaNo profile.

Week 1

Writing went down well, at first. I was hoping to get well ahead at the very beginning of the month-- in fact, I was trying for an average of 2000 words a day and finish with 60k. None of these things happened.

However, I did stay on top of my word count and didn't fall behind a single day the first week. Which I wasn't exactly expecting and felt pretty good about.

The words came pretty easily, too, which was nice, and I totally fell in love with my main character which was another unexpected, but not unwelcome, development. I usually have trouble with my protagonists being too boring or annoying, but I feel like I really got a good grasp of Rae's personality and I love it. I love her. I'll miss her a lot when I finish this thing.

I started Week 1 with 0 words and finished with 12,324. There were dysfunctional relationships, bad puns, really bad similes, and lots and lots of sarcasm.

I shared some snazzy snippets on the blog. Also:
Overall, it was a pretty good week-- I even found some extra time and managed to read A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom. (And it got a solid four stars. Yay!)

Yet all good things come with a price, and I had no social life (or any life outside of writing) this week. Eh, well-- it was worth it.

Week 2

After my great first week, I knew writer's block was doomed to hit soon. But I had no idea it would hit as soon as it did-- or as punctually. Sunday-- the official start of week two for me-- hit, and-- where even was my plot? My motivation? My adoration for my characters and my story?

At the same time, I became vaguely aware that my novel wasn't going in anywhere near the same direction I was planning for it to, and that I needed to make some adjustments that I honestly wasn't sure how to make. Thankfully, my sister came to my rescue with tips on how to make my it scarier and more horror-esque. It's still not the creepy, dark, scary animal I originally envisioned it as being, but I think I'm okay with that.

I pretty much barely scraped my way through the entire week-- until Saturday. It was one of those really weird Saturdays-- for me-- when my parents didn't actually have loads of chores they wanted me to do, and so I was left with a ton of free time. And several writer peeps I follow on Twitter were shooting for 10k in one day and I'm super competitive and can't resist a challenge it looked fun, so I was like, "Hey, I wonder if I can do that?"

And I did. Somehow. By the end of it I was exhausted and super pumped up simultaneously and it was just a really awesome experience. Which I will probably never repeat.

I started Week 2 with 12,324 words, and finished with 31,954. There was more sarcasm, threats, races and motorcycle parades, and some very, very awkwardly written romance.

 I also wrote an essay on Superhuman Registration acts that was probably a couple thousand words long, but unfortunately didn't count towards NaNo.

 I talked about my writing process on the blog. And:
Other than writing, I watched lots of Supernatural fan videos and called it "research", since my story is paranormal. (Since I don't have access to Supernatural, itself, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy it anyway, fan videos are the next best thing, right?) I also ate a lot of pie and tried not to be bored when all my friends talked about Football.

Week 3

So, having written 10K words on Saturday, I proceeded to get stuck again. Several days I didn't end up writing anything at all, and by the end of the week, I was only about a thousand words ahead of my goal.

I've always wanted to try writing at a coffee shop, because it seemed like a really professional, writerly, possibly poetic thing to do. The main problems have always been that I hate coffee and that the closest coffee shop is like 30 minutes away and no one would take me. However, my sister works part time at a bakery right in town, and on Monday my mom wanted me out of the house for various reasons, so I went to work with my sis. The bakery had free wi-fi and really good tea and croissants and really bad music, so it was quite interesting and I had a lot of fun.
The lighting was really bad and my iPod camera is terrible at the best of times, but whatever.
I was there for four hours and only got 2,000 words, but, hey. It was still fun.

I started Week 3 with 31,954 words and finished with 37,732. There was shipping and crying and laughing and best friends and sickness and home made flame throwers.

I gave a pep talk that was as much for myself as anyone else, and as I write this it has a 100 views, which is the most views I've ever had on a post and I'm insanely happy and y'all are the best.
I went to the mall on Sunday with my sisters, wrote at the bakery on Monday, and had a couple girls from church come over to watch Big Hero 6 with me and my sisters on Saturday. So I had a pretty good dose of reality.

Week 4

Writing didn't get any easier this week. Writer's block was not as big of a problem as procrastination. There was a character who needed to die, and I didn't want to kill him/her, so of course the solution was to put it off for as long as possible. Eventually I squared my shoulders and soldiered through, but it would be lying to say that tears and chocolate weren't heavily involved.

My mom was adamant that there would be no NaNo-ing on Thanksgiving, and though I really do love writing, Thanksgiving is about God and family and food and those things take precedence over my novel, so I didn't complain (much) and skipped Thursday. And I had a great Thanksgiving. I made pecan pie and my Grandma came over and we ate turkey and all that jazz and then sat around talking for hours.
Behold the beauty that is my pie. The crust was too thick but shhh. Don't tell anyone.
Thankfully, I didn't have too much trouble churning out the 3000 and some words on Friday for some reason, (in spite of the fact that I went shopping!) and quickly caught up. Basically the whole week was spent barely making my counts-- but at least making them!

I went into Week 4 with 37,732 words and I came out with 46,691. There was fire and character deaths and crying and hugging and sisters and more awkward romance and scary threats.

I did not blog. I was busy and exhausted and it kinda fell by the wayside.
I did find time to watch half of Lawrence of Arabia and a couple episodes of Doctor Who?, which was fun and relaxing. (Nothing like two hours of camels and sand and very little else to help you de-stress from a long writing session.)

Sunday and Monday

Sunday came round, and not only was there church in the morning, but that evening my brother and his family came over and we celebrated advent and had a tree decorating party, so I only really had the afternoon to write. Somehow I made my count, but no more.

Monday (today, actually, as I write this) I was stuck. Majorly, majorly stuck. And school was tougher than usual today, as well. I basically survived by sitting in one place all afternoon and evening, hardly ever even standing up once, typing like crazy and deleting most of it because I kept writing myself into walls. (Yeah, yeah, look at me. The person who says you should never edit during your first draft.)

I eventually hit 50,051 at around 6:30 pm, Monday, the 30th. I wrote a story about true friendship and what that looks like, letting go of prejudice and first impressions, and being brave enough to make a decision, even when you're not sure it's the right one.
Overall, my month was awesome. Sure it was tiring. Sure it was stressful. But ultimately, it was fullfilling and productive, and I feel like I came out with a pretty solid story.

And this coming month...

While I hit the 50k mark, I haven't actually finished my story. I'm guessing I've got around 12.5k left to go. So my #1 goal for December is to write "The End" before Christmas. I'd actually like to get there by the end of this week, but I doubt that's going to happen.

After I finish my novel for good, I want to do some "research" on my chosen genre-- YA urban fantasy/paranormal. I haven't really read much in this genre and I'd like to get a better grasp of the established norms and conventions (so I can break them all *evil laugh*). In fact, if you know of any really great YA urban fantasy or even very mild horror novels, I'd definitely appreciate recs. :)

Also once I finish this WIP, I'll be returning to "Splitting Atoms" edits for a month or two before I come back and do a rewrite of Shadowwhisper.

Basically, I have my work cut out for me for a good long while. But that's okay! It'll be fun! (I hope...)
Did you do NaNo? (I feel like I ask that in every post...) How did it go? Americans, how was your Thanksgiving? Basically, how is life, because I've been detached from humanity all month?

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